British Telecom sues Google for Android, other services

British Telecom, also known as BT, has sued Google for alleged infringement of six patents in United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday and BT is seeking triple damages for willful and deliberate infringement as well as an injunction.
BT is alleging that Google services like Maps, Places, Books, Search, Offers, Navigation, Android, Music, Google+, and Location based advertising infringe its six patents.

• U.S. Patent No. 6,151,309 on a “service provision system for communications networks”
• U.S. Patent No. 6,169,515 on a “navigation information system”
• U.S. Patent No. 6,397,040 on a “telecommunications apparatus and method”
• U.S. Patent No. 6,578,079 on a “communications node for providing network based information service”
• U.S. Patent No. 6,650,284 on an “information system”
• U.S. Patent No. 6,826,598 on a “storage and retrieval of location based information in a distributed network of data storage devices”

There has been no official comment from Google till now, and we will update the post once that happens.

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Angry Birds activity parks set to launch in the UK

If you thought Angry Birds was conquering the virtual world, it seems that it is about to take one giant step into the physical realm too, launching at least one activity park in the UK in 2012.
As the Telegraph reports, the first Angry Birds activity parks are going to launch next year, and will feature themed slides, towers and rope-swings all built around the smartphone game that has taken the mobile world by storm.
Angry Birds has been taking massive strides into the merchandising world this year already, with soft toys, clothing and even an Angry Birds Cookbook, which The Next Web got a sneak peak at when we visited the game’s creators’ (Rovio) HQ in Finland earlier this year.
Rovio has penned a global deal with activity park manufacturer Lappset Group which will see the first two parks launch in Finland, with several others expected to spring up in the UK throughout the year. When this will happen, and where the UK parks will be based, remains to be seen.
“The activity parks tie in perfectly with the Angry Birds world and our way of thinking,” said Rovio’s Chief Marketing Officer Peter Vesterbacka. “We will be developing a service which brings together the digital world and the physical world in a way that’s never been seen before. The popularity of Angry Birds isn’t restricted to any age, sex or social group, and the activity parks will be designed to be interesting places for absolutely everyone, all around the world.”
The Angry Birds park will include around twenty products, including animal spring riders, swings, sandpits and a range of climbing towers with slides. Familiar characters from the mobile game will be incorporated into the playground equipment, with a colour scheme to reflect the Angry Birds environment. There will also be an Angry Birds arcade game that can be played outdoors in the park.

We also reported earlier this year that a feature-length animated movie based on the game is on the cards at some point too, with a shorter animated series thought launching in early 2012, so we can really expect to see Angry Birds’ omnipresence cranked up a few notches in the months and years ahead.
Angry Birds is played by some 30m people each day, and as we reported back in June that it is well exceeding 1m downloads each day.
If you think the activity parks will be aimed purely at children, then you can think again. Earlier this week it was reported that the Angry Birds game was most popular in the 35-44 age-group on Android. Will this trend translate into slides and swings? Only time will tell.

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Samsung Galaxy M Pro up for pre-order in the UK

There aren’t too many Android phones that feature physical keyboards these days, and even less that feature candybar, BlackBerry-style ones. Well, if you’re living in the UK and you’re looking for such a device you’re in luck because one has just gone up for pre-order. Samsung’s Galaxy M Pro, which was introduced back in August, can now be pre-ordered in the UK. Unfortunately no release date has been mentioned, but hopefully it won’t take too long to make the change from pre-order to being delivered.
The Samsung Galaxy M Pro features a 1GHz processor, a 2.66″ 480 x 320 display, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a VGA front-facing camera, microSD card slot, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, a 1,350mAh battery and of course Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. It also features a candybar form factor with a BlackBerry-style QWERTY keyboard which is great for folks who are making the transition over from a BlackBerry device to Android, or who just want a physical keyboard without having to slide it out all the time. No word on whether we’ll be seeing this phone in the US.

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UK pre-orders for Asus Transformer Prime launch at Clove

If you are in the UK and have been counting the days until you could buy the Transformer Prime for yourself, this is your day. You can now hop over to Clove and pre-order the Transformer Prime tablet in two different packs.

You can get either the Prime in 64GB flavor with no keyboard accessory or you can opt for the 32GB Transformer Prime with the keyboard accessory for the same price. Either of the tablets will set you back £459 or £550.80 with VAT. One big benefit of that 32GB version with the keyboard accessory is that the battery life is 18 hours with that keyboard attached.
Other than the storage and keyboard, both are the same. Both versions rock a 64GB of internal storage, they both have 10.1-inch screens, and WiFi. The processor is the NVIDIA Tegra 3 and there is a mini HDMI output too. The pages for both versions show January for stock to come in with a ship date somewhere in that area.
[via SlashGear]

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Galaxy Nexus volume bug fixed, shipping again in the UK

The first major technical problem to arise from the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich appears to have been solved. After reportedly halting sales of the high-profile phone, Samsung has applied a software patch to stop the muted or fluctuating volume issue that plagued the Galaxy Nexus in areas of low GSM signal. UK retailer Clove reports that their new units already have the update installed. Shipments have resumed, so UK Android fans can once again buy the phone at their leisure.

As often happens with this sort of thing, multiple solutions to the problem were presented long before Samsung and Google issued their official patch. High-profile ROM developer Paul “Modaco” O’Brien developed his own fix, among various other Ice Cream Sandwich tweaks, and the official update leaked for eager patchers yesterday. Google stated that the fluctuation issue, which affected some phones while being used in the 900mhz band, could be completely resolved with a software patch.
As you probably know, the Galaxy Nexus’ LTE variant still isn’t available from Verizon. Speculation that the United States delay was caused by extended testing of this very issue is just that, speculation. The hardware differences between Verizon’s CDMA and the more standard international GSM make it unlikely that the same bug would affect US-bound phones, but Google and Samsung may have patched it anyway to cover their bases. And speaking of hearsay, there’s no word on that pre-order “confirmation” that was being reported widely yesterday.

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T-Mobile UK announces Vivacity smartphone

Gadgets are funny business – the high end models are the most desirable in terms of design as well as functions most of the time, but then again, they do not generate the most sales for a company, since any graph would show that the mid-range and entry-level devices would do far better since the majority of the population would be able to afford them. Well, having said that, I am not opposed to high end devices – I would associate them with Formula 1 racing, pushing the boundaries of mobile technology always so that the masses will benefit in the long run. T-Mobile UK’s latest smartphone would not fall under the high end category, but rather, will be an entry-level participant known as the Vivacity.

The Vivacity smartphone will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, bringing along with it a 3.5″ display, tipping the scales at 118 grams (4.16oz) and measuring a rather diminutive 115mm x 58mm x 10.5mm. There is a 5-megapixel camera located at the back, and the screen itself ain’t too shabby with a WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) resolution. A microSD memory card slot is there for expansion purposes, while 512MB RAM ought to be enough for the average user. It is available for 99GBP (US$153) on a Pay As You Go plan, but if you want it for free, then be prepared to assign yourself to a 24 month contract and a 10GBP monthly plan.

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Amazon launches ‘Kindle Daily Deal’ for UK readers

Amazon launched its official Kindle UK Twitter feed in early November, and with not a great deal to report in its first week of tweeting, it hit us with this message on Friday: “Happy Friday! For once, we want the weekend to pass quickly. Exciting things are happening Monday… Stay tuned!”
This was followed up on Saturday with this:

As noted on the Kindle Users Forum, this set tongues wagging into overdrive, with many anticipating that the exciting news could be the Kindle Fire or Kindle Touch launching in the UK. But, alas, that wasn’t the case, as Amazon revealed in a tweet last night: “So what’s the big deal? The Kindle Daily Deal launches tomorrow. Learn more before everyone else: http://amzn.to/to3P4e #deals.”
Kindle Daily Deals have been available in the US since August, and each day Amazon makes one book available at a discounted price. Deals go live at midnight and end at 23:59 the same day.
The first Kindle Daily Deal in the UK is Michael Ridpath’s Where the Shadows Lie, which you can pick up for £0.99 rather than £3.99, for one day only. So, it may not be as exciting as the Kindle Fire or Kindle Touch launching, but a 75% discount is nothing to be sniffed at.

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Galaxy Nexus Launch Dates: Nov 17th (O2 UK), Early December (Virgin Mobile / Bell)

It often seems our readers want to know one thing: when will the Samsung Galaxy Nexus launch? The sky is falling! Who cares, when does the Galaxy Nexus launch? That guy has a machine gun and is about to kill us! Okay, I’ll start running once you tell me when the Galaxy Nexus launches!
We already knew that O2 in the UK would be launching the Galaxy Nexus on November 17th, but retailers throwing their own dates into the mix sparked confusion. O2 killed that confusion over the weekend by publishing a picture of the Galaxy Nexus on G+ and then answering a launch date question with, well:


Meanwhile, Virgin Mobile (Canada) has announced to it’s customers – and everyone else’s customers craving Ice Cream Sandwich – that they’ll be able to obtain the Holy Grail get the Galaxy Nexus in early December. They’ve even got a signup page on their website:

Here is the quote directly from Virgin Mobile:

"The new Galaxy Nexus™ will be available from Virgin Mobile when it arrives in Canada in early December. Plus, only Virgin Mobile Members can get this smartphone with a no-term contract on the Virgin Mobile SuperTab™. Whether it’s with talk and text plans or the hottest data plans, Galaxy Nexus™ can be hooked up to Virgin Mobile’s full range of plans - just pick the Virgin Mobile SuperTab™ amount and plan that’s perfect for you!
"Samsung’s ongoing collaboration with Google has resulted in a next generation smartphone that has both superior functionality and a stunning user-experience," said Paul Brannen, Vice President, Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics Canada. "The large, responsive HD SuperAMOLED screen offers users full 720p video playback on the device, and accommodates the new Android 4.0 user interface that is based on soft keys."

UPDATE: Bell didn’t want to miss out on the action and has offered their promise and sign-up page too.

Don’t you wish American carriers were as forthcoming? Looking back on the Nexus One disaster that promised the device would be “Coming Soon” to Verizon but saw it get lost in the wilderness and left to perish, I won’t be satisfied until I hear a date cemented into a press release.
Lastly, a Notion Ink support thread indicates that Android 4.0 Source Code, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, will be published on November 17th. This makes sense since it would coincide with the date of the first ICS device launches.
It’s already November 14th… the Galaxy Nexus is almost here.

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Huawei will launch its Vision smartphone and Mediapad tablet

The Huawei MediaPad, which will launch in the US as the T-Mobile SpringBoard, is headed to the UK. The manufacturer confirmed as much, pointing to a release in early 2012. The 7-inch tablet was one of the first to give us a glimpse at Honeycomb (specifically Android 3.2) tailored for a slightly smaller screen, though others have since beat it to market in some regions. For £275, buyers in the UK will get a WiFi-only slate with a dual-core CPU, dual cameras, and HDMI output.

Also announced for the UK was the Android 2.3 Huawei Vision The handset will arrive in time for Christmas and be affordably priced at about £25 after carrier subsidies are accounted for. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it offered for free in many places.

[via PCWorld]

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Amazon’s UK Galaxy Nexus launch slips to December 2nd

For those waiting on the Galaxy Nexus since its announcement three weeks ago, waiting has become a downright chore. The latest bit of bad news comes out of Amazon’s UK division, where Phandroid spotted that the Galaxy Nexus’ ship date has been pushed back to December 2nd, fifteen days after the official UK launch date of November 17th. Samsung hasn’t changed their official date yet, but the Amazon shift doesn’t look good.

In the event that Amazon’s date change doesn’t extend to the entire country, the shift is a pretty big loss for the online retailer. With the UK and the rest of Europe currently scheduled to get some pure Nexus goodness of the 17th, early adopters aren’t likely to wait around for Amazon to sort out some apparent supply chain issues. Of course, if the official date is soon to change, that would be a major let-down for Android fans across the UK and EU – a six-week gap between announcement and launch isn’t exactly stellar.
If UK customers are frustrated, US Android fans are starting to get downright irate. There still is no official word on a price or date for the Galaxy Nexus from Verizon, which has an exclusive on the Google phone for at least some time after its release. Current leaks point to November 17th, or November 21st, or November 28th, or later – your guess is as good as ours. At least the $299 on-contract price seems pretty stable. Google has historically kept a pretty tight grip on the Nexus line of phones, and it would be a good move for them to start telling their retail and carrier partners to stop messing around, before hungry developers start invading the Google campus in search of Nexii.

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Samsung confirms UK Galaxy Nexus launch date

A marketing sheet for Samsung surfaced this week that pointed to a launch date that was pushed back for the Galaxy Nexus smartphone until November 17. Samsung has now confirmed that launch date to be accurate, or at least reiterated what the leaked marketing sheet said. The launch will indeed be Thursday, November 17.

The smartphone will pack Android 4.0 ICS and sport a 4.65-inch HD super AMOLED screen. We already know the specs of the smartphone, but in case you live under a rock or just like to dream of holding the Galaxy Nexus in your hand I will run those specs down again. The smartphone will support 720p resolution and has a 5MP camera on the back. The smartphone is 8.94mm thick and has a 4.29mm thick screen bezel.
This will be the first smartphone on the market running Android 4.0 and it has a ton of features that smartphone users will like. The device will pack in WiFi, NFC, and a web browser. It also has Face Unlock and integrated Google+. The smartphone uses a 1.2GHz dual core processor and will work on HSPA+ networks. The front camera is a 1.3MP unit and the smartphone will support 1080p video output.

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Android beating iPhone by more than two to one in the UK

49.9 percent of all the smartphones sold in the territory over the 12 week period were running Android, compared to just an 18.5 percent share for the iPhone. The Blackberry platform hasn’t fallen from grace so dramatically in the UK, and has 22.5 percent of the market. According to Kantar Worldpanel Comtech’s estimate, 43.8 percent of the UK population owns a smartphone, meaning that almost a full quarter of the population owns an Android phone.
Caveats: this data doesn’t include the iPhone 4S, which will certainly spike the numbers in iOS’s favor for a few weeks. It also doesn’t represent an accurate picture of the mobile OS market as a whole ,as it doesn’t include iPods or iPads, or the small number of Android tablets out there. Apple is still kicking backside when it comes to mobile browsing – Safari has captured an impressive 62.2% of all mobile browsing, incorporating all iPhone, iPod and iPad models in the UK and elsewhere. Also, Android manufacturers typically report in terms of units shipped, not sold – Apple has an advantage there since a lot of their sales are direct to consumers.
Still, any way you slice it, Android is continuing to dominate in the smartphone arena. Here’s hoping that Ice Cream Sandwich will continue the trend when the Galaxy Nexus lands at the White Cliffs of Dover on November 17th.

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Spotify Gift Cards arrive in UK stores

It has been possible to buy Spotify e-cards as gifts for a while, with users able to email or print the cards off. But Spotify has announced that gift cards will be available in-store too, in what seems like could just be the UK to begin with, though it would make sense that it will be rolled out across the board shortly.
The cards will first be available in the Morrisons’ supermarket chain from today, though Spotify will be “adding many more retail shops in the near future”.

The gift cards will come in three different denominations: £10, £30 and £50, and the recipient can redeem the card for a Spotify subscription, or download tracks to keep. To redeem a card you need to head over to the ‘Redeem your code‘ page and enter the PIN number on the back of the card.
By way of an example, a £10 card will get you 1 month of Spotify Premium access, 2 months of Spotify Unlimited or 15 tracks to download.
Given the monumental success of iTunes gift cards, it was only a matter of time before Spotify jumped on the bandwagon too and, coming up to Christmas, the timing couldn’t be better, a fact not lost on the good people at Spotify. Andres Sehr says in the blog post today: “Spotify Gift Cards are the perfect present for birthdays, Christmas – in fact, any occasion!”

Related articles

• Spotify adds Android Preview app with Facebook sign-in and sharing (goandroid.co.in)

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HTC Sensation XL with Beats Audio Now Available in the UK for £486.00

Our friends at Clove in the UK have just sent word that the HTC Sensation XL is now in stock and shipping. For £486.00 incl. VAT, you’ll be able to get one of the first Beats Audio HTC smartphones on the market. Aside from that, you’re looking at a pretty good smartphone.
It’s a 4.7 inch smartphone (hence the “XL” part) with a 1.5GHz single-core processor, 768MB of RAM, an 8 megapixel 720p camera, a front–facing camera, 16GB of internal storage, Android 2.3 with HTC Sense and more. It’s also a bit thin at 9.9mm.
This is no HTC Sensation internally, but the device is still quite good. Take a good, close look at it over at Clove before making your purchase decision.

Related articles

• HTC rolling out update to Android 2.3.5, Sense 3.0 for Desire S in UK (tech-gadget.co.in)
• HTC Raider sailing to Rogers with 4G LTE for just $149 (goandroid.co.in)
• HTC Rhyme Heads to O2 UK (goandroid.co.in)

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Amazon UK, ships November 2nd

Who is ready for some Galaxy Nexus action? Apparently the folks from Amazon UK are ready to start the party because they’ve already posted up pre-orders for the Galaxy Nexus. We saw some order pages go up earlier this week but I get a better feeling ordering from Amazon than some smaller sites, not to mention they have a release date of November 2nd.

Yup, in case you missed that, Amazon UK is listing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as due to be released on November 2nd. One small problem is the price though, Amazon is asking £730.15 for the new superphone. I might not be great at math but if my currency conversion skills are accurate that is well over $1100 USD. Wow, at that price put me down for three. At least shipping is free right?
According to our tipsters (thanks guys) the Amazon UK page went live last night and the device was being offered for just £540 and was listed as in stock November 7th. That actually still hasn’t changed and third party retailers on Amazon are listing the phone at the much lower £540 price tag. You may have to wait a few more days but will save a bundle.
In case anyone missed it, here is all of our Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich coverage, plus the hands-on video below for your enjoyment.

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Galaxy Nexus pre-orders live in the UK, delivery date set for November 16th

We all know plenty about the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the brilliant Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich its powered by, what you might not know is apparently a few shops already are accepting pre-orders in the UK. The popular online store Phones2U.co.uk not only are accepting pre-orders for the Galaxy Nexus, but have it listed as “order today for delivered on November 16th”. Do they know something we don’t?

Galaxy Nexus pre-orders live in the UK, delivery date set for November 16th
I doubt any of our readers missed it, but just in case here is our Galaxy Nexus hands-on coverage for all the pictures and video you’d want until you can get your own fingers on this flagship smartphone from Googleville. Look over the image below and you’ll see what we mean, they are claiming the device will be launched before the 16th because that is their expected delivery date — not ship date.

In case you are still wondering about the Galaxy Nexus. It is the latest and greatest from Google running the brand new 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It rocks a 4.65″ Super AMOLED 1280 x 720p HD display, a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and it has a stellar camera. While only 5 MP it’s being touted as one of the best smartphone cameras available with zero shutter lag. You’ll find out everything you need to know in the hands-on post linked to above, as well as our hands-on video below. Check it out and decide if you’d like to purchase this phone, then head to phones4u.uk and order it today.

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Google opens streaming film rentals to UK Android users

If you are an Android fan in the US, you have been able to rent and stream movies from Google via the Android Market for a long time. If you were an Android user in the UK the only way you could stream those rentals is by using a hack. We talked about that hack to let the streaming work in the UK back in August. You no longer need to hack things to rent movies on your Android device right from the Android Market in the UK.

Google has announced that its movie streaming service has now launched officially in the UK on Android phones. The films are offered on the Android Market starting from £2.49 each. To start users in the UK will have a library of 1000 films they can rent and stream. Android fans in the UK will need to install the Video app to watch the mobiles and once you purchase a film you can watch it anytime over the first 30 days of purchase.
The rentals are also available online from the Android Market as well. The rented films will be offered on any device that the user can log into during the rental. That means you can watch it on your Android smartphone, Android tablet, office computer, and the HTPC at home.
[via Telegraph]

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Asus EEE Pad Slider tablet launching in the UK October 24th

Americans have had access to Asus’ EEE Pad Slider with its integrated slide-out keyboard for a while, but come next Monday, Brits can pick one up at their leisure. Asus has announced that the Slider will be available starting at £429.99, or about $680 USD. Retailers PC World and Curry’s will be the first to offer the tablet, both online and in-store.

In case you’ve forgotten, the Slider is a lot like the EEE Pad Transformer with a keyboard that tucks away when not in use, instead of detaching completely. The dual-core Tegra 2 processor runs at an impressive 1.2GHz, powering Honeycomb on the 10-inch 1280 x 800 screen. 32GB of on-board storage should be enough for all but the largest media collections.  The Slider is currently only available in WiFi form, and sadly, we haven’t heard anything about a mobile broadband version.

If you’re on the fence about a Transformer or Slider purchase, you might want to wait a few weeks. Asus has been teasing the upcoming Transformer 2 with a slick CG video, and an executive showed off the device on-stage while confirming its quad-core Tegra 3 processor. The official announcement is slated for November 9th, and considering what the executive said about Ice Cream Sandwich tablets, it could be ready to hit the market before the end of the year. We haven’t heard of a successor to the Slider, though, so if you’re heart is set on an all-in-one form factor, go right ahead.

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Motorola DROID RAZR coming to the UK November 1st

The Motorola DROID RAZR will simply be known as the “Motorola RAZR” in every territory outside the United States, and at least one is getting right in front of the vague “November” launch date set for the phone. According to online retailer Clove, the first stock of Motorola RAZR will be available in the United Kingdom on November 1st. The price is £379 or £454.80 after some expensive Value Added Tax, which comes out to $716 USD.

Online retailers have been known to jump the gun with upcoming products to secure some quick pre-orders, so take the news with a grain of salt. Since the UK’s cellular market favors unlocked phones instead of the cheaper subsidized handsets we get here, the prices tend to be greater even before you factor in the generally higher cost of electronics across the pond. Since the pre-tax price is about $597, you can expect the DROID RAZR to be in the $600 range when Verizon sells it off-contract.
Neither Motorola nor any regional carriers have confirmed a date or price for the DROID RAZR, but Verizon’s internal system pegs it for a November 10th launch at $299. That may or may not be before a mail-in rebate. Verizon customers will have a tough choice, since the very same document says that the Galaxy Nexus will also launch on Verizon the same day, and earlier reports put it at the same $299 price. If you’re still on the fence, be sure to take a gander at out Galaxy Nexus and DROID RAZR comparison.
Check out our hands-on of the Motorola DROID RAZR:
Motorola DROID RAZR hands-on:

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S and Live with Walkman now on Three UK

Two of Sony Ericsson's more interesting devices have just made their way onto Three UK at subsidized prices. The Xperia Arc S and SE Live with Walkman are now available for free on any of Three's standard 24-month contracts.
The Arc S, SE's new flagship device, can be yours for £28 per month, while the Live with Walkman is offered for a more frugal £18 per month. With its shiny new 1.4 GHz CPU, the Arc S gives a modest boost from the original Arc's 1 GHz chip, and boasts new functionality like 3D panoramic recording. The SE Live with Walkman, which represents the manufacturer's current budget offering, is offered free on contracts of £18 or more per month.
We'll have a review of the Arc S appearing in the next week or so, so keep wathcing. In the meantime you can check out our first impressions of the Arc S and Live with Walkman from last month's Xperia Party.

Source: Three UK

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