Hasta La Gadget!

If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought a new smartphone from Xolo to India, HTC’s crackdown on a custom ROM distributor and the UK’s largest mobile spectrum auction to date. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of January 21st, 2013.

Xolo A500 debuts in India with Android 4.0

A new Android 4.0 smartphone known as the Xolo A500 became available within India this week, and from all appearances, it’s entirely run of the mill. That said, with a price of ₹6,999 ($130), it may just turn a few heads. The Xolo A500 sports a 4-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, along with a dual-core 1GHz CPU (Snapdragon S4 Play) and dual-SIM functionality. You’ll also find a 5-megapixel rear camera, along with a front-facing VGA shooter. The device includes a 1,500mAh battery, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage and supports microSD cards up to 32GB in size. [Fone Arena]

Ofcom kicks off 4G spectrum auction in UK

The largest mobile spectrum auction to date in the UK began this week, which is set to nearly double the wireless resources available to Britons. In all, 28 lots of spectrum are available across the 800MHz and 2600MHz bands, which will add 250MHz of spectrum to the 333MHz in use today. Telefonica (O2), Vodafone, EE, Hutchison (Three), Niche Spectrum Ventures (BT), HKT and MLL are participants in the auction, which carries a total reserve price of £1.36 billion. According to UK regulator Ofcom, the auction will take place in several rounds over the coming weeks. [Android Central]

AT&T CEO reveals interest in smartphone financing

Verizon’s Lowell McAdam now has some company. During this week’s earnings call, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson revealed that AT&T is similarly monitoring T-Mobile’s shift to drop the subsidized business model and instead provide customers the ability to finance their new smartphone purchase. While Stephenson may lack grace with his words, the intent is clear: “We expect there to be some dynamics in the marketplace that — and we’ll have to respond to some of it — we find interesting, like the handset financing that they’re doing.” Curiously, Stephenson admitted that AT&T has considered the approach in the past, but like Verizon, much of how his company responds will depend on consumers’ reception of T-Mobile’s new approach. [FierceWireless]

US Cellular now offers carrier billing for online shopping

US Cellular announced this week that it now supports carrier billing for online purchases. The system was launched in partnership with Boku, and subscribers may pay for goods at participating merchants by entering their mobile number at checkout and then confirming the purchase with a text message. From there, customers will find the total amount of the purchase added to their wireless bill. [PhoneScoop]

AT&T working to integrate Data Sense for Windows Phone 8

Data Sense is one of the more unique features of Windows Phone 8, which allows users to monitor their data usage and squeeze more from their data plan through the magic of server-side compression. Verizon is the only carrier to support the feature within the US, but that may soon change, as AT&T has revealed that it’s “exploring Data Sense and how to optimize the experience” for its subscribers. About damn time, right? [FierceWireless]

HTC forces shutdown of custom ROM site

A provider of many popular Sense-based ROMs is no more. This week, HTCRUU closed its doors and took its repositories offline in acquiescence to legal threats from HTC. Historically, HTC has taken an admirably lax approach to distribution of customized Sense ROMs, which are popular among enthusiasts of the company’s smartphones. Naturally, many other sources exist for custom Sense blends, which raises the question of whether this move was but a one-off showing of legal force, or whether HTC will take a more active approach to ending the underground custom ROM community. Those interested can learn more of the situation on Reddit. [Android Police]

Other random tidbits

• Following in the footsteps of Android and iOS, Microsoft has upped the mobile data cap of app downloads and updates for Windows Phone to 50MB. [WPCentral]
• The Meizu MX2 is now available as a subsidized handset for customers of China Unicom. The smartphone can be gotten for free with all two-year plans of ¥226 or more per month, or with all three-year plans of ¥156 or more per month. [GSM Arena]
• Colombia’s state-owned telecom, UNE EPM, announced that it would invest $2.5 million to bring LTE services to Barranquilla — the country’s fourth most populous city — which sports a population of approximately 1.8 million. [RCR Wireless]
• An internal leak has revealed that the HTC 8S will become available at Bell Mobility on February 1st. [MobileSyrup]
• Videotron has announced that it’ll begin selling the Nexus 4 on January 30th. Similarly, Fido is accepting reservations (and a requisite $40 deposit) for the smartphone, which it’s targeting for an early February arrival. [MobileSyrup 1, 2]

[Buy More Stuff photo credit: jbhthescots / Flickr]

[Mobile Miscellany photo credit: Thristian / Flickr]

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Let’s say a criminal suspect is on the run, and as a police officer, you begin to chase them down. You then realize you can’t keep up with them, so you pull out a specially-made gun and fire a DNA tagging bullet at them. They’re non-lethal, but the pellets leave a mark on the suspect that lasts for weeks, and it can help authorities identify suspects the easy way.

British security company Selectamark has launched a new system, called the SelectaDNA High Velocity System, that will help police and military personnel easily identify possible criminal suspects. A DNA pellet weigh just one gram, and can be fired from up to 130 feet away. When the pellets hit a target, they leave an enduring biological mark on the subject that lasts for weeks.

It may sound like the pellet marks the suspect’s DNA, but that’s actually not the case. Instead, the pellet simply has a DNA nature to it that allows each pellet to leave a unique mark on suspects, different than that of traditional color markers that are used currently. The system is being launched today, but no word on when authorities will start utilizing them.

Selectamark says that these guns and pellets are great for out-of-control situations with large crowds where police officers would be endangering their own lives if they went in for arrests. Instead, officers can pull out their DNA guns and tag various suspects from a safe distance and arrest them later.

DNA tagging bullets mark criminal suspects for arrest is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you liked the look of the previously India-bound Lumia 510 but live on the other side of the world, there’s now no need to fret. Nokia has just confirmed to Omio that they will be bringing their cheapest Windows Phone device to Blighty — although there’s no word yet on UK-specific pricing or willing carriers. The phone was priced up at $200 when announced, which will net you a humble 4-inch display and 800MHz processor. Retailer Phones 4U accidentally let the Windows Phone 7.8 slab slip out onto its coming soon page and although it’s already been erased, we’ve added some screen-grab proof after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Source: Omio, My Nokia Blog

HMV’s 91-year long tenure on the British high street might not be coming to an end after all, as HMV Canada’s owner has mounted a rescue attempt. The rescuer in this instance is Hilco, which previously picked up Polaroid’s brand and paired it with famous insolvency specialist Lady Gaga. BBC News is reporting that Hilco scored a cut-price rate on the £176 million ($278.8 million) corporate debt and has already received cheering words from the film and music industry. After a bout of uncertainty, HMV has also said it’ll once again accept gift cards in its stores.

[Image credit: London Express / Getty Images]

Filed under: Misc

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Source: BBC News, (2)

Last week, Blockbuster UK announced that it had entered administration, with Deloitte appointed as administrator. At the time, we weren’t sure what was going to happen to Blockbuster UK’s 528 stores and more than 4,000 employees, but today we’re getting a better idea. Deloitte has announced that a total of 160 stores will close, with an unknown amount of jobs being eliminated with this shutdown.

160 stores out of 528 doesn’t seem too bad, especially for a company that has been struggling as much as Blockbuster in recent years. It could definitely be worse, but this announcement doesn’t necessarily mean that the other 368 stores are out of the woods. Deloitte says that more closures may come by the time everything is said and done, so many employees are still bracing for the worst this morning.

The ultimate goal here is to turn Blockbuster UK into an attractive deal for potential buyers, and that’s obviously done by shutting down stores that aren’t making a profit as a means of saving money. Deloitte certainly has its work cut out for it, as Blockbuster – once the king of movie and game rentals – has been losing a lot of ground to digital retailers and streaming services like Netflix.

There doesn’t seem to be any word on which stores across the UK will be shutting down, but Deloitte will probably be ready to share that information soon. When Blockbuster announced that it was going into administration last week, it said that it would continue trading as usual, meaning that for the time being, nothing about Blockbuster’s business will be changing from a consumer perspective. Keep it here at SlashGear and we’ll keep you updated on Blockbuster UK’s bout with bankruptcy.

[via GamesIndustry International]

160 Blockbuster UK stores set to shut down is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.