Well, according to the game’s creators, Rovio, it’s going to happen soon, and it’s going to be called Angry Birds Space. I want to make two points here, and the first is this: at this stage, does anyone reckon that Rovio will bother making something that’s not another chuffing Angry Birds game? ‘Cos it seems doubtful to me…

Mind you, I can’t say I blame them, since people seem to keep playing it. Whether you’ve got an iPhone 4S or a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, one of the constants of the mobile world is that you’re likely, at some point, to play Angry Birds on it. It’s not that I hate the game, it’s just that I think gamers should expect more from their mobile games (note: this is also one of the many reasons why I loathe Call of Duty).

So that’s point 1. Point 2 is this: an Angry Birds game set in space? What could possibly have made them choose to release a space-themed game, now (well, on March 22nd)?

Oh aye, Mass Effect 3, silly me.

So, basically, Angry Birds Space is going to be a cynical cash-in. But it’ll be fun. And hugely addictive. And everyone will love, and that will most likely, I’ll be honest, include me.

But it’s still a cash-in…

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Yes, it’s called the Panasonic Eluga…

Right, so, we know it has a name that sounds like something you’d pull out of your nose, then. That’s kinda sub-optimal, really, so the phone is going to have to be that much better, just for me to be able to get past the name. So, does it do enough for me to say it’s worth looking at? 

Weeeeeeeell, if I’m honest, I’m not sure that it does, ‘cos the specs are good, but not outstanding (except for one very cool bit that I’ll get to in a minute). The processor this thing has is a 1GHz dual-core chip, and that seems a bit tame in a world where the HTC Sensation XE exists. Furthermore, the screen, although it measures 4.3 inches, only has a qHD resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, and that seems a bit tame in a world where phones like the  Samsung Galaxy Nexus have got full 720p HD screens.

Also, the camera still hasn’t got a flash, which is a rather big letdown.

However, there is one brilliant bit in the list of specs, and that’s the bit where it confirms the phone is dust and water-resistant. Yes, it’s a phone that could be approaching the toughness of Sonim’s range, while still only being 7.8mm thick.

And no matter how tame the other specs are, or how stupid the name is, that is brilliant…

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Well, nothing visible to us consumers, anyway, ‘cos this new rumour (reported on by Unwired View) implies that quite a lot has been going on, behind the scenes. Y’see, it seems that someone is about ready to release a Medfield-powered smartphone on the UK market, and that someone is allegedly Orange. It seems to be based on that reference design that Intel showed off, and it’s purportedly called the Orange London…

The rumour started when someone, saying they’re a regular taken of Orange surveys, noticed the phone had been slipped into the survey, presumably while Orange were being careless. Now, of course, that does sound ever so slightly fishy, ‘cos it’s easy enough for someone to claim they’ve seen something online, and then photoshop it, but let’s assume for a second that it is on the level. If that’s the case, what can we expect from the specs?

Well, we’re looking at 1 .6GHz Medfield processor, for starters, which is faster than the HTC Sensation XE, although it’s only single core; however, there’s a big “but” there, and it’s that this single core chip is faster than most multi-core chips, at least in the browser. We’re also looking at an 8MP camera (with zero shutter lag), a 4 inch screen, and 16GB of internal memory. If the rumour’s true, that is, but the question is: is it true?

Well, as things stand at the moment, all I can honestly say is, “Er, don’t know, could be, I suppose…”

Y’see, this reference design has been out for a while, an manufacturers (most likely Chinese manufacturers) will have got their hands on one to work with. And Orange use OEM manufacturers to make their own brand phones. So, it’s not outside the realms of possibility that this is true, and there’s certainly nothing in the specs that mark it out as being obviously false.

So, we shall have to wait and see…

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Today, I’ve grown to love it a bit more, ‘cos look! We have our first screenshots (courtesy of ArsTechnica)! Not only that, but we have some more info about how B2G works and I’m damnably intrigued.

And I shall tell ya why…

Y’see, there’s three layers to the OS; there’s the kernel, at the bottom and it’s a modified Linux kernel called Gonk. That kernel also includes a fair few of the components used in Android, so there’s some pedigree there, and in fact, there’s footage knocking about of B2G being tested on a Samsung Galaxy S II. So, basically, it’s like Android, then?

Well, actually, no, ‘cos the most interesting bit is what’s going on in the other two layers. The next layer up is Gecko, and it’s basically the rendering engine from Mozilla’s Firefox browser. So, yes, the middle bit of the sandwich is the “browser” bit of “OS in a browser”, but if the main powerhouse part of the OS is a browser, then what are we, the users, seeing at the top layer?

What we’ll be seeing as we use a phone on B2G is the Gaia UI, and this bit really has me intrigued, ‘cos it’s all built with standard HTML and Javascript. Effectively, the user interface that you’re interacting with is a web page, that’s stored locally on the phone, and things like the phone dialler and camera app are just Javascript web apps.

And yet, they’re providing pretty much the exact same experience we’d get from other smartphones. Magic!

So yeah, this beastie is apparently due to be officially unveiled, in all its glory, at the Mobile World Congress (which is happening the week after next, so we don’t have long to wait), but Mozilla are teasing that they already have hardware partners lined up, including one who’s doing some pretty heavy customisation of the overall UI. I wonder who that could be; my money is on either HTC or Samsung, or maybe a Chinese manufacturer like ZTE.

Anyway, I guess we’ll find out in a week and a bit…

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Android Jelly Bean could arrive early as an attempt to rival Windows 8, according to Taiwanese supply chain.

Android 5.0 otherwise known as Jelly Bean is now rumoured to land this summer ahead of Microsoft’s Windows 8 which is expected during this year’s Q3.

Sources also indicate new Android tablets will be able to dual boot between Android 5.0 and Windows 8 as well as having chrome integration which will allow quick start up abilities. Jelly Bean could be the OS to bridge the gap between notebooks and tablet pcs.

At the moment Android 5.0 is just a rumour.

Y’see, according to WMPoweruser (where the screenshots are from), Windows Phone Tango is being made to run on budget phones. However, Microsoft seem to be going about it in an unorthodox way, ‘cos it appears to have a list of maximum system requirements, and I ain’t never seen that before. So, what’s this update going to be like, then? 

Well, the first fact is that it’s designed to run on phones with just 256MB of RAM, which is tiny in this day and age. Since it seems to be designed for people moving up from a feature phone, it also supports SIM contacts, which is bleedin’ rare in the modern smartphone world. So, kudos to Microsoft, for that.

Next up is the fact that phones running on Tango can only have cameras up to 3MP, presumably so it’s not producing overly massive files that’ll fill up the meagre storage space Microsoft are obviously expecting these phones to have (yeah, I wouldn’t expect them to have anywhere the amount of storage that something like the Nokia Lumia 800 has). Oh, and also, photos aren’t automatically uploaded to SkyDrive, as they are in the full fat version of Windows Phone.

And finally, there’s the matter of apps, ‘cos as you can see in the screenshot, Tango won’t let you download apps that need more than 256MB of RAM. That strikes me as being similar to the way a lot of Android apps are only usable on more recent version of the OS (for example, running on Android 2.2 or higher… so the Samsung Galaxy Nexus could run a certain app, while an old phone like the HTC Hero couldn’t), which I find amusingly ironic since Microsoft (and Windows Phone fans) have whined about Android fragmentation.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t this move fragment the Windows Phone platform?

Anyway, yes. New version of Windows Phone, and it’s designed to run on budget handsets. It could be just what Microsoft need to make it big (‘cos cheaper phones like the HTC Wildfire S were very important to the growth of Android), or it could drag them down (if they screw it up).

Time will tell…

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Yup, the deal has finally gone through, and the manufacturer formerly known as Sony Ericsson is now wholly owned by Sony. Naturally, that means that the old name is no longer accurate, what with Ericsson being bought out, and gently showed the door, so the manufacturer will, in future, go by the name of Sony Mobile Communications… 

So, what does this mean for their phones? Well, for starters, it could well mean that they stand a much better chance in the market, ‘cos Sony can now put their full weight behind the brand, which is a rather appealing prospect. For starters, it might mean their phones get some decent marketing, now, which’d be nice.

So, theoretically, we’ll get better (and better marketed) phones, which is always nice.

From my point of view, though, I’m excited about this news for an entirely different reason, as I’ve mentioned before. As much as I love their phones (and I do, they’re probably still my second favourite manufacturer, after HTC), they currently have some bleedin’ long names for me to type out, every time I write about ‘em. Seriously compare the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S to the upcoming Sony Xperia S.

See? Just without the “Ericsson”, it’s ten characters shorter (eight letters, plus two spaces).

Oh, and I’m also excited because, years ago, I had a Sony Z7, and I utterly loved it. So, seeing the Sony brand on phones again fills me with glee. Of course, there are still a few already announced phones that’ll bear the Sony Ericsson name, but their days are numbered.

The future, apparently, is Sony…

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Rumour has it Apple is in the process of testing a smaller version of the popular iPad device.

The American computer giant is apparently testing smaller screens from different manufacturers to see who will make the eight inch device. According to sources the device will feature a higher resolution than the iPad 2 and will also be compatible with 4G/LTE.

How likely these rumours are, is hard to tell as Steve Jobs once said your fingers are too fat for 7 inch tablets and Apple is not known for working on more than one version of the iPhone or iPad at one time.

These rumours come just before the iPad 3 is set to be announced on 7th March.

On the plus side, though, this means that pretty much the only PC games I can play are indie titles, that don’t have such restrictive hardware requirements. And this is good, because there’s some truly great indie games out there, and the greatest, in my utterly sincere opinion, is Terraria.

And I’d kill to see it on smartphones… 

Allow me to explain. Terraria is basically what you get when you combine an RPG and an action adventure game with Minecraft, and render it all in utterly beautiful, old school 2D, with some of the coolest pixelly characters I’ve seen in a very long time. It’s kinda hard to describe the experience of playing it, though; you can go off exploring overground and underground, wombling free (sorry, couldn’t help myself), and digging through caverns, underground jungles and hell (yes, actually hell… well, the underworld, anyway), and then, to be honest, you’ll end up getting turned into chunky salsa by one of the games many nasties (or, amusingly, you also explode if you drown).

Oh yes, didn’t I mention? Terraria may look cute, but what it is, down to its very core, is pure evil, and that’s before you even get on to fighting the various boss monsters. But the thing is… it’s so bleedin’ addictive! I’m not kidding, I’ve sunk well over 70 hours into the game!

Now, I can see why it could be hard to translate it over to smartphones, because of the sheer level of detail, and the fact that it’s one of those games that seems like it really needs a mouse to play. Touch controls don’t seem conducive to pixel perfect mining of the world (which you’ll need, otherwise you’ll mine the bit you’re standing on, fall into lava and, yes, explode again).

However, it’s worth noting that the game’s creators, Re-Logic, have said they may bring it to iOS, so the possibility is there. And that’s all well and good, and I’ll be very happy for iPhone 4S owners if it happens, but please, please bring it to Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as well, ‘cos that’s the platform my next phone will be on.

But yeah, that’s my bit of wishful thinking for the day. And it goes without saying, if you haven’t played Terraria yet, what are you waiting for?!

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So that’s probably why Sony are, according to The Verge, looking at the possibility of bringing the OS found in the PlayStation Vita over to smartphones and tablets. Yes, it seems Sony plan on combating the rise of mobile gaming, by getting in on the act themselves… 

Apparently, this isn’t just a pipe dream, either, or wishful thinking by some random analyst. Nope, in fact, this whole story came about because the person dropping hints about this happening was, in fact, Kaz Hirai. Y’know, Kaz Hirai, who’s the Sony Computer Entertainment (i.e. PlayStation) CEO, and will soon be the president and CEO of the whole of Sony. That Kaz Hirai.

Oh, and the SCE Senior VP Yoshio Matsumoto, went on to say, “If you’re asking if we’ve made it in a way that’s expandable, so that it’s possible to apply to smartphones and tablets on top of achieving the high responsiveness we need for gaming devices — it is possible,” although he also said, “That doesn’t mean that we’re applying it to smartphones and tablets at this point in time, but it’s been designed with expandability in mind.”

Coded speak for “Yes, it’s happening, now stop asking”?

So yeah, imagine that. Something like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, or the upcoming Sony Xperia S, running on a platform that’s really dedicated, at heart, to gaming. That’s be interesting to see, to say the least!

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