Daily News Courier

Apple Giving Away Special iPad- and iPhone-Shaped Olympic Pins at London Stores

With the Summer Olympics opening ceremony about to kick off in London in just a couple of hours, and the capital buzzing with Olympic excitement, MacRumors reports that Apple is getting into the spirit of the event and giving away four different types of lapel pins (or badges as we call them in the UK) in honour of the games, showing the British flag, in the shape of a white or black iPad and a white or black iPhone. It?s not yet know if the iPhone is an iPhone 5 or not, but if we manage to pick one up, we?ll let you know! Just kidding! As the MacRumor pictures shows, the pins are beautifully displayed on cards featuring five iPhones and iPads on a wire, with the actual real pin in the middle. MacRumors says it has not been able to find out yet where you can get the pins, or when, but it has heard that they will be available from select stores, and will be totally free, while stocks last. It is also not known whether or not these pins will be available in all UK Apple stores, or just the London ones. Might be a good time to pay a visit to your local Apple store if you?re in the UK, as if you need an excuse anyway!

Source: Apple’s London Stores to Distribute iPhone and iPad Olympic Pins – MacRumors Forums

Nexus 7 tipped for July 19 launch in UK stores

It's expected sometime this month, but the exact launch date of Google and ASUS' Nexus 7 around the world remains something of a mystery. But in the UK, it seems at least one retailer has a firm date in mind — Currys, part of the Dixons Group, is listing the 16GB, £200 Jelly Bean tablet with an expected launch date of Thursday, July 19. As a pre-order (or "reservation") price, this is always subject to change, but Currys and other Dixons stores have a history of being fairly accurate with this sort of thing. And July 19 also jives quite nicely with the expected Canadian launch date of July 14.

It's worth remembering that Currys and most other major UK retailers are only offering the 16GB, £200 model for sale. Currently, it looks like the newly-launched Google Play devices store is the only place you'll be able to get your hands on the cheaper 8GB variant, which is priced at £159. At the time of writing, Google Play is still listing the both flavors of Nexus 7 as "shipping in 2-3 weeks."

Source: Currys; via: Eurodroid

AT&T Galaxy S III hits stores Friday

A little bit of good news for those of you who are still trying to get the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III from an actual … what do you call it … oh, right — store. The carrier today says it expects full stock on July 6 — that's this Friday. Preorders have been shipping over the past several days, so that's been taken care of. But being able to walk in, hold the GSIII in your hand and then plop down some cash has been problematic, at best. This week that ends.

Pricing remains $199 for the 16GB version, which is all AT&T's got. But you can still slap up to a 64GB microSD card in there, so all's not lost.

But before you hoof it over to an AT&T store — hell, before you eat lunch — be sure to read our complete AT&T Galaxy S III review.

Source: AT&T

Apple will open two new retail stores in China

Apple might be making a lot of its devices in China, but there sure aren?t a whole lot of Apple stores in the country. The Chinese government has just confirmed that Apple is planning to open two brand new Apple retail shops in the cities of Chengdu and Shenzhen. Recent research has shown that Apple products are very popular in that area, featuring a developing market for free application downloads. A spike in iPhone sales in the last quarter was also registered in this particular Chinese region.

Apple already has stores opened in Beijing and Shanghai and the opening of these two stores will raise the count to seven Chinese stores. It?s possible that Apple decided to expand its Chinese presence due to the fact that its business is flourishing with a $7.9 billion in revenue in the country.

Despite these impressive figures, Apple is nowhere near beating the biggest competitor it has in China ? Samsung.

Apple?s existence in China has been full of turmoil. Just last year the company had to go through a very complex lawsuit with Proview Technologies who came forth with some extraordinary claims. Therefore, due to the complications from the trial, the new iPad hasn?t been currently released into this country yet.

Thanks to official reports, we know that Apple filed documents with the Shenzhen government to open a shop within the Holiday Plaza, a classy mall located in the Nanshan district. Shenzhen is the place where a lot of Apple components are assembled, as Foxconn, the biggest Apple manufacturer is located here.

By Radu

Source: Apple to open Stores in Chinese cities where iOS devices are made | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence

Australian stores starting to receive Pebble Blue Galaxy S III

While we're currently awaiting the Pebble Blue Samsung Galaxy S III here in the UK and across Europe, it seems our Australian friends don't have to wait much longer. ?Ausdroid is reporting that various stores they spoke to across Canberra had in stock the missing 16GB Pebble Blue version. 

Optus, Vodafone and Crazy Johns all had stocks, while Telstra and Virgin Mobile were set to receive theirs soon. In the UK, retailers such as Clove Technology originally said they expected to receive the Blue versions from this week. This can only be good news worldwide for any of us that have been holding out waiting for old Pebble Blue. 

If any of you have received notification, or even received yours yet where ever in the world you might be, hit us up in the comments or head on down to the Android Central Forums and show it off. 

Source: Ausdroid

Australian stores starting to receive Pebble Blue Galaxy S III

While we're currently awaiting the Pebble Blue Samsung Galaxy S III here in the UK and across Europe, it seems our Australian friends don't have to wait much longer. ?Ausdroid is reporting that various stores they spoke to across Canberra had in stock the missing 16GB Pebble Blue version. 

Optus, Vodafone and Crazy Johns all had stocks, while Telstra and Virgin Mobile were set to receive theirs soon. In the UK, retailers such as Clove Technology originally said they expected to receive the Blue versions from this week. This can only be good news worldwide for any of us that have been holding out waiting for old Pebble Blue. 

If any of you have received notification, or even received yours yet where ever in the world you might be, hit us up in the comments or head on down to the Android Central Forums and show it off. 

Source: Ausdroid

Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE available in stores today!

Today's the day, folks. Finally, some two weeks delayed, the HTC EVO 4G LTE is available in Sprint retail locations nationwide for $199 on contract. The delay, as you no doubt know, was caused by a review by the International Trade Commission. Nothing's changed on the phone, however. Just think of it as a delivery delay is all.

So if you're in the market for a new EVO, you can finally hoof it to the store and pick one up .And once you do, here are a few handy links that'll get you going:

• The Android Central Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE review
• The EVO 4G LTE forums (a great place for asking questions!)
• Our EVO 4G LTE super page
• EVO 4G LTE specs
• And as a blast from the past, check out the EVO 4G LTE from the launch event in New York in April

So who's whipping out the credit card today?

Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE available in stores today!

Today's the day, folks. Finally, some two weeks delayed, the HTC EVO 4G LTE is available in Sprint retail locations nationwide for $199 on contract. The delay, as you no doubt know, was caused by a review by the International Trade Commission. Nothing's changed on the phone, however. Just think of it as a delivery delay is all.

So if you're in the market for a new EVO, you can finally hoof it to the store and pick one up .And once you do, here are a few handy links that'll get you going:

• The Android Central Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE review
• The EVO 4G LTE forums (a great place for asking questions!)
• Our EVO 4G LTE super page
• EVO 4G LTE specs
• And as a blast from the past, check out the EVO 4G LTE from the launch event in New York in April

So who's whipping out the credit card today?

GameStop to sell Android tablets in over 1600 stores

Games retailer, GameStop, has pulled  the trigger and announced the availability of Android tablets at more than 1600 of its stores nationwide. This follows the initial offering of a selection of tablets back in November of last year. 

The tablets — which include the Acer Iconia A100, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Asus Transformer — are being marketed as gaming devices. Each will come with some selected games pre-installed free of charge, which include so far Sonic CD and the pretty awesome Riptide GP. 

As with other products sold by GameStop, a new tablet can be bought with a trade-in of an old game, or perhaps even one of those iDevices that has been sat gathering dust in your bedroom. 

 via Pocket Gamer

Several Sprint stores will open at 8AM on Friday to launch the HTC EVO 4G LTE

In case you plan on picking up the new HTC EVO 4G LTE bright and early on Friday, May 18 when it officially becomes available, then you may want to see if a Sprint store near you will be opening early.