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• Tech Week: Google+ goes live and iPhone 5 release details
• LG Optimus 3D now on sale at Carphone Warehouse
• Samsung Galaxy Z won't be sold in the UK
• Tag Heuer launches £4250 Link luxury mobile phone
• App week: Google+ coming to iPhone, Angry Birds to WP7

Tech Week: Google+ goes live and iPhone 5 release details Posted: 02 Jul 2011 10:00 AM PDT Posted by T3 Online on Sat 2 Jul 2011 Yet another busy week in tech has passed by, so here are our highlights from the past seven days.   NEWS  Google arrived late this week to steal the headlines as it launched Google+, a new service designed to reinvent the way people approach social networking. The service is currently invite-only and details are scarce but slowly we are getting an idea of what Google+ might be all about. Google+ has also inspired a design overhaul of Google Mail and Calendar, the intention being to make these services cleaner and less cluttered.   Call of Duty has dominated gaming news this week, as the launch of the 'Annihilation' map pack saw Black Ops overtake its predecessor Modern Warfare 2 to become the best-selling game ever in the UK. There was also exciting news for FPS fans as Activision registered domains for 'Goldeneye Reloaded', sparking rumours that a new iteration of the hallowed shooter could be on its way to current generation consoles. Microsoft came out to defend its recent E3 showing, and insisted that 'hardcore' gamers will warm to Kinect.   In our T3 poll at the beginning of the week, you voted that you were most excited for a Sony produced next-gen console. This however was a single bright spot in what has been another tough week for the Japanese electronics giant, as it continues to struggle in the wake of the PSN hacking scandal. Sony released details of its PS Home 'Welcome Back' pack, which offers £65 worth of compensatory goodies to Playstation Users. In an exclusive interview with T3, Kaspersky Lab CEO Eugene Kaspersky claimed that Sony has always had a blasé attitude to internet security, and that it may need to overhaul its current IT security systems and staff.   The smartphone market was a hotbed of activity this week, with many major players releasing details of their own ideas for the next generation of handsets. Samsung's excellent Galaxy S II remains the nations most popular smartphone, and the Korean manufacturer has a major update in development to ensure that the handset can compete with the iPhone 5 when the time comes. In addition, pictures of the smaller Samsung Galaxy Z have emerged, though there is no indication as to whether we will be seeing the phone in the UK anytime soon.   HTC has confirmed that both HTC Android Gingerbread and the HTC EVO 3D will be available in the UK soon, the latter arriving courtesy of Vodafone. Details have emerged of four new Nokia Symbian smartphones, highlighting the firms intentions to persist with the struggling Symbian OS. Reports suggest that the fantastic Nokia N9 however, may not be coming to the UK at all. One phone that has arrived in the UK is the LG Optimus 3D, which launched today in Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse stores.   Finally, no week in tech is complete these days without some Apple news, and the Cupertino-based tech firm has been as busy as ever. Dwindling stocks of both the MacBook and MacBook Air have sparked rumours that Apple could be about to relaunch both these machines. Whilst the iPhone 5 continues to capture the imagination, rumours suggest that Apple might be planning to release a mid-range iPhone 4S PAYG alongside the new iPhone 5. Samsung meanwhile is looking to bring a halt to all these products and their current iterations, as the Korean manufacturer filed lawsuits to ban the sale of Apple products in the US.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ App of the Day | Factbook Factbook puts information from the CIA's World Factbook at your fingertips T3 App Chart | Top 10 Android Apps | Factbook Review ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Features This week saw Apple's iPhone handset celebrate its fourth birthday and to mark the occasion we took a trip down memory lane arching back to look at the reviews of the first four iPhone handsets. With the Apple iPhone 5 expected to touch down in September we could soon have a new addition to the iPhone family.   There has been a lot of buzz around the announcement of Google Plus and to ensure that you are aware what is what with the new social network we bring you Google Plus explained: What its all about. With Facebook recently announcing its 750 millionth user Google Plus has some way to go before it tops the social market.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ T3 Podcast - The web's biggest audio gadget show The T3 tech team discuss the weeks top news and their gadget of the week, the HP TouchPad T3 Podcast episode 189 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Reviews With the emergence of 3D smartphones there comes a new dilemma, which of the two 3D phones coming to the UK is the best. Well, we are glad you asked for this week we presented the HTC EVO 3D vs. LG Optimus 3D video review delving deep into the heart of the 3D pocket blowers to offer you a guide to which comes of tops in this extra dimensional two horse race.   Another new addition this week that has been given the video review treatment is the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook. The first commercially available machine to run the new cloud-based Google operating system Chrome OS. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

LG Optimus 3D now on sale at Carphone Warehouse Posted: 02 Jul 2011 04:18 AM PDT Posted by Richard Wordsworth on Sat 2 Jul 2011 First phone to sport 3D menus and cameras lands in the UK. The world's first 3D phone, the LG Optimus 3D, is now finally on sale at the Carphone Warehouse. Related links LG Optimus 3D review LG Optimus 3D review: Hands-on video LG Optimus pics HTC Evo 3D vs LG Optimus 3D The Optimus 3D offers up a double-whammy of 3D features, sporting glasses-free, Nintendo 3DS-style three-dimensional menus, as well as dual 5MP cameras on the back for snapping 3D stills and recording 3D video. 3D features aside, the Optimus 3D also packs in 8GB of storage and a nippy 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor. We got our first glimpses of LG's 3D handset back at MWC in February, which is where we first had a play with those dual cameras and some of the games LG is promising Optimus 3D users. You can take a look at the Optimus 3D in action in our hands-on video below. The Optimus 3D jumps into the smartphone race at a respectable £499.95 SIM-free, but can be snapped up by 3D-loving gadgeteers free on contracts from £35 per month on O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone. Still unpersuaded by a 3D smartphone? Read our full LG Optimus review. LG Optimus 3D: Hands on   Link: The Carphone Warehouse       This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Samsung Galaxy Z won't be sold in the UK Posted: 02 Jul 2011 03:52 AM PDT Posted by on This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Tag Heuer launches £4250 Link luxury mobile phone Posted: 02 Jul 2011 03:39 AM PDT Posted by Richard Wordsworth on Sat 2 Jul 2011 'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion... What do you buy the Android fan who has everything? Book vouchers. Cooking lessons. A day out at Wimbledon. There's a pretty long list of things, really. And somewhere way down on that list is the new Link mobile phone from luxury timepiece peddlars Tag Heuer. Related links Worst phones: Top 20 fashion disasters Tag Heuer's first phone: The Meridiist Vertu Constellation Ayxta mobile announced Vertu Ascent Ti Neon: A luxury mobile for the ladies The handset - described by Tag Heuer as offering "unprecedented functionality" and an "avant-garde operating system" - will set you back 4700 Euros, or around £4247. For this you receive a holographic projector, an X-Ray camera that sees through clothes and a case made by God himself from bits he had left over after doing Maria Sharapova's legs. Except instead of those things you get Android Gingerbread, a 3.5" screen and a five-megapixel camera that can't even see through chiffron. And maybe some alligator skin. Still, at least your four-and-a-bit grand buys you some peace of mind - the Tag Heuer Link comes with a screen made out of gorilla glass, the super-tough material used to make the screen on the Samsung Galaxy S2, so dropping it shouldn't be a problem (unless you're in a helicopter, which, as someone who spends £4247 on a phone, you will be). If the Link's innards are merely so-so, at least Tag Heuer hasn't skimped on the facade - the Link can be had in steel, titanium or rose gold, and finished in the skins of various exotic animals of the kind prospective Link owners probably shoot while on safari. Unless you plump for the £4247 entry-level model, in which case it's rubber and steel all round for you, chum. We've had no word on when and if the Link will touch down in Blighty, but our guy in The Carphone Warehouse said he'd be getting back to us just as soon as he heard anything. In the meantime, you can check out the ad for the Tag Heuer Link below. Tag Heuer Link advert       This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

App week: Google+ coming to iPhone, Angry Birds to WP7 Posted: 02 Jul 2011 03:00 AM PDT Posted by Chris Smith on Sat 2 Jul 2011 Every Saturday we round-up the week in mobile applications bringing you news of the biggest new releases across all major platforms and a host of reviews from T3's App Chart. Let's crack on... iPhone app news: Google+ arrives and there's an iPhone app coming soon The newest social network on the block arrived this week. Facebook-rival Google+ arrived with an app for Android 2.1 but there's also an iPhone app coming. No word yet of a companion for Windows Phone, Nokia Symbian or BlackBerry yet, but if Google is serious this time you'd have to assume that they're on the way.   Windows Phone app news: Angry Birds finally arrives This week's Angry Birds update sees the pig-hating, vengeance-filled birds arrive on a brand new platform. As promised many moons ago, Angry Birds for Windows Phone has been unleashed. The app can be downloaded from the App Marketplace now. It's free to die and $2.99 to buy.   iPad app news: Skype app confirmed It has been a long-time coming for iPad owners, but an official Skype application will arrive on the App Store within weeks. Skype was forced to reveal its hand after a promo video (below) leaked on to the internet. The Skype app for iPad will allow video and voice calls over Wi-Fi and 3G, which will pretty much make Apple's-own FaceTime obsolete. Android app news: Cut the Rope makes debut Every week the Android platform gets ahold of an iOS classic and this week that lovable, candy-loving monster On Nom is making his bow. Cut the Rope for Android is a GetJar appstore exclusive. The idea of the game is to slice through ropes suspending candy in order to guide it into Om Nom's mouth. If you've just started playing, we'll see you in September.   iPhone app news: TomTom app gets update Version 1.8 of the TomTom for iPhone app brings a tidy little update which will allow you to plan breaks in your journey along the way. You can plot up to five stops along the way, be they at motorway service stations, hotels, or lunch-stops and they'll be included in your journey. Neato.   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- App of the Year | Vote in the T3 Gadget Awards 2011 Is GarageBand the best app of 2011? Or can Flipboad, Star Walk or the other nominees take the title Vote for App of the Year | GarageBand for iPad review| Flipboard for iPad rated --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   APP REVIEWS FROM THE T3 APP CHART iPad app review: Spider-Man: Total Mayhem HD With a new Spider-Man film in the works, we felt it time to test Peter Parker's iPad run-out. Spider-Man: Total Mayhem HD. This scrolling beat 'em up. The game earns a four star rating from our reviewer for executing the combat system Spidey performs kicks and punches adding in jumps and squirts of webbing to produce combos.   iPhone app review: Quick-Tunes Sometimes the best apps are the ones that fulfil the simplest of needs, but do it really well. Quick-Tunes for iPhone helps you control your music on the road without diverting your four-wheeled friend into the nearest ditch. The app turns your homescreen into a massive Play/Pause button, with decent sized skip and volume-buttons alongside.   Android app review: Plume If you're getting a bit bored of the functional-but-plain official Twitter app for Android then you might want to give Plume a try. This viable alternative offers a similar experience to Twitter app, and also offers geotagged photos via support for Twitpic, yfrog and Plixi. Our reviewer says: "This is certainly a vibrant and stylish looking Twitter app that offers a vast array of features" This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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