If Samsung already has the Samsung Genio as a sort of successor to the Samsung Tocco Lite, well LG has their own successor to the LG Cookie: The LG GD510 Pop.
The LG GD510 sports the same 3.0 inch touchscreen as the LG Cookie Mobile phone but the former cell phone has a more attractive design because of its brushed aluminum finish. LG decided to scrimp on hardware buttons and just put in one button on the mobile phone to act as the home button, call and end buttons.
Other specifications are a but sketchy right now considering that LG never mentioned any of the phone's features but instead, they droned on and on about consumer research. What can be confirmed is that it has 3.0 megapixel camera, 8GB internal storage, and can play music and videos. And oh yeah, for those environmentally conscious individuals, the LG GD510 has the option of swapping the regular battery with a solar back panel.
According to LG, they expect the GD510 to hit the shelves in Europe on October.
Sure, Vodafone already has the Samsung Genio Touch on their coming soon mobile phones page and on pay as you go but if you want this phone on say, O2, you can get it for free plus a free gift on Mobiles.co.uk. And if mobiles.co.uk has it, chances are, being the sister company of Carphone Warehouse, the latter will also have it in stock.
Right now, Mobiles.co.uk has the Samsung Genio Touch for free on most plans plus a free gift though it doesn't look like they're carrying it on Pay as You Go. Stocks will arrive around October 5th.
Check out the Samsung Genio Touch Tariff plans/contract prices over at Mobiles.co.uk
On the heels of Orange's announcement that they would be carrying the iPhone later this year, Vodafone sent out their own press release stating that they too will carry the iPhone. Looks like Vodafone subscribers get their wish.
There's no word as to pricing yet but expect it to be VERY competitive considering that the iPhone is a hot commodity and almost all mobile phone networks wants you to be tied to them for the next 18 to 24 months.
I think I remember a few years ago when I said that until mobile phones have an optical zoom lens built in, they would never be able to replace stand alone digital cameras. Well, in 2006, Samsung did just that with their SCH-B600 which was only released in Korea. Back then, digital imaging on mobile phones are crappy but technology has improved and nowadays, some 8 megapixel mobile phones have image quality that could match consumer digital cameras.
So Kodak, Canon, and other digital camera sellers have reason to worry with the Samsung SCH-W880. Not only is the Samsung SCH-W880 a mobile phone with a 12 megapixel camera, it also has a 3x optical zoom lens and is capable of recording 720p videos. Wow! How technology evolves! My 3 year old 6 megapixel Canon digital camera has now been surpassed by most mobile phones.
And as if that isn't enough, Samsung is stuffing the SCH-W880 with a lot of goodies such as 3G, 3.3 inch AMOLED screen, WiFi, GPS, microSD...and did I already mention that it has a 12 megapixel camera with a frikkin' 3x retractable optical zoom lens?! But before you whip out your credit card, and search the net on how to pre-order the Samsung SCH-W880, I have to warn you that it looks like this mobile phone will only be released in Korea. Of course, if importing it is no object, then be my guest in translating Korean pages just so you could order this one.
So, remember that rumour sometime back that T-Mobile and Orange might be getting the iPhone once O2's exclusive contract expires with Apple. Well, lo and behold! Looks like Orange subscribers will be getting their wish and would probably have their iPhones before Christmas.
We have confirmation from Orange themselves. The announcement is plastered on their newsroom and they already have a dedicated iPhone page.
T-Mobile subscribers, don't fret, I'm sure T-Mobile would soon follow with their own announcement. Voda subscribers, well, better keep wishing.
Finally, a solid release date for the Palm Pre here in the UK. I know a whole lot of you are probably considering migrating overseas just so you can get your hands on the Palm Pre, but no need to be rash because O2 has finally given us a solid date of availability of the Palm Pre in the UK and Ireland. So mark your calendars Palm fanboys because on Oct. 16th, we'll finally be getting the GSM version of the Pre.
Of course, there's always the bad news. Like the iPhone, the Palm Pre will only be exclusive to O2.
Okay, so I have nothing better to do than hang out at mobiles.co.uk and check out their upcoming mobile phones. Anyways, as if you haven't already heard, the Sony Ericsson Aino will be coming to the UK around October but if you don't want to go to the store or wait till the actual release date, you might want to head on over to Mobiles.co.uk coz they already have the Sony Ericsson Aino for pre-order.
Currently, they only have contract deals for Orange and you can get one for free for £30 a month tariff. Although it looks like deals for O2 would pop out soon enough. According to their blog, stocks would be expected to arrive around October 5th, so you'll get it earlier than the expected Oct. 10th release date.
Now this is really irritating. It happened twice now. My shiny new iPhone doesn't seem to hold charge. I mean, I charged it to full capacity and then only after a day, without playing music, using internet, locations services or WiFi, I need to charge the phone again. And as if that's not enough of a problem, even though I charge the iPhone for the whole night, it's still at half the battery the next morning. What is that?!
Anyways, the first time it happened, I read somewhere that I just needed to do a soft reset. Sure, no problem, all I have to do is hold the power button (top right button) and the home button (middle button) at the same time until the Apple logo shows up. So I reset the phone and thankfully, that save me the trip to the Apple Store. However, the same problem happened again yesterday. I'm hoping that the same trick would fix it again but if not, I guess I can't delay the inevitable and have to take this phone back. Too bad, it's kinda growing on me. At least I still have my trusty WinMo phone. ;)
Those who are holding off buying the Tocco Lite for a more colorful version, such as the Samsung Genio Touch well, you're in luck because you don't have to wait much longer. It looks like Vodafone will be releasing the Samsung Genio Touch mobile phone sometime in October.
And even more good news, not only is it cheap, but it will be available on Pay as You Go.
Pining for the HTC Hero but don't want to move to Orange? Well, Vodafone subscribers are in luck because aside from the Vodafone Magic, another Android mobile phone will join Vodafone's smartphone portfolio come October: The HTC Tattoo.
The HTC Tattoo is an Android Mobile phone for the mass market--think Samsung Omnia Lite, LG Cookie, Nokia 5530, and Samsung Tocco Lite. The HTC Tattoo sports a 2.8 inch resistive touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, FM radio, 3G, GPS, and WiFi.
From the pictures, it seems that the HTC Tattoo will run the HTC Sense UI, similar to the one found on the HTC Hero but from some of the videos on the net, it looks like the HTC Tattoo/Click is running the ordinary Android UI. You can pre-register at Vodafone if you want one.
My, my, Nokia is really trying to piss off N97 users who are still being plagued by the many different bugs and problems that the N97 brings. First, they introduce the Nokia N97 Mini which has a more stylish battery cover and uses more kinetic scrolling in its UI, and now, the Nokia N900.
Check the video on my sidebar to see the N900 in action. Although the Nokia N900 doesn't have the same OS as the N97, it may be argued that what it has is a better OS, so more salt on the wounds of early N97 adopters. The Maemo OS sports a lot of kinetic scrolling action and arguably has a better homescreen than any of Nokia's Symbian touchscreen mobile phones.
Another cool thing about this phone is that the browser supports flash websites. What it means? No more stand-alone YouTube player as you can now watch YouTube videos from the browser itself. And the icing to the cake? Multitasking. Based on the videos I've seen of the Nokia N900 in action, it can support up to 10 open applications so unlike the Nokia N97, the Nokia N900 might actually be Nokia's true iPhone killer. Unless, of course, Nokia messes up again and the whole mobile phone is laggy, buggy and problematic.
Here's a rundown of the Nokia N900's specification:
Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 1700 / 2100 / 900 Weight: 181g Dimensions: 110.9 x 59.8 x 18 mm Screen Size: 3.5 inches resistive touchscreen Internal Memory: 32GB internal storage, 256MB RAM Expandable Memory: MicroSD slot Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth with A2DP, microUSB, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack Processor: ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz Camera: 5 megapixel, Carl Zeiss optics with autofocus Other Featuress: Accelerometer, Stereo FM transmitter, TV-out, proximity sensor, music player, video player (supports DivX), QWERTY Keyboard
The LG BL40 Chocolate is redefining the word "candybar" phone. I haven't covered the LG BL40 Chocolate since I'm not really that interested in an elongated mobile phone. If you missed the LG BL40 Chocolate announcement, well it's a touchscreen mobile phone with 4 inch display, a 21:19 wide aspect ratio, 5 megapixel camera, and 1 GB of internal memory.
But what gets people excited about the LG BL40 is its design. This is the first phone that I've seen that's taller than most mobile phones. It's actually shaped like a chocolate bar. Anyways, if you're the type of person who needs to have an unusual sort of mobile phone, you can order one at Mobiles.co.uk since they have it in stock, that is, according to their blog. The LG BL40 Chocolate will be exclusive to mobiles.co.uk and carphone warehouse, for how long, I don't know but they're offering it on O2 or Orange for free at £30 a month tariff. Lowest tariff available is £15 a month but you have to shell out £169.99 for O2 or £219.99 if you want to be on the Orange network.
Sure syncing your contacts from your Windows Mobile phone to your PC is easy enough with Activesync but what about those people who don't have Activesync or Outlook? How can they sync their Windows Mobile contacts or back it up?
Transferring Contacts to Outlook without Activesync/backing up contacts
I found this really cool freeware application at XDAdevelopers.com called PPCPIMBackup which allows you to backup or upload CSV contact files to your Pocket PC phone. It really helped me a lot back when my PC was on the fritz and I needed to backup my contacts because I just added new ones. You can find the download link here but you have to register first. BTW, PPCPIMBackup can also back up the messages on your mobile phone.
Transferring Contacts to PC without Outlook
Outlook is a really nice software, however, it's not free and most of the times, the full version is not bundled with any PC packages so you have to buy the separate software. Well, there's always the free alternative which is: Thunderbird, from the creators of Firefox. Thunderbird is Mozilla's free email client similar to Outlook. Thunderbird can import CSV files of your contacts. You can also use PPCPIMBackup to export CSV files of your Win Mobile contacts or you can also use Thunderbird Contacts Export which does the same job but just have a more specific name.
Someone from Samsung sent over a Samsung i8910 HD and I'm pretty excited that I know get to try this phone out for more than a few minutes. My initial impressions about Symbian OS still didn't change but I got to see the camera in action and it's just AMAZING. This is definitely a traveler's must have mobile phone since you'd be lightening your baggage as you don't have to carry around a digital camera and a camcorder.
It's no wonder that the Samsung i8910 bagged the best camera phone award by EISA. The 8 megapixel camera takes great photos with vivid colors. Video quality is AMAZING especially the 720p recording though voice recording with the video could use some tweaking. They say a firmware update can fix this but I haven't downloaded one yet. Anyways, here are some sample pictures taken with the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD mobile phone. The first video has 640x480 resolution while the second is in glorious 720p. The scenery I shot didn't do the phone justice though, and I'm hoping I might get out some more these upcoming days so I can try out 720p video recording with a better scenery. Sample pictures are also included taken with the same mobile phone. I'll try to finish up my more detailed review this weekend but till then, enjoy the photos and videos. And if you do decide that you must absolutely have this mobile phone, it's avalable at:
Well, I'll be...if I've heard of this news last month I wouldn't have given my Samsung i900 to my boyfriend. Well, at least this would be a good news for him. It seems that there's a very strong possibility that a Windows Mobile 6.5 update will be available for the Samsung i900 Omnia, that is, if the story of a Dutch customer receiving email confirmation from Samsung is true.
That's really good news. At least Samsung i900 Omnia users won't have to resort to Cooked ROMs to get their taste of Windows Mobile 6.5.
For those of us who have the Samsung Omnia II, HTC Diamond2, HTC Touch Pro2, and under WinMo mobile phones which are capable of being upgraded to 6.5, we'll have to wait for Oct. 6 to finally get our hands on Microsoft's updated mobile phone OS.
I've previously blogged about some of the accelerometer games and applications being developed by some users for the Samsung i900 Omnia, well, good news for new Samsung i900 Omnia users as Samsung has now opened up an application store for the Samsung i900 Omnia, and soon to be released Omnia models like the Samsung Omnia II.
You can access the application store (for UK customers only) by downloading the Samsung Appstore cab file and installing it on your mobile phone. Right now, the only notable game is Guitar Hero but hopefully, Samsung would soon add more games and applications.
Too bad, I already gave away my i900 so I won't be able to see how this would work.
Well, since the Samsung Tocco Lite is doing so well in the UK as well as other countries, and since more and more cheap touchscreen mobile phones are being introduced, and some even with WiFi (Nokia 5530), Samsung decided to give the Tocco Lite WiFi too.
Currently, the Tocco Lite or better known as Samsung Star in other countries is selling with WiFi included, under the name: Samsung S5230W or Star with WiFi, in Africa and Asia. Samsung is also selling it in four different colors: Black, White, Pink, and Silver.
The Samsung Tocco Lite with WiFi has already been spotted in eBay, selling for around 250 US dollars, just a bit higher than the unlocked version of the Tocco Lite and almost the same price as the Nokia 5530. Hopefully, we'll be able to see the Tocco Lite with WiFi soon here in the UK.
If the Motorola CLIQ will be exclusive to T-Mobile USA, here in the UK, it seems that Orange will get an exclusive deal to the Motorola DEXT, adding another Android mobile phone to their portfolio, along with the HTC Hero. Although the Orange website doesn't have the Motorola DEXT page up yet, according to Motorola's website, pre-orders for the Motorola DEXT will start on Sept. 22nd, so you might want to check Orange's website by then.
Those who don't want to pre-order, you can get the Motorola DEXT in store in the UK as early as October. Those in the US wanting a Motorola CLIQ have to wait until early December under T-Mobile, of course. There's no word as to pricing yet.
I miss Motorola. It's been a while since they've introduced a good handset in Europe. Well, that's about to change with Motorola's recent introduction of the Motorola DEXT also known as the Motorola CLIQ in the US.
Design
While most Android powered devices nowadays are full touchscreen mobile phones like the Samsung Galaxy, Vodafone Magic, and the HTC Hero, the Motorola DEXT not only has a 3.1 inch capacitive touchscreen, it also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard which puts Motorola's baby head to head with the HTC Dream. The Motorola DEXT also sports a 3.5mm headset jack.
Features
The Motorola DEXT runs Android 1.5, has 528MHz processor, 256MB RAM, 1GB storage capacity expandable via MicroSD slot, accelerometer, WiFi, GPS, 3G/HSDPA, and a 5 megapixel camera. Truly the Motorola DEXT is a high-end device, set to compete with the likes of the iPhone, Palm Pre, and the pletora of Google phones out today. If the HTC Hero has a custom UI, so does the Motorola DEXT. Motorola boasts of the MotoBLUR homescreen which allows you to sync your contacts with almost all of the social networking sites out there: Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Myspace, etc. You can actually update your status in all of these social networking sites with just one post without you manually going through each and every one of these sites. It's pretty cool if you're a social networking addict.
The 5 megapixel camera has autofocus and is capable of HVGA videos at 23fps. As for the performance of the UI, the demo video below seems to indicate that the UI is fast and responsive, definitely comparable with the iPhone's UI.
OUTLOOK
I truly welcome the addition of the Motorola DEXT in Motorola's portfolio. Motorola has been one of my favorite mobile phone manufacturers and I have two Motorola phones which are around 3-4 years old and are still working perfectly. Also, the only other Android phone that I know of which has a QWERTY keyboard is the HTC Dream so it's nice that Android fans who are looking for an HTC Dream alternative, will finally get a choice.
Okay, so I recently got an iPhone, right? Well, one of the things I hate about it is its constant need to connect to the Internet. Now this won't be a problem for those who are on unlimited data plan but it would be a pain in the a** for those on Pay as you go, ESPECIALLY those who are in other countries and are on a roaming plan.
So what should you do to make sure that your iPhone doesn't connect to any cellular data network? Well first, you should turn off any push notifications. You can do that by going to settings, "mail, contacts, and calendar", fetch new data, and then turning it off.
But in order to be REALLY, REALLY, sure, just put a different apn on your cellular data network. You can do this by going to settings, general settings, network, and cellular data network. Just add another letter to the default apn and your iPhone shouldn't connect to your carrier's servers and use up data.
Ugh. It's things like the Nokia N97 Mini that makes me think that Nokia lacks any new ideas and that they need to hire fresh people for their handset development department. Instead of fixing the problems and bugs on the Nokia N97 by introducing the fix on newer N97 handsets fresh out of the factory (like what Samsung did with the Omnia), they've decided to irk Nokia N97 users by introducing essentially the same handset, in a smaller form factor, with some of the N97's problems fixed. And here we have the N97 Mini.
Design
Judging from its name, naturally, the Nokia N97 Mini is smaller than its predecessor. The smaller form factor is attributed to a few inches of screen chopped off the original. The N97 Mini now only sports 3.2 inches of screen compared with the N97's 3.5 inches. The keyboard has also been revamped, with the directional pad being removed. A lot of users have been complaining about the N97's poor construction so Nokia opted to remedy this with a metal back casing but left out the camera lens cover found on the original. Aside from that, all other aspects of the phone remain the same.
Features
Like I said, aside from having the small form factor, the Nokia N97 Mini is essentially the same handset except the latter also has lower internal memory (only 8GB vs. 32GB of the original N97). In terms of the OS, it has a slightly upgraded firmware compared with the original N97 as it now has a lot of kinetic scrolling available on the menu. However, the original N97 phone will also feature kinetic scrolling in its upcoming firmware upgrade so when the N97 Mini will be released all it can really offer is its size.
Outlook
What turned me off the Nokia N97 is a lot of problems surrounding it. Numerous people have returned their N97's due to different complaints and I'm not about to be one of those persons. If Nokia is able to address all those issue on the Nokia N97 Mini, then people who are thinking of buying the N97 would probably opt for the newer version, plus the Mini is slightly cheaper at 100 Euros. So if the N97 Mini offers a cheaper price and is more pocktable, what does the Original N97 has to offer now? Well, if you prefer a wider QWERTY keyboard and a bigger internal memory, then you might want to risk buying the N97, in the hopes that you won't get a defective unit, otherwise, until someone can confirm that the Nokia N97 Mini is bug free, let's all hold off buying it until the user reviews come in.
We have yet to see the shadow of the Palm Pre land here in the UK but over at the US, Palm has already introduced the follow up to their Palm Pre: The Palm Pixi. Though the Palm Pixi has a very sissy name, it promises to deliver the same UI as the Palm Pre since this device sports the same OS.
Like previous Palm handsets, the Palm Pixi has a rounded design but unlike the Palm Pre, it's a candybar phone with physical QWERTY keypad, similar to the Palm Centro. However, unlike the Pre and Centro, the Palm Pixi is a very thin mobile phone but only a 2.63 inch screen and 2 megapixel camera. Palm also announced a limited edition Pixi artist series mobile phones with different designs from different artists.
Sprint is again getting the exclusive deal on the Palm Pixi in the States with availability set around the Holidays. But come on, the Palm Pre was like six months delayed, right, so we'll probably be seeing the Pixi next year and it would probably land here in Europe during the second half of next year. Pricing is yet to be announced.
Judging by all the comments I've received about the Samsung Tocco Lite, it's a very popular phone. No wonder Samsung is trying to recapture that winning formula with the Samsung S3650 Genio, it's also known as the Samsung Corby outside the UK.
Available At:
Design
Undoubtedly, Samsung is gearing the Samsung Genio for the younger market segement with its colorful back covers. The Samsung Genio is a bit smaller in length than the Samsung Tocco Lite though the former is also a tad wider and thicker than the latter. The Samsung Genio only has 2.8 inches of screen, which is resistive. On the front we have the menu and the call and end buttons, on the left side you have the volume controls and Samsung's proprietary connection which you can use to charge your phone or connect it with your computer. On the right side is the screen lock button and the camera button. The memory card slot is found at the back when you remove the battery cover. Thankfully, Samsung didn't put it behind the battery so you won't have to remove your battery in order for you to access your memory card.
There's not much I can say about the Samsung Genio's design except that it reminds me of the first generation HTC Touch phones. The Samsung Genio is reasonably palm friendly and pocketable.
Display and User Interface
The Samsung Genio has 2.8 inches of screen which is capable of displaying 16 million colors. The phone vibrates with each gesture you make and it also has an accelerometer which allows you to rotate the screen. The screen reminds me of my Samsung Omnia because colors are a bit washed out and suffers a lot when viewed under direct sunglight. The User Interface uses Samsung's TouchWiz UI which means you'll get widgets galore and kinetic scrolling.
I don't know whether this is a software issue since this is a fairly early model but responsiveness is not up to par with the Tocco Lite although its still very much responsive compared with the first generation Samsung Omnias.
The UI is very similar to the Samsung Tocco Ultra. You can change fonts and even zoom in on the contents using the volume rocker. The only thing new on the Samsung Genio's UI is that like all new TouchWiz phones, it has three homescreens which you can fill up with widgets.
Messaging
The Samsung S3650 Corby is disappointing when it comes to messaging. First of all, you'd think they would have put in a QWERTY keyboard but no, you're stuck with the alphanumeric keypad. The good thing is that even though this phone is youth-centered, your grandparents can use without having trouble seeing the fonts since the size is adjustable. The Samsung Genio is capable of MMS although there's no separate option for that. The message only turns to MMS once you've inserted pictures, videos, voice tags, etc.
Applications
The calendar is pretty useful for a budget phone. You can set up appointments with reminders and even set up recurring events. There's also a Memo application, tasks, and World Time. On the widgets screen there's a birthday reminder, and two widgets which can help you remind you of your diet or if you want to quit smoking. The Samsung Genio has a built in FM radio with RDS, RSS reader, YouTube App, Picsel Viewer and a NetFront Browser. The Picsel viewer really comes in handy when viewing documents such as MS word, Excel, PDF, and PowerPoint files. There's also a messenger application which is actually Palringo, my favorite IM application.
Multimedia
I've always liked Samsung's built in music player. Unlike the Touch Player on my Samsung Omnia, the Samsung Genio can support WMA files directly as well as MP3s, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+. Audio through the speakers is poor and doesn't really play music loud enough. Wasn't able to see how the Samsung Genio handles videos but don't expect it to play DivX files outright. There's no onboard 3.5 mm headset jack but like the Samsung Omnia, there's a 3.5mm headset jack on the Samsung proprietary connector.
Camera
Now here's what separates the Samsung Genio from the Samsung Tocco Lite. The Tocco Lite has 3.2 megapixel camera while the Genio only has 2 megapixels. The Tocco Lite supports smile shot while the Genio doesn't so undoubtedly, the latter is left behind when it comes to camera performance. The camera also doesn't have auto focus so if you have shaky hands, expect your pictures to come out blurry. Images come out a bit washed. Check out some sample pics taken with the Samsung Genio Touch aka Samsung Corby:
Conclusion
I don't know how Samsung will price the Genio but if the price it higher than the Tocco Lite, then people are just probably going to ignore this phone and go for the one that has the best bang for their buck, in which case, that's the Samsung Tocco Lite. However, if Samsung pegs the price of the Genio lower, then teeners will probably opt for this one considering that it's more stylish than the Tocco Lite. Since carriers will probably offer the Samsung Genio for free, users would just have to factor in what do they want more: a cameraphone or a stylish phone, in deciding whether to get the Tocco Lite or the Genio.
If the only reason you haven't jailbroken you iPhone yet is because you're too scared that you might brick it, well, I've found a simple step by step guide on jailbreaking the iPhone that even my 5 year old niece would probably be able to do it. iPhone hacks has the simplest guide I've seen on the Internet and it even has screenshots for you to follow so it's guaranteed that you won't mess up.
So there you have it. So you better summon up the courage to do so because having a jailbroken iPhone really has its benefits. First, you can install your own custom themes (I'd recommend this HTC Sense UI for iPhone), you can install banned applications from the App store (like porn apps or Google Voice), and you can even unlock it so that it can work on your favorite network.
So unlock your iPhone's full potential right now by jailbreaking it.
I've recently been using Yahoo! Messenger a lot and it' s cool that the iPhone has a free Yahoo! Messenger application but I'm having a hard time finding a free one for my Windows Mobile phone. I have like, three mobile phones with three different carriers and I would like to have an instant messenger application for them too so in case I feel the need to just carry around one mobile phone, I would have a choice instead of just sticking with the iPhone just for its Yahoo! Messenger application.
Well I finally found a solution: Palringo. I've been hearing about Palringo a lot in the forums I frequent but I really didn't give that much attention to it until I felt the need to have an instant meseenger for all of my mobile phones. Palringo doesn't just work on one mobile platform alone, it works for ALL mobile phones because thank goodness, the developers know that they'd have a much larger market if they make one that would be compatible with all phones.
Palringo would work on your Windows Mobile handsets, Android phones, Symbian, Blackberry, java capable phones, and yes, even the iPhone and iPod Touch if you don't want to be stuck with just Yahoo! Messenger. You see, Palringo is a universal instant messenger and works with services such as:
Windows Live Messenger (MSN)
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
Yahoo! Messenger
Google Talk
ICQ
Jabber
iChat / MobileMe
QQ
Gadu-Gadu
Facebook Chat (Alpha)
I'm actually quite impressed with the software on my HTC Diamond2. I can easily send voice messages to my IM buddies. Of course, it would have been much more cooler and better if you can retrieve your voice messages from the application instead of Palringo giving you a link to their website in which case, you have to open your phone's browser and download the voice messages.
Oh, well, for something that's free, Palringo is better than I'd expect. I really love this application and it's a must have for those who always needs to be connected with their instant messenger buddies.
So, wondering where to get free stuff for your mobile phone? You know, like ringtones, games, wallpapers, etc, without spending a dime?
I've been wondering about that myself and it's hard to find a website that caters to different mobile phones. Usually, a mobile phone website has a niche like iPhone stuff, Android stuff, Symbian, etc. Free wallpapers are easier to find though, because Google Image Search has loads of them. As to copyright issues, I don't think the makers would be suing you if you just put it as a wallpaper on your phone considering that it's probably covered under the free use clause (you can use it just as long as its for personal use). iPhone wallpapers are a bit hard to come by though. You can't exactly just copy and paste iPhone wallpapers, it has to be an image size of 320x480 or you'll get black borders. eMobilez has free iPhone wallpapers for you as well as FreeiPhoneStuff.info.
eMobilez also has some free mobile games for different mobile platforms. Mostly it's Java applications for lower end models but there's some iPhone games that I haven't tried yet. Hopefully, these games are legit. Getjar.com also has free java games and you can download it directly on your mobile phone through their wap site.
Ringtones are also harder to find as they're more strict with copyright. You can make one yourself though by recording your favorite song or with some free to use software, you can make your own MP3 ringtones.
In this age of commercialism, free stuff is not that hard to come by, thanks to the Internet.
Ah, September. We have a lot of new mobile phones this month, that is, if manufacturers stay true to their word about release dates. Anyways, if this is the month that you'll be buying a new mobile phone, here's some handsets that you should be on the lookout for.
Samsung Omnia II (with Windows 6.5)
Yeah, I know, last month, the Samsung Omnia II was also in my latest list but the phone was released in Singapore, without WinMo 6.5 This time, it's a bit closer to home, with Mobikom Austria stating that the Omnia II will be available this September, running WinMo 6.5. So if ever you're in Austria this month, you can bring one back with you. Check my Samsung Omnia II Review to get more details.
Palm Pre (GSM version)
The Palm Pre has been released in the US since last June but if we're to believe I.R.I.S., Palm's official distributor in Romania, we should be seeing the Palm Pre at the end of September for around 400 Euros. Of course, here in the UK, the Palm Pre will be exclusive to O2.
Samsung S3650 Corby
If you want a cheap touchscreen mobile phone but the Samsung Tocco Lite just doesn't cut it for you because of the limited colors available, then you probably would love the Samsung S3650 Corby. The Samsung Corby has a capacitive touchscreen and a 2 megapixel camera. You also have four colors to choose from. Here in the UK, the Samsung Corby would be known as the Samsung Genio.
Alcatel OT-708
If Samsung and LG have their cheap touchscreen mobile phones, the OT-708 is Alcatel's answer to both manufacturers. Rumor has it that this will be available this September for around £50. It's a 2G mobile phone with accelerometer, microSd slot, 1.3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth with A2DP.
Sony Ericsson Yari
Though not exactly a PSP Phone, the Sony Ericsson Yari is the closest thing that Sony Ericsson has to a gaming phone. While it looks like a Nokia phone, this slider phone has a lot of features including 5 megapixel camera, microSD card, GPS, and Bluetooth A2DP. It's a gaming phone because the Sony Ericsson Yari doesn't just make use of the accelerometer for gesture control but the camera also detects movement and translates them to game moves. Again, the September release date is just a rumour but it's probably going to be pushed back.
Sony Ericsson Satio (Idou)
The Sony Ericsson Satio (Idou)has been announced since January and is probably the first 12 megapixel phone announced during the year but Samsung beat Sony to the punch again and released their own 12 megapixel camera which is now available on Orange: the Pixon12. The Sony Ericsson Satio will run on Symbian OS, and is an all touchscreen mobile phone. It has every goodies you would expect on a high end mobile phone. Expected release date is this September though I wouldn't hold my breath.
Now you have to love this, while the HTC Touch Pro2 is the closest thing we have to a mini-laptop/mobile phone, that's about to change with the Miu HDPC. The Miu HDPC is primarily a mini laptop with a phone because it runs BOTH Windows XP and Windows CE (OS for windows phone). The Miu HDPC also has really nice specs like a 4.8 inch touchscreen, an Intel Atom CPU (1.6GHz Z530), 32GB SSD, 1GB RAM, 5 megapixel rear camera, 2 VGA cameras, HDMI and HD audio ports, GPS, WiFi, microSd slot, USB Ports, and T-DMB (how they fit all that in one device? I have no idea).
Anyways, the picture and specs look really awesome but we have to wait for a real prototype so we can see how the UI of the phone looks like. Price varies from $500 for the low end model to $900 for the higher end model. The higher end model is not cheap but its cheaper than Sony's UMPCs, that's for sure. Anyways, I want one.
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.
