We’re at Toshiba World 2011 today in Rome, where the Japanese gadget giant is outing its new wares and plans, and it’s chosen the venue to make Toshiba Places official in the UK. If you’ll recall, we snagged an early preview of the IPTV service for tellies, laptops and tablets back in February, as well as a glimpse of one of the first TVs to run it: now we’ve got all the concrete details, as well as the other supported boobtubes incoming.
Tagged ‘places’
UPDATE: O2 has posted a list of its stores offering a free console (a PS3 or an Xbox) to the first people who check in, and buy a new phone or upgrade an existing contract! There’a also 10% off all accessories at all O2 stores, if you check in with Facebook Places and grab the Facebook Deal that shows up.
UPDATE 2: If you’re after a 20% discount on a Mazda MX-5, which is worth a whopping £4,000, you’ll need to check in at these participating dealers. Who says checking-in doesn’t pay?
Facebook Deals is hitting the UK today, which means cheapskates and bargain hunters nationwide can get discounts from shops, cafes, restaurants, just by fishing a smartphone from your pocket. To kick things off? How about a free coffee from Starbucks? Free food from Yo Sushi? Or discounts and charity donations from shops up and down the UK. Read on, and we’ll explain how to cash in on Facebook Deals.
Google Hotpot, a new location-based recommendation engine, has just been unveiled. Google has been sticking its flag into location services for a while with Places, Images and Latitude. Google Hotpot takes Google Places ratings and reviews but draws on recommendations from your friends Google profiles. User ratings and reviews are tracked at the top of each Google Places page and likes and dislikes are remembered and pumped into the Google Hotpot recommendation engine. Google Hotpot is a little bit US-focused right now but it definitely shows potential. Take a look and let us know what you think by hitting the headline and then bouncing into the comments. Can it compete with Betty’s famous hotpot?
Out now | £free | Google Hotpot
Facebook Deals that were announced for the US on Wednesday evening could be hitting the UK before Christmas. Henri Moissinac, Facebook Head of Mobile, told Electricpig that the timescale for Facebook Deals to be hitting the UK would be similar to the timescale with the rollout of Facebook Places, which arrived on our shores around six weeks after it had launched in the US.
Facebook has announced the expansion of its mobile platform at its event in Palo Alto this evening. But before you jump to any conclusions, Facebook is not building a phone. Zuckerberg said: “There’s been some rumours floating around that we’re building a phone. No…Facebook is social.” What Facebook is launching, rather than a phone, is Single Sign-On, plus a raft of improvements and additions to Facebook Places, that means we’ll all be using Facebook a lot more on our smartphones.
Morning! It’s the start of another week, but don’t look too down. There may be well over a hundred hours to go until the weekend, but that means plenty of time to stock up on the latest gadget stories too. Start doing so right here with our techie breakie headline round up.