All About Cell

Motorola RAZR2 V9

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:48:00 +0000

In The Box

- MotoRAZR2 V9

- Headphones

- Travel Charger

- Mini-USB Cable

- Manual Books

- Motorola Phone Tools CD

The RAZR2 line from Motorola continues the tested and true clamshell line for the American cellphone makers. The RAZR 2 line spawns several models- and the one we are looking at is the 3.5G-enabled V9.

Design

Anyone familiar with the venerable design of the RAZR would recognise the similarities of RAZR 2 V9, however this time around the design has been revamped into a seamless clam-shell. The large plate glass of the front is definitely a welcome addition. The device weighs in at 125g, which isn’t all that heavy. The phone’s got the great tactile feel of the RAZR line, as it feels great in the hand. More importantly it just looks attractive.

The 2.2 inch internal display runs at 262K TFT colours, meanwhile the RAZR2 V9’s external display is vibrant and fun to use with three touchscreen controls, which allow you to tweak your multimedia functions- which extends to three menus, namely pictures, videos and music.

The haptics- which is the little jiggle when you press the external keys of the phone that lets you know that your actions are executed on the V9. It is a fun little indicator that tells you that the V9 has processed your commands. This also means you can be focused on the computer screen and still change your tunes from the plate glass from the flip.

As usual the RAZR2 has one universal port for the charger and USB transfers. The left spine has a smart key and a volume rocker. Meanwhile, the right side has a quick camera button.

When the clam shell is opened, the sunken keypad reveals itself, the keypad has a main navigation button. Other keys include the function keys, re

The back of the phone is pretty standard, a 3.7V battery sits there covering the SIM slot- with a strip paper to help pull the battery out of the phone. The phone allows microSD hotswapping, but it involves removing the rear cover first, then pulling open a rubber stopper and pulling out the SD- all of this requiring a little bit of fitness.

The box comes with pretty much everything- including a microSD adapter which we felt was a necessity for file management. The box also has a bunch of manuals, Motorola phone tools CD, and a Motorola Travel Charger.

Features

The V9 relies pretty much on the same old proprietary Motorola OS with some additional functionality. The grid shifted to a 3x4 grid from the RAZR, with extra Internet utilities this time around.

The WebShare application is a bloggers tool to post up photos, stories, audio and video clips to your blogsite.

The PIM extends to calculator, calendar, alarm clock, world clock, dialling services and notes.

The menu interface has adopted most of the features found in the RAZR line, as the menu interface retains the 3x4 grids format. It also has similar applications such as the Alarm Clock, Calendar, Voice Recorder, Calculator, and a World Clock device. The music player can handle a variety of formats including MP3, WMA, WAV and AAC files.

The exterior plate glass as mentioned before has three touch buttons, but we really hoped that Motorola would have extended the touchscreen for the entire secondary glass plate, which would allows us to expands the phone’s functionality to the outside.

The V9 wears heavily on the battery life, it holds up about a day under standby time and much less if you wear it on with music and videos.

Connectivity

The MotorRAZR2 V9 is has quad-band connectivity (800/900/1800/1900 MHz) and a HSDPA 3.5G, the V9 also has Bluetooth and GPRS and of course the ubiquitous Motorola mini-USB cable.

Camera

The camera has stayed pretty much the same since the heyday of the first RAZR, a 2.0 megapixel camera with the same similar feature as the first versions. Meanwhile, camera mode has 8x zoom and various effects including style, lighting and exposure.

The camera has 1600 x 1200 pixels, video (QCIF- Quarter Common Intermediate Format) which has up to 176 × 144 pixels. In video camera mode, the phone has up to 2x zoom. One interesting thing is the singular camera design Motorola went for- the call camera extends only to the flips, this means that whenever you need to use the videocalling feature, you have to dial the phone from the opened up clamshell and close it to use videocalling.

Games

There are three games in the V9, the first one is JAMDAT bowling which pretty much self-explanatory, but it is surprisingly addictive and quite difficult to master. The second game is JAMDAT Sudoku which is the Java version of the popular pencil and paper Japanese puzzle game. The last one is the Tetris from EA, which yet another reiteration of the popular brick game.

Verdict

The phone is yet again a shining example of the long standing Motorola RAZR design form factor and its no wonder why Motorola has decided to stick towards the tried and true. However, at RM 1,500 the phone seems somewhat pricey, despite having good connectivity options, the geriatric design and user interface hardly garners a pricing such as that.

Motorola ROKR E8

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:32:00 +0000

The Motorola ROKR E8 takes us back to the E-suffix for the ROKR range, after a minor excursion with the Z6. Anyway, there have obviously been many changes, and this appears to be a music player with the mobile phone added later.

In the box (prototype)

- Handset Transceiver

- Battery (standard bttery)

- Charger

- Headset

- Data Cable

- Manual and CDs

Exterior

The ROKR E8 is a sleek device, bevelled at the top and bottom edges to turn what would be an otherwise ordinarily-shaped candybar device into a work of art.

The E8 is designed for heavy music usage, as can be deduced from the headset jack which is found on the top of the device, much like in a music player. Toggle buttons are on the left of the device, while the power switch and micro USB port are on the right side of the device.

The microSD memory card slot is under the cover, but not really blocked by the battery so while you could theoretically force a card in, taking out that card might not be quite possible.

Buttons/Screen

The buttons are mainly of the touch pressure variety under the big transparent frontpiece. The keypad does not light up at first but simply displays the music controls. Lighting up the numberpad is done by pressing the left softkey which then lights up the numberpad so that you can make a call.

The keypad makes a curious sound which can only be described as squeaking. Initially, we thought that it was the plastic protesting against our rather forceful pressing on the keypad. But the lower part did not make that sound until we activated the numberpad.

Therefore, it was a built-in effect.

The screen is specified at 240 x 320 pixels with 262K colours.

Software/Messaging

We were given the R6713 version of what appears to be a Motorola proprietary operating system. The menu was of the scroll from side-to-side variety and we could not find a way to change that into the commonly- found grid display. Not from the settings menu anyway.

SMS and MMS is included as expected. Email is also available but the touch screen controls did not make for very responsive text entry.

PIM

The PIM section has the Tasks, Calendar, and a Calculator. The common Notes application is nowhere to be seen, but the Alarm and World Clock applications can be found here.

Camera/Video

The E8 has a 2.0 megapixel camera with the lens on the back of the device. There is a multi-shot option that permits a setting of 4, 6 or 8 shots. The maximum resolution for still pictures is 1600 x 1200 pixels

The navigation key provides access to the picture effects. You can filter images in red, green and blue, but this was almost the limit of the effects section.

The maximum video resolution is 144 x 176 pixels. Although this leads us to conclude that the E8 had a fair camera, it was not meant for heavy imaging use. Touch-sensitive controls are difficult in the real-world use of a digital camera.

Multimedia/Voice

The multimedia section is quite developed, seeing that this is a music phone with 2GB of memory space inside. There is also a radio receiver built into the device, but we were quite surprised that there was no equaliser inside.

Connectivity

There is no 3G or HSDPA option for this phone. It does support GPRS and EDGE up to class 12 and comes with the requisite Bluetooth for local connections. Other than that, the USB port is also useful for PC to phone data transfer.

Games

There were two games inside the device. One was a Sudoku game which is pretty self-explanatory. The other is Asphalt 3 3D, which is a racing game called Asphalt 3, despite the rather confusing title. The racing game was fairly simple. I managed to finish second out of eight the very first time I tried it out, so I am either a very good driver or just lucky.

Motorola ROKR E8 vs Samsung SGH F250

Motorola ROKR EM30

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:26:00 +0000

The Motorola Rokr EM30 proves that a good music phone doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

With just a press of a button, this device transforms from a phone to a music player.

The Rokr EM30 features the company’s proprietary ModeShift technology which allows users to switch between the two modes in a jiffy.

The phone’s keypad illuminates in blue when it is in the standard phone mode. But the blue keys vanish and are replaced by red ones for media control such as play, forward and rewind when in music mode.

To complement its music function, the phone is loaded with features such as stereo speakers, 3.5mm audio jack, USB 2.0 support for fast data transfer, and Bluetooth with support for A2DP profile.

Additionally, this quad-band phone supports EDGE and runs on Linux Montavista 2.6.1 operating system and is preloaded with essential productivity apps such as Symphony browser and PDF reader.

Design

The longish and flat design is nothing to shout about — frankly, it looks boring but the phone feels solid to hold.

Its 2in LCD screen is quite readable even under direct sunlight, which is great for accessing the playlist anytime you want.

Actually, the phone is the successor to the company’s E8, which it launched not too long ago.

Those familiar with the Rokr phones will definitely see the family resemblance between the two.

However, the EM30 includes a few cool additions, including a four-way button instead of a touch sensitive scroll wheel, and real buttons instead of the haptic feedback keys on the E8.

Although we welcome the feeling of pressing real buttons, the EM30’s keypad actually leaves much to be desired.

The buttons are just too hard to press, and left my fingers sore after using the phone for awhile.

So, if you message a lot, this may not be the phone for you.

Music to my ears

EM30 supports a vast number of digital music formats including MIDI, MP3, AAC, WMA and WAV.

The music player also features many preset equalisers and options for bass and 3D stereo boost. However, there is no option for tweaking the equaliser.

If the built-in 2GB of memory is not enough to store all your favourite songs, you can make use of the microSD slot to expand the storage capacity. The slot supports memory card up to 8GB.

Since the phone uses a standard audio jack, you can always use your favourite earphone or headphone.

alternatively, you can listen to music over the built-in speakers or stream audio to a Bluetooth headset wirelessly.

We paired the phone with the Motorola S9 Bluetooth stereo headset and it worked extremely well together. Also, the phone has a built-in FM tuner.

Other stuff

EM30 also includes an integrated 2-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom.

However, it lacks flash and autofocus and as expected, pictures looked good only when there is ample lighting and not-so-great when shot in dim lighting.

At least, the phone reception and voice quality was good thanks to the inclusion of the proprietary CrystalTalk technology, which improved call quality.

The phone lasted about two hours when used to play music continuously and almost three days when used purely for calls.

Conclusion

The main downside of this phone is its buttons which are hard to press and tedious to use, so heavy SMS users should look at other options.

But, as a music phone, this model rocks because it supports a lot of music formats and it uses a standard audio jack.

And the ability to switch between phone and music mode effortlessly is really cool too.

And at RM899 it certainly won’t burn a big hole in your wallet.

Pros: Affordable; cool modeShift technology; supports lots of music format, standard audio jack,

Cons: Bad keypad design, poor camera.

Motorola MOTOSURF A3100

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:21:00 +0000

Yes, it’s cute looking. I mean it. I’ve had comments about its looks ranging from good to great.

Well, to me, the Motosurf A3100 looks too cutesy and should appeal to girls more. But looks aside, I think this phone performed quite well.

Design and construction

The A3100 is solidly built. As it’s a candybar, with only a Call button, Cancel button and a trackball, there are no moving or sliding parts.

Its body is made of strong plastic with the battery cover being made of metal. The cover slides open easily with no prying needed.

There is a retractable stylus that slips into a hole at the top right corner. There is also a standard 3.5mm jack for earphones, which music fans will appreciate. The microUSB port is on the lower left of the phone.

The power/lock button is on the top left of the phone and the volume rocker is on the upper left side of the phone. While the camera button is on the bottom right of the phone.

I would have liked these buttons along with the trackball to feel sturdier and be easier to press and use though, but it’s not a major concern.

The phone has a resistive touchscreen. It is a 2.8in screen capable of displaying 65,000 colours. It would have been nice if it could display more colours but for general use, it seems adequate.

It is quite responsive as well. Screen legibility under bright sunlight is also better than most other phones, but not by far.

Basic functions

Call quality is clear and the volume is loud enough to be heard in a crowd.

Text messages are grouped into conversations (also known as threaded SMS) so that you can read the correspondences more easily.

Contacts are also organised and easy to find. The Motosurf supports MMS and also video calls that work with its forward facing camera.

Using the phone moderately for calls and SMS alone should last you about four to five days worth of use on a single charge, and should you surf the Net in between, you should get about three days of use.

Ease of use

As this is the first Windows Mobile phone that I am exposed to, I would have to say the interface has too many options and settings which could be overwhelming to the average user.

Fortunately, Motorola has added a pretty skin it calls Carousel to simplify the interface.

The Home screen shows the calls and messages received along with reminders and shortcuts to your contact list and dialling pad.

There are also other screens for Contacts, Programs, Websites, Weather, Photos and RSS Feeds that you have subscribed to.

My only gripe is that when you go beyond the Carousel skin and into the sections that use the classic Windows Mobile design, using just your thumb alone to navigate can become quite cumbersome because the screen elements are really tiny.

It is best to use the stylus at that point. There is only so much that Motorola can do to make it thumb-friendly so I would have to say it has done a pretty good job.

Typing on the phone can be done using handwriting recognition, the standard virtual keyboard or Motorola’s own version of it.

The Motorola keyboard is more thumb-friendly and the other input methods require the use of your stylus unless you are a master-class finger typist.

Also the trackball feels a little too sensitive for my liking. I ended up using the phone fine without touching the trackball.

But it is all personal preference and I’m sure some people would like to use it.

Connectivity

The Motosurf has Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G and GPRS. There is a microUSB port to transfer data to and from the phone, which also charges the phone.

There is also a supplied charger that plugs into the microUSB port.

As with most phones that are now trying to comply to the standard use of the microUSB port for charging and data transfer, the cap of the port still gets in the way when it is being used.

The Motosurf was meant to be a phone to make the Internet convenient to use for people on the move and it does so quite well.

It comes with the usual Internet Explorer but if you don’t like it, there is always Opera Mini to fall back on.

You can access the Internet via WiFi, 3G or GPRS.

As mentioned earlier, your RSS feeds are shown on the Carousel interface so you can keep up to date with your favourite sites.

There are also applications for accessing YouTube, GMail, Google Maps, Orkut and Facebook.

Google Maps also works well with the Motosurf’s aGPS and it locked onto my position quite quickly.

Media

Playing music using the built-in speakers sounded weak and tinny but the bundled handsfree, which also doubles as the earphone, showed that the Motosurf is capable of producing good sound.

Also, it could be attributed to Windows Media Player giving the sound a little bit more “oomph.”

The handsfree is also way better than most earphones bundled with MP3 players and other phones.

Supported formats are AMR, MP3, AAC, WMA and MIDI.

One cool feature is the MotoID application that can identify a song that is being played.

If you hear a nice tune while on the move, turn on the application, let the phone record and analyse what is playing, and it will attempt to go online and identify the song. At no cost too! Well, you just pay for the data charges.

You can also watch videos using Windows Media Player and it supports WMV, H.263, H.264, 3GP and MP4.

The phone has 256MB of internal storage and a MicroSD Card slot that can accommodate a 32GB card.

The phone is bundled with a 1GB MicroSD card so if you’re looking to carry a lot more songs, videos or work files, it could be better to get a more spacious card.

The Motosurf has a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash.

The camera and video features only work well in properly lighted situations.

However, I still feel that the camera could be better as the pictures had a reasonable amount of noise.

Trying to take a picture in a dark room makes everything appear in a dark indigo hue.

I’m under the impression that the white balance has some problem adjusting to the lighting. Because the white balance acts as such, the video quality is also affected with the same symptoms.

Productivity

The Motosurf comes with the usual assortment of calendars, alarm clocks and notes.

The best applications among all of these is the Office on the Go suite which includes applications to create, edit and view Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. There is also a PDF viewer.

Everything about the Motosurf seemed good until I encountered one little thing which still bugs me.

Every application that you open seems to run in the background even after you close it.

Even though Windows Mobile is supposed to dynamically terminate applications as it runs out of memory, this just doesn’t happen often enough.

And once there are too many applications running in the background, the phone starts to slow down.

Conclusion

Well, I’m actually quite pleased with this phone. It’s solidly built and does what it was intended to do and more.

Having said that though, I can’t wait for the more touch-optimised Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Mobile 7 to become available as it will make smartphones even easier to use.

The only letdowns are the camera and the occasionally slow operating system. Also, the price could be a little steep for some.

Pros: Stable operating system; Carousel skin improves usability; good earphones; lots of preinstalled applications.

Cons: OS slows down occasionally; poor camera; screen only displays 65,000 colours.

Motosurf A3100 Features
3G phone
Camera: 3-megapixel with autofocus and LED flash
Display: 2.8in resistive touchscreen (240 x 320 pixels)
Operating system: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail
Connectivity: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/1900/2100, Bluetooth, USB, WiFi
Expansion slot: MicroSDHC up to 32 GB
Phone memory: 256MB internal memory, 128MB RAM, 1GB MicroSD
Battery Type: 1,170mAh lithium ion
Standby/talk time: 298 hours/480 minutes
Other features: aGPS
Weight: 119g
Dimensions (w x d x h): 59.7 x 13.7 x 110mm
Website:
www.motorola.com/my

Nokia N85

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:27:00 +0000

Nokia N85 is a key product of the final quarter of 2008 and the first two quarters of 2009.

Let’s have a closer look at the positioning of N85. First of all, it’s meant to be a sequel to the musical N81 handset, claiming the throne of an ultimate gaming / music phone. The price bracket and target segment are all the same, as well as the starting amount of memory; on the other hand, every other aspect of functionality has been improved. Nokia N85 can also pass for a very good replacement to N95 8GB sporting almost the same functionality, yet implemented on a remarkably higher level. The same saying can be applied to the model’s positioning. The company are counting on N85 as the most likely candidate for becoming a mass market bestseller, massive investments being made into the promotional campaign. Nokia N85 has no direct competitors save for N95 8Gb, but in all senses the former is preferable. The price gap between N85 and N96 is going to constitute 100 euros, that’s basically how much you’ll be charged for the extra memory and the DVB-H unit. N96 doesn’t offer any other practical advantages, and N85 is obviously preferable for better materials, size, screen quality, design and battery life. A comparison article pitting N96 against N85 is already available on the site, we hope you’ve already had a chance to skim through it and come up with a pretty clear idea of how things go for these two models.

Design and Ergonomics

Nokia N85 follows the style of N81, every corner and edge rounded, black glossy plastic stuck tight with the framing. This gives the hand a more comfortable, less edgy feel. The handset size is very modest, the measurements only counting 103x50x16 mm, which is slimmer than the wide and not as ergonomic N96. The casing is made from a glossy plastic, but it’s different from the one used in N96, it’s not as easily soiled and looks more expensive. Have a look at 6600 slide, and you’ll spot the analogy (except the latter’s having multiple metal parts). The style is maintained by an absolute smoothness of the buttons which have their markings automatically faded out in case a button is inactive in the current mode. At the same time, the buttons aren’t touch-powered and have a good mechanical feedback, though a bit too tight and not as perfect as in N81. The black N85 comes in two versions: one of them has the side edges and the back panel painted brown, the other uses violet.

A small remark concerning the gadget design. According to the company representatives’ statements made exclusively for SMAPE.com, the current designer conception (N81, N85, N96 and the future portfolio entries) will go on existing in its current established form for an indefinitely long period of time, the metal parts traditionally reserved for Eseries gadgets. It’s hard to say how good or bad this thing is, we’d better stay neutral on this point and simply tell you a few more things on Nseries’ market perspectives. As long as the current design sells well, Nokia won’t come up with inventing something totally new.

The quality of materials is very high, the assembly quality is next to ideal; there’s a slight play between the halves of the slider, being less than a millimeter, which is quite normal. The right edge of the casing houses the two-position volume control button, the camera launch / shoot buttons as well as the keyboard block slider. It now functions slightly differently from what we had before: the slider automatically returns to its initial position, unblocking the phone if it was previously blocked, and blocking it if it had been blocked.

The left edge hosts only a microSD slot protected with a flash. The stereo speakers are shifted to one side, just like in N96. A variety of customization options like sound trajectory and special effects are available here. However, none of these tricks changes the sounding to much, the differences are minimal.

The upper edge has a microUSB slot, a power button and a standard 3.5 mm audio socket.

The back panel of Nokia N85 is glossy, smooth and prone to growing worn spots and getting scratched. The elaborate pattern consisting of thin lines (which is a signature feature of the latest models by the company) helps to counter that. On the same surface you see the camera lens neighboring a dual LED flash. A 1200 mAh battery is concealed behind the battery bay cover. The inner surface of the battery bay cover hosts the FM antenna – take the cover away and the radio will refuse to work.

Screen

The screen of N85 is identical in size to the original N95 (2.6’’) but bases off the AM-OLED technology. This helps to notch down the power consumption and gives a better looking palette. Oh well, the view angles also appear wider and the refresh rate is pleasantly high. On the whole, this screen is obviously better than the display of N95 8GB, - but don’t take this as an offense to the latter, its screen is just plainly good but N85 offers a perfection in this aspect. The high refresh rate is crucial for comfortable N-Gage gaming.

The image brightness is on a very high level, the traditionally available luminance sensor switches the brightness levels automatically depending on the environment. The maximum brightness level is stronger than in Nokia N96, though the colors aren’t as natural, rather sticking to an acid-like, overly vibrant palette. But on the whole this screen is actually one of the best screens available on the market.

Keyboard, controls

The block of controls is remarkable for the availability of numerous dedicated media buttons which are rendered active only when you are working with the player – rewinding, play, pause, and similar features also found with Nokia N81 or N96. The only difference is that the dedicated buttons of N85 are totally flat and remain unseen until their markings are backlit in the active state. The buttons aren’t powered by the touch technology though, they’re simple mechanical units with a good feedback, bringing about almost no problems. Those are a great addition saving a lot of time and nerves when you’re about to spend a hour or two listening to your favorite music.

A Navi Wheel is traditionally available, remaining active in all menus and lists. The sensitive area of the wheel is limited to a thin limbo running along the perimeter of the navigation element. Moving your finger clockwise or counter-clockwise allows for rapid playlist browsing in a corresponding direction. The light indicator sits right in the center of the Navi Wheel and can be easily turned off. It doesn’t carry out any special functions like a message or a call reminder, a feature still available on some older Nokia models.

The set of buttons residing on the moving part of the slider complement the controls surrounding the navigation button. The button markings change automatically according to the current mode: in the player mode, a total of four rewinding / play / pause / switch track buttons are active; in gaming, only the two central buttons can be used as controls; in the gallery, these buttons serve as zoom in and zoom out controls. The idea is close to what we see in some Motorola models, especially E8.

The numerical keyboard is made from a solid piece of plastic; the buttons are very flat, yet have a great feedback and pose no practical inconvenience. The large size of the buttons eliminates the possibility of stray keystrokes. The keyboard backlight is of a bright white color, visible in any environment. The numerical keys are larger than on N96, the upper key row brings about no problems.

Battery

Nokia N85 is coming with a new generation BL-5K 1200 mAh battery. It’s smaller than a standard Bl-6F battery with a same capacity, but doesn’t fit into the battery bay of N96, that’s a real pity. Combined with a power-saving OLED screen and the Feature Pack 2 platform, N85 has the longest playback cycle among all Nokia smartphones, even beating N78.

Nokia N85 battery

Phone	Nokia N85	Nokia N95 8GB
Regular using	3,5 days	2 days
Multimedia cycle, video (3GP)	5:28	5:09
Multimedia cycle, audio (MP3)	26:45	10:27

Connectivity

The onboard Wi-Fi unit is served by a friendly WLAN Wizard which helps you to configure a web connection in no time. The options are rather few: firstly you are asked to create a connection, secondly you specify the default access point and thirdly you configure the network filter. The supported security standards are WEP, WPA and WPA2. The WLAN network detection timeout is also specified in the settings.

The USB 2.0 wire data transfer speed reaches 4 Mbytes per second. The Mass Storage mode is fully supported, the user is free to choose in what way the handset will be used upon establishing a phone-to-PC cable connection: Mass Storage, PC Suite, Image Print, Media player. As long as the phone stays connected to the PC, the battery is being recharged. N85 is the company’s first smartphone sporting such a possibility. For instance, N96 doesn’t replenish the battery charge during USB sessions.

Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR is available, supporting all the common profiles:

A2DP
Audio/Video Remote Control
Basic Imaging
Dial-up Networking
File Transfer
Generic Access
Generic Object Exchange
Handsfree
Headset
HID
Object Push
SIM Access
Serial Port

The A2DP support allows to use a wireless stereo headset, which worked just fine for us. The settings include the device visibility timeout and a list of blocked devices.

The Home Media application allows to interact with other devices using the UnPNP protocol was given a broader functionality in the new models starting from Nokia N81 (unlike the older N95 and N93). The earlier models only allowed to share the media content stored on the device, but now it’s also possible to play files accessible from remote sources right on the screen on the phone. We have tested this feature with a PC and it worked all right for us. Once the feature has been properly configured, a Broadcast Over Home Network option appears in the Gallery menu.

Also, N85 is the first Nokia model two support a whole three WCDMA bands: 900, 1900 and 2100.

Hardware platform

The hardware platform of Nokia N96 cardinally differs from N85 and the rest of Nokia models, being a STn8815 Nomadics chipset by STMicroelectroncics. We were amused to watch incompetent people putting a huge equation mark between N85 and N96. N85 utilizes the same hardware as N78 and N81.

Nokia N85 / N96

Nokia N96 / N85

As seen from the test score, N96 displays a lower performance than N85 and a much worse one than N95 basing off OMAP 2420. The lack of a 3D accelerator is blatant in the JBenchmark 3D test. N96 lags behind in other tests as well. The gap may be accounted for by the use of a newly developed platform, while N85 employs a platform which has been through a long evolution of improvements and optimizations shared by Nokia N78 and N81 models. There’s little sense in repeating the de!--ions of this platform since it has already been dealt with in our review of Samsung i450. Despite the lags seen in the tests, N85 and N96 have identical audio quality, a bit above the sounding of N78 and a bit below than Samsung i8510 INNOV8. The audio quality provided by N78 seems to please the majority of the owners, so an even better sound is simply great.

Phone	Nokia N85	Nokia N82	Nokia N96
Jbenchmark 1.0.1 Score	3232	5311	2796
Text	891	1419	710
2D Shapes	900	1303	682
3D Shapes	562	640	394
Fill Rate	369	336	224
Animation	510	1613	786
Jbenchmark 2.0.1 Score	548	568	358
Image Manipulations	244	410	182
Text	595	710	409
Sprites	470	520	365
3D Transform	1249	817	539
User Interface	576	476	398
Jbenchmark 3D HQ	195	973	155
Jbenchmark 3D LQ	380	1018	283
Triangles ps	43343	48330	34234
KTexels ps	3254	6393	2795
Jbenchmark HD Gaming Score	166 (5.5 fps)	91 (3.0 fps)	127 (4.2 fps)
Smooth triangles	110145	44190	68590
Textured triangles	82240	27310	56325
Fill rate, KTexels	2289	1107	2635

The model is running on the latest revisions of the Symbian operating system, namely ver. 9.3, S60v3 Fp2. There’s no support for the Fast Boot feature, though a full bootup cycle never exceeds 20 seconds.

Once the gadget has booted, there’s some 78 Mb of free user memory left out of 128 Mb in total. The same numbers are true for Nokia N78 and N96. The Heap and Jar sizes for the applications are unlimited. The device supports microSDHC cards up to 32 Gb, with a 8 Gb card arriving in the sales box.

The onboard accelerometer automatically switches the screen aspect depending on the smartphone’s physical position in space – everything’s identical to N96, N82 and other Nokias sporting this feature. The accelerometer functionality can be switched off at user’s will.

Software implementation

Nokia N85 bases off the S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 platform. A comprehensive overview of the basic functionality provided by the platform is already available on the site so we won’t be repeating things once again in this article. The only noteworthy point is that the gadget comes with a variety of preinstalled games. Since Nokia N85 is marketed as a gaming smartphone, don’t be surprised to discover a whole ten games preinstalled on it, one of them being a fully licensed copy and the rest – demos. The high quality, large OLED screen provides for maximum comfort during gaming sessions. The preinstalled miscellaneous services are nothing very unusual – an online music store, a Share on OVI service and so on.

GPS

GPS is one of the hottest lines on Nokia’s priority list. Enormous amounts of money have been invested in this direction; multiple navigation companies were acquired and merged into the Nokia corporation, and the market expectations are amazingly high for the current year: a total of 35 million of GPS-equipped devices are estimated to be sold over the course of 2008, which is more than the whole market of navigation devices in 2007. No new Nokia smartphone goes without a GPS unit. Nokia Maps 2.0 is not just a cosmetic update but rather a comprehensive overhaul of the application’s interface. It grew to become more intuitive, informative and user friendly. Nokia Maps 2.0 is available for download at http://europe.nokia.com/A4984199

A major addition is the dedicated pedestrian mode (Walk) which is an exclusive feature as stated by the company representatives. Pedestrian-friendly features include special voice reminders, step-by-step visual hints (e.g. the ‘footprints’), the onboard compass helps to indicate the wanted direction. The maps are incredibly detailed, displaying anything from highways to walking paths in a park. The compass needs calibration prior to starting work. The integrated accelerometer is what allowed for adding such a feature.

The search interface is now improved, the search results can be sorted by a number of categories; a so-called quick search function is in the place, allowing for searching without calling on the context menu. Hybrid maps are a perfect addition to the two alternative viewmodes. The route calculation is done on the basis of the three values and can be dynamically rearranged in cause of sudden traffic jams; the map coloring is changeable between the day and night variations. Once GPS has been initiated, a small icon depicting a satellite is shown on the status bar at the top of the screen, that’s how you see when the positioning is being done. Nokia Maps 2.0 offers an impressive variety of features, keeping them together in a friendly interface which will never cause confusion to the newbies.

Multimedia Features

The multimedia player interface is pretty standard, showing no difference from Nokia N96 or N78, this kind of interface is common to all the latest products basing off the S60v3 Feature Pack 2 platform. The controls are very comfortable in operation, you can rewind, pause and play the tracks with the dedicated player buttons located on the upper half of the slider or the buttons around the joystick button. We had really no problems with the controls, the playback is easily controlled with a few taps (unlike in models which don’t come with dedicated player controls. For example, Samsung i8510 offers an even superior audio quality but it’s not too handy with playlists and track switching because of a lack of extra control buttons.

A total of five customizable presets of the eight-band equalizer give you unlimited power of tweaking and adjusting the sound to your liking. An eight-band equalizer is now commonly found almost with any multimedia device using FP2, while in the older days the equalizer normally would be a five-band one. The extra sound settings include balance adjustment, enhanced stereo sounding, bass boost and reverberation. A variety of content management options are available: sorting by performer’s name, album title, genre, repeated and random layback. The Album Arts feature allows for an album cover displayed all across the screen when a song from the album is playing. Actually S60 FP2 is remarkable for the best implementation of this feature. A number of visualization options are available, yet while you are watching the animation, it eats up some extra battery charge. The sound signal can be broadcast over a Home Media network. The Music menu item now has a Nokia Music Store subitem to be discussed in a later section of the article.

The following multimedia formats are supported by the handset:
MP3, WMA, Polyphonic ,XMF ,AMR (Voice Tag), AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, Midi (SMF), SP-Midi, RealAudio 7,8,10, True tones, WAV and RA.

The audio quality provided by Nokia N85 is one of the best available from today’s market. It’s higher than N78 and N79 can offer and goes on par with N96. Some people whom we invited to test the audio quality of the two models claimed to have spotted a very slight difference, N96 allegedly sounding a bit more natural, however the difference, if exists, is simply marginal. Samsung i8510 remains the ultimate music phone, though, and it can’t be beaten by anything so far. That’s the best music solution and is going to remain such for about a year in advance, if not longer. On the other hand, the audio inferiority of N85 and N96 isn’t too big in comparison with i8510, thus making things complicated – a vast majority of the audience will probably never care about this slight difference in the quality of audio. Nevertheless the overall experience you get from using each of this models is apparently different. I8510 has the audio socket nested on the side edge, which makes it not too good for carrying in the pocket with the headset plugged in. There are no extra music keys, you always have to enter the player menu to switch tracks. N85 comes with two sets of extra controls, which makes a big difference. The continuous playback cycle is two times shorter with i8510. Also N85 offers a greater variety of music settings, a better looking player and an FM transmitter.

Nokia 5220 XpressMusic

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:17:00 +0000

NOKIA has created a mobile phone that plays music on high quality speakers and struck a deal with Universal Music to provide the latest songs.

The 5220’s structural shape is designed to be unique and stylish.

So how does it measure up overall? Keep reading.

Top shape

Most mobiles come in very standard rectangular or rectangle-like frames.

I have personally found that trend boring which is why the 5220 was a nice surprise.

Both ends of this model have a slight incline giving it a cool curvy look and feel.

The front cover and buttons are pretty standard but the back cover is hard plastic laced with dark rubber for enhanced durability.

It also has a small lanyard hole at the bottom of its frame for those who fancy wearing their mobile around their necks.

Don’t stop the music

The number one feature of this phone is, of course, the ability to deliver music in extremely high quality.

The state-of-the-art speakers and mini subwoofer are well integrated in this model.

Strategically placed in a room, it can reverberate with the sound of music that is loud and clear enough for everyone to enjoy.

It comes standard with a 1GB microSD card, allowing you to store quite a number of songs. Also, it can support up to 2GB microSD.

With the dedicated music keys on the left side and the volume control on the right, the music functions are a breeze to operate.

Also, as a cool extra feature, there are flashing lights on the side that flash to the beat of the music playing.

Universal voucher

A music phone without songs is obviously quite redundant. That is why Nokia, in collaboration with Universal Music, is giving away a 100 free song download voucher with the purchase of a single model.

Owners of an XpressMusic phone can download 100 songs from a selection of 1,000.

This list includes a variety of music from various genres. Needless to say, those who love listening to the radio would definitely find the choices appealing.

According to a Nokia representative, the list is revised every month so that the latest songs can be added.

But...

Quite honestly, as far as features go, this model has reached its zenith. It is not a 3G phone nor does it have GPS or wireless connectivity.

The 2-megapixel camera is mediocre by today’s standard and the voice recorder is not as capable as a standalone voice recorder. The 5220 works best as a music player.

However, this makes the phone uncomplicated and user-friendly since the functions it does have are easy to manage and configure.

To some, such as myself, there is beauty in this simplicity.

The practicality of such a simple phone in this ultra modern age is another question entirely.

Those who need the latest in web browser technology or picture quality will probably not give this phone a second look.

Verdict

This model was a pleasure to use and was difficult to part with. Its style and simplicity grows on you.

However, as mentioned, it caters to a certain group of people. Music junkies who do not need the latest features but appreciate style would find their muse in the 5220.

Also, the phone is relatively inexpensive. In short, it raises the roof but does not break the bank and is simplistically stylish.

Pros: Excellent speaker quality; free music; user-friendly; stylish; relatively cheap.

Cons: No 3G; lacks latest features; overly simplistic in some areas; mediocre camera; unimpressive voice recorder.

5220 XPRESSMUSIC
CAMERA: 2-megapixels
DISPLAY: 2in (240 x 320pixels)
MESSAGING: SMS, MMS
CONNECTIVITY: USB, Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio jack
MEMORY: 30MB internal memory, 1GB microSD card
STANDBY/TALK TIME: 406 hours/5.25 hours
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 43.5 x 10.5 x 108mm
OTHER FEATURES: Voice recorder, stereo FM radio

Nokia N78

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:07:00 +0000

In the box

- Nokia N78

- 3.5mm headphone and remote

- Nokia Charger

- Manuals

Nokia’s N78 finally got into our grubby little hands, the N73’s successor carries the same multimedia functionality as before but it comes with a couple of significant upgrades this time around.

Design

The N78’s design is in its full candybar glory, and as with most modern phones they are covered in either plate glass or fingerprint magnets like the rear plastic covers. The design isn’t overly innovative or attractive but we won’t call it ugly either.

The device is equipped with a 2.4 inch 16 million-colour display of QVGA resolution. The screen size and the picture quality are pretty decent. Sunlight legibility is impressive; the N78 performs well under direct sunlight. The speaker on the N78 has a somewhat esoteric design scheme; they are located at the top and bottom of each side of the phone, perhaps to enhance Nokia’s new 3D sounds.

The keypad is certainly one of Nokia’s stranger ones, we’re not sure if it’s even a keypad. More like narrow thin strips of plastic pressed to the phone’s surface. The lack of tactile feedback is the keypad’s killer flaw, it’s impossible to sense one key from the next, due to the strip design. For the multitasker, don’t even bother typing when you are driving or talking- text messages will usually end up as gibberish.

The D-pad is somewhat unintuitive as well, its easy to enter programs you didn’t intent to, due to the close proximity of the movement keys and the enter key.

Meanwhile, the new dedicated multimedia button on the N78 is an interesting addition, pressing it will bring up multimedia menus inside the phone. The right spine has the volume rocker, and the dedicated camera key. The left spine has the micro-USB port, microSD card slot and charger port. The top part of the phone has the power button and the 3.5mm jack.

Features

The N78 runs on the Symbian 9.3 OS with Series 60 3rd Edition user interface. Feature Pack 2 also comes preinstalled. The multimedia menu is among the Nokia N78 highlights, as seems to be the case with all other recent Nseries models. It is launched by pressing the dedicated key and provides quick access to the multimedia features of the handset. We didn’t suffer from restarts or memory issues with the OS.

Nokia N78's built-in memory is 76MB, which is decent but nothing impressive. The included 2GB microSD memory card comes in very handy for extending it but you can go for an even higher capacity card if you like.

The music player hasn’t change much, its still support a good amount of audio formats. The playlist require a click of the refresh button and the songs are loaded. Tracks can be obtained via Bluetooth, USB or by downloading from the Internet. The FM radio on Nokia N78 has a nice simple interface and can automatically scan and save the available stations in your area. It has RDS support. If internet connection is available, the Visual radio application can download all the local stations and save them to the handset with their names.

Nokia also threw in a Google browser, for surfing purposes. The GPS here is another important addition for the N78, you can opt for Nokia Maps or other third-party applications. The standby time for the N78 is pretty impressive, our test showed that the batteries last at least four days on minimal usage.

PIM

PIM wise the N78’s got the calculator, calendar, and office applications- Adobe PDF, converter, Zip, Quickoffice, notes and a dictionary. An interesting PIM application is the message reader, which we assume is for the visually impaired, the program is pretty accurate and more or less deliver the gist of the message.

Camera

The Nokia N78 comes equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera with a maximum image resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. We loved the dedicated camera button placement, click it on with your thumb and the N78 turns into a camera.

It sports auto-focus and LED flash. It offers extensive settings-starting from manual white balance and ISO sensitivity and including exposure compensation, sharpness and contrast settings. The camera UI has quick processing as well, and is much faster. There is also a vanity camera here for video calls.

The video recording function shoots in VGA resolution at 15 fps, with VGA resolution. Videos are captured in MPEG-4 format and have automatic or manual white balance. The N78 has geotagging capability that also works with videos.

Connectivity

The N78 is armed with quad-band connectivity (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) thrown in with a 3G HSDPA going up to 3.6Mbps. Other connectivity options include the EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0 and MicroUSB transfers. The best part- the phone is packed with Wi-Fi.

Games

There are three games preloaded in the applications section- there is Mines, Arcanoid and Widgy Pet. Mines is reminiscent of minesweeper, Arcanoid is that good-old bouncing a ball off a pad. Finally Widgy Pet is Tamaguchi Nokia style, but the pet isn’t as remotely interesting as it’s supposed to be. Unfortunately, for the gaming junkie, paying for the NGage platform is your only outlet.

Verdict

The N78 is a worthwhile addition the N series portfolio, despite a few design flaws. The N78 is powered with some good specs. The UI is better, quicker and topped off with some good multimedia function. Hardware wise, the phone is given a capable camera, GPS and geotagging. The real problem we have with the phone is just the keypad. The phone is retailed at RM 1,950 and is recommended if you want a multimedia-centric device with a sprinkle of everything.

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:55:00 +0000

In the box
- Nokia Xpressmusic 5320
- MicroUSB cable
- 3.5mm Headphones
- Nokia charger

Nokia’s Xpressmusic 5320 is a multimedia phone, with music specifically is its focus. It has a simple design wrapped in a HSDPA package. Let’s see what’s in store.

Design
The candybar design isn’t particularly interesting, but it does carry a certain charm in its simplicity. It is clearly targeted at the younger audience, with its somewhat sportier colours and quick-fire design. The first thing you will notice is the little dimples on the phone that we assume is to prevent the phone from slipping from your hands. Its all- plastic exterior is built for rough and tumble situations.

Nokia 5320 is fitted with a 2-inch 16 million-colour TFT LCD display of QVGA resolution. It is obvious we won't sing praises of its screen size. After all, 2-inch displays belong below and seeing one in what's not exactly a budget handset is a bit upsetting. At 90g, the phone is light and easy to carry around. Sunlight legibility decks out at about average, under direct sunlight the screen still functions but it’s not that clear.

The keypad’s design looks a little radical, but performs pretty normal. The phone’s D-pad is easier to use than most, with the navigation and enter button separated from each other.

The phone’s music functions has a ‘wrap-around’ design on the 5320, with the play/pause and forward buttons on the left spine which you can access your music quickly. And the volume rocker on the right. The music keys are very intuitive; our index finger accesses the music keys and our thumb on the volume rocker-works for lefties too. There is an additional music button above the screen, clicking it brings up the music player menu.

The speakers of the 5320 are minimalist in nature, with a small gap between the front and back cover.

The microSD slot is placed here, and Nokia threw in a 1GB microSD card. The quick camera button is located on the right. Pop open the rear cover and you’ll see the battery pack which covers up the microSD slot.

Features
The Symbian 9.3 OS with S60 powers the 5320, and it’s relatively unchanged from earlier version. There are some improvements with the S60 feature pack 2, notably the ability to customise your home screen. Nokia contact list is still a joy to use, and we like to note that the mark/unmark function is real plus.

Nokia 5320 features Real player for playing your video clips. The video player can be displayed in both normal and fullscreen modes. When in full screen, the softkey functions are hidden so that they don't spoil the viewing experience and only pop up when a key is pressed. With the smallish screen in mind however, you shouldn't be too demanding.

The FM radio on Nokia 5320 has a nice simple interface and can automatically scan and save the available stations in your area. RDS support is included and the Visual radio is also on-board.

The 5320 has quite a low battery lifespan, expect daily recharges if you are heavy user. Text and call functions are a noticeable drain. Meanwhile, the music player will probably last you a day at most.

Music Player
The S60 music player platform is good and but not exceptional, you can still scroll through and sort your music with ease. Expect the usual fares from Nokia’s music player -sorting, adding and creating new playlist are all a breeze to do. Audio quality frankly isn’t all that impressive being a music phone and all. Audio turns into a blaring mesh when we turned up our music to a 100% on the speakers. Audio quality is much better on the 3.5mm headphones, and has a good audio output.

Connectivity
The 5320 sports a large variety of connectivity options, with quad-band functionality (850 /900 /1800 /1900 MHz) with HSDPA 3.6Mbps, EDGE, GPRS, and Bluetooth 2.0. For a low-mid range phone, this baby has quite a lot to offer.

Games
The 5320 has a good number of games, Marble, Jelly Chase, Groove 2, and Guitar Rock Tour. Guitar Rock Tour is one of the best games in the phone, involving timing your keypad click in tandem with coloured musical ‘notes’. The games also feature some Midi quality rock tunes. The 5320 also supports N-Gage games.

Camera
The 5320 has a 2.0 megapixel camera that comes with a LED flash, no auto-focus, nor lens protection. The LED flash comes as soft addition and can hardly convince us that photography was taken seriously in the 5320.

The camera user interface is simple, the sequence and scene modes are all there. There is a really nice panorama mode where the handset can easily make panorama shots with excellent stitching. However this panorama mode produces photos of too low resolution, which are only suitable for viewing on the phone screen.

Verdict
The Nokia 5320 XpressMusic serves it purpose as a dedicated music device, at RM 888, it stands as a mid-range handset. Audio quality isn’t the best, but we can’t really complain- it performs above average. The design is youthful, but it definitely won’t attract any serious users.

The inclusion of the HSDPA, gives the phone a little bit more flavour and value for money. The lack of Wi-Fi however is still a downer and so is the smallish display. Also, the phone’s battery life is a bit underwhelming, seeing as how enjoying music is a burden on the batteries.

All in all, we recommend it as an entry level device, because of it ease of use and a dash of everything in it. Despite a few minor flaws, we still think most of the features are well though out and fits the phone.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:16:00 +0000

The 5800 handset, commonly referred to as Tube, appeared at a time when the touchscreen smartphone market segment is swarming with offers. The majority of the offers belong to the top price bracket though, the good examples being Apple iPhone 3G (we don’t take the carriers’ discounts into account, without those the real price of an iPhone is really high), Samsung i900 Omnia/WiTu and the unreleased LG KC910, Samsung PIXOX8800. That’s why Nokia preferred to position the 5800 model as a mid-end mass market offer aimed for maximum audience coverage. That’s also a best way for popularizing the new touchscreen version of the S60 platform, preparing good grounds for further expansion of this series’ future additions covering all price brackets.

Let’s get back to the device’s specifications now. The handset’s essential selling points are good functionality, miniature build, touchscreen and a price of 279 euros (VAT not included). A price like that makes 5800 a formidable adversary to numerous multimedia handsets that are already available from the market or are about to hit the shelf. During December, models like Samsung PIXON M8800 and LG KC910 Renoir are going to stay on the same price level with 5800, so allegations of an ‘unbelievably low price’ for Nokia 5800 are far from real life facts. The Finnish device offers a better overall functionality but is a bit weak on the camera side, unlike the Korean competitors that both have hi-end cameras with lots of features, which is an equally weighty argument affecting the consumer choice. Viewty’s success in Europe proves the market potential of the mid-end touchscreen cameraphone concept. The mentioned models, as well as a quantity of Windows Mobile PDAs and Apple iPhone don’t pose a direct competition (in the proper sense of this words) to 5800, but still can act as indirect alternatives for certain fractions of the consumer audience. There will always be some sort of choice, the 5800 by no means being an ultimate offer.

Design and Ergonomics

Nokia 5800 sports an unpretentious design. A candy bar deprived of designer’s liberty or fancy, it mainly stands out for its symmetrical shape, scarce number of control elements and a big screen. The size of the screen is 38x70 millimeters (3.2’’ in diagonal), it has a prolonged shape and utilizes an aspect of 16:9. Using this shape of screen enabled the creators to shrink the handset’s width. Handsets too wide, - iPhone is a good instance, - are often uncomfortable to hold in the hand, and this issue was successfully sorted out in the case of Nokia 5800. The touchscreen controls are optimized for finger operation, though the stylus didn’t go away – it’s available from the stylus pen crafted right into the casing. A relief framing protruding for about 2 mm runs along the casing perimeter, protecting the screen from direct contact with all sorts of rough surface. A multimedia menu touchpad is located above the screen, so you can always access your multimedia content and settings in a single tap.

Let's compare with Motorola ROKR EM30:

Let's compare with Samsung M8800 PIXON:

Let's compare with Philips X800:

The casing edges are rounded, the black glossy plastic of the front panel looks much like Nseries. The face panel is easily soiled, a common problem of all touchsreen devices. The back panel has a soft-touch coating, but the thin stripe pattern witnessed in early pre-sale samples will be missing from the retail version. The lack of metal pieces is typical of multimedia-oriented Nokias; also, there’s little reason to expect seeing metal in a mid-end product. The plastic however is of an extremely high quality (obviously better than the kind used in the expensive N96). The assembly quality is good, though you may hear weak screeching if you squeeze the handset too hard. The materials and assembly are quite adequate for a mid-end product. Not an ideal option, but high above the average level.

Two slots reside on the left, protected with flaps. One of the slots houses the memory card, the second holds the SIM. This alone doesn’t guarantee the possibility of hot swapping, the handset doesn’t’ support it. To remove the SIM card, you have to power the phone off, remove the battery and push the SIM card through a special aperture, not without the help of a stylus or similar long and thin object. The same edge houses two speakers. The speaker openings are rather miniature, covered with very fine sieves. We were surprised at trying them at full power. They cleanly beat Nokia N82 both in maximum volume and audio quality. The opposite edge houses the volume controls, camera button and the touchscreen block slider (large enough to feel and use without looking at it). It feels and works much better its counterparts on LG and Samsung phones. The top end is equipped with a standard kit of features: a microUSB slot, a power switch and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The battery bay cover is tightly fixed; even the slightest play is eliminated. The soft-touch coating of the back panel gives its surface a homely feel, preventing the handset from accidentally slipping from the hands. From this point of view, 5800 is advantageous over any other model including iPhone 3G that has a glossy back panel that is easily soiled and exposed to scratching. The stylus is attached to the cover, it’s large and comfortable in operation. The camera lens is left completely unprotected, but is easily cleaned. A double LED flash is located nearby.

The overall ergonomics of Nokia 5800 Xpress Music is ideal. A large screen attached to a miniature casing, balanced dimensions and high-quality materials – such a combination is rarely found among mid-end solutions. The handset lacks any metal and wouldn’t rank as a fashion phone or at least a fashion wannabe, in full accordance with the official positioning.

Screen

The screen is large (3.2’’ / 38x70) and prolonged (16:9 aspect). Samsung i900 and M8800 use the same aspect but a different resolution. The high resolution (640x360, QHD) is amazing to see in a mid-end handset. All of its direct and indirect competitors are equipped with lower quality screens limited to 240x400 pixels (Samsung i900, M8800, LGKC910, KP500) Apple iPhone loses in this competition, too, though the difference from 5800 is negligible. Viewing a high-quality photo on the screen is an illustration much better than any words.

The color palette is rich, the view angles – perfect. The picture is smooth, without a trace of pixelization. Nokia N96 doesn’t stand up to 5800 in this challenge. This type of screens is what the company will be equipping the next year’s entries with, the high definition isn’t being too actual these days.

The luminance sensor automatically adjusts the screen brightness level. The distance sensor is a debut feature in the whole Nokia portfolio. When the handset is close to your head (e.g. during a phone talk) the touch input is automatically blocked.

The screen is pretty sun-resistant, the screen information remains legible even in direct sunlight. The only visible effect is a minor fading of colors.

Battery

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic carries a BL-5J 1320 mAh battery providing a long uptime, which also owes to the fine power consumption optimizations introduced back in Feature Pack 2. This makes 5800 the longest-lasting touchscreen gadget on the market. The power consumption rate was further reduced in modes like video and music playback, navigation. A full battery charge is enough to keep the device running for an amazing 33 hours.

Battery of Nokia 5800

Мodel	Nokia N85	Nokia 5800	Nokia N96
Normal Duty	3,5 days	3 days	2,5 days
Multimedia playback, video (3GP)	5:28	4:50	5:20
Multimedia playback, audio (MP3)	26:45	33:20	18:45
GPS	4:10	3:40	3:48

Connectivity

Nokia 5800 is the first Nokia handset that has Wi-Fi outside the Nseries and Eseries product families. This functionality is accompanied by a WLAN Wizard that helps you to configure a wireless connection in almost no time. The options are rather few in number. The supported security protocols are WEP, WPA and WPA2. The Home Media application makes use of the UnPNP technology. You can dynamically share the content stored on the phone online or open and play content from a remote source. Once the application has been configured, a menu item titled ‘Broadcast over home network’ appears, allowing to access shared files from remote sources.

Cable communication is based on USB 2.0 / Full Speed (up to 4 Mb / S), in this sense the smartphone is comparable with Nokia N96. Mass Storage, PC Suite, Image Print and Media Player connection types are supported. The onboard memory and flash card are visible as separate logical disks. The battery isn’t recharged via USB, unlike with N85.

The Bluetooth version is 2.0 + EDR, the following profiles are supported:

- A2DP

- Audio/Video Remote Control

- Basic Imaging

- Dial-up Networking

- File Transfer

- Generic Access

- Generic Object Exchange - Handsfree

- Headset

- HID

- Object Push

- SIM Access

- Serial Port

The native support for A2DP profile makes it possible to use a wireless stereo headset, which worked just fine for us. Wireless settings include a customizable visibility period and a list of blocked devices.

Hardware Platform

Nokia 5800 uses the same hardware with N85 and other similar models. The single-CPU solution provides enough performance to run all sorts of applications. There’s no difference in performance from solutions like N85, E66, etc.

The model is running the latest version of the Symbian OS – namely 9.4. The individual peculiarities specific to this very model will be reviewed in a later section of this article. The handset is equipped with a 128 Mb of RAM, of which 80 Mb are left free for usage by user applications. The same parameters are found with Nokia N95 and N96. Heap size and Jar size are unlimited.

The onboard memory amounts to 128 Mb, of which only 80 Mb are left free for user applications. The device supports microSDHC cards up to 32 Gb in amount. A 8 Gb card is bundled with the product, which is enough for an average user.

The onboard accelerometer automatically rotates the interface depending on the physical position of the handset in space. This feature acts just like in N96, N85. The accelerometer can be turned off any time.

Controls

Controls are the most important feature of this article. Nokia 5800 is lacking a hardware keyboard or soft buttons, the touchscreen being the sole means of information input and menu interaction. The only mechanical buttons that are still in place are Answer, Reject and Menu, as well as the multimedia menu touchpad above the screen. The lack of a C button sometimes causes real discomfort; it’s found with any other Symbian smartphone. Deleting text takes substantially more time, leaving the user to fiddle with context menus. Here’s an even more disappointing fact: this button isn’t likely to be introduced in any foreseeable future models. We have to find a way and put up with the new system of controls. The lack of a joystick button isn’t that hurting, scrolling is easy with finger operation.

The scrollbars are fairly large, but stray keystrokes aren’t eliminated completely. The gadget is easily handled with one hand. The virtual buttons and icons are large, you don’t ever need a stylus. The platform maintains enough continuity from the earlier revisions, introducing only evolutionary changes. The menus and settings are all the same with most S60 gadgets that bear hardware keyboards. A weak vibro feedback is felt every time you activate a touch element.

A multitude of opinions circulating around the web insist that 5800 kills off all other music- and multimedia-oriented solutions on the market thanks to its touchscreen and affordable price. Apparently this point of view is too remote from the real state of things. Devices like N79 or N85 are still enjoying a substantial demand, for there’s little intersection between the audiences. The availability of a touchscreen just isn’t enough to give the device a bestseller status. The most likely outcome is that it simply moves to another market segment. Which of the existing touchscreen smartphones has ever made a bestseller so far - Apple iPhone is the only instance, but we hardly see its touchscreen capability as the decisive reason, its success owing mostly to the brand, design and artificially created hype. These factors are rather strong with 5800 too, ensuring a high demand for this gadget. By introducing a device that combines winning features with a lack of internal competition, Nokia further expands its market positions. Smartphones with hardware keyboards are far from phasing out from the market; quite on the contrary, this type of gadgets will be issued in great numbers just the way it used to be prior to the appearance of 5800. An indirect competition is possible between touch and hardware-sensor devices, encompassing a number of models by Samsung, LG, and to a lesser extent the iPhone. Nokia simply couldn’t keep from giving the touch technology a try on the rise of the WM platform that now occupies increasingly more ground in the multimedia sector.

Text Input

The text input system doesn’t feel totally alien; on the contrary, it feels more like an evolutionary step, built around a familiar basis. Touchscreen controls aren’t likely to take over the traditional keyboard, but will remain an alternative. This rule is perfectly applicable to text input as well. In the review of Nokia E71 we mentioned that a conventional QWERTY keyboard composed of regular mechanical buttons is the best imaginable text input interface. It ensures a negligibly low typo rate and a maximum input speed. Virtual on-screen keyboards are designed mostly for two-handed input, and this is sure to annoy a large part of the audience accustomed to the more common one-handed input.

It’s hard to get used to a virtual keyboard after a long-time experience with regular QWERTY’ies, but a newbie with no particular typing skills gets no real advantage given a conventional QWERTY gadget. As for the more experienced and enthusiastic user, it’s hard to beat a Nokia E61i with its terrific input speed using an iPhone even if you’ve been training for months.

But let’s get back to Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The device offers four alternate input methods, the choice entirely depending on your preferences and the currently used application.

Mini QWERTY keyboard The keyboard size is minimized, featuring a full letter set of a single selected alphabet. To put down a stop, digit or any other custom symbol, you have to switch modes by pressing a special button and then go back again. The same goes for using an alternate alphabet. (Things are much simpler when you are using a Nokia E71, for instance). The virtual buttons are very small, leaving no chances for comfortable single-handed operation. It’s hard to hit the wanted button, typos are common and numerous. The stylus may magically solve the issue unless you’ve got some other kind of mediator or simply long fingernails. Mini QWERTY alternatively switches between landscape and portrait screen orientations. In the landscape mode, the keyboard window can be dragged all across the screen. The input field is large enough, so you can always hold in sight many lines of text.

Full screen QWERTY. This sort of keyboard only supports landscape orientation, and leaves no way for single-handed input. You have to be holding the gadget with two hands if you expect to do some relatively easy and successful typing. The only real benefit you get from this type of keyboard is the universal availability of Full Screen QWERTY in any application, third-party software included. Single-handed input is nearly impossible. Type rate is rather high in this mode, though, and stray keystrokes are very rare due to the large button size. Two-handed typing is nearly as quick as single-handed input with the hardware keyboard of E71. The input field is average-sized, only sufficient to list a few short strings. To paste a special symbol, you have to address the corresponding menu with no quick keys available. The full screen QWERTY is available from any application, be it composing a new SMS or filling in contact record field. You can instantly switch the keyboard to another view mode using a special button.

Alphanumeric keypad. A standard keypad with numbers and symbols grouped on each button. Despite the large size of the keys, any regular hardware keypad of this type is preferable. For instance, input is more comfortable even with the miniature hardware buttons of Nokia n78 than with the large virtual buttons of 5800. Not only the lack of any physical feedback is frustrating, but also the awkward location of the keys. It’s hard to reach some buttons with your thumb, sometimes requiring to engage the other hand.

Handwriting. This OCR tool is helpful in converting handwritten text into digital symbols. You have to use a stylus or some other sort of mediator to use for writing. The application exhibits a pleasingly low misrecognition rate. There are two handwriting input fields available. Given the availability of various QWERTY virtual keyboard modes, this input method isn’t a big priority point.

The smart guess feature will prompt possible variants for an unfinished word during text input. Input speed and recognition delay, color and brush width are all adjustable.

Summing up the facts, the following conclusion sprouts up: the text input options come in a versatile variety sufficient to challenge and on many occasions overcome other sensor-input solutions (WM PDAs, iPhone). Different applications offer alternate view modes for the virtual keyboard, so you can easily switch between right during the work. But none of the tricks will make 5800 stand up to Nokia E61i, E71 or any other device with a regular hardware keyboard. Moreover, the sensor and hardware input experiences are so different that it makes any comparisons useless, or about being so. If you are looking for a touchscreen smartphone, Nokia 5800 is an obvious choice for the ease of input; a jump from a hardware-keyboard gadget to the sensor Nokia may hurt, on the other hand.

Software Features

Nokia 5800 is built around the S60 5th Edition platform running Symbian 9.4. The fifth revision isn’t a quantum-level improvement over the earlier ones, keeping closer to the evolutionary side and carrying over a lot of tricks and concepts that were introduced in the previous editions. All the options are the same, it’s just the virtual keyboard that’s now used instead of a real one. A new view option was added for the standby mode: some status indicators became responsive and now yield more details if tapped on. Let’s see how good the sensor controls at handling various types of everyday tasks are.

All applications are quite easy to control with fingers. The icons, fonts and scroll bar are big enough. Stylus is only required for proper handwriting input and proves useful with the smaller version of the QWERTY keyboard. Should there be hardware soft buttons and the symbol delete button, it would be possible to talk of total continuity between the newer and older platform revisions (touchscreen hypothetically used only for input and menu interaction), but this is obviously not the case. Absolutely all actions require touchscreen interaction, proving handy to some and hateful to others. Tap on a screen element once to select it and twice to confirm or activate.

Multimedia panel. The touchpad button above the screen serves to bring about a quick panel in almost any application. The panel lists a few quick access options. You can instantly skip to the music player, gallery, OVI, Nokia video center or Web browser. The list has no customization options, you can't rearrange or change the items. One tap makes the panel appear, another tap shuts it down.

Active stanbdy mode There are three alternate view modes available for standby, ranging from a totally deserted screen with the sole exception of a search bar to a fully informative one. Eseries phones typically offer a maximum variety of standby mode options, practically you can have any kind of application (or all of them altogether) submit all sorts of statistical data to the screen. Multimedia-oriented solutions have this mode configured in a different way. Besides the bare screen mode, you can engage the latest viewmode that emerged with the latest generation of S60 smartphones. The maximum number of icons was lowered to four, giving enough screen space to make them big enough for easy finger operation. Calendar events, music player and FM stats can be listed in an area below the icons.

There’s no vertical view mode available (unlike with S60 v3 FP2 devices), a contact panel being used as a substitution. The latter feature is a fine addition, working even better for mobile gadgets than any of the earlier solutions. The panel contains four bookmarked contacts, typically the most frequently called ones. The number isn’t that big and we would naturally wish for a larger panel capacity. It’s obvious the developers didn’t dare to provide a larger number of icons at the price of shrinking their size, which would make finger control harder (but would still work fine for stylus users). Besides standard parameters like phone numbers and address, a personal icon and Web Feeds settings are available for every contact record. All events related to each particular contact record are tracked and logged in the information window: incoming and outgoing calls with time and status notes, message headers, etc. Right above this log resides a bar with five shortcuts on it: Dial, New Message, Settings, RSS update, drop Pending Call.

At first it appears that the options are too limited in number and the interface isn’t ideal, but that’s only the beginning of an emerging brand new interface, with a lot more customization options to come in future models. As of now, it still provides enough utility not to feel annoyed.

Nothing was changed about the phonebook, it still sports a standard set of options. An automatic filter instantly narrows the selection of names as you type the initial letters, leaving only records that fit the mask. This has a back effect on the virtual keyboard to provide a better ergonomics for the touchscreen user: letters that aren’t found in any stored name at that particular position inside the word are not shown. Unfortunately, a while-standby phonebook search is unavailable, contrary to the latest Eseries models that have this feature.

A single tap on the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi indicators will bring about a more detailed report, a feature lacking in any previous model. The list of running applications is launched by holding the menu button for a few instants. During standby, two large icons are shown at the bottom of the screen – the shortcuts to the Dial and Phonebook menus, but the user can’t add any additional custom shortcuts.

Software compatibility is possibly the most acute question and a major influence on the customer choice. Many applications demand availability of hardware soft keys and a joystick button for menu navigations, two things that apparently aren’t in as long as the 5800 model is in question. Some applications will put up with this, as proved by our tests, but others won’t. You may want to try the compatibility mode to see if that helps. On many occasions it does help. In this mode, the bottom half of the screen is occupied by a virtual keyboard with soft keys and joystick, the top reserved for a QVGA screen emulation window. Unfortunately, working with software in this mode feels really clumsy.

GPS

Nokia Maps. GPS service occupies one of the top positions on Nokia’s priority list. The company invested enormous amounts of money into this direction of development, acquiring a number of navigation companies along the way, so by the end of 2008 the corporation is about to hit the 35 billion sold GPS handsets bar, which is more than the whole GPS market of 2007. Nearly every new Nokia smartphone is equipped with a GPS unit. Nokia 5800 isn’t an exception to the rule, making use of Nokia 2.0. There is practically no difference from the hardware-keyboard-equipped devices in the sense, everything looks familiar. The only ‘difference’ is the use of virtual buttons instead of hardware ones, but they still carry out the very same functions. Zooming is done by tapping on the screen instead of * and # buttons. A dedicated mode for pedestrians (Walk) is available, enjoying the support for voice hints. The accuracy of the maps is amazing. You can actually see not only the major highways and buildings, but anything ranging to park pathways.

The search window interface has been improved. The search results are sorted by category. A fast search is always possible, letting you look up things without opening the context menu. Hybrid maps make a fine complement to the other two view modes, being a great visual aid. Route calculation is still based on the three criteria and is updated in real time, reacting to emerging and disappearing obstacles like traffic jams. The color palette for the maps can be alternatively switched between Night and Day. When the GPS service is running, a small satellite-like icon is shown in the status bar (at the top of the screen), so you can always check the service status. All in all, you get a really big bunch of features with Nokia Maps 2.0, but its friendly interface is excellently compensating for the overall complexity. You won’t get frustrated even if it’s your first-time GPS experience. A three month’s subscription to the service is included into the sales package.

Summing all the facts up, Nokia 5800 turns out a good match to other recent Nokias as far as the GPS functionality is concerned, and seems to provide more comfort and easiness in everyday use. The only other device that’s fully comparable to it is Nokia E90, offering a screen of a slightly larger size. But the touch sensitivity of 5800 makes it a preferable option. With that, you no longer need to use a joystick button, every action is accessible through a tap of the finger.

Nokia video centre. The Video Centre application retains a full functionality, being an essence a service tasked with looking up, playing and downloading videos. About fifteen different video sharing services are currently on the list, including Reuters, Unicef or Stupid Video. A beta version of YouTube support is also included. A Wi-Fi connection ensures maximum comfort while using the services, but you can alternatively engage GPRS or EDGE due to the small size of the videos. Generally, the flicks are compressed and resized to match the screen resolution and frame rate typical of mobile phones. The application supports resumed downloads.

Files can be protected from auto deletion; a parental lock option is available; videos can be previewed as thumbnails, and so on. The service is very user friendly and intuitive. Every small detail is carried out with great attention: if a playing video was interrupted, then the player will prompt to continue watching the clip from the point where you’ve stopped or alternatively it will start playing it from the very beginning. It is expectable that list of supported services will be broadly expanded in the coming months. Theoretically, any video blog based off RSS video 2.0 can successfully communicate with the phone.

Share Online is a standard tool for uploading multimedia content. You can easily post photos and videos through OVI-based services like Flickr or Vox. A content manager is available, listing the upload history and pending uploads.

Browser. The integrated browser is built around the Konqueror platform (which is also used as a foundation for Apple’s Safari Web Browser). Nokia Web Browser covers all basic needs a mobile web surfer might experience, supporting standards like HTML 4.01, JavaScript 1.5, CASS 1 and 2, RSS. The browser supports up to 46 different languages coming in separate language packs; the options included into each individual pack depend on the region of sale.

The following graphics formats are supported by the device: GIF, JPEG, BMP, WBMP, PNG. The playable audio formats include MIDI, WAV, MP3, ACC, EACC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB and Real Audio. The browser supports all security algorithms and techniques native to the S60 and Symbian OS platforms.

The web pages are navigable with the help of a minimap. A red frame moving across the minimap indicates your current position on the page; after switching back to the web page itself you will be landed at the spot indicated on the minimap. The browser displays a high performance, switching between the minimap and the normal page view takes but a couple seconds. There’s an option that makes the minimap appear as a semi-transparent overlay to the page when you scroll it, making it easier to comprehend your current position.

There are two kinds of bookmarks available in the browser: regular and adaptive. Regular bookmarks are created by the user, serving just like any generic sort of bookmarks in PC browsers. Adaptive bookmarks are generated automatically depending on the content of the history log. The more frequently visited pages rank at the top of the list while the least visited go to the bottom. Adaptive bookmarks can be turned into standard ones. Both kinds of bookmarks can be attached to SMS messages.

The browser window can switch between vertical and horizontal screen alignment. The handset responds to rotation by changing the screen alignment automatically. A screen 640 pixels wide is ideal for comfortable web surfing, in most cases there’s no need for vertical scrolling. A couple of touches on the sensor buttons is enough to scale the page to your liking. The options button brings up a menu listing all the settings. One of the biggest advantages of Nokia Browser is a native support for the Flash technology, so it handles Flash movies and page elements with ease and speed. Below you will see a few screenshots demonstrating the browser’s flash capabilities. If not ideal, the browser is touchingly close to that designation

Search. The Search function has become a standard feature in Nokia smartphones, delivering the user a combination of search options designed to work for the onboard storage and the whole web alike. The interface was subject to a few changes (if compared to other Nokia smartphones). The application screen is split into two windows, one for Web search, and the other for internal search. To look up something, just enter the keywords into the search form located at the screen bottom, and all objects matching the mask will be listed in the appropriate window, sorted by standard categories. The number of found objects is shown next to the category name and pressing the navigation button right will expand the category and show the individual file names.

The Search service covers all existing content categories, some of them can be deselected. E.g. you can do a search that only affects the Contacts and Messages folders. A Search shortcut is available from the active standby mode screen.

Camera & Gallery

Camera is the only feature that doesn’t rank as high profile – you only get a modest 3.2 Mp unit with Carl Zeiss optics, the same piece used by Nokia N78, but the rest of touchscreen gadgets are generally equipped with 5 and 8 Mp cameras. On the other hand, mounting a better camera would inevitably have resulted in a substantially increased price and unneeded internal competition with other Nokia solutions. The future models to follow 5800 will be equipped with more powerful cams, but so far this one is a mass-market affordable device.

The camera possesses a standard range of features, making use of a CMOS sensor. The maximum resolution of a picture reaches 2048x1536 pixels, lens aperture 1:2.8, focal distance 3.7. Neighboring on the lens is a double LED flash which hardly stands up to the latest technological standards, most cameraphones come with xenon flashes these days. Still it can be helpful at short distances like a meter or so. Also it acts as a backlight during the focusing process, so you can focus on objects even in a dark environment.

The volume controls alternatively serve to scale the zoom ratio, ranging from 1x to 20x. The camera application takes less than 4 seconds to initialize. The viewfinder picture is not to inert, everything’s staying on a decent level.

The interface exclusively uses the album orientation. In the viewfinder mode, the currently active settings are shown: the picture resolution, remaining number of shots and content storage location. These indicators are accompanied by three virtual buttons on the right: a virtual shoot button (why should we need it when we’ve got a mechanical one already available), the flash mode switch and the settings menu shortcut. Activating the latter will bring up a semi-transparent window listing all available settings:

The photo size is customizable:

- 0,3М (640x480),

- 2М (1600x1200),

- 3М (2048x1536)

In the same menu, you can turn off the geo-tagging function. You can customize the default filename for photos and videos, distribute your content between various albums, pick a camera shutter sound (4 variants) and set up the storage location for the media files. You can’t precisely define a custom folder path, though. It’s hardly explainable given the availability of such feature even with Series 40 products. Geo-tagging is also possible for the videos, as well as three alternate clip resolutions. The FPS rate is locked at 30. Image stabilization and mute options are included.

The image options come in plenty:

- switch to video mode

- select shooting mode (auto, user, macro, portrait, night shot, night poertrait, landscape, sports - for rapidly moving objects)

- flash controls(auto, on, off, red eye filter)

- timer (2, 10, 20 seconds)

- multiple shot (one shot per 10, 30 seconds, 1, 5, 10, 30 minutes)

- exposure settings (from -2.0 to 2.0)

- white balance settings (auto, sunny, cloudy, glowlamp, fluorescent lamp)

- effects (sepia, negative, black and white, extra transparency)

- ISO setting

- sharpness (three levels)

- contrast (20-notch scale)

- brightness (10-notch scale)

Facts summer up, we think Nokia 5800 has a camera decent for the gadget’s positioning and product class, standing up to the level of N78. The photo quality will improve by the time when an updated firmware finally arrives, so here we are dealing with a pre-sale level. The Gallery application is very plain, you won’t find the Photos application so common among S60 v3 FP2 smartphones, all the images are shown as thumbnails and can be sorted by date, type, size and file name, but the rest of the options are much fewer in number than Photos typically offers. You aren’t getting albums, tag cloud and other advanced features, so we would love to see the picture manager boosted with more options and a slide show feature.

A few sample photos:

Multimedia features

The user interface looks trivial and in no way different from Nokia N96 or N78, just optimized to the sensor controls. The playlist and sorting options are all the same. The virtual buttons acting as controls are equally easy to use both in vertical and horizontal alignments.

The player settings include six preinstalled equalizer presets. You can also create any number of user presets. The base presets are Default, Bass Booster, Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock. Compared to Samsung and Motorola handsets, that’s not too many, but that’s cleanly outweighed by user’s absolute freedom to make and save custom equalizer presets. The eight-band equalizer has become a standard feature of all S60-based devices. Playing with equalizer sliders greatly affects the sounding, so it’s always worth trying to tune the thing to your liking. Misc options include bass adjustment, enhanced stereo sound, bass boost and reverberation. Track sorting can be done by artist name, album title, genre and so one. Playback options include looped and random playback. The Album Arts feature is supported, that is you get the album cover picture shown all the time while the tracks from this album are played. The visualization mode eats to much battery charge yet looks great. You can alternatively use the Home Media option to broadcast the signal over a home network to a compatible output device.

Nokia 5800 has a really good quality of sound, ranking a notch above the sounding of N78 and N79 and comparable to the audio of N85. Samsung i8510 is still the absolute leader in this race, and 5800 will never reach its bar, though. But the difference between it and 5800 isn’t too huge to annoy the user. Also, 5800 is more user friendly when it comes to connectors. The audio connector is located on the top edge of the casing, so you have no problem listening to the music with the handset in your pocket. A set of volume controls is found on the bundled adaptor, you can plug the headset into the phone either directly in the 3.5 mm audio out or using this adaptor thingie. Unfortunately, there are no dedicated player control buttons which we were missing much. To switch tracks, you have to unblock the keypad and go all the way through the menus to reach the needed menu. Nokia 5800 scores an absolute leadership in the playback length test among all S60 smartphones. It can run playing as long as 34 hours before a full battery charge dwindles down to zero. N85 can only stand some 26-27 hours, - which is also great, - but the new touchscreen handset is the unquestioned leader.

Nokia 5800 makes an excellent multimedia player. The audio quality isn’t ideal, but high enough to please a picky person. The difference from the leading solutions isn’t too big to distress anyone. As compensation, you get a high sound volume and convenient controls. This gadget can be running as long as 34 in the playback mode, consuming very little power when playing music. Playlists are easy to compose and modify. Nokia N85 has the advantage of dedicated player buttons but you don’t get them with 5800, but that’s the only flaw.

There are two kinds of radio on Nokia 5800 – Visual Radio and Internet Radio. Visual radio supports graphic features like Album Arts while Internet radio is a web service allowing comprehending a radio signal broadcast over the web. That makes a good point given the rapid spread of quality Wi-Fi access points and 3G mobile networks.

The Music submenu contains a shortcut to Nokia Music Store. The store’s database contains over a million tracks by various artists. A single track costs one euro, a whole album sells for ten euros. A monthly subscription to phone-to-PC music content synchronization costs ten euros. The price is on a level with similar offers by European carriers. Time will tell how much success the project will score.
Editor's opinion

The phone has a Nokia Music Store support, giving access to more than a million tracks by various performers; one track costs one euro, albums sell starting from ten euros, a monthly subscription for web-to-phone database synchronization costs 10 euros as well. The price is comparable to the prices for analogous services offered by different European carrier companies. In the playback menu, a ‘go to the music store’ option was added, which bounces you to www.music.nokia.com should you select it. The Music Store offers a lot of options: a full-fledged track database search, access to ratings and statistics, a planned download list, phone-to-PC synchronization with the help of Windows Media Player. All the tracks are downloaded in the .wma format, a bought song can be re-downloaded for free should it get lost. The shop’s interface is rather intuitive, all options are accessible through a couple of clicks. So far the service is exclusively available across the UK. Nokia Comes With Music is a yearly subscription to the service, allowing to download any amount of tracks or albums for a fixed amount of money. NCWM was included into the sales packages of Nokia 5310 and Nokia N95 8Gb (in the British edition), the total price being but a bit higher than that of the same product minus the CWM subscription in all other countries outside the MusicStore coverage area. For Instance, the CWM version of 5310 costs L129, which is a mere nothing for an unlimited access to the music database. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will also feature this service.

Viewed from the hardware perspective, 5800 reveals little to get fascinated about. All of the solutions realized in this model have seen an earlier use in multiple other Nokia smartphones. The same hardware and sound quality, the same long battery life. As for the software side of the question, the only new or changed features are a new desktop view mode and touch text input techniques, the rest of the features remaining quite trivial and non-revolutionary: Nokia Maps, MP3 player, Search manager didn’t change along with the rest of native S60 applications. Occasionally, some third-party applications wouldn’t launch, but we’re sure it’s a temporary problem to be fixed in a future firmware version. The native application package is versatile enough to fulfill most of the user’s typical needs, so there’s little actual need for third-party software (unless you are a mobile geek feeling overly enthusiastic about all sorts of Symbian software).

Nokia 5800 is a versatile product with above-than-average specifications, a lot of neatly implemented features, a small numbers of arguable points and a great potential, but it isn’t a killer to any other well-known multimedia handset by all means. The availability of a sensor screen doesn’t automatically provide a sky high demand, but rather pushes the product into a niche different from the one occupied by the keypad-based smartphones. It’s really hard if not impossible to make a sensor keypad work and feel like a real keypad, and this fact is going to distract a certain conservative fraction of the audience. It’s important that this also helps to eliminate excessive internal competition between keypad- and touchscreen-based Nokias with comparable functionality and features, so Nokia expands its market coverage without much pain or risk, seizing important niches for their touchscreen-based handsets. The more traditional keypad-equipped smartphones will keep their ranks and positions in Nokia’s portfolio, spawning an abundant progeny in all market sectors ranging up to the highest end class, just the way it has always been. The real competition in the touchscreen sector is rather isolated and only embraces sensor handsets by brands like Samsung, LG and, to a lesser extent, iPhone. As Windows Mobile took an evolutionary turn targeting the future course of its development largely towards the multimedia-profile and smart devices, Nokia gladly met this initiative with their personal vision of the concept. So far this fact has drawn not too much attention, but the situation will change drastically as more S60v5 touchscreen gadgets appear, leading to a heated competition even in this segment.

It’s hard to miscomprehend the latest market trend – the high-profile cameraphones by all brands are mostly coming shaped as touchscreen candy bars lacking any conventional keyboard. It’s easy to predict the appearance of several spin-offs from 5800 coming with varying shape, size and features. Some of them will keep with the music profile of 5800, some will diverge towards video recording features, and the Eseries product line is also likely to get expanded with a touchscreen business phone or two. It’s obvious that Nokia won’t be the only player in this segment.

Originally posted at Smape

Nokia N79

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:10:00 +0000

Despite Nokia’s recent “dual-slide” design trend, it has still been dedicated to producing quality candybar phones.

This particular model surprised me in ways no candybar had for a long time. It is different in ways both large and subtle.

Bright white

The first thing you will notice about the N79 is the white frontal outline. I found this to be a very aesthetically pleasing feature as it reflects light more gently than silver or black outlines.

BRILLIANT: The dual-LED flash is magnificently bright and the picture and video quality is excellent.

The keypad comprises of all-flat depressed buttons save for four rice-like keys and the N-series trademark silver media button.

The navigation wheel is more squarish but performs both the wheel and cursor functions very effectively depending on the context of usage.

In the middle of the navgiation wheel there is a sufficiently large “execute” button which seems to massage the tips of your fingers.

The rice-like keys take some getting used to though, especially if you have nails that are anything but short.

From time to time, I did slide off the limited surface area to accidentally push a flat key next to it, which was a little annoying at first.

My favourite part of the design is the sliding lock/unlock button at the top of the phone.

It makes locking and unlocking so more quicker and easier with just one swift move required. You do not see this feature often outside of slider phones.

Cover story

When you first open the box, you will see two extra covers of different colours next to the phone which will certainly come in handy.

There is a nice surprise waiting for you when you decide to change your cover.

What I mean by this is that all the covers provided have a built-in chip that, when clasped on, will change the wallpaper colour of the home screen to match the colour of the cover. I personally thought this was quite cool.

Also, the camera has a sliding cover which protects the camera while closed and turns on the camera when slid open.

This is quite a practical feature but I do feel that the cover is too easy to slide open.

I have accidentally activated the camera on many occasions when pulling the phone out of my pocket.

Down to business

Having used a few N-series models in the past, I was quite impressed with this particular model’s fast response time.

Also, it did not hang on me at all which was a nice change.

With updates to its firmware, Nokia has improved the user-friendliness of its GPS application significantly.

It is quick, easy to use and the maps are very accurate. It is good if you are looking for landmarks and other major places.

where it is lacking is the specific searches especially when it comes to the lesser-known places of interest.

In that situation, it will probably never replace a standalone GPS system.

To be fair, according to Nokia, it is in the early stages of a new map system and will have more detailed map updates and features in the future.

In any case it is hard to use while driving, at least, hard to use safely and without arousing the suspicion of the authorities.

Web browsing is also really fun on this model, mainly because of the well designed navigation wheel.

Also, this model has a tilt sensor which changes the screen view to landscape mode when tilted to its side.

It is great for Internet surfing but an inconvenience otherwise (sometimes it tilts while placed flat on the table).

Media matters

The camera on the N79 is really good. The focus time is about one second and the dual-LED flash is magnificently bright.

The picture and video quality is excellent with very few pictures coming out blurry or dark.

Nokia provides a USB cable so you can upload your media to your PC. Four gigabyte of memory is not considered massive these days but it is more than enough if you are consistent in uploading your content.

For music lovers such as myself, 4GB is not a world of space.

The speakers on this model are decent. It is much more enjoyable, however, to listen to music using the earphones/handsfree set provided.

I had a little trouble with transferring the music. The manual says to use Windows Media Player 11 but that does not really work so well since some of my synchronised files went missing in the phone.

What the booklet does not tell you is that you can actually use Nokia Music to sync the files. Even with Nokia Music, it took a few tries before all my music was where it should be.

N-gage me

I must say, getting a free activation code for LucasArt’s mobile version of Star Wars: Force Unleashed was really great.

I think it is the first mobile game I got really engrossed in and was impressed with the detail of the graphics and the complexity of the gameplay.

I am generally not much of a mobile gamer but I found this particular game to be challenging and very entertaining.

Conclusion

I have to admit this phone really impressed me. It is elegantly designed and its features are mostly top of the line.

Its price tag is significantly lower than many of its N-series counterparts and it has almost all the same features, albeit reduced in some areas.

Pros: Stylish design; good response time; excellent camera features; cool covers; fun games.

Cons: Rice-like keys are difficult to use; loose camera cover; limited memory; file synchronisation is troublesome.

Nokia E63

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:06:00 +0000

like it or not, e-mail has become the most pervasive method to stay in touch be it for work or leisure.

For most, it’s hard to resist the urge to quickly check e-mail messages whenever we are in a WiFi hotspot.

Nokia is hoping to make it really easy for you with its E63, a business centric phone that will cater to your e-mail needs.

Looks

Lightweight and modest looking, the E63 is a compact candybar phone that weighs 126g. The outer plastic casing comes in two colours — Ultramarine Blue and Ruby Red.

Our review unit is the Ultramarine Blue which while still attractive to the eye, was a bit too conservative for my taste.

The E63 looks near identical to the Nokia E71, though it has no side buttons for controlling the volume or voice recording.

A 2.36in screen (320 x 240-pixel resolution) provides ample space for viewing e-mail, text messages and browsing the Web.

The front panel of the device is largely dominated by a compact Qwerty keypad that should come in handy for heavy SMS and e-mail users.

The Qwerty keyboard also doubles up as a number pad as several keys at the centre can be used to dial numbers when on the home screen, which felt a little weird.

Despite the rather cramped appearance, the keypad is surprisingly soft yet comfortable to type on. One benefit I can see in having a full Qwerty keypad is that it’s quicker to type symbols, just like on a regular keyboard.

Still, the keys are placed quite closely together so expect to make typos from time to time.

There’s definitely a bit of a learning curve for adjusting to the keys on the E63 as I had to constantly eye the keypad to make sure my fingers were hitting the right keys.

Even after spending sometime with it, I’m still not able to type without making mistakes. I have a feeling that users with larger fingers will have problems with the keypad.

Anyway, I still find that I could thumb type faster on a regular keypad with T9 text input while making fewer mistakes.

Above the keypad are the usual call and hang up buttons along with a few useful shortcut keys like the home, calendar, phonebook and text message.

These buttons are great for quickly accessing common functions easily and there’s even one to turn on the LED so that it can be used as a flashlight.

If there is one design flaw in the phone’s button placement it has to be the call hang up button that doubles up as the on/off switch.

If you press the button for too long, it will display the profile menu which also makes it very easy to accidentally turn the phone off.

Another issue that bugs me is that the lack of a side button to adjust the volume — instead you have to hold the function key while pressing up or down on the directional pad to adjust the volume.

This makes it inconvenient to adjust the volume, say, during a call.

Functionality

As a mobile phone, the E63 has decent voice call quality and the speakerphone function is easily accessible and sufficiently loud to be heard while driving.

Users familiar with the Symbian OS should feel right at home with the E63. On top of being able to install Symbian applications on the phone, it has all the familiar features of a smartphone.

The home screen serves as the main interface, housing important shortcuts for sending text messages, web browsing and notifying you of new e-mail messages.

If you like to keep your work and private life separate, the E63 has a handy feature that gives you the option to customise a home screen for each.

For instance, you can have shortcuts for your e-mail and business contacts on your work home screen, and songs and games on the other.

E-mail is certainly the E63’s forte, as it uses the Nokia Messaging application, which you can download for free off email.nokia.com.

It is relatively easy to set up an e-mail account on the E63, as all you need is your e-mail address, password and you are good to go.

While I was able to get my Yahoo! and Ovi mail up and running, I ran into trouble with my Gmail account which was troubling since it’s my main account. But after a few tries, I managed to connect to it.

The Nokia Messaging interface is clean, simple and easy to use. Upon launching it, you will be shown all your active e-mail accounts, of which you can have up to ten.

The app functions like a full fledged e-mail client where you can compose a message and add pictures or files attachments.

Also, Nokia Messaging is highly customisable as you can preset it not to fetch e-mail while roaming, set limits on file attachments and such.

One cool feature of Nokia Messaging is that you can set it to retrieve e-mail only during office hours if you don’t wish to be bothered after working hours.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the E63 has a rather long battery life.

I used it for two days straight with occasional web browsing and voice calls and the phone still retained half of its charge.

Definitely useful for long days out of the office and you wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to stay in touch.

Other features

The E63 comes with lots of other goodies that will come in handy for the typical business user.

You have two options for getting on the Net — WiFi and 3G connection.

The surfing speed was consistent when we tested the phone with a WiFi connection.

And as most websites have a mobile version, they were easy to view and navigate on the phone although you lose out on the full experience.

Moving on, the E63 doesn’t have an internal GPS, so you can’t use it to navigate. This is understandable as it doesn’t have a big enough screen for you to view maps comfortably while driving.

The phone has 10MB of built-in memory which is minuscule by today’s standards but you can easily expand it with a microSD card.

The phone has a 2-megapixel camera and it comes as no surprise that it cannot hold a candle to newer models though it still gets the job done.

Also, the LED flash doesn’t in anyway help in taking pictures in the dark. Although I could see my subjects clearly but the photos turned out awfully greenish when shot with the flash.

Video recording doesn’t fare any better but it still looks relatively smooth when compared with other camera phones.

Also, the E63 really isn’t a great music player. The speakers sound pretty awful so you are better off using earphones.

I certainly don’t see the E63 functioning as your primary music player, so it’s probably best to stick to a dedicated player.

Conclusion

The Nokia E63 is a mixed bag of goodies that does some things right and under performs in other areas.

Also, it’s a matter of preference whether you like or dislike the Qwerty keyboard.

For some, a regular keypad with T9 text inputis still the best way to type on a phone.

Possibly the biggest plus point of the E63 is that you can check your e-mail on the go as Nokia Messaging makes it easy to configure your e-mail accounts and stay in touch.

However, other additional features like the built-in camera and music player are just unremarkable.

Overall, the E63 is specifically designed for business users and mainly caters for those who use e-mail and SMS a lot.

Plus, for RM1,080 you are getting a decent phone with WiFi connectivity and a good e-mail client.

Pros: Excellent e-mail client; decent Qwerty keypad; WiFi connectivity; cheap.

Cons: Camera is average; speakers not good enough for music; lacks volume control buttons.

Nokia E63 Specification
3G smartphone
Operating System: Symbian OS 9.2
Display: 2.36in QVGA LCD (320 x 240 pixels)
Camera: 2megapixels
Connectivity: GSM 900/1800/1900, EDGE, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11b/g
Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail
Internal Memory: 110MB
Expansion slot: MicroSD
Stand-by/ Talk time: 480 hours/4 hours 40 minutes
Other features: Music player, organiser, stopwatch, calendar, voice recorder, Adobe PDF reader, Quickoffice
Dimensions (W x D x H):113 x 59 x 13mm
Weight: 126g
Website: www.nokia.com.my

Nokia E75

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:54:00 +0000

In the box

- Nokia E75

- Manuals

- Nokia Plug

- Nokia USB cable

The new E75 just came in the office, and is Nokia’s latest business phone with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard. It carries over the E71’s functionality with physical improvements, so let’s see if this upgrade is worth your while.

Design

The E75 has a slim candybar style, with a metal casing and glass plates, which are all fingerprint attractor. Wiping it often is a must to keep the phone looking presentable. The design is looks businesslike, and should be no problem for most executives. The phone sports a 2.4 inch16M-colour TFT display of QVGA resolution, and the display quality is certainly good.

The phone has a clear plastic sunken keypad, which is a frustrating add-on to the E75, due to the lack of tactile feedback. The D-pad is lit-up and easy to use, even with the slide-out keyboard. As with the E-series phone, the ‘business’ shortcut keys complement the d-pad, with a home button, organiser and email key. In addition the phone’s access keys and the call/end button are attached as a single piece with the shortcut keys mentioned above, so a bit of finger dexterity is needed.

The ambient light sensor is above the screen and so is the vanity camera. On the left spine you have the microSD and microUSB slot, the phone comes with a 4GB microSD card and supports up to 16GB. The right spine has the volume rocker with the voice commander quick button, and the quick camera button. On that note, the quick camera button requires holding the quick camera key until the camera kicks in, so don’t expect to take quick photos.

Slide out the QWERTY keyboard and you’ll find the true money’s worth right here, the keys are well spread out and big enough to please even the biggest thumbs. The layout is also well thought out, with the stop, the comma and the @ symbol each having a dedicated key. Text messaging, emails are all easy and enjoyable tasks.

The back of the phone has a nice silver finish, with the camera and the dual speaker lined up here. Crack open the cover and you’ll see the SIM card and the battery pack. The top of the phone has a 3.5mm

The E75 has a pretty decent battery life, considering the quick charge of the battery. Expect four to five days on standby. The phone forks out 2 days on normal usage, with data, SMS’ and calling.

Features

The Symbian OS, S60 release 3.2 powers the E75, and it’s relatively unchanged from earlier versions. The UI retains similar functions with the E63, customisable shortcut keys on the main menu, set up your emails and search for content in your phone. Nokia’s Wi-Fi tab is located here too.

The 3.2 release had Nokia tried and true grid icons, which users can customise. Expect the usual fare of accessing your contacts, messaging, emails and music. The office function will feature, Adobe PDF reader, Zip, Calculator and Quickoffice with word processing software.

As with the 3.2 release, the device has a switch mode which allows you to balance work and play. The Switch Mode allows you to set and switch between 2 different home screens, for example User can set a “Work” home screen work weekdays and switch to “Personal” home screen on weekends, so you do not have to look at all your email notification or meeting alerts on your screen when you are spending leisure time with family.

Symbian’s Internet browser is a proven platform for Nokia devices, the mouse and mini map combination is all good and reliable. Zoom options for smaller text, and Flash compatibility is great for YouTube and video streaming.

Nokia E75 features Real player for playing your video clips. The video player can be displayed in both normal and fullscreen modes. The S60 music player platform performs quite well, users can expect the usual fares from Nokia’s music player-sorting, adding and creating new playlist are all a breeze to do. Audio quality is good for the E73, though we have heard louder speakers from Nokia.

The FM radio on Nokia E75 has a nice simple interface and can automatically scan and save the available stations in your area. RDS support is included and the Visual radio is also on-board.

Onboard GPS is available in the E75, with A-GPS and Nokia Maps navigation preinstalled. A lot of features from traffic information, city guides and so on – require sub!ions. We felt the map load time were slow, as the GPS were able to locate the phone but the without the map we don’t know where we were.

Connectivity

The E75 sports a large variety of connectivity options, with quad-band functionality (850 /900 /1800 /1900 MHz) with 3.6Mbps HSDPA, EDGE, GPRS, and Bluetooth 2.0. Naturally there is Wi-Fi for E75.

Camera

The E75 has a 3.2 megapixel camera that comes with a LED flash, auto-focus, and no lens protection. The few E-series we’ve encountered had slightly dubious camera functions and the E75 is no different.

To sum up the E75’s picture quality- it’s bad, the capture quality looks grainy, lighting contrast is also off, and colours are drained from the pictures as well. The LED flash doesn’t really help all that much, and the lack of lens protection will means careful handling. However, coupled with aforementioned slow launch of the quick camera button, the camera truly takes the cake.

Verdict

The E75 comes off as a physical variation to the extensive E series line, while there aren’t any groundbreaking, special features- the phone receives a physical upgrade to most of the E series line.

At RM 1,950, it stands as a mid-range handset, the price point justify the features. The camera stands at 3.2 megapixel, but it’s underwhelming to say the least. The QWERTY keyboard addition is the phone’s strongest point, and adds a business quality to the E75.

All in all, even if the E75 has nothing groundbreaking to offer it still can't be ignored as a viable E-series option.

Nokia N97

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:48:00 +0000

THE Nokia N97 has been keenly awaited since its worldwide introduction late last year as it was touted to be the next big thing in the mobile market by many observers.

The phone is laden with features and it is bound to be a Herculean task to condense all the features and functions in one sitting so there is little space to waste.

Sliding tilter?

The first thing you will notice about this model is what Nokia officials call a “sliding-tilt” phone. This means that you push one side forward and it tilts up to give you that mini-desktop look and feel, which I personally think is excellent for all kinds of situations.

A Qwerty keyboard has always been a requirement for me as I like to feel buttons beneath my fingertips when I am typing an SMS, e-mail or URL.

HANDY: The N97 comes with a slide out Qwerty keyboard.

This particular keyboard is a tad small for my big fingers but after a few days I was typing quite fluently. Beyond the Qwerty keyboard, the sole traditional button is the silver menu button. Side buttons include a lock button, volume control and camera toggle.

I was a little concerned about the wear and tear with the sliding-tilt hinge. Nokia have said that the hinge is made out of extremely sturdy material and that the phone has passed vigorous performance and drop tests.

I can say that it has passed my own accidental drop tests and the hinge does look and feel pretty strong.

The only real issue I had with the physical characteristics of the N97 was the back cover and battery, both of which are unrealistically hard to remove and replace.

Having tried this on a variety of people with different finger sizes and varying lengths of fingernails, I have concluded that it is near impossible to take out the battery without a prying mechanism. Tragic.

Online sensation

Built for the Internet, the Nokia N97 allocates the majority of its touchable home screen to movable and customisable widgets for quick access to your online needs.

Users are able to put their widgets in specific “rows” and there are around five rows in total. It was really useful having a link to online news and social networking sites.

Given the relative speed of fixed line broadband these days, many a time I was able to go online and check for updates faster on my mobile than on my laptop.

It is especially useful when you are on the go and need information quickly. Its always easier to prove a point or win an argument when you have Google embedded on the front screen of your phone.

It would be practical to consider a mobile broadband plan to get the most out of the Nokia N97 without slowly bleeding your wallet dry paying off the data charges.

Rocket science?

The resistive touch technology coupled with Nokia’s software makes for a very elegant combination. Navigating is by no means second nature, there are some hurdles in figuring out exactly how the web browser works.

One example is the zoom. There is a vertical tab that allows you to zoom in and out but, at least initially, you are not sure which part of the webpage it will zoom in to.

I still think that a Nokia phone is the one of the more user-friendly phones you can buy. This model has stayed true to that.

However as more and more functions get added to phones like this one, it just takes longer to find what you are looking for.

There were some bugs in the Nokia N97’s software post-release and I did experience some hanging and other minor glitches. According to Nokia officials, those imperfections were addressed in the first software update that is now available.

Wait, there is more

I took countless pictures and videos in the short time I had this phone with me. With 32GB of memory on board I never even thought about whether I had enough space for all of it.

The camera is just about as good as it gets on a phone and the video quality is quite impressive.

Given this, it was surprising that the voice recorder was not nearly as high end in terms of sound recording quality as I thought it would be. Some recordings turned out quite muffled.

The biggest disappointments were the speakers. The music output (specifically the bass) left something to be desired and you could barely make out what the other person is saying when you turn on the speakerphone at full volume.

My guess is that Nokia had packed far too much in this phone already and therefore the speakers were more of an afterthought (much like the removal process for the back cover and battery).

Conclusion

There is an inherent charm in the Nokia N97 that is inescapable. From placing it on a table and writing an SMS to surfing on a fantastically long landscape mode, it was all quite memorable as far as phones go.

Also, I thought the price was quite reasonable considering the usual trend with new releases of high-end and feature filled devices. That is not to say I consider it cheap though.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the phone and would recommend it to anyone looking for a powerhouse smartphone.

Pros: Unique sliding tilt; great to surf on; excellent fusion of Qwerty keyboard and touch technology.

Cons: Substandard speakers; cumbersome battery cover.

Nokia N97 Specifications:
3G smartphone
Camera: 5-megapixels
Display: 3.5in (640 x 360-pixels)
Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail
Connectivity: WLAN, HSDPA, USB, Bluetooth
Memory: 32GB internal memory, MicroSD slot
Standby/talk time: 400 hours/360 minutes
Dimensions: 55.3 x 15.9 x 117.2mm (w x d x h)

Other features: Widgets, A-GPS

Nokia N86

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:48:00 +0000

Build quality: 8/10
Applications: 7/10
Interface: 7/10
Value-for-money: 7/10
Overall rating: 7/10

+ 8 megapixel camera
+ Plenty of multimedia functions
+ Good quality build
- Average picture quality

In the box
- Nokia N86 8MP
- 3.5mm headphones
- Micro USB cable
- Micro USB charger
- Manual

The Nokia N86 8MP is a feature packed N-Series phone with numerous multimedia functions. However, the main addition is a piece of serious hardware- an 8 megapixel, 3264x2448 pixels, wide 28mm Carl Zeiss lens camera.

Let’s take a look at the N86.

Design

Nokia’s N86 has a slider format, and a matte black exterior. There is a 2.6’ AMOLED 16 million colour screen, the colours and images come off as average and aren’t particularly vibrant. There vanity camera is located above the screen. The slider has a very good built, and has that little tactile bump when we slid opened the keyboard.

Moving on to the frontal keypad, the keys are thin and pill-shaped. There are two shortcut keys to pre-defined routes. Then to the sides flanking the d-pad are the call/end call buttons. The menu button is located at the 45 degree angle on the bottom left, and on the right is the cancel button. The central d-pad serves as the main navigator and confirms your selection.

Slide the front screen upwards, and you’ll see the tried and true alphanumeric keypad beneath it. The alphanumeric keys were designed with extra room between the keys, and T9 lovers should have no problems with the keys. The multimedia keys were also exposed when sliding the screen downwards, where we’ll explain a bit more at the music section.

The top of the Nokia N86 has the power button, the 3.5mm jack and the microUSB port. The left spine of the phone has the lock/unlock toggle key. On the right, the volume toggle and quick camera button is located here. Lastly, the back of the phone has the 8 MP camera and the kickstand is also located here.

Open the back cover and you’ll the see microSD slot, which is hot-swappable. The battery pack secures the SIM card in place.

Feature

The Symbian OS v9.3 S60 rel. 3.2 feature pack 2, powers the N86, the UI is pretty straightforward. There home screen has top shortcut keys, which can be tweaked to provide your favourite shortcuts. There are three horizontal tabs can be tweaked as well. Head into the main menu, the simple 3x4 grid layout is the first thing you’ll see. The S60 looks tidy and all the apps are packed in the main icons.

Email, text and multimedia options are all here, no push mail options however. PIM wise there is a document viewer, calculator, converter, ZIP and Adobe PDF reader. There is also a voice recorder.

The Nokia N86 8MP uses an ARM 11 434 MHz CPU, and that did equal some pretty decent speeds from the phone. There’s also 8 GB internal memory with 128 MB RAM, and the microSD slot supports up to 16GB.

The N86’s Symbian web browser doesn’t have many frills, it will fit text into a screen. And with the accelerometer, the N86 supports landscape mode. However, surfing in landscape is slightly tedious. The N86’s vertical keypad means you have to straighten the phone before we could type in a new URL. In the App section, there is also a Youtube and Facebook portal.

The phone has a dedicated Ovi Store portal. The premise is simple, much like Apple’s app store. It has a good amount of apps, which should please app fanatics. The N86 has the N-Gage portal, and there quite a number of trial games available. like the Ovi Store, the N-Gage sells dedicated games for your N86.

Onboard GPS is available in the N86, and is powered by Nokia Maps 3.0. Ovi Maps offers four different view modes including satellite and hybrid maps.

Multimedia

The Nokia N86 has the S60 music player, as usual, your music library is automatically sorted by artist, album, genre and composer and searching tracks is available. You can also create your own playlists. Adding music is noticeably simpler in the N86- the phone automatically refreshes your music list the instant the microSD is slot inside. Choosing the refresh option will also add tracks into the library.

The dedicated multimedia keys made playing our video and audio files much easier. And there are buttons to play/pause, stop, forward and rewind.

The S60 audio quality is good and but not exceptional, at lower volumes the speakers perform well but once we turn in up the volume tends to shake up the entire handset. Guess we can’t have everything, and a loud volume point does not mean lower quality music.

The Nokia N86 features Real player for playing your video clips. The video player can be displayed in both normal and fullscreen modes. When in full screen, the softkey functions are hidden so that they don't spoil the viewing experience and only pop up when a key is pressed. The FM radio on Nokia 5800 has a nice simple interface and can automatically scan and save the available stations in your area. RDS support is included and the Visual radio is also on-board.

Connectivity

The Nokia N86 has a great selection of connectivity, with quad-band functionality (850 /900 /1800 /1900 MHz) with 3.6Mbps HSDPA, EDGE, GPRS, and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. There is also Wi-Fi.

Camera

The Nokia N86 is powered by an 8 megapixel, 3264x2448 pixels, wide 28mm Carl Zeiss lens, autofocus, dual LED flash. The picture quality is surprisingly average however, as photos come out slightly blurry and the colours feel a little unnatural at times. We also noticed some white outs when shooting out in the sun.

The wide angel lens does means the N86 can physically capture more of the background. But, we do have a little qualm with the macro shots as an object has trouble being focused. Another qualm is the lack of a quick camera key or the ability to access the camera from inside the phone. The only way to turn on the camera is to slide open the protective cover from the back.

The kickstand will automatically bring up the gallery by default, and pictures can be viewed in both portrait and landscape mode. It will also zoom up to 400%. There is also video recording running at 30fps. There’s a vanity camera throw in there for 3G calls.

Verdict

The Nokia N86 in the end gave us mixed feelings about its main hardware upgrade – the camera. The phone carries a heavyweight camera but the picture quality could be better. In the multimedia area however, the N86 does not falter. Combined with the connectivity options, and N-gage, this phone should keep even the neediest of us entertained.

Ultimately, the Nokia N86 falls back as a multimedia device for us rather than a camera centric-phone. At RM 1,880.00 this puts the phone at mid-range pricing. The N86 is recommended for those who love a slider form factor with great multimedia options, and the ability to snap pictures.

Samsung Omnia HD i8910

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 07:24:00 +0000

At A Glance:

Build quality: 8/10
Applications: 7/10
Interface: 8/10
Value-for-money: 6/10
Overall rating: 7/10

+ 8.0 megapixel camera
+ Impressive screen quality
+ Improved UI
- Expensive
- Bulky

In the box

- Samsung Omnia i8910 HD

- MicroUSB Cable

- Charger

- 3.5mm headphones

- TV-out cable

The Omnia i8910 HD is the multimedia oriented version of the Samsung Omnia. With an 8 megapixel camera, this device is packed with features- such as an HD video camera.

Design

The i8910’s candybar design has some very noticeable design changes when compared to original Omnia. The new design is closer to the latest Samsung designs. There’s a huge capacitive 3.7 inch AMOLED screen, displaying at 360 x 640 pixels. The screen displays in HD much like its namesake, it’s vibrant and bright, but and will display both high resolution pictures and videos.

The phone is one of biggest we’ve ever seen, and at 145g, it’s a really heavy phone to heft around in your hands.

The minimalist design is easy to pick up on, there’s a three button layout underneath it- a call button on the left, there’s home button in the middle and on the right an end call/ cancel button. On the left spine, there’s a volume rocker and a microSD slot. On the right spine, there’s a lock/unlock button, a microUSB slot and a quick camera button.

Main memory goes up to 8GB, there’s also a 16GB variant. There is plenty of memory for high quality videos and picture. The phone also has a built-in accelerometer, which extends to messaging, pictures and videos.

The top of the phone has a 3.5mm jack which has a protective cover, the camera in the back has a flash. Crack open the back and you’ll see the battery pack, and the SIM card slot on the top of the battery. There’s also A-GPS on-board, which works in tandem with the Samsung LBS.

The battery life is impressive- the rated standby time goes up to 450 hours and talk time should touch 7 hours. With the extensive multimedia functions, the battery life has impressed us.

Feature

The Symbian OS v9.4 Series 60 rel. 5 powers the i8910 but it looks like a completely different OS compared to the Nokia OS you might be used to. First off, the TouchWiz acts as the cover the Symbian, so there’s the multitude widgets to phone functions. The TouchWiz interface has a bar at the side of the screen as the widget depository, which you can manipulate easily to get your perfect home screen.

The home screen also has four little tabs at the bottom, including the contact, telephone keypad, messaging and main menu button. The Symbian OS is pretty straightforward, there’s 4x3 grids much like on Nokia devices. Additionally, the home screen when swiped to the right, will also access the main menu. Meanwhile, swiping to the left of the screen and will reveal the photo contacts.

During messaging, you can opt between virtual QWERTY keyboard, the keypad, or handwriting recognition.

Additionally, the home screen when swiped to the right, will also access the main menu. Meanwhile, swiping to the left screen and will reveal the photo contacts.

The main menu icons will branch out into more options, video players, gallery, web, and Real player. PIM wise there’s a calculator, clock, converter, notes, calendar, Zip, dictionary, Quickoffice and Abode PDF reader.

The User Interface deserves special mention, as it is vastly improved from previous Samsung UIs. It lacks multitouch or special gestures, but the swipes and icon clicks are noticeably easier to register by the Omnia HD i8910.

Samsung also threw in an on-board GPS, and a dedicated map application- the LBS. Additional functions like voice navigation, traffic info and relevant information will come at an extra cost.

Multimedia

The Omnia HD’s music player is quite similar to Nokia music players, and should be no trouble for users. There is also a virtual 5.1 channel Dolby Surround, which improves audio quality. Tilting the phone horizontally and you’ll notice Apple-esque Cover Flow.

On to the video player, the video quality is amazing if you can get your hands on some HD videos. And you can make your own HD movies with the video camera and play it on the video player. The video supports the accelerometer so we could watch videos in landscape view.

For those of you who rely on HDMI cables you are out of luck, and you’ll need a Wi-Fi TV set which supports DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) streaming format. There is a lower resolution, TV-out port on the phone and Samsung provided a TV-out cable. Note that, the video quality will not be in HD when transferred to your TV.

The Omnia’s web browser is the Symbian’s 5th edition, it supports multiple pages and Flash and Java support, so it’s convincing web browser.

Connectivity

The multimedia device could be mistaken for a smart phone with the multitude of connectivity options available. The phone has GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 frequency bands, data connectivity wise there are HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support.

Camera

The i8910 comes with a whopping 8.0 megapixel camera, with autofocus and Geo-tagging, face, smile and blink detection, image stabilisation, wide dynamic range, ISO 1600. The camera shoots some pretty high quality images with a plenty of customisation options. With a xenon flash to boot, it’s overall a very impressive camera.

Meanwhile, the video camera shoots at HD quality at 720p at 24fps, D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps, QVGA time-lapse and slow-mo video recording. There’s also a 3G call camera.

HTC Touch2

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:13:00 +0000

THE new Touch2 phone from HTC runs the new Windows Mobile 6.5 but that’s not all - it is also sports a new look, solid casing and a slew of improvements over its predecessor.

A closer inspection reveals the phone is 2mm longer, 1.6mm thinner and also 14g lighter - it tips the scales at 96g — than the original Touch.

And instead of a D-pad, the Touch2 offers dedicated Home, Menu and back buttons to go with its standard call and end call keys.

Also new is the zoom bar located underneath the 2.8in display to enlarge images, webpages and text on the fly.

Plain black housing

Frankly speaking, the Touch2 is nothing to shout about in terms of looks.

The candybar-shaped model is wrapped in a plain black plastic casing with silver lining around the sides.

With plenty of large smartphones and Windows Phone models in the market, the Touch2 does feel compact in comparison as it only measures 104 x 55 x 12.9mm.

Its 2.8in TFT LCD touchscreen employs resistive technology and is hard to use under bright sunlight.

Since the device doesn’t support handwritting recognition, users will need to use either the virtual Qwerty keyboard or alphanumeric keypad to key in data.

We noticed the screen is too small to properly accommodate the virtual Qwerty keyboard layout thus those with big index fingers will probably find it difficult to use it when typing.

This means that using the stylus tends to be unavoidable.

On the plus side, HTC has gone the extra mile to provide users with easy access to its functions such as a volume rocker on the side, which you can also use to put the phone on silent or set it on vibrate alert on the fly.

Also available is a hot-swappable microSD card slot. It supports up to 32GB cards but before users can open the cover, they need to remove the battery cover first. Go figure.

In the absence of the multitouch feature, having the zoom bar around is a blessing and it works quite well too. Also having dedicated Home, Menu and back buttons means easier and faster access to the phone’s functions.

NO FLASH: The back of the phone houses the camera and speaker.

At the back are the 3-megapixel fixed focus camera and the loudspeaker grill. Don’t look for a flash as there isn’t any.

Windows Mobile inside

As mentioned earlier, the Touch2 is among the first phones to ship preinstalled with Windows Mobile 6.5.

The updated mobile OS promises to deliver a better user experience thanks to its host of improved features, including a redesigned Home screen, “honey-combed” user interface and Internet Explorer Mobile 6.

There are also plenty of preloaded essential applications like Office Mobile, RSS Reader, YouTube and Facebook to make life easier.

If those aren’t enough you can purchase more apps from the Microsoft Marketplace — the Windows Mobile platform online store which also includes third-party software.

Take note however that the Malaysian store is limited to only few apps to date.

WM6.5 also offers the slide-to-unlock bar ala the iPhone and it works by just sliding the on-screen padlock icon to unlock the Touch2.

SLIDE TO ZOOM: Simply slide your finger on the zoom bar to enlarge a photo on the fly.

It protects users from accidentally accessing the phone’s functions and when the padlock icon is tapped, a dropdown menu will appear to show missed events or incoming messages.

Sounds nice doesn’t it? Unfortunately, in reality the experience was far from great.

WM6.5 actually feels more like a cosmetic change than a total overhaul.

like the previous version, we still have to dig deep into the system to access many of the apps and settings.

Thankfully, the Touch2 also offers HTC’s proprietary TouchFlo user interface to help make things better.

The attractive and user-friendly plug-in takes over the default WM6.5 homescreen in a cool way. With it, the phone feels more responsive to the touch and essential functions are just within one or two slides and taps away.

Thanks to the TouchFLO homescreen, we rarely used the standard WM 6.5 menu.

Multimedia experience

The preinstalled Windows Media Player supports only MPEG4 and 3gp files. For other formats like DivX and XviD you will need a third-party application such as DivX Mobile Player 0.9.

This app is still in beta and available for a limited time only. The app works really well but we could only test it out using a small XviD file due to space constraints.

It also plays music well, offering good noise level and dynamic range.

When it comes to shooting photos, the Touch2 doesn’t offer any dedicated camera button - instead users need to press the shutter icon on the screen to capture the image.

Its 3-megapixel fixed-focus lens is able to capture up to 2,048 x 1,536-pixel still images and records CIF (352 x 288-pixels) video at 30 frames per second.

Also available are the usual options, including self-timer, white balance presets, light sensitivity settings (up to ISO800), colour effects, themes as well as panorama shots.

Don’t expect good quality pictures from this shooter though. Even under bright conditions, the images turn out to be slightly blurry and the colour is bit off with a hint of blue.

You also need to hold the camera very still to take a decent picture. Shooting fast moving objects are also a no no.

Final touch

The Touch2 comes with all the essential apps to let users continue being productive while on the go.

Also the phone’s compact design means it is light to carry around but those with big fingers should probably stay away from it.

Unfortunately the phone’s main selling point of being preinstalled with WM6.5 is a letdown. The changes are simply cosmetic rather than providing fast and proper functionalities.

Thankfully, the HTC’s TouchFlo interface makes the navigation bearable.

Another plus point is that it is also cheaper than competing models.

Pros: Comes with essential apps preinstalled; TouchFlo interface; solid and easy to carry around.

Cons: No autofocus, flash or dedicated camera key; no handwriting recognition and poor legibility under bright sunlight.

HTC TOUCH2

Operating System: Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
Camera: 3-megapixels
Display: 2.8in QVGA display (65,000 colours)
Messaging: MMS, SMS, e-mail
Connectivity: Bluetooth, quad-band GSM, 3G with HSDPA (7.2Mbps)
Phone memory: 512MB ROM, 256MB RAM
Expansion slot: MicroSD
Battery type: 1,100 mA+1 lithium-ion
Standby/talk time: 500/6 hours (3G)
Other features: FM radio with RDS, Bluetooth, built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, touch-sensitive zoom bar
Weight: 96g
Dimensions (W x D x H): 104 x 55 x 12.9mm

Nexus One

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:12:00 +0000

06 January 2010 – Yesterday Google launched the Nexus One, an HTC-built phone using Google’s own mobile software platform, Android. The high-end handset, described by Google as a ‘Super Phone’, will compete directly with other high-end Android phones. However, the key aspect of this launch was not the device itself but Google’s entry as an online retailer of phones. The Nexus One may not be a game-changer in terms of technology or pricing, but it does reinforce Google’s ambition to become the first managed device platform (MDP) vendor.

The Nexus One moves Google towards becoming an MDP vendor
The importance of the Nexus One is not in the hardware or pricing, but in Google’s control of the complete end-to-end user experience of the handset, from procurement to the delivery of web services to the device. We believe that MDPs will define the new high end of devices over the next five years. As smartphones are pushed further into the mass market, the important distinction of a phone will not be smart or not smart but managed or unmanaged.

This new category of managed devices will be delivered by a handful of vendors that have the resources to manage end-to-end delivery of web services to consumer devices. Google will be one of these vendors.

Google’s investment in the Nexus One is bad news for other Android OEMs
The Nexus One has modestly differentiating hardware. It is certainly no slouch in the specification department, but aside from the AMOLED display it does not set itself apart from, for example, the Motorola Droid or the HTC HD2. Its other differentiator, aside from the display, will be its use of the latest build of Android (Version 2.1, previously codenamed ‘Flan’), of which the most significant feature is the use of voice input for every text field, so users can speak entire emails, tweets or requests for navigation routes.

Its use of the latest Android build creates tension with other Android OEMs, which have now committed to device launches with older software versions that could be perceived by consumers to be inferior.

Retail is a new direction for Google
Google acknowledged that the move into online retailing represented a great leap, though it hopes to take this in ‘baby steps’. The Nexus One is the first of a number of handsets it hopes to sell through its online store. Other online companies have come to grief in the fulfilment maelstrom, a domain in which Google has almost no experience or assets at all. Even Google’s retail payments service, Google Checkout, has been relatively unsuccessful. Google aims to improve the store over time and serve new countries when it can roll out a robust offering. If it is successful then other online retailers such as Amazon will have good reason to be nervous.

For operators, success for Google would be a much more mixed blessing/curse; managing handset logistics and holding expensive stock in channels is a complex and troublesome process. On the other hand, ‘exclusive’ handset deals are one of the few ways in which operators can seek to distinguish between their standards-based offerings.

Nexus One take-up in the US will be limited by carrier incompatibilities
Today the Nexus One can be purchased for either $529.99 unlocked or $179.99 with a two-year contract on T-Mobile in the US. It will also be available through Verizon Wireless in the US and Vodafone in the UK in due course.

Related Stories:
Google Nexus One gets official, USD $529

LG GD580 Lollipop

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 09:30:00 +0000

Introduction / Preview : LG GD580 Lollipop

Vibrant color variation
Vibrant color variations with the choice of pink, blue and dark grey. LG Lollipop is the most eye-catching accessory in your party.

LED lighting
You can make your own logo or little phrases by the vivid LED light, showing your very personal feeling.

Super slim
Super Slim folded design with wide screen, LG GD580 Lollipop offers a perfect touch of feel.

Wide angle self-portrait camera
With distinctive photo frame and special effect function, the wide angle self-portrait camera makes shooting more interesting.

LG GD580 Lollipop Specifications

LG GD580 Lollipop specifications including size, weight, screen, memory, network support , battery performance and features.

General & Hardware

Date Announced	2010, 1Q
Network Technology	GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 2100
Dimensions (mm)	108.3 x 51.5 x 13.4
Weight (g)	103.5
Available colours	Blue, Black, Pink
Screen Size	2.8 inches, 240 x 400
Screen Color	TFT 262K colors (External : OLED display)
Type	Clamshell
Antenna	Fixed Internal
Phonebook	1000
Internal(MB)	60
Memory Slot	MicroSD (Up to 8GB)
Battery Type	Li-Ion 800 mAh
Stand-by (hrs)	250
TalkTime(min)	180

Entertainment

Polyphonic
MP3	Yes
FM Radio	Yes
TV Receiver	Null
Video Record	Yes
Video Support	MPEG4, 3GP, WMV, H.263, H-264
Audio Support	MP3, AAC, AAC, WAV, WMA9, MIDI

Messaging

SMS	Yes
MMS	Yes
EMS	No
Email	Yes

Connectivity

HSDPA	Yes, 3.6 Mbps
3G	Yes
EDGE	Class 10, 236.8 kbps
GPRS	Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots)
Bluetooth	Yes, ver 2.1 (A2DP)
USB Port	Yes
Infrared (IrDA)	No

Software

Platform / OS	Proprietary
Java (J2ME)	Yes ,MIDP 2.1, CLDC 1.1
WAP	Yes Ver 2.0
Browser	xHTML/HTML
Predictive Text Entry	T9
Other Application	Google Search, Google Map

Personals

Themes	Yes
Caller ID	Photo ID
ProfileID	Yes

Camera Specifications

Lens Type	CMOS, 3.2 Megapixel
Digital zoom
Max. Resolution	2048x1536 (secondary: 300k)
Flash	No
Night Mode	Yes
Extra Features
Photo Format
Video	Yes
Video Format

Samsung WEP460

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 09:15:00 +0000

The Samsung Mono Bluetooth Headset WEP460 is designed for extended use at a great price. It provides up to 8 hours of talk time or over 1 week of standby time without needing to recharge. It also features low power consumption of Bluetooth version 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) technology. It includes a removable transparent crystal ear hook, allowing you a choice for the best fit.

Lambda BL@ST

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 08:53:00 +0000

We take a look at the BL@ST Bluetooth headset which boasts a built-in FM transmitter that turns your car stereo into a handsfree for your phone.

A while back we featured a piece on Lambda BL@ST, the company producing a Bluetooth headset designed and built in this country.

Well, the device is now out of testing stages and should hit the market as you read this.

In.Tech got an advance unit for review and here’s our thoughts on the shipping version of the BL@ST.Two radios in one

So what’s interesting about the BL@ST is that it’s not just a Bluetooth headset — this device comes with an FM transmitter built-in so you can easily transfer your calls to your car stereo by just tuning into the same channel the headset is transmitting at.

However, I’m getting ahead of myself here, so I’ll deal with the main features first.

The BL@ST is a nice-looking device — build quality is good and it’s actually about the size of most in-ear Bluetooth headsets, although in fact it’s a device that’s made to be clipped on to your shirt or pocket and used with a pair of regular 3.5mm stereo earphones.

In addition to the regular headset profile, the BL@ST supports A2DP Bluetooth stereo as well, and as such comes with a pair of high-quality in-ear earphones so you can stream high-quality music from your phone when you’re not making phone calls.

Turn on the BL@ST (by holding down the Stop/Play button for two seconds) and you’ll be presented with a bright OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display hidden on the front face of the product.

The OLED display is very bright and easily readable in a variety of lighting situations, and shows you, amongst other things, the phone’s signal strength, volume level and battery life of the BL@ST.

The functions of the device are accessed and navigated entirely using the directional pad and the Play/Stop button in the centre.

Other than the nice display, the big feature of the BL@ST is that it has an FM transmitter built-in — once you have it turned on, you can transfer the audio output to your car stereo by just tuning your car stereo to the appropriate FM radio frequency.

The BL@ST actually supports 15 possible radio frequencies so you should be able to find a frequency with as little interference as possible.

In fact, you don’t actually have to tune your car radio to a frequency without any radio channels because the BL@ST is quite capable of overriding any weaker radio channels that are on any one frequency.

Once you perform the usual Bluetooth pairing procedure you’re basically up and running and if you want to switch to the FM transmitter, all you need to do is hold down the Forward button for two seconds.

In case you’re wondering, once the BL@ST is in FM transmitter mode, it is possible for other car radios tuned to the same frequency to listen in on your call.

So, if you’re having a private and confidential conversation, it’s probably better to use the supplied earphones instead.

For the rest of us, however, I don’t think our mundane calls would even be of interest to any user even if they happen to be tuned in.

In use

Since all navigation and modes are accessed using just five different buttons, setting up the BL@ST for the first time and accessing some of the other features can be a bit confusing at first.

Also, you have to press some buttons in combination to do some things, so I highly recommend you sit down and read the quick start guide before you start using the device.

Once set up however, most of the button combinations are standard for Bluetooth headsets — for example, you can end a call by hitting the Play/Stop button or mute a call by pressing the Forward button once.

The one thing that you will probably access the most is the FM transmitter and that is accessed by holding down the Forward button for about two seconds or longer, after which you’ll get a visual confirmation that the transmitter is on.

IMHO, the BL@ST really could have benefited from a little slider switch to turn on or off the FM transmitter — this way, you’d get a clear visual cue of whether you have FM on or not, without having to turn on the display.

Security concerns aside, inadvertently having the headset transmitting your music or your phone calls all the time would really drain the battery and a slider switch would really go a long way to at least minimise this problem.

If you don’t have any music or calls running, the FM transmitter will turn off after a few minutes to save power.

Other than that, audio quality on the BL@ST was very good — A2DP audio quality is very good and had a good balance of bass and treble.

The BL@ST actually comes with a built-in DSP and twin micropphones — one to pick up your voice and the other analyse and cancel out background noise when you’re making phone calls.

So, people receiving your calls will hear you loud and clear even when you’re making calls in noisy environments. We actually tested this feature and found it worked very well to isolate your voice from extraneous noise.

Audio quality using the FM transmitter was good, although you really need to make sure the BL@ST is clipped to your shirt or somewhere in your car where it’s not covered for interference-free audio.

Battery life on standby was pretty good — I managed to have it on standby for about three days, with some music listening and making a few phone calls.

I’d say if you’re a heavy user, you’d probably have no problems running it for at least one working day without having to recharge.

Interestingly, the BL@ST actually can charge while it’s being used, so if you have a car charger you can run it even when it’s charging.

Conclusion

The BL@ST is a relatively budget-priced Bluetooth headset with a solid set of features.

Sound quality was also pretty good overall, and thanks to the noise cancellation feature, even people who receive your calls will be able to hear you when you are in a noisy environment.

Of course, the FM transmitter is really icing on the cake and works as advertised, although as mentioned before, a dedicated slider for turning on or off the transmitter would have made the feature a lot more practical in use.

The BL@ST is worth considering if you’re in the market for a Bluetooth headset.

Pros: OLED screen; very clear audio for both caller and receiver; FM transmitter.

Cons: FM transmitter could do with a dedicated switch.

BL@ST Specification
(Lambda Mobile Apps)
Bluetooth stereo headset
Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, Bluetooth headset profile
Standby/talk time: 140/3.5 hours
Other features: FM radio transmitter, OLED display, Caller ID, dual microphone with background noise cancellation
Weight: 20g
Dimensions (w x d x h): 20 x 10 x 63mm

Nokia E72 vs Blackberry 9700

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 08:05:00 +0000

Introduction / Preview : BlackBerry 9700

The BlackBerry 9700 (Onyx) is a new Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA smartphone. The phone sport a traditional full QWERTY keyboard, a new optical trackpad, 3G, HSDPA, Wi-fi (802.11 a/b/g) and GPS.

The Blackberry 9700 come with a 480x360 resolution display, a 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, visual voicemail, BlackBerry App World , TeleNav GPS Navigator and Amazon MP3 store pre-installed.

BlackBerry 9700 Onyx Features:

New Trackpad
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
UMTS/HSDPA
480x360 resolution screen
Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g)
OS 5.0
Full QWERTY keyboard
3.2 megapixel AF camera
Bluetooth

Nokia E72

Nokia E72 vs Blackberry 9700

Nokia E72 video Gallery - Showing some fantastic Nokia E72 review, unboxing, hands-on and TV Commercial video clips. The collection of high quality Nokia E72 live Video Clips here for you to have a virtual experience on the phone. We update the collection of video in our Nokia E72 video

Nokia N900 vs Sony Ericsson Satio

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:50:00 +0000

Nokia N900 video Gallery - Showing some fantastic Nokia N900 review, unboxing, hands-on and TV Commercial video clips. The collection of high quality Nokia N900 live Video Clips here for you to have a virtual experience on the phone. We update the collection of video in our Nokia N900 video gallery section daily.

Sony Ericsson Aino

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:18:00 +0000

At A Glance:

Build quality: 8/10
Applications: 7/10
Interface: 7/10
Value-for-money: 7/10
Overall rating: 7/10

+ Attractive design
+ Wide range of entertainment features
+ Great camera quality
- No 3.5mm headphones jack
- Limited touchscreen functionality

In the box
- Sony Ericsson Aino
- USB Power Adaptor
- Standard Charger
- Sony Ericsson Headphone
- Sony Ericsson wireless headset
- Manual
- Desktop docking cradle

The Sony Ericsson Aino is the company’s latest multimedia phone, the phone has high-end features, and a large 3 inch screen all packed into a white svelte casing. The Aino which was launched with the Yari and Satio, represents a breakaway from the conventional nomenclature of Sony Ericson’s alphabet names.

Design

The Sony Ericsson Aino is multimedia-centric phone of the Walkman line, and is quite an attractive phone. The phone is all white, accentuated with blue metal brushings. The Aino’s slider is easy to operate, sliding it open and close will only require an opposable thumb. However, it’s not the sturdiest phone we’ve ever used- the slider is rather wonky when opened, as the joints can wobble.

The phone is larger and longer, and is a little on the heavy side at 135g.

There’s a 3.0 inch screen with a 16M TFT colours, which offers decent colours and screen quality. When closed the large screen is perfect for movies and picture, as there are no buttons to be seen. The Aino has a peculiar touchscreen functionality, and will only appear when the slider is closed.

On the left spine, there’s the universal Sony Ericsson port for charging and headphones. The right spine has the quick camera button and a volume rocker.

Crack open the slider and the keypad will be exposed. The phone’s D-pad is directly underneath the screen, so are the phone’s quick buttons, shortcut keys and cancel button. The call/end call button is here as well. The sunken keypad isn’t very friendly, as the D-pad, and its surrounding keys are all place within a modular piece of plastic. The lack of tactile feedback makes texting and navigating through the phone a real hassle.

Open up the back and you’ll see the SIM slot and the M2 card slot. The slot has an 8GB M2 card and can support up to 32 GB memory. The phone itself has 55MB worth of internal memory.

The package includes a desktop docking cradle, which connects turns the Aino into a multimedia player. Dock the phone and you can play music or videos from the speaker. The phone can act as a slideshow photo frame, and radio too.

Features
The Aino runs on Sony Ericsson’s proprietary OS. It is basically a similar OS to SE phones from before and it has the 4x3 grid. Expect similar functionality, Playnow, Internet, Media, Camera, Messaging, Location services, Contacts, and Settings.

The Aino’s accelerometer supports pictures, videos and webpages. The phone also has an onboard GPS, and Google Maps is the default map here. PIM functionality is quite extensive for a music-centric phone, from a countdown timer, alarm, notes, tasks and an organiser.

When the phone is closed, the phone turns into ‘multimedia mode’ and will appear with touchscreen functionality. In this mode, the phone has five icons, a camera button, gallery, music, videos and FM radio.

The music player looks and feels like the SE music players of before. The player is simple to use, click on any of the external buttons and immediately listen to some music, and we liked the volume rocker too. The video player is easy to use and supports Quicktime files as well.

As usual, our music library is automatically sorted by artist, album, genre and composer and searching tracks by gradual typing is available. You can also create your own playlists in no time. The process of adding tracks to the library is as simple as choosing the refresh option.

Again, we have no qualms about the Aino’s music player, except for the lack of the 3.5mm jack.

Connectivity
The Sony Ericsson Aino has several connectivity options ranging from Wi-Fi, 7.2 HSDPA, EDGE/GPRS, quad-band GSM connectivity (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz), and Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP.

Sony Ericsson also hyped up the PS3 Remote Play connectivity, where the Aino can establish a remote connection to the Sony Playstation 3 which will be able to stream some of the PS3’s media (pictures, music and video) directly to the Aino. Also the PlayStation 3 home menu can be accessed through the phone.

Camera
The 8.1 megapixel camera is impressive, and has features like LED flash and autofocus. The picture quality is decent. The camera works well under all condition delivering crisp pictures, and good colours as well. The macro shots were also impressive, the details of the pictures came out rather nicely.

The Aino offers a good range of tweaking options, such as the ISO and white balance, and self timer. Our only qualm is that the camera isn’t quick enough, due to the save time. If you want to take a quick succession of shots, that might be a challenge.

Games
The Aino has two games, Crazy Penguin and Quadrapop. Crazy Penguin is a combination of timing and eye-hand coordination, from flinging penguins to aiming them to hit the offending polar bears. Quadrapop is a Tetris game with a cute animal twist, match four animals together and the blocks go away.

Verdict
Sony Ericsson Aino is a multimedia phone, and its clear Sony Ericsson is keen to revolutionise their phones. The phone is well designed, and we're hard pressed not to ogle it. It is well designed and is jam packed with high-end features.

At RM 1,999 the Aino is a phone that we would recommend to those who want their entertainment on the go, due to the phone’s extensive multimedia abilities, and high end connectivity options. However, the (limited) touchscreen and PS3 connectivity feels rather underwhelming. All in all, if you looking for a handset that will keep you entertained for hours, the Aino’s for you.

BlackBerry Curve 8520

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:10:00 +0000

Everyone is talking about the Apple iPhone these days; the types of applications you can get on it, the things you can accomplish with an iPhone (“almost anything” they will say), how wonderfully easy it is to use and how cool it will make you look.

The iPhone is seen as a flashy, futuristic and fun product but is heavily reliant on third-party software to make it successful.

Most treat it as a replacement for an MP3 player and a portable game console, like a Sony PSP and Nintendo DS,

It’s more of a tool for fun and play rather than for serious communication which is what a BlackBerry is essentially famous for. When BlackBerry first hit the market, it was targeted at those involved in the higher echelons of management and the like.

Since they were on the go quite often and needed to make swift decisions due to market trends for example, the BlackBerry offered them the ability to receive and reply to e-mail instantly anywhere in the world.

Research In Motion, the company behind the BlackBerry made sure that the product and service they provided was efficient and secure which made it a very attractive tool indeed.

It became a mobile office and was branded as the tool that solders you to your job 24/7.

More so though, it became a status symbol, one that almost meant that if you had a BlackBerry you were somebody important and productive.

It did not help that celebrities started to use it too, to communicate to the myriad of people they worked with, be it studio and record executive chiefs or their managers or even just to each other.

US President Barack Obama is a known BlackBerry addict and used it heavily while on his campaign trails. Even now, he has one specially designed for him with special encryptions to further secure it.

The 411

The fad trickled down to the common folk and there has been a rise in users even though rate plans and price for the BlackBerry are higher than most.

It is inevitable though since in this day and age when communicating via e-mail messages, SMS and online chats are seen as the norm, the BlackBerry is almost a mobile extension of that lifestyle.

With the introduction of the Curve 8520, an attractively priced BlackBerry, Research In Motion further hopes to appeal to the regular consumers.

First off, it is slightly more compact than previous BlackBerry smartphones and comes in various colours like blue, red and black.

It is well built and made of sturdy plastic which means it is quite light too. It feels solid enough but to some it may feel like a toy.

Also, it actually looks quite feminine with its rounded corners and sexy shiny exterior. Previous BlackBerry smartphones had chrome and metal finishes which gave it a more masculine appeal.

The Curve 8520 sticks to the full Qwerty keyboard style designed to make messaging and replying to e-mail messages quick and easy.

The buttons are raised high enough so that typing is actually quite a joy on the Curve 8520.

The optical trackpad is probably the phone’s most attractive feature. It is the first of its kind on a BlackBerry, as previous models had touchscreen or used a trackball.

The trackpad on the Curve 8520 is a flat square button in the middle of the BlackBerry that makes navigation through the menus a breeze and very smooth.

Basically, your finger lightly glides over the trackpad to steer you through the menus and once you have selected what you want, you simply press down on the trackpad to click the chosen application. It is really quite revolutionary.

Aside from the trackpad, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 also offers dedicated media keys at the top of the smartphone, something similar to those found on the Nokia or Sony Ericsson handsets for easier access to the media player.

Remember, the Curve 8520 is directed at casual consumers rather than business users. But why can’t business users enjoy music once in awhile, right? So, this is definitely a plus point.

On top of that we have WiFi which is always a good thing anywhere and everywhere. It will take some getting used to since the Inbox experience is very different from what we are used to with common mobile phones since the Curve 8520 uses it to also store e-mail and chat messages. But the Curve 8520 handled everything smoothly and quite efficiently too.

Downside

Although the Curve 8520 has incorporated media player functions, the camera is only 2.0-megapixels so this limits the camera in some manner.

Speaking of limited functions, it also does not come with a GPS which means the Curve 8520 will not be able to pinpoint your exact location but only give a vague idea of where you are based on telecommunication towers.

And the biggest downer of all — the Curve 8520 does not have 3G. The EDGE network is alright, since the e-mail messages still reach you and applications connect and refresh quite fast but there have been times when the it has problems getting EDGE signal while in a building.

This defeats the purpose of a smartphone which is meant to allow you to retrieve information any time anywhere.

But when it is working, EDGE is sufficient for the Curve 8520. The blame here can be on the network rather than the phone though.

The messenger

RiM has its own official store, BlackBerry App World, which has at least 500 various applications to keep you in touch and in the loop.

Otherwise, you can simply search online for other third party applications that are not found in the store.

Do not fret, there are official applications for Yahoo!, Google, Facebook and MySpace and there are unofficial but splendid free applications for Twitter and other social networking sites.

Also, due to its popularity, a lot of websites have optimised their pages for BlackBerry users so web browsing is quite natural.

It must be mentioned that one of the main selling points of a BlackBerry is the BlackBerry Messenger or more fondly known as BBM or BB Messenger. It is a free application that allows you to communicate to other BlackBerry users for free or at a negligible cost.

Conclusion

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 is affordable and allows you to receive e-mail messages on the go without accessing a computer.

It really is just as good as its predecessors because you can do essentially the same things with it.

Now that local telecommunication companies are offering BlackBerry prepaid plans, hopefully there will be a spike of BlackBerry users. Overall, sophistication is what makes the BlackBerry stand out.

Pros: Affordable; light, sturdy and compact; BlackBerry App World

Cons: No 3G and GPS

BLACKBERRY CURVE 8520 :

Quad-band smartphone
Camera: 2-megapixels, 5x digital zoom
Display: 2.46in (320x240-pixels)
Messaging: SMS, MMS, push e-mail
Connectivity: Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz), GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, WiFi 802.11b/g
Internal memory: 256MB Flash memory
Expansion slot: microSD
Other features: Multimedia player, wireless email, organizer, browser, phone
Standby/talk time: 17 days/4.5 hours
Battery: 1,150mAh lithium-ion
Weight: 106 grams
Dimensions (w x d x h): 60mm x 13.9mm x 109mm

Nokia 5730 XpressMusic

noreply@blogger.com (ringorder) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:57:00 +0000

If you are thinking of easing into the whole Qwerty keypad buzz this year and do not fancy the sterile look of business phones, then you may want to consider the slightly more fanciful Nokia 5730 XpressMusic.

Incidentally, it is the first in Nokia’s portfolio of music phones that combines both a traditional alphanumeric keypad and a full Qwerty keypad.

But there’s more bulk to the Nokia 5730 aside from the choice of input functionality and a genuinely decent music player.

The 5730 also packs in a built-in GPS, WiFi, a 3.2-megapixel camera and an obligatory secondary camera for video calls.

Build quality

The Nokia 5730 is overly glossy except for the matte black cover at the back.

The unit for review came with a red band around the edges which added a hint of edginess to the overall aesthetics.

Nokia may have gone slightly overboard with the rather overwhelming number of keys it has placed on the façade of the 5730.

Despite the Finnish-mobile phone maker’s good intentions of bringing greater convenience and quicker access to functions and services, the front of the 5730 seems to be a rather tight squeeze.

There’s the alphanumeric keypad, four-way direction keys, function keys, music playback button and dedicated gaming buttons — all crammed on the front panel.

The pair of gaming buttons positioned just below the ear piece allows the phone to be held like a gaming console while the screen switches to landscape mode.

One thing I noticed however was that the end call button also doubled up as a power off button.

One too many frantic push of this button to exit any application or service quickly could also power off the phone.

That said, kudos to Nokia for keeping the screen at decent resolution within a nice, spacious 2.4in size.

The 240 x 320-pixel resolution meant that text was sharp and easily readable. The colours were also vibrant and pleasant to the eyes.

Slide away

Now since the 5730 introduces the Qwerty keypad concept to a more accessible/popular product segment, this functionality is certainly worth a verdict.

The phone is billed as a side-slider so sliding out the keyboard also rotated the screen to landscape mode.

Being relatively new to this whole Qwerty keypad fad, I was fumbling to move around the keys quickly.

Unlike the keyboard on the Nokia E75, which is slightly raised for a more tactile feel, the keys on the 5730 keyboard were flat and the arrangement, rather cramped.

SLIDE AWAY: The 5730 is billed as a side-slider so sliding out the keyboard also rotates the screen to landscape mode.

This proved challenging as I found myself accidentally hitting the neighbouring keys instead. Getting used to this full keyboard took me some time, which then led me to revert to the good ol’ numeric keypad on the front for on-the-fly messaging.

Over and above the other functionalities, Nokia has positioned the 5730 as a music phone first. As such, the 5730 didn’t disappoint in the audio department.

Sound was crisp and clear and the addition of the equaliser and other sound settings proved the versatility of the phone’s music player capabilities.

Access and usability were simple, straightforward and quick thanks largely to the dedicated music keys and Nokia’s S60 music player.

The onboard speakers are also noteworthy for a device this size, but if you fancy a solo moment, then you can use the 3.5mm connector to use just about any headphones in the market.

The review unit did not come with a microSD card so do consider investing in one to compile your playlist if there is none in the retail bundle. The onboard memory is only at 100MB, but the handset can take cards of up to 16GB in size.

One function that I found to be rather gimmicky yet entertaining is the Say and Play application.

This basically allows you to start playing music by saying the artiste’s name or the song title. In fact you can even control the volume setting with your voice. All it takes is just to press and hold down the “*” key.

Other features like WiFi worked superbly and without a hitch. The 3.2-megapixel camera, which also comes with an LED flash, was a slight disappointment considering the stellar line-up of features, but that said, it is still decent to say the least.

Conclusion

The Nokia 5730 doesn’t lack character. In fact, it tries to pack in a whole lot of features into a rather bulky and heavy body — all 135g of it.

With all the functions and applications, the 5730 luckily isn’t too sluggish to make it a case of too much for its own good.

The Qwerty keypad is certainly a welcome addition and quite liberating actually — truly a wonder how far mobile phone design has progressed.

I suppose if you’re a big fan of Twitter or are compelled to provide live updates to your blog while on the move, then this functionality would complete you. It just takes some getting used to.

Nokia’s attempt in combining “typical” executive functionalities into a fun and functional chassis strikes a chord for the crowd who’s gaming to jump on the Qwerty bandwagon.

At RM1,350, this phone is positioned as mid to high price range, but if you’re looking for a music phone with more versatile features, then the Nokia 5730 is worth considering.

Pros: Great music features; Qwerty keypad; nice design.

Cons: Buttons overload; heavy.

5730 XpressMusic Specifications

Music phone
Camera: 3.2-megapixels
Display: 2.4in (240 x 320-pixels)
Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail
Connectivity: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, 3G, WiFi, HSDPA, USB, Bluetooth
Memory: 100MB, MicroSD slot
Standby/talk time: 360 hours/8.3 hours
Dimensions (W x D x H): 51 x 15.4 x 112mm
Weight: 135g
Other features: A-GPS