O2 UK prices the HTC Desire S for only £329.99 on a pay-as-you-go plan

Taking into account that the desirable HTC Desire S just recently went on sale towards the end of last month, O2 UK’s recent price drop for the impressive device is interesting in itself to say the least.

Although a variety of wireless carriers now lay claim to the high-end Android powered smartphone, O2 UK is going one step further by aggressively pricing the device’s no term commitment option. Currently available, O2 UK customers can snag the HTC Desire S on a pay-as-you-go plan for a mere £329.99 ($539); VAT included. Again, that’s pretty nice just because of the relatively still new freshness of the handset’s arrival on the market.

Granted that you can probably purchase one for fee with select 2-year commitments, it’s nice nonetheless to see a competitive no-contract pricing on the smartphone.

source: O2 UK via Unwired View

Final build of CyanogenMod 7 is now official

It has just been announced that CyanogenMod 7, the popular aftermarket firmware for Android-powered smartphones, has reached its final version and has been released in the wild. For those of you that are not aware what CyanogenMod is, it is basically a modified Android distribution that has been developed by smartphone enthusiasts independently from Google. The custom firmware enables a number of advanced device settings to be tweaked and is also claimed to have better performance when compared to stock Android ROMs. Another advantage of CyanogenMod 7 is that it is built on top of Gingerbread and it can run on devices which would not usually get an update to Android's latest version.

The latest version of CyanogenMod adds more than just neat screen-off and screen-on animations. Besides the features seen in its previous releases, CyanogenMod 7 will allow for applications to be launched while the screen is locked by performing given gestures with your finger. Furthermore, having Incognito mode on makes sure that none of your web browsing history remains stored on the smartphone, and OpenVPN adds support for establishing VPN (Virtual Private Network) connections. Check the official CyanogenMod web page (link included below) for a full list of features and improvements over the previous version of the mod.

If you are new to CyanogenMod and willing to give it a try, be aware that installing it onto your smartphone involves rooting the device, which in certain circumstances might void your warranty. Make sure you check with the mod's official web page before doing anything that may potentially brick your phone.

For more information, check the official CyanogenMod web page here.
For an official list of supported devices, click here.

source: CyanogenMod via Android Central

Samsung Galaxy S II officially coming to the UK on the 1st of May

If you live in the UK and if you are looking for a great high-end Android smartphone to get your hands on, you might not want to rush and buy anything just yet. Samsung has just confirmed that their upcoming flagship – the Samsung Galaxy S II, is scheduled to launch in the UK on the 1st of May with availability through all major carriers and retailers. The only thing that might lead you to having second thoughts is the hefty price tag, but we have yet to hear what carriers will be selling the Galaxy S II for with a contract attached to it.

On the other hand, you are getting what you pay for. When it launches, the Samsung Galaxy S II will be Sammy's lightest, slimmest, and most powerful smartphone to date. The snappy 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and the beautiful 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display are only some of the features that make the Galaxy S II stand out of the crowd. If we have sparked your curiosity already, feel free to check out our hands-on of Samsung's anticipated flagship.

source: Samsung UK

Official Steve Jobs biography to be published in early 2012

Steve Jobs is a true iCon of the high-tech era, and the fact he is one of the most secretive persons in this field further contributes to the enigmatic aura he seems to posses.

That's just one of the reasons why a lot of people would like to peep into the life of this private being, and a fact it is that a few unauthorized biographies about Steven Paul Jobs have already been released. But not a single "official" one.

That's about to change in early 2012, when iSteve: The Book of Jobs, is scheduled to be published. The author of the book, Walter Isaacson, is a former senior executive at CNN and Time, and has written best-selling books about such notable innovators in their respective fields as Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.

He has been working on iSteve: The Book of Jobs since 2009, and the book is to offer interviews from Jobs himself, his family, Apple co-workers and competitors.

Love him or loathe him, Steve Jobs has contributed immensely to the high-tech-driven modern world we live in, and this book is sure to be one very, very interesting read.

source: ABC via Gizmodo

Microsoft's new Bing app for the iPad brings a whiff of Metro UI that is likely to power Win 8

If you've never used Bing on your iPad, you might never notice the new interface Microsoft has coined for it, and it is definitely worth trying it out. Designed with a hint of the Metro UI concept that found its way into Windows Phone 7, the new Bing app is spurring rumors around the blogosphere that this will actually be the interface philosophy behind Windows 8, at least in its tablet reincarnation.

We've already posted a couple of news items revealing the presence of WP7's minimalistic style in leaked screenshots of the Windows 8 and Office 15 interfaces. And we have various sources claiming that Win 8 will have two interface versions, a flexible 3D one for the desktop, and a Live Tile-based one for the tablet, similar to what Windows Phone 7 offers at the moment.

Now the new Bing app for the iPad might turn out to be a harbinger of things to come for the actual programs running on Windows 8, and we definitely like what we are seeing. It's been rebuilt completely for the tablet realities, and tiles are used far and wide within the app. If this is what's expecting us with Windows 8 and its ARM-based slates, we might have a new powerful tablet contender very soon, this time with all the legacy and driver power of Windows behind it.

via WMPowerUser

No Child Left Behind the iPad craze: Maine kindergartens to spend $200k on iPad 2s

You might think that it's the kids' decision, but you'd be wrong – the school committee in the city of Auburn in the great state of Maine has approved a plan to fulfill every five-year old's dream – an iPad. You might have also thought that since it's for the kids, they could have gone for the discounted first edition in this troubled economy, but you'd be wrong twice. With that said, comes the shocking number - $200,000 for second-gen iPads for 285 kindergarteners and additional tablets for the teachers as each tablet will cost $479.

The iPad 2 program has the sole goal of increasing literacy from the current 62% to 90% by 2013 and Apple's tablet is the perfect tool for that, at least according to literacy instructor Mauri Dufour. And while some parents love the idea, others like Nicole Fortin commented:

“It’s crazy. I look at all of the budgetary restraints we have. Our school system loses money every year to certain things. This is a lot to put in the hands of a 5-year-old.”

After a special training program, the kids as well as the teachers will be allowed to take the iPads home. To fuel the controversy even more, a recent study suggested that iPads are mostly used for gaming. Oh, and 6-year olds who have missed the opportunity must be green with envy. Don't you just wish you were a kindergartener nowadays?

source: IntoMobile and FreeRepublic

Research confirms that most youngsters can't detach from their cellphones

Yes, we admit it. Sometimes we find it hard to put our smartphones down and stop texting or to quit browsing the web for lolcats on our tablets. Well, it turns out that we are not alone. According to a recent study, a great percentage of adolescents worldwide may feel isolated or confused when separated from their electronic gadgets even for a relatively short period of time.

The said study examined how would youngsters react if they were not allowed to use a computer, nor a cellphone, or even watch TV for a single day. Participants in the research were volunteers from ten countries around the world, all of them between 17 and 23 years of age. They were only allowed to use a land-line phone or to read a book while logging their experiences in a diary.

The results were disturbing, to say the least. It turns out that 79% of the subjects reported a range of negative symptoms after being deprived from their gadgets. Some of them even experienced withdrawal symptoms similar to the ones that a smoker or a drug addict feels when they are restricted from the bad habit. Feelings of distress, confusion, and isolation also dominated a number of volunteers.

Researchers try to explain the phenomenon with the fact that teens have grown up in a media-rich world where all kinds of information is easily available online with almost no restrictions upon it. Furthermore, adolescents are used to communicating with their peers in a virtual environment instead of engaging in a real conversation.

At least there is good news after the study. It has been confirmed that every participant who did actually start a face-to-face interaction with other volunteers agreed that it was a much more satisfying experience compared to an online chat. Why don't you take your kid's cellphone away for a couple of days and share the results with us in the comments?

source: Daily Mail via Android Authority