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Reviews related to : Smart Phones
Term referring to high-end mobile phones that have integrated business applications such as email, simple document management. Typified by Symbian, Microsoft Mobile OS and (less so these days) PalmOS. All serious phone manufacturers are represented in this space including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG and Motorola.
BlackBerry’s seem to be the unit of choice for the large amount of commuters I see on the occasions I travel back home during the evening. What I cannot really understand is why a good number of them need to have two.
Yes I know that one is probably issued by where they work and the other is their personal property but surely having two SIMS is possible so that the correct account pays the bill, anyhow the main thing here is their popularity. It is 10.5x6x1.5cm, as you might expect it is black with chrome trim round the sides and at the top part of the back. The back itself is covered with a black leather like material giving it a non slip feel.
This is the first phone I have reviewed using the Microsoft 6.5 operating system launched in the autumn of last year. It is not only almost entirely touch but also has the slide and drop movements to allow you to reposition items.
Three things worry me about reviewing ‘test’ units, first will they be exactly the same as the ones available to purchase, second will the operating system/performance change and third no user manual. Here at least I could download the manual. It is 10x5x1cm and weights just on 100grams. It has a black face surround with chrome effect edges the black has a brushed metal finish. The top of the phone has 3.5mm earbud socket.
Recently I have had the opportunity to try out Nokia’s answer to the Apple iPhone
Whatever your view of Apple and the company’s close control over its various products, you would be hard pressed not to agree that its design innovations have certainly stirred up sections of the IT industry. Take, for instance, the appearance of the iPhone and its subsequent effect it has had on the competition. Mobile phone manufacturers have been falling over themselves to produce an offering of similar style and functionality.
Buy the BlackBerry Pearl from T-Mobile and the included SIM gives you 12 months worth of web access and emails included in the price. Yes this is still a phone as well (you do need to pay for phone calls) but it means you email can follow you everywhere.
The Blackberry Pearl 8110 is 10.5x5x1.2cm, mine was silver and chrome and it weights 90grams. It comes with a rather neat leather slip case. The TFT screen is 4x4cm. Below the screen there is a sort of QWERTY keyboard and this is the thing that might stop this unit being a roaring success. The keys are .8x.
A pent house suite in Mayfair and an establishment in the heart of Soho were the locations for a couple of press briefings that dealt with initiatives designed to entice users to expand their mobile experience. Dragging my weary bones through the thoroughfares of London, as it basked in an unseasonably warm spell, I attended both events.
It should come as no surprise, with the wide spread influence of mobile communications, that two separate companies made announcements regarding their services within a twenty-four hour period. What is slightly more surprising is that both these announcements relate to partnership deals with established hardware or software service providers.
While the main focus on Acer’s acquisitions of companies last year was on the Gateway and Packard Bell deals, it was all too easy to miss one further acquisition. Almost slipping under the radar was Acer’s take over of E-Ten Information Systems Co. Ltd.
Phone doesn't really cover what O2 have managed to shoe-horn into the
latest incarnation of their XDA smart phone manufactured by High Tec Computers (HTC).
Marketed by O2 as the Xda Ignito and manufactured by HTC as the 'Touch Diamond', this devices measures a mere 102 x 52 x 11 mm, weighing 110g. Into this very modest enclosure the Xda Ignito/Touch Diamond provides a wealth of functionality hosted on the Microsoft Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system. As is popular these days the primary interface is a touch sensitive screen, although the Ignito should really be considered a hybrid device.
Like most people I'm very aware of the existence of Research In Motion (RIM) and their BlackBerry products. This is the first time I've used one in anger, and I'm pleased to say it's not all hype!
In this case I've been provided with the Blackberry Bold 9000. This is one of the wider variants that has a small, but full qwerty keyboard and a landscape orientated screen. Total dimensions are 114 x 66mm with a 16mm depth and a weight of 136g. The device feels very solid and well built. The rear of the device has a leather-like textured cover that is removed to insert the SIM card or to access the battery. For once it's good to see a cover with a proper clip that makes removal simple.
With camera phone resolution improving it will soon be a phone camera. This unit has a three mega pixel offering and a good quality image would just about be printable at A4 without pixelization.
This phone is small enough to sit in the palm of an adult, in it's closed state it is 10x5x1.5cm push the screen upwards and reveal another 4cm that hides the keypad. It is matt black (it also comes in a rather smart black box) with a silver/grey stripe round the edge and the only immediately obvious control is a silvered wheel on the back left edge. Look closely in good light and several other buttons become visible on the edges. The top has entry point for a micro SD card.
Some mobile phones cry out to be picked up and used. While the Nokia N82 does not fall into this category, it is not too unpleasant on the eye.
click to enlarge Adopting a chunky candy-bar style, this Nokia N82 3G Smartphone dimensions are 112 x 502 x 17.3mm. It has a silver fascia with a large screen that gives a 38 x 50mm viewing area. The screen can display 16.7 million colours producing a clear display in various lighting conditions and had the capabiloity to smoothly change between portrait and landscape mode depending upon which way round you hold the handset.
Few mobile phones today are simply that, and, the LG KF600 is certainly no exception. The surprise is often that they still make and receive phone calls. It has the Internet, plays MP3s and video, however annoyingly so far it refuses to do the housework.
click to enlarge For a slide phone the dimensions are not unusual at 10x5x1.5cm when closed, open the slide and nearly another 4cm is exposed. Initially this seems a little tall but that's because it has two displays. The top 4.2x3.2cm and after a .5cm blank area there is a smaller 2.5x3.2cm touchscreen area. The weight is just over 100 grams and mine was black with silver edges.
Time and the technology behind the development of mobile phones do not stand still as can be seen with this next handset.
Joining the ranks of mobile phones with a 5-megapixel camera is Sony Ericsson's K850i model. This candy-bar style phone adopts the standard Sony Ericsson arrangement of having the camera taking over the rear of the unit with the front housing the telephony functionality. However there are a couple of design aspects that might cause some initial confusion with the user.
To paraphrase a popular performer of an earlier generation, “I wanna tell you a secret”.
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Come wind, come rain, come shine (maybe there is a pointer there), whatever the vagaries of the weather in April, we try to bring you the latest news as it happens. In this case it was the launch of LG's next generation Black Label phone. First we had the Chocolate phone (including a white version) with its innovative touch panel.
With the tag line of “Entertainment on the go”, the Nokia N81 attempts to broaden the game-playing scope of the mobile phone.
Click image to enlarge!
The Nokia N81 mobile phone has a rather chunky appearance and adopts the slider style of unit. Measuring 102 x 50 x 17.9mm (L x W x D) and weighing 140g, this phone is predominately black with a matt silver band running round the sides. Supplied with 8GB of internal flash memory, the phone features an active matrix 2.4-inch QVGA 320 x 240 colour display capable of showing up to 16.
While some tend to change their mobile phone as often as their socks, others wait to see what the latest batch of new handsets has to offer.
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Sony Ericsson X1i Never the one to sit back and rest on its past achievements, Sony Ericsson has
announced a number of new models to its range of mobile phones. These new models join
the existing Cyber-shot, Walkman, web-enabled and current range of touch screen organisers
plus the new Xperia brand.
A couple of years ago such a situation would have been hard to fathom - Palm virtually
single handedly created the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) market, only to be
challenged by the might of Microsoft. So - how is the fruit of this unlikely marriage?
We take a look at the Palm Treo 500v.
As an early adopter and fan of the Palm concept I owned one of the very early
Palm Pilot products from around 1998 (still in use by my Dad) and still have a
Palm V (circa-2000) in daily use.
A Greek location was chosen for Sony Ericsson’s latest product announcement. However this was not the Mediterranean location but the Hellenic Centre situated in Central London.
T250i
Sony Ericsson Selecting the day after a Bank Holiday for a product release is hardly standard practice but this did not stop from announcing some new additions to its product portfolio. Taking centre stage were four new and a stereo Bluetooth headset.
Your mobile phone is often regarded as an extension of your personality. Check out some models available from Sony Ericsson.
There seems to be no slowing down in the uptake of mobile phones and in the increased functionality that they offer to the ever-demanding public. All the signs are that mobile phones will be included, if not placed top of the list, in most people's wish list for a gift for the coming festive season.
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© YellowHawk Ltd 2003 - 2010, All rights reserved
© YellowHawk Ltd 2003 - 2010, All rights reserved
