Wednesday, September 5, 2007
The Inspiron 1501 is designed to deliver everyday entertainment with its support for affordable dual core processor technology, ATI Radeon® graphics, and extended battery life in a 2.81 Kg. light package. With a choice between the latest mobile AMD TurionTM 64 X2 Dual-Core, mobile AMD TurionTM 64 or Mobile AMD SempronTM processors, all featuring the innovative AMD PowerNowTM technology for longer battery life, the 1501 is optimised for mobile computing without sacrificing performance, and provides everyday multimedia & productivity with a 15.4" wide-aspect display, 3-in-1 media card reader and wireless network card options.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
We're always banging on about how you really need to buy a pair of earphones instead of relying on the tat that comes with your MP3 player. Sennheiser's CX 300s were particularly good value at £30 -- they're not the best quality in-ear 'phones on the market, but they're a damn sight better than the bundled rubbish. Of course, they, like most earphones, are designed for mainstream players with standard 3.5mm jacks. Now, with a new 2.5mm model, smart phone users can enjoy them too.
In-ear headphones are not for the faint-hearted and getting the right fit can take some practice. Without a tight seal inside your ear canal, bass quality is likely to be sacrificed and your chances of blocking outside noise greatly diminished.
In-ear headphones are not for the faint-hearted and getting the right fit can take some practice. Without a tight seal inside your ear canal, bass quality is likely to be sacrificed and your chances of blocking outside noise greatly diminished.
Just because us Brits aren't getting the iPhone for a while, doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared for when we do. It's coming soon, folks. Real soon. Although we were lucky enough to see one in Germany of all places, we also got to see the world's first iPhone speaker system in action from Logic3.
We loved the company's little i-Station Traveller. Its small size and diminutive price meant it was perfect for getting mudded up on a camping trip. Now the iPhone gets to experience the same muddy adventures with the i-Station Traveller... for iPhone. It's fundamentally a larger version of the original Traveller, but it's much larger, and the Messiah Phone slots into place quite nicely. We checked out some videos through the setup and heard some good (not to mention loud) sound quality pump from the AAA-powered speakers.
For those of you who think the iPhone sucks, the Traveller can be resized to fit a boring old mobile phone or even a regular iPod.
The speakers will be released in October for around £29. For those of you stateside who already have an iPhone, these great little additions for it will be dollars well spent. -Nate Lanxon
We loved the company's little i-Station Traveller. Its small size and diminutive price meant it was perfect for getting mudded up on a camping trip. Now the iPhone gets to experience the same muddy adventures with the i-Station Traveller... for iPhone. It's fundamentally a larger version of the original Traveller, but it's much larger, and the Messiah Phone slots into place quite nicely. We checked out some videos through the setup and heard some good (not to mention loud) sound quality pump from the AAA-powered speakers.
For those of you who think the iPhone sucks, the Traveller can be resized to fit a boring old mobile phone or even a regular iPod.
The speakers will be released in October for around £29. For those of you stateside who already have an iPhone, these great little additions for it will be dollars well spent. -Nate Lanxon
This innovative feature might sound very gimmicky but it's actually useful, particularly when put together with the Cocoon's dock, turning it into a fully fledged alarm clock. A minor niggle that we had with the alarm clock is that the snooze button isn't large enough, but that's probably because we don't like waking up.
Features
If you like lots of features then you won't be disappointed by the Cocoon's offerings. Most impressively, the Cocoon comes with 2GB of on-board memory, which is enough to store up to 500 songs or data in mass storage mode. There's an expandable microSD slot, too, which lets you add up to 2GB of additional memory.
Features
If you like lots of features then you won't be disappointed by the Cocoon's offerings. Most impressively, the Cocoon comes with 2GB of on-board memory, which is enough to store up to 500 songs or data in mass storage mode. There's an expandable microSD slot, too, which lets you add up to 2GB of additional memory.
O2 Cocoon Review
Reviewed by: Andrew Lim
Reviewed on: 31 August 2007
It's very rare to see a network produce its own phone from scratch, so we were surprised when we heard about the O2 Cocoon. Conceived by O2 and manufactured by Pantech, this unusual handset offers more than meets the eye.
The O2 Cocoon is currently available for free on a monthly contract of £35, or £160 on a £25 per month contract. Alternatively you can pay £300 to get it on pay as you go.
Design
Joining the cool-in-white bandwagon, the Cocoon comes in a trendy white casing with black sides and interior. It's a little chunky compared to Samsung's Ultra Edition handsets, but not so large it won't fit in your pocket. Unlike many clamshell phones, the Cocoon is curved at the top and bottom creating an oval-shaped profile.
The advantage of having rounded ends is that it slips into a pocket very easily, in a similar way to a smooth pebble. The oval-shaped casing is extremely reminiscent of a 60's egg chair and gives the phone a retro look and feel.
This retro-looking handset slots into the base and turns into a bedside alarm clock
Even more retro is the inside of the Cocoon, which looks dated and a little clunky -- a shame considering how stylish the outside is. That said it is very functional, if not attractive. The screen is relatively large, as is the easy-to-use keypad.
It's worth mentioning that the screen doesn't seem to like direct sunlight too much and is difficult to see in very bright conditions.
On the rather bulky hinge is a useful volume dial that can be controlled from the inside and out, and is much easier to use than traditional up and down volume keys. Equally useful are the dedicated music keys on the side of the Cocoon that let you play your tunes when the clamshell is shut.
The Cocoon comes with a set of hidden LEDs behind the front of the phone. These display the time, incoming caller details and previews of text messages in a cool blue light.
Reviewed by: Andrew Lim
Reviewed on: 31 August 2007
It's very rare to see a network produce its own phone from scratch, so we were surprised when we heard about the O2 Cocoon. Conceived by O2 and manufactured by Pantech, this unusual handset offers more than meets the eye.
The O2 Cocoon is currently available for free on a monthly contract of £35, or £160 on a £25 per month contract. Alternatively you can pay £300 to get it on pay as you go.
Design
Joining the cool-in-white bandwagon, the Cocoon comes in a trendy white casing with black sides and interior. It's a little chunky compared to Samsung's Ultra Edition handsets, but not so large it won't fit in your pocket. Unlike many clamshell phones, the Cocoon is curved at the top and bottom creating an oval-shaped profile.
The advantage of having rounded ends is that it slips into a pocket very easily, in a similar way to a smooth pebble. The oval-shaped casing is extremely reminiscent of a 60's egg chair and gives the phone a retro look and feel.
This retro-looking handset slots into the base and turns into a bedside alarm clock
Even more retro is the inside of the Cocoon, which looks dated and a little clunky -- a shame considering how stylish the outside is. That said it is very functional, if not attractive. The screen is relatively large, as is the easy-to-use keypad.
It's worth mentioning that the screen doesn't seem to like direct sunlight too much and is difficult to see in very bright conditions.
On the rather bulky hinge is a useful volume dial that can be controlled from the inside and out, and is much easier to use than traditional up and down volume keys. Equally useful are the dedicated music keys on the side of the Cocoon that let you play your tunes when the clamshell is shut.
The Cocoon comes with a set of hidden LEDs behind the front of the phone. These display the time, incoming caller details and previews of text messages in a cool blue light.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Specs:
Display: 2.2" 64K color TFT color LCD. QVGA resolution, 240 x 320 pixels.
Battery: 1150 mAh lithium Ion rechargeable.
Performance: 195 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP850 processor. 64 MB built-in RAM. 64 MB Flash ROM with approx. 20 megs available to store additional programs and data.
Size: 4.53 x 1.82 x 0.69 inches. Weight: 3.74 ounces.
Phone: GSM quad band world phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) with EDGE and GPRS class 10 for data. Locked to T-Mobile (you must use a T-Mobile SIM).
Camera: 1.3 megapixel CMOS camera. Capable of taking still photos up to 1280 x 1024 resolution and videos with audio up to 176 x 144 resolution.
Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. Voice Recorder and Windows Pocket Media Player 10 included for your MP3 pleasure.
Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b and Bluetooth 1.2 with support for headsets, carkits and includes DUN (dial up networking), handsfree, OBEX and HID profiles.
Software: Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone operating system. Smartphone versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Outlook (email/SMS/MMS, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks but not Notes included), Pictures and Videos, MSN Instant Messenger, Instant Messaging (AIM, Yahoo and ICQ), Voice Recorder and Windows Media Player 10. Also included: ClearVue Office Suite (viewer for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files), Voice dialing, Picture Caller ID, Camera and Video capture apps, games, Speed Dial, Calculator, File Manager, Task Manager, Comm Manager, Modem Link (use the phone as a modem over USB or Bluetooth), T-Mobile HotSpot app, Clear Storage (wipe out the phone to factory settings), Java runtime and Call History. ActiveSync 4.1 and Outlook 2002 for PCs included.
Expansion: 1 Mini SD (Secure Digital) slot, IR.
In the box: Phone, leather horizontal case with belt clip, stereo earbud headset, world charger, USB sync cable and software CD.
Display: 2.2" 64K color TFT color LCD. QVGA resolution, 240 x 320 pixels.
Battery: 1150 mAh lithium Ion rechargeable.
Performance: 195 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP850 processor. 64 MB built-in RAM. 64 MB Flash ROM with approx. 20 megs available to store additional programs and data.
Size: 4.53 x 1.82 x 0.69 inches. Weight: 3.74 ounces.
Phone: GSM quad band world phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) with EDGE and GPRS class 10 for data. Locked to T-Mobile (you must use a T-Mobile SIM).
Camera: 1.3 megapixel CMOS camera. Capable of taking still photos up to 1280 x 1024 resolution and videos with audio up to 176 x 144 resolution.
Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. Voice Recorder and Windows Pocket Media Player 10 included for your MP3 pleasure.
Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b and Bluetooth 1.2 with support for headsets, carkits and includes DUN (dial up networking), handsfree, OBEX and HID profiles.
Software: Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone operating system. Smartphone versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Outlook (email/SMS/MMS, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks but not Notes included), Pictures and Videos, MSN Instant Messenger, Instant Messaging (AIM, Yahoo and ICQ), Voice Recorder and Windows Media Player 10. Also included: ClearVue Office Suite (viewer for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files), Voice dialing, Picture Caller ID, Camera and Video capture apps, games, Speed Dial, Calculator, File Manager, Task Manager, Comm Manager, Modem Link (use the phone as a modem over USB or Bluetooth), T-Mobile HotSpot app, Clear Storage (wipe out the phone to factory settings), Java runtime and Call History. ActiveSync 4.1 and Outlook 2002 for PCs included.
Expansion: 1 Mini SD (Secure Digital) slot, IR.
In the box: Phone, leather horizontal case with belt clip, stereo earbud headset, world charger, USB sync cable and software CD.
Bluetooth
Want to use a Bluetooth headset, car kit, Bluetooth folding keyboard or transfer files wirelessly? Perhaps even use the phone as a wireless modem for a notebook or PDA? The SDA is up to these tasks and has a reliable Bluetooth radio and software stack which performed well in our tests. As we noted above, you can use the included voice dialing solution with Bluetooth headsets and we tested this feature with two headsets using the Hands Free profile: the Motorola H700 and the Plantronics Discovery 640, both of which worked like a charm. Range, voice clarity and volume were also good with both of these headsets.
Camera
While camera phones won't be replacing your digital camera in the coming year, photo quality on 1.3 megapixel models such as the SDA is good enough for personal web site use and capturing special moments you'd have otherwise missed. The camera can take still JPG photos up to 1280 x 1024 resolution which look quite decent when resized down to 640 x 480 or less using your favorite desktop image editor. The photos have some noise under moderate to low light settings and will white out in bright sunlight, making it best suited to partly sunny day shots and well lit indoor locations. The camera can take photos at a variety of less resolutions, and has presets for handy things like taking a photo caller ID contact, shooting MMS video and more. Video quality is average by camera phone standards, and is good enough to send to other phones for MMS.
Battery Life
The SDA has a large capacity 1150 mAh battery that provides long life equaling that of feature phones. Not bad, given the SDA's power-hungry additional functionality including a large color display, camera, Bluetooth, WiFi, EDGE and a fast CPU. In fact, the full-sized MDA and Cingular 8125 only have 100 mAh more capacity. Under average usage, the phone should last a few days on a charge, even with Bluetooth on. If you have the phone set to check email every 15 minutes throughout the business day, surf the web for hours per day or play lots of video and action games, you'll get less. WiFi is a big power consumer, but we were impressed that it had only a moderate impact on battery life, but as we noted, turn the WiFi radio off when you're not using it or the battery will drain more quickly for naught.
Software
All Windows Mobile Smartphones, including the SDA come with Mobile versions of Internet Explorer, Outlook (comprising of Messaging, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks but not Notes), Pocket MSN (MSN Messenger, Hotmail and MSN Mobile Home), Pictures and Videos (to view photos and watch video through Media Player), Games (Solitaire and Bubble Breaker), a voice recorder, Call History, Speed Dial, Calculator, Windows Media Player Mobile and ActiveSync on the device and on CD for Windows Desktops. The SDA adds video recorder and camera applications, an instant messaging client that supports AIM, Yahoo and ICQ, a Java Runtime, T-Mobile Hotspot apps, Clear Storage (wipe out the contents of the device to factory settings), File Manager, Task Manager and Westtek's ClearVue Suite which includes viewers for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents.
Conclusion
An excellent device for those who need a phone first and light PDA second. The SDA is attractive, powerful and has an excellent display. It syncs easily with Windows desktops, will work anywhere in the world GSM service is available and has triple wireless to keep you connected. Windows Mobile 5's software improvements and the SDA's upgraded hardware make this a no-brainer upgrade for MS Smartphone users. T-Mobile's bundled HotSpot plan is a bonus or a minus, depending on whether there are HotSpots near you.
Pro: A powerful device that has a phone's usability and ergonomics. Attractive (despite the hump) and classy looking. Fits easily in the pocket, yet offers some of the same features as PDAs. Syncs to Outlook and Exchange if you wish, which means you'll never have to T9 your contacts list into the phone and will have your appointments and reminders with you on the go. Great screen, EDGE for fast data, WiFi for really fast data and Bluetooth to keep you connected to headsets, car kits, keyboards and other Bluetooth enabled devices. Quad band GSM world phone that works anywhere GSM service is available.
Con: Buttons and keypad keys, other than the dedicated IE and media player controls are miniscule. Joystick isn't always easy to press straight down without moving sideways and thus changing your selection.
Want to use a Bluetooth headset, car kit, Bluetooth folding keyboard or transfer files wirelessly? Perhaps even use the phone as a wireless modem for a notebook or PDA? The SDA is up to these tasks and has a reliable Bluetooth radio and software stack which performed well in our tests. As we noted above, you can use the included voice dialing solution with Bluetooth headsets and we tested this feature with two headsets using the Hands Free profile: the Motorola H700 and the Plantronics Discovery 640, both of which worked like a charm. Range, voice clarity and volume were also good with both of these headsets.
Camera
While camera phones won't be replacing your digital camera in the coming year, photo quality on 1.3 megapixel models such as the SDA is good enough for personal web site use and capturing special moments you'd have otherwise missed. The camera can take still JPG photos up to 1280 x 1024 resolution which look quite decent when resized down to 640 x 480 or less using your favorite desktop image editor. The photos have some noise under moderate to low light settings and will white out in bright sunlight, making it best suited to partly sunny day shots and well lit indoor locations. The camera can take photos at a variety of less resolutions, and has presets for handy things like taking a photo caller ID contact, shooting MMS video and more. Video quality is average by camera phone standards, and is good enough to send to other phones for MMS.
Battery Life
The SDA has a large capacity 1150 mAh battery that provides long life equaling that of feature phones. Not bad, given the SDA's power-hungry additional functionality including a large color display, camera, Bluetooth, WiFi, EDGE and a fast CPU. In fact, the full-sized MDA and Cingular 8125 only have 100 mAh more capacity. Under average usage, the phone should last a few days on a charge, even with Bluetooth on. If you have the phone set to check email every 15 minutes throughout the business day, surf the web for hours per day or play lots of video and action games, you'll get less. WiFi is a big power consumer, but we were impressed that it had only a moderate impact on battery life, but as we noted, turn the WiFi radio off when you're not using it or the battery will drain more quickly for naught.
Software
All Windows Mobile Smartphones, including the SDA come with Mobile versions of Internet Explorer, Outlook (comprising of Messaging, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks but not Notes), Pocket MSN (MSN Messenger, Hotmail and MSN Mobile Home), Pictures and Videos (to view photos and watch video through Media Player), Games (Solitaire and Bubble Breaker), a voice recorder, Call History, Speed Dial, Calculator, Windows Media Player Mobile and ActiveSync on the device and on CD for Windows Desktops. The SDA adds video recorder and camera applications, an instant messaging client that supports AIM, Yahoo and ICQ, a Java Runtime, T-Mobile Hotspot apps, Clear Storage (wipe out the contents of the device to factory settings), File Manager, Task Manager and Westtek's ClearVue Suite which includes viewers for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents.
Conclusion
An excellent device for those who need a phone first and light PDA second. The SDA is attractive, powerful and has an excellent display. It syncs easily with Windows desktops, will work anywhere in the world GSM service is available and has triple wireless to keep you connected. Windows Mobile 5's software improvements and the SDA's upgraded hardware make this a no-brainer upgrade for MS Smartphone users. T-Mobile's bundled HotSpot plan is a bonus or a minus, depending on whether there are HotSpots near you.
Pro: A powerful device that has a phone's usability and ergonomics. Attractive (despite the hump) and classy looking. Fits easily in the pocket, yet offers some of the same features as PDAs. Syncs to Outlook and Exchange if you wish, which means you'll never have to T9 your contacts list into the phone and will have your appointments and reminders with you on the go. Great screen, EDGE for fast data, WiFi for really fast data and Bluetooth to keep you connected to headsets, car kits, keyboards and other Bluetooth enabled devices. Quad band GSM world phone that works anywhere GSM service is available.
Con: Buttons and keypad keys, other than the dedicated IE and media player controls are miniscule. Joystick isn't always easy to press straight down without moving sideways and thus changing your selection.
Horsepower and Performance
The SDA is a phone first and a PDA second, which means we're somewhat (but only somewhat) less concerned with processing speed. It may lack a PDA's touch screen, more powerful data entry methods and overall skillset but it does support many of the same applications including Smartphone versions of the TCPMP media player, action games, news readers, eWallet, Office document viewers and more. The Smartphone runs on a Texas Instruments OMAP850 processor with a dual core: one core handles the PDA-like features and the other is basically a DSP which handles voice and phone chores. The device is peppy and responsive in most all tasks including viewing MS Office documents, browsing the web, moving from screen to screen and launching applications.
The phone has 64 megs of RAM and 64 megs of flash ROM. Approximately 30 megs of RAM are free to run programs (RAM functions the same way in WM5 as it does on your computer). Of the 64 megs of flash ROM (which functions similarly to the hard drive on your computer), just under 20 are available for you to store programs and data. After installing the included Westtek ClearVue suite from CDROM, the device had 11 megs free. If you're a power user intending to install several 3rd party programs, invest in a Mini SD memory card. Certainly if you want to use the MP3 player to its fullest or store videos on the SDA, you'll need a card.
Display, Sound and Multimedia
The display is a thing of beauty to behold. If you've owned prior generation MS Smartphones, the new Windows Mobile 5 QVGA resolution will blow you away. That's the same resolution as the Smartphone's bigger brother, the Pocket PC and is up from the 176 x 220 resolution of older generation models. Big is great but the display itself must be up to snuff and the SDA's screen is sharp, bright and color saturated. The same can be said of all the HTC Tornado variants, and though they're not quite as vibrant as the HTC Wizard Pocket PC phones (T-Mobile MDA, Cingular 8125, i-mate K-JAM), they're some of the nicest you'll find on a device with a phone rather than PDA design. The screen measures 2.2" diagonally and though that's small given the resolution, Microsoft has done a great job sizing the fonts to maintain readability. You won't need a magnifying glass by any means and you will see almost as much on screen using Internet Explorer on the SDA as you would on the MDA Pocket PC phone.
System sounds, MP3 and video playback are very, very loud though the ringer and speakerphone volume are of average volume by comparison. The startup sound (the T-Mobile tune) is raucous, so mute the phone or place it under your jacket when booting it up during a business meeting. Should you play MP3s through the phone's speaker rather than the included stereo earbuds, the music will be plenty loud and about as good as you'd expect from a mono speaker. Plug in the headset to get very good music playback quality, and confirm that the phone lives up to its "music phone" moniker. The dedicated forward, rewind and play/pause buttons work with the included Windows Media Player 10 Mobile which can sync to Media Player on the desktop and supports Microsoft's DRM for purchased tunes (and videos). Though there's no dedicated Media Player launcher button, hitting any of the playback control buttons will launch the application. You can creates playlists, loop or shuffle and play music in the background with the screen turned off. Media Player can automatically pause music playback when a call comes in and resume when the call ends. These features aren't unique to the SDA; you'll find them in all Windows Mobile devices, but the dedicated music buttons are unique to the HTC Tornado models.
Video playback was a disappointment on first and second generation MS Smartphones but the third generation Windows Mobile 5 models offer improvements including a much better screen, fast CPUs and an improved OS and media player. The phone can handle videos encoded at QVGA resolution at 300 kbps fairly well and supports Windows Media formats (ASF and WMV) out of the box. If you wish to watch DIVX, AVI, MPEG and other popular formats, get the free TCPMP video player.
The SDA is a phone first and a PDA second, which means we're somewhat (but only somewhat) less concerned with processing speed. It may lack a PDA's touch screen, more powerful data entry methods and overall skillset but it does support many of the same applications including Smartphone versions of the TCPMP media player, action games, news readers, eWallet, Office document viewers and more. The Smartphone runs on a Texas Instruments OMAP850 processor with a dual core: one core handles the PDA-like features and the other is basically a DSP which handles voice and phone chores. The device is peppy and responsive in most all tasks including viewing MS Office documents, browsing the web, moving from screen to screen and launching applications.
The phone has 64 megs of RAM and 64 megs of flash ROM. Approximately 30 megs of RAM are free to run programs (RAM functions the same way in WM5 as it does on your computer). Of the 64 megs of flash ROM (which functions similarly to the hard drive on your computer), just under 20 are available for you to store programs and data. After installing the included Westtek ClearVue suite from CDROM, the device had 11 megs free. If you're a power user intending to install several 3rd party programs, invest in a Mini SD memory card. Certainly if you want to use the MP3 player to its fullest or store videos on the SDA, you'll need a card.
Display, Sound and Multimedia
The display is a thing of beauty to behold. If you've owned prior generation MS Smartphones, the new Windows Mobile 5 QVGA resolution will blow you away. That's the same resolution as the Smartphone's bigger brother, the Pocket PC and is up from the 176 x 220 resolution of older generation models. Big is great but the display itself must be up to snuff and the SDA's screen is sharp, bright and color saturated. The same can be said of all the HTC Tornado variants, and though they're not quite as vibrant as the HTC Wizard Pocket PC phones (T-Mobile MDA, Cingular 8125, i-mate K-JAM), they're some of the nicest you'll find on a device with a phone rather than PDA design. The screen measures 2.2" diagonally and though that's small given the resolution, Microsoft has done a great job sizing the fonts to maintain readability. You won't need a magnifying glass by any means and you will see almost as much on screen using Internet Explorer on the SDA as you would on the MDA Pocket PC phone.
System sounds, MP3 and video playback are very, very loud though the ringer and speakerphone volume are of average volume by comparison. The startup sound (the T-Mobile tune) is raucous, so mute the phone or place it under your jacket when booting it up during a business meeting. Should you play MP3s through the phone's speaker rather than the included stereo earbuds, the music will be plenty loud and about as good as you'd expect from a mono speaker. Plug in the headset to get very good music playback quality, and confirm that the phone lives up to its "music phone" moniker. The dedicated forward, rewind and play/pause buttons work with the included Windows Media Player 10 Mobile which can sync to Media Player on the desktop and supports Microsoft's DRM for purchased tunes (and videos). Though there's no dedicated Media Player launcher button, hitting any of the playback control buttons will launch the application. You can creates playlists, loop or shuffle and play music in the background with the screen turned off. Media Player can automatically pause music playback when a call comes in and resume when the call ends. These features aren't unique to the SDA; you'll find them in all Windows Mobile devices, but the dedicated music buttons are unique to the HTC Tornado models.
Video playback was a disappointment on first and second generation MS Smartphones but the third generation Windows Mobile 5 models offer improvements including a much better screen, fast CPUs and an improved OS and media player. The phone can handle videos encoded at QVGA resolution at 300 kbps fairly well and supports Windows Media formats (ASF and WMV) out of the box. If you wish to watch DIVX, AVI, MPEG and other popular formats, get the free TCPMP video player.
Side buttons aren't overwhelming: the left holds the volume slider and a key that launches Comm Manager (the triple wireless radio manager) and the right has only a camera button. The power button up top (used to turn off the phone, put the phone in flight mode or change profiles) is a small target but manageable enough. Better that it's small than an easy target for accidental presses, but not so small and weirdly designed as the Cingular 2125 power button. The IR window is located up top and the mini USB sync / charge port and the headset jack are on the bottom. The battery lives under the large door on the phone's back, and both the SIM and Mini SD card slot are under the battery. . . so much for hot-swapping memory cards. As with most camera phones, the lens and self-portrait mirror are on the back above the battery door.
Phone Features and Reception
Very, very nice... good call quality even in areas of weak reception, fast EDGE for data and good RF. Call volume through the handset is average and bests the mousy Audiovox SMT5600 Windows Mobile Smartphone which was hard to hear in boisterous locations. Call volume through the included stereo earbud headset is very loud even with the headset's slider set midway and quality is excellent. The phone's reception isn't as good as the Cingular 8125 or the Motorola RAZR but is good enough for those who use their phone in areas of moderate to excellent signal strength.
The SDA has high end call features such as a Bluetooth Hands Free support, a speakerphone, support for call forwarding, call waiting, call barring, network selection and voice dialing. The phone uses voice tags rather than true speech recognition so you'll need to record tags for each phone number you wish to dial. The upside is that voice tags are very accurate, the downside is you must take the time to record them. To initiate voice dialing, press the center of the volume rocker until the phone tells you to speak. Voice dialing, like speed dial, isn't limited to phone numbers; you can assign a speed and/or and voice tag to programs on the Start Menu. And yes, you can voice dial using a Bluetooth headset or car kit: press the call button briefly to initiate voice dialing, then speak the tag. Yay!
Data and WiFi
For data that's available most anywhere T-Mobile service is available, the SDA has EDGE (2.5G) and the old standby slow GPRS class 10. EDGE speeds, at an average of 100k on the T-Mobile network in our area, make web browsing bearable if not pleasant. Like all Windows Mobile PDAs, PDA phones and Smartphones, the SDA comes with Internet Explorer Mobile which supports HTML, some Javascript and CSS. It's adequate for viewing web sites and is a big step up from the world of WAP or even most feature phone browsers with typically poor HTML support. Like all Windows Mobile devices, the phone comes with Messaging (the e-mail component of Outlook Mobile). Messaging handles not only SMS and MMS messages but POP3, IMAP and Exchange email. It supports multiple accounts, secure authentication, HTML email messages and attachments.
And for even faster data, there's the SDA's built-in WiFi 802.11b which is a true pleasure to use. T-Mobile's revised unlimited data plan costs $29.99/month (up from $19.99) but adds unlimited use of T-Mobile HotSpots which are commonly available at Starbucks, Borders and airports among other places. That's a great deal, assuming these HotSpots are conveniently located; but clearly not so hot if your town doesn't have HotSpots. You can use your T-Mo HotSpot account on any device, including your notebook, so you're not limited to your small-screened device. The phone comes with a HotSpot finder application and an app to manage your login.
To enable WiFi, use the Home Screen shortcut or Comm Manager, which allows you to control and manage all three of the SDA's wireless radios. Once the radio is on, the Windows Mobile Connection Manager (a part of the OS) will notify you of access points in range and automatically connect you to those in range which you've used before. The device supports WEP encryption and WPA for security. The SDA handles transitions from EDGE to WiFi and back automatically, and will prefer a WiFi network if the WiFi radio is on and a viable access point is within range. We surfed for an hour and were surprised to see that less than 25% of the battery was consumed. That's pretty good battery life by WiFi standards since WiFi is power-hungry. That said, if you're not using WiFi, do turn it off because the battery will drain more quickly with the radio on and you'll be annoyed by the constant WM Connection Manager notifications of new available access points if you're moving about the average metro region.
Phone Features and Reception
Very, very nice... good call quality even in areas of weak reception, fast EDGE for data and good RF. Call volume through the handset is average and bests the mousy Audiovox SMT5600 Windows Mobile Smartphone which was hard to hear in boisterous locations. Call volume through the included stereo earbud headset is very loud even with the headset's slider set midway and quality is excellent. The phone's reception isn't as good as the Cingular 8125 or the Motorola RAZR but is good enough for those who use their phone in areas of moderate to excellent signal strength.
The SDA has high end call features such as a Bluetooth Hands Free support, a speakerphone, support for call forwarding, call waiting, call barring, network selection and voice dialing. The phone uses voice tags rather than true speech recognition so you'll need to record tags for each phone number you wish to dial. The upside is that voice tags are very accurate, the downside is you must take the time to record them. To initiate voice dialing, press the center of the volume rocker until the phone tells you to speak. Voice dialing, like speed dial, isn't limited to phone numbers; you can assign a speed and/or and voice tag to programs on the Start Menu. And yes, you can voice dial using a Bluetooth headset or car kit: press the call button briefly to initiate voice dialing, then speak the tag. Yay!
Data and WiFi
For data that's available most anywhere T-Mobile service is available, the SDA has EDGE (2.5G) and the old standby slow GPRS class 10. EDGE speeds, at an average of 100k on the T-Mobile network in our area, make web browsing bearable if not pleasant. Like all Windows Mobile PDAs, PDA phones and Smartphones, the SDA comes with Internet Explorer Mobile which supports HTML, some Javascript and CSS. It's adequate for viewing web sites and is a big step up from the world of WAP or even most feature phone browsers with typically poor HTML support. Like all Windows Mobile devices, the phone comes with Messaging (the e-mail component of Outlook Mobile). Messaging handles not only SMS and MMS messages but POP3, IMAP and Exchange email. It supports multiple accounts, secure authentication, HTML email messages and attachments.
And for even faster data, there's the SDA's built-in WiFi 802.11b which is a true pleasure to use. T-Mobile's revised unlimited data plan costs $29.99/month (up from $19.99) but adds unlimited use of T-Mobile HotSpots which are commonly available at Starbucks, Borders and airports among other places. That's a great deal, assuming these HotSpots are conveniently located; but clearly not so hot if your town doesn't have HotSpots. You can use your T-Mo HotSpot account on any device, including your notebook, so you're not limited to your small-screened device. The phone comes with a HotSpot finder application and an app to manage your login.
To enable WiFi, use the Home Screen shortcut or Comm Manager, which allows you to control and manage all three of the SDA's wireless radios. Once the radio is on, the Windows Mobile Connection Manager (a part of the OS) will notify you of access points in range and automatically connect you to those in range which you've used before. The device supports WEP encryption and WPA for security. The SDA handles transitions from EDGE to WiFi and back automatically, and will prefer a WiFi network if the WiFi radio is on and a viable access point is within range. We surfed for an hour and were surprised to see that less than 25% of the battery was consumed. That's pretty good battery life by WiFi standards since WiFi is power-hungry. That said, if you're not using WiFi, do turn it off because the battery will drain more quickly with the radio on and you'll be annoyed by the constant WM Connection Manager notifications of new available access points if you're moving about the average metro region.
Design and Ergonomics
As you've gathered, the phone is light and though not tiny, it's small enough at about the same size as the Sony Ericsson T610 and the Audiovox SMT5600 (last generation MS Smartphone). Apart from the hump, the phone is attractive and side curves and bevels make it feel comfy in the hand. A bright silver finish speaks of quality and is smart looking, with the few touches of color limited to the pink T-Mobile logo above the display and the spiral T-Zones t symbol for the dedicated Internet Explorer button up front. As others have complained about the i-mate SP5m, the buttons are much too small for those who don't have twig-fingers or long and keenly accurate fingernails. The keypad is cramped and the shortcut keys just below the display (Start, Home Screen, back and a contextual softkey) are at best 2mm tall. The joystick is small yet easy to operate in any direction but down (which functions as the action or enter key to select menu items, launch apps and etc.). The IE button and three dedicated music buttons (remember, this is a "music" phone) are larger and make much easier targets, however we found ourselves launching Windows Media player, pausing music or running IE when we meant to hit one of the small adjacent keys. Now that I've made it sound horrid, let me say that you will grow accustomed to the buttons (unless you have big fingers) and will manage adequate navigation and dialing skills in a few days.
As you've gathered, the phone is light and though not tiny, it's small enough at about the same size as the Sony Ericsson T610 and the Audiovox SMT5600 (last generation MS Smartphone). Apart from the hump, the phone is attractive and side curves and bevels make it feel comfy in the hand. A bright silver finish speaks of quality and is smart looking, with the few touches of color limited to the pink T-Mobile logo above the display and the spiral T-Zones t symbol for the dedicated Internet Explorer button up front. As others have complained about the i-mate SP5m, the buttons are much too small for those who don't have twig-fingers or long and keenly accurate fingernails. The keypad is cramped and the shortcut keys just below the display (Start, Home Screen, back and a contextual softkey) are at best 2mm tall. The joystick is small yet easy to operate in any direction but down (which functions as the action or enter key to select menu items, launch apps and etc.). The IE button and three dedicated music buttons (remember, this is a "music" phone) are larger and make much easier targets, however we found ourselves launching Windows Media player, pausing music or running IE when we meant to hit one of the small adjacent keys. Now that I've made it sound horrid, let me say that you will grow accustomed to the buttons (unless you have big fingers) and will manage adequate navigation and dialing skills in a few days.
Folks, we've got a phone with multiple personality disorder here, and that's not altogether a bad thing. The T-Mobile SDA (not to be confused with the older Euro T-Mo SDA, but rather their SDA II) was released in the US in Feb. 2006 and it wants to be your everything... almost. While it lacks the serious editing skills that its QWERTY keyboard-ed, touch screen-enabled big brother the MDA offers; the SDA wants to be your pocketable phone, business tool, PDA, WiFi hotspot surfing buddy and MP3 player. Oh yes, and your camera phone, your streaming video player and your GSM world phone. Cross the older Audiovox SMT6500 with a Sony Ericsson W800i and throw in a little Pocket PC and you've got the multi-faceted SDA.
Surprisingly, the phone fits all of this into a device of reasonably modest proportions, and it weighs only 3.74 ounces. Like most PDA phones and Smartphones that run Windows Mobile 5.0, the SDA comes from ODM HTC in Taiwan, and its codename is the HTC Tornado. It's the same beast as the i-mate SP5m, QTEK 8300 and a close cousin to the Cingular 2125. What the SDA adds to the design is its Quasimodo hump, supposedly to improve US GSM reception (Cingular also hunchbacked their 2125). Having used both the SP5m and the SDA on T-Mobile's service in the US, I can't say I've noticed significant reception improvements with the hump, which isn't too terrible looking from the front, but makes the phone look a bit like a coffin from the rear.
Before we dig deeper, let's take a look at some MS Smartphone basics. Though the user interface and applications look similar to those on Pocket PC, this is not a Pocket PC. It lacks a touch screen (all navigation is handled using the d-pad and keypad) and MS Smartphones generally run on slower processors (though the T-Mobile MDA and Cingular 8125 Windows Mobile Pocket PC phones happen to run on the same CPU as the SDA). Smartphones' phone ergonomics are very good and are in fact on par with many ordinary feature phones. What makes the phone smart? It can sync to Outlook on Windows desktops, browse "regular" HTML web sites, not just WAP, you can install Windows Mobile smartphone 3rd party applications on the device, and access multiple email accounts using the included Messaging application with strong support for business standards including MS Exchange. It's a phone first, but a modest PDA second.
Surprisingly, the phone fits all of this into a device of reasonably modest proportions, and it weighs only 3.74 ounces. Like most PDA phones and Smartphones that run Windows Mobile 5.0, the SDA comes from ODM HTC in Taiwan, and its codename is the HTC Tornado. It's the same beast as the i-mate SP5m, QTEK 8300 and a close cousin to the Cingular 2125. What the SDA adds to the design is its Quasimodo hump, supposedly to improve US GSM reception (Cingular also hunchbacked their 2125). Having used both the SP5m and the SDA on T-Mobile's service in the US, I can't say I've noticed significant reception improvements with the hump, which isn't too terrible looking from the front, but makes the phone look a bit like a coffin from the rear.
Before we dig deeper, let's take a look at some MS Smartphone basics. Though the user interface and applications look similar to those on Pocket PC, this is not a Pocket PC. It lacks a touch screen (all navigation is handled using the d-pad and keypad) and MS Smartphones generally run on slower processors (though the T-Mobile MDA and Cingular 8125 Windows Mobile Pocket PC phones happen to run on the same CPU as the SDA). Smartphones' phone ergonomics are very good and are in fact on par with many ordinary feature phones. What makes the phone smart? It can sync to Outlook on Windows desktops, browse "regular" HTML web sites, not just WAP, you can install Windows Mobile smartphone 3rd party applications on the device, and access multiple email accounts using the included Messaging application with strong support for business standards including MS Exchange. It's a phone first, but a modest PDA second.
Curse you, iPhone users! I don't have an iPhone. I have a Blackjack. I don't love it, but it was cheap, and it worked reliably...until today. Data access on the AT&T network is sporadic right now. Reports are that the influx of iPhone users on the AT&T wireless data network is clogging up the aerials or something.
Even with my Blackjack's 3G connection, I'm having issues. The lowly iPhone (bring it on, fanboys), only runs on the pokey EDGE technology--it's not in my Blackjack's fast lane. So maybe it's the AT&T network switches and routing equipment that's overloaded, not the wireless.
You know, one reason I didn't get an iPhone is because it doesn't work with corporate e-mail. But now corporate e-mail doesn't work on my Blackjack, either. And if I'm going to not get work done, I might as well not do it on a shiny iPhone.
Even with my Blackjack's 3G connection, I'm having issues. The lowly iPhone (bring it on, fanboys), only runs on the pokey EDGE technology--it's not in my Blackjack's fast lane. So maybe it's the AT&T network switches and routing equipment that's overloaded, not the wireless.
You know, one reason I didn't get an iPhone is because it doesn't work with corporate e-mail. But now corporate e-mail doesn't work on my Blackjack, either. And if I'm going to not get work done, I might as well not do it on a shiny iPhone.
Crown jewel
Nokia N95 reviewThis is the our detailed test of Nokia N95, the best equipped phone on today’s mobile market. Nokia N95 is among first mobiles to have a built-in camera with a 5 megapixel resolution. Among its lures are also an integrated GPS module, HSDPA support…
Business beauty
Nokia E65 reviewNokia E65 is an attractive slider smartphone powered by the Symbian OS. It offers Wi-Fi capability and has 3G support. Its extensive software equipment is an apparent necessity, while its built-in 2 megapixel camera and dedicated…
A Cyber-shot is reborn
Sony Ericsson K810 reviewWhen it comes to camera phones, the words K800 Cyber-shot always seem to come to mind. The time has come to finally forget it since the famous cameraphone has received a successor - the new K810
Nokia N95 reviewThis is the our detailed test of Nokia N95, the best equipped phone on today’s mobile market. Nokia N95 is among first mobiles to have a built-in camera with a 5 megapixel resolution. Among its lures are also an integrated GPS module, HSDPA support…
Business beauty
Nokia E65 reviewNokia E65 is an attractive slider smartphone powered by the Symbian OS. It offers Wi-Fi capability and has 3G support. Its extensive software equipment is an apparent necessity, while its built-in 2 megapixel camera and dedicated…
A Cyber-shot is reborn
Sony Ericsson K810 reviewWhen it comes to camera phones, the words K800 Cyber-shot always seem to come to mind. The time has come to finally forget it since the famous cameraphone has received a successor - the new K810
Samsung has stopped being afraid of making experiments. Once it used to make only silver clamshells. Today, however, the situation has changed significantly. Samsung already has a fancy portfolio including several untraditional…
A smart sharp-shooter
Sony Ericsson P1 reviewThe Sony Ericsson P1 is an exciting new smartphone that is to undoubtedly reign in the Sony Ericsson portfolio. Powered by Symbian OS and featuring a QWERTY keyboard, a touchscreen TFT display and a 3 MP…
A smart sharp-shooter
Sony Ericsson P1 reviewThe Sony Ericsson P1 is an exciting new smartphone that is to undoubtedly reign in the Sony Ericsson portfolio. Powered by Symbian OS and featuring a QWERTY keyboard, a touchscreen TFT display and a 3 MP…
The Samsung Z560 is a feature-packed clamshell which is equipped with some of the latest technologies in the mobile industry - HSDPA, a 2 megapixel camera with auto focus, microSD memory card slot and a really large 2.3" TFT …
Sophistication made…
LG Prada reviewThe Prada phone by LG is among those handhelds that rely solely on touch-based as opposed to stylus-based interface interaction. The famous Apple iPhone surely started the craze over such devices, but the LG KE850, known as Prada
Sophistication made…
LG Prada reviewThe Prada phone by LG is among those handhelds that rely solely on touch-based as opposed to stylus-based interface interaction. The famous Apple iPhone surely started the craze over such devices, but the LG KE850, known as Prada
Monday, June 4, 2007
For a relatively small and lightweight 3G phone the Sony Ericsson K800i is positively dripping with features and the headline 3.2-megapixel camera isn't the only good thing about it. We aren't big fans of Sony's new tiny Memory Stick Micro, but if nothing else the K800i stylishly shows that 3G handsets have at last made it mainstream
Read full review The K750i is a great mix of good hardware and software features. It's small in size, sleek in design and has some of the best features we've seen in a handset. The standout is the camera, which is both easy to use and well specified. We could see ourselves getting standard prints from this phone -– something we've never wanted to try before
Read full review The N95 almost justifies its hefty price-tag for the sat-nav alone. Despite a few bugs, Nokia's handset succeeds as phone, camera, media player, PDA and above all personal navigator. If we had to rescue just one device from a burning house, it would be the N95
Read full review If you are fan of thin, sleek, black phones and want a smart phone rather than something that is all style and no substance, the i320 could be well worth a look. Try the keyboard out first if you can, though, as it won’t suit everybody
Read full review The K750i is a great mix of good hardware and software features. It's small in size, sleek in design and has some of the best features we've seen in a handset. The standout is the camera, which is both easy to use and well specified. We could see ourselves getting standard prints from this phone -– something we've never wanted to try before
Read full review The N95 almost justifies its hefty price-tag for the sat-nav alone. Despite a few bugs, Nokia's handset succeeds as phone, camera, media player, PDA and above all personal navigator. If we had to rescue just one device from a burning house, it would be the N95
Read full review If you are fan of thin, sleek, black phones and want a smart phone rather than something that is all style and no substance, the i320 could be well worth a look. Try the keyboard out first if you can, though, as it won’t suit everybody
Samsung U600 review
Review An even slimmer, sleeker slider phone from Samsung, the U600 is jam-packed with excellent features such as a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus, an MP3 player, FM radio and stereo Bluetooth. And it's only 11mm thick
Read review
Sony Ericsson W880i review
Review The W880i Walkman phone is Sony Ericsson's thinnest phone to date and one of the slimmest 3G handsets we've seen so far. And it's got some great features -- if the keys weren't so tricky to use, we'd recommend it in a heartbeat
Read review
Sony Ericsson K550i review
Review With its easy-to-use 2-megapixel snapper, onboard music player and blogging features, Sony Ericsson is hoping that the slim, stylish K550i will be as big a success as the K750i
Read review
Motorola Q 9 review
Review The Motorola Q9 breaks away from the thin clamshell design we know a little too well and is a slim, BlackBerry-style device that features a full Qwerty keypad and Windows Mobile 6
Review An even slimmer, sleeker slider phone from Samsung, the U600 is jam-packed with excellent features such as a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus, an MP3 player, FM radio and stereo Bluetooth. And it's only 11mm thick
Read review
Sony Ericsson W880i review
Review The W880i Walkman phone is Sony Ericsson's thinnest phone to date and one of the slimmest 3G handsets we've seen so far. And it's got some great features -- if the keys weren't so tricky to use, we'd recommend it in a heartbeat
Read review
Sony Ericsson K550i review
Review With its easy-to-use 2-megapixel snapper, onboard music player and blogging features, Sony Ericsson is hoping that the slim, stylish K550i will be as big a success as the K750i
Read review
Motorola Q 9 review
Review The Motorola Q9 breaks away from the thin clamshell design we know a little too well and is a slim, BlackBerry-style device that features a full Qwerty keypad and Windows Mobile 6
Nokia N95 review
Review The N95 combines satellite navigation, a cutting-edge 5-megapixel camera, a media player and PDA functions in a handset that somehow isn't the size of a brick. It's shockingly expensive, but it is a wonderful piece of kit
Review The N95 combines satellite navigation, a cutting-edge 5-megapixel camera, a media player and PDA functions in a handset that somehow isn't the size of a brick. It's shockingly expensive, but it is a wonderful piece of kit
Sony Ericsson K810i review
Review We had high expectations for the K800i's successor, the K810i -- Sony Ericsson has consistently pushed the boundaries between mobile phones and standalone digital cameras. But is this upgrade merely skin-deep?
Review We had high expectations for the K800i's successor, the K810i -- Sony Ericsson has consistently pushed the boundaries between mobile phones and standalone digital cameras. But is this upgrade merely skin-deep?
Mobiles
Toshiba ends Intel-only notebooks. AMD-equipped models coming soon
Wed 30th May 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
New Ultra-Mobile PC form factor is squashed Centrino
Wed 18th Apr 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
Jabra JX10 BlueTooth Hub – Desk phone, laptop and headset in one
Fri 30th Mar 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
Scalado promises speedy image processing for mobile apps
Wed 7th Feb 2007
1
Press Release
Mobiles
New software to bring super-fast image processing to mobile phones
Wed 7th Feb 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
Samsung T9B media player is your mobile phone's best friend
Wed 10th Jan 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
Largest SatNav screen ever?
Mon 11th Dec 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
Gitex 2006 - Jabra - Booms and bling
Sun 19th Nov 2006
1
Press Release
Mobiles
Live trials prove ad-funding can dramatically increase the size of the mobile business
Wed 8th Nov 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
Nokia shows off Aeon 'wearable' concept phone
Tue 10th Oct 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
O2 changes Ts&Cs to allow call data sharing
Thu 5th Oct 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
IDF Day Zero: Alan Crouch's wireless world
Tue 26th Sep 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
Sharp prepares for Blackberry invasion of Japan
Tue 4th Jul 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
APC creates a UPS for your mobile phone
Toshiba ends Intel-only notebooks. AMD-equipped models coming soon
Wed 30th May 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
New Ultra-Mobile PC form factor is squashed Centrino
Wed 18th Apr 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
Jabra JX10 BlueTooth Hub – Desk phone, laptop and headset in one
Fri 30th Mar 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
Scalado promises speedy image processing for mobile apps
Wed 7th Feb 2007
1
Press Release
Mobiles
New software to bring super-fast image processing to mobile phones
Wed 7th Feb 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
Samsung T9B media player is your mobile phone's best friend
Wed 10th Jan 2007
1
Headline
Mobiles
Largest SatNav screen ever?
Mon 11th Dec 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
Gitex 2006 - Jabra - Booms and bling
Sun 19th Nov 2006
1
Press Release
Mobiles
Live trials prove ad-funding can dramatically increase the size of the mobile business
Wed 8th Nov 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
Nokia shows off Aeon 'wearable' concept phone
Tue 10th Oct 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
O2 changes Ts&Cs to allow call data sharing
Thu 5th Oct 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
IDF Day Zero: Alan Crouch's wireless world
Tue 26th Sep 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
Sharp prepares for Blackberry invasion of Japan
Tue 4th Jul 2006
1
Headline
Mobiles
APC creates a UPS for your mobile phone
Review: Nokia N76 - Thin and Smart
Nokia's N76 smartphone the first slimline S60 folder in the company's portfolio, and is also one of the very first devices to run S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. Sam puts the N76 through the wringer in this review
Nokia's N76 smartphone the first slimline S60 folder in the company's portfolio, and is also one of the very first devices to run S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. Sam puts the N76 through the wringer in this review
Review: Nokia N76 - Thin and Smart
Nokia's N76 smartphone the first slimline S60 folder in the company's portfolio, and is also one of the very first devices to run S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. Sam puts the N76 through the wringer in this review
Nokia's N76 smartphone the first slimline S60 folder in the company's portfolio, and is also one of the very first devices to run S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. Sam puts the N76 through the wringer in this review
Review: LG's KE850 Prada Phone
The Apple iPhone might have generated the most buzz, but LG and Prada beat them to the touch interface punch by 6 months, at least. We have a full review of the LG KE850 Prada phone, including 4 videos of it in action.
The Apple iPhone might have generated the most buzz, but LG and Prada beat them to the touch interface punch by 6 months, at least. We have a full review of the LG KE850 Prada phone, including 4 videos of it in action.
iPod ecosystem, part three: in car
The third chapter of our very historic attempt to glance over at least a tiny share of the variety of iPod-accessories covers those of them meant for in-car use. In view of the present state of affairs with traffic in Moscow, some most zealous car owners spend up to several months a year in their cars, therefore what has to brighten up this time for them - is a big question at hand
The third chapter of our very historic attempt to glance over at least a tiny share of the variety of iPod-accessories covers those of them meant for in-car use. In view of the present state of affairs with traffic in Moscow, some most zealous car owners spend up to several months a year in their cars, therefore what has to brighten up this time for them - is a big question at hand
Review of PDA Asus MyPal A626.
In 2006 ASUSTeK released a number of successful models, both in the segment of communicators and Pockets PCs. Among its latest-and-greatest, we should particularly emphasize Asus A600, the A620 and the A636. The highlight of our today’s review belongs to the same MyPal 6xx line-up. The company sticks close to the tradition of launching GPS-enabled PDAs (the A686, the A696), and Asus A626 can be regarded as an addition to this range
In 2006 ASUSTeK released a number of successful models, both in the segment of communicators and Pockets PCs. Among its latest-and-greatest, we should particularly emphasize Asus A600, the A620 and the A636. The highlight of our today’s review belongs to the same MyPal 6xx line-up. The company sticks close to the tradition of launching GPS-enabled PDAs (the A686, the A696), and Asus A626 can be regarded as an addition to this range
Review of music phones Samsung F300 and Sony Ericsson W880i
Frankly, I really wanted to give these two handsets not “music” but “summer” prefix – both sport very pocketable dimensions and will readily slip into any pocket and keep low profile there. You should admit that Nokia N93 in a jeans pocket would look strange to say the least, thus following the nomenclature we have just come up with, this would be a winter phone So, this article will spotlight primarily the music departments of both solutions
Frankly, I really wanted to give these two handsets not “music” but “summer” prefix – both sport very pocketable dimensions and will readily slip into any pocket and keep low profile there. You should admit that Nokia N93 in a jeans pocket would look strange to say the least, thus following the nomenclature we have just come up with, this would be a winter phone So, this article will spotlight primarily the music departments of both solutions
Review of MP3-player Sony S200 Series
In its range of portable audio Sony traditionally focus on sporty devices that are meant for exercising or any adventures you might happen to get involved in. Another wave of models that has finally made it to the market, keeps this trend up with the S200 Series. Though, they had enough of insight not to equip it with flashy trim or rubber-coated casing, since most people own one player, and they don’t hang out in gyms all the time
In its range of portable audio Sony traditionally focus on sporty devices that are meant for exercising or any adventures you might happen to get involved in. Another wave of models that has finally made it to the market, keeps this trend up with the S200 Series. Though, they had enough of insight not to equip it with flashy trim or rubber-coated casing, since most people own one player, and they don’t hang out in gyms all the time
The word “communicator” was made up by Nokia and identified a whole family or devices armed with QWERTY-keyboard. That didn’t hamper other manufacturers in their attempts to position their solutions after this device and name their products in a resembling way. It quite another matter, though, that back then those were pretty unsophisticated devices that were miles behind Nokia’s communicators in terms of capabilities. One could recall a Motorola-branded communicator – model A100, which was a basic device for typing SMS messages
RAZR2 – second generation of RAZR
While in the first installment of our report from Motorola’s press-conference we focused on the company’s strategy, here we are going to dwell upon the new generation of RAZR phones- the RAZR2. The first thing I want to mention is somewhat inadequate title, especially for online magazines – typing “2” in superscript mode is always a pain, so for the most part, the second generation will be called the RAZR2 (here we will stick to this name as well)...
While in the first installment of our report from Motorola’s press-conference we focused on the company’s strategy, here we are going to dwell upon the new generation of RAZR phones- the RAZR2. The first thing I want to mention is somewhat inadequate title, especially for online magazines – typing “2” in superscript mode is always a pain, so for the most part, the second generation will be called the RAZR2 (here we will stick to this name as well)...
Review of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Sony Ericsson P1
Historically, the roots of this product go back to the Sony Ericsson M600i – they share the same philosophy, form-factor and other aspects. The parent model was one of the first UIQ 3.0-running offerings, however limited RAM volume, novelty of the operating system, omitted camera and WiFi pushed this product in a particular niche. The maker had meant to release the flagship, specifically the Sony Ericsson P990i, long before the M600, but it didn’t happen
Historically, the roots of this product go back to the Sony Ericsson M600i – they share the same philosophy, form-factor and other aspects. The parent model was one of the first UIQ 3.0-running offerings, however limited RAM volume, novelty of the operating system, omitted camera and WiFi pushed this product in a particular niche. The maker had meant to release the flagship, specifically the Sony Ericsson P990i, long before the M600, but it didn’t happen
Review of GSM-handset Sony Ericsson J110i/120i
All manufacturers focus on expanding their market share by releasing low-end and utterly cheap handsets. For Sony Ericsson such products are also of some interest, but they have never been the centerpiece, the company has come across high demand in mid and top price-brackets, which’s kept it from releasing great many of low-priced offerings. The way the things stood, playing on the company’s hand, high average price of products..
All manufacturers focus on expanding their market share by releasing low-end and utterly cheap handsets. For Sony Ericsson such products are also of some interest, but they have never been the centerpiece, the company has come across high demand in mid and top price-brackets, which’s kept it from releasing great many of low-priced offerings. The way the things stood, playing on the company’s hand, high average price of products..
Review of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Nokia 6110
The advent of a GPS-armed handset, or, to be more precise, a whole range of such devices by Nokia, was only a matter of time. Lagging behind Windows Mobile offerings both in terms of ease of navigation and number of models sporting built-in GPS, Nokia did not want to give away this ever-growing market. Hence, in an effort to strengthen its positions the company did much in a short period of time – specifically, they came up with Smart2Go software kit
The advent of a GPS-armed handset, or, to be more precise, a whole range of such devices by Nokia, was only a matter of time. Lagging behind Windows Mobile offerings both in terms of ease of navigation and number of models sporting built-in GPS, Nokia did not want to give away this ever-growing market. Hence, in an effort to strengthen its positions the company did much in a short period of time – specifically, they came up with Smart2Go software kit
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