Okay, so my Samsung Omnia seems a bit left out with my two new mobile phones: Touch Diamond2 and iPhone. Both the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the iPhone has very sensitive touchscreen response compared with my Omnia. So, since I don't have any plans of ditching my 1 year old Samsung i900 phone, I though I might download a cab file that would help improve or increase my Omnia's touchscreen responsiveness or sensitivity.
It's a registry tweak that comes in a cab file from careace.net. All you have to do is download and install the cab file and like magic, you'll notice that your Samsung Omnia has improve touchscreen response. It really does work. You can download the cab file here.
HTC has been making a lot of progress since their first Touch Mobile phone and their TouchFlo interface has matured over the years. That's why I decided that as a replacement for my year old Samsung Omnia, I'm going with the HTC Diamond2. So, did I make the right decision? Read on.
Design
The HTC Diamond2 has almost the same screen area as the Samsung Omnia mobile phone. There are four buttons on the bottom, the call and end buttons, the start button and the back button. The volume rocker is on the left side and on the bottom right side is where you can find the stylus. There's a brushed metal effect lining the mobile phone which makes the phone look sleek and sexy. A dedicated zoom bar is below the screen but its use is limited to the browser and the Album application.
There's no doubt that the HTC Diamond2 is a very sleek looking mobile phone but what I didn't like is that everything about it is a fingerprint magnet from the screen to the battery cover, even the brush metal lining is fingerprint prone. Another gripe I have about the construction of this mobile phone is that the battery cover seems loose. When you're handling the Touch Diamond2 with one hand, and whenever you have to reach your thumb to the other side of the screen, you can feel that the battery cover is somewhat loose. It's not something that you have to deal with constantly, I just noticed it once in a while.
I would also have preferred that the HTC Diamond2 sports a D-pad. I mean, what is HTC thinking removing the D-pad on their touchscreen phones especially when it's a WinMo phone? They have included some arrow buttons on their onscreen keyboard but when I'm trying to navigate an Excel document (the thin scrollbar is just too thin for my thumb)—well, it's a pain and I sorely miss the Directional buttons on this occasion.
Interface
Now comes my favorite part: TouchFlo 3D. I have slammed the first Touch Diamond because of its lags and unresponsiveness the first time I saw it but after a lot of tries with TouchFlo, HTC finally got it right with their TouchFlo 3D on the Diamond2. Navigating my mobile phone is a joy and you just can't help but like TouchFLo 3D. The graphics animation is amazing and I especially love the Weather tab, Contacts Tab and Music Tab. Having had the first generation i900 which isn't really that responsive compared with the newer Omnias in the market, I'm used to pressing really hard on my screen, the HTC Diamond2 is very responsive and I only have to press lightly on the screen. I have to get used to this because I always bring up a pop up window whenever I press the display. HTC made sure that you never have to make use of the old WinMo interface, even the Windows logo button which usually brings up the Start Menu is gone and in its stead is HTC's favorite programs menu.
Now I've already established that I really like TouchFlo 3D but not everything is perfect. What I really hate about TouchFlo 3D is that its lack of customization when it comes to your homescreen. Yes, you can customize your programs by adding your favorite applications but there's nothing you can do on the homescreen but remove some tabs that you hardly use (like the Stock Tab in my case), you can't add new tabs. The Samsung i900 and Omnia II offers better homescreen customization as it lets you add and remove your favorite widgets, of course, its also limited with the number of widgets available.
I also didn't like the way HTC made use of the accelerometer on their applications. First of all, the accelerometer is limited to the browser and messaging application and HTC didn't even do a lot with the accelerometer rotation animation unlike Samsung. There's also a very noticeable lag when you rotate to landscape mode.
Messaging
The Messaging application on the HTC Diamond2 on TouchFlo 3D is REALLY nice. You can choose to browse your messages using TouchFLo 3D or the standard WinMo messaging application. What I like about HTC is they have put in an option under their Settings Menu wherein you can turn off the threaded messaging application. HTC's QWERTY keypad is nice although like the i900, the screen size limits the spacing between keys so if you have overly large fingers like mine, you'll occasionally press two keys at a time. However, I like the fact that HTC assigned secondary numbers/symbols on the QWERTY keypad so you don't have to constantly switch between the symbols/alphabet keys, you can just long press on a letter and the corresponding number/symbol will instantly be typed.
Phonebook, Calendar, Applications
Now as I've previously mentioned in one of my posts, I never made use of any photos for my contacts but HTC's contacts menu on TouchFlo 3D is really nice that I HAD to add photos to my favorite contacts. As usual, navigating the favorite contacts is fun because of TouchFlo 3D. HTC's contacts or People application lets you view not just the person's phone number and other details but it also keeps track of all you communications with that person like SMS, Email, and the recent call history of that person. This is really more useful than the Standard WinMo contacts application.
The Calendar application on TouchFlo 3D also offers a visually attractive interface. Aside from telling you what are your appointments for the day, it also tells you the weather for the day, complete with animation. I think it's linked with their Weather application tab. The weather Tab is uber cool. I usually don't mind the weather but HTC made the application so visually stimulating that I find myself updating the weather data everyday!
HTC's Teeter game is also very addictive. The accelerometer may not be as responsive on other applications but on the Teeter game, it's very responsive.
Multimedia, Audio, Video
HTC's album application is very simple. You can view all the pictures on your mobile phone. It doesn't offer much animation and you can make use of the dedicated zoom bar below the screen.
I like HTC's music player because it offers a really nice album art browsing, plus it can play WMA files so you don't have to resort to the included media player. I love the Music Player graphics and animation but it doesn't offer you any audio optimization except when you plug in the included headset in which case, you can make use of Audio booster. However, you really won't be making use of the included headset especially if you already have Bluetooth stereo headphones at your disposal, in which case, you won't have anything to optimize the sound. Don't worry though, it's not like the HTC Diamond2 needs optimizing in the sound department as it has a really good audio quality. As for the speakers, well, it's a different thing altogether as audio comes out tinny in the highest volume setting. It's also a bummer that there's no onboard 3.5mm headset jack or even an adapter included with the package (well, mine doesn't, I don't know with other Diamond2's from other countries/carrier).
The Screen on the Diamond2 is vibrant and it can probably display videos really good except that I don't have any videos to play on it because all of my video files are divx encoded. Yes, the Diamond2 doesn't support DiVx videos compared with the i900 and Omnia II. It's really a bummer since I don't think there's a free DiVx player for the Diamond2 (of course, I haven't really been looking hard enough), but still, I wish HTC would support DiVx videos in the future.
Browser
The HTC Diamond2 offers the latest Opera Mobile browser. Rendering web pages and scrolling through them is definitely faster but it still doesn't support Flash. It's a bummer that unlike the previous Opera Web Browsers, you don't have the option to select whether you want your mobile phone to be detected as a mobile device or a desktop PC, well, I don't know if that option is there or just hidden but I sure can't heck find it.
TouchFlo 3D also offers push web pages. This application/widget lets you add your favorite websites and the application will update it regularly. I actually don't like this feature that much since first, for those who don't have unlimited data, this would be expensive to use and second, that's what RSS feeds are for, right?
Camera
Now here's the real bummer. I've read in other reviews that the Diamond2's camera is really nice. Well, picture quality-wise and in well lit areas and daylight, the pictures come out okay but indoors, it's total crap. I know because I've been able to compare picture quality with my trusty i900. Pictures indoors with the i900 even without the flash comes out bright although a bit dull. With the HTC Diamond 2, it's overly dark. Plus, I like the camera interface on the i900 more as it offers smile detection, face detection, anti-shake, macro mode, etc.
Of course, it's not like the Diamond II's camera is completely useless. Yes, it's okay and probably better than the one on the Xperia X1 but it just doesn't cut it for me. For sample pics, you can visit my i900 vs. Samsung Omnia II vs. HTC Diamond2 comparison
Conclusion
So, did I make the right decision? Yes, I really love my HTC Diamond2, of course it's not overly perfect but it does deliver. Gone are the days when WinMo phones are bulky and “uncool”. The HTC Diamond2 offers stylish elegance, great user interface, and outstanding functionality under one mobile phone.
I must admit, one of the great things that Apple's OS 3.0 has given iPhone users is how easy it is to connect your iPhone to your PC and use it as a modem. Of course, your network operator needs to have this feature enabled in order for this to work but assuming that your network does, here's the simple 3 step process of tethering your iPhone 3G:
Go to Settings->General Settings->Network->Internet Tethering, and turn it on.
Next go to Settings->General settings->Bluetooth, and turn it on. On your desktop PC, right click on the Bluetooth icon on your system tray then click add device. Pair your iPhone with your PC.
After successful pairing, right click on the Bluetooth icon, select join a personal area network, select your iPhone and click connect.
It's that easy. I don't even have to install iTunes on my PC in order for tethering to work. A word of advice though, if the option: Internet Tethering does not appear or suddenly disappears on your Network settings, it may be because your APN is wrong. You have to reset your network settings by going to General Settings and browsing till the bottom to get to the reset tab. If you got your iPhone 3G with a mobile phone contract your phone should automatically detect your network settings.
Competition is stiff in the mobile phone market. Nowadays, exclusive mobile phone deals with cell phone manufacturers just don’t cut it so wireless carriers and their affiliates are throwing in free gifts with every mobile phone contracts you purchased.
Well, if you have to get into a mobile phone contract then why not go for a mobile phone deal with a free gift thrown in, right? Here are just some of list of mobile phone retailers offering free gifts with every pay monthly plans.
Dial-A-Phone
Dial-a-phone has a wide range of selection of mobile phone deals with free gifts. The free gifts offered by Dial-a-phone includes an iPod Touch 16GB, Acer Aspire 5335 laptop, LG 26 inch LCD TV, iPod Nano 8GB, Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii, Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Xbox 360 and a bunch of other free stuff such as free 1 month line rental or cashback. Their mobile phone selection is not bad either with some of the latest mobile phones such as the Nokia 5800, Samsung Tocco Lite, Samsung Jet, and Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch.
Mobiles2yourDoor
Mobiles2yourdoor only has a handful of handsets and free gifts to offer. I think they’re only throwing in a Nintendo Wii and PS3 as free gifts and the lowest monthly line rental that you have to pay in order to get these free gifts is around £30.
Mobiles.co.uk
Mobiles.co.uk, like dial-a-phone, also has a wide selection of free gifts with every mobile phone deals. Also, compared with dial-a-phone, they have the most number of latest mobile phones to offer like the HTC Hero, and the LG GD900 Crystal. The free gifts they’re offering includes Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DSi, Dell laptop, Samsung Laptop and netbooks, Sony PSP, Xbox 360, Sony PS3, or a Jawbone headset. I actually think you can get more bang for your buck if you went with mobiles.co.uk as you have a greater choice of free gifts and handsets.
Phones4u
Phones4u has a fewer selection of free gifts and mobile phones to choose from but the good thing is that if you’re looking for older handset models (therefore cheaper). They have the Sony Ericsson T303 as a clearance item so you get the phone plus a free Nintendo Wii for only £20 a month. Your free gifts to choose from include a Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, laptops, or auto cashback.
Phonespot
Phonespot also has a variety of free gifts to choose from. Some of the free gifts they’re offering which the other mobile phone retailers are not offering include a free Slingbox, Asus EEE netbook, or a printer. They also have some of the latest mobile phones up for grabs like the Nokia N97, Sony Ericsson W995, and even the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic which is supposedly exclusive to carphone warehouse for 6 months (unless phonespot is a subsidiary of carphone warehouse which I have yet to find out).
Final words, caveat
Before you go out and purchase your next mobile phone deal, remember that in our world full of capitalism, there’s no such thing as free. If you try to compare the retailer’s mobile phone deals with free gifts with the ordinary mobile phone contracts they’re offering, you’ll notice a difference in price (with the former being slightly expensive). This is because they’re charging some of the price of the free gift to your monthly line rental making your effective monthly cost higher. But still, if you’re planning to buy any of the free gifts they’re offering together with a new mobile phone, then yeah, you can probably save some money.
Ah, so it looks like we're really in the era of touchscreen mobile phones. Nokia is already on its fourth touchscreen mobile phone since after the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic, comes the Nokia 5230, another competitively priced handset and will probably go head to head with the Samsung Tocco Lite and LG Cookie.
The Nokia 5230 sports a larger screen than the 5530, at 3.2 inches. The Nokia 5230 also has a lower res camera at only 2 megapixels compared with the 5530's 3.2 megapixel camera. Another difference from the Nokia 5530 is that the 5230 has foregone the WiFi and went with 3G instead. This mobile phone also offers A-GPS support with Nokia Maps.
Other than that, all other specs seem the same. The Nokia 5230 will be priced a bit lower than the 5530 with a suggested retail price of 149 Euro or 259 EUR if you want the one with Comes with Music.
The Nokia 5230 will be available this fourth quarter of 2009.
It looks like Yulong, a Chinese supplier of high end mobile phones in China, beat Apple to the punch and launches their own mobile phone which they proudly call their "iPhone killer".
So, what makes the CoolPad N900 an iPhone killer? Well, first it has dual sim and dual stand technology which means it can support both CDMA and GSM Networks. According to the company's press release, the CoolPad N900 mobile phone also combines the the "stylish UI interface of iPhone" plus handwriting input capability. The company also boasts that the CoolPad N900 mobile phone will appeal more to the Chinese market because it offers free information and applications, unlike the iPhone which charges fees. Well, can't argue with that considering everyone likes free stuff.
Anyways, I haven't actually seen the CoolPad N900 in action to say that the company's claim is true about their iPhone-like UI but I'll give them this: it's a pretty looking phone. Pics below:
The European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) has recently announced the winners of their 2009-2010 awards for mobile devices.
Surprisingly, the Samsung i8910 HD bagged the Best Camera Phone category. I'm quite surprised that the Samsung i8910 HD won this award, not that it has a bad camera, on the contrary, it really does offer great imaging quality, however, there's the Samsung Pixon12 which GSMArena recently dubbed as having a great camera and even pitted it against a DSLR. I guess, there might have been a cut off and since the Samsung Pixon12 has only been recently available, it might not have been able to make the final cut.
Anyways, the best music phone award went to the Sony Ericsson W995, best European business phone went to the Nokia E75, best European Smartphone goes to the iPhone 3Gs, and the European Green Award goes to the LG Arena. Now last one confused me a bit. I mean, there's a lot of eco-friendly mobile phones out there like the solar-powered Samsung E1107 but hey, I'm not the one giving out awards so they probably have their reasons. I, for one, don't agree with the best European Smartphone award.
Want HTC Hero just for its HTC Sense UI but you still got a year left on your iPhone contract plan? Well, now you can have the best of both worlds. Thanks to the guys at Redmond Pie, the HTC Sense UI has been ported to the iPhone.
Of course, this kind of customizatino isn't something you can download from the App store. You need to jailbreak your iPhone first before you can get your hands on the HTC Sense UI on your iPhone. Full tutorial here. Video preview below.
I don't know how to pronounce Sony Ericsson's new mobile phone, the Jalou but the name itself reminds me of that Pussycat Dolls song that was used in Slumdog Millionaire--Jai-ho, was it? Hmm, I smell an advert coming with that song. Anyways, the Sony Ericsson Jalou is fashionable enough to make it to any Pussycat Doll wannabe's purse.
According to Sony Ericsson, the Jalou is smaller than your average lipstick, and the innovative screen can double as your mirror with a touch of a button. The Sony Ericsson Jalou is a flip mobile phone with kinda like a jeweled design. Feature-wise the Jalou has a 3.2 megapixel camera capable of geotagging your photos, 2 inch screen, acclerometer for the Walk Mate application and motion gaming, Bluetooth A2DP, 3G, FM radio, and a MicroSD slot--yes, that's MicroSD and not M2 Card. Not bad for a mobile phone that's small.
The Sony Ericsson Jalou mobile phone will be available starting the 4th Quarter of this year.
Okay, so today, I thought I might make a comparison of the top three touchscreen windows mobile phone in the market today (at least, in Asia since the Omnia II will be only be available come September here in the UK).
Design
The Samsung i900, Samsung Omnia II, and the HTC Diamond 2 are all touchscreen mobile phones and they only vary in screen size. The Samsung Omnia II is the biggest mobile phone amongst the three as it has a 3.7 inch screen compared with the Diamond2 and the i900's 3.2 inches screen. In terms of thinness, it's the Omnia II that wins amongst the three followed by i900 and closely followed by the diamond2 with only a millimeter separating the last two mobile phones. In terms of width, undoubtedly, the Omnia II is wider with the HTC Touch Diamond2 having the slimmest front profile.
In terms of sexiness, the Omnia II isn't even in the running as Samsung didn't seem to have made any effort to design the Omnia II so it's a head to head between the i900 and the Touch Diamond2. For me, the HTC Diamond2 wins the sexiness design award because of its brushed metal effect on the plastic. However, If you don't like to constantly wipe your mobile phone due to fingerprints, the Samsung i900 offers less maintenance compared with the Touch Diamond2 and the Omnia II.
User Interface: TouchWiz 1.0 vs. TouchWiz 2.0 vs. TouchFlo 3D
Samsung's i900 interface is good for those traditional Windows Mobile users as they don't have to dig deep to find the ever familiar windows mobile menus. TouchWiz 1.0 is simple but retains WinMo.
HTC Touch Diamond2's TouchFlo 3D covers up a lot of WinMo but not that much. Two clicks from the homescreen and you will see the old WinMo Messaging application. TouchFlo 3D provides a very graphically appealing mobile phone interface which provides the user a fun and interactive experience yet the user knows that what they have in their hands is a true smartphone. Although TouchFlo 3D is very visually appealing, it lacks in the customization department when it comes to homescreens. Yes, you can rearrange the tabs or remove some items, but you can't add any new tabs, like a shortcut to the games folder.
TouchWiz 2.0 on the other hand covers up A LOT of WinMo. I've been a Windows Mobile user for five years and I know a phone is a windows phone when I see the messaging application. Even when Microsoft introduced the threaded messaging in WinMo 6.1, users are still treated to the familiar messaging application. On the Samsung Omnia II phone or TouchWiz 2.0, that familiar messaging application is TOTALLY gone and you're left with the standard messaging application that is common to standard cellphones. I think you have to completely turn off the TouchWiz 2.0 interface before you can see the the standard WinMo messaging which involves you going through the settings menu, which is a lot of clicks farther compared with Touchflo 3D.
Unlike the HTC Diamond2, Samsung made sure that the user has variety of choices when it comes to accessing their favorite applications. First, they have three homescreens which the users can customize to their liking, the only downside is you can only use one widget per homescreen. Samsung also put in a cube interface so users can have another shortcut to the games, pictures, and music player applications. On one hand, Samsung did a good job of making a windows mobile phone overly simple yet, WinMo users would feel that it's just TOO simple. Samsung just failed to differentiate the Omnia II's UI with the Samsung Jet. It would have been nice if Samsung did something more with the graphics but, I don't know, TouchWiz 2.0 just failed to WOW me, I do like, however, the Bluetooth and WiFi application window on the Samsung Omnia II compared with the Diamond2, which still uses the old WinMo wireless manager.
So which phone has the better UI? For an old WinMo fan, it would be the Diamond2, however, for those who are eager to see the old windows mobile interface gone, then points go to Samsung Omnia II.
Performance
In terms of screen responsiveness, the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the Omnia II outclassed my one year old Samsung Omnia. Both the Samsung Omnia II and Diamond2 provides a smooth kinetic scrolling experience.
On the downside, both mobile phones suffer from minor lags when opening applications. On the Diamond2, I've noticed that over time, even though I've already closed some running applications, there seems to be a memory leak as the taskbar shows that my Diamond2 mobile phone is using up 70% of its memory with no running background applications compared to when I first turned on the Diamond2 which is around 40-50% memory usage. This caused some of the applications to open up slowly. On the other hand, on the Samsung Omnia II, the lag is more prominent when opening the picture browser folder and the messaging application, but aside from that, the mobile phone performed very well even when I had several applications opened.
Both the Samsung i900 and the Omnia II have better use of the accelerometer in the applications than the Diamond2. I like the acceleromter transitions of both Omnias compared with the Diamond2 as the latter's acceleromter is sometimes slow to respond and is only used by limited application (the music player doesn't even have a landscape mode).
Specs-wise, the Omnia II outshines the Diamond2 with the former having 800MHz processor and 256MB RAM compared with the latter's 524MHz processor and 288MB of RAM but in terms of performance, I think Samsung needs to do a bit more tweaking on its firmware to address some of the lags in their applications. Again, I hope WinMo 6.5 would be better on the Omnia II.
Applications
The Samsung Omnia II offers more applications out of the box compared with the Diamond2. Of course, the Diamond2 has a native YouTube application and Google Maps already pre-installed but Google Maps is free and you can always install it on your Omnia II, and I think there's also a freeware YouTube application which you can download on your Omnia II though not as great compared to the one found on Diamond2. Combined that with Samsung's pre-installed widgets which gives you shortcuts to Facebook, CNN, Yahoo Search and Google Search, and the Omnia II seems to have the better bang for the buck.
Video and Audio Players
Both the Samsung Omnia II and the Diamond II have their own music players other than the pre-installed windows media player. HTC's Diamond2 has the better music player as it has a more graphically appealing coverflow art compared with the Omnia II but the Samsung Omnia II's music player can make use of the landscape mode. However, Samsung's TouchPlayer doesn't seem to play WMA files while HTC's music player can handle WMA files. HTC's equalizer is only accessible when their headset is connected so you can't change the audio settings even when you're connected via Stereo Bluetooth.
As for the video player, the Samsung Omnia II has the better video player mainly because it supports DiVx video playback. On the HTC Diamond2, you have to resort to third party software in order to play DivX files and that software isn't cheap. Back in the day, I use BetaPlayer, its a free player but I don't know if that freeware is still available now or was eventually replaced by the CorePlayer.
Overall, I think the Samsung Omnia II is the better multimedia phone because of the DivX playback capabilities, onboard 3.5mm headset jack, and larger AMOLED screen. The Diamond2 only has a proprietary port and you have to buy a separate accessory that can support 3.5mm headsets.
Camera Image Quality
What made me not wait for the Xperia X1 and the deciding factor that made me buy the Samsung Omnia i900 is its camera. I've been through crappy cameras on old WinMo phones back in the days so I was looking forward to the Omnia's better camera which actually didn't disappoint.
The Samsung i900, Omnia II, and Diamond2 offers 5 megapixel camera resolution. Both the i900 and Omnia II have flash except the latter has dual LED flash. Basically, the i900 and Omnia II has almost the same camera interface. I'm inclined to the camera of the i900 more compared with the Omnia II and Diamond2. First, because you can use the optical D-pad as a camera button on the i900 and it automatically focuses on your chosen subject. It's easier to use for persons who, like me, have unsteady hands. With the Omnia II, you have to half press the camera button to focus then full press to shoot (I lack that kind of coordination that's why most of my DSLR shots are blurry). Of course, focusing on the Diamond2 is easier because it has touch focus (touch the particular subject on the screen and the camera focuses on it) but it doesn't have an anti-shake feature so my pictures still come out blurry on the Diamond2.
The reviews of the HTC Diamond2 says that the Diamond2 has a good camera but when I compared that with my Omnia i900, the age old Omnia is still the better camera phone (at least in my eyes). I've taken the liberty of creating comparison shots with my i900 and Diamond2. I don't have the Samsung Omnia II at my disposal so I wasn't able to take comparative shots with it. Anyways, the shots are seen below.
Indoor Shots:
Samsung Omnia i900
HTC Diamond2
Outdoor Shots:
Samsung Omnia i900
HTC Diamond 2
Close-Ups and Text:
Samsung Omnia i900
HTC Diamond2
HTC Diamond2
Samsung Omnia i900
As you can see, indoors, even without the flash, the Omnia i900 provides better lighting although pictures comes out somewhat dull. The Diamond2 on the other hand, produces overly dark pictures. I mean, my room isn't even that dark and yet, the Diamond2's camera sensors can't even see in the dark. I had a harder time comparing picture quality in daylight as both mobile phones produces pretty decent pictures. The HTC Diamond2 has much more vivid pictures but the Samsung Omnia i900 produces the closest colors as the real thing. The Samsung Omnia also takes better pictures in macro mode.
Conclusion
It's really hard comparing mobile phones which I equally like. My aging Samsung Omnia i900 still holds a special place in my heart especially since it's one of the WinMo phones which has better camera so I'm not chucking that one out the door yet. The Samsung Omnia II on the other hand, has REALLY great hardware compared with the Diamond2 and I'm beginning to have second thoughts whether I made the right decision buying the Diamond2 rather than the Omnia II, but then again, I'm a WinMo fan through and through and I'm afraid that if I carry around the Omnia II, people will just mistake it for another Samsung Jet which really wouldn't be doing the Omnia II justice. I like the Diamond2 for what it is right now, TouchFlo 3D and everything. Sure, it doesn't have that good of a camera but the UI is the best UI amongst any WinMo phones. I guess only WinMo 6.5 can be the ultimate judge whether I made the right decision or not because if WinMo 6.5 can't play nice with the Diamond2 hardware, then I will have no second thoughts chucking it and going for the Omnia II even though the latter doesn't really scream STYLISH.
Okay, so it's confirmed, the Samsung Omnia II mobile phone will be rolling out this August--but not in the UK. The countries that will see the launch of the Omnia II in August are Philippines, Thailand, Netherlands, Turkey, UAE, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Chile, Columbia, and Australia.
So how about the UK, Germany, and the rest of the countries which are eagerly awaiting the Omnia II phone? Well, it looks like we'll see a September release date, at the latest. Why so late? Maybe because Samsung wants it to coincide with the release of Windows Mobile 6.5. So if Microsoft screws up their Windows Phone release, we probably should expect the Samsung Omnia II later.
But that's okay, I'd rather see the Samsung Omnia II running Windows Mobile 6.5 since I didn't like the TouchWiz 2.0 interface that much on the Samsung Omnia II that I've reviewed. Check out my Samsung Omnia II review and decide for yourself whether you want to import one now or wait until September when it's running Windows Phone.
When I received a newsletter from Vodafone a few weeks ago stating that they will have a new Blackberry available this August, I was pretty excited and thought that it was the Blackberry Storm 2. So to my disappointment, it turns out that it's just the Blackberry 8520 Curve mobile phone.
Design
The Blackberry 8520 has the same design as far as Blackberries go, except for their D-Pad which in the case of the 8520, you'll find an optical D-Pad similar to the one on the Samsung i780, Omnia, Xperia X1, etc.
Features and Performance
The Blackberry 8520 Curve is RIM's Blackberry for the masses, hence, it lacks any of the high end features found on other mobile phones such as GPS, and 3G. However, The Blackberry Curve 8520 does have WiFi, dedicated multimedia keys, and onboard 3.5mm headset jack. The camera, particularly is very low-end at only 2 megapixels, most of Nokia's lower-end models now sports 3.2 megapixel cameras.
So, what are the compelling reasons that you should buy the Blackberry Curve 8520? Well, first, if you're a message-centric person and you need to access your emails and you want to type on a physical keyboard rather than a touchscreen, then that's one of the reasons why you should get the Blackberry 8520 as your next mobile phone: It's primarily a messaging phone. Next, for a music player phone, the Blackberry 8520 is also not bad as it has dedicated music keys and onboard 3.5mm headset jack. Don't get the 8520 if you're looking for a good camera phone, a phone with a good web browser and connectivity options or one that's stylish because the Blackberry 8520 Curve isn't any of those.
Conclusion
Vodafone offers the Blackberry 8520 Curve for free under a £25 a month mobile phone contract plan. Other alternatives you might want to try is the Nokia 5530, which is also a good music phone, stylish, has a better camera, also has WiFi, however, its a touchscreen phone so don't expect it to be messaging-friendly.
If you're envious that it seems that its only Sprint that will carry a gorgeous eco-friendly mobile phone from Samsung, well think again. It looks like the Samsung Blue Earth, which was a concept phone back in CES, has been spotted in the wild complete with pictures and videos.
The Samsung Blue Earth mobile phone seems to be nearing production mode as mail.ru has taken it out for a spin. Unlike the Samsung Reclaim, the Samsung Blue Earth is a touch friendly mobile phone, sporting Samsung's TouchWiz UI.
The Samsung S7550 Blue Earth is also a Solar Powered cell phone and comes with an energy efficient charger. Although the Samsung Blue Earth is not as eco-friendly as the Samsung Reclaim since the latter is made of recycled materials, this mobile phone is equally earth-friendly since the Blue Earth is made WITHOUT Beryllium, Phthalate or Brominated Flame Retardants. Check the pics below and the video you can check out at the source link.
Okay, so I didn't like the Nokia 5800 that much, I liked the Nokia N97 though but reports about several bugs and problems with the hardware made me stop in my tracks to go out and buy one. Thankfully, I don't have to shell out any money to review the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic mobile phone. However, I'm in the market for my second handset and the Nokia 5530's price point makes it appealing so, should you and I buy it?
Available At:
Design
I must admit, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic's design is a lot like its older brother, the 5800 although the former has a smaller screen size at 2.9 inches while the Nokia 5800 has a larger one. Still the size difference is very minimal. Being the same as its older brother in terms of design, didn't really attract me that much to the Nokia 5530, not because it's ugly but because one of my criterias for a second handset is that it has to have a physical keypad of some sort.
Anyways, going back to the design, the Nokia 5530's top side houses the power button, on the left side, there's some sort of flap which covers the memory card slot and the sim card slot, similar to the Nokia 5800 (except for the big flap). On the other side is the volume control as well as the display lock and on the bottom is the 3.5mm audio jack, charger socket, microUSB port, and the stylus slot.
Nokia removed any physical keys on the front of the 5530 so even the call, end, and xpressmusic buttons are touch sensitive. Design-wise, compared with the Nokia 5800, I think I prefer the Nokia 5530 more.
Features and Performance
If you already own the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, then there's really not much difference in terms of software except for the homescreen. In the homescreen, there's a scrolling contacts bar which is pretty cool except that I probably won't find that much use to it since I really don't put pictures of my contacts (except for three people; my boyfriend, my mom, and my best friend), but hey, maybe I can put pictures of famous people in my contacts list to spice up the 5530's homescreen.
Anyways, the Nokia 5530 is a watered down version of the Nokia 5800 so basically, it's the Nokia 5800 without the GPS, 3G, and 5 megapixel camera. The Nokia 5530 did retain the WiFi though and the accelerometer, and the 3.2 megapixel camera is not that bad.
Some people might complain that they would prefer the 3G over WiFi so I guess it really depends on your preference. Me? I prefer the 3G but only because I seldom come upon a free hotspot and besides, ever since I've heard of WiFi stealing, I rarely connect to free WiFi in a public area.
Music-wise, the Nokia 5530 is a very good music player, The included headset is great compared to what was included in the 5800. I like the music player on the Nokia 5530 as you can adjust the sound balance and use stereo widening.
Unlike the Nokia 5800, which kept kinetic scrolling at minimal, the 5530 offers more kinetic scrolling, like the contacts widget on the homescreen. The accelerometer rotation lags a bit. Sunlight legibility is good though, better than my Omnia.
The messaging application is similar to Samsung's, you only get the QWERTY keypad in landscape mode.
Comparisons with LG Cookie, Samsung Tocco Lite, and Samsung Blade/Preston
Although the Nokia 5530's price point is not as cheap as the LG Cookie, Samsung Tocco Lite, and Samsung Blade/Preston, unlocked, when this phone becomes subsidized under a mobile phone contract plan, it would be in equal footing as with the other 3 since expect carriers to offer this for free. So when confronted with all these choices of low to mid-range touchscreen mobile phones, which should you choose? Well, if you prefer WiFi over 3G, the Nokia 5530 is the only mobile phone amongst the three to offer WiFi and it is only the Samsung Blade that offers 3G. What the Tocco Lite and LG Cookie offers though is a fun user interface with widgets. Of course, once the Samsung Omnia Lite comes into the picture, then we can have a head to head battle with the former and the Nokia 5530 since both essentially have the same features with the former adding 3G to the table. Of course, it would depend on how much the Samsung Omnia Lite would be priced.
Conclusion
For those already with the Nokia 5800, I don't think the Nokia 5530 is worth swapping your existing mobile phone for, unless you REALLY want that scrolling contacts homescreen. The Nokia 5530 is a very good choice though, for those who just wants a touchscreen mobile phone without spending too much dough. Of course, they can always opt for the Samsung Tocco Lite or LG Cookie but the Nokia 5530 is definitely a better music player. For those without much preference and just wants a touchscreen phone, they would have a hard time choosing amongst all the affordable touchscreen mobile phones available but I'm sure the Nokia 5530 won't find it hard to find a following of its own.
Well, not all of us are lucky enough to be in the Vodafone network and avail of their free Vodafone Passport roaming service this summer. So for those of you who just got back on a Holiday and are surprised to find that their mobile phone bills have ballooned, here's some tip on how not to incur those excessive roaming charges next time.
Turn off all data services - for iPhone users, this means turning off that feature which allows you to accept push emails. Be careful about using your Google Maps application on your mobile phone because that too uses data services. Smartphones are more susceptible of data charges especially those capable of push emails.
De-activate your voicemail service - You can ask your mobile phone service provider to temporarily deactivate your voicemail service because once you check you receive that voicemail message, it's charged as a roaming voice call.
Forward your text/voice messages - Now if you're worried about just turning off your phone or leaving your phone at home while you travel abroad and you think about all those important messages that you might have missed, then why not try forwarding your text/voice messages to your email? Getting a free internet access while you're abroad is probably easier and cheaper rather than incurring all those roaming charges. Forwarding text/voice messages requires specific software designed for your mobile phone operating system. Just try to Google "forward text/voice messages to email" and you'll find the needed software/applications.
Buy another simcard - if you're just staying in one country, then just buy a prepaid sim card from a wireless carrier in the area. It's definitely cheaper than roaming.
If Fashionistas think that the iPhone is a stylish phone by itself, well, here's an iPhone app that would cement the fact that the iPhone is a must-have phone for Paris Hilton wannabes. Donna Karan has just launched an iPhone application which coincides with her Fall 2009 collection.
The Donna Karan iPhone application lets DKNY fans connect with the style icon and they can get an exclusive glimpse of the fashion video called "System of Dressing" where Karan discusses the how-tos of maximizing the flexibility of clothes. Consumers will also see Donna's journal which is updated daily.
Well, I'm not really a fashionista or anything but to have a separate iPhone app?Isn't Facebook and Twitter enough?
Looks like I need to update my list of latest mobile phone for August since it looks like Carphone Warehouse just bagged an exclusive deal to sell the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic for six weeks for a very good price of 150 Euro.
The Nokia 5530 XpressMusic mobile phone will be offered until the end of September at Carphone Warehouse after which, hopefully, you can get one for free under a contract mobile phone plan. Anyways, for 150 Euro, you get a cellphone with a 2.9 inch touchscreen, Symbian S60 5th Edition OS, WiFi, 3.5mm headset jack, FM radio, stereo Bluetooh, and a 3.2 megapixel camera.
The Nokia 5530 is a tad more expensive than the LG Cookie or the Samsung Tocco Lite but I guess WiFi comes at a price.
Looks like Samsung is really getting into the eco-friendly game. First, it introduced the solar powered mobile phone: Samsung E1107, and now in partnership with Sprint USA, it is introducing yet another environmentally friendly mobile phone: The Samsung Reclaim.
The Samsung Reclaim mobile phone is a VERY eco-friendly cell phone made from eighty percent recycled materials, mostly made from corn, PVC and BFR free. And what the Samsung E1107 lacks in design, the Samsung Reclaim mobile phone more than makes up for it with a sliding mechanism and a QWERTY keyboard.
The Samsung Reclaim eco-friendly cellphone does not scrimp on features, it has a microSD slot, 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and comes with Sprint Navigation. And if you're worried about the packaging that the phone comes with, don't worry, it would be made of seventy percent recycled materials and printed with soy-based ink.
And nope, Samsung and Sprint doesn't stop with the packaging and phone materials, $2 of the profit from the sale of each phone will be given to the Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program. Now THAT's what I call a truly eco-friendly mobile phone. Too bad we won't have something similar in the UK considering that the Prius is doing pretty well here.
Now here's an interesting and probably useful iPhone application: iUSA. The iUSA is an iPhone application that gives you information about the entire US government and its history—right in the palm of your hands.
iUSA gives a concise background of every US presidents and the history of each state and gathered its information from the Library of Congress, White House, USA.gov, Wikipedia and the National Archives
A lot of students and those who are studying for their US citizenship test would definitely find this application useful. You have to shell out $4.99 for iUSA but there's a free version, the iAmerica, a companion application that gives you a history of the United States through its presidents. Hmm, I smell an iUK coming soon.
Okay, so it's time to see what's new in the mobile phone world this August. Time to whip up your credit cards if you plan on upgrading your mobile phone contract this month.
LG GD910 Watch phone
If you're tired of all the touchscreen mobile phones which basically look the same, then why don't you try something different and buy a watch phone? The LG GD910 watch phone from LG is available as a contract phone this month on Orange.
Samsung M8910
The Samsung M8910 quietly slipped into Orange networks this August. The Samsung M8910 is Samsung's 12 megapixel mobile phone. Yes, that's 12, 4 more megapixels than the current high end camera phones in the market today such as the N96 and the Samsung Tocco Ultra. You can get the Samsung M8910 for free with a £35 monthly phone contract on Orange.
Garmin Nuvifone
Although we probably won't be seeing these devices any time soon here in Europe, if you have friends in Singapore, you might want to import the Linux powered Garmin Nuvifone G60 or the Winmo powered Garmin Nuvifone M20, both devices are expected to ship to Singapore this August. Expect to pay a lot more for the unlocked version, or if you want, you might want to wait until one of the carriers put this under a contract mobile phone plan.
Samsung Omnia II
Again, for those who has Singaporean friends, the Samsung Omnia II showed up in Singapore around late July so you might want to have one imported as well. Don't worry, unlike our North American friends, mobile phones purchased in Asia will definitely work and is compatible with our mobile networks here in the UK. You can check out my Samsung Omnia II review for more information. No word as to which UK carrier will get this under a contract phone plan.
Samsung Omnia Pro B7320
Word has it that the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 will be released this August in Singapore too. Wow, now that's three reasons for me to move to Singapore. Oh wait, I make that two. In my Samsung B7320 Review, I'm not really that enamored with the phone but for those of you looking for an alternative to the HTC snap, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 is a good choice too.
Nokia 6730 Classic
The Nokia 6730 Classic will be available to Vodafone this August. That is, if it's not shoved back again as with other Vodafone releases. Anyways, the Nokia 6730 Classic Mobile phone is the perfect mobile phone for those looking for a classic Nokia candy bar phone.
Nokia 5530
The Nokia 5530 has just recently showed up on carphone warehouse and mobiles.co.uk. Both mobile phone sellers would be exclusively selling the Nokia 5530 for six weeks. Unlock price is 150 Euros but carphone warehouse has some mobile phone deals wherein you can get this for free with a contract of your choice.
Since I didn't like TouchWiz 2.0 that much on the Samsung Omnia II mobil hone, I'm really looking forward to the new Windows Phone OS. I've only had a momentarily glimpse of the WIndows Mobile 6.5 version and so far, I like what I see. Now here's a video walkthrough/demo of the final build of the new Windows Phone OS.
My thoughts? Well, the UI is really pretty but there seems to be some lag and unresponsiveness issues. I don't know whether this is a software or hardware problem. The person is using HTC Touch Diamond2 to demonstrate the Windows Phone.
So, I've finally gotten my hands on the Samsung Omnia II mobile phone, the follow up to my favorite Samsung Omnia. So, is the Samsung Omnia 2 aka Samsung i8000 every bit as great of a mobile phone as its predecessor? Let's find out. Oh, by the way, pardon the crappy pictures. That is the reason why I prefer posting the press photos of mobile phones I've reviewed instead of my own because I cannot take decent pictures to save my life.
Available At [aff]:
Design
If you have the Samsung Jet, or if you've read my review of the Samsung Jet mobile phone, then there's really not much to say about the design. Physically, the Samsung Omnia II and the Samsung Jet sports the same physical appearance though the former has a bigger screen size at 3.7 inches. Samsung dissed the optical mouse button for a center menu button and the call and end button flanks the menu button on either side. You can find the volume control on the left side, there's a 3.5mm headset jack on top, the camera button on the other side, and the dedicated “cube” button on top of the camera button. I'm personally glad that Samsung decided to finally put an on board 3.5mm headset jack on their newer mobile phones.
The Samsung Omnia 2 is made up of shiny black plastic, even the battery cover, so expect your whole mobile phone is a finger magnet. I would have preferred that Samsung retained the non-shiny battery cover of the i900.
The MicroSD slot can be found by taking out the battery cover of the phone. Instead of you just conveniently entering your MicroSD card, there's this silver container which you have to pop open. I preferred the MicroSD slot of the Samsung i900 phone.
The back of the Samsung i8000 is chuck full of fingerprint smudges.
User Interface and Screen responsiveness
TouchWiz 2.0 is VERY pretty. It did a good job of covering up the old WinMo interface. So, do I like the new interface? I'm a bit torn actually. On one hand, everything is more touch optimized that's why Samsung didn't feel the need to include a stylus, on the other hand, I get a bit lost sometimes. The Samsung Omnia 2 has an 800Mhz processor compared to the 600 MHz of the i900. The kinetic scrolling is actually pretty fast, faster than the new generation Samsung Omnias out in the market. On the other hand, I don't know if it's WinMo or Samsung's TouchWiz 2.0 but there's a lag when opening some programs. Also, the screen is not as responsive when tapping to open some programs. I sometimes have to tap programs twice in order to get them to open up.
Like the Samsung Jet, the Samsung Omnia II now has three homescreens. The first homescreen has the widget sidebar and some shortcuts at the bottom. The two other homescreens are just different wallpapers and you can customize them by putting in your desired widgets. Now here's my gripe: the three homescreens are pretty useless. First off, when I've already used, say the Memo notepad on one homescreen, I can't use it on the other two, second of all, why would I need three homescreens when everything is already accessible through my sidebar widgets? Samsung would have put the left and right screen swiping by just putting in shortcuts like on the Tocco Ultra: you swipe to the right and the contacts application shows up, to the left and it's the menus.
Going back to the covered up WinMo interface, you really have to dig deeper to get into the old UI. Even the start menu is gone. You have to turn off TouchWiz 2.0 in order for you to get your hands on the old WinMo. I have a love-hate relationship with TouchWiz 2.0 on WinMo. I hate TouchWiz 2.0's graphic interface because it's just too—Samsung. It's like I'm handling the Samsung Jet. It's not that I don't like the Samsung Jet, it's just that for novice users, they won't have a way of telling the difference between both mobile phones, it's like it's too “dumb down”. I mean, a windows mobile phone deserves a better UI cover up like what HTC did with the Diamond2. On the other hand, you have to give it to Samsung for making WinMo more user-friendly with their UI.
The cube interface is the same with the Samsung Jet. There's also a dedicated button that can bring up the cube interface. I really find no use for the cube except for showing off. Like I said before on my review of the Samsung Jet, if there are already shortcuts to the videos, music, games, pictures applications on the widget sidebar, what would I need the cube for?
The Samsung Omnia II's cube interface is similar to that found on the Jet.
What I like most about the Samsung Omnia 2 is the the Xperia Panels like interface when you bring up the task manager. The shortcut to the task manager is you need to press and hold the menu (center) button. Of course, the difference is that the Xperia Panels or the Palm Pre cards interface shows up your open applications in real time. Samsung Omnia II takes a sort of screen shot of your open applications so it's not exactly like the Xperia Panels.
Samsung's answer to Xperia's panels and Palm Pre's "cards" interface
Messaging
Okay, here's another love-hate about the Samsung Omnia II: the Messaging application. Gone is the threaded messaging that previous Omnia users were used to (if they didn't do the tweak that would remove threaded messaging on their Omnias). You are left with, well, the regular messaging UI found in the Samsung Jet. On one hand, I kinda like it coz I won't have to resort to copy and paste when I want to forward a message to someone, on the other hand, some people prefer threaded messaging in order to keep track of their conversation with someone.
No more threaded messaging
The Samsung keyboard also underwent a major change. The keys are now evenly separated and it's easier to type on it compared with the i900. This is because there's a larger screen area for the keyboard. There are also numbers assigned to the upper keys so when you press and hold these keys with numbers, the corresponding number assigned would appear.
The keyboard on the Samsung i8000 is noticeably bigger compared with the i900
Multimedia and applications
The Samsung Omnia 2 has large 3.7 inch AMOLED screen. Like every AMOLED phones that Samsung has, the screen produces vibrant images. The Omnia II can play DiVx videos outright and on the sample diVx video that I brought along (CSI episode 356MB file), the phone was able to play it without a hitch and watching videos on it is just great.
Watching DiVx videos on the Omnia 2 is really awesome
Audio quality through the speakers is okay, but using headphones or stereo bluetooth and the audio is awesome.
Omnia 2's take on cover flow.
The picture browser is a bit different. As you can see in the picture, there's an inverted T interface. Your pictures are grouped by folders/albums. Samsung's picture browser is a bit slow rendering the pictures.
Samsung's picture browser
There's the ever present dice game which can be found on newer firmware of the i900, and of course, solitaire and that bubble game. Amongst Samsung's widgets, I like their notepad application. Like on their Samsung phones, you can now view the actual note you've written and stick it on your homescreen. I love this because it's an awesome app for forgetful persons like me.
Camera
I'm actually disappointed with the camera. I was hoping Samsung would up the resolution on the Omnia II to 8 megapixels but sadly, it's still 5 megapixels. The camera application is almost the same with the i900 except that you have to tap the screen in order to bring up the camera options menu. I also miss Samsung's optical pad on this phone because with the i900, I just have to press the center optical button and the camera automatically focuses and takes picture. On the Omnia 2, I have to halfway press the camera button to focus and then press again to shoot. For those with shaky hands like me, taking clear photos on the phone would be hard.
Picture quality is almost the same as the i900 although pictures taken in low light is very disappointing as there's a lot of picture noise.
Connectivity, GPS, Web Browser, Battery Life
The GPS application is able to lock in on satellite signals very fast. The Omnia II also has WiFi and the WiFi application is similar to the WiFi application found on the Jet. Using the application, it's very easy to open up the WiFi and connect to WiFi networks.
The Web Browser is still the Opera browser. The browser is fast in rendering pages compared with the Opera on my old WinMo. Of course, YouTube on the browser is still non-existent as the streaming player is called up whenever you try to open videos.
Battery life lasts two days with normal use, you can probably extend it to three days if you turn off the 3G network and just use 2G.
Complaints/Problems
Aside from the other complaints I have had, as I have mentioned, I would have preferred that Samsung retained the optical mouse/directional button as it was quite useful especially if I'm browsing websites and I find it hard to click on some links. The directional pad would also have made the Samsung Omnia II compatible with previous WinMo applications that made use of directional buttons.
Also, I don't know if I just can't find it but when I go to settings and the motion sensor, it seems that I have no way of turning off the auto-rotate function, something which can be done on the i900. This is pretty annoying specially for those who, like me, are really not using their phones in landscape mode.
In their next firmware update, Samsung should do something about some of the lags with certain applications such as the picture browser and the messaging application. Maybe they should make sure that the TouchWiz 2.0 takes up lesser resources because I really don't feel the 800MHz processor working. They should also do something about the touchscreen responsiveness since as I've mentioned, some of the applications require me double tapping the screen. The second generation Omnias or i900 seems to be more responsive.
Conclusion
I would love to love the Samsung Omnia 2 considering that it's the follow up to my ever beloved Samsung Omnia but I'm a bit disappointed with TouchWiz 2.0. Samsung needs to tweak their UI a bit more so some applications run and open faster. I have no problems with the kinetic scrolling though, it's really fast and responsive. Hardware-wise, I'm only disappointed with the camera, everything else is nice. Maybe once Windows 6.5 or Windows Phone is released, the UI would be better, but till then, I think I'll pass up upgrading my Samsung Omnia i900 with this mobile phone.
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.
