blehoooy phone

Nokia N97, The First Touch N Series!

2008-12-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

The N97's centerpiece is its 3.5 inch display, similar to that found in the Nokia 5800, that comes with tactile feedback and allows the user to tap with either fingers or bundled stylus. But, more importantly, the N97 ships with a full-fledged QWERTY keyboard, plus its opening mechanism is very similar to that of some HTC-branded communicators (such as the TyTN series), enabling you to tilt the display at 35 degrees.

Other features include automatic screen rotation, standard Nokia's set of features, bundled GPS, dedicated audio processor and microUSB socket. What's more important, the N97 allows you to put an assortment of widgets right on the home screen (whose location is fully customizable), so that apart from contacts and applications you will also have blogs and images within fingers reach.

The phone will retail for 550 Euros (before local taxes and subsidies), meaning that it rivals Sony Ericsson's limitedly available Xpreia X1. On the other hand, its release date is slotted for spring 2009 (some time in April). Going for the Nokia N97 are its huge built-in storage (32 Gb), microSD memory card slot and 5 Mpix camera (that is far superior to the camera found in the X1) that manages to snap pretty decent photos, even though it's not an imaging-savvy solution.

Nokia E63

2008-12-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Sales package:

Handset
Battery (BP-4L)
Charger (AC-5)
Wired stereo-headset (WH-102)
User Guide

Design, Size, Controls

The E63’s styling as well as size and weight point at the fact that Nokia have been really struggling to lend it a distinguishable E71-esque feel. It measures up at 113x59x13 mm (against the Nokia E71’s 114x57x10 mm) and weighs 126 grams (which is only one measly gram lighter than the E71). However as far as the tactile experience goes, it doesn’t feel as good as the E71 in the hand largely because of its thicker profile, plus there is a small glitch with the keypad, but more on this later.

Display

The E63 utilizes a 2.36-inch QVGA display (320x240 pixels, 48x36mm), capable of up to 16 million colors. It manages to output a pretty decent picture quality-wise that remains readable in various environments (it doesn’t fade away in the sun at that, all thanks to the mirror underlayer).

Battery

The handset utilizes a 1500 mAh Li-Pol battery (BP-4L), as opposed to the Nokia N82’s 1050 mAh cell. The E63 is rated for 10.5 hours of talk time (GSM) and 20 days of standby. Music time – up to 18 hours.

Memory

The device comes equipped with 111 Mb of RAM, after first launch you will get around 74 Mb of free memory at your disposal, which is enough for running a dozen applications and browsing “heavy” web-pages – the word “slow-down” is definitely not in the E63’s vocabulary.

The user almost has 110 Mb of storage available, where any data can be stored.

The E63 deals with microSD memory cards (hot-swappable), the phone comes packaged with a 2Gb unit. There are no restrictions as far as memory card’s size is concerned – our handset easily identified a 8Gb card.

Performance

Thanks to its beefed up memory and a faster CPU (ARM11 running at 369 Mhz, against the E61i’s ARM9 and its 220 Mhz), the E63’s performance has almost doubled compared to the E61i.

USB, Bluetooth

USB. Using the USB settings you can choose one of the following modes:

Data Transfer (Mass Storage USB) - memory cards is available, no drivers required, as your OS identifies the handset automatically.
PC Suite – used for device management via Nokia PC Suite, enables all features of the phone, data backup etc.
Image Print – no explanation required.

The E63’s data transfer speeds top out at 2 Mb/s.

Bluetooth. The phone comes with Bluetooth v2.0, with support for EDR. The following profiles are supported:

A2DP
AVCRP
BIP-ImagePush
DUN-GW
FT-Server
HandsFree-AG (1.0)
Headset-AG
OBEX
OPP-Client
OPP-Server
SIM Access-Server

The top speed you can get with the E63’s Bluetooth connection is around 100 Kb/s. We also tested its A2DP profile in pair with the Sony Ericsson DS970 headset, which worked just fine – we managed our play list, skipped within tracks and adjusted volume seamlessly, however we couldn’t make current track’s title show up on the headset’s display.

Wi-Fi. This handset comes armed with Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 g) support. All security standards are supported, including WEP , WPA , WPA 2, with other advanced settings available. Unlike the NSeries, the E63 doesn’t support Universal PnP (UPnP). Although, it boasts the WiFi Wizard, which can search and tap into available networks in the background mode.

Camera

The E63 comes armed with a no-frills 2 Mpix camera module with a LED flash, yet without autofocus, that can take passable images when shooting in decent light conditions.

Price 200 Euro.

Review of GSM/UMTS-handset Nokia E66

2008-12-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

Sales package:

Handset
Battery (BL-4U)
Charger (AC-5)
USB data cable (CA-101)
Wired stereo-headset (HS-47)
Wrist strap
Carrying case
User Guide, Software CD
2Gb microSD memory card (size may vary by market)

Design, Size, Controls

The E66 measures up at 107.5x49.5x13.6 mm and tips our scales at 121 grams. There are two color options available - black or white, although in either edition you'll get a light-colored battery compartment cover, but with different patterns. Both trims look gorgeous - the black one will suit men, whereas the white color is more tailored for women (although it looked no less appealing to men).

Display

The E66 utilizes a 2.36-inch QVGA display (320x240 pixels, 48x36mm), capable of up to 16 million colors.

Battery

The handset utilizes a 1000 mAh Li-Pol battery (BL-4U), as opposed to the Nokia E71's 1500 mAh cell. The E66 is rated for 7.5 hours of talk time (GSM) and 264 hours of standby. Music time - up to 14 hours.

Memory

The user almost has 110 Mb of storage available, where any data can be stored.

The E66 deals with microSD memory cards (hot-swappable), the phone comes packaged with a 2Gb unit. There are no restrictions as far as memory card's size is concerned - our handset easily identified a 32Gb card.

Performance

Thanks to its, beefed up memory and a faster CPU (ARM11 running at 369 Mhz, against the E61i's ARM9 and its 220 Mhz).

USB, Bluetooth, wifi.

Camera

The E66 utilizes a 3.2 Mpix CMOS camera with auto-focus. I shall say that the quality you get with the E66 is what you'd expect from this type of camera- it is fairly decent for a business-minded phone, but can't stand comparison to today's imaging-savvy solutions.

GPS-navigation

Price 350 Euro.

Review of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Nokia E71

2008-12-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

Sales package:

Handset
Battery (BP-4L)
Charger (AC-5)
USB data cable (CA-101)
Wired stereo-headset (HS-47)
Wrist strap
Pouch
Software CD, User Guide
2 Gb microSD memory card (size varies by region)

Design, size, controls

The phone measures up at 114x57x10 mm and tips our scales at 127 grams. That said, the E71 is an extremely pocket-friendly device that will readily slip into just about any pocket.

Battery

The handset utilizes a 1500 mAh Li-Pol battery (BP-4L), as opposed to the Nokia N82’s 1050 mAh cell. The E71 is rated for 10.5 hours of talk time (GSM) and 20 days of standby. Music time – up to 18 hours.

Memory

The device comes equipped with 128 Mb of RAM, after first launch you will get around 70 Mb of free memory at your disposal, which is enough for running a dozen applications and browsing “heavy” web-pages – the word “slow-down” is definitely not in the E71’s vocabulary.The user almost has 110 Mb of storage available, where any data can be stored.The E71 deals with microSD memory cards (hot-swappable), the phone comes packaged with a 2Gb unit. There are no restrictions as far as memory card’s size is concerned – our handset easily identified a 8Gb card.

Performance

Thanks to its, beefed up memory and a faster CPU (ARM11 running at 369 Mhz.

USB, Bluetooth, Wifi.

Camera

The E71 utilizes a 3.2 Mpix CMOS camera with auto-focus. Its User Guide reads that to focus on an object you will need to press the “T” button.

GPS-navigation

The major update to this department is the new version of Nokia Maps.

Price 350 Euro.

Review of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Nokia N79

2008-12-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Sales package:

Nokia N79
Two interchangeable covers
4 Gb microSD memory card
Battery (BL-6F)
Charger (AC-5)
Wired stereo-headset with a remote (HS-45/AD-54)
USB data cable CA-101
User Guide
Software DVD

Design, Size, Controls

The N79 is styled after most other NSeries-branded devices with very few differences at all, even its back cover is very much in turn with this line-up’s latest trend – it’s glossy and features a fancy pattern. The Nokia N79 can come with a variety of interchangeable back plates, including Light Sea Blue, Espresso Brown, Olive Green, White and Coral Red. Every phone ships with a certain combination of panels, though (for example Light Sea Blue, Espresso Brown and White for the white variant of the N79).

Display

The handset comes equipped with a 2.4-inch QVGA (240x320 pixels) display, capable of showing up to 16M colors, presenting you with quite a bright picture that remains visible in various environments.

Keypad

On top of that, it utilizes the NavyWheel, which is a touch-sensitive pad that allows paging through lists by sweeping your finger around the navigation button. The good thing about it is that they have tweaked this sensor a little bit, so that you will experience fewer misclicks than with the Nokia N78.

Battery

The handset utilizes a 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery (BL-6F), similar to that employed in the Nokia N85. The N79 is rated for 5.5 hours of talk time and 372 hours of standby. Music time - up to 30 hours, video recording time (top resolution and quality settings) - up to 280 minutes, video playback time - up to 320 minutes.

Memory

The device comes equipped with 120 Mb of RAM, after first launch you will get around 62 Mb of free memory at your disposal.

The N78 deals with microSD memory cards (hot-swappable), the phone comes packaged with a 4 Gb unit. There are no restrictions as far as memory card’s size is concerned – our handset easily identified a 8Gb card.

USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi

Camera

The handset comes bundled with a 5 Mpix CMOS camera, similar to that found in the Nokia N85 and some other Nokia-branded phones.

GPS-navigation

The major update to this department is the new version of Nokia Maps.

N-Gage and Gaming Department

The Nokia N79 is the first phone to feature a full-fledged N-Gage client - a tad later its localized editions will become available world-wide. The handset comes boxed with fifteen Try&Buy games, although you can pick one of them and get a full version free of charge using the activation code the N79 ships with.

Price is 350 Euro.

LG KF700

2008-10-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

Designed to maximize convenience, enjoyment and productivity, LG’s advanced UI brings new meaning to the word convenience. The KF700 is the only place to get hands-on experience with the magic of its touch as you control your mobile life with simple gestures.

The KF700 works with a simple sweep of your finger, as if turning the pages of a book, to give quick access to a host of applications. When you use a widget on the wallpaper, you can display one of the five applications on the default screen and switch whenever you want by doing a turn over when setting the functions.

HSDPA(7.2P) / full, PC-like browsing
There is no need to hassle with heavy laptops anymore. You can experience a whole new mobile Internet environment with the 3” full touchscreen and high-speed access offered by the KF700.
Video recording (MPEG4, AMR-NB) / video capture (JPEG)
The three-megapixel camera in the KF700 offers an auto-focus function as well as an image stabilizer for blur-free shooting in any situation.

MP3, WAV, WMA, MIDI, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and RA files
The KF700’s music player provides rich, crisp sound quality, and allows you to expand the capacity (up to 4GB) using an SD card to enjoy memorable moments that go far beyond just the music in you ears. You can also use other features while listening to music.

Blackbery Storm

2008-10-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

The upcoming Blackberry 9500 Storm seems to be riding the wave lately as new information leaks by the day. This time we have a nice promo video to show you - made by Vodafone.

We already presented you the upcoming Blackberry Storm and its fancy full touch user interface - it really looks good and it's a first from Blackberry too.

It has a 3.25-inch display with a resolution of 360 x 480 pixels, quad-band GSM support, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, and a 3 megapixel auto focus camera. Plus a fluid interface ready to take on the iPhone.

Motorola Q11 smartphone comes with Wifi, GPS, and no 3G

2008-10-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Today Motorola announced the newest member of Q family. The Motorola Q11 is a slim smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.

It comes with Quadband with full QWERTY handset has 64MB of RAM and a Freescale ARM 7 LTE CPU.

Some of its more exiting features are Wi-Fi, GPS (with A-GPS support) and a 3 megapixel fixed focus camera. USB v1.1 and Bluetooth v2.1 are also on board and so is a microSD card slot for expanding the built-in memory. The lack of UMTS support however will force users to use EDGE for on-the-go wireless data.

Motorola Q 11 measures the pretty slim 117x64x11.7 mm, totaling a volume of 85cc. Its weight is the passable 115 g.

Motorola Q 11 is expected to be available in December 2008.

LG Renoir, 8MP camera, fingerprints.

2008-10-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

The Renoir is endowed with the following :-

* Quad-band GSM/UMTS (HSDPA 7.2 Mbps)
* 3" WQVGA touch screen display at 240 × 400 resolution
* 8 megapixel camera with Xenon flash & Schneider-Kreuznach lens
* GPS with geotagging support
* Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
* Wi-Fi connectivity

LG looks set to unleash the Renoir this October, what I look forward most would be the 8 megapixel shooter it carries - will it be slow and laggy, or is it snappy like a regular digital camera?

Armani hits the phone market again with Samsungi Night Effect

2008-10-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

Giorgio Armani and Samsung Electronics have joined their efforts for the second time in a row to create another fashion-savvy phone - Samsung Emporio Armani (Night Effect). The phone's looks and aesthetics have been designed by Armani's designers to appeal to younger adults sweet on fashion and music. Actually, its name has been inspired by Emporio Armani's 10-storey boutique in Tokyo known for its dazzling light effects that kick in during the night time.

At just 91 grams and 114.9х47.4х11.95 mm size, the Emporio Armani phone comes jam-packed with great feats, including Samsung's latest user interface, 2.2-inch AMOLED display under a reinforced glass, 3.5 mm audio jack, 3.2 Mpix camera, microUSB socket for charging and data connections, microSD memory card slot, a whole array of light effects, external player controls and a dedicated sound processor that turns it into a great solution for music.

20 Reasons Why Nokia 5800 is better than Apple Iphone

2008-10-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

We get lots of requests to compare in detail Nokia 5800 with Apple Iphone 3G. Here are some reasons we believe Nokia 5800 is way ahead than Iphone-

1) Size
The iphone is bigger in size and uneasy for one hand grip. Nokia 5800 is designed to fit well into your hands. Being smaller in width, its easy to operate single handedly.

Iphone size: 115.5 X 62.1 X 12.3 mm
Nokia 5800 size: 111 X 51.7 X 15.5 mm

2) Weight
Iphone is much bulkier than Nokia 5800. Nokia 5800 is 25g lighter than Iphone in weight.

Iphone: 133g
Nokia 5800: 109g

3) Screen Resolution
The Iphone has 3.5” screen while Nokia 5800 has 3.2” but the resolution of 5800 is far more superior to Iphone.

Resolution:
Iphone: 480 by 320
Nokia 5800: 640 by 360

4) Storage
Iphone comes with two options- 8GB & 16GB internal memory. Nokia has a more flexible option to offer 8GB with micro SD card which is expandable upto 16GB. Nokia owners can expand memory size according to needs which the Iphone guys can’t do.

5) Input Methods
Iphone: Finger only.
Nokia 5800: Finger, stylus, plectrum, handwriting recognition.

6) Features
Apple Iphone has lots of missing features like like cut and paste function, saving email attachments, no support for third party headphones, ringtones, applications, many software bugs and other technical glitches. Nokia 5800 Tube has no such issues plus many more amazing features included.

7) Colors
Iphone: Black for 8 & 16 GB, White for 16 GB only.
Nokia 5800: Red, Blue and Black.

8 ) Battery
Nokia 5800 provides upto 35 hrs of music playing time against Apple Iphone which claims just 24 hrs. Overall battery power (talktime/standby) is also about 30% more in Nokia 5800.

Iphone: 5 hrs talk-time, 300 hrs standby, not removable.
Nokia 5800: 8.8 hrs talk-time, 406 hrs standby, removable battery.

9) Camera
Iphone: 2 MP, no flash, no zoom, no additional camera.
Nokia 5800: 3.2 MP, Flash, 3x digital zoom with Carl Zeiss lens. A second camera in front is available for video calling/conferencing.

10) Video Calling
Iphone: No Video calling possible in Iphone.
Nokia 5800: Video calling is possible.

11) Video Recording
IPhone: No option for video recording.
Nokia 5800: Video recording is included.

12) Music Service
Iphone: Paid service with Apple Itunes Store. You pay and download music to your Iphone.
Nokia 5800: “Comes with music” service is bundled with Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic phone by which you can download as much music as you want for 1 year- FREE!!

13) Voice Dialing
Iphone: Not Available
Nokia 5800: Available

14) Voice Recording
IPhone: Not Available
Nokia 5800: Available

15) Web Browser
Iphone: Webkit based Safari browser, no flash available.
Nokia 5800: Webkit based browser, supports flash lite.

16) FM Radio
Iphone: Not Available
Nokia 5800: Available

17) Bluetooth
Iphone: Bluetooth is available for just handsfree, no file sharing possible.
Nokia 5800: Bluetooth available for handsfree and file sharing is possible. Better audio quality on bluetooth in 5800 with A2DP technology which Iphone lacks.

18) Messaging
Iphone: It does not support message forwarding, multiple SMS deletion, sending SMS to multiple recipients and multimedia messages (MMS).
Nokia 5800: All the above is possible plus it has MMS ver 1.3, message size upto 600kb, and automatic resizing of Images for MMS.

19) Price
Nokia 5800 is hopefully unlocked (without any contract) and will sell much cheaper for just £219 in UK which is equal to 279 Euros or $385.

Apple iPhone 3G, on the other hand, with contract in US comes for $199 & $299 for 8 & 16 GB models and the plans with AT&T are way too expensive. Unlocked Apple Iphones sells for around $800 on Ebay.

In other parts of the world, the 8GB unsubsidized Iphone model costs 499 euros ($700) in Italy, 350 pounds ($620) in UK, $700 in India. Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic is expected to sell around the world for about $400 or below.

20) Experience
Nokia: Ages of experience, hundreds of success stories and dozens of smart handsets in current portfolio. Nokia has about 40% market share with the No.1 spot with no close competitors. Certainly the king when it comes to brand value, service and experience.

Apple: First phone ever launched by Apple is Iphone, no prior experience in the telecom market. It’s a novice in the market with a very less market share despite having millions of Iphone sold.

Verdict:
Almost all the major brands around the world like Samsung, HTC, LG, etc launched their touchscreen smartphones with a hope to beat Apple’s Iphone. No-one came close to Iphone when it comes to looks, style, feel and features.

This is the first time a tech giant like Nokia has hit it hard with its first true touchscreen smartphone. Nokia 5800 is a real Iphone killer with way ahead features, perfect looks and great price. Bravo Nokia, Well Done!!

Samsung i7110, the next Symbian smartphone

2008-10-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

The Samsung i7110 is the next Symbian smartphone with a 5 megapixel camera and enhanced multimedia capabilities - at least as far as rumors go. In the same time Samsung released a lower midrange handset - the Samsung S3600, which borrows its looks from the Soul clamshell Samsung G400, but offers entry-level specs and no external display.

Powered by the latest Symbian S60 UI with FP2, the Samsung i7110 sports quad-band GSM, 3G with HSDPA, optical joystick navigation, a 2.6-inch 16M color display, accelerometer for auto screen rotation, a 5 megapixel video camera with dual LED flash, VGA@30fps video recording, slow motion and high-speed QVGA recording, Wi-Fi with DLNA, DivX and XviD video support, GPS receiver with A-GPS, FM radio and FM transmitter.

We are eagerly waiting for the official announcement of the Samsung i7110, which seems to be this month.

Samsung Pixon has 8MP Camera Phone and Touch Screen

2008-10-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Samsung is launching an 8.0-megapixel camera phone Europe and Asia, allowing people to use touch screen features for a more camera-like feel.

Korea-based Samsung said the Pixon is its slimmest 8.0-megapixel camera phone yet, measuring just 13.8mm. It features a 16x digital zoom, auto-focus, fast-shutter, face detection and geo-tagging and comes with a 3.2-inch full-touch screen and integrated Photo Browser for photo sharing and viewing.

"For the first time you will have a camera on your phone capable of delivering the quality of image of a regular camera," said Geesung Choi, President of the Samsung. "The big benefit is not just the ease with which people will now be able to capture and share camera-phone shots, but the quality of those shots when taken."

The Samsung Pixon will be available first in France in mid-October and soon to be available in most of European countries and Asian countries.

Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot

2008-10-06T13:10:00.001-07:00

The Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot has managed to create a real stir in the mobile community. It's the first GSM handset that ships with the whopping 8 megapixels worth of camera goodies and such things simply cannot go unnoticed.

You've probably already gone through the news scoop and you know the sweet details - face detection, smart contrast, both a xenon flash and a photo flash, as well as geotagging complete the camera feature set. A 2.4-inch QVGA TFT display with scratch-resistant mineral glass cover will serve you as a viewfinder.

The Sony Ericsson C905 seems like an excellent high-end cameraphone - our old trustworthy 8 megapixel Canon EOS-1D Mark II N is already starting to feel a wee bit threatened. Will it keep its job?
The Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot also comes with a built-in accelerometer for screen auto rotation, TV-out port, GPS and, wait for it … Wi-Fi support. Yes, that's true wireless networking on a regular feature phone.

Now that being said, some of you are probably going to so hate us for saying this but… the C905 actually looks nice. Some high-quality materials have been used for creating its overweight body and it's crafted flawlessly. We knew we like it as soon as we laid our eyes on it for the first time.

First Impressions of the Xperia X1

2008-10-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

The X1 has a “curved slide” that angles the screen up, banana-style, when you slide out the keyboard.
The physical keyboard is pretty good, though perhaps not quite up to HTC's standard on the Mogul or the Tilt.
The main buttons have this “X” theme to them, 4 laid out on either side of the way in an inverted diamond shape that I'm not particularly fond of, but it works. The 5 way is a great combination of a touch-mouse (like the Samsung SCH-i780).

Here are the specs, in case you're wondering:

HSDPA/HSUPA (Quad Band, too)
WiFi and Bluetooth
aGPS
3.2 Megapixel Camera
110 x 53 x 16.7 mm
145 grams
1500 mAH Battery
Qualcomm's MSM7200A CPU, 528Mhz (confirmed)
800x480 resolution Touchscreen (flush)
MicroSD for expansion
MiniUSB for data and chargin
3.5mm headset jack for music

The other interesting bit is that SE developed the X1 as a “North American Device.” Most of the design and development work was done in San Diego and has a “North American mindset.” If there was any doubt that Sony Ericsson is aiming this device primarily at the US market, that doubt can now be laid to rest. SE has traditionally done much better in the Asian and European markets with their high-end phones, the Xperia X1 is clearly intended to reverse that trend.

Samsung Omnia in Black

2008-10-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

Samsung Omnia in fully black? Yeah, it is the Samsung Omnia Millionaire Pack in Netherlands. This limited edition comes together with a limited edition leather case, a magazine called Millionaire and a WEP350 Bluetooth headset. The Samsung Omnia Millionaire pack will be available at 699€ including the tax.

HTC Touch Pro

2008-10-04T22:48:00.001-07:00

Like the Touch Diamond, the Pro is equipped with HTC's new touchscreen interface, TouchFlo 3D. This replaces the awkward Today screen of Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with something far more attractive and suited to finger-driven operation. A large flip-chart-style clock greets you when you turn it on and it's complemented by equally attractive home screens for email, text messages, contacts, web browser, photos & video, music, weather and settings.

Admittedly, HTC has since updated the ROM for the Diamond, so owners don't have to suffer its previously excruciating performance, but even with this update applied the Pro feels slightly nippier. We can only attribute this to the increased helping of RAM, up to 288MB from 192MB, since the processor is the same 528MHz Qualcomm unit.

The 640 x 480 screen is as glorious as it

was on the Touch Diamond too, and the web browser - Opera Mobile 9.5 - is as brilliant as ever, allowing you to zoom in an out of fully-rendered web pages and pan around at will. The Pro, like the Diamond, has an accelerometer that detects the orientation of the phone, rotating photos and web pages automatically as you move the handset from portrait to landscape mode in your hand.

And the Touch Pro is rammed to the gills with smartphone hardware. Where you can get a signal it'll let you browse the internet at speeds of up to 7.2Mb/sec; there's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS and an FM radio tuner; plus a 3.2-megapixel camera on the rear (with LED flash) and a VGA camera for video calls on the front. Call quality is good, the camera works much better than that of the Diamond, and the GPS receiver works brilliantly, regularly achieving satellite reception in under a minute. It doesn't have much flash memory built in - just 512MB - but a microSD slot allows you to add much more than that if you want. It's far preferable to the Diamond's more generous, but non-expandable, 4GB allocation.
HTC's Touch Pro is clearly a highly capable smartphone. It has a brilliant keyboard, screen, web browser and all the features you could possibly want. It's lovely to use and an effective pocket computing and communications device. And the keyboard is the best we've come across on any Windows Mobile smartphone. In fact if a Windows Mobile device is what you want, you'll not get much better than this.

Review of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Samsung i8510 (INNOV8)

2008-10-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

Display

The i8510 sports a 2.8-inch TFT display capable of 240x320 pixel resolution (42x55 mm) - similar screens are found in the Nokia N95 8 Gb and N96. This unit shows up to 262 K colors, which come together in a bright and juicy picture.

Battery

The smartphone comes packaged with a 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery. Our test unit managed to stay up and running for around 1,5 days - during this time we were particularly heavy on its camera and music (3-4 hours a days), whereas calls made only a small part of our activities (30 minutes a day or s

Hardware Platform

The Samsung i8510 is no bells and whistles in this department, running on the same platform as the Samsung G810. For those of you who haven't skimped through our review of this phone yet, it employs Qualcomm MSM6280 radio module and TI OMAP 2430 chipset that comes included with a 2D/3D accelerator that kicks in when shooting with the i8510's built-in camera too.

Memory, Memory cards

The Samsung i8510 comes bundled with 60 Mb of flash memory and 16 Gb of main storage. As far as smartphones go, this is as much as you can only get these days. The user also gets to access 85 Mb out of 128 Mb of the i8510's RAM (right after the phone's first boot). On top of that the handset allows beefing up its already huge storage space with microSD memory cards (that can be over 4 Gb in size all thanks to the support of SDHC standard).

USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi

Bluetooth. The smartphone sports EDR-enabled Bluetooth 2. Wi-Fi. We didn't bump into any difficulties with the i8510's Wi-Fi wireless connectivity - it instantly located and tapped into any available local network.

GPS-navigation

The i8510 runs with Route 66 for its navigation package - basically, it's not the most widely adopted solution among phone makers (Nokia used to implement it some time ago, but these days they equip their phones only with Nokia Maps)

Camera 8 MP

Nokia N85

2008-10-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sales package:

Nokia N85
1200 mAh Li-Ion battery (BL-5K)
Charger (AC-10)
Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U)
USB data cable (CA-101)
Wired stereo-headset with a remote (HS-45, AD-54)
Nokia 8 GB microSD card (MU-43)
User Guide

Display

Nokia N85 is one of the first handsets in this range to adopt a 2.6 inch AM-OLED screen (39x43 mm) capable of 16 million colors and QVGA resolution

Battery

The handset utilizes a 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery (BL-5K), similar to that employed in the Nokia N79. The N85 is rated for 7 hours of talk time (GSM) and 363 hours of standby. Music time - up to 30 hours, video recording time (top resolution and quality settings) - up to 180 minutes, video playback time - up to 7 hours.

Memory

The device comes equipped with 128 Mb of RAM, after first launch you will get around 70 Mb of free memory at your disposal. Also you will have around 72 Mb for storing personal data. The N85 deals with microSD memory cards (hot-swappable), the phone comes packaged with a 8Gb unit.

N-Gage and Gaming Department

The Nokia N85 is the first phone to feature a full-fledged N-Gage client - a tad later its localized editions will become available world-wide. The handset comes boxed with fifteen Try&Buy games, although you can pick one of them and get a full version free of charge using the activation code the N85 ships with.

Nokia N96

2008-10-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Design, size, controls

The phone measures in at 103x55x18 mm (125 grams) plus the camera part is even thicker due the rim around the lens that adds a couple of millimeters to the N96’s girth. On the whole, the N96 looks and feels more like some sort of shovel in the hand due to being quite wide – compared with the Nokia N81 it has gotten 0,5cm wider.

Display

The handset comes bundled with a QVGA 2.8-inch display (240x320 pixels, 42x58 mm). Its 16 million colors and sufficient brightness make for an easy-to-read picture. While in the sun, the display gets washed out, yet remains perfectly legible.

Battery

The handset makes use of a 950 mAh Li-Ion battery (BL-5F), which is the same as what the original Nokia N95 had, whereas the N95 8Gb had its cell capacity kicked up to 1050 mAh.

Memory

The N96 is the first S60 smartphone to enjoy both 16 Gb of built-in storage and memory cards.

Wi-Fi. This handset comes armed with Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 g) support. All security standards are supported: WEP , WPA , WPA 2, with other advanced settings available. The device supports Universal PnP standard (UPnP)

Mobile television

The N96 comes installed with a no-frills application for watching TV programmes, featuring a list of broadcasts, enabling you to see short clips taken out of them

Nokia E72 and E75 leaked in spy shots

2008-10-03T21:39:00.000-07:00

While the market still has to savor Nokia's two latest and greatest offerings the enterprise segment - Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 - it seems the Finnish phone maker already has two other phones in the works and almost ready for release. According to a recent leak (which Nokia have been trying to clear up all these days), Nokia E72 (a full-thumbboard phone, that looks very similar to the E71) and E75 (a side-slider, whose design has been carried over from some HTC's Windows Mobile solutions, namely the S730).
Also, thanks to what appears to be another blooper of Nokia's, some of the E72's wap profiles popped up on their web site - judging by what's written down there, it will pack pretty much the same features and abilities as the E71 and will come with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 user interface. All in all, it seems strange for Nokia to have two new phones on the way so early after the recent release of the E71 and E66. We will keep you posted.

T-Mobile finally rolls out Android-based G1

2008-10-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

The first handset to be powered by Google’s Android OS has been officially announced – the T-Mobile G1, to be available exclusively on the T-Mobile network. G1 will sport seamless integration with Google applications – namely the seven applications it comes pre-installed with – which are as follows: Search, Mail, Maps, Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, GTalk, and, the Youtube application. This is hardly surprising, being as Android is a Google-driven OS, but, it’s nice too see that the applications will all work together – synching with Google’s online services, and the like. This means, that any change you make – for instance, adding a contact to your Gmail account on the G1, will also appear on Gmail on your computer desktop. Priced at $179, on a two-year contract, it’s to be available from October 22^nd in the US. It’ll also be available for $399 sim-free. As for other countrys, the launch dates range from November, into early 2009.

LG KC780: thinnest 8MP camera phone

2008-10-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

LG has announced the thinnest 8 MP camera phone to date - the KC780. Currently, the thinnest known 8 MP camera phone is the M8800, from Samsung, measuring up at 13.8 mm, it's unknown how much thinner the KC780 will be.Very little is known, in the way of specs, but, it's said to offer quad-band GSM connectivity, and touchscreen use for multimedia apps, Price and release are not known, as of yet.

Nokia Tube Overview

2008-10-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

The 5800 Express Music will be available this quarter for about $390, simfree (iPhone comes with a two year contract for $199). Only the simfree part could be a great selling point, as you would be able to use the phone on any network, anywhere around the world, without the hurdle of unlocking the phone

Nokia's 5800 Express Music also features a 3.2-megapixel camera, with autofocus Carl Zeiss optics and a dual LED flash. All these blow iPhone's 2006 style 2-megapixel-no flash camera out of the water. Also, Tube records videos at VGA quality (640X480px) and has a frontal camera for video calls, something that the iPhone can't do at all. In this category, it's clear who's the winner.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will sell for €279 euros ($395) excluding subsidies and taxes.

LG KP500: cheapest touchscreen handset yet

2008-10-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

Another touchscreen handset has appeared from LG - the KP500. This handset is the cheapest handset, to sport a touchscreen available on the market. Naturally, to achieve this, the handset, spec-wise, isn't top of the range, as can be seen below. Once again, LG has not officially announced the confirmed specs for the handset - but, expect them to soon, as the handset should be released in Europe, next month. * Connectivity: Quad-band GSM, EDGE, and GPRS * Display: 3" touchscreen, 320 x 400 pixels, supports up to 262 thousand colours * Camera: 3 MP * Memory: 46 MB internal, Micro SD card slot * Extras: Stylus, on-screen keyboard, FM Radio, built-in motion sensor, Bluetooth, and USB connectivity * Battery: 900 mAh * Dimensions: 106.5×55.4×11.9 mm * Weight: 89 grams