PlayStation Network restoration spreads across the world (update)

Now that North America has been thoroughly blanketed in the beautiful green light of a working PlayStation Network, it’s time for other countries to sign on too, and the first out of the gate are the United Kingdom, Ireland and unspecified nations in the Middle East. Sony’s official PlayStation Europe Twitter account reports that parts of the EMEA are beginning to light up now, and while there’s no convenient map for you to monitor the rollout this time around, you can still get updates straight from the source — follow the Twitter feed at our source link and Sony should let you know when to get your game on.

Update: Looks like it’s not just the EMEA, as PSN’s spreading across the world — as of noon PST, it’s lighting up the smiles of bereaved gamers and music lovers in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South America as well.

Update 2: We’re hearing that the UK, Ireland and the Middle East actually went dark again for a tad, but now they should be up again.

Update 3: Sony’s having a bit of difficulty getting millions of passwords reset in such a short time, due to a number of things, including ISPs that are automatically blocking or delaying the huge influx of email password change requests. Give it time, folks.

PlayStation Network restoration spreads across the world (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 May 2011 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 priced at £1,293 by Amazon, shipping May 20th

The leaks should’ve already told you most of everything you need to know about the Lenovo ThinkPad X1, but here’s some affirmation of perhaps the most relevant bit of info, the release date. Amazon has listed the ultraslim 13.3-inch laptop for pre-order, giving it the extremely specific price of £1,292.52 ($2,120) and a shipping date of May 20th. That’s a heftier price tag than you’ll find on Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air, however Lenovo will provide you with the latest generation of Intel processor — in the shape of the 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M — 4GB of RAM, 320GB of HDD storage, a backlit keyboard, and a promised eight hours of battery life. You don’t need us to tell you that there hasn’t yet been a laptop that’s combined the thinness, processing power and battery endurance on offer from the X1. We’ll be keen to check these mighty specs out for ourselves when it launches, but if you’re already convinced, hit up the source link to get your pre-order in.

[Thanks, Raj]

Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad X1 priced at £1,293 by Amazon, shipping May 20th

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 priced at £1,293 by Amazon, shipping May 20th originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 May 2011 06:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer’s 3G-equipped Iconia Tab A100 up for pre-order on Amazon UK for £400

When we first caught wind of the pending release of Acer’s Iconia Tab A100 WiFi version, we were amazed by its Amazonian pre-order promise of Android 3.0 for a mere £300. Now, a second version of the seven-inch slate has hit the same site with a May 14 release date, a sprinkling of 3G, and the cut-rate cost of its cousin has been replaced with a £400 ($660) price tag. Unfortunately, the extra hundred pounds takes the A500’s 3G baby brother out of the bargain basement, but you didn’t think you’d get all those G’s for free, did you?

Acer’s 3G-equipped Iconia Tab A100 up for pre-order on Amazon UK for £400 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 May 2011 00:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Sensation up for pre-order at Vodafone UK, delivery promised by May 19th

HTC couldn’t let Samsung and Motorola have all the dual-core fun in the UK and it’s now let Vodafone detail the earliest known availability of its mighty Sensation. That 1.2GHz, aluminum-clad handset has gone up for pre-order today, with Vodafone aiming to deliver “by the 19th of May.” Not exactly the firmest of promises here, but it’s good to know that in a couple of weeks we’ll have yet another contender in the dual-core Android wars. We suspect other European markets will be joining the UK at about the same time, and T-Mobile in the US shouldn’t be too far behind either.

[Thanks, Tom]

HTC Sensation up for pre-order at Vodafone UK, delivery promised by May 19th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 May 2011 06:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S II to arrive in UK on April 27th, but only through Phones 4u

UK phone retailer Phones 4u has scooped itself a short-term but enviable exclusive — it’ll be the only place in the UK where you’ll be able to buy Samsung’s Galaxy S II in April. The 1.2GHz dual-core Android superphone has already been announced for wide availability in the Queen’s Kingdom on May 1st, but Phones 4u will get you one as early as April 27th, plus it’ll throw in a free 8GB microSD card if you pre-order one now. The Galaxy S II will be available for free on two-year contracts costing £35 per month and above and there’ll be a choice of carriers. Only Orange’s tariffs are listed at the moment, but we imagine the others will be showing up soon as well. Jump past the break for the press release.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S II to arrive in UK on April 27th, but only through Phones 4u

Samsung Galaxy S II to arrive in UK on April 27th, but only through Phones 4u originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White iPhone 4 appears to be ready to order at Three UK (update: gone!)

Looks like somebody pulled the trigger on an order page for the mythical white iPhone 4 a little early over at Three UK. The phone that had previously been listed on the carrier’s site for a long, long time (sans any ability to actually order it) has now sprouted up a page all its own with the magical option to “buy now.” We managed to get all the way through to an order confirmation page, so if it’s a mistake it’s a very thoroughgoing one. Calling up Three’s telephone ordering line and PR personnel brought us no closer to finding out the truth, but this particular order page was discovered via a tweet by a Three affiliate — whose tweets have since gone private — suggesting it was dug up from someone in the know. Our suspicion is that Apple’s finally about ready to dish this phone up to the people and Three has been caught testing out its order page ahead of the inevitable onslaught of white iPhone orders. Hit the source link to see the premature revelation for yourself.

Update: Three finally wised up to the fact nobody else was yet offering the pale phone for sale and has pulled the page. For now.

Update 2: Three’s official statement on the matter:

“This page is not live at the moment, it was built at the same time as the iPhone black page so that we have it ready when and should the time come to launch white. For now, it’s a hidden page that’s inactive.”

Continue reading White iPhone 4 appears to be ready to order at Three UK (update: gone!)

White iPhone 4 appears to be ready to order at Three UK (update: gone!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Atrix to launch exclusively with Orange UK in early May

Just in time to duel with the Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola’s Atrix is crossing the Atlantic for an early May release in Orange livery. UK carrier Orange has proudly announced it’ll be the “exclusive launch partner” for the Atrix in the UK, offering the dual-core handset for free on two-year contracts costing £35 per month or more. A Work and Play Kit that includes the phone’s Multimedia Dock will be made available at a reduced £50 price to new customers buying the phone, or for free to existing Orange subscribers upgrading to the Atrix during May. Business customers on some of the more overpriced fully featured tariffs will also get the chance to snap up the Lapdock for free. Jump past the break for Orange’s fulll press release or hit the source link to register your interest now.

Continue reading Motorola Atrix to launch exclusively with Orange UK in early May

Motorola Atrix to launch exclusively with Orange UK in early May originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 06:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell’s WiFi-only Streak 7 goes Euro-trippin’, now available in the UK for £299

With one of the original 5-inch Streak‘s chief downsides being that it was considered too small to be a proper tablet, Dell did the sage thing this January and introduced a 7-inch variant in the Streak 7. The newer slate is outfitted with a nice Tegra 2 dual-core chip, 16GB of storage, a 5 megapixel rear- and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, a WVGA (800 x 480) display, and now the eminently reasonable UK price of £299 ($487). Alas, where Dell fell short with its Streak family expansion was in installing Android 2.2 on the 7, which hasn’t changed during its trip over the Altantic, and in offering pretty poor battery life — which might actually be a bit better here since Brits are receiving the WiFi-only model. Then again, if we’re having to praise a device for improving itself by omitting a valuable feature like 3G, perhaps that tells you all you need to know about its viability. At least the Streak 7 is priced correctly and Dell does promise a Honeycomb update is in the offing. You can order yours at Dell’s UK outlet linked below or jump past the break to familiarize yourself with the company’s press release.

Continue reading Dell’s WiFi-only Streak 7 goes Euro-trippin’, now available in the UK for £299

Dell’s WiFi-only Streak 7 goes Euro-trippin’, now available in the UK for £299 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 05:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu to build 1Gbps fiber optic broadband network in the UK, but needs BT to play fair first

Good news for anyone feeling left behind by the broadband revolution just because of their post code: Fujitsu has just announced a joint venture to deliver fiber optic connectivity to neglected rural homes in the UK. Built on hardware provided by Cisco and supported by Virgin Media and TalkTalk, this network will focus on channeling fiber directly to the home, which is said to provide symmetrical 1Gbps bandwidth with up to 10Gbps speeds considered possible down the line. Best news of all, perhaps, is that the cabling will be available on a wholesale basis to all ISPs, not just the ones involved in the project, so the UK may finally get a decent taste of what competition in the internet service space feels like. Alas, there’s a key line in the press release that notes the new venture is dependent on BT providing “access to its underground ducts and telegraph poles on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms,” which it apparently isn’t doing at the moment. Ah well, we’re sure they’ll sort things out like the mature professionals that they are. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Fujitsu to build 1Gbps fiber optic broadband network in the UK, but needs BT to play fair first

Fujitsu to build 1Gbps fiber optic broadband network in the UK, but needs BT to play fair first originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S II to be available May 1st in the UK

Samsung has just delivered a most welcome (and concrete) bit of news for British smartphone lovers. Its next do-it-all Android superphone will be available on May 1st in the United Kingdom. The Galaxy S II will emulate its predecessor by being made available “across all major networks and retailers.” The press release promises a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, which indicates we’re looking at the Exynos 4210 variant of this handset. We’ll try to track down availability information for the rest of Europe, but at least Brits can now stop fretting about the delay / non-delay of this marquee phone’s launch.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S II to be available May 1st in the UK

Samsung Galaxy S II to be available May 1st in the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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