Mobile Phone News

Spotted: Blackberry With Slider Form Factor – Storm 3?

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Sneaky snaps at BBLeaks.com have unveiled a previously unseen Blackberry with a slider form factor.

A slider handset is quite a departure for RIM, whose BlackBerry range is overwhelming made up of fixed-QWERTY handsets (the only exceptions are the Pearl Flip and the touchscreen Storm).

BBLeaks speculate that this could be the Storm 3, a device which has been rumoured since 2008, while Crackberry suggest this could be an old prototype model not destined for the shelves.

We think it looks like a Storm (pretty bulky) with a tacked on Bold 9700 keyboard.

Aside from the novelty factor, we think it looks pretty unwieldy. Let us know what you think!

First Windows Phone 7 Series Partner Unveiled

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Well, that was quick! Less than two weeks since Microsoft’s announcement of Windows Phone 7 and now we get the first glimpse of a partner device:

On Saturday’s Engadget Show, Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman pulled out LG’s Windows Phone 7 Series pre-production prototype – a QWERTY slider, and the first branded Windows Phone 7 Series device the world has ever seen.

As a prototype, it’s too early to call the specs, but apparently it’s just a shade thicker than an iPhone or Nexus One.

Although details of LG’s first Windows Phone 7 Series handset have not yet been finalised, LG is aiming to release its first device to market in the fourth quarter of 2010.

It’s quite a wait but when it does land expect to see the best deals at Omio.com!

Windows Phone 7 Locked Down to 3 Chassis Designs?

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Sharp ears over at ZDNET have picked up on an podcast in which Microsoft Developers start talking about Microsoft’s decision to cut back the unwieldy number of supported Windows Phone chassis to just three with Windows Phone 7.

Apparently, Microsoft will only be supporting Windows Phone 7 on three different chassis:

Chassis 1: First ones out of the gate will be arge touchscreens with at least a 1 GHz processor such as Snapdragon, requiring its own dedicated graphics processor.

Chassis 2: Slide-out keyboards will be added on alongside touchscreens.We’re guessing the processor specs will be roughly similar to that of Chassis 1.

Chassis 3: There are no certain details on 3, though they are suspected to be candybar devices. No word on when 2 or 3 will be ready.

If true, it looks as if Microsoft are finally getting a handle on their product. To date the reputation of Windows Mobile OS not been great – with patchy and unimpressive performance a common feature.But firmer integration of Windows OS and hardware woulds go some way in resolving this.

Source: Unwired Review via ZDNet

The Orb: Bluetooth Headset That Doubles As Fine Jewellery

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (1387)

Yes, this might be one to file in the drawer marked ‘vapourware’, but the problem of making a visually inoffensive Bluetooth headset is still a disease without a cure!

The Orb is a crossover creation from imagineers Hybra Technology and Absolutely New, and is a cool and discreet Bluetooth headset that instantly turns into stylish ring and back again.

When worn as a ring, a flexible display shows caller information, items on your calendar or to-do list and and voice-to-text alerts (though maybe not using SpinVox).

Answering a call is as easy as rotating it and clipping it on your ear. The audio transmission is handled through bone conduction, Aliph Jawbone headset-style, avoiding the need for sticking fiddly bits into your ears and looking like a twonk.

The price of fashion? Only $129 for the standard and $175 for the deluxe OLED screen equipped model. Only problem is that we have to wait until 2010 for the Orb to become more than a flight of fancy…

Vision of the future or another ‘next big thing’ that never arrives like virtual reality or pre-heated pants?

Source: DVICE

Sony ‘Black Tribute’: Sexier Than The iPhone?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
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About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (1387)

Whilst the iPhone has been eclipsed in the specs stakes (let’s face it, even the 5800 XpressMusic makes it look like a Speak & Spell on paper), there is no handset that even comes close in terms of looks.

Designer Jaren Goh and his Sony ‘Black Tribute’ handset is the most impressive contender we have ever seen, matching the iconic device in having a huge touchscreen, a distinct lack of buttons and gorgeous styling.

The chunky aluminum body with satin black accenting screams high-end Sony device, whilst the interface looks to be clean and minimalist, offering easy functionality whilst exuding luxury.

With a lack of other specifications, the only shortcoming was a 3.2 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, but it is just a concept.

Any chance we could rip out the Idou’s 12.1 MP camera and cutting edge innards? We seem to have found a willing body double…

More pics follow!

Read the rest of this entry »

Nokia E75 versus HTC Touch Pro: It’s Friday Showdown Time

By Suzanne MorrowcloseAuthor: Suzanne Morrow Name: Suzanne Morrow
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Nokia are the dependable old boys of the phone world. HTC: the rogue newbies, intent on making a name for themselves but out of the two who has came up with the best slider QWERTY keyboard device. It’s a toughie.

It’s Friday, the afternoon is winding down and it’s mobile phone showdown time. We’ve lined up the oh-so-similar HTC Touch Pro with the Nokia E75 to see how they both stack up, relatively speaking of course.

Operating System

Both phones have different operating systems. The Nokia E75 features the Nokia native Symbian Series 60 3rd edition. The HTC Pro has a Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.

Camera

Both phones pack in 3.2 megapixels but the HTC sneakes ahead with its VGA CMOS camera.

Networking

Both models sport WiFi and Bluetooth v2.0 connectivity, quad band GSM GPRS, EDGE and 3G technology. The two are WCDMA are compatible.  The E75 has an integrated A-GPS receiver and support for Nokia maps. While, on the other hand, the HTC Touch Pro has a special integrated GPS antenna to support maps.

Memory

Of the two phones, the E73 has a much larger comparable memory – 50MB. The HTC meanwhile has only 288MB but both phones have an expandable micro SD card for added memory.

Display and Design

With a touch screen measuring a paltry 2.4″ and 240 x 320 pixels, the E75 falls behind in the display rankings. The HTC Touch Pro has a 2.8″ screen with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The E75 does have two different styles of keyboard so it redeems itself slightly. It also has the regular alphanumerical keyboard so you can use the phone like you would with a regular keyboard.

Battery Life

The HTC Touch Pro has the more powerful battery here – just under 7 hours of life for GSM usage and 6 hours for WCDMA usage. The Nokia E75 smartphone offers 5 hours and 20 minutes of battery life for GSM usage and 4 hours & 20 minutes for WCDMA usage.

Dimensions

The HTC measures 102 mm long, 18.05 mm wide and weighs in at 16.5g. In contrast, the Nokia is 111.8mm long, 50mm wide, 14.4mm thick and weighs only 139g.  Six grams – it makes all the difference.

Price

A SIM-free Nokia E75 is the cheaper of the two handsets in this often determining purchase factor.

Which of the two are you pining for?

Nokia Xpress 5800 Debuts BBC Live Streaming

By Suzanne MorrowcloseAuthor: Suzanne Morrow Name: Suzanne Morrow
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How cool is this.

Video footage has come to light of the Nokia 5800 streaming live footage from the BBC. Watching the BEEB in real time, who would have thought it.

It’s something that has the danger of being just good in theory and there’s always the chance that video being blocky and jaded, with content taking ages to buffer. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with the Xpress 5800.

Nok Nok, who reviewed the live streaming on the handset are singing its praises, even in the initial beta testing stage.

The video runs on Real Player over Wi-Fi and early reviews report that, even though video footage takes a while to buffer (around 10 seconds), audio kicks in straight away. After that video is glitch-free, clear and sharp.

So Nokia 5800 customers will soon be able to watch BEEB institutions like Jonathan Ross and a Question of Sport anywhere, even on the bus into the work. It sure beats a crumpled copy of the Metro.

Palm Pre Time Travelling Back To Palm OS

By Suzanne MorrowcloseAuthor: Suzanne Morrow Name: Suzanne Morrow
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Those of you waiting for the Palm Pre release day (there are a few of us in the Omio office), brace yourself for some good news. Come launch day, the phone will come with thousands of new games and apps available for download.

All this new software is down to one thing.

Palm killed off their Palm OS in February this year in favour of, the speedier and easier to use, Web OS. But it seems they’ve had a change of heart and have asked the Palm OS emulator class people to integrate Palm emulator into Web OS and with it more than 30,000 apps and games come launch day.

For Palm it will give them a much-needed leg up. They’re up against the full force of the Apple marketing machine and the recognition of brands like BlackBerry, Sony Ericssson and Samsung and all their affiliated app stores and add-ons. Making an impression on consumers that aren’t necessarily tech savvy will be a Goliath task.

First Pics OF HTC Snap: BlackBerry Bold Clone

By Suzanne MorrowcloseAuthor: Suzanne Morrow Name: Suzanne Morrow
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HTC revealed the HTC Snap at CITA yesterday.

There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking or revolutionary about the mid range handset and with it’s full QWERTY keyboard, it bears a striking resemblance to a BlackBerry Bold.

The phone has everything you’d expect from a quality smartphone: HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth with A2DP, 2.4 inch QVCA display, 2MP camera micro SDHA expansion slot and a Window’s Mobile 6.1 OS beneath HTC’s Touch Flo interface.

Snap’s design team have also taken a leaf out of the RIM’s book by dropping the Dpad for a “jog ball” scroller.

HTC havn’t released any price details yet but have said they’ll be launching the Snap phone in Q2. Which could, in fairness, mean either tomorrow or as far away as June.

The Snap will be renamed as the HTC S721 for US customers and will be available this summer.

Now, feel free to insert the appropriate breakfast cereal, obscure late eighties dance troupe reference.

Lenovo Phone Resurfaces: Launch Date Imminent?

By Suzanne MorrowcloseAuthor: Suzanne Morrow Name: Suzanne Morrow
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Pictures have surfaced of the much anticipated new Lenovo phone.

When we first saw it at the end of 2008, the UI was looking very apple’y and new pictures, from PConline.com,showing the updated phone in all its glory, does nothing to distance Lenovo from iPhone aesthetics.

If the rumours are true the Lenovo phone is to have onboard TV, courtesy of the CMMB options and an increased memory capacity with the addition of an inbuilt micro SD card. It’ll have Wi-Fi along with TD-SCDMA connectivity and will come with an inbuilt 5 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus.

As is the fashion lately, the phone has an open source operating system. The Open Mobile Operating Sytem  is a modified version of the Google Android OS.

Previous predictions put the official launch date of the Lenovo phone around April time but these unofficial shots point to a much later date for the China Mobile device.