Hasta La Gadget!

So the UK is finally catching up with the fine money-grubbing nations of this world and allowing product placement in British-made TV programming, starting from next Monday, February 28th. Advertising embedded in internationally sourced films and shows has long been tolerated as a necessary evil within the Queen’s realm, but now that the telecoms regulator Ofcom is opening up locally farmed TV content to the blight of commercialization, it’s come up with a suitably austere logo to warn us of its dangers. Basically, any future episodes of Hollyoaks that may contain a “stray” Diet Coke or Nokia N8 within the frame will be preceded by the above P placed within a P, which will prep you for the pernicious potentiality that the programming you are perusing may provoke you into purchasing new property. Capiche?

Product placement gets a logo of its own, turns the world inside out originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Brand New  |  Ofcom  | Email this | Comments

[Thanks, Chris W.]

Vodafone UK lands Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 exclusive launch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Vodafone UK  | Email this | Comments

We can’t accuse Inq of having the best timing in the world — the company announced its new Facebook-centric Cloud Touch and Cloud Q phones at about the same time that HP was busy blowing minds with its new webOS range in San Francisco — but at least that gave us an excuse to get out of the Engadget bunker this morning and go check out some new gear. We’ve gotten to grips with the 3.5-inch touchscreen-equipped Cloud Touch and have broken down our first impressions of the device for you after the break. Aside from Facebook, Inq has chosen to integrate Spotify Premium into this phone along with Fluency, the typing prediction engine that powers SwiftKey. The two serve as significant upgrades on the default media player and keyboard software, respectively, and add a nice sprinkling of value to a phone that’s already expected to go easy on the wallet. The gallery below will illustrate anything else you may need or want to know, although you’ll have to check out the video to see the multifunctional unlock screen and Facebook widgetry in action.

Continue reading Inq Cloud Touch preview

Inq Cloud Touch preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change had a plan: to cut its carbon emissions by 10 percent in 2010. And not only was the plan a success, the government department actually doubled its goal, reducing emissions by 20 percent.

“We have saved 547 tonnes [of carbon] throughout the year, the equivalent weight of five jumbo jets,” department head Chris Huhne told the Guardian. “But this is just the start. Having demonstrated that it can be done we are working with other government departments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent across the entire government estate by May 2011.”

Changes made included a switch to laptops for everyone in the department, a new water-heater schedule that cut gas consumption in half, and not heating or cooling the office at night or on weekends when no one is there. The department is also looking into switching its lighting over to LED.

Now that the Xperia Play is finally official ahead of a full unveiling at MWC next week, carriers are ready to hop on the bandwagon — or at least one is: O2 in the UK. Other than a brief tweet, no other details are given at this point, though the quick support of a major European carrier has to be good news for Sony Ericsson considering that device subsidies are no longer a sure thing… and without question, the Play represents something of a Hail Mary for one of the most badly bruised and beaten titans of the wireless industry. Pricing on contract is, of course, a huge open question — as is North American support — but hopefully all will be revealed on the 13th.

[Thanks, Ed]

Update: Pocket-lint says it can “exclusively confirm” that Vodafone will be getting the phone as well, suggesting that Sony Ericsson may not be pursuing exclusivity periods here — at least, not in the UK.

Update 2: Pocket-lint is additionally reporting that Orange and T-Mobile UK (collectively known as Everything Everywhere) are signed up to get it in April, which would put it around the same time as the Xperia Arc. Still no word on what this might mean for North American launches.

O2 UK says it’s getting the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (update: other UK carriers, April launch) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  @O2 (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments