HP Pre 3 Available in Europe for £299

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HP has quietly released HP Pre 3, the smartphone that’s been delayed seven months, in the European market without a lot of ceremony. The SIM-free device with 8GB storage is retailing for £299.00 at HP’s online Palm Eurostore with 1-2 days shipping. The Pre3 is also being shipped to UK customers from Box.co.uk for £349.98 and Clove.co.uk for £360.00 (VAT).

PreCentral has received official confirmation from HP that the Pre 3 is indeed rolling out in Europe. The press release reads:

HP is excited to begin its regional rollout of Pre3, the only phone today that offers users a slide-out keyboard coupled with a large touchscreen and the fastest speed (1.4GHz processor – the fastest on the market). We expect to share additional information for U.S. customers soon.

It’s very surprising that HP has launched the device without any fanfare. In any case, for those interested here’s a rundown on HP Pre 3′s features and capabilities: 3.58 inch multi-touch WVGA screen (480x800p resolution), 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor, 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and HD (up to 720p) video recording capabilities, front webcam, Microsoft® Exchange support, integrated IM and SMS, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB support, HP mobile hotspot support, HP Touchstone compatible (share by tapping with another compatible device), and loads of apps for webOS.

HP Pre3 launches with the following accessories – international power charge, vehicle charger, HP Touchstone charging dock, and stereo headset.

US customers should be getting their Pre 3 soon too.

[via preCentral]

NFC Enabled HTC PH85110 at FCC

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A mysterious NFC enabled HTC handset labeled PH85110 has just reached FCC sporting AT&T/T-Mobile GSM bands (850, 1900 and WCDMA bands II, IV, V). We’re not sure whether this is the same NFC enabled handset HTC was planning to ship to China in partnership with China UnionPay, a Chinese banking network; it was basically the HTC Incredible S with NFC chip added.

Since this handset is at FCC, we’re thinking it’s headed to the US too. Apart from the NFC chip, the device features Bluetooth and dual-band Wireless-N WiFi connectivity. That’s pretty much all that is known about this device.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Near Field Communication (NFC), it is a technology that allows transactions, data exchange and connections with a touch, hence the name. It basically turns your smartphone into a wallet as you can use it like a credit card, to pay for tickets, hotel bills, bookings, etc. Of course, you need NFC-supporting infrastructure which is being built up nationwide gradually. NFC applications are being tested across the globe at banks, payment counters of mobile centers, transport, and more. It is common in Japan, France, Spain, South Korea, and is spreading across US too.

[via wirelessgoodness]

PlayStation Vita Gets Social Networking and Communication Apps

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Sony has announced exciting new additions to PlayStation Vita – the latest PlayStation device expected to debut in Japan by the end of the year and land in US and Europe in early 2012. The device will now host apps including Facebook, Foursquare, Skype, and Twitter for you to brag to your friends as you play.

PlayStation Vita aims to deliver an unrivaled entertainment experience by collaborating with social networking services and communication. PS Vita users can download the apps from the PlayStation store for free and activate them by tapping on the icons as they appear on the screen.

PS Vita features a 5-inch organic light emitting diode (OLED) multi-touch screen that is perfect for enjoying movies, videos and photos, that can be shared with friends via the Internet, and neat graphics for games. There are two thumb sticks for more control, a rear multi-touch pad for greater hand control, front and rear cameras for augmented reality (AR) experience, six axis motion sensors, gyroscope, accelerometer, electronic compass,  flash card slot, quad core processor with SGX543MP4+ GPU, built-in speakers and microphone, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity.

PS Vita is expected to be available for $250.

[via engadget]

WiMAX Enabled BlackBerry PlayBook Pulled Back

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Though BlackBerry PlayBook hasn’t really taken off, we were waiting for the WiMAX enabled PlayBook tab to ship from Sprint. In a shocking move, Sprint has announced that the QNX tablet will not be available from its stores and the plan has in fact been shelved. So we just have the WiFi models of BlackBerry PlayBook to look at for some time.

Sprint representatives justify this move by citing poor adoption rates of BlackBerry PlayBook by business customers. Can’t be helped with the half-baked state of the tablet. They also added that the tablet market was already overcrowded and their decision to not launch the WiMAX BlackBerry PlayBook will not hurt the carrier’s relationship with RIM in any way.

Rim shared the following statement to clarify its stand: RIM has decided to prioritize and focus its 4G development resources on LTE. We remain excited and committed to delivering innovative and powerful 4G tablets to the US market together with our carrier partners. Testing of BlackBerry 4G PlayBook models is already underway and we plan to enter labs for network certifications in the US and other international markets this fall.

Well, sure. If they also bring native apps into the 4G version, it’ll be great. RIM has only sold 500,000 units of BlackBerry PlayBook in its first quarter, a very humble number when compared to the iPad 2. The result is hardly surprising though considering RIM has pushed out the PlayBook in a hurry leaving customers waiting for more.

[via WSJ]

LTE Handsets from AT&T To Arrive in Late 2011

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In an announcement that comes as no surprise, AT&T’s senior vice president of mobility and consumer markets, Peter Ritcher said they will not be releasing LTE smartphones till late in the year. AT&T’s LTE rollout is still on schedule with a launch in five markets – Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio – this summer.

For a start, AT&T will offer customers laptop dongles and mobile hotspots to access their LTE network.

Ritcher also indicated that the company is in no hurry to deploy LTE and ship out LTE handsets. Instead, they are working on strengthening the HSPA+ network with enhanced backhaul. He added that LTE handsets still need to mature and AT&T is not planning to jump on the bandwagon till late 2011.

Ritcher elaborated on the reasoning behind this move stating that AT&T plans to take advantage of the LTE network to reduce the strain on their 3G network. “We will offload traffic to the spectrum for LTE and it will help with the performance of our 3G network,” he said.

Verizon also did not launch its first LTE phone till many months after the rollout of its LTE network. In fact, if AT&T does release an LTE smartphone just months after rolling out the LTE network, it’ll be the fastest carrier to do so yet.

[via Phonescoop]