Samsung Galaxy Player debuts on Amazon UK, gets £149 price tag

Sasmung’s Galaxy Player device has emerged on Amazon UK , bringing with it a release date of January 7 and a price tag of £149.

The 8GB version is similar in many respects to the iPod Touch, allowing for apps and functions found on the Galaxy S smartphone range, minus the ability to make calls (at least via mobile operators, VOIP applications should be available via the Samsung Apps marketplace and the Android Market).

With the 8GB version costing £149 and the 16GB version setting you back £180, the former comes in a respectable £40 cheaper than its Apple equivalent (on the official website, around £25 cheaper on Amazon), really taking the competition to the Cupertino company.

The Galaxy Player features a 3.2-inch WQVGA LCD screen, 2MP camera, support for 32GB of external storage, FM radio, a microphone and a changeable battery. With support for Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, XviD and DivX, users will be able to consume a variety of media formats on the go, dragging and dropping files on to the player by way of its DNLA support.

The Samsung Galaxy Player looks set to push Apple on all fronts and will almost certainly be one of the first Android-powered music-centric devices to make it in the Apple dominated personal music player market. We are all for competition (and lower prices) – this product, no matter who makes it, has been a long time coming.

Dell confirms Venue Pro Wi-Fi issues

Two days ago, newly adopted Windows Phone 7 owners and specifically those with the Dell Venue Pro began complaining about problems connecting to private Wi-Fi networks . For two days, neither Microsoft nor Dell would confirm whether this was a hardware issue or something more deadly, something concerning Windows Phone 7 as a whole.

Turns out, it was neither.

Here is what Dell told the world today:

Extremely odd wording there and a little suspect but if you were unlucky enough to purchase a Venue Pro at the beginning of the week, you’ll be able to get a new one next week.

Until then though, you’ll just have to deal with the pesky little Wi-Fi problem.

HTC Merge mistakenly published in 360-degree Verizon gallery

It seems that either somebody at Verizon was a little over-enthusiastic or the guys at HTC are looking to drum up a little more buzz for the upcoming HTC Merge, after a 360-degree gallery preview of the handset went live on Verizon’s website, only to be pulled moments later.

The HTC Merge is no secret, the Android-powered handset that has been handled and previewed before its had the chance to be officially announced by the Taiwan-based smartphone giant. Android Central got their hands on a production unit in October, breaking down its specifications, suggesting the Merge sported a 3.7-inch screen, 800 MHz processor, 368MB of RAM, a 5MP camera (with 720p video recording) and the ability to support a global SIM card.

The outlet received a reader tip , alerting them to the existence of the HTC Merge gallery, they were able to save a local copy and show the rest of the world what HTC will likely announce very soon: