Mobile Phones

The Palm Treo 680 is the slimmer, more colorful little brother to the Treo 650 and 700p. That’s the tag line, anyway, so we were surprised when we got one in hand to find that it’s not actually that much smaller.
Sure, the 680 is an improvement, if only for the extra memory, but we’re not as thrilled with it as we expected to be, thanks to it’s odd restrictions, poor camera, lack of Wi-Fi, and the fact that it’s almost the same size as previous Treos.

Palm knows not to tamper with success, which is usually a good thing, since the Treo is an excellent smartphone and upgraded models never ruin what worked in the original. But it also means Palm isn’t the most innovative company: once it has a design that works, it sticks with it even while other companies steal the spotlight.

Source and more info: pdastreet

Two tech heavyweights are in talks to make the web on mobile phones - branded Google phones - as pervasive as it is on the desktop.

According to the UK’s Observer, Google is in talks with Orange, the mobile phone operator owned by France Telecom, about a multibillion-dollar partnership to create a “Google phone” that comes with built-in Google software, perhaps sporting a screen the size of an iPod Video. The two companies are betting the phone will make surfing the web from a mobile handset much easier for Europeans, writes MarketingVox.

The convergence of Google’s software expertise and the experience of mobile giant Orange - a seasoned player in the mobile industry with years more experience than any of the U.S.-based telecoms - is the basis of the move.

Source and more info: mediabuyerplanner

While handheld computers are getting smaller, they’re also becoming more versatile. Long gone are the days of impressing friends with an electronic contacts book and mini Excel documents, today’s pocket rockets have evolved.

The MDA Compact III is a prime example. Not only will it make calls, play multimedia files and organise your life, it’s also adept at getting you from a to b, courtesy of its Copilot Live 6 sat-nav software.

Similar to the MDA Compact II, the Compact III is chunky but surprisingly light (160g). Despite its bulk, it’s a nice size to work with and fits comfortably into a palm and pocket.

The screen is clear and big too – taking at least two thirds of the phone. It can also switch between landscape and portrait views, depending on the program being used.

To get around the menu system and programs, the MDA Compact III employs a mini trackball surrounded by a silver scroll dial, which is similar to use as Apple’s iPod wheel.

Source and more info: computeractive

Previously we have published review of UBiQUiO 501 aka i-mate JAQ3 and now, several months after this phone has been available as “UBiQUiO 501″ it is also being released by i-mate. Not only claims of i-mate about exclusivity has proven to be untruth but also the “global debut” refers just to i-mate branding because this phone was on sale under different name! Since i-mate company is located in Dubai, it’s no wonder that it is announcing new phone in their offering at a Dubai-located trade show

Source and more info: msmobiles

Our shiny new Samsung BlackJack arrived today. Otherwise known as the Samsung SPH-i607, this is a GSM Windows Mobile Smartphone that competes with the T-Mobile Dash and Motorola Q. It features a landscape 320 x 240 display that’s very sharp and pretty, though the Dash’s is a bit larger with even more pleasing color. The phone runs Windows Mobile 5 with AKU 3.0.2 for all the latest enhancements and bug fixes. This is an MS Smartphone, not a Pocket PC Phone Edition, which means it lacks a touch screen. It’s offered by Cingular in the US and should be available on Nov. 16th for $199 with a 2 year contract.

The BlackJack is a close cousin to the import triband Samsung i320 we reviewed in September. The BlackJack/ i607 makes some important improvements in keyboard layout and battery life over the i320. And of course the BlackJack is 3G and quadband.

Source and more info: mobiletechreview

Bright, light, and all right. In a nutshell that’s what we think of Sagem’s my600v.

It is brightly coloured and attractively so. An oystershell white on the back and framing the front is not unpleasant to look at while a strip of deep dark red all around the edges adds a flash of brilliance.

It is light. Just 99g of weight for your pocket or bag. And it takes the candy bar idea quite literally with dimensions of 110mm tall, 48mm wide and 16mm thick ensuring that it fits very well in the hand when you are making calls.

It is all right. The features are not, by any stretch of the imagination, leading the way. And it would be fair to say at the outset that if you are looking for something outstanding there is only one aspect in which this handset fits the bill. Its battery life is amazing. Sagem says it is good for up to six hours of music listening from a single charge. When we tested this by asking the phone to play music non-stop it gave us almost 17 hours of play.

During this test the screen backlight was set to time out at 120 seconds, so little power was used keeping the screen running, but even taking that into account this battery life seems remarkable.

We should say at this point that the Sagem my600v is exclusive to Vodafone. It is available as a Pay As You Talk handset and if you buy it online it will cost you £63. In store it is £70.

Source and more info: 3g

The Nokia 8800, Sirocco Edition, is a sublimely beautiful phone. It’s sleek, smooth, sexy and probably a bit sleazy too.

This is definitely a going out phone — you’ll slip the SIM card from your business mobile into it on a Saturday night before you go out to quaff champagne cocktails. It should be placed strategically on the bar, not on the office desk.

The Nokia 8800 is a handset that only tries to be a phone; not a camera, or a PDA — and it does so with some style.

The lavish use of polished ebony metal gives the phone a reassuring heaviness at 134 grams. It also gives it an indestructible feeling. The slider mechanism opens and closes so fast you need to make sure you don’t catch your cheek in it.

The screen’s protective coating is tempered with sapphire glass that actually protects the surface from scratches, and the phone’s contours means it sits in your hand like a smooth black pebble. Annoyingly though, fingerprints do tend to stick to the phone’s metal body. However Nokia has provided a nifty leather case and dust cloth as part of their luxury offering. Frivolous perhaps, but this reviewer found himself using it to maintain the Sirocco’s eye-catching shininess.

Source and more info: electricnews

Sony themselves produce televisions, cameras, walkmans, DVD players and computers, and after seeing their Walkman brand do so well through the partnership with Ericsson, it was only a matter of time before the CyberShot brand found its way into a handset. So is this phone just a camera, or is it capable of pushing the boundaries of mobile phones even further?

Sony Ericsson have created some of the best selling handsets in recent years, probably best of all was the K750i, loved worldwide for its 2 mega pixel camera, appearance and advanced features. Sony expanded on that phone with models such as the W800 and W810i until they had the music market covered. Now it’s their turn to claim the camera side of the mobile phone market.

Featuring the iconic CyberShot brand, the Sony Ericsson K800i has a camera that is simply extraordinary. Never before has anything like this been seen on a mobile phone. Although Nokia were the first to break the 3 megapixel barrier with the N80, the camera quality wasn’t quite as good as Sony’s effort. With the inclusion of BestPic, users are guaranteed the best quality photo every time.

BestPic is an amazing feature which takes nine individual shots every time the capture button is pressed. This means that you now have a choice of nine photos you can save, so if you find that one or two of the images are blurred through slight movements you simply discard them and save as many of the rest as you like. Also, with an image stabilizer and Xenon flash included too, there’s no excuse not to get a perfect photo every time. The phone also has 64MB of onboard memory, meaning that there is loads of room to house your high-quality snaps. If this wasn’t enough, you can also blog from the handset using blogger.com. The phone has an extra option under ‘send’ which enables you to effortlessly create a blog from scratch and update it on the move.

Source and more info: lordpercy

If you don’t have a RAZR phone you probably know someone who does - the RAZR was Motorola’s enormously popular and highly influential on phones that followed.

Although the company has made other handsets in the meantime, the KRZR (say cray-zer) is the first of a new wave of fashion phones aiming to be as head-turning as before.

The RAZR’s claim to fame was entirely down to its styling - it was different from anything that had gone before in its shape, its look and the materials it used; exotically billed by Motorola as “aircraft-grade aluminium and magnesium”.

So how does the new KRZR K1 measure up? First, it’s narrower, if a little thicker than its predecessor, but feels better balanced so you can use it one-handed without worrying that it might bounce out of your grip if you’re not careful.

The materials are still glamorous and include a toughened glass front with a deep blue metallic frame behind. Inside, the etched keypad of the original is here too, but with easier-to-identify keys. The screen is impressively large given the phone’s overall dimensions.

Source and more info: vnunet

Since I am a self confessed Chocolate lover, how could I resist the LG Chocolate Phone, otherwise known as the LG KG800. It’s been with me for a week and lets just see if it lives up to all the hype!

Pros: Sexy as hell, intuitive menu, great sound and the IT Factor
Cons: No loudspeaker, Average battery life and Lack of memory card slot

The new LG KG800 Chocolate Phone is one hell of a good-looking phone and the sleek ergonomics will surely get you a lot of attention. Which in retrospect is the main aim of the Chocolate Series so don’t expect any mind-boggling features on this one! My version of the Chocolate Phone doesn’t have a memory card, which I forgive them for as I have an iPod for music but it’s the exclusion of the Speaker Phone, which completely baffles me! Even the lowest handset in the Mobile Food Chain will have a speakerphone and I guess LG themselves bought into the Chocolate Phone hype and thought its okay to not to include a loudspeaker!

Source and more info: mobilewhack