Archive for the ‘Handsets’ Category
Samsung Omnia HD gets video review
The follow-up to Samsung’s hugely popular Omnia, the Omnia HD was announced at the MWC in Barcelona a few weeks ago. Since then reviews of this highly anticipated and exciting device have been flying of the wall. Here is one video review from Megawhat.tv
[Via Phone Reviews]
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone set to release in USA
Nokia has readied the 5800 XpressMusic, aka, the Tube, touchscreen phone for the US market and is set to release it as early as today. Nokia’s website still shows XpressMusic as coming soon and allows you to pre-order. However, according to Engadget Mobile, the company is set to release the phones to its flagship stores in New York and Chicago this week, possibly today. Nokia has priced this phone attractively at $399 unlocked and it has both GSM and WCDMA support so it should work on any network. So, if you were looking for an iPhone competitor with 3.2Mpxl camera and up to 16GB microSD support for tons of music, mosey over to the Nokia store or online and order it.
Samsung Memoir gets panned
T-Mobile is gearing up to find out what is America’s appetite for 8Mpxl camera phone in this economy. They are set to release the Samsung Memoir starting today. It is the first 8Mpxl camera phone launched by a US carrier. So, there are some expectations from that perspective.
The specs for this phone include T-Mobile 3G support, touch screen with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, Xenon flash, HTML web browser, A-GPS and photo functions such as smile and face detection along with geo-tagging capabilities and ability to upload your pictures to Flickr and T-Mobile MyAlbum service. However, the TouchWiz UI is not all that great and does not have the pizzazz say the HTC TouchFLO does, according to Boy Genius Report. Also, considering the underlying OS is old Symbian S40, this phone will have limited appeal, maybe for the fans of Samsung Behold who might be ready for some 8Mpxl fun.
Another issue is the price point. At $249.99 with 2 year contract, it is hard for many to justify this phone especially when T-Mobile has some attractive pricing on the Blackberry Curve.
Toshiba TG01 gets reviewed on video
Remember the Toshiba TG01 I mentioned some time back. Yeah, the one with huge 4.1 inches screen running Windows Mobile with custom Toshiba UI, all bundled in a sleek 9mm thin package. Well, UnwiredView got a chance to review it at MWC in Barcelona and he has put a video of the review along with some photos which you can view here.
Best Buy offers iPhone on the cheap
Listen up, you Best Buy Rewards Zone and Silver Premier members, if you have a hankering for the iPhone 3G, mosey over to the nearest Best Buy store, flash your card and get $50 if you are Rewards Zone member or $100 if you a Silver Premier member. Of course there are catches to this: First, you have to be enrolled in the membership programs before Feb 21st. Second, you still have to sign up for 2-year contract with AT&T to get the iPhone for as low as $99 bucks.
[Via Boy Genius Report]
Verizon Wireless to launch netbooks and Blackberry Niagara
Rumors has it that Verizon Wireless is going to launch netbooks starting May 1st . They will begin with the 10-inches, HP Mini which will retail for $99 with 2-year contract and broadband access. In addition, VZW will launch the Blackberry Niagara, which in terms of form factor falls between Curve and Bold. It comes with OS 4.6 and following specs:
[Via Boy Genius Report]
Verizon to launch LG Versa VX960 on March 1
Verizon Wireless is preparing to launch its innovative phone with detachable module on March 1st. The specs for this phone include:
The phone will cost $199.99 with 2 years contract and $50 mail-in certificate. It comes with the QWERTY keyboard module while a gaming module with 8-way controller will cost $29.99 extra. In addition, fashion designers Liz Clairborne and Dooney & Burke are going to launch their own modules to go with the phone.
[Via UnwiredView]
MWC Day 2 Recap: Android, Android Everywhere!
It was day 2 (almost on its way to day 3) of the MWC in Barcelona and it was Android’s day to shine. Several carriers and smartphone makers announced today that they will be launching devices powered by Google’s Android OS. First up, Vodafone announced that it will launch HTC’s Magic, the keyboard-less G1. Following up on Vodafone’s announcement with 1-2-3 punches, Heuwei launched its sleek-looking Android device; Acer is working on 2 Android based devices while Samsung does one better by launching 3 Android devices and potentially a Linux Mobile phone too.
In other news, Nokia announced that it will bundle Skype software on all its N-series phones starting with the N97. Also, a group of 17 phone manufacturers and carriers, under the auspices of GSM, adopted the universal charger standard. Phone manufacturers including LG, Samsung, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and operators like AT&T, Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Telefonica agreed to use the microUSB socket as the standard power sockets on all their phones by 2012. Key holdouts include Apple, RIM and Palm, though RIM already uses MiniUSB on its Blackberry devices.
Nokia announces the N86, its first 8Mpxl cameraphone
After the leaks and fiasco of yesterday, Nokia got its act right today and officially launched the N86 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This phone has similar dual-slider form factor as its soon-to-be-launched N97 bretheren. The other specs for this phone are as follows:
Nokia announced that the N86 will be available in second quarter in Europe and retail for €375. With launch so close to the N97 and similar specs, I wonder how the N86 will cannabilize the N97 sales.
[Via UnwiredView]
Mobile World Congress Day 1 recap: Nokia Ovi Store, LG GD900, Arena, Windows Mobile 6.5, Samsung OmniaHD
Here is a recap of the top news story on this the first day of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona:
Nokia announced 4 new phones and the Ovi App store which will be available in March for publishers to upload content and on the N97 when it comes out in June. There are two new E-series devices: Nokia E75 and Nokia E55 with revamped email interface. The Navigator series got two more devices too: Nokia 6710 Navigator, and the Nokia 6720 classic. As the name suggest the 6710 Navigator is GPS centric device while the 6720 classic has advanced noice cancellation and form factor designed to fit around the face. Nokia, in an unusual move, announced its N86 phone far from the action in Singapore. This 8Mpxl camera phone is an update to the to-be-launched N97 with similar form factor and dual-sliders.
LG and Microsoft announced a partnership wherein LG will launch 50 new Windows Mobile based phones by 2012. I am sure a lot of these phones will see the S-Class treatment which we saw in LG Arena (also announced today with March availability in Europe). LG also announced the GD900 which has a transparent keypad slider with a very thin, 13.4″ thick casing, and have 7.2 Mbps HSDPA.
Speaking of Microsoft, it also announced the availability of Windows Mobile 6.5 with its honeycomb home screen; MyPhone, its cloud-based backup solution; Recite, the voice memo organization tool; and its own marketplace called Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which will be available on all phones running WinMo 6.5 and above.
Finally, Samsung had the best news of all: the new OmniaHD (review here), its Symbian S60 OS-based,12.7mm thin beauty with a huge 3.7″ glass AMOLED touchscreen display, an 8 Mpxl camera that shoots 720p video, HD video out, video calling, Wi-Fi, GPS and 8 to 16GB internal storage plus microSDHC support with aluminum body. It also announced the BeatDJ (see video review) with Bang & Olufson audio, 3 megapixel camera, DivX support, a 2.8″ AMOLED touchscreen and DJ features which allows the user to record tracks, scratch and add effects.
[Via Boy Genius Report, Engadget Mobile, Mobile Review, UnwiredView]
Subscribe by Email
