November 23, 2012 By

Psion Series 5 Special Edition Charity Auction #clove20

Update 30/11. Auction closed with a winning bid of £100 from Land of Technology, which will itself be giving away the Psion Series 5 in a competition soon. Thanks Guys!

Update 30/11 We have had a late top bid of £80. We will be extending the auction closing time until 3PM to enable all previous bidders a chance to update their offer.

Update 28/11 – Current top bid for the Psion Series 5 is £65 

Update: 23/11/ – It is a Psion Series 5 that we have up for auction and on display in the unboxing video, not a 5MX as has been previously stated.

So strong was the Psion brand and so popular were its devices that we still get requests today for Psion sales and repairs. Unfortunately we are no longer able to range the devices or offer repair services, but we do have a special one-off opportunity today for any enthusiasts out there to get their hands on a Psion 5MX Special Edition.

Over the next week, we will be holding an auction for the Psion 5MX Special Edition. If you’re interested in making it yours, email wardy@clove.co.uk with your best offer and address details. We’ll periodically update this post and put out social media messages with the current top bid. The auction will close at 12PM (GMT) on Friday 30th November.

The money raised from the winning auction bid will be donated to Queen Elizabeth Foundation for disabled people.

You can see the Psion 5MX Special Edition in action in our classic unboxing video below.

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November 23, 2012 By

Psion Series 5 Special Edition Classic Unboxing #clove20

We might be harking back to times past at the moment, but we have to pay tribute to the products which made Clove the specialists we are to day and many of those were Psion products.

If we had to hold the trophy to one particular product, it has to be the Psion Series 5.

Outside of the Psion HQ we doubt there is a bigger collection of Psion products than that found in the possession of Clove Technology’s Managing Director, Chris Love.

As a tribute to the Psion and to celebrate 20 years, Chris delved into his collection and is behind the camera (probably for the 1st and last time) to unbox the revolutionary Psion Series 5 Special Edition. You can see his full unboxing below.

For any fans out there that are interested in having a Psion Series 5, we’ll have another blog post going up shortly that’ll give you the chance to get your hands on one.

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November 22, 2012 By

Psion – A Brief History #clove20

How Psion changed over the years.

As part of the 20th birthday celebrations, we have a rare blog post from our MD Chris Love, who delves back to the early days of Clove and provides us with a brief history of the Psion devices that set the path for Clove and many other devices today.

Psion Siena

The Psion Siena was launched in 1996 and was sold alongside the Series 3c /3mx. It was designed to attract a larger audience of users to the Psion range, with its smaller slimmer size and numeric keypad. The OS was still EPOC but many programs had to be re-written due to its small memory size. The Siena included an infra red port for printing and connection to PC’s.

Not a great success in terms of volume sales, but it probably led to the design of the Revo.

Psion Revo

Launched in 1997 it superseded the Psion 3 and became a light version of the 5mx. It lacked additional memory slots but did dun all the software for the Series 5. It led to more females using the Psions and was probably the route that Psion would have built design in future models if they had continued. The keyboard was excellent to use even though it was quite compact.

Psion 5

The Psion 5 was launched in 1997 and won many accolades from both the technical and national press. An advanced operating system in EPOC, a clear backlit screen with icon based applications and a touch screen, made it a hugely popular product and well ahead of the rivals at that stage, although major manufacturers were now looking at entering this market sector.

It has a unique sliding clamshell design which allows the keyboard to slide forward and counterbalance the display. The Keyboard was a joy to use and allowed easy entering of data, with many books being written on it at the time.

Memory could be added and the operating system allowed easy development of programs and the list of programs available for the 5 and 5mx was impressive, including a route planner from Palmtop BV, who went on to form the company that now dominates the Car GPS market with its TOM TOM devices.

Already you could browse the web, email and handle internet banking (notably with Lloyds Bank at the time) using their travel modem.

Psion Series 7

The Psion Series 7 was launched in 2000, a design well ahead of its time and would be the base for the netbook designs from companies such as ASUS years later.

Larger than a palmtop, but lighter and more portable than a laptop, with a full colour touch screen, it allowed users to be truly portable and yet productive. Its design even today outshines many of the netbooks that eventually replaced it. We were pleased to supply 250 of these to the UK gas safety organisation, named CORGI at that time with the Psion Series 7 for their field inspectors

Psion also launched a NETBOOK in 1999 which was designed to be used by the mobile enterprise market, its major difference it that its OS ran from the RAM, which made it faster and easier to load customised versions of the software to suit individual applications.

Did you use a Psion (we expect many did)?  What did you like or dislike about it? Could you imagine going back to it?

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May 2, 2012 By

The Next Samsung Galaxy

image

Even if you are not into mobile technology you cannot have failed to have noticed that Samsung are holding an event tomorrow night in London.

The event will see Samsung globally launch the next Samsung Galaxy. 

We know there are countless rumours but tomorrow will confirm what the next Galaxy really is.

At the request of Samsung I will be at the event and hope to be providing some coverage from the events proceedings.

Be sure to check the Clove blog from approximately 7pm tomorrow to get more news on the announcement as our team will be here bringing you all the details.

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October 25, 2010 By

BlackBerry Pearl 9105 Unboxed

The BlackBerry Pearl 9105 has now been on the market a couple of months and we have brought you various bits of information on this to date, but one thing that we have yet to do is bring you a complete unboxing and review of the product on video.

Dave at Geekanoids has kindly put together this video of the Pearl 9105 that we recently lent him. So why not check out the video below for a full review.

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May 25, 2010 By

First Look at the Samsung i9000

71088_GT-I9000_ADImage_Large I was very pleased to be able to see the new Samsung Galaxy S, (the i9000) at a recent presentation by Samsung. The new android device feels good in the hand and is a similar size to an iPhone with a slight bulge at the base of the back of the unit.

The Samsung i9000 runs Android 2.1 and is very fast through applications via its 1ghz processor, certainly as fast as the HTC Desire.

Its biggest attraction over the HTC Desire has to be the 4 inch screen using SuperAmoled technology. This is simply stunning! I watched a clip of Avatar together with viewing some static pictures and the quality was the best I have ever seen on a Smartphone. This quality however is not just restricted to media applications (although without doubt, the best way to impress your friends!)but also offers a greater clarity in other applications such as calendar and mail.

Samsung have added some clever applications including an alarm clock that gradually brightens the screen to gently wake you before the main alarm goes off together with the layar application for finding useful facilities such as banks, underground stations and cafes to name but a few. if you own a new Samsung TV you can use the Galaxy S as a remote control!

Samsung has also loaded a new method of text input called Swype which can greatly increase the speed at which you can enter data from the touch keyboard, it does can a bit of getting used to but once mastered it really does increase the speed at which you can type information.

We hope soon to get a Samsung i9000 to do a complete review, but in the meantime my first impressions are very positive.

Full details can be found here

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April 30, 2010 By

Samsung I9000 Galaxy S (8GB) Coming Soon!

Samsung_Galaxy_S_Front_Homescreen We’ve just listed the Samsung i9000 Galaxy S on the Clove website and it really does sound like a stunning device. It will be Samsung’s first proper attempt at an Android device and the Smartphone heavyweights haven’t pulled any punches on this one!

So why go for the Galaxy S and not the HTC Desire or Sony XPERIA X10? Well, first of all there’s the Super AMOLED, 4” touchscreen display. This stunning display not only saves battery life, it offers the most vivid picture available on a Smartphone. 

As well as this cutting edge display, the I9000 has 8GB of Internal storage. It supports playback of nearly all media types, so you’ll be able to effortlessly playback your favourite music and videos with this beauty. If the 8GB Internal storage isn’t enough, there’s the ability to expand the external memory by another 32GB via a MicroSD card. This large memory, combined with the stunning touch-screen, puts the Galaxy S head and shoulders above portable music devices such as iPods and MP3 players.

Samsung_Galaxy_S_Front_Side

As expected the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is compatible with social-networking websites such as Facebook. With 3.5G mobile connectivity you’ll easily be able to upload videos and photos while out and about. And as for taking photos and videos, you’ll be able to make use of the 5MP auto-focus camera that comes with the Galaxy S.

Such a high-end feature set would not be so useful without a good processor. The 1GHZ processor ensures smooth device navigation, while the 1500mAh battery provides a good level of power.

The flagship Android device from Samsung is due for release on May 31st.

Click here for a full list of features or to reserve a Samsung I900 Galaxy S from Clove.

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February 19, 2010 By

Google steps up its assault on Mobile Telecoms Market

It was reported in the Daily Mail on Wednesday that Google boss, Eric Schmidt served notice that they are stepping up their assault on the mobile telecoms market.

In a potentially far reaching strategic shift, Google will make the bulk of its new services available for handsets before it puts them on desktop computers. “This is a first for us”, Schmidt told executives at the mobile World Congress in Barcelona. “The new rule is mobile first in everything.”

The move marks a change of tack for Google, which has built its impregnable position in the online advertising on the back of its raft of computer tools such as search engine and Gmail service.

Extracted from Daily Mail, Simon Duke in Barcelona

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February 10, 2010 By

Tablets to compete with Apple iPad

01-06-10hpslate In the recent T3 CES special report its seems many manufacturers are about to make announcements around tablet or slate PC’s.

Hewlett Packard Touchscreen slate is expected  to go on sale later this year for under $500 and was demonstrated by Microsoft’s chief, Steve Balmer, who stated “Its a beautiful little product..as portable as a phone and as powerful as a PC running Windows7.”

Sony have a slightly different take on the tablet bandwagon with the announcement of a 7 inch touch screen, WiFi Personal Internet Viewer which runs the Linux based Chumby OS.

T-Mobile are also set to announce the Vega, what they call a Innovative Converged Device (ICD), which could be one of the first to run on the Android OS. With a 15 inch screen this is going to push the from factor to the limit and is designed, they say, to be a family communication network within the home.

Dell also have released pictures of their Dell Concept Tablet which will have a 5 inch screen and ruin Android OS. The unit is expected to have a 5 megapixel camera and have 3g and WiFi capabilities.

As you can see it could easily become a crowded market, with already a large number of new acronyms

Get March issue of T3 magazine to se the full CES Report.

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February 8, 2010 By

Windows Phone 7 at MWC?

 

windowsphone7-02-06-2010

As we get close to MWC in Barcelona the rumours around Windows Mobile 7 continue.

There have been a number of leaks that Microsoft will be in a position to tells us more about Windows Phone 7 in February and it would now appear we have a number of rumoured features ahead of this presumed launch. In following T3 and Engadget the Windows Phone 7 will sport an interface that’s "very similar" to the Zune HD, along with a complete revamp of the start screen, and a UI (codenamed METRO) that’s described as "very clean," "soulful," and "alive." Perhaps just as notably, the OS supposedly won’t support multitasking, with applications instead simply pausing themselves when in the background (there will be support for push notifications, though). Also missing is Flash support (at least initially), as well as NETCF backwards compatibility for older applications, although there are apparently "high hopes" for porting NETCF to the new platform eventually.

On the upside, the OS is said to have full Xbox gaming integration (including gamertags, avatars and, yes, achievements), full Zune integration, full support for social networking, and a try before you buy system in the Marketplace. What we apparently won’t be seeing at MWC, however, is any Windows Phone 7 hardware, as the announcement is said to focus solely on the user interface. According to PPCGeeks, however, Microsoft is confident that the first hardware will be ready by September of this year.

To follow this there has been info on MobileTechWorld that suggests the browsing experience is currently "better / faster" than the iPhone 3G, and that Microsoft is "aiming towards" the 3GS. They also say that while there will be no Microsoft-made device, the company will have tighter control of the manufacturing process, which promises to simplify things for everyone involved and allow for over-the-air updates. There are also suggestions that the OS will be locked down, so less "shells" such as HTC’s Sense and the very popular SPB Shell, lets wait and see…

Extract from Engadget

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