Tpad Launches Mobile VoIP on Nokia WiFi Mobiles

Tpad today announced the availability of a free SMS text service that will automatically setup a WiFi enabled mass-market mobile phone that will bring free or ultra low cost mobile VoIP calls to millions.

The SMS text service is currently configured for Nokia's latest E and N series phones and will be constantly updated when leading mobile phone producers such as Samsung and Motorola release their brand new WiFi phones later this year.

Mobile calls between Tpad users are free worldwide if the calls are routed over their WiFi Connection. All other PSTN calls from the user's WiFi mobile to any other landline or mobile in the world will be charged at the usual low Tpad VoIP rates.

This SMS text service has been designed to remove the need for complicated set up procedures. At Tpad, set up is easy and fast, customers simply create a free mobile account and then they will automatically receive a free SMS text that will configure their phone's SIP settings with Tpad.

Tpad integrates seamlessly with the phone using the existing address book, so there's no need to retype your contacts. Once set up to use a WiFi hotspot, the mobile connects automatically next time the phone is in range.

news source : http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20080326/bs_prweb/prweb800804_3

Samsung's Belle phone comes with matching nail polish

Apart from stylish features, graphics, and color changes, phone makers have included plenty of other gimmicky functions in order to attract the fairer sex. In case you missed it, there are plenty of novelty phones out there with ovulation calendars, rape alarms, recipe databases, and weight management functions, but the latest trend on the radar is matching your nail polish to your phone.

Mobileburn.com says that in order to find the matching shade for the exclusive G600 Belle mobile, Samsung partnered with Nails Inc. in the UK who will be introducing the complimentary purple lacquer, along with two other bottles. Compared to the other genius female-centric features, nail polish will at least come in handy in my book, so I won't complain as long as they don't expect me to pay extra for it.

Apart from the matching nail polish token, the slider phone itself isn't so bad either. It includes a 5-megapixel camera, music player, supports microSD cards, and has a large display to surf the Web. Samsung's G600 Belle will be available exclusively through Phones 4u in the UK starting next month.

Ladies, do you think matching your nail polish with your cell phone will be a hit or a miss?

news source : http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/hughes/25186

Back in July of last year, Samsung announced its 5 megapixel SGH-G600 mobile phone. Samsung has now partnered with nails inc. to launch the G600 Belle

Back in July of last year, Samsung announced its 5 megapixel SGH-G600 mobile phone. Samsung has now partnered with nails inc. to launch the G600 Belle, a device available exclusively at Phones 4u in the UK. This new version of the G600 is cloaked in a sleek burgundy colour and the manufacturer is now throwing in 3 bottles of nail polish in the box, including one that matches the G600 Belle's color. Ladies, its what Samsung just knows you've been waiting for, a way to match your fingernails with your phone.

The stylish G600 Belle is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with camcorder function, and supports microSD memory cards for needed expansion when capturing the moment. Pics and video can be viewed on the G600's large 2.2" display, which can render 16 million colors. The handheld also supports Internet browsing thanks to NetFront's Browser v3.4, which provides PC like capabilities on a small screen.

Other features included are email and Bluetooth support, and an MP3 music player. The Samsung G600 Belle will be available starting on April 1 exclusively at Phones 4u in the UK. The regular version of the SGH-G600 has the same specs and is currently available.

http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=4333&source=SIDEBARHOME

iPhone helps spread Safari

Apple's Safari browser, which runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch, is the second most popular mobile browser in the UK, research has found.


According to the web analytics firm Statcounter, the iPhone has three times the internet browser market share of its nearest rival BlackBerry in the UK, but still lags behind Nokia.


"The iPhone is more than living up to its claims of being a user-friendly internet browser, unlike many other mobile phones," said Aodhan Cullen, head of StatCounter.


"The iPhone is already the number one mobile browser in the US and number two globally despite having a significantly lower market share of overall phone sales," Cullen added.


The iPhone was released in the UK last November. Mobile phone operator O2 has said that it is the fastest-selling device it has ever launched in the UK.

http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/news.php?id=199128

Personal Navigation with the Nokia 6210 Navigator

Nokia have seemingly increased the pace of mobile phone innovation with the announcement of the Nokia 6210 Navigator at the MWC 2008. The 6210 Navigator is similar in features to the 6120 Navigator, coming with HSDPA and aGPS as standard.

However, what the 6210 adds to the mix is a built-in compass, which acts to rotate the map according to the direction in which you're pointing. In other words, no more having to work out which way down a street you're walking - the map will always point in your direction no matter where you stand. Perfect for women, I understand.

news source : http://mobilementalism.com/

Samsung SPH-M520 Review

Surprise won’t even begin to describe costumer’s feelings when they’ll see the new Samsung SPH-M520 for the very first time. A lot of us have been asking for something innovative, something different, from one of the world’s leading manufacturer of mobile phones - but they failed to do it with this one. Although the SPH-M520 remained true to Samsung’s slim slider phone’s, it won’t overly impress users already influenced by devices such as the iPhone or RIM’s Blackberries.

Having said that, I’d like to soften my criticism a little by saying that the phone in itself isn’t really that bad. As with other mobile devices , it has it’s good points that some users will be comfortable with.

Starting of with its design, the SPH-M520 remains true to Samsung’s popular form. But I’m just wondering, when will Samsung try something new? A candy-bar type phone would be a breath of fresh air when we are talking about all the slim sliders that Samsung has produced.

At 4.01 inches by 2.04 inches by 0.5 inch and 2.75 ounces the SPH-M520 is neither too big nor too small; it slips easily into a pocket and it won’t weigh you down. The slider mechanism is sturdy enough, but also sensitive enough to allow users to pen and close the phone with one hand.

The SPH-M520’s 262,000-color display measures a generous 2.1 inches (176×220 pixels). Like many Samsung displays, it’s bright and colorful and shows just about everything well. You can change the brightness, the backlighting time, and the dialing font size and color.

Samsung added a new layer to the standby screen. Now, you can find shortcut icons to seven functions that is, in my opinion, very convenient. You can cycle though the options while pressing the navigation toggle and make your selection with the OK key. It’s a convenient arrangement but you can turn it off and use the traditional toggle shortcuts instead.

Another positive aspect to the SPH-M520 is its well-designed navigation controls. It’s much better than what we see in most of today’s slider phones. The square toggle is large and is raised above the surface of the SPH-M520 and gives you no problem thumbing through the menus and selecting options using the tactile OK button.

The phone’s features basically contains the standard 500-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a Web address, a nickname, and notes. You can save contacts to groups and pair them with a photo and one of 19 (72-chord) polyphonic ringtones for caller ID.

Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a file manager, a speakerphone, a calendar, a scheduler, a voice recorder, an alarm clock, a memo pad, a calculator, a countdown timer, a task list and a world clock. You’ll also find stereo Bluetooth, USB mass storage, GPS support with Telenav access, voice dialing and commands, wireless backup for your contacts, modem capability, e-mail and instant messaging and PC syncing. The SPH-M520 also offers audible caller ID that will route through to a Bluetooth headset.

The SPH-M520 also has a 1.3-megapixel camera that takes pictures in four resolutions - 1.3-megapixel, high, medium, and low. Other options include a self timer, five fun frames, five color tones, brightness and white balance controls, a night mode, a 2x zoom and four shutter sounds. It can also act as a camcorder and shoots clips with sound and a set of editing options similar to the still camera. After doing so, you can save your work in its memory. The SPH-M520’s internal memory, however, is small at 16MB, but you can use the microSD card slot for more storage.

You can personalize the SPH-M520 with several of clock styles, themes, and screen savers. If you want additional options beyond what comes on the phone, you can download them using the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser.

The SPH-M520 has a rated battery life of 3.5 hours talk time. According to FCC radiation tests, the Samsung SPH-M520 has a digital SAR rating of 0.761 watt per kilogram.

news source:

http://www.camera-core.co.uk/19-03-2008-samsung-sph-m520-review.html

LG KF600 Review

Look and feel

With its smoked glass and chrome finish, the KF600 is a striking slider phone that’s well built, feels good and looks original. We also think the InteractPad user interface looks great, even though only a section of the screen is touch-sensitive.


Features

The InteractPad is a quirky feature that’s integral to the handset’s usability. Elsewhere, the feature set is distinctly mid-range. The three-megapixel camera is a plus, but the lack of 3G is a shame. Although the display is large and undisturbed by any unsightly keys, a good third is taken up by the virtual InteractPad.


Ease of use

For a touch-screen phone, the KF600 is easy to use, but it achieves this by mimicking a regular phone interface. As a result, you don’t get the large display benefits of other touch-screen phones. It’s still good fun though, and well thought out.


Performance

Aside from the slow data speeds for web browsing, the KF600 is a good all-round performer and the camera takes decent snaps.


Battery life

As with the feature set, the battery life is satisfactory without being overly impressive.

news source : http://www.mobilechoiceuk.com/Phone-review?product_id=311

Samsung SGH-G800

When you buy a mobile phone with a view to using its camera instead of having a dedicated digital camera for your snaps, you inevitably make some compromises. Even the best mobile phone camera can't match a nicely specified pocket digital camera for features and capabilities.

How much longer that will hold true is questionable, though. Phones with below par 2-megapixel (and lower) sensors will probably continue to be around for a long while, but at the higher end of the market things are getting better and better with 5-megapixel sensors and impoved optics now appearing in handsets.

Samsung's new G800 brings 3x optical zoom alongside 5-megapixel images to the mobile phone - a pairing that was pretty desirable in a dedicated digital camera not that long ago.

I'll get to the camera - the unique selling point for this mobile - in more detail later. But even before looking at any of the features I need to point out that if you have small pockets or want a tidy and neat mobile, then maybe the G800 is not for you.

Styled in silver and black the G800 is a reasonably good looking phone. It is a slider, and an exceptionally large navigation button sits beneath the screen, flanked by two tall, thin softmenu buttons. Beneath these and very close to the bottom edge of the phone, are the Call and End keys and a Cancel key.

Slide the lid section upwards and the flat number pad is revealed. This is large, and easy enough to use. Opened, the phone is a generous 135mm tall. Closed, it is 101.5mm tall and either way it's 52mm wide. As for thickness, Samsung lists that at 18.8mm, but that doesn't include the back-mounted camera lens cover which protrudes from the main body of the phone. Include the cover and by my reckoning the G800 measures in at a substantial 22mm thick. Weight-wise you are looking at 129g.

The screen is a 2.4 inch, 262 thousand colour, 320 x 240 pixel affair and as we have come to expect from Samsung it is clear, sharp and bright. No problems there.

news source: http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-phones/review/2008/02/17/Samsung-SGH-G800/p1

Nokia's N96 REVIEW

Nokia’s upcoming flagship handset, the 16GB N96, will arrive in the UK in August, according to retailer Carphone Warehouse.

Carphone Warehouse’s website has been updated to reveal that the successor to the popular N95 will arrive in the summer. Until now, Nokia fans had been waiting with bated breath because only a vague, sometime-in-Q3 shipping date had been mentioned by the Finnish handset giant.

Unfortunately, the retailer’s website doesn’t treat us to any other nuggets of N96 news, such as an estimated UK price.

Tech specs for the phone were mistakenly leaked on Nokia’s German website last month, but the handset giant has since confirmed that it’ll sport a 2.8in display, a five-megapixel camera and 16GB of on-board memory.

Users will also be treated to live TV broadcasting, thanks to the DVB-H tuner built into UK models, and support for MPEG 4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video formats. A kickstand lets you sit the phone horizontally for hands-free viewing.

It also features media keys, a 3.5mm headphone connector and built-in 3D stereo speakers plus the Nokia Maps application with Assisted GPS. It has Wi-Fi and HSDPA connectivity.

news source:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/11/nokia_n96_august_uk_release/

Samsung and Adidas unveil miCoach fitness phone

A new mobile phone which doubles up as a fitness coach has been unveiled by Samsung.

Developed in conjunction with German sportswear giant adidas, the miCoach handset comes with a stride sensor and a heart rate monitor.

Using data from the two sensors, the device is able to create a personalised training program based on your fitness level.

The phone, which features an mp3 player and a 2 megapixel camera, also provides training tips and time updates during workouts.
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The handset is the latest in a series of gadgets aimed at health conscious gadget fans, following on from the Nike+ iPod accessory, and Nintendo’s forthcoming Wii Fit computer game.

The miCoach phone is set to go on sale in the UK later this month.

news source:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology/2008/03/06/samsung-and-adidas-unveil-micoach-fitness-phone-89520-20343638/

Sony Ericsson W300i Review

Sony Ericsson is known for their Cyber Shot camera phones and its Walkman music phones. They are, in my opinion, one of the leading mobile manufacturers in the market today. In this article, let’s take a look at one of their more successful device, the SE W300i.

Walkman phones are generally packed with the most expensive and the best features. However, the W300i is more of a low-end Walkman phone. Of course, basic staples like bluetooth, a VGA camera, and the full range of Walkman music compatibility is still there, but its overall effect is a step down from models usually released by Sony.

Most of SE phones lean heavily on the swivel/candy bar design. The W300i on the other hand came out with a flip design, which in my opinion, is a surprise especially to Sony Ericsson fans. From the outside it’s quite attractive and doesn’t bear much of a resemblance to the company’s few other flip phones.

The phone is relatively compact at 3.5 by 1.8 by 1.0 inches, so it’s easily placed in most pockets. It’s also quite light for its size at 3.3 ounces, but the trade-off is that the overall construction feels somewhat flimsy.

In the center of the front flap is the external display which displays info such as date, time, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID. Above the screen is the VGA camera lens and a self-portrait mirror, while the speaker is on the top of the rear face. The volume control is on the left spine along with a control for activating the music player and playing and pausing music. The infrared port is on the right spine, while the connection port for the charger, the wired headset, and the USB cable is on the bottom of the handset.

Flip open the phone and you’ll see its 1.75-inch (128×160) internal display. The W300i shows a bright and vivid screen that displays all 262,144 colors beautifully and is perfect for viewing photos and videos, playing games, and scrolling through the user-friendly menus.

The W300i has a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, e-mail and Web addresses, business and home street addresses, a birthday date, and notes. As most phones now, users can organize contacts into groups, pair them with a photo for caller ID, or assign them one of 28 (40-chord) polyphonic ring tones.

Other basic/standard features of this phone include support for MP3 ring tones, a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, voice dialing, a calendar, a task list, a notepad, a calculator, a timer, a stopwatch, and a code memo for storing passwords and other secure information. There’s also a recorder for both voice memos and calls which is limited by the available memory.

Sony Ericsson music player among their phones (especially Walkman phones) are basically similar to each other. It supports a broad range of formats, including MP3, MP4, 3GP, AAC, and WAV files. Opening the player takes you directly to the main menu, where you can organize music by artist, track name, or playlist. Settings include album/song shuffle and loop, Sony’s Mega Bass, and an equalizer.

You can store your music files to the phone as long as you still have available memory left. Its a bit small at only 20MB. But you can extend that using the supported Memory Stick Micro for extra space.

Its a bit expected, knowing that this is a Walkman phone, that the built-in VGA camera wouldn’t be that good at all. You can take pictures in three resolutions (640×480, 320×240, 160×120) and choose from a variety of editing options, including four color effects, a night mode, two quality settings, a self-timer, 19 fun frames, and a brightness control.

Of course, looking at the picture this camera produces, the quality is rather disappointing. Shots were blurry and grainy and colors washed out. Likewise, video quality was unremarkable. Still, the W300i does offer a few creative applications for the amateur photographer. With Photo DJ, you can add one of six fun frames; rotate the shot’s orientation; and use various image effects such as brightness, contrast, tint control, and photo marking.

The W300i has a rated talk time of 9 hours and a promised standby time of 16.5 days.

news source :http://www.camera-core.co.uk/11-03-2008-sony-ericsson-w300i-review.html

Special edition EF61 mobile phone on the way from BenQ-Siemens

BenQ-Siemens will soon be releasing the successor to the Siemens CL75 Poppy phone. The EF61 is all about looks, the design is called whisper and it is pale blue in colour with a pink/purple and darker blue floral picture on the back and front fascia’s. A display screen is situated slightly below the 1.3 MP camera on the front fascia.

As well as a 1.3 mega pixel camera which includes a multi-shot function, the EF61 comes with expandable memory, MP3/AAC/WMA player, calculator, stopwatch, voice memo, currency converter, organizer, photo editor and a maximum talk time of 3 hours.

Unlike the CL75 Poppy the EF61 has Bluetooth. It weighs in at 99 grams and measures 88 x 46 x 23 mm. Its special features are a display screen that doubles as a mirror, it also boasts interactive gaming via Bluetooth, and there is also a feature that allows you to add voice tags to your photographs.

The EF61 is due for release during Q3 2006. Take a look at the rest of the range in our BenQ-Siemens mobile phones section.

news source:
http://www.onecompare.com/mobile-news/156/16492674/benq-siemens-ef61-mobile-phone-coming-soon.htm

HTC launches Shift ultramobile PC in UK

Handset maker HTC (Hi-Tech Computer) today unveiled its hotly-anticipated Shift UMPC (ultra-mobile PC), along with details of when it will be launched in the UK. The HTC Shift will run Windows Vista and will have a 7in widescreen display. The screen will be touch-sensitive and will tilt and slide, providing access to the keyboard hidden underneath. The HTC Shift will be a 3G internet access device with HSDPA (high-speed data packet access) and will weigh just 800g.

HTC says the Shift is the first device to launch with SnapVUE. A technology HTC has developed itself, SnapVUE provides access to email, calendar, messaging and contacts without the Shift first needing to be fully powered up. This will preserve battery power as well as being convenient.

The Shift launched in Asia earlier this year to much acclaim and has been eagerly anticipated by gadget fans who got their first look at it earlier this year when it was unveiled alongside the yet smaller HTC Advantage – an oversized personal digital assistant with a detachable magnetic keyboard that runs the Windows Mobile operating system and that can be stashed away in a pocket if the user prefers to enter information directly in to the 5in touch-sensitive screen.

The HTC Shift is set to be the flagship device among the rash of new products HTC announced today.

Other notable announcements included a 3.5G version of the HTC Touch – the handset cited by many as the strongest contender to Apple’s iPhone due to its user-friendly icon-based navigation and TouchFLO mode of flicking between screens using gestures.

Today, HTC announced the HTC Touch Dual. The 3.5G handset not only gains faster wireless connectivity, but also gains a slide-out keypad. HTC claims users will be able to to zoom in to and rotate photos on the Touch Dual one-handed – a feature also supported by Apple’s iPhone. Users will also be able to view photo slideshows.

“The HTC Touch Dual expands the HTC Touch product family and integrates 3.5G connectivity and a sliding keyboard into a slim and stylish design. This combination provides customers with the most uncompromising and intuitive touch experience available on a phone,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer of HTC.

HTC also announced a 3G/HSDPA replacement to the popular S710, the HTC S730. HTC has a 400MHz processor and a small slide-out keyboard – this time hidden by a standard-size mobile phone handset. HTC says the S730 is aimed at “consumers and business professionals who want high speed connectivity”. It will run Windows Mobile 6 and come in gun-metal grey.

All the products announced today are due for launch in Q4.

HTC usually sells its handsets on a SIM-free basis via outlets such as expansys.com, but first made its name as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer), designing and making handsets for all the big mobile phone and gadget companies from Orange and O2 to T-Mobile and others.

The HTC Touch Dual, however, will launch on the Orange network later this month in the UK, France, Poland and Romania as part of its Signature Series. It will also launch in Switzerland on Orange.

news source: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=10886

Samsung's Ultra Smart F700 Phone

Samsung’s newly announced Ultra Smart F700 phone has a slide out keypad.

The slide out keypad is a full QWERTY affair, quite like the i-mate K-JAM. It also comes with a large, 2.78-inch touch-screen going up to 440x240. It also boasts of a 5 megapixel camera!

It supports GSM, EDGE, 3G/WCDMA and also HSDPA going up to 7.2Mbps. The phone comes with a full HTML browser, Bluetooth, a microSD expansion slot. The phone doesn’t run Windows Mobile or any other smartphone OS, but it seems to have all the features that any smartphone user would need, except of course, the ability to install new applications.

The phone will be shown off at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona this year. We’ll let you know if they drop a price tag on this one.

news source:
http://www.tech2.com/india/news/mobile-phones/samsungs-ultra-smart-f700-phone/4141/0

Motorola's Z9 Prototype Leaked

So Motorola has got something up its sleeve and it's a pretty snazzy looking slider phone. The Z9. Apparently it's going to need a carrier and AT&T has made its mark on the Z9 with a browser key and AT&T firmware.

Among the specs are a 2-megapixel camera, with a flash and MicroSD external memory support. It's going to run on Motorola Synergy OS and can support live video sharing. The buttons do seem to be a bit tiny so I’m not sure about the comfort level when it comes to usage.

Considering this is only a prototype, prices nor availability have been revealed. So keep checking in for more information as we get it.

news source: http://www.tech2.com/india/news/smart-mobile-phones/motorolas-z9-prototype-leaked/8903/0

Nokia 6500 Classic Review

In a nutshell: The 6500 Classic is Nokia's thinnest phone so far, and is a stunningly beautiful phone too, with its polished metal casing. It's an easy to use phone that does just what most people want from a phone - make calls, take pictures and play music. Supplied with 1 Gbyte of memory and a stereo headset, it's already equipped to go. The one thing missing from this 3G phone is video calling. Available in Black or Bronze.
Best buy: *Free* with half-price line rental from Dialaphone (Black only) or direct from Three (Black) or Three (Bronze); or on Pay as you Go from the Carphone Warehouse at £177.95 (Black or Bronze.)

Now here's a tasty-looking phone. Nokia have finally joined the ultra-thin revolution with the 6500 Classic phone. This is the slimmest Nokia phone released in the UK and, incredibly it's a 3G phone too! And doesn't it look nice, with its sleek aluminium casing ("individually polished", according to the Nokia blurb) and available in Black and Bronze. Let's pause a moment to enjoy the looks.

OK, having drooled enough, let's look at the exterior of the phone in more detail. There's absolutely nothing to complain about here. Whereas Sony Ericsson seem intent on destroying nice phones with unergonomic keypads, Nokia have learned their lesson from making "cool" keypads and have provided the 6500 Classic with a very functional keypad and navigation key. The combination of an ergonomic design, a plain Series 40 interface (no Smartphone junk here!) make this an extremely easy and pleasurable phone to use. Power it up, and the next thing to enjoy is the large and ultra high-resolution LCD display boasting the latest 16 million colour display technology. It's a display that you can easily customise with a choice of themes (wallpapers, sounds, screensavers, and backgrounds).

The featurelist of the 6500 Classic matches what you'd expect from a mid-range 3G phone in 2007: a 2 megapixel camera (no autofocus - so don't throw away your digital camera!), a competent music player (although support for Bluetooth stereo headsets is missing), a video camera and good connectivity via USB and Bluetooth. There's nothing to get very excited about here, but it ticks all the boxes that most people will care about. One obvious thing that's missing, considering that this is a 3G phone, is video calling. There's no front-facing camera, so video calling is out, I'm afraid. However, the sales package does include a Nokia Stereo Headset HS-82 and a microUSB Connectivity Cable CA-101, so we can't fault Nokia for their generosity there.

One of the unusual features of the 6500 Classic is that it has a fixed memory of 1 Gbyte, of which around 920 Mbytes is available to the user. Now this has its good points and bad points. The bad point is that there's no slot for increasing the memory beyond 1 Gbyte. But on the other hand, 920 Mbytes is enough to store 200-300 songs, which is certainly enough for most users, and it means that the memory is all easily accessible in one place, without any hassle of copying data from internal memory to memory card. Given the kind of phone that the 6500 Classic is (i.e. mid-range) we think that this is a perfectly good solution.

Other thing to point out is that battery life is less than average, which isn't surprising for an ultraslim 3G handset. It'll probably need charging every other day.

We do like the 6500 Classic. It's a very beautiful phone and lovely to use. It isn't all-singing and all-dancing, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. At Mobile Phones UK, we like our phones to look nice and to work reliably, and the 6500 Classic does that. If it had included video calling we might have rustled up another star and awarded it 5 out of 5. The Nokia 6500 Slide is a slide phone with enhanced features but is not ultraslim.

news source:
http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/nokia-6500-classic.htm

Another stun gun that looks like a mobile phone - The Sony Ericsson stun gun

Stun guns that look like mobile phones aren't new. But, the latest cellphone turned stun gun to be discovered actually looks like a decent handset upon cursory inspection.

This Sony Ericsson look-alike is a fresh departure from previous stun guns masquerading as ugly monoblock handsets, and the police in Nottingham, England are surprised to have found it. The BBC reports that they found this stun gun disguised as a Sony Ericsson handset in the Hyson Green area. Although it looks like a Sony Ericsson slider, the fact that it doesn't actually work as a cellphone but does deliver 900,000 volts of electricity through two metal prongs should make the user a little cautious.

In fact, the 900,000V shock is 18 more likely to be fatal than the 500,000V shock that police-issue Tasers deliver. "It's a shock that we found it. We are always concerned about finding different types of weapons on the streets. This could potentially kill someone," said a Nottingham police officer.

So, the next time you plan to mug a stranger, make sure they're actually using their mobile phone as a phone. Otherwise you might be shocked to find that their handset is actually a stun gun.

news source:
http://www.intomobile.com/2008/03/12/another-stun-gun-that-looks-like-a-mobile-phone-the-sony-ericsson-stun-gun.html

Eten Glofiish M810 and V900 mobile phones, more info from the teasers

Eten why on earth do you tease us? Come on admit it you love it? Anyway we have some great news from the teasers, yes we mean Eten. The information is about the Eten Glofiish V900 and the Eten Glofiish M810. The V900 will have superb onboard digital TV tuner and the M810 will feature the latest feature-rich PocketPC offered by the company.

Let us start with the Eten Glofiish M810 which is the successor of the Eten M800, this cool phone will have pretty impressive features such as hardware QWERTY keyboard, 2 megapixel autofocus camera, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, GPS and a VGA display, no word on what resolution though.

Now we move swiftly onto the Eten Glofiish V900 which is pictured above, this handset will feature mobile TV with support for DVB-T, DVB-H, TDMB and DAB broadcasting standards which is great for movies and sports. The V900 will also sport VGA resolution display, GPS, HSDPA and Wi-Fi plus a brand new Eten touch-based user interface.

The is no word on price or availability on the Eten Glofiish M810 as of yet, but the word is that the Eten Glofiish V900 will be launched sometime in the 2nd half of 2008, the V900 however will be shown off at the Mobile world congress 2008 held this February in Barcelona.

news source :

http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2008/02/05/eten-glofiish-m810-and-v900-mobile-phones-more-info-from-the-teasers/

Alcatel Mandarina Duck Review

Look and feel

It’s available in three colours – lilac, cherry red and the brightest of lime green shades. Each has a glossy inside surface while the casing has a half glossy, half rubbery-matt finish and is a darker shade. The cute duck emblem is on the top half of the back of the phone, and splendid it looks, too.

Features

There’s a camera in the lid of the phone, but it’s only VGA. There is also a music player. There are two Java games on board, HeliMinator, where you shoot down helicopters and Rocket Adventure, which is a platform game as baffling as it is thankfully brief.

Ease of use

The smooth, flat keys almost blend into one another and the direction and OK keys at its centre are particularly hard to separate so working your way through the menu isn’t always easy. Alcatel’s operating system has never been the most intuitive, and things don’t get any easier as you drill down into the animated icons, let alone the slim and uninformative instruction manual.

Performance

Music playback seems too likely to go off in your pocket, menus are slow and complex, and performance isn’t remarkable in any direction.

Battery life

The battery life is as unremarkable as the rest of the phone.

news source : http://www.mobilechoiceuk.com/Phone-review?product_id=294

Panasonic EB-MX6 Cellular Mobile Phone (Unlocked)

The high-performance large 2.2-inch colour TFT screen is perfect to display crystal clear images. Thanks to an amazing 320 x 240 pixels QVGA resolution, enhanced to approximately 16 million colours* and a brightness that goes as high as 300 . The exceptional 1.3 Megapixel resolution with backlight compensation ensures every captured image shown on screen is truly amazing. The macro-mode allows you to zoom to closely on an object with absolute clarity. And with the 4x digital zoom you can zoom in to capture every detail beautifully. A long–life 1660mAh battery makes the MX6 ideal for business use. When you are away from the office and unable to recharge the battery, you don’t have to worry about it running out. A light touch of the button near the hinge is all it takes to pop open the handset. You can set the MX6 so that you can receive a call or read messages automatically just by opening it. The MX6 features the new way to enjoy communication with colour. When a message is received, the indicator flashes in different colours and patterns depending on the emoticons in the message.

You can feel the “emoticon” of the received message before even opening it. It is a joy to send and receive data without cables. Just activate and align the infrared with the port on your computer to wirelessly transmit data. The MX6 features a great sounding 40-polyphonic ringtone.

The MX6 comes equipped with high-speed GPRS that connects you to the internet with ease.

news source: http://gizmobargain.com/panasonic-ebmx6-cellular-mobile-phone-unlocked-p-5312.html

Philips Xenium NRG Phone - First Ever Mobile Phone with AAA BackuPower

Philips, Energizer, and Techtium announce the introduction of the new AAA BackuPower capable mobile phone. Phillips Xenium NRG line of phones will be the first commercially available mobile phone using Techtium’s BackuPower technology. The Philips Xenium series currently provides a standby time of 1 month and 10 hours of talk time on one full battery charge. With the BackuPower, users can get a few extra hours of talk time and can almost instantly get back to talking on the phone from a dead battery with just a single AAA battery. Even with the battery solution, there is no compromise in size with Xenium NRG’s slim compact form.


news source : http://www.mobilewhack.com/philips-xenium-thumb.jpg

Sony Ericsson S500i Review

In a nutshell: The Sony Ericsson S500i is a stunningly beautiful slide phone, available in green, yellow, copper & purple. It features beautiful wallpaper artwork and specially-designed themes that change with the time of day and the season. Sensational lighting effects accompany incoming calls - it's a real treat! Combine this with a 2 megapixel camera and video camera, a music player, an optional memory card for storing up to 250 music tracks and you have an apparent winner. But, and it's a big but, the build quality of the S500i has gone to pot completely and these phones are literally falling to pieces as people use them. Our advice - avoid.
Best buy: *Free* with a free Sony PS3 from Dialaphone; or £99.95 on Pay as you Go from the Carphone Warehouse.

"The slim S500i keeps you in harmony with the world around you. Slide the S500i open to reveal materials and patterns inspired by nature." Sounds like Sony Ericsson's marketing guys have been hugging too many trees! They've even coloured their phone green. Hey, cut those trees down and put some phone masts up! Let's slash and burn our way through the forest of hype and discover what the S500i is really all about.

First thing to say is that we really liked the S500i (before the problems became apparent), despite our sarcastic introduction. You look at the phone and the first thing that strikes you is its glossy black finish and smooth, slim form. You pick it up, (wiping away the fingerprints that have just appeared on the gloss surface), slide it open, and the thing springs into life, with beautiful wallpaper artwork and themes created especially for the S500i. The background and themes will even change according to the time of day or the season. The keypad is flat and shiny: probably not the best for texting, but pleasing to the eye. The best is yet to come though: wait for an incoming call and the phone really comes alive with sensational lighting effects. The S500i is available in a choice of colours : Mysterious Green and Spring Yellow. Both will stand out from the crowd, for sure. It's a stunning phone, designed for the pixie in all of us.

In addition to looks, the S500i has gadgets too. It's a mid-range phone, so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the top-of-the-range K810i or the Walkman range, but it has everything that most users will want. The most impressive feature is probably the crisp high-resolution display. This is a bright active matrix display that you can view easily outdoors and it does justice to the artwork and themes of the S500i. The phone also has a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities. 2 megapixels is now considered average for a phone, and this one is nothing special, lacking autofocus and a flash. Still, it's good enough for snaps and video clips.

Although it's not a Walkman phone, the S500i does have a good quality music player, with support for Bluetooth stereo headsets. The built-in memory is small (12 Mbytes) and can store a handful of MP3 songs only, but you can buy a memory card to expand the storage to 1 Gbyte - enough for around 250 songs. Transferring music (and other data) between the phone and a PC is very easy using the USB connection, with drag and drop convenience. You can plug in compatible headphones, or use a Bluetooth stereo headset if you prefer.

The phone also has some useful extras such as a sound recorder, flight mode and personal organiser functions. It has fast internet access via EDGE, support for web browsing, email and RSS feeds. It's also a quadband phone, so you can use it worldwide.

The S500i offers a good level of functionality, including all the essentials, and looks beautiful. However, you should avoid this phone for the simple reason that it will probably break. The phone feels quite plasticky and flimsy, but it's the keypad that's the real problem. The keys just crack, as simple as that. Roughly half of our users have reported that their keys cracked. This is an almost unprecedented failure rate, and really you'd be daft to buy one of these phones knowing that. Better to go for the Sony Ericsson W610i or K810i instead. Or, if it's stunning looks you're after, then perhaps the Samsung U600.

news source : http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/sony-ericsson-s500i.htm

Samsung E840 Review

In a nutshell: The World's slimmest phone offers a lot for your money, provided that you can put up with its touch-sensitive buttons and a battery life that's shorter than average.
Best buy: *Free* with a free LCD TV or XBOX 360 from Dialaphone.

The Samsung E840 is the World's slimmest slide phone, beating the Samsung U600 by a hair's breadth at 10.6mm. Usually it's the top-of-the-range phones that set these kinds of records, but the E840 is a mid-range phone. It's very impressive how Samsung have managed to cram so much into such a tiny phone at this budget. If you wanted a U600 but couldn't afford it, then this could be the one for you.

Although it's recognisably a Samsung, the E840 deviates a bit from the usual Samsung slider look and feel. Apart from its incredible thinness, it feels solid enough, weighing in at 99g (heavier than most recent Samsungs) and has a nice smooth glassy finish. The keypad isn't the best, but it'll be fine unless you have particularly large fingers. However, it does come with love-them-or-hate-them touch-sensitive navigation buttons. Our frank advice on this is to avoid the phone unless you've already had experience of touch-sensitive buttons (e.g. in the Samsung E900 or LG Chocolate). A safe alternative which now costs about the same is the Samsung D900i.

Sill reading? OK, well apart from the touch-sensitive issue, we like the phone a lot. It's got a lot of stuff packed into its miniature bodywork. First thing that you'll notice is the huge (2.2 inch) ultra high resolution LCD display on the front. The camera is less impressive, being rated at 2 megapixels and lacking a flash - it's for snaps only, and won't replace a proper digital camera. But the music player is fully featured, playing a wide range of formats and handling playlists quite nicely too. A built-in FM radio completes the scene. There's also a good amount of memory available - 70 Mbytes - which is enough for around 15 songs - and you can buy a memory card really cheaply these days to expand the storage. Connectivity is good, with support for Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and a TV-Out connection if you want to display pictures or videos directly onto your telly. It's quadband too, so you can take it anywhere abroad and it has a useful document viewer for viewing Word, Excel and Powerpoint files.

Although Samsung claim impressive an battery life, we are sceptical. You just can't fit a big battery in a phone this skinny, and the reality is that the E840 is challenged when it comes to battery life.

So, a lovely phone with plenty of features in a good looking superslim body, the E840 offers a lot for your money. Provided that you can put up with the touch-sensitive buttons and don't demand too much from the battery, this is a phone that you could really love.

news source : http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/samsung-e840.htm

Sagem my511X Review

Look and feel

Probably Sagem’s most stylish handset to date. Its slim, light build, good looks makes the Sagem my511X very easy on the eye. The novel flat keypad looks great when lit up even if we do have some issues with its usability.

Ease of use

The flat keypad is a nuisance. There’s not enough definition between the keys, making it difficult to distinguish between them. The shortcut keys can be hard to master due to the lack of on-screen instructions.

Features

The built-in music player is the my511X’s most notable feature. The handset only comes with 10MB of embedded memory, though it does support microSD cards of up to 2GB (or pay an additional £20 and it will come boxed with a 512MB microsSD card). The camera is only 1.3-megapixels, but it is capable of video recording. Pairing up to other Bluetooth devices is instant, which is a relief, as the my511X doesn’t come boxed with any headphones.

Performance

The Sagem my511X’s camera both in terms of megapixels and functions is substandard, particularly when compared to the Sagem’s two-megapixel handset, the my850V. The lack of 3G is a shame, though we were pleasantly surprised with the results of the phones GPRS capability. The built-in music player performs well, especially for an entry-level handset.

Battery life

180 minutes talktime and 220 hours standby time is not great, but as the Sagem my511X is not bustling with features the battery life shouldn’t be drained up

Look and feel

Probably Sagem’s most stylish handset to date. Its slim, light build, good looks makes the Sagem my511X very easy on the eye. The novel flat keypad looks great when lit up even if we do have some issues with its usability.

Ease of use

The flat keypad is a nuisance. There’s not enough definition between the keys, making it difficult to distinguish between them. The shortcut keys can be hard to master due to the lack of on-screen instructions.

Features

The built-in music player is the my511X’s most notable feature. The handset only comes with 10MB of embedded memory, though it does support microSD cards of up to 2GB (or pay an additional £20 and it will come boxed with a 512MB microsSD card). The camera is only 1.3-megapixels, but it is capable of video recording. Pairing up to other Bluetooth devices is instant, which is a relief, as the my511X doesn’t come boxed with any headphones.

Performance

The Sagem my511X’s camera both in terms of megapixels and functions is substandard, particularly when compared to the Sagem’s two-megapixel handset, the my850V. The lack of 3G is a shame, though we were pleasantly surprised with the results of the phones GPRS capability. The built-in music player performs well, especially for an entry-level handset.

Battery life

180 minutes talktime and 220 hours standby time is not great, but as the Sagem my511X is not bustling with features the battery life shouldn’t be drained up too quickly. The handset can handle 270 minutes music playback time.

too quickly. The handset can handle 270 minutes music playback time.

news source : http://www.mobilechoiceuk.com/Phone-review?product_id=288

LG Prada KE850 dipped in 24 karat gold

Prada, one of the World’s leading designers, have teamed up with LG to make this completely touch screen mobile phone. The LG Prada KE850 phone is a breakthrough in the industry, with its sophisticated design and elegant looks.

news source : http://www.mobile-talks.biz/

Nokia 6136 WLAN and GSM Mobile Phone

The new Nokia 6136 is the most interesting new Nokia phone introduced today. It supports UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) technology that allows for seamless handover of voice and data connections between GSM cellular and WLAN networks.
Besides WLAN support the Nokia 6136 features a 1.3 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom, microSD card slot, mp3 player, Nokia 6136 , MMS, email, push to talk and Nokia Xpress audio messaging.
The Nokia 6136 provides for 5 hours of talk time and up to 280 hours of standby time in GSM mode and up to 5.5 hours of talk time and up to 82 hours of standby time in UMA mode.
The quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) Nokia 6136 phone is expected to be available during the second quarter of 2006.
Orange will be an initial customer for the Nokia 6136 phone.

news source : http://www.i4u.com/article5090.html

Sony Ericsson W series: Live the music

NO MATTER HOW many times, you might have heard your favourite track, but each time you get goose bumps while feeling that cadence. Surely, music is one of the finest expressions and has the potential to make your life simple and soothing.

When it comes to music gadgets, it all started when human beings tried to feel the sound. The rest is history. We have come a long way with a consummate collection of music gadgets right from stereos, MP3 players and iPods, to music phones (the latest rage in the world of sound).

The present mobile handsets are not just simple gadgets, which enable us to communicate easily with others. They also act as our finest companions, as they let us enjoy music - the way we want to.

With consistent innovation in music gadgets and new technology, Sony Ericsson’s Walkman series has become one of the most popular music phone series among mobile phone users worldwide.

Although, Sony Ericsson has a comprehensive range of mobile phones like camera phones, business phones and various basic phones, but its W or Walkman series has created a buzz among mobile phone users. The first Walkman phone was introduced like any other music phone, but very soon it became quite a hit and thus followed its mighty successors, empowered with impressive features.

Like its highly popular Walkman brand, Sony Ericsson made the best use of this world famous brand name and took it one step further to the hearts of music lovers. The power-packed Walkman series is adorned with amazing music phones including Sony Ericsson W550i, W660i, W800i, W900i, W950i, W810i, W850i, W880, W700i and W300i. The journey continues with many exceptional performers yet to follow. These music phones can support music in various popular formats. They are also equipped with other interesting features such as playlist options, audio equalisers, and a digital music player.

Though, these phones basically focus on music, they do offer more, when it comes to features like camera, connectivity and other desired options.

Sony Ericsson’s Walkman series has emerged as a consummate range of music gadgets, and the way things have gone so far, it is quite evident that it is just the beginning. There is a lot that would follow. Till then, just lose yourself in the ecstatic world of music.

news source : http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=127098

No More MOTO?

MOTO movers are in for a shock as Motorola plans to sell off its mobile handset division. That is the worst-case scenario as the company has come to realize that their mobile division is not doing as well as expected. The other alternative is to "explore the structural and strategic realignment of its businesses to better equip its Mobile Devices business to recapture global market leadership and to enhance shareholder value", according to an official press release.

“All of our businesses have exceptional people, products and intellectual property and the ability to achieve category leadership in their markets,” said Greg Brown, President and CEO. “We're exploring ways in which our Mobile Devices Business can accelerate its recovery and retain and attract talent while enabling our shareholders to realize the value of this great franchise.”

The revised strategy comes just one month after Brown succeeded Ed Zander as CEO and a year since Icahn initiated a proxy fight to shake up a company that was already in the throes of a severe decline in sales and profits. After grabbing world market share of 23 percent in 2006 on momentum led by its Razr phone, the company has lost nearly half that as rivals outpaced it with successful new products.

Could this be the end of the big MOTO? Even though I may not be a hardcore fan, this was the pioneer that brought us to where we are today in mobile technology. From those early brick-sized handsets that set the ball rolling to the ultraslim RAZR and RAZR2, one can only wonder what poor Abhishek Bachchan will shake his head to now.

news source:
http://www.tech2.com/india/news/mobile-phones/no-more-moto/27711/0

RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 - dark purple

The good: The RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 adds built-in GPS, EV-DO support, and video-recording capabilities. The smartphone's Web browser is also improved, and it has a 2-megapixel camera. Sprint's version supports the carrier's various mobile entertainment services, and the device's messaging functions remain strong.

The bad: The BlackBerry 8130's SureType keyboard takes some acclimation. Video playback isn't the smoothest, and the various wireless options can take a toll on the battery life.

The bottom line: The RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 improves on an already-impressive smartphone with the addition of GPS, video recording, and 3G support.

Specs: Band / mode: CDMA 800/1900; Combined with: With digital camera / digital player; Dimensions (W x D x H): 1.9 in x 0.6 in x 4.2 in

news source:

http://cnet.nytimes.com/smartphones/rim-blackberry-pearl-8130/4505-6452_7-32751910.html?subj=RIM+Black

Skype-adeedoodah Skype-adeeday - the wonders of the 3 Skypephone

In another one of those shockingly-rare (honest) “Technical Markus decides to impart knowledge whether people want it or not” moments, I’ve decided to talk a bit about a mobile phone I had a chance to have a muck about with this week, that I really have fallen in love with.

I’m talking about the 3 Skypephone, the very first mobile phone to feature Skype access, straight out the box. I’ll admit, it came out a while back, and I’ve been a bit slack in getting this post done, but I only had my first chance to play about with one last night. As it happens, I was in for a bit of a surprise.

Because I liked it. I really liked it! I was expecting something gimmicky and stupid. I was wrong.

You see, it’s not just a “mobile phone that happens to have Skype”, it’s a proper, full on Skype Phone, where it’s very reason for existence is the Skype messenger built into it. That little program is functionally identical to the one on your PC, letting you make calls over the internet connection, rather than through the normal phone connection. And as anyone knows, VoIP (Voice over IP, internet calls, but VoIP’s funnier, as it sounds like the noise a frog makes) calls are cheaper than normal phone calls. In fact, with the Skypephone, you get FREE calls to other Skype users (and yes, that doesn’t just mean SkypePHONE users, but anyone who uses it on their PC as well!)

So, how long was I on the phone for, last night, using Skype…?

Let’s just say… quite a long while!

Source:http://www.mobileshop.com/blog/

News

Beginning Saturday, March 8, Cricket will make the UTStarcom CDM7126 available for sale in Tulsa, Okla. The CDM7126 is the first phone to include CDMA 850/1900 and 1700 AWS bands, making it the first tri-band CDMA phone. It is a basic clamshell with Bluetooth, 1xRTT data and indicator lights on the outside rather than an external display. Cricket will launch two AWS markets--Oklahoma City and Las Vegas--later this year. US Cellular, MetroPCS, and Verizon Wireless also bought AWS spectrum in the 2006 FCC AWS auction. Pricing information for the 7126 was not provided. At CES, UTStarcom also announced the 7176 and 8076 AWS phones. The FCC has recently approved a handful of unannounced CDMA phones supporting the AWS band from other manufacturers, including the Samsung R430 and R210a, Kyocera S4000, ZTE C79, and Huawei M328.

news source http://www.phonescoop.com/

Nokia Strengthens Position In China Cell Phone Market

HONG KONG -

After signing a $2 billion handset supply contract with China's largest mobile phone distributor, Nokia can tell all competitors to forget about challenging its leading position this year in the world's largest market for cellular phones.

Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) said Friday it had inked a deal with China Postel to sell $2 billion worth of handsets and mobile devices in China in 2008. In addition, the parties have agreed to strengthen strategic ties, especially with regard to development of distribution channels and marketing.

China Postel currently has about a 30% share of the wholesale segment of the Chinese cell phone market. Nokia has been distributing its cell phones across China through China Postel since 1998. Nokia also won China's largest handset order from China Postel, $2.5 billion, in 2007.

It is believed that the lower value of contract this year may be attributable to the fall in cell phone prices.

David Tang, vice president of sales for Nokia China, said Nokia has been a leader in the Chinese mobile phone market since 2004. With its best-selling N95, Nokia saw more than 38% growth in sales and sold a total of 70.7 million mobile phones in China in 2007, gaining a dominant 35% share of Chinese customers.

Total in-country sales of 6.4 billion euros ($9.9 billion) in 2007 made China Nokia's single largest market, taking 13% of global sales. The world's largest cell phone producer said last month it will expand the sales of its mobile smart phones and will increase the penetration of cell phone usage in China's rural areas in 2008.

news source -

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/03/07/nokia-china-postel-markets-equity-cx_vk_0307markets05.html

Apple iPhone gets corporate e-mail,challenging RIM

Cupertino, California. March 7 : Apple Inc said Thursday its iPhone soon will support corporate e-mail, targeting a new market and challenging the dominance of Research In Motion Ltd's popular Blackberry devices.

Apple also said it will roll out tools for developers to create software for the iPhone, news that was accompanied by a pledge from legendary venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers to set up a $100 million 'iFund' to back iPhone software start-ups.

"This takes the iPhone from being not really in the running in the enterprise to being very much in the running and gives RIM a serious challenge," Van Baker, an analyst with market research firm Gartner.

The move would help Apple hit its goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of this year, a target some analysts have questioned if the weakening US economy takes a toll on consumer spending.

"Apple answered the majority of objections that most IT professionals had to the iPhone as an enterprise device," Baker said.

The shares of RIM, whose Blackberry products are widely used in corporations, fell 3.8 per cent to $98.72 on the news on Nasdaq. The shares of Apple, which also makes iPod media players and Macintosh computers, fell 2.9 per cent to $120.93.

Apple said the iPhone would work with Microsoft Corp's Exchange software for managing business e-mails, contacts and calendars and 'pushing' that information to handheld devices.

"We are doing all of these things with the next release of iPhone software," Phil Schiller, vice president of global marketing for Apple, said at the company's headquarters. "I think enterprise customers are going to be pretty excited."

The new programming tools are also seen as a way to build more interest in the iPhone, which has so far only been able to run outside programs through the Web browser. The tool kit will let software makers write applications that can tap more of the iPhone's capabilities, such as its touch-sensitive screen and motion sensors.

news source http://www.aol.in/news/story/2008030622489019000001/index.html

Levi's Launches Denim-Inspired Cell Phone

Levi's today unveiled The Original, a classic monoblock cell phone. The front and back panels and keypad are made of high-quality steel, while the top is manufactured from soft plastic to be pleasant against the speaker's ear. A diagonal pattern on the front and back ensures The Original doesn't slip out from hands, while 12 miniature steel bolts along the perimeter are reminiscent of rivets on jean pockets. On the bottom, a twisted in-steel bolt is the binding for the chain (included in the package). All the steel doesn't influence its weight, measuring just 96 x 55 x 11 mm and weighing only 98 g. A high-quality 262K-color TFT display measures 1.76-inches with a resolution of 220 x 176 px. Levi's The Original is also equipped with a 2.0-megapixel camera with multi-shoot and autotimer, capable of snapping photos up to 1600 x 1200 px in size. The Original shoots video in two formats: MPEG4 and 3GP (H.263). With a 780 mAh Li-Ion battery, consumers have enough for ...

news source http://www.mobiledia.com/

Sony Ericsson W810i Review

In a nutshell: Arguably the best of the Walkman phones, the W810i has everything you need in a music player phone: Sony's award-winning Walkman music player with enough memory to store 20 full-length audio CD's, a built-in FM radio, and a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus. In our opinion this is a phone that cannot be faulted.
Best buy: *Free* with less than half-price line rental or a choice of free gifts (from a Sony PS3 to an LCD TV!) from Dialaphone. Stocks of the W810i are running out quickly!

Launched in April 2006, The Sony Ericsson W810i is the upgraded version of the highly acclaimed and massively popular Sony Ericsson W800i, the first Walkman™ branded mobile phone.



There are a few physical differences between the W810i and the W800i: the W810i is slightly thinner, has raised keys instead of embedded keys, and has a 5-way navigation button instead of the W800i's slightly awkward joystick. Apart from this external makeover, the differences between the W810i and the W800i are minor. The W810i has the advantage of EDGE (for faster internet access) an is quadband instead of triband. It also has Fast Port - a system connector that enables faster data transfer from phone to PC and PC to phone, and which also serves as a charging port.

The W810i is designed to be an outstanding music player phone, and it succeeds. The media player supports both MP3 and AAC formats and audio quality is superb. Mega Bass™ enhances bass frequencies for a better overall music experience. There's loads of memory for storing music, as the W810i comes bundled with a 512 Mbyte Memory Stick PRO Duo™ - enough to store up to 20 full-length audio CD's. The memory stick is expandable to 1 Gbyte. Software for ripping CD's is supplied. In addition to the MP3 player there's an FM radio with RDS. A quality headset is included in the sales package, and the W810i can also be connected to an external speaker system via an optional cable.

On the imaging side, the W810i has the same 2-megapixel camera as the W800i. This features autofocus, for sharper images, a 4x digital zoom, camera light and a video recorder. It's one of the best camera phones available, and has an outstanding screen to accompany it.

Connectivity is excellent too, with support for all types of external connections: Bluetooth, USB, Infra-red, Fast port plus fast internet connectivity using EDGE.

The W810i is a phone that cannot be faulted. It was one of the best phones of 2006 and is still one of the best in 2008. Now that the W810i has been around for a while, prices have dropped significantly and you can pick up some incredible deals on end-of-line stock.

news saurce http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/sony-ericsson-w810i.htm

Samsung Adds Heart To Soul With G400

We were pretty impressed by Samsung’s U900 Soul, which debuted at the recent Mobile World Convention in Barcelona, and the UK’s second largest manufacturer has wasted no time in producing another. The original was a slide model but you’ll now find something for the clamshell market in the G400.

It retains many of the same features in the 5MP digital camera with auto focus, flash, face recognition software and an image stabiliser. There’s also a second camera for video calling, though one interesting design feature here that’s unique to the Samsung G400 is that the main camera is situated in the hinge so it faces the user when opened up. We’re not quite sure how this is supposed to make things easier from a usability point of view, and it could end up putting some people off. A similar range of connectivity that includes 7.2Mbps 3.5G network speeds and tri-band GSM with GPRS and EDGE data and Bluetooth 2.0 means it’s pretty well supported, though there’s no WiFi built in. The G400 follows up on its predecessor’s impressive multimedia capabilities with a multi-format audio and video player, FM radio and expandable microSD memory.

Google Gears Shifts Toward Windows Mobile

The iPhone has received acclaim as cellphone, personal information organizer, web browser and e-mail client. Now, it's about to become a remote control, a game platform, a photo-editing platform, a device for remotely accessing your desktop files, and maybe much more.

Four months of rumors, speculation and giddy anticipation will come to an end Thursday, as Apple prepares to reveal how it will transform one of the most-hyped devices in tech into a full-fledged platform.

"The iPhone is the richest mobile platform that we've ever had," says Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin.

And yet, that platform has until recently been officially open only to web developers. To date, Apple has forced developers to create iPhone applications through one conduit: the phone's browser. While that approach simplified development, it never gave developers access to the truly alluring bits of the device, like its accelerometer, voice capabilities and touchscreen. It also forced developers who wanted to create more sophisticated apps -- like a utility that lets you remotely control a Mac desktop from an iPhone -- to go around the iPhone's security with jailbreaking hacks.

Steve Jobs caved last October and said Apple would release a full-blown software developer's kit once the company could ensure security on the phone. Presumably, that's been accomplished, and the fancy apps available only on jailbroken iPhones may soon be available legitimately on any iPhone.

At this point, it's still not clear whether Apple intends to officially release the SDK at Thursday's event or just make some announcement. At any rate, the SDK will be in programmers' hands soon, and analysts and developers expect a wide variety of applications to blossom in the coming months -- everything from photo-editing apps to motion-sensing games that take advantage of the device's orientation sensor.

The possibilities, as Mac developer Daniel Jalkut recently noted, will be limited only by developers' imaginations.

Those possibilities will be also influenced by a number of outstanding questions about Apple's planned app-distribution method, the vetting process it will use, and any iPhone access restrictions the company imposes on developers. The company is expected to provide answers to those questions as well on Thursday.

At the very least, Thursday's SDK event will involve an announcement about new enterprise features for the iPhone, according to an invitation circulated last week.

While enterprise software may not be as sexy as movie and game apps, its inclusion could be huge for Apple's ability to meet its goal of 10 million iPhone sales by the end of the year.

By adding features like push e-mail and cultivating relationships with corporate-software vendors, Bajarin says, the iPhone could become one of the major communication platforms in business, making it much more competitive with the corporate-friendly BlackBerry.

"Ultimately, that's why I believe [Apple is] confident it can reach its 10 million goal by the end of the year," he says. "With an SDK and major corporate-software vendors backing it, we'll see the iPhone finally transcend the consumer business this year."

Apple Set to Reveal Road to Third-Party iPhone Apps

The iPhone has received acclaim as cellphone, personal information organizer, web browser and e-mail client. Now, it's about to become a remote control, a game platform, a photo-editing platform, a device for remotely accessing your desktop files, and maybe much more.

Four months of rumors, speculation and giddy anticipation will come to an end Thursday, as Apple prepares to reveal how it will transform one of the most-hyped devices in tech into a full-fledged platform.

"The iPhone is the richest mobile platform that we've ever had," says Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin.

And yet, that platform has until recently been officially open only to web developers. To date, Apple has forced developers to create iPhone applications through one conduit: the phone's browser. While that approach simplified development, it never gave developers access to the truly alluring bits of the device, like its accelerometer, voice capabilities and touchscreen. It also forced developers who wanted to create more sophisticated apps -- like a utility that lets you remotely control a Mac desktop from an iPhone -- to go around the iPhone's security with jailbreaking hacks.

Steve Jobs caved last October and said Apple would release a full-blown software developer's kit once the company could ensure security on the phone. Presumably, that's been accomplished, and the fancy apps available only on jailbroken iPhones may soon be available legitimately on any iPhone.

At this point, it's still not clear whether Apple intends to officially release the SDK at Thursday's event or just make some announcement. At any rate, the SDK will be in programmers' hands soon, and analysts and developers expect a wide variety of applications to blossom in the coming months -- everything from photo-editing apps to motion-sensing games that take advantage of the device's orientation sensor.

The possibilities, as Mac developer Daniel Jalkut recently noted, will be limited only by developers' imaginations.

Those possibilities will be also influenced by a number of outstanding questions about Apple's planned app-distribution method, the vetting process it will use, and any iPhone access restrictions the company imposes on developers. The company is expected to provide answers to those questions as well on Thursday.

At the very least, Thursday's SDK event will involve an announcement about new enterprise features for the iPhone, according to an invitation circulated last week.

While enterprise software may not be as sexy as movie and game apps, its inclusion could be huge for Apple's ability to meet its goal of 10 million iPhone sales by the end of the year.

By adding features like push e-mail and cultivating relationships with corporate-software vendors, Bajarin says, the iPhone could become one of the major communication platforms in business, making it much more competitive with the corporate-friendly BlackBerry.

"Ultimately, that's why I believe [Apple is] confident it can reach its 10 million goal by the end of the year," he says. "With an SDK and major corporate-software vendors backing it, we'll see the iPhone finally transcend the consumer business this year."news

source:http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2008/03/iphone_sdk_preview