Omio News Blog

LG Optimus L7 Now Available To Buy In UK, Free From £20.50 Per Month

Whilst the Samsung Galaxy S3 basks in a sea of column inches, please do spare a thought for the LG Optimus L7, which is available to buy this week!

LG’s Optimus L7 – the belle of their L-Series slick smartphone ball – offers Ice Cream Sandwich in a cute 4.3-inch display laden package alongside all manner of stylish looks and snapping credentials.

“For consumers desiring high-end style and sophistication in a smartphone, LG Optimus L7 offers beauty and performance in one smart package,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

“The L7 is a significant addition to our L-Series portfolio and we are confident that it’ll prove highly attractive to users. We expect it to be one of our most popular smartphones.”

Those looking for something even more exclusive, Phones4U and DialAPhone have the handset in an exclusive white finish, making it look incredibly dashing.

After breaking cover in Europe this month, the L7 aims to make its way to Asia and other global markets soon after.

With prices touted to be as low as £20.50 per month online, it’s sure to find a spot in the hearts of fashion conscious phone fans ahead of the Galaxy SIII’s arrival.

N.O.V.A. 3 Gameplay Trailer Released, Best Looking Mobile Game Ever?

Gameloft are indeed the undisputed kings of the ‘mockbuster’ mobile game, biting wholesale from the likes of Uncharted, Grand Theft Auto and even World of Warcraft to keep players entertained on the go…admittedly with varying degrees of success.

Judging by this first gameplay taster of their latest title N.O.V.A 3, Gameloft have eschewed the heavy-handed homage to the Xbox’s Halo that marked the first two instalments and gone for sumptuous first person shooter Crysis 2 as their inspiration.

Armoured suits? Check? Big guns? Present and correct. The huge surprise is that the game looks amazing, deciding to also crib some of Crysis’ visual style to make for one of the best looking mobile games we’ve yet seen.

Depth of field effects, heat haze, detailed textures…this one seems to be putting a few fully fledged console titles to shame in the technical stakes!

Check out the video below…N.O.V.A. 3 is scheduled to drop this month on iOS and Android devices.

LG ‘Still On Board’ With Windows Phone 7, Will Focus On Android Devices

Flying in the face of recent speculation that the Korean manufacturer would be turning its back on the Windows Phone 7 operating system, LG has spoken out to the contrary with Pocket-Lint.

“None of it is true. Korea Herald is showing its speculative side again,” said an LG spokesperson to the site.

“We are still on board with Windows Phone, but right now, we’re focusing on Android because that’s where the demand is.” Can’t argue with that rationale, especially with the closeness (and subsequent success) between Finnish phone maker Nokia and Microsoft’s mobile platform with its Lumia range of devices.

In stark contrast, the LG Optimus 7 failed to stand out amidst a crowded Windows Phone launch in Q4 2010, releasing few devices since that have run on the fledgling OS.

Rather than scrapping their Windows Phone…phones, LG state that they will still be bringing out handsets on a range of platforms:

“Regardless of which OS, LG is committed to offering consumers as wide a choice as possible.”

With recent handsets – including an attractive reboot of the LG Prada handset – not quite garnering the traction expected, their mobile division posted a 14% drop in year-on-year revenues whilst the company as a whole turned a profit for the first quarter of 2012.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Flash Sale From Three UK, £25 Per Month

UK network Three have stuck up a quick sale on the evergreen Samsung Galaxy S2, offering the handset with 500 minutes, 5000 texts and all-you-can-surf data for just £25 per month and a £29 up front cost.

With the offer ending at midnight on the 30th of April, there’s a little while left to jump aboard the Android train…just before the heavily-rumoured Galaxy S3 pulls into the station.

Grab the deal here.

Smartphone Popularity Finally Overtakes Feature Phones In Japan

Japan has always been…unique when it comes to mobiles, and some interesting stats are showing the island nation is warming to the idea of the smartphone.

New data out of number-cruching outfit ComScore shows that Japan bought more smartphones than feature-packed ‘dumb’ phones for the first time ever in the three months leading up to February 2012, with 1 in 5 now owning a souped-up mobile device.

The most popular handset maker out there is Sharp, with 23.5% of the 4,000 folks surveyed owning a handset from the Japanese electronics manufacturer.

More interesting still is the split between operating systems, with Android accounting for a whopping 61.4% of the market and Apple’s iOS making up 34.2%.

Having leveraged Google’s Android and their own LCD display-making nous, Sharp’s AQUOS series of handsets have proved enduringly popular, followed by Panasonic (13.8%), Fujitsu (11.8%), NEC (9.7%) and Sony (7.5%), the top five entirely ruled by Japanese firms.

Apple may be in eighth place in Japan and enjoying a relatively meagre 6.5% market share, but they were also the biggest climbers, with a 1.6% gain on November 2011.

Windows Phone is on a slight slide in contrast, dropping from 5.7% to 3.9% within the same period.

With Panasonic and Fujitsu both pledging to make the leap into international mobile markets this year (the former’s Eluga device already available to buy in the UK), how long before we see Sharp making a concerted effort to topple the likes of Apple on US soil?

via Textually

Apple Store Now Selling Unlocked iPhones On Pay As You Go

Apple are offering a new way to get your hands on the iPhone, selling Pay As You Go deals on unlocked handsets directly from the UK online store – but only until May 9th.

Deals on the Apple Store seem to be available across the 3GS, iPhone 4 and 4S on three of the UK’s leading mobile networks – Vodafone, Three and O2 – with them offering an unlocked handset and bundling your choice of 30-day SIM card pre-loaded with minutes, texts and data, making it ready for calling and Facepoking right out of the box.

Each network is offering a slightly different prepay deal:

Three – 300 minutes, 3000 texts, unlimited data – £15

O2 – £10 ‘call credit’, 300 texts, 500MB data – £10

Vodafone – 300 minutes, 3000 texts, 500MB data – £20

It’s also interesting to note that O2′s offer is not available on the ageing iPhone 3GS.

With prepay iPhones usually locked when purchased from providers, getting it straight from the Apple Store would be the best way to grab a handset, not stress about a credit check and still be free to use any network.

Obviously, the option to go it alone with a SIM-free deal is also available.

The prices are pretty much on a parity – with an iPhone 4S 16GB at £499, for example – then sticking a prepay top-up onto the cost.

Whilst the Apple Store prepay offer is a time-limited trial for a couple of weeks, it will be interesting to see if many consumers opt for an all-in-one solution over the popular pay monthly method…buying your iPhone up front is indeed the cheapest way to do it if you do the maths…

HTC Sensation XE ‘Lite’ Edition Scraps Pack-In Beats Headphones, Lowers Pay Monthly Cost

Wow, that was quick.

Mere weeks after Taiwanese manufacturer HTC said they would cease packing Beats by Dre headphones in with future devices, UK handset retailer BuyMobilePhones has already taken stock of revamped HTC Sensation XEs sans in-ear audio goodness.

The image above shows the new official HTC Sensation XE packaging (right) alongside the original Beats by Dre edition of the sizable smartphone, with the vendor dubbing it the ‘Lite’ edition and shaving a few quid off the monthly cost in the process.

You can see that the ‘Beats Audio’ branding – nor the headphones – are anywhere to be seen on the box, whilst the custom Beats wallpaper pictured on the Sensation XE has now been replaced with a stock Sense swirl of colours.

Word from BMP is that the device within is physically identical to the original XE and is still boasting Beats technology hardware-wise, just not shouting about it so loudly this time…also that this leaner package is available now.

It is all but certain the original HTC Sensation XE bundle is being phased out for this new cost-effective model to buoy a phone maker facing tough financial times, as well as stiff smartphone competition from the likes of Sony and Samsung.

The HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio is still available for free from £18.50 per month on various networks, but the canny retailer has also created some canny custom bundles by combining the stripped-down ‘Lite’ with pricier Beats Solo or Beats Studio headphones…effectively sweetening the deal for Android-loving audiophiles.

Despite word that recent corporate shuffles – CFO Winston Yung (said to have been instrumental in HTC’s $300m majority stake investment in the ‘Beats’ brand) being sent off into corporate development – have nothing to do with a costly foray into accessory territory, such a swift cost-cutting exercise does illustrate plans to shift the company into a stronger direction for 2012.

Amplifiear: Kickstarter Project Wants To Bring Better Audio To The iPad

One of the black marks on the Apple iPad’s otherwise exemplary record is the disappointing audio output from the sole mono speaker on the rear of the device.

In an effort to bring a better sound to your tablet, a lightweight accessory dubbed ‘Amplifiear’ aims to reflect and amplify audio in an aim to boost the quality of the iPad’s standard speaker.

Another Kickstarter darling that has just broken its goal of $10,000 of funding, Amplifiear uses a simple and elegant design that clips onto the iPad and has already garnered plenty of interest.

Available at a preliminary price of $15 to those pledging funds, the Amplifiear comes in a variety of colours and looks every inch the minimalist iPhone accessory.

Expect to see it in stores before long, and take a look at it in action below.

We attempted to emulate the effect with an iPhone in a cup…which was good, but perhaps not as much as the real deal.

 Source: Kickstarter via LikeCool

Three UK Refreshes iPhone Deals, Pits Pricing Against Other Networks With Comparison Table

Mobile network Three UK has shunted around their selection of new Essential and Ultimate tariffs, offering a narrower range of deals for the Apple iPhone 4 and 16GB model of the iPhone 4S.

In order to ‘give the customer and easier choice and in turn a…simpler journey’, the Essential and Ultimate 100 and 300 tariffs have been dropped in favour of a starting package of £31 per month for the 4S, offering 500 minutes, 5000 texts and 250MB with a £49 upfront cost.

In fact, Three are so confident in their new iPhone pricing that they have constructed a comparison table that sizes themselves up against deals from the other major networks.

Check it out here.

BlackBerry Curve 9220 Launches In India, RIM Takes Aim At Developing World

Nokia is not the only manufacturer tapping into an explosion of smartphone interest in the developing world, with RIM unveiling the BlackBerry Curve 9220 for the Indian market.

An incremental upgrade on the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and powered by OS 7.1, the Curve 9220 is equipped with all of the familiar entry-level features including a 2-megapixel rear camera and 2.4-inch QVGA screen alongside a full QWERTY keyboard, although possessing solely 2G connectivity.

WiFi and a built-in radio are both on board, whilst the 9220 has a unique selling point in having the longest battery life for a Curve smartphone at 7 hours talktime, with 28 hours of music playback.

“The new BlackBerry Curve 9220 offers a unique mobile experience that young Indians will love thanks to its affordable pricing and unmatched messaging and social connectivity features,” said Sunil Dutt, Managing Director for India at RIM.

In an effort to also induce engagement with BlackBerry App World, the Curve 9220 comes with an offer to download 2500 Rupees worth of content (about £30) for free, up until the end of June.

Available from April 19th at a cost of Rs10,990 (£133), the Curve 9220 might seem steep against the current crop of feature-rich Android smartphones, but it may well serve the enduring popularity of BlackBerry as a brand in other parts of the world.