Crave, the gadget blog from CNET UK

Future phones to sound crystal-clear by vibrating your face

What? No I can't hear you very well, there's people here rustling crisp packets. What's that? Future phones could use your face as an amplifier? Clever stuff!

Japanese tech giant and phone manufacturer Kyocera is showing off a new technology that vibrates the bones and flesh of your head to make a call sound crystal clear. Continue reading...

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Apple ditches half its Samsung claims in countdown to court

Apple has ditched half of its legal challenges in the courtroom war with Samsung. The two companies are locked in battle over alleged similarities between the iPhone and iPad and Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets, and are narrowing down the focus of their fight to beat the ticking clock.

Apple's concessions come just days after the Samsung Galaxy S3 kicked things up a notch for Samsung, the South Korean company that was recently named the world's biggest phone maker. US-based Apple reckons Samsung's dominance in the phone world was won by ideas stolen from the iPhone and iPad, with potentially billions of dollars at stake in damages. Continue reading...

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Free iPhone calls and texts with Tu Me, new VoIP app from O2

Tu Me, to you, Tu Me, to you... Enough Chuckle-inspired messing about -- Tu Me is a new app offering free calls and texts for iPhones.

Created by O2's parent company Telefónica, Tu Me is a VoIP app and rival to Skype and Apple's own iMessage. Calls, texts and media messages are free, sent via Wi-Fi or your data plan instead of your contract's calling minutes and text message allowance. Continue reading...

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BlackBerry Curve 9320 with BBM button is just £140

Curvy is the new skinny, so I hear. The BlackBerry Curve 9320 is stuffed with social network features, instant BBM access and the latest BlackBerry 7.1 OS software -- but you won't need a fat wallet to make it yours.

The phone is packed with features that appeal to young BlackBerry-ers. Not only is it available for pocket money, but there's also a dedicated BlackBerry Messenger button right in the middle of the phone that instantly fires up the hugely popular free IM app. Apps for Facebook and Twitter are already aboard too. Continue reading...

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iPhone 5 out in September, 10-inch iPad to follow?

The iPhone 5 may well be arriving in September, according to Digitimes, which claims that Apple device manufacturer Pegatron has already been told to begin production of the next iPhone. This could mean an official unveiling in June, with a 10-inch iPad to launch later in the year.

Apple doesn't build its own products -- instead, it uses companies like Pegatron and the better-known Foxconn to do all the bolting together for them. Pegatron was the company that did the grunt work in building the iPhone 4S and Digitimes reports it's received orders to start work on the follow-up. Continue reading...

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HP Envy Spectre XT ultrabook hands-on photos

Confetti at the ready -- HP's showing off something new, something borrowed and something... silver. That's right, it's the recently unveiled Envy Spectre XT -- a fresh look for the Spectre ultrabook range, which borrows heavily from rival wedge-shaped laptops. I've been hands-on, so click through the images above to ogle this angular new machine.

Angle management

Although at first glance the 13.3-inch Spectre XT's design looks to be nicked wholesale from Apple's MacBook Air or the Asus Zenbook, this slender PC does have some fresh ideas of its own. Continue reading...

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Sony Xperia GX and SX surface in Japan, Brits cross fingers

Sony has shown off two new additions to its Xperia range of smart phones -- the 4.6-inch Xperia GX and its cheaper little brother, the 3.7-inch Xperia SX. Sadly, they're only being flogged in Japan, for now at least.

The Xperia GX is the big boy of the two. It's packing a 4.6-inch screen with a 720p resolution, which is the same as we've seen on the slightly smaller 4.3-inch Xperia S. It's also using Sony's Bravia technology for the screen so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a bright and vivid viewing experience. Continue reading...

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Howard Carter, real-life Tomb Raider, celebrated by Google

Howard Carter, the man who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, is celebrated by Google today.

Carter was born on this day in 1874, and began his career of excavation and exploration in Egypt at the tender age of 17. He was the the first chief inspector of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, the government body overseeing the excavation and preservation of ancient Egyptian sites and treasures. The modern-day service is also responsible for recovering items stolen or illegally exported from Egypt -- watch out Lara Croft. Continue reading...

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Samsung Galaxy S3 is Olympic phone for no-touch payments

On your marks, get set, S3! The Samsung Galaxy S3 is the official phone of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Samsung and partner Visa have confirmed rumours that athletes heading to East London for this summer's Olympiad will be issued with an S3 with Visa PayWave built in. That means they can pay for their coffees, newspapers and jockstraps with just an airy wave of their phone, without such perturbations as exchange rates to distract them from jumping really, really high and twirling ribbons around. Continue reading...

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Cheap Xbox and Kinect launches with phone-style contract

Fancy a cheap Xbox? Microsoft is offering a console and Kinect for just $100 -- but the catch is a two-year contract. Can this phone contract-style deal work for gamers?

The 4GB Xbox and Kinect costs about £60, with Xbox Live Gold membership costing just under £10 per month. Continue reading...

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Samsung Galaxy S3 up for pre-order for £500 on Amazon

Samsung's hotly-anticipated new flagship phone the Galaxy S3 has popped up for pre-order on Amazon's UK site. A cool £500 will snag you the new blower in either blue or white for delivery on the 30th.

The Galaxy S3 was unveiled at a rather crowded press event in London's Earls Court last week, with most UK operators immediately announcing their plans to offer the phone. Amazon is among the first to offer it SIM free though. At 500 smackers, it might not be the cheapest of purchases, but it often works out more economical in the long run to buy a phone outright than get it for free on an expensive 24-month contract. Continue reading...

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Samsung plan wireless charging in coffee table and cars

Samsung is planning to charge future generations of Samsung Galaxy phones without the aid of wires. It's teamed up with chip-maker Qualcomm to develop a method of charging your phone or tablet every time you put it down.

The Alliance for Wireless Power -- or A4WP, if you're under 14 -- is a group of companies coming together to find a way to charge gadgets without plugging them into the wall with a cable. The dream is to have power beaming through the air -- thanks to the magic of inductive coupling -- for your gadgets to soak up battery juice wherever they may lie.
Continue reading...

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Samsung Focus 2 runs Windows Phone, is no Galaxy S3

Samsung has been showing off the Focus 2 at CTIA in New Orleans this week. It's the most exciting feature? It's going to be running Windows Phone.

Most of Samsung's range -- like the new Galaxy S3 -- run Google's Android operating system, with only a small handful making use of Windows Phone, so it's nice to see that the phone giant hasn't lost interest in the platform. The new blower comes sporting a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 480x800-pixel resolution, a 5-megapixel camera capable of shooting 720p video and, like all Windows Phone handsets, no physical front buttons. Continue reading...

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iPhone gets iOS 5.1.1 update, brings HDR and bug fixes

Apple has let loose an update to its iOS operating system that brings changes to HDR photography as well as various bug fixes for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Applying the update will see your iPhone bumped up to the spanking new version of iOS, known to its mates as version 5.1.1. Before you get too excited, don't expect any major changes to how your iPhone looks or operates. Apple states that the key updates include improved "reliability of the HDR photography option when shooting photos using the Lock Screen shortcut", as well as addressing "bugs that could prevent the new iPad from switching between 2G and 3G networks". Continue reading...

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CNET UK Podcast 286: The Samsung Galaxy S3 cometh

They said this day would never come -- but the Samsung Galaxy S3 has finally been unveiled. Was it worth the wait? Is it the best phone ever? Is it new and exciting enough? We digest all these questions and more.

Join the merry CNET UK team as we gather around the mic in our solitary podcast cell and cast our minds over the burning technology questions of this week. We've got the S3 on our brains, so we've picked apart the most important questions relating to the hottest phone of the year. You're welcome.

Rich, Andy and Luke get all giddy about the top tech of the week, including the S3, the Nikon D800, Spotify on the iPad and a telly dangling from the ceiling. But which bit of kit claims the Crave kudos and wins the day?

Plus, we turn to you, eager listener, for your thoughts in the feedback section. What do you think of the S3? Are you, like Luke, reassured by steady updates to new gadgets -- or, like Andy, rabid for ever more wondrous and unexpected new features? Is the S3 a worthy upgrade or a disappointment?

Remember, whether you're looking for help and advice with your newest or oldest gadgets, or you have something to say on the tech issues of the day, leave us a comment below or blow off steam on our Facebook page -- it's chock-ful of like-minded gadget geeks and behind-the-scenes glimpses at CNET Towers.

To listen to the CNET UK podcast simply press play above, or bounce on over to the iTunes Store and search for CNET UK. Click on Subscribe Free and batten down your brain-hatches because they're about to be blown wide open by podcast perfection. And don't forget to tell your friends too on Facebook and Twitter! Continue reading...

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Apple iTV prototype has Siri and video calling

The hotly-tipped Apple TV is real, and comes with Siri built-in. That's according to an inside source who has seen Siri make a video call on an actual prototype.

Cult of Mac reports that the iTV prototype looks like one of the aluminum LED Cinema Display monitors currently sold by Apple, only bigger -- previous rumours suggest the Apple telly will come in 32-inch and 37-inch sizes Continue reading...

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Apple rumoured to release cheaper MacBook Air this summer

We've already heard rumours of a larger MacBook Air or a slimmed down MacBook Pro, but now comes word Apple will release a budget MacBook Air this summer.

A source in the supply chain has told DigiTimes Apple will release the $799 (£494) MacBook Air in Q3 this year, which translates as sometime between July and September. It's expected to be the company's answer to the current crop of ultrabooks. Continue reading...

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Apple seeks to take over iPhone5.com domain name

Apple naming the latest iPad just "the new iPad" has set off a flurry of rumours about what it'll call the next iPhone. Well this could be a hint -- the Cupertino company has filed a claim with the World Intellectual Property Organisation, seeking to gain control of the domain name iPhone5.com, Mac Rumors reports.

Previously Apple has been slower to act on knockoff websites. It didn't gain control of iPhone4.com until almost a year after that handset launched, and iPhone4S.com didn't become the subject of Apple's attention until a few weeks after the 4S was announced. (In that case the site was forwarding visitors to porn sites though, so it could be a case of Apple jumping on iPhone5.com to stop anything similar happening.) Continue reading...

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Spotify can increase iTunes sales, says music label chief

Here's an interesting tale about the relationship between music streaming services and album sales. The common fear is that if people can stream the songs for free or next to nothing they won't buy the album. But actually the reverse is true. That's according to one label chief, anyway.

Johan Lagerlof, CEO of classical music label X5, told TechCrunch that when it launched an app within Spotify, streams of one album increased 412 per cent in a month. That same month, sales of the same album on iTunes shot up by 50 per cent. Continue reading...

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BlackBerry 10 will have video editor, screen sharing

Our US cousins went hands-on with BlackBerry 10 last week at BlackBerry World, but it RIM seemed to be keeping schtum about a few features.

Well thankfully a forum user going by the name of Biggulpseh has leaked details aplenty on the new OS over at CrackBerry. So what can we expect? Well there's screen sharing, a tilt-sensitive lock screen that pushes notifications your way based on the device's movement, and a video editor. This way for more details. Continue reading...

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