Sainsbury’s Nectar iPhone apps offer exclusive deals

If you’re a Sainsbury’s Nectar loyalty card holder, then you’d be well advised to download one of the two new iPhone apps, launched by the supermarket today to give members exclusive deals.

The apps, one branded Sainsbury’s and the other branded Nectar, are free to download from the App Store and will also provide information on places nearby where you can accrue or spend your points, supermarket locations and in-store deals.

Exclusive offers will be personalised to the tastes of the customer and will also feature big-name partners like Homebase, BP and Hertz car rentals.

Sainsbury’s are the second supermarket to launch such mobile applications, following Tesco’s pair which allows shoppers to use their iPhone to swipe through and pick up loyalty points and also have shopping delivered to their home.

Link: Sainsbury’s

Posted by Chris Smith

Nokia X3 announced as first Touch and Type Nokia handset

Mobile phone giant Nokia has today announced its first ‘Touch and Type’ phone in the form of the super slim Nokia X3 which boasts both a traditional 12 button phone keypad and a touchscreen.

Whilst a number of manufacturers already offer ‘Touch and Type’ handsets Nokia believes its 9.6mm thick, 5-megapixel with 4x digital zoom camera touting handset will surpass all previous hybrids with Nokia UK’s MD stating: “The Nokia X3 brings new consumer value with a device that combines a touch screen and a keypad at an affordable price, offering consumers the best of both Worlds”

The mobile mashup’s spec sheet is completed with 3G and WLAN connectivity, an inbuilt personal music player and an FM radio. Available with a feast on Nokia’s Ovi services and applications the X3 will be available in five colours all of which sport a sleek brushed aluminium back cover.

Expected to hit stores this autumn the Nokia X3 will retail at around 125 Euros (£103). For all the latest news and reviews on the Nokia X3 and all other upcoming mobile handsets sign up to the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds today.

Posted by Luke Johnson

New Apple TV: Apple Connected HDTV will follow says analyst

Chatter about the rejigged, hard drive-free and dirt cheap Apple TV has been rife ever since an insider spilled the beans last week. But the new set top box, set to be renamed iTV, is just a stepping stone for a full-on connected TV from Apple.

That’s what Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reckons. Never shy of sharing his tuppence worth about Apple TV, Munster says a cloud-based iTunes TV package would set Apple up perfectly for a move into the ultra competitive TV market. … Continue Reading

Qualcomm 1.5GHz processors coming to smartphones in Q4

Champions of the mobile processor market Qualcomm has announced today that it expects to begin shipping its next breed of mobile chipset to manufacturers in Q4 this year.

The company’s Snapdragon processors currently reside in a huge amount of top smartphones from the likes of HTC and Acer thanks to their balance of size and performance. The new breed will be 1.5GHz Dual-Core numbers that’ll raise the bar on the current generation of smartphones by 0.5GHz.

This added speed will make functions such as 1080p video playback and memory-heavy multi-tasking on Android handsets run smoother than ever, and will begin shipping to manufacturers in Q4 this year. While this’ll probably mean we won’t see any resulting phones until early 2011, Qualcomm insist that keen makers might be able to get their new wares out into market by the end of this year.

HTC is a huge advocate of the Snapdragon processors, so we wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes first out of the gates with a lightening fast 1.5GHz flagship smartphone.

Link: Via Engadget

Posted by Adam Bunker

BlackBerry Torch price slashed after poor US sales

While there’s no official word on a UK release date for the new BlackBerry Torch slider phone, it’s been available in the US now for a week. Despite the handset being manufacturer RIM’s new flagship – rocking the overhauled OS 6 and a touchscreen – it’s been the victim of incredibly poor sales Stateside.

Neither RIM nor American carrier AT&T have released sales figures, but the numbers must be poor as the Torch has had to have a pretty severe price cut, knocking $100 dollars off the asking price just a week after launch.

The Torch hit stores last week at $199, but reports suggest that it’s now on sales at many retailers for $99, which points to something of an emergency. Underwhelming press could well be to blame, as the Torch failed to set T3 alight along with the majority of you, our readers in our recent poll.

Link: Via Gizmodo

Posted by Adam Bunker