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Hands on with the Microsoft Lumia 640 and 640 XL: Not quite flagship material, but tactically priced

Mar02
by on March 2, 2015 at 11:10 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, MWC, Product Reviews

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Microsoft announced two new Lumia smartphones this morning at Mobile World Congress – the Lumia 640 and 640 XL – both of which will be available worldwide from April. We got a chance to try out both models and see how they perform. The Lumia 640 replaces the popular Lumia 630 and the Lumia 640 XL is the successor to the Lumia 1320. Both handsets come with a year’s license for the Office 365 suite which works on PC, Mac and Android tablets as well as on the phone. On top of that, you get 60 monthly minutes of international Skype calling…

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Jolla is building a secure version of its Sailfish OS as a rival to Android

Mar02
by on March 2, 2015 at 11:05 am
Posted In: Around the Web, jolla, Mobile, MWC, Sailfish OS, Sailfish Secure

Jolla Tablet
Jolla, which last hit our radar when it smashed the crowfunding target for its Sailfish OS tablet, has revealed it’s building a secure version of the OS. It’s teaming up with another Finnish firm, SSH Communications Security, to create Sailfish Secure. The companies believe there’s a need for the project as there are no European alternatives to Android and other US-based operating systems for secure communication. Details on how Sailfish Secure will work are pretty thin on the ground at the moment but Jolla says it expects the project will be ready to go next year. Sailfish is an open-source project…

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Virgin Atlantic’s engineers are trialling Sony’s smartglasses and smartwatches

Mar02
by on March 2, 2015 at 10:14 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, smartglasses, smartwatch, sony, Sony SmartEyeGlass, Sony Smartwatch 3, Virgin Atlantic

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Virgin Atlantic has announced its latest savvy PR tie-up with new technology. Last year, it ran a six-week trial using Google Glass for Upper Class check-ins and recently announced it’s expanding that effort. It also tried out Apple’s iBeacon tech. Now it’s turned to Sony smart devices. From next week, engineers working on Virgin Atlantic aircraft at Heathrow will be conducting an eight-week trial of Sony’s SmartEyeglass Developer Edition and SmartWatch 3, along with tablets and smartphones from the company.  The company says using the smartglasses should remove paper from some engineering processes and reduce the number of journeys engineers need to make…

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CTO of Amazon confirmed for TNW Conference Europe

Mar02
by on March 2, 2015 at 10:02 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, tnweu, Voice

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There’s no question of Amazon being one of the world’s most important technology companies, which makes its CTO one of the most important players – so it’s with great pleasure that we’re welcoming him to TNW Conference once again to deliver some incredible insight on the company’s groundbreaking activity in recent years. As arguably one of the most successful technology experts to emerge from the Netherlands, Werner Vogels has been a regular presence at TNW Conference Europe in Amsterdam over the years. He joined Amazon in 2004, when the company was synonymous with the success of internet-based retail – but little…

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Tradiio turns recommending new music into a game that offers real-world rewards

Mar02
by on March 2, 2015 at 9:37 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider, music streaming, new music, Product Reviews, services, Tradiio

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Streaming services like Spotify and Deezer are great when you know what you want to listen to, but despite offering charts and other discovery features, they’re not so good when it comes to surfacing new artists. For the past week, I’ve been testing out Tradiio, a new platform that turns finding new musicians into a game and rewards you for making smart picks. The service, which launched publicly today, uses a system of virtual coins. You start with a cache of currency to invest in songs. You earn more as you complete missions – short tasks like ‘listen to two hip-hop songs’…

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