I really don't know why you need an infrared night vision capable camera on a mobile phone, I mean, is it really worth taking a picture in a VERY dark place? Well---you probably would need it to take spy photos of your cheating husband in a strip club but other than that, I think this is just a novelty on a camera phone.
Anyways, aside from the infrared night vision camera, the Samsung SCH-W760 also has a 2.8" AMOLED screen, 8GB internal memory, and DMB TV tuner.
After having a look at a pre-release model of the Nokia N97 (you can check the review by visiting the link), I thought I might have a go at Symbian again and purchase my own N97. I mean, it's been a while since I've had a symbian phone and honestly, I miss the numbing simplicity of Symbian.
Of course, since what I've first seen is a pre-release version, I can't exactly base my next purchase on that phone I've seen so like any other good consumer, I scoured the net for N97 user reviews. At howardforums, they have an official thread of Nokia N97 bugs, issues and problems. Most common issues include the phone bricking after installing some apps...Not a good sign. There are like, 38 pages of issues, I know that most of the conversation doesn't revolve around the N97's bugs but as I browsed through them, it seems like hardware buttons and bricking are the most common problems.
Not a good sign. I'm being turned off as I read through the thread. On the other hand, I always buy my Nokia phones with a warranty so if any of these issues happen, I could always return mine. Anybody else have bugs and issues on their N97?
Those who've gotten their iPhone 3GS but are pissed that they can't jailbreak their phones or unlock it because the iPhone Dev Team hasn't release their software to unlock it yet, well, you can welcome purplera1n.
purplera1n is a jailbreak software for the iPhone 3GS made by the original iPhone unlocker: GeoHot. The link to the software and instructions are posted on his blog. Some say that when you've jailbreaked your iPhone 3GS, using the ultrasnow software should help you unlock it.
Well good luck and hope you don't brick your new iPhone 3GS.
The Samsung Omnia II i8000 is appealing to me more and more and I'm still torn between it and the Samsung B7610. And now this video review of the Omnia II pops up and I'm even more torn. The Samsung i8000 looks REALLY yummy and Samsung really did a good job of hiding its the WinMo OS, kinda like what HTC did with their TouchFlo 3D v.2.5. Here are some of the highlights. Video at the end courtesy of Samsung HDBlog.
Cube Interface
Remember that cube interface that Samsung copied from LG Arena and put on their Samsung Jet? Well, it's on the Samsung Omnia II and it looks REALLY nice on the i8000's 3.7 inch screen.
Three Homescreens
Like on the Android, the Samsung Omnia i8000 also has three homescreens which you can customized with widgets. You can change the homescreen by sweeping your finger left or right.
Customizeable Menu
Again, as with the Samsung Jet, you can customized your Menu Screen with your favorite applications. Samsung opted for a black background this time instead of white, I don't know whether to make the Samsung Omnia II more iPhone-like or just to make the interface more sleek.
Hidden Windows Mobile
You will hardly recognize that you're holding a Windows Mobile device since the latter is buried deep within TouchWiz. Even the Messaging application is all Samsung together with the Calendar.
Palm Pre-like "cards" or Xperia X1-like panels
Remember the "cards" application on the Palm Pre or the Xperia X1's panels? Samsung has a similar application only it's a taskmanager. You just press the center button and it would bring up the taskmanager which would bring up previews of all open applications. Now this application I like.
Final Thoughts
Of course, there have been reports that the Samsung Omnia II i8000 will already run Windows Mobile 6.5 when it will be released in Austria come September so I don't know if Samsung's TouchWiz would bury Winmo 6.5 or the latter would not be compatible with the former. We'll just have to wait and see.
It seems someone has discovered a vulnerability on the iPhone. Charlie Miller, has found a vulnerability that allows an attacker to send an SMS to an iPhone owner which would run a malicious code that would run different programs without the owner knowing.
Some of the things the malicious code could do include monitoring you using the phone's GPS, turn on the microphone so the attacker can eavesdrop on your conversation, or use your iPhone as a botnet or join a distributed denial of service attack.
Hmm, sounds like an iPhone spying program that's already in the wild. Anyways, the one who discovered the vulnerability is working with Apple to patch it so iPhone users need not worry.
Well, it's time again to take a look at all the new phones coming this July. Get your wallets and credit card ready or better start saving if your favorite mobile phone will be available this month.
HTC Hero
Recently announced but has been leaked to the public for some time now, the HTC Hero will be available on Orange this July. The HTC Hero is an Android device with HTC's new user interface: the HTC Sense. Check out my HTC Hero preview.
Toshiba TG01
I don't know if the Toshiba TG01 has already been released in Germany or other European countries but word has it that the TG01 will arrive in UK shores on July 9. The Toshiba TG01 has a massive 4.1 screen and a 1 GHz processor. Specs on this device is almost at par with a netbook, of course, it's still pricier unlocked compared with a netbook. Check my Toshiba TG01 preview.
Nokia N86
The Nokia N97 has certainly stole the thunder from various Nokia mobile phones but for Symbian fanatics who are not into Nokia touchscreen phones, Nokia will release the N86 for you. The N86 stuck with Nokia's best selling two-way slider design which is present on the N95 and N96. The Nokia N86 is also Nokia's first 8 megapixel mobile phone.
Nokia 6700
There are also those Nokia fans who wants to stick with Nokia's traditional, candy bar design so they may want to wait for the Nokia 6700 which is also slated for a July release. The Nokia 6700 is an HSDPA capable phone with a classic steel design and a 5 megapixel camera.
Samsung Galaxy i7500
The Samsung Galaxy has been available on O2 Germany during the last week of June. Hopefully, we would see it land UK shores this month, probably on O2 too. Unless, the HTC Hero overshadows it.
Update:
Samsung B7610 OmniaPro
Now this is what makes me excited. Samsung has just announced that the Samsung B7610 will be available as early as July with a retail price of EUR 499.The Samsung B7610 has a 3.5inch AMOLED screen, QWERTY keyboard, but only a 5 megapixel camera.
Well, it's not the official HTC Sense by HTC but a ported version made by some Italians. I previously said that if you can get the HTC Sense on an HTC Magic or better yet--the Samsung Galaxy i7500, then the HTC Hero would lose its luster, well it looks like the HTC Hero will be losing its luster sooner than later because of this ported ROM.
You have to flash your ROM in order to get the sexy interface plus multi-touch support. Of course, since this is not the official ROM from HTC expect issues such as hanging, WiFi and Bluetooth not working, etc. But hey, it's all good, especially if you just want to have bragging rights. Video below and link to the HTC Sense ROM for G1 <-- here.
When Samsung first announced their Omnia line-up, I initially thought that the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 was the follow-up to one of my favorite Samsung Winmo devices: the Samsung i780. I was disappointed when I found out that the Samsung B7320 doesn't sport a touchscreen. My anticipation for the device fizzled.
Design
Compared with the Samsung i780, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 seems to be a bit thicker and "pudgy". I do like the brown color but again, I don't like the keypad design. It's also too bad that Samsung scrapped the optical D-pad with a regular one. It would have went well with their Samsung homescreen. Aside from the directional keypad, there are two softkeys that flank the D-Pad, a homescreen button, a back button, and the call and end buttons.
Features and Performance
Like what everybody in the US is thinking, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 already looks like the twin of an already existing Samsung WinMo device that is available on AT&T: The Samsung i637 Jack. What is different about the Samsung B7320 over the i637 Jack is the homescreen. When I first saw the picture of the Samsung B7320, I thought it was a touchscreen device since it has a Samsung TouchWiz-like homescreen. For those already used with the Samsung TouchWiz Interface, you might find yourself at times fondling the screen, forgetting that the B7320 is NOT a touchscreen phone. The TouchWiz-like interface on the Omnia Pro B7320 works using the directional pad. The home key would take you to the widgets side and pressing the right button or the center directional key will bring up the menus under that widget. It's a bit confusing at first and I was like: What was Samsung thinking? The only other thing different about the B7320 from the i637 is that the former has a secondary camera for video calling, an autofocus for the camera as well as smile shutter and face detection.
Anyways, after a while, you will get used to browsing the homescreen. It's a pretty interface but it does nothing at hiding the classic WinMo interface. What was improved though is the photo browser on the homescreen widget. As you can see from the picture, you will get a coverflow like interface when browsing your pictures using the homescreen widget. I also like the way Samsung skinned the Windows Media Player. It's still the Windows Media Player but you can hardly tell. I wish Samsung would have added their own music player on it.
The camera is also an improvement from the i780. There's a bigger resolution plus, as I've mentioned, the addition of smile shutter, face detection, autofocus, etc. I took a sample shot but I think I may have deleted it. Anyways, since the place I was testing the unit was a bit dark, the B7320 didn't do so well compared with the Samsung Jet S8000, I can't exactly comment on the picture quality but I've never had problems with Samsung's picture quality before.
Halfway through browsing the device, I fell asleep...Well--almost. It was just, this device seemed so boring and plain with nothing new to offer--in short, it's like a Motorola Q!! Don't get me wrong, it's solid and fast but I don't know, it's all pretty standard to me. It may be because every manufacturer out there has been dressing up their windows mobile devices that reverting back to the old windows mobile interface just bored me to tears. Yes there are new apps such as facebook and twitter but I don't really use those social networking sites. Oh yeah, there's an additional FM radio with RDS, HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth.
Anyways, audio quality is passable although at high volumes audio comes out tinny. I was so bored to tears that I didn't even bother checking out the browser which was an Opera browser.
Conclusion
For those WinMo fans who're looking for the old and classic Windows Mobile Interface, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 might appeal to you (yes, I know of some who missed the old WinMo interface terribly). But for those who are hooked to touchscreens and the next generation of Windows Mobile devices, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 is just so old school that it might not catch your attention. Better wait for the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610.
For any feedback or queries, you can contact me at: feedback[AT]cellphone-reviews[.]co[.]uk. You can also reach me here if you want me to review a phone or product.
