Mobile Phones

Most cell phones these days are capable of playing music. Even a barebones music player will do the most common music formats. For most people, Sony Ericsson’s Walkman series may be the first to mind when they’re looking for a musically talented handset, but Nokia has come a long way, too, with its multimedia-enabled N-series handhelds. Then again, not everyone will need a “multimedia computer”. So there’s the XpressMusic range to cater to this music-loving crowd.

Design
There’s nothing cutting edge about the design of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic. It does stand out, but not because it’s an ultraslim model. We have to qualify that the 5700 isn’t chunky. It has a nice heft in hand and against our ear. It’s like you can actually feel you’re holding something substantial in your hands, but not to the extent that it’s heavy or bulky. In short, it’s a nice balance of size and weight.

Source and more info: bangkokpost

Looking for a new cell phone? One that can e-mail, play music, surf the Web and, well, is just really cool?

I bet you’re thinking: Sure, I want the iPhone. Starting next week you can get it.

But there are also plenty of other hip phones on the market that do most of what the iPhone does and even a few that have some added features.

I got a few of these phones and decided to play around with them for a few days. Apple did not provide ABC News with an iPhone, so there is no way to really compare apples to the Apple, so to speak.

A warning: I love technology, but am in no way an expert. This list is in no way a comprehensive one, or even a full review of any of these phones. It’s just a look at some of the alternatives out there and the initial thoughts of a pretty tech savvy journalist playing around with them.

These phones aren’t for everybody.

Chris Hazelton, an analyst with IDC Research, said the typical buyer is going to be somebody willing to pay for expensive data plans, willing to sacrifice battery life and people who are “bleeding edge” adopters - those who are willing to pay for the latest, but untested, technology.

Source and more info: wzzm13

When LG unveiled its first Chocolate phone, it was clear the Korean chaebol’s new series was targeted at the fashion-conscious crowd. Though user feedback hasn’t been all that flattering about the tricky-to-use keys, the Chocolate phenomenon continues to grow, with subsequent models from this lineup riding on the fashion wave.

Born into the premium Black Label portfolio, the LG Shine KU970, however, goes back to basics with a traditional silver, full-metallic casing and hardware keys on the top lid. It is not to be confused with its twin–the Shine KE970–as the KU970 sports HSDPA connectivity but doesn’t come with an expansion memory card slot. The KE970, on the other hand, offers 2.5G EDGE with support for microSD expansion.

Source and more info: bangkokpost

Joanna Stern from Laptop Magazine is out with a review of a freek downloadable mobile VoIP-enabling software application from EQO (that’s pronounced “echo.”

After you sign up on the EQO site, an SMS link is sent to your phone. Once you download and install the app, you’ll note that EQO provides instant messaging capability for AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger.

But that’s old news. We’re here to discuss what’s new.

As Joanna explains:

EQO’s real perk is giving you the ability to call any landline or mobile phone in the world through a local gateway (and thus at local rates). Although calls from one EQO user to another EQO user are free, calling a regular mobile or landline phone requires EQO Out credit. When you use EQO Out credit, your call will be routed through EQO’s local access gateway and trigger your phone’s cellular calling network. To use EQO on your phone you’ll need a data plan and a voice plan that allows you to call local numbers.

Source and more info: zdnet

The European Parliament approved measures to cap roaming charges for mobile phones, paving the way for ratification by EU member states next month and entry into force by this summer.
The European Commission welcomed the majority vote in favour of the restrictions.
‘This means that already from this summer, mobile phone customers will start benefiting from substantially reduced roaming charges when travelling from one EU country to another,’ EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said.
‘Europe’s internal market will finally become truly borderless, even for mobile phone bills,’ Reding said.
Under the proposals, roaming charges will be regulated for three years in the hope that by the end of that period, roaming prices will be lower and the market more competitive.
The average wholesale charge that an EU operator can charge to a roaming customer’s ‘home’ operator for calls made abroad will be capped at 0.30 eur per minute. This will decrease by 0.02 eur per year over the duration of the regulation.

Source and more info: financialexpress-bd

I’m finicky about call quality. In fact, I’ve rarely lauded a phone’s call quality — until now. In my hands-on experience, the navy blue T-Mobile Wing ($300 with a two-year contract) sounded terrific.

While on calls, I heard virtually none of the telltale hissing or background noise that usually betrays the fact that I’m on a cell phone. And the people I spoke with noted that I sounded very clear — even while on a noisy jetway at an airport. Call quality isn’t the Wing’s only strength: It also offers impressive battery life and a strong array of features.

The phone — the first to ship preloaded with Windows Mobile 6.0 (T-Mobile is also making Windows Mobile 6 available as an upgrade for the Dash) — has many features, including a still-image and video camera, messaging and the familiar Windows-like menu system with applications to go.

The phone includes Office Mobile with Word, Excel and PowerPoint (you can view, create, and edit documents); Windows Live for Windows Mobile (with Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Hotmail, Live Search and Live Spaces); Windows Media Player; and a My Documents folder structure for storing files and multimedia. Other applications include instant messaging (for use with AOL, ICQ and Yahoo), Java applications, a T-Mobile HotSpot log-in shortcut and a voice recorder.

The Wing comes with a 2.8-in. touch-screen display (T-Mobile bundles a stylus with the phone, but I tended to rely on my fingers to do the walking). Six highly responsive buttons and a five-way navigational control beneath the front-screen display make single-handed navigation a breeze. Slide the display left, and the screen automatically reorients itself in landscape view to accompany your typing on the roomy keyboard. The keyboard’s keys are wide and flat, with backlighting that makes using the device in a darkened environment a breeze. I found the Wing surprisingly comfortable for thumb typing when I held the device in two hands. As a touch typist, I was surprised at how quickly I could type (I have small hands; a friend with larger hands found the keyboard harder to navigate).

Source and more info: computerworld

The Epygi Quadro 2x packs a lot of features into a unit that’s around the same size as a typical router. Not only is it a fully featured PBX but also a full NAT router with DHCP & DNS servers, a SPI firewall and intrusion detection system, traffic filtering, QoS to ensure that voice traffic is prioritized over other internet traffic, PPPoE and PPPoA support and VPN endpoint supporting IPSec, PPTP, L2TP and 3DES.

The 2x unit as supplied by 3Bit Solutions Ltd in New Zealand has a single RJ11 FXO port for connecting to a regular PSTN telephone line and two FXS ports for connecting regular analogue telephones or a fax machine supporting the T38 protocol. The unit handles 4 IP phones in its factory configuration and this can be expanded with an additional 12 phones by way of an upgrade licence.

Source and more info: geekzone

The success of T-Mobile’s Sidekick is perhaps mostly to do with the way the screen opens.

Flick it with your thumb and the spring-loaded mechanism wheels the screen round to reveal a full Qwerty keyboard underneath. It’s neat and, more importantly, cool. It’s one of the ways the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 identifies itself as a phone that teenagers and young adults will want.

The technology inside is aimed at pleasing kids and bewildering dads, too. So there’s instant messaging and texting readily accessible, and, when activated, the Sidekick 3, creates a unique email address for you.

Although not over-complicated, using the Sidekick 3 will need to be honed. The menu and navigation buttons are not clearly marked and the power button is well hidden, so knowing how it all works makes you part of a private club.

Source and more info: computeractive

The Commerce Commission has called for submissions from Fiji’s sole mobile communications provider, Vodafone Fiji, for a review of current charges.

The Commission’s executive director Mili Racule said Vodafone Fiji has until March 20 to tender its submission, after which the Commission would go ahead to assess whether a reduction of charges is warranted.

If justified, mobile charges could come down in two months.

Source and more info: fijilive

David Sitton, our resident gadget reviewer who manages to be wired and unwired simultaneously on a 24/7 basis, takes us through the pros and cons of this rather cool looking phone.

Mobile phones are typically manufactured to survive a year’s use and abuse. The pace of change and innovation is reaching a flatspot in the mobile phone market as almost all the technology one could demand is already available. With that in mind. making a decision on what phone is suitable is more difficult than ever.

Now manufacturers have to focus heavily on style and form to create a unique selling proposition and it was exactly this that drew my attention to the Samsung SGH-D900.

Source and more info: citywire