Written on 3/31/2009 01:59:00 PM by poison_ivy
MySpace has recenlty announced that it would provide support for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Silverlight. The MySpace mobile application will be available this summer and will use MS Silverlight.
MySpace's support for Silverlight would enable app developers to create new MySpace apps so that Windows Mobile users will have a "more personal MySpace Experience" on their mobile phone.
The MySpace application will be available for download starting this Summer and will support Windows Mobile 6.1 while LG's recent Microsoft Mobile phones will have this application preloaded.
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Written on 3/30/2009 01:28:00 PM by poison_ivy
Speaking of CTIA Wireless event in Las Vegas, you'll know that it's getting nearer when mobile phone manufacturers start churning out press releases for their mobile phones. Motorola seems to have been nonexistent during the MWC 2009 but now they've announced the Motorola Evoke.
I guess considering that most of their market is in the USA, Motorola deems it proper to announce their goodies on US events like the CTIA. Anyways, the Motorola Evoke is a touchscreen slider phone from Motorola and no, it doesn't have the traditional candybar design but more of a "soap" design since the Motorola QA4 features rounded corners.
The Motorola Evoke only has a 2.8 inch touchscreen with a singular menu button in front but slide-out the keypad and you get a traditional mobile phone. It has aGPS and sGPS, a 2 megapixel camera, memory card slot, and stereo Bluetooth. Unfortunately, it looks like the Motorola Evoke won't be coming to Europe as it is only compatible with band modes: CDMA 800/1900/1700/2100, Diversity 1900MHz and 2100 MHz EVDO Rev A.
Zzzz...Come on Motorola!!! When are you going to start churning up good phones? Whatever happened to your research and development team? We need better phones than this Evoke, Motorola. Please wake up and smell the coffee! Pretty soon you'll be losing ground to Sony Ericsson.
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Written on 3/30/2009 12:05:00 PM by poison_ivy
Being a windows mobile fan, I sometimes hardly notice LG's releases especially since most of the phones they're churning out are based on their own UI. However, the LG GD900 actually made me do a double take. I've first heard of the LG GD900 during the Mobile World Congress held last February but there wasn't really much information to go on.
Now, it seems that the LG GD900 has much more going for it. The LG GD900 is expected to make waves at the CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas and new reports say that the slide-out, transparent keypad is not plastic but actually glass and that the keypad doubles as a touchpad, like that on a laptop, and supports gestures as well as multi-touch.
Now while I'm initially wowed as this is something new, the transparent keypad made me wonder: if the LGD GD900 already has a 3 inch touch screen why would they need a separate slide-out, glass, touchscreen, keypad? I mean, the glass keypad would defeat the purpose of having a keypad in the first place since some users prefer hardware keys, right? I don't know. I guess the phrase would hold true in LG GD900's case: don't knock it till you try it. Overall, the LG GD900 looks good though. Expect it to be available in May in Europe and Asia, no pricing has been announced yet.
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Written on 3/28/2009 12:31:00 PM by poison_ivy
Well, technically, it's not TOTALLY without a contract, you still have to be tied to O2 for one month but that's one month only and you can get out of it with 30 days notice and you don't have to pay any termination fees. Plus, the good news is that you also get a free Nokia 2630.
Not bad. You just have to pay £30.00 for the 1 month duration of the contract and the phone is yours. Sure, the Nokia 2630 is not exactly a high end phone but it's still a good deal considering you don't have to be tied, ball and chain to O2 for 18 to 24 months. It's a good way of trying out O2's service if you're from other service providers, plus your chance to get a free phone out of it.
You can get this deal via dial-a-phone.
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Written on 3/27/2009 03:59:00 PM by poison_ivy
So, if the HTC Magic will be sold exclusively by Vodafone, what would be Orange's answer to it? Well, another Android phone by HTC called, the HTC Hero, that is, according to PocketLint who got a translated rumor about the story from French site Mobinaute.
Aside from the HTC Hero, Orange is also set to release other Android phone models from Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, and Motorola. The source of the story is apparently, from an Orange insider.
So why all the sudden love for Android phones by Orange? According to UnwiredView, Orange has this to say about Android: "Google is pretty generous with revenue sharing".
There's really not much to say about the HTC Hero since there are no specs leaked of the device, only pictures which you can see above. Now I know that these are only sample pictures and the real product may not look like it but does HTC really have to use that kind of color pink for its color?! It actually hurts my eyes.
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Written on 3/26/2009 02:45:00 PM by poison_ivy
So, it's not something new, except maybe this is the 2nd all Touchscreen windows mobile phone that Samsung has released aside from the Omnia. The Samsung B7300, touting the Anycall (Samsung's Korean business name) logo, has been leaked, according to GSMArena.
The design of the Samsun B7300 closely resembles the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch, plus it also has the TouchWiz UI. There's nothing else that was mentioned about the specs aside from a 3 megapixel camera (that's why I call it the toned down version of the Omnia) and runs windows mobile 6.1.
Looks good. Though there's no word if it would be released here in Europe.
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Written on 3/25/2009 09:56:00 AM by poison_ivy
Though thankfully, I don't have to use this because I have an unlocked Omnia, those of you who got their devices from your wireless carrier and want to free your Omnia so you can use another carrier's SIM card may want to head on over to Modaco and visit a tutorial about Unlocking your Omnia using just codes or "remote unlocking" your Omnia. According to the original poster, this "trick" was originally for the Samsung i780 but it should work on the Omnia. There are varying reports of success but most of the replies say that the trick worked on their Omnia. Try browsing through the thread to see if some problems have been answered.
Anyways, here's the gist of the solution for unlocking the Samsung Omnia or i780:
- First is to type *7465625*638*# to set
- You should type your MCC/MNC code which you can find here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Network_Code
- Type your new NCK (12345678), then select OK
- Type *#7465625 to check your lock
- And finally, type #7465625*638*# and type your NCK (12345678)
- Your phone now be unlocked
If you have any questions, feel free to register at Modaco, registration is free, and post your questions on the thread. Someone should be able to help you. I honestly wouldn't be able to help you since like I said, I haven't tried this method.
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Written on 3/24/2009 11:45:00 AM by poison_ivy
Okay, so unless this new iPhone has a physical keyboard, then I'm not interested. According to Boy Genius Report, someone in AT&T confirmed that a new iPhone announcement will come by mid-June.
The new iPhone will be faster and more seamless, will control your DVR, iPhone will now be HSDPA capable (7.2 Mbps), and that the gap in device's capability will be filled by the new iPhone.
There isn't really much said about how the new iPhone will look but if these are all just software improvements, then the iPhone OS 3.0 should take care of that, right?
Anyways, if the new iPhone will have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard then maybe--just maybe, Apple's 3rd attempt might actually lure me in to the dark side. :D Unless of course, Samsung chooses me to be an Omnia HD Ambassador, in which case, I'll probably be busy with my new Omnia HD to be thinking about the new iPhone. ;)
LOL. Yes Samsung, this is another attempt on my part to get your attention and make me an Ambassador.
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Written on 3/23/2009 11:46:00 AM by poison_ivy
I'm sure all of you windows mobile users already know how to set your MP3 songs as your ringtones but for those customization freaks who want EVERY sound on their phone to be different, well, then there's a freeware program called Tonality.
Windows Mobile Phone, like Windows on your PC, has a lot of notification sounds from popup menus, keyboard sounds, low battery warning, alerts, etc. If you have downloaded a lot of free ringtones, then you can now use those ringtones and customize the sounds of your WinMo Device.
Tonality can make use of WAV, MP3 and most audio files but you need .NET Compact Framework 3.5 installed on your WinMo device. Even if you're not interested in Tonality, I recommend you download .NET compact Framework since most freeware applications for Windows Mobile devices needs that software to work.
Of course, you can already change SOME of the windows notification sound even without Tonality but you're limited to changing tones for incoming calls, Connecting and disconnecting activesync, notification for receiving Bluetooth files, connecting and disconnecting from a wireless network, email messages, MMS messages, text messages, notifications for missed calls, voice mails, reminders, and notifications when wireless networks are detected. You can change these by going to settings and then selecting "sounds and notifications".
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Written on 3/23/2009 08:00:00 AM by poison_ivy
I must admit, when the Palm Pre was first announced in the early part of this year, I was pretty hyped and excited. I mean, I so wanted to move to the US just so I could get my hands on the Palm Pre first. Palm announced that they would be releasing the Palm Pre first to the US for the whole half of 2009 and the rest of the world for the second half of 2009. Well, a recent visit to one of
Palm Pre forums reveal that some potential Palm Pre buyers may be tired of waiting.
The Palm Pre's potential buyers include Sprint subscribers whose contracts have expired or will be expiring. Some of these subscribers are first time mobile phone buyers who are itching to get their hands on a new phone. If they don't get their hands on a new phone, some of these potential Pre buyers may eventually be lured by the iPhone.
Palm doesn't seem to know that in the mobile phone industry, the key is to strike while the iron is hot, or in a mobile phone's case, while the buzz is hot. The initial buzz about the Pre was good but after a few months without news, even a definitive release date, the buzz is quickly starting to fizzle. The iPhone generated quite a buzz because it has a specific release date. Fans have something to look forward to and line-up to. With the Pre, there's just "First half of 2009" and nothing else. Eventually, without hearing any news and with Palm's history of scrapping entire projects, some people are getting tired. Also, with other mobile phone manufacturers announcing phones with better specs (read: Samsung Omnia HD), the Pre is quickly getting overshadowed.
I mean, aside from the Touchstone, I haven't heard any announcement from manufacturers about any Palm
Pre accessories. If Apple were to announce a new product, 3 days later, a manufacturer announces an accessory for that product--now THAT's buzz.
Anyways, Palm should learn a thing or two from Apple about getting hype for a product. With the release of the Samsung Omnia and Nokia N97 a few months from now, will Palm be able to keep up?
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Written on 3/21/2009 06:00:00 PM by poison_ivy
So, aren't you glad you're in Europe and all good mobile phones are released here? Though that's not saying that the Nokia 5800 was free of bugs when it was first released in Europe but at least we didn't get that troublesome 3G signal problem that the North American version of the Nokia 5800 got.
Anyways, a major firmware update has been released for the Nokia 5800 NAM. The latest firmware, according to Symbian Freak is version 20.2.014 and should be able to fix the 3G signal problems that some US consumers have been getting. Aside from the signal problem, the firmware update also brings a lot of performance updates to the device, further optimizing the functions on the phone.
This major firmware update may be based on the latest firmware updates for the European versions of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.
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Written on 3/21/2009 08:07:00 AM by poison_ivy
After seeing a leaked spreadsheet of HTC's 2009 lineup from WMpoweruser.com, I now know what would HTC's answer be to the Samsung Omnia HD: the HTC SuperStar. Previously, since HTC did not announce anything about the SuperStar in the MWC 2009, I thought they would just be content with the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC TouchPro2 but since both these devices were greatly overshadowed by the Samsung Omnia HD, HTC went back to the ol' drawing board and came up with the HTC SuperStar.
Not much can be said about the HTC SuperStar except for the leaked spreadsheet which shows that it would be running windows mobile 6.5, will have 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM, 3.7 inch WVGA screen, and will be running nVidia AP16 chipset with 600MHz of speed.
So why would I think that the HTC SuperStar is HTC's answer to the Samsung Omnia HD? Because of the nVidia chipset, which according to WMpoweruser.com, refers to the nVidia APX Tegra. Some of the features of the nVidia APX Tegra includes: capture and playback of 720p HD movies and according to nVidia, their chipset allows for the industry's longest HD video and MP3 playback, plus their chipset also allows for a 12 megapixel camera with built-in image stabilization.
Now that's looks mighty good on paper, however,
HTC has been known not to make full use of any of their chipsets so we'll just see how the HTC SuperStar will compare in actual tests.
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Written on 3/20/2009 08:00:00 PM by poison_ivy
So the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2009) had ended and I'm sure a lot of us are looking forward to cool new phones this 2009. For those who missed the Mobile World Congress, here are some of the mobile phones that you should look into.
Samsung Omnia HD
In my opinion, the Samsung Omnia HD is the highlight of the Mobile World Congress. The specs alone for the Samsung Omnia HD blew the competition away including my other favorites, the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC Touch Pro2. Check my Samsung Omnia HD Overview to see what I'm talking about.
HTC MagicThe much awaited follow up for the Google G1 phone. The HTC Magic did away with their physical keyboard and went for the all-touch UI. The exclusion of a physical keyboard seems like a step backward for me but the HTC Magic will be a good training ground for the Android OS when it comes to the touch interface.
Sony Ericsson IdouThe Sony Ericsson Idou would definitely make you want to say “I do” to Sony Ericsson. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is Sony Ericsson's first venture to the all touch UI. Their previous touchscreen, the P-series, the W980i, and the Xperia X1 all features a touchscreen but all come with a physical keyboard. The Sony Ericsson's 3.5 inches screen is all touch and features 16 million colors. It has every goodies that one can expect from a multimedia phone, GPS, WiFi, HSDPA, accelerometer, microSD slot, stereo FM, and a whopping 12 megapixel camera. Yes, you read it right, 12 freakin megapixel. Not only that it has Xenon flash, autofocus, geo-tagging, face detection, and smile detection. Now if only Sony Ericsson is able to incorporate optical zoom then I can definitely say that the digital camera will soon be obsolete. The Sony Ericsson Idou is expected to be released in the 3rd Quarter of 2009.
HTC Touch Pro2My other favorite phone of the newly announced phones for 2009, the HTC Touch Pro2. It's a much improved (design-wise) version of the
HTC Touch Pro. Check my
HTC Touch Pro2 overview to see if this phone will lure you in like what it did to me.
Nokia N97The
Nokia N97 is old news considering it has been announced last 2008. Release date for the Nokia N97 is slated in June so it's still a new mobile phone to look forward to this 2009. The Nokia N97 looks like the lovechild of HTC Touch Pro2 and HTC Magic. Specs are also nice for this device and hopefully, this would be a better touchscreen phone compared to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.
LG ArenaLG's main star for the MWC 2009 is the LG Arena. This phone will soon be available these upcoming months. Check my
LG Arena Overview to see the specs. The LG Arena boasts a 3D interface and a Dolby surround for Mobile.
HTC Touch Diamond2The
HTC Touch Diamond2 only has an improved screen size and improved camera compared to its predecessor. CPU and RAM remains the same and there's also the improved TouchFlo 3D. The Touch Diamond2 didn't really grabbed my attention as much as the Touch Pro2 did since (for me anyways) all other aspects of this device are already on my Samsung Omnia.
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Written on 3/20/2009 08:00:00 AM by poison_ivy
OMG! All my dreams are coming true! According to unwiredview, a recent dealer event in Amsterdam showed the Samsung Omnia HD running Windows Mobile 6.5. If that is true, then all doubts of me getting the Omnia HD will evaporate!
Specs would probably be the same except for the Symbian OS though I don't know why would Samsung run two different OS on the same device. I mean, that would create a confusion especially for consumers who would be looking for specific games and applications for the Omnia HD. And what would they be naming the Omnia HD on winmo?
Other models for Samsung's 2009 lineup includes a touchscreen phone running Android. The details are pretty unclear especially since the source of the news has gone missing. But for Samsung's sake, I really do hope that they come up with an Omnia HD running Winmo or better yet, Omnia HD running winmo with QWERTY keyboard! Now THAT's a phone.
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Written on 3/18/2009 10:09:00 AM by poison_ivy
My, my, so instead of releasing an iPhone with keyboard, Apple just decided to upgrade its OS to give the iPhone some much needed new features. Some of these features are already old news to some manufacturers but die-hard Apple fanboys I'm sure are rejoicing to know that they're getting new features that are common in some lesser phone models.
Copy Paste Feature
Windows Mobile has this feature five years ago. The W595 also has a copy paste feature though has limited use but when Apple decides to finally give a copy paste feature their iPhone, it becomes a headline.
Copy & Paste Photos
Now this is actually something new which my Omnia doesn't though I hardly ever send photos over email. Anyways, this new feature will allow iPhone owners to copy selected photos and paste them on their email. In Outlook, you have to manually do this.
3G Tethering
This feature is probably old new for those iPhone owners who have managed to jailbrake their iPhones. Again, old news since all mobile phones even the low-end phones of Nokia are capable of being used as a modem.
Search Applications
An application called spotlight will enable you to search everything on your iPhone if it's supported by Spotlight. Whether it's in your contacts, messages or bookmarks, the iPhone will be capable of finding it.
Landscape Keyboard
Finally. Apple should have released this feature ever since their first firmware update. Anyways, with the new OS 3.0, iPhone owners can now use the landscape keyboard on Mail, Notes, and SMS.
MMS
Zzzzzzz....A very basic feature, which again, Apple should have thought of adding before they even released their iPhone 3G. This was a very basic flaw in the iPhone 2G and when the iPhone 3G still doesn't support MMS, I thought it was just Apple's way of saying, you don't need MMS, you have email so why backtrack and add something which is a little bit too late to do so now?
Stereo Bluetooth Support
I'm starting to get why the OS 3.0 deserves to get a headline. For every OS 3.0 headline, there should be a tagline that says: Apple finally decides to make the iPhone useable. Again, stereo Bluetooth is something which has become a standard in music-centered mobile phones.
Shuffle Music using accelerometer
Apple calls it "shake to shuffle", which allows iPhone users (if they're on the iPod application) to start the shuffle mode by just shaking their phone. Sony Ericsson calls theirs "Shake control". Hopefully, some developers would make a similar application to windows mobile phones.
Voice Memos
A new application that would allow users to record their thoughts or voice or sound. Honestly now, isn't there an application like this on the App store?
Anti Phishing and Parental Controls
A new feature on the Mobile Safari would warn you about malicious sites while you can apply adult filters on websites as well as videos, TV shows, and applications on your iPhone.
Well, those are just some of the features on the OS 3.0 for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iTouch. Apple claims there are over 100 new features but I guess those are just the highlights. Maybe they're counting new applications as "new features". Who knows.
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Written on 3/17/2009 08:03:00 PM by poison_ivy
Let's face it, one thing that is keeping the mobile phone from replacing landlines is that wireless carriers just can't improve their indoor signals. No matter how high tech your mobile phone is, the cell phone signal it would get would depend on your carrier. So the solution? A cell phone signal booster.
Like I've previously mentioned, a cell phone booster would enhance the signals your getting even when indoors. Of course, you need to have at least one bar of cell phone signal for these devices to work. There are a variety of cheap cell phone signal boosters on eBay that range from $10-$24 but these are low quality ones and you're not really sure if you'll be getting a good signal.
If you rely on your mobile phone a lot for voice calls and data transfers, then you need to invest on a good signal booster. These quality devices would range from $300-$500 (if you're getting the dual band model), but lower if you can buy the single band models. The cheapest models I've come by is from thinkgeek.com. Their prices are lower than the ones I've found on eBay (for the quality models, that is). However, I'm not entirely sure if the one on thinkgeek.com will work for UMTS networks here in the UK. The ones on eBay say they work for UMTS 2100 networks but they cost around $500 excluding shipping.
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Written on 3/17/2009 05:00:00 PM by poison_ivy
So I thought Vodafone would get a head start in getting its hands on the Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Touch but it turns out that O2 also has the new device on pre-order.
You can get the O2 Samsung Tocco Ultra for free with an 18th month contract for £35 a month. If you order yours from mobiles.co.uk, you can get one of these freebies:
- Half price line rental for 11 months (by redemption)
- £90 Auto Cashback
- Nintendo DS Lite
- Sony DAB Radio
- Jawbone Headset
You can also opt for a 24 month contract and get your line rental for only £30 a month plus one of these freebies:
- £140 Auto Cashback
- Nintendo Wii Fit
- Nintendo DS Lite
- Sony DAB Radio
- Jawbone Headset
Check out these deals here
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Written on 3/17/2009 01:54:00 PM by poison_ivy
So I've been using my Samsung Omnia as a modem for some time now and compared with my previous windows mobile device, tethering it to my PC or laptop is quite easy. First off, using your Omnia as a modem with just GSM signal is pretty useless. You might as well use a dial-up connection. So make sure that your cell phone signal is set to receive WCDMA connection only instead of automatic. To do that, you just have to go to settings and select phone under the “personal” tab. Click on the arrow on the bottom right corner until you see the tab labeled “more”. Select “band selection” then click on “get settings...”. Press the drop down menu under “frequency band” and select “WCDMA” connection. Take note that you need to have 3G signal in order for this to work.
Once you've set your Omnia to receive 3G signals only (this is not required but would make surfing easier especially if your Omnia alternates from 2G to 3G signal), you should choose which type of connection you want, Bluetooth or USB. If you choose a USB connection and you have installed activesync on your PC, disable USB connections first on activesync. Then you just have to go to program files and select Internet sharing. Under PC connection, select USB then click on connect.
For Bluetooth connection, it's easier if you have Vista or a USB dongle that's version 2.0. You don't even have to install activesync in order to tether your Omnia. Just pair your PC with your Omnia then go to Internet sharing but this time, select Bluetooth PAN. Click on connect and then on your PC, right click on your Bluetooth icon and select “join a personal area network”. That's it. Very easy.
Now going back to the cell phone signal issue. 2G signals are really sloowww. So if you live in an area where you want to use your Omnia 24/7 as a modem but 3G signals come and go, I suggest you use a cell phone booster that supports WCDMA.
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Written on 3/16/2009 08:00:00 AM by poison_ivy
Talks about the Zune Phone has been going around the blogosphere ever since Apple announced their iPhone but sadly, we have yet to see any pictures or specs or even a confirmation from Microsoft that a Zune Phone is indeed on the way.
I've come upon this thread at howardforums. The poster said that he was part of a focus group that talked about un upcoming Zune Phone. They were showed a Zune UI and they were made to compare the Zune software with the iPhone and Nokia. Some of the members quickly dismissed this and said that it might just be a software for Windows Mobile 6.5.
Anyways, the UI for the "Zune Phone" is similar to the current Zune's UI. Anyways, there are no pictures or anything but if you want a detailed description of what will it be about, visit the thread. It looks legit enough. Anyways, in my opinion, Microsoft should just shelve the idea of a Zune phone and dedicate their time in improving the UI of Windows Mobile.
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Written on 3/14/2009 08:00:00 AM by poison_ivy
Just saw an ad about new widgets for Samsung's TouchWiz compatible phones. I've been constantly complaining about how Samsung doesn't release new widgets for my Omnia. I've previously come upon a website that leaked that Samsung is coming up with new widgets and they have some sort of beta release available. I don't feel comfortable downloading an unstable version specially since there were already comments that the version made their Omnia hang a lot.
And now it's finally official. Samsung is boasting new widgets for their TouchWiz Interface and as of March 11th, 2009, Samsung has released a new ROM for the Omnia. I haven't downloaded the new ROM yet but it only means that the new widgets is incorporated in the new ROM. Hurray! Download the new ROM
here.
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Written on 3/12/2009 01:27:00 PM by poison_ivy
So you've probably heard that Microsoft is currently working on its own Windows App Store, well Microsoft released a few more details about their "Windows Marketplace".
Apparently, Microsoft will be charging developers $99 a year to become registered plus another $99 for each application they submit. Aside from that, they will also be taking a hefty 30 percent cut from the price of the application.
Now I don't really know how Apple's App Store works but seeing the numbers charged, I wonder if windows mobile users would ever see a .99 cent application or games. Windows games and applications range from $5 to $25 with some freeware apps popping up now and then. I really wish Microsoft would loosen up on developers so that we can see great apps like the ones on Apple's App Store. Developers can start registering in Spring and start submitting their applications on Summer.
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Written on 3/11/2009 03:21:00 PM by poison_ivy
Available at:
So if you can't wait for the Samsung Omnia HD to be launched, then the Samsung S8300 which will soon be launched in the UK in a few days might just satisfy your appetite for HD content on your mobile phone.
Design
The Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra is a very sleek mobile phone. I have to admit, this is a step up from the plastic slider phones that Samsung previously released. Sure, there are still plastic materials used but it's very high quality and combine that with the black metallic frame and you got yourself a drool worth, head-turning phone. The back reminds me so much of my white Sony Ericsson W595 because both phones features a different back color from the rest of the phone. The effect is very pleasing to the eyes. The screen is only 2.8 inches but put in an AMOLED display and 16 million colors and the display is just--wow! Colors are vibrant and pop up at you. The Samsung S8300 Ultra Touch is not the slimmest slider phone but it's thin enough yet have a solid feel to it.
Performance and Features
Okay, first, the Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Touch has a CAPACITIVE touch screen. It means it should rely on the heat of your fingers rather than its pressure to respond. I've always equated capacitive touchscreens with multi touch but sadly, that's not the case with Samsung. I don't really know how multi touch technology works but hopefully, a firmware or software update might make the Samsung S8300 multitouch capable in the future??!!! Anyways, as to the touchscreen responsiveness, I was actually surprised. From the videos at the MWC 2009, I can see some lags and unresponsiveness but it seems that Samsung was able to fix that issue--slightly. While the capacitive screen is much more responsive and fluid compared with the videos you see of the Samsung S8300 UltraTouch but there are times when you have to press the screen twice before you can get a program to open. At times, there's also a noticeable lag when you switch anywhere from the widget homescreen. But anyways, I'm used to slow that's why I don't use the iPhone so touch screen responsiveness is still okay in my book. It's not LG Cookie slow but it's not iPhone fast either.
The good news is that you can now download new widgets for the homescreen, something which has been missing from my Omnia (which reminds me that I have to google to find out if Samsung already released new widgets for the latter). I REALLY like the notepad widget which lets you actually see what you write on the homescreen unlike the notepad widget of the Omnia which just opens up the Notes application. I hope Samsung will be able to incorporate this widget in the future widget releases in the Omnia.
The Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Touch also features an 8 megapixel camera with LED Flash, and all the other goodies you can find on the Pixon. As usual, image quality is good though I can't compare with with other 8 megapixel phones since this is the first 8 megapixel phone I've handled . There's a nice picture browser wherein you can browse through using either sweeping motions or the accelerometer.
Even though the S8300 runs on Samsung's proprietary OS, the good news is that business users can view PDF, excel and word files using Picsel Browser. I have to say, unlike other java based applications, Picsel browser can open up a large PDF file without any problems. Again, you can make use of the capacitive touchscreen to "flick through" using finger swiping action. This is actually my favorite application on this device.
And now comes the video quality. The Samsung S8300 Tocco UltraTouch is able to playback DivX videos and watching high quality videos on this device is REALLY amazing. Sound quality is great too when using the speakers. I was first torn about converting my divx files into smaller files for viewing on the S8300. I was so used converting my video files to smaller files since I know that watching uncoverted videos straight up would result in blocky videos but that's not the case with the Samsung S8300 Ultra Touch. I was able to watch a 600MB DivX video without so much as a hiccup. Really amazing. I don't know the largest file that the S8300 could take before videos become blocky but if it can play a 600-700MB file then I'm happy with it. On the downside, if your videos has a 240x320 resolution, the S8300 won't make it fit on the display so expect to see a lot of black borders.
As for the music player, it has a much improved interface than the music player on my Omnia. You get rich sounds when using the speakers and even the headphones. As with the Omnia, you can use your other 3.5mm headseat jack but you have to make use of their proprietary converter. The Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra definitely makes for a nice multimedia phone.
And now for the downside, first it has no WiFi though it's 3G/HSDPA compatible. Second, it comes with Samsung's proprietary OS so Exchange mail is a no-no so you can scratch the Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra from replacing your business phone. Third, the included browser sucks and you're better off downloading the Opera Mini or Bolt. And Fourth, you would have thought that since it comes with a keypad there would be no learning curve but we thought wrong. Since there's no physical erase button (back button on the middle would take you out of the messaging application) the only way to erase something while writing a message is through the backspace on the screen which is really a far reach for my thumb, besides if I accidentally press the backspace button on the screen a second longer, it would erase all of my written message. Also, since there's no directional keypad, if you want to go to the first word on your message, you have to touch the screen and when the S8300 Tocco is having one of its unresponsiveness moments, it would take you a lot of pressing the screen at just the right pressure to take you back to the first word.
Conclusion
If you're looking for a multimedia mobile phone, the Samsung S8300 Tocco UltraTouch has all the makings of a great multimedia phone. The AMOLED screen makes watching vidoes enjoyable, sound quality is GREAT, picture quality is also great. What more do you need? WiFi? Well, yeah but what would you need WiFi for if you can't really use it for desktop browsing? The Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Touch is a multimedia phone and a good one at that. The S8300 is now available at Germany and will be available on Vodafone UK starting March 12th.
Sample Shots Taken from S8300 Ultra Touch
Alternatives to the Samsung Tocco Ultra:
Samsung Lucido (Samsung S7220) - This mobile phone sports the same design as the Tocco Ultra except that the Samsung Lucido is a candybar phone. Both phones have AMOLED display and GPS and although the Samsung S7220 only has 5 megapixel camera, it also has smile shot, face detection, autofocus, anti-shake, etc. However, the Samsung Lucido does not support DivX videos and only plays MPEG files. For those not into touchscreen phones, the Samsung Lucido mobile phone is a good alternative.
Nokia N86 - The Nokia N86 is Nokia's first mobile phone with 8 megapixel camera. Nokia has been churning out great camera phones and from other reviews on the Internet, the Nokia N86 doesn't disappoint in terms of picture quality. If you prefer a better camera phone, the Nokia N86 is a good choice.
Sony Ericsson C905 - Another 8 megapixel cameraphone this time from Sony Ericsson. The C905 produces better picture quality, however, there have been reports of a lot of returns for this mobile phone, a firmware issue, I think. It's not a multimedia powerhouse like the Tocco Ultra but it is a good camera phone.
Sony Ericsson W995 - Another 8 megapixel shooter from Sony Ericsson and may be a direct competitor of the Tocco Ultra. It's a great music player but the picture quality isn't as great compared with the C905. The good news is that it has WiFi, something the Tocco Ultra lacks.
OTHER SIMILAR PHONES:
Samsung Jet Ultra
Samsung i8910 HD
Sony Ericsson Vivaz
.
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Samsung mobile phones
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Written on 3/10/2009 08:02:00 PM by poison_ivy
So, mobile phone watches aren't really anything new. In fact, I've previously blogged about China made mobile phone watches. But of course, nobody seems to notice these nifty little gadgets until corporations started slapping their own brand names on it. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I'm one of those people who's crazy enough to feel secured in buying from well known brands rather than OEM products.
Anyways, LG has announced their mobile phone watch way back and now Hyundai is touting their own mobile phone watch. The good news is that Hyundai's phone watch is much cheaper comapred with LG's. According to reports, the Hyundai MB-910 will only sell for £200 sim-free while LG's phone watch will be retailing at £1000. Hmm, not bad considering that China phone watch are in that same price range.
As to when the Hyundai MB-910 will be available, we have yet to hear from Hyundai.
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Written on 3/10/2009 02:04:00 PM by poison_ivy
Okay so it's confirmed, after seeing the Samsung Tocco Ultra in the coming soon section of http://www.phones4u.co.uk, and after receiving Vodafone's March newsletter, it's confirmed, the Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition will be released as soon as March 12th and the Samsung S7220 will come later on March 27th.
These Samsung Mobile Phones have been seen in the recent MWC 2009 but have been greatly overshadowed by the Samsung Omnia HD. Anyways, The Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch Edition features a 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen with 16m colors, has accelerometer, HSDPA, expandable microSD slot, Bluetooth with A2DP, 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, geo-tagging, face detection and smile detection, stereo FM radio, GPS, and DiVX support. You can get the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch Edition for free with a £30 per month contract.
The Samsung S7220 on the other hand, is also an HSDPA capable device with a candybar design. It also has accelerometer, MicroSD slot, Bluetooth with A2DP, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging and smile detection, AGPS suport, and an FM radio. You can get teh Samsung S7220 for free from Vodafone with a £25 per month contract.
You can preorder these mobile phones at phones4u.
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Mobile Phone News,
Samsung mobile phones
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Written on 3/09/2009 08:23:00 PM by poison_ivy
Okay, so you might want to hide the Motorola MC55 if you're going to use it outside your work but for an enterprise PDA, looks aside, it's not all bad.
The Motorola MC55 features a very rugged design and a large, 3.5 inch screen touch screen. The Motorola MC55 is like a cell phone, two-way radio, bar code scanner, digital camera, and mobile computer, all in one nifty device.
The specs? Well, it has a powerful 520MHz XScale processor, 128MB of RAM, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, 2 megapixel camera with autofocus, and microSD slot. Not bad.
Okay, so here it is Motorola, you keep the specs I just mentioned or maybe up the camera to 5 megapixel, throw in 3G, refine your design a bit, maybe thin it out a little by taking away all those business stuff such as bar code scanner, the one pictured on the left without the antenna seems like a good design to start with, just take the QWERTY keypad on the one on the right, keep the colors too and don't add that annoying circular flat D-pad, and you got yourself a winner. Market is as a Moto Q 12 or something and ta-da! You'll be back in the mobile phone business.
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Motorola,
Windows Mobile
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Written on 3/09/2009 02:57:00 PM by poison_ivy
During the CeBit 2009 in Germany, Samsung has unveield their water, dust, and damp proof mobile phone: the Samsung B2100. Surely, the Samsung B2100 is the not first water proof and dust proof mobile phone, Siemens had released a shock proof and water proof phone several years back, but it might be the first for Samsung.
The Samsung B2100 features a 1.77 inch screen, 1.3 megapixel camera with autofocus, FM radio, Bluetooth, and supports Quadband GSM.
If you're wondering why shock proof, water proof, dust proof or damp proof mobile phones are not so popular with the manufacturers, it's because like shock proof laptops--they're butt ugly. Check out the pics courtesy of Aving.net.
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Samsung mobile phones
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Written on 3/08/2009 01:52:00 AM by poison_ivy
Oohhh, here's our chance to get the Samsung Omnia HD way before its release date. Samsung is looking for ambassadors to spread the word about the Samsung Omnia HD. Samsung will only choose 50 people and winners will receive the phone as early as April.
I already downloaded and submitted my application according to the details here. I really hope I get the chance to become the ambassador. I think the Samsung Omnia HD is one great phone to look forward to this 2009.
Of course, we would have to think of creative ways to spread the word about the Omnia HD. You can blog about it, make movies about it, etc. I'm pretty excited. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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Mobile Phone News,
Samsung mobile phones
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Written on 3/05/2009 02:31:00 PM by poison_ivy
Okay, so RIM has dubbed their App store: Blackberry App World and the minimum price you can expect to pay is: $2.99. However, price would vary depending on which part of the world you are so if you're in the UK, expect to pay double the amount for the same app at GBP2.59. I really hate these different pricing schemes. I mean, what's the point? It's the recession and all, why would they expect Britons to pay more for the same thing?! Of course, I don't really know how the Blackberry App store would work, I mean, if I really want to save and pay in dollars, I can probably buy using a US hosted VPN, or ask a friend in the US to buy it for me, send the app to my email and install it manually.
As for the minimum price, it's still a lot higher considering there are .99 cents apps in the Apple App store, let's just hope that for GBP2.59, Blackberry users will get a pretty darn good app and not some crap.
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Written on 3/04/2009 01:43:00 PM by poison_ivy
Hmm, though I really like the Blackberry Storm it seems that the Storm is not the best selling Blackberry model on RIM's line-up. The Blackberry Curve 8900 which sticks to the traditional Blackberry design seems to appeal more to business users.
Design
The Blackberry Curve 8900 has more sex appeal compared to its baby brother, the 8320, starting from the matte chrome finish. The 8900 is only slightly thinner than the 8320 and just have the right amount of curves to make it look more appealing than its predecessor. The higher resolution display is also much easier on the eyes.
Features
One of the improvements of the Blackberry Curve 8900 is the better 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus. No, it won't do for a point and shoot replacement but it can do the job. The camera is much more useable than the 8320. The 8900 also features a faster processor, 512MHz at that so the interface is a breeze with little to no hiccups.
What's disappointing about the Blackberry Curve 8900, which might turn off some European customers but American customers probably won't mind is the lack of 3G. So let me repeat, the Curve 8900 is a 2G device (ugh!). But the Curve 8900 makes up for the lack of 3G by putting in WiFi which is pretty fast, except that the browser doesn't really do it justice. Isn't there an Opera Mini or Opera Browser for Blackberry? Maybe RIM should do what other Windows Mobile device manufacturers do and put in Opera instead of the default browser.
As to the entertainment features, the speakers are pretty good on the Curve 8900 and is pretty useable if you want your whole neighborhood to hear your conversation. Audio quality over the jack is also pretty awesome and if it weren't for it's business-like look, the Blackberry Curve 8900 could make for a good music phone.
The 8900 also has a built-in GPS though it has a hard time locking in on a signal. Not really good for using it in your car but it will do if you're on a business trip and you don't want to get lost.
Speaking of business, since the Blackberry Curve 8900 is a business phone, expect BlackBery applications used at work such as the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. You can download more apps for the Curve 8900 at the Blackberry App store.
Conclusion
Aside from the lack of 3G, I'm sure avid Blackberry fans using the Blackberry 8320 would not mind. Hey, even with the entry of the iPhone in the smartphone business, it still didn't topple the Blackberry in terms of smartphone. Besides, Blackberry has been a proven business phone, even Obama has one. S0 for an improved camera, faster processor, a GPS, and a good entertainment features, the Blackberry Curve 8900 definitely makes a good upgrade phone.
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Written on 3/03/2009 03:05:00 PM by poison_ivy
Emma Schweiger from Janesville Township, Wisconsin found a surprise treat (??) when she opened and her bag of potato chips--an aging Nokia 6810 cell phone is covered in grease inside the bag. The Nokia 6810 mobile phone comes without the charger but the discolored disc on the back of device indicating an adhesive belt clip seems to point that a worker dropped their mobile phone in the factory. The mobile phone still has a T-Mobile Sim but they couldn't retrieve the phone book so they couldn't track down the owner, which is a good thing for the owner since it would be hard to get fired under the present economic conditions.
Now if she found an 8800 carbon in there, it might tempt me to buy more bag of Aldi Chips.
Posted in
Mobile Phone News,
Nokia
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Written on 3/03/2009 08:00:00 AM by poison_ivy
So here's another set of new mobile phones for you to choose from for those new buyers as well as those thinking of upgrading their mobile phones.
Nokia N97
One of the phone I've been looking forward to, the
Nokia N97 was first reported by
SymbianGuru to be available by the end of March, however, Expansys already put up the N97 on their site for pre-order and the expected release date is June 2009. June seems too far away so I'm guessing The N97 will have an earlier release date since if Samsung releases their
Omnia HD earlier, then the N97 will have no place in the market.
Nokia 6720
For those budget conscious individuals, you might want to consider the Nokia 6720 which has a quarter 2 release date. Since the 6720 is a midrange phone, I'm expecting it will be released earlier, if not in the UK then in the Asian markets. It's HSDPA capable, has TV-out, GPS and A-GPS, 5 megapixel camera, 3.5mm audio jack, Radio with RDS, and TV-out.
Nokia E75 MobileChoiceUK has the Nokia E75's availability pegged at March 13th. The E75 is HSDPA capable, has 3 megapixel camera with autofocus, FM radio, WiFi, A-GPS, FM radio, and Bluetooth. What's different about the Nokia E75 is that it has a dual keypad. A regular phone pad on its face and a slide-out QWERTY keypad.
Samsung S8300 Tocco Ultra Touch 
The Samsung S8300 is the update to the much loved (or hated)
Samsung Tocco. So why would you want to upgrade to this phone? Well, for starters is has a 2.8 inch OLED capacitive touchscreen, has an accelerometer, HSDPA capable, proximity sensor, has microSD slot, Bluetooth A2DP, 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash, face detection, smile detection and geo-tagging, GPS and A-GPS, FM player with RDS, and can playback DiVX videos. BTW, the March release was reported by
Mobiletor and and
Mobile-Phones.
Update: Vodafone will be releasing the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch on March 12th.
Sony Ericsson W305 Yao
Okay, so I'm tired of Sony Ericsson releasing the same phones under different names and branding. They've done with with the
Sony Ericsson S302 and
W302 and now they're doing it to the
Sony Ericsson F305. The Sony Ericsson W305 Yao will be the Walkman version of the F305 sans the gaming buttons but all other specs are similar. WTF?!!! Why the heck rename it? Just make a PSP phone already and see your sales shot up instead of releasing boring phones or renaming already existing ones. Release date from
unwired.com
LG Arena
The sim free LG Arena is set for a release date of March 13th according to phoneslimited. If I'm not mistaken, the LG Arena is LG's flagship phone during the Mobile Word Congress. Check my
LG Arena preview for a more in depth look. You can
preorder the LG Arena
here.
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Nokia,
Other Mobile Phones,
Samsung mobile phones,
Sony Ericsson
|
Written on 3/02/2009 11:04:00 AM by poison_ivy
So, a lot of people have been complaining about their Touch Diamond, it's buggy and unresponsive but most of those complaining probably didn't upgrade their firmware and wants a phone that works out of the box. Hopefully, HTC learned its lesson that's why they're releasing the HTC Touch Diamond2.
Design
The most noticeable difference between the previous Diamond and the new HTC Touch Diamond2 is the bigger screen of the latter. The Touch Diamond2 now has 3.2 inch of touchscreen. It's also thinner at 13.7mm. The HTC Touch Diamond two has smaller physical buttons and no directional buttons. Hmm, I wonder how previous windows mobile games that requires navigational buttons will work on this device. 
Features
Amongst the new features of the HTC Touch Diamond2 is the higher resolution camera. HTC equipped the HTC Touch Diamond2 with a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus. I don't know whether like the Omnia, the Touch Diamond2's camera will feature smile and face detection.
HTC didn't mention whether like the previous Diamond, the Touch Diamond2 will have a separate graphics card. Looks like it won't. The graphics card might be the reason why the previous Diamond is slower. There's still no TV-out on the Touch Diamond2.
Aside from what I've previously mentioned, the rest of the Touch Diamond2's feature is the same as its predecessor and these are: HSDPA, accelerometer, 288MB RAM, Qualcomm 528MHz processor, WiFi, Bluetooth with A2DP, FM radio with RDS, GPS, and Windows Mobile 6.1.
As for the Diamond2's performance, like the HTC Touch Pro2, the TouchFlo 3D has improved the Diamond2's interface. It's faster and more responsive but yet, you still can see some unresponsiveness at times and once or twice you see the ever annoying red, blue, and green clock of windows mobile. The auto rotation is still slow compared with the iPhone. However, these are just a few kinks and hopefully, it will be all ironed out come the production model.
Outlook
It's disappointing that HTC didn't feel the need to upgrade the Diamond2 much. With only a bigger screen, higher camera resolution and faster TouchFlo 3D, previous Diamond users probably will not upgrade. Besides, I don't see anything new with the Diamond2 that's not on my Omnia so those who thoroughly do their research will probably opt for the Omnia which will be cheaper by the time the Diamond2 will be released. And those HTC fanatics will probably wait for the Touch Pro2 rather than spend on the Diamond2 so that leaves a pretty tiny market for the device.
Posted in
HTC,
Windows Mobile
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Written on 3/01/2009 05:48:00 AM by poison_ivy
So, I've been away for a while so I haven't posted much news these past couple of days. I was surprised when I checked my blog that the blogger template I was using has exceeded the bandwidth usage for photobucket so my blog looked like--well, crap.
I've decided to use this new theme instead. Though I really want to try wordpress, I've already built a couple of posts here and I'm worried about things such as duplicate content, or me losing traffic when I migrate so I guess I'll be sticking with Blogger.
Anyways, I'm thinking of changing the iPhone picture near my header to an Omnia so one of these days, when I'm not too busy, I'll probably do that. In the meantime, hope you enjoy the new template and navigating through my site. Cheers.
Posted in
Mobile Phone News
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