Carphone Warehouse launch anti-bully phones

EXCLUSIVE

A MOBILE phone that blocks bullying text messages sent to frightened kids and also fires off an SOS to parents is to be launched in time for the new school term.
Samsung is to sell four new devices in partnership with the Carphone Warehouse chain that incorporate a range of safety features to combat the surge of so-called cyber-bullying, where victims are harassed via SMS messages sent to their handset.
The phones allow up to 10 telephone numbers to be blocked, any of which can be added or removed at anytime. There's also an SOS message feature that allows the owner to summon help.
By clicking the volume button four times, the caller automatically sends an SMS help alert to up to five numbers of parents, family and friends.

Take your pic

 

HERE’S a super snapper that’s just smiles better than the competition. It’s the new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200 (below) and it comes armed with a clever function using hi-tech face-recognition software that allows it to automatically take a picture when someone in the frame grins. It’s just one of five great new cameras about to hit the market. And each one gives you something different when you pack ’em with you on your hols. The Sony, out soon at around £299, is great for party people who love posting their group shots on myspace. Simply set the “smile shutter”, walk calmly to join the group photo and when you’re ready to take the picture, smile and it snaps. The camera also has beautiful slim styling, a 3.5 inch screen, 8.1 megapixel sensor and 5x optical zoom. But for those who are deadly serious about quality and want to capture the scenery in all its glory the CANON DIGITAL IXUS 960 IS is the way to go. This 12.1 megapixel beauty (left) can produce poster-size prints. With touch control and a 2.5- inch LCD screen, it will set you back £369 when it hits the shelves in September. For similar features at more than £100 less, have a look at SAMSUNG’S NV20 (below). It also has 12 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom and, like the Canon, it has a 2.5-inch screen. If you’re more of an adventure fan and are planning an extreme holiday the £200 OLYMPUS µ 790 SW is the perfect companion. With an exterior that’s waterproof to a three-metre depth, shockproof up to a 1.5 metre drop and freeze- proof to minus 10°C, this model (left) is practically indestructible. The 7.1 megapixel camera comes in four loud colours and costs £200. However, if if you’re looking for a dcent buy get hold of KODAK’S  EASYSHARE M753 (right). For just £99.99 you get 3x optical zoom, seven megapixels and a 2.5-inch LCD screen. Links :Sony  Canon Samsung Olympus and Kodak

Nokia opens future shop

PHONE giant Nokia is opening a flagship UK shop in London's Regent Street where they are promising customers the “ultimate shopping experience” for their amazing selection of mobile devices. Simon Ainslie, Managing Director for Nokia UK said: “The store will be dynamic, original and beautifully designed with world-class customer service.” When it opens in November, shoppers will be able to play with all the latest Nokia mobile phones and multimedia computers, surrounded by futuristic LCD screens and dynamic translucent walls.
www.nokia.com

Ad's out of this world

ENERGY company Npower have registered their own constellation as part of an advertising campaign. They use 328 individual stars to form the npower logo, which you can see on Google Sky here. David Axe, Manager of International Star Registry, London said: "Since 1979, the International Star Registry has been naming stars, enabling anyone to have their own special place in the Cosmos. People have bought stars for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries but what Npower has done is an exciting initiative."

WIN drive of your life with Freddie

HERE’S your chance to sample life in the fast lane. The News of the World is offering one lucky reader and three friends the opportunity to win a ride with Formula Ford star Freddie Hunt. Our amazing prize, courtesy of Freddie’s official online sponsor Mobyko.com, is an adrenaline-fuelled driving experience at Thruxton Race Centre in Hampshire. To enter our fantastic Freddie competition just answer this question: Who was Freddie’s racing legend father? Email your answer and contact details to comps@notw.co.uk by midnight next Saturday (Sept 1). Mobyko.com is the simple, free way to safely store your mobile phone contacts, photos, texts and videos online and access them from anywhere in the world 24/7. And Mobyko is also offering 250 News of the World readers a free Mobyko Premium account (worth £24.99) including 100 FREE texts. Simply click here and type in ‘NOTW’ into the promotional box. If you are one of the first 250 to do so, you win!

Join the Elite

COMPUTER giants Microsoft are launching their awesome new Xbox 360 Elite gaming console this  week and we have ten to give away. (to enter, read the next post, below). It’s their latest bid to outdo Sony, who launched their amazing long-awaited PS3 console in the Spring. Coupled with the imminent release of the Xbox game Halo3, which already has 1 million preorders worldwide, Microsoft can expect to enjoy massive demand for their new console, especially if bugs associated with the first Xbox 360s become a thing of the past. Xbox users already enjoy some of the best games out there, including Elder Scrolls: Oblivion; Gears of War; and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas. But the Elite is much more than a gaming console. Kitted out as a media hub, it has a 120GB hard drive, twice as big as Sony’s PS3, and owners will be able to download top movies, music, pictures, extra game levels direct to their Xbox from a new website Live Marketplace which will start up in Europe soon. The Xbox Live marketplace is a digital media lover's dream. You'll see game demos rolled out before their retail release on a try-before-you-buy basis, along with plenty of original and retro titles available for download. Also on offer are downloadable movies, television shows, and music videos—the majority available in both standard definition and HD.  If you want to know what to expect, just have a look at the American version of the site here
The new console also has an HDMI port and cable, allowing simple connection and playback of downloaded high definition content to a compatible TV.

Win the new Xbox

        

HERE'S your chance to win an Xbox 360 Elite. Top prize is an Elite, Samsung 32-inch LCD HD ready TV and Samsung Dolby 5.1 surround sound system. And nine runners up each win an Elite. Simply tell us the answer to this question on an email. Who makes the Xbox elite? a) Microsoft, b) Sony, c) Nintendo? Send your email to comps@notw.co.uk by midnight next Saturday August 25th. First ten correct answers selected at random win. Usual rules apply. Editor's decision is final. Please remember to include your address and phone number on the email.

Splitting the sound barrier

OLYMPUS have released these funky little audio recorders which split open to reveal a USB plug.
This allows you to load voice notes or interviews straight into your computer and send the files back to the office via email.  The WS-311M has half a gigabyte of memory, stores music and other media and will cost £79.99 in shops next month.

Fall for this brown beauty

SNAP up SONY Ericsson’s cool “truffle brown” K770i Cyber-shot phone when it’s released in the autumn. It’s just  14.5mm thin and packs a 3.2 megapixel cam. Also stores your music. Following hot on the heels of Nokia’s Prism range, it’s aimed at meeting the rising demand for fashion accessory handsets. And we reckon it will be in big demand this Christmas.

Tail your dog

ORIGINALLY developed for hunting dogs, this Garmin tracker will keep tabs on any wayward pet pooch as well.  The wireless transmitter straps to your dog’s collar and has a five-mile range.
The wireless handheld tracking device (right) feeds information on what your pet’s up to via GPS satellite sent to the handset every five seconds. It even tells you whether the mutt is running or sitting and a map  reveals exactly where he’s doing it. To watch the video, click here

Win an amazing new iMac

APPLE this week unveiled their most awesome computers ever-and we have one to giveaway today. We've teamed up with Square - London's largest Apple Premium Reseller-to give one lucky reader an all new all-in-one iMac 20-inch widescreen desktop worth £800. Featuring the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminium Apple Keyboard, and built-in camera for video conferencing, the new iMac is the must-have computer of the year, especially at this new price which represents a £200 price drop on the equivalent previous model. And the News of the World is the first paper to get hold of one for a lucky reader. Apple boss Steve Jobs boasted this week: "This new iMac is the most incredible desktop computer we've ever made. Our new design features the innovative use of materials, including
professional-grade aluminium and glass, that are highly recyclable."
We have to agree. There’s also a 24-inch model for £1,149. For the full spec, continue to the next page at the end of this post. Square expect them to fly off their shelves. Whether you are upgrading your iPod, buying some cool accessories or fed up with your old PC and want to test-drive the award-winning Apple Mac computer, Square Group will provide you with everything you need. You can see and try out all the latest Apple products, software and peripherals in their stunning showroom. They also accept orders by email or phone, or you can buy online from their new and improved webstore. Square also sells Parallels Desktop for Mac, previously reviewed on the Gadgits page, which enables you to run Windows, Linux, and more side-by-side with Mac's operating system OS X on any Intel-powered Mac, without rebooting. It's hard to see why would anyone want to buy a PC as their home computer when you can have the best of all worlds on a Mac. For you chance to win, simply tell us which reseller we've teamed up with to bring you this prize: a) Square b) Triangle or c) Circle. Email your answers to comps@notw.co.uk by Saturday August 18, 2007. Usual rules apply. Editor's decision is final.
 

To find out how you can buy a mac, phone 020 7692 6810, email here: sales@squaregroup.co.uk or go to their website here.

For a demo click here

VAIO-ble option

SONY’S VAIO CR series notebooks pass every laptop test. With great looks and blisteringly fast wireless browsing rates, they push all the right buttons. There's even some which enable you to power up your media without Windows. They come in four colours, blue, red, silver and pink, starting at  £899.  Click here for more

Duty calls on November 9

Activision is planning to release Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on 9th November in Europe for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. A manager let slip the news during a press event this week, and although Activision UK representatives could only confirm "winter" the view from retail is that this is the actual release date.

Prisms are Nok-out

   

THESE cutting-edge diamond-design mobiles from Nokia are set to be the classiest fashion phones of the year. The sexy Prism 7900, above, is launched this week and comes with liquorice black front and an anodized aluminium back cover. Its styling is the most original of anything we've seen in 2007. But the key to this range, as the name hints, is an amazing graphic effect that allows you to personalise the phone with your own light show. Nokia researchers have found that more and more consumers want a phone that stands out in a crowd, without necessarily blasting out a favourite ringtone. So the 7900 Prism features an “organic" screen that supports 16 million colours and a living wallpaper that changes throughout the day according to time, battery and signal strength. And you can choose from 49 theme colours which will radiate from under the keypad as well as the screen to give it that individual touch. Priced at around £250 the 7900 also has dual band 3G technology for fast and easy downloads and browsing, and quad band GSM capability for worldwide connectivity. In addition to a 2 mpx camera, the Nokia 7900 Prism comes with 1GB of internal memory for lots of pictures, video, contacts and more. The Nokia 7500, left, at around £150 also has a stunning design with a slick black exterior. But there’s more of an accent on music with nine hours playing time and a 1500-song capacity on its optional 2 GB microSD card. These phones look like cornering market for sleek chic handsets and stealing a march on LG who are out in front in the style stakes with their Shine phone launched ealier this year. For more click here

Halo 3 hits a million

Halo 3 has become the fastest-selling video game in history, before it has even hit the shelves. Microsoft this week announced pre-orders for the exclusive Xbox 360 title have exceeded one million globally, prior to the launch on September 26. There will be three versions: Standard, Limited and the collectible Legendary Edition.
Game director Tricia Brennan said: “What we’ve experienced is nothing short of phenomenal – Halo 3 has eclipsed many previous records and will prove to be one of the must-have items of 2007. The excitement for the game is incredible, and from our preorders online and the buzz we're hearing in our stores, we know this release is going to be the entertainment event of the year. We're thrilled."