Hasta La Gadget!

When Blockbuster’s UK brand entered administration at the start of the year, there were concerns that it would ultimately prove just another casualty of the inexorable move toward online video. Not quite: Gordon Brothers Europe, a private equity firm known for rescuing troubled companies, has bought Blockbuster’s British assets. The acquirer isn’t disclosing the cash involved, but it plans to keep 2,000 workers and 264 stores in full swing while it plots a turnaround. That recovery is only described in vague terms at this stage, however — Gordon Brothers plans to bring “new products” and “new technologies” to the bruised retail chain. While we’re glad to see a one-time cornerstone of video rentals get a second chance, we hope that its bounce-back strategy involves a more futureproof selection than aisles full of plastic discs.

[Thanks, Steven]

Filed under: Home Entertainment

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Via: Sky News

Source: Gordon Brothers Europe

Ever since we got our hands on the BlackBerry Q10 back in late-January, we’ve been hearing many of you begging to hear more about the device as BlackBerry traditionalists have been looking forward to a BlackBerry 10 experience with the physical keyboard they’ve come to know and love for years. Up until today, we’ve only heard from US carriers saying when they expect have have the Q10 available, but no official announcements have been made.

With an expected US release of possibly in May or June, the UK is expected to receive their BlackBerry Q10s a tad earlier as Unlocked-Mobiles has listed a SIM-free Q10 for £529.98 (around $800) to be available on April 26. That’s around the same price we saw the BlackBerry Z10 launch in India for last month. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: BlackBerry To Release Four New Smartphones, Including Another ‘Exciting’ Flagship in 2013, BlackBerry Z10 US Preorder Volume Reportedly Below Expectations,

Samsung’s GALAXY S 4 smartphone will come in two different variants when it releases sometime next month. The US version will include the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core chip running at 1.9GHz, while the international version of the phone will sport Samsung’s new Exynos 5 Octa chip running at 1.6GHz. However, it’s said that the Exynos 5 version of the new handset won’t be making its way to the UK, and will instead sport the Snapdragon 600.

According to UK wireless carrier Omio, they have been informed by Samsung that they will not be bringing the Exynos 5 version of the GALAXY S 4 to the UK, even though that’s the model earmarked for countries other than the US. Instead, future UK GALAXY S 4 owners will be treated with the Snapdragon 600 variant.

We already know that another UK carrier, EE, will be offering the new phone starting April 26, and we expect most other carriers to release the phone at some point around that time, but EE has yet to confirm what model of the GALAXY S 4 they’ll be offering. If Omio’s report is true, it looks like it’ll be the Snapdragon 600 that’ll be greeting customers.

If you don’t know much about Samsung’s new Exynos 5 Octa chip, you can check out our SlashGear 101 piece that serves as a primer for the new technology. Essentially, the new chip isn’t necessarily a octo-core processor, but rather a chip with two separate quad-core processors, one which serves as a backup of sorts. While

Samsung GALAXY S 4 Exynos 5 model reportedly not coming to UK is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Hitting one of Blackberry’s key markets in the British Isles, its new smartphone platform (and the Balance software that divides work and personal profiles on the Z10) hasn’t passed the security rigors of the UK’s Communications Electronics Security Group. According to The Guardian, handset contracts with the government and NHS total in the tens of thousands, while the older BB 7.1 passed the ‘restricted’ security level — two levels below the presumably agent-friendly ‘secret’ level — at the end of last year. The Canadian phone maker said in a statement that changes in the approval process had affected the time it’s had to jump through the necessary security hoops, adding that BB10 has already passed similar US and German tests with flying colors. Blackberry added that it is “continuing to work closely with CESG on the approval of BlackBerry 10.” Maybe hiring Adele for that creative director position would have made a difference, or not. We’ve added BlackBerry’s full statement after the break.

Update: We’ve been sent another statement, this time from GCHQ. This is the organization above CESG and adds that it’s still in discussions with BlackBerry about using BB10. It plans to issue “Platform Guidance” in the summer, which will deal with both the new OS and its Balance feature. “We have a long standing security partnership with BlackBerry and this gives us confidence that the BlackBerry 10 platform is likely to represent a viable solution for UK Government.” So don’t count ’em out just yet, Bond.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Blackberry

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Via: ZDNet

Source: The Guardian

While Google Flight Search covers the far corners of the Earth, many of the people who live in those corners haven’t had a similar option to explore the world of air travel. Google is taking at least a small step toward ending that discrepancy with a fresh expansion to Europe. Jetsetters in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK can now find flights to and from many parts of the world, with prices and languages tailored to their home countries. As before, travelers can both see real-time prices, gauge the best (read: cheapest) time to book a vacation and filter flights through criteria like prices, timing and WiFi. There’s no surprises for locals if they’ve had the luxury of using Flight Search before — we just wish we’d had access in time for our recent trip to Barcelona.

Filed under: Transportation, Internet, Google

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Via: Phandroid

Source: ITA Software by Google