Gizmos and me

Samsung Launches Midrange Music Mobile: Samsung F250

Slider mobile king Samsung, has launched yet another music mobile directed at the midrange consumer. The Samsung F250 is equipped with a 2-inch TFT display with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels and 65k colors.

The F250 has a 1.3 megapixel camera and direct music access keys. It also comes with an integrated FM radio and supports Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP compatibility and EDGE. It has only 20MB of internal memory but supports microSD cards up to 2GB. This slim slider has dimensions of 94 x 46 x 17.5 mm and weighs in at just 96g.

The Samsung F250 should be out sometime next year and will be priced at approximately Rs. 10,410 (180 EUR).

Sony Ericsson W380i

Sony Ericsson has just unveiled its new mid-range non-3G Walkman phone - W380i. Available in Q1 2008, the new device is designed to bring the "Walkman experience" to the masses. There's the 176�220 262K color TFT internal and 128�36 monochrome STN external screen, 14 MB of phone memory that is further expandable with microSD cards, 1.3 MP camera, stereo Bluetooth (A2DP). As for the pre-installed apps, users can expect Sony Ericsson's standard mobile suite that includes WAP 2.0 XHTML browser, RSS reader, instant messaging client, media player, sound recorder and other mobile "classics" like alarm clock, calculator, calendar, etc.

The price is not disclosed. Check out Sony Ericsson's press release .

LG KS20

LG Mobile has announced the KS20, a full touchscreen smartphone based on the Windows Mobile 6 Professional. This handset, features tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900MHz) and WCDMA (2100MHz) connectivity, with data speeds up to 3.6Mbps thanks to HSDPA support. The KS20 is also equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 for additional wireless connectivity options. Internal memory is limited to 128MB, but a microSD card slot is included that supports cards up to 2GB in size.

The KS20 supports input via the included stylus or a fingertip, and also features handwriting recognition. Weighing in at 92.5g (3.3oz), the KS20 fits quite a few features in its small 100mm x 58mm x 12.8mm (3.9" x 2.3" x 0.5") package. For increased convenience, the LG KS2 will ship with Google Maps, MySpace, and Ebay applications pre-installed.

The KS20 should be available in shops across Europe starting today, though pricing was not announced.

Specifications for the LG KS20
Band	GSM 900/1800/1900MHz UMTS 2100MHz
Data	GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA/WiFi
Size	100mm x 58mm x 12.8mm (3.9" x 2.3" x 0.5")
Weight	92.5g (3.3oz)
Battery Life	Up to 16 days standby time
Battery Life	Up to 4 hours talk time
Main Display	2.8" 65k TFT color, QVGA (240x320) pixel resolution touchscreen
Camera	2.0 megapixel w/ autofocus, 2nd VGA camera for video calls
Video	Yes
Messaging	MMS/SMS/IM
Email	POP/IMAP/SMTP
Bluetooth	v2.0
Memory	128MB / microSD card slot
Availability	November 2007
Other	Speakerphone, Windows Mobile 6 Professional

Samsung G800

Samsung G800 pictures and specifications

Triband GSM, 3.6 MBps HSDPA, 5 megapixels, 3x optical zoom and Xenon flash all in 16.8 mm thick package.

Serenata music mobile phone

Samsung and Danish Audio equipment manufacturer, Bang & Olufsen have joined forces to bring us the Serenata music mobile phone. They seem to have managed to put together a unique and stylish mobile with music quality that we can just hope lives up to their brand names. This phone is going to be all about the music.

"Since we started our first co-operation with Bang & Olufsen, we have only been confirmed in our belief that both companies share a passion for innovation and consumer-focused technology. Serenata is another example of new ways to think of the mobile phone. I'm proud to say that our customers can see a true innovation of music player and mobile phone as we have opened a new era of mobile phones with Serene two years ago", says Geesung Choi, President of the Telecommunications Network Business in Samsung Electronics.

"We have high expectations to Serenata, as it is a result of our joint vision to constantly push the boundaries, and bring unique and exciting products to our customers", states Torben Ballegaard Sorensen, CEO of Bang & Olufsen.

The Serenata is built as a contrast between cool aluminum and a warm soft touch lacquer that gives an impression of elegance, slimness and craftsmanship. It uses a scroll wheel system for accessing menus and options. And in case you're a first time user of the phone, which you obviously will be, the companies have incorporated a 4 minute simulation to help you get accustomed to the usage of the phone. The Serenata has an integrated loudspeaker system and you can also listen to your tunes via the dedicated stereo EarSet 3. This mobile is capable of reading formats that include MP3, WMA Lossless 9.1, AMR and AAC. It uses an application called BeoPlayer that can access and organize all music files on the PC and transfer them to Serenata. Also through the Samsung PC studio, the users can synchronize the contacts, calendar and to-do list from their computer onto Serenata via Microsoft outlook.

Samsung's Serenata is a GSM handset that is 3.5G enabled with HSDPA connectivity and has 4GB of internal memory. It weighs in at 136g and has a 2.26 inch TFT-LCD display with a resolution of 240 x 240 pixels and 256k colors. It is Bluetooth enabled, although we have no confirmation on if it is A2DP compatible, but judging from the kind of music capabilities and the manufacturers themselves, I'm quite sure it will be. For PC connectivity it uses USB v2.0 high speed.

The price and availability of the Serenata is yet to be disclosed.

HTC Touch Dual Pocket PC, S730, HTC P6500 GPS-Enabled Pocket PC Launched and the HTC Shift

HTC Touch Dual

It runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 OS and even though it's 3G enabled with HSDPAQ and EDGE, it doesn't have Wi-Fi, which is rather odd. Other connectivity includes Bluetooth v2.0 and miniUSB. The Touch Dual has a 2.6 inch TFT touch screen display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 65K colors. The slide out keypad is just like the keypad you'll find on the Blackberry Pearl. Other specs include a 2 megapixel camera and a second VGA camera for video calls. It uses microSD cards for external memory. Unfortunately we don't know when it'll be out nor the price.

S730

As previously stated the S730 is an upgrade to the earlier HTC S710 handset that was launched earlier this year. The HTC S730 adds 3G/HSDPA and a 400MHz processor for those consumers and business professionals who want high-speed connectivity. It also has Wi-Fi capabilities, Bluetooth with A2DP capabilities and miniUSB connectivity. It features an auto-sliding QWERTY keyboard to access email, messaging and the internet while on the go. The HTC S730 comes equipped with Windows Mobile 6 and 256MB Flash memory wrapped in a gunmetal gray casing. It also has a 2 megapixel camera and a secondary VGA camera for video calling. Like the Touch Dual this model also supports external memory using microSD cards. The S730 is going to be available this month but no price tag has been provided yet.

HTC P6500

The HTC P6500 is primarily designed for the enterprise market. Incorporating a 3.5 inch screen, 3 mega pixel camera with auto focus and barcode, business card and fingerprint scanning capabilities, it offers the ideal features to be overlaid with programs tailored to meet the specific needs of each enterprise. The HTC P6500 is equipped with 256MB internal memory with the option to add up to 1GB in addition to two external SD card slots. This powerful specification set is supported by 3G/HSDPA connectivity as well as a GPS capabilities. It even has a Remote Wipe system so you can delete all data without actually having the phone with you. A security precaution in case of theft or loss of the phone. The HTC P6500 will be available in November, but no price has been disclosed.

HTC Shift

In all honesty I have no idea if this is a phone, a PDA, a Laptop or a Tablet. What my guess is, it's a mutated hybrid of all of the above. It's equipped with a 7 inch TFT Touch Screen with 800 x 480 pixels and 16 million colors. It has dual speakers with 1GB of RAM, a 30 GB HDD and a 1.2 GHz VIA CPU. It's also equipped with a 1.3 megapixel video call camera. The Shift is a GSM device which is 3G enabled with HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.0 and miniUSB connectivity. It runs on a Microsoft Vista Business OS. The estimated price is expected to be around Rs. 68,000 (1199 Euros) and it should be out by the end of this year.

Tags: [ Smartphone ]

Sony Ericsson V640i, exclusively with Vodafone - your music and more.

Sony Ericsson today announces the V640i, a stylish music phone with a funky feature set, available exclusively with Vodafone in selected markets.

Real music, real time - Download a full-length track in around 14 seconds

Name that song - Record a song clip on your phone, identify it immediately using TrackID(TM) and download it instantly

Manage your media - Drag and drop music and videos betweenphone and PC

Available in two rich colors or shades - Havana Gold and Quick Black - the Sony Ericsson V640i available exclusively with Vodafone provides a true music and entertainment experience. With support for Memory Stick Micro(TM) (M2(TM) up to 4 gigabytes - that's up to 3600 full-length tracks - and a dedicated music key to help you navigate all of those songs, the V640i really can be your music library on-the-move.

The V640i is designed to appeal to music lovers looking for no-compromise performance. Weighing in at a pocket-sized 97grams, it delivers 3G Broadband (HSDPA) Web browsing on your mobile. It also means that it takes about 14 seconds to download a full-length music track; up to four times faster than average on a 3G phone.

There's no need to worry if you just can't place a song that you hear on the radio. The V640i's in-built TrackID(TM) feature lets you record a 5 second music clip - either by tagging it from the phone's own FM Radio or from a nearby stereo - and then within seconds receive notification back of the song title, the artist and the album name. The TrackID(TM) music recognition software can then provide a direct link to the homepage of Vodafone's Music Store for fast track download. Hear it, identify it and own it.

More than just a music phone, the Sony Ericsson V640i keeps you entertained and fully informed. It will playback video at 15 frames per second and this, coupled with the bright 2.0 inch screen, makes it ideal for checking out the latest music videos when you are on-the-move. The V640i comes complete with pre-loaded Google Maps and eBay clients and also supports RSS Feeds to keep you up-to-date with the latest news, weather and entertainment.

If you prefer to capture the action for yourself, the V640i's 2.0 megapixel camera is always at hand to shoot still pictures or moving images. Share these instantly with friends via MMS, email or postcard; or by uploading them to your own online gallery, or blogsite. Share the Web address to share your latest photos or video clips.

The V640i comes complete with new Media Manager software to let you easily move your favorite music, photos, videos and more between your PC and your phone. Music tracks or video clips will be automatically converted into phone-friendly formats and creating playlists or adding album artwork to your tracks is simple.

"The new V640i is a great all-rounder that is packed with advanced music capabilities," says Peter Marsden, Vice President and Head of the Vodafone customer group at Sony Ericsson. "It's designed to allow users to get the most from Vodafone's music services, such as the Vodafone Music Store, without compromising on the ease-to-use and strong design that they expect from a Sony Ericsson."

Jens Schulte-Bockum, Global Director, Terminals, Vodafone, said: "The new V640i from Sony Ericsson offers our customers a stylish, desirable and fashionable mobile device that does not compromise on music capability or performance. It's a great balance of form and function."

The Sony Ericsson V640i is available exclusively in Vodafone stores from Autumn 2007.

HTC Touch Slide or HTC Nike

HTC Touch Slide Leaked And In the Wild

The HTC Touch Slide, previously known as the HTC Nike—is the slide-out version of the HTC Touch we reviewed back in June. On the inside, there's 3G HSDPA, 400MHz processor, 2-megapixel camera, and a microSD expansion slot.

Touch Slide

On the outside, where it's interesting, is a SureType keyboard that allows much, much faster text input than the crappy stylus/screen combo that the HTC Touch had to suffer with before. Not much other detail other than this, but Modaco seems to think the phone is going to be officially launched on Monday.
Although the slide-out keyboard will make this phone usable for normal people who really don't want to dig around a Windows Mobile touchscreen interface to do anything—which believe us, is very painful—it's not quite enough to bring it up to level of usability that say, an iPhone has.

Src: [Modaco]

Review: Sony Ericsson W580 Walkman Phone

Sony Ericsson W580 (ZOOM)

The W580 Walkman phone is one of the few slider form factor devices that Sony Ericsson currently produces. In terms of hardware, this quad-band GSM/EDGE handset and the non-Walkman S500, which was released a month and a half later, are near clones. The W580 gains the advantage of the better music player as well as a built-in pedometer, something we first saw on the W710 last year. With an attractive shape and Sony Ericsson's thoughtful user interface, the W580 appears to have what it takes to be a standout handset in a crowded market.

Physical Aspects

The W580 is a moderately sized phone. It weighs just a hair over 93g (3.7oz) and measures up at 100mm x 47mm x 15mm (3.9" x 1.9" x .6") in size. That's fairly compact. The 2", 262k color TFT display on the front of the device, though small, is pretty bright and is generally readable in all lighting conditions. The phone's gray plastic cover, with its metallic blue highlights, is quite attractive and stays clean looking. A simple chrome volume control is on the left edge of the W580, the power switch and M2 memory card slot are located on the top, and the fast port data/headset connector is located on the right side. The bottom of the device has a bend to it that houses the internal antenna and adds a nice twist to the design.

While the d-pad and surrounding buttons are accessible at all times, the keypad and the camera stay out of view until the W580 is opened up. The d-pad itself has a pretty nice feel to it, but is hampered a bit by the raised rim that surrounds it. That rim is used by the thumb to open and close the slider mechanism, so I understand why it is there. The softkeys, back and C keys, and the dedicated Walkman and shortcuts keys all work well, though the later two are quite small. Small also describes the alphanumeric keys on the keypad. They have a reasonable feel to them, but the overall design of the keypad is somewhat cramped, though very attractive. At least the keys are backlit properly and are very easy to read. The camera sits behind the W580's display, and is surrounded by the same metallic blue material used elsewhere on the phone. It is cool looking, and quite obvious.

Speaking of cool and obvious, the W580 is equipped with what Sony Ericsson calls light effects. These lights are located behind the W580's softkeys and shine out the sides of the device in various shades and patterns. The lights will tell the W580 user when a call or messaging is arriving, and can be configured to be off, on, or on only when the phone is in silent mode. There are 16 different color patterns that users can chose from.

In addition to the gray with blue color scheme of our review unit, a white with orange version of the W580 is also available. We have also been told to expect a black with orange version to become available starting sometime in October.

Sony Ericsson W580 (ZOOM)

Core Functions

In terms of day to day phone use, the Sony Ericsson W580 performs very well. Its internal antenna was able to keep a firm grip on very weak GSM signals from both AT&T and T-Mobile's network. Audio quality was very good even in poor signal areas, and the hands-free speakerphone also performed pretty well in general. The only complaint we have is that the battery did not last as long as we had been led to expect. Our W580 ran out of power after almost 5.5 hours of talk time, far short of the up to 9 hours that Sony Ericsson claims it is capable of. I think that it is quite possible that the light effects, which can be disabled, are the cause of the missing talk time battery life.

Sony Ericsson has informed us that it is actually the pedometer function that causes the hit on battery life, not the light effects. It can be disabled.

The W580 also makes the grade when it comes to contacts and profiles. The contacts system supports multi-character searching and sports a slick tabbed interface in the record editor that makes it easy to find what you are looking for. This is important because of the vast number of different pieces of info that can be stored in a record. The W580's 7 profiles provide the user with something for most every occasion. All of them can be edited to suit, and include support for call forwarding/diverting as well as defining a list of contacts that the profile will accept calls from. A separate flight mode is also available. About all that is missing is some sort of timed profile support.

Like the rest of Sony Ericsson's feature phones, the W580 makes use of an old style, voice tag based voice dialing system. It is accurate, but requires that separate voice tags be recorded for each contact in question. Speed dialing is also a bit different on the W580, since long-pressing a keypad button merely jumps to the appropriate section of the contact list instead of dialing. Speed dials are accessed by dialing the number and then hitting the call softkey.

The Sony Ericsson W580 supports SMS, MMS, and email messaging natively. The SMS editor is pretty standard, but the MMS editor uses an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to add things like images, videos, or sounds into a message. The email system on the W580 is nice, and does a good job of formatting messages in an easy to read manner. I tested it with our IMAP server and had no problems. Even the "push" mode worked as expected. Data connections on the W580 are handled by tri-band GSM/EDGE support. It isn't very speedy, but it works. In a pinch, the phone can be used as a USB or Bluetooth wireless modem. Bluetooth can also be used with headsets and stereo headphones.

Sony Ericsson W580 (ZOOM)

Multimedia / Applications

The key application in any Sony Ericsson Walkman phone is the music player. In this case, the music player is the Walkman 2.0 player. It sports a nice new interface and is a bit easier to use than the older version, which was itself quite fine. Music can be synchronized with a PC using the included Disc2Phone software or with other applications like Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Navigating through your music by artist or album is a snap, and it is a quick press up or down from the play screen that takes the user to the current playlist. The sound quality seems to me to be quite good with both wired headsets (one is included) and Bluetooth wireless headphones. The coolest feature of the music player on the W580 is how it can be controlled to some extent by a shaking motion. When the music is playing, all it takes is pressing the Walkman button and giving the phone a good shake in order to have the player go to a random track in the playlist. It is a great feature for runners, though it doesn't quite make up for the lack of dedicated music controls.

The W580's 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera is capable of taking decent photographs in most situations with good lighting. Its photos are generally sharp as long as the subject is not too close. When the lighting gets bad, however, the camera shows some weakness that even its night mode can't help. The camera can also be used for recording video clips, though only at a low 176x144 pixel resolution.

The W580 also comes equipped with a decent suite of apps. The RSS reader that is located in the Messaging section of the phone (for some reason) is pretty good as far as feature phone readers go. The NetFront browser is at least as capable of rendering mobile sites as Microsoft's Pocket IE is, too. All of the basic organizer applications work well. The calendar, tasks, and notes can all be synchronized with a desktop PC by making use of the same Sony Ericsson PC Suite software that handles contact synchronization.

The W580 ships with the typical array of Sony Ericsson 'DJ' apps. MusicDJ lets user create ringtones, VideoDJ provides some basic video editing capabilities, and PhotoDJ lets user make on-phone corrections to photos. The phone also ships with Sony Ericsson's TrackID music identification software and a pair of games, one of which is The Sims 2. One of the more interesting features of the W580 is its built-in pedometer and fitness tracking applications. The W580 informed me that one trip to New York for a media event had me walking 1.5 miles during the evening. It can be calibrated quite accurately for those that are really into such things.

The Sony Ericsson W580 has about 20MB of internal storage space that users can fill up. The Memory Stick Micro (M2) card slot can be used to add more storage headroom to the phone as well. Our review unit shipped with a 512MB card in the box.

Sony Ericsson W580 (ZOOM)

Standby screen (ZOOM)

Main menu (ZOOM)

Tabbed menus (ZOOM)

User Interface

When it comes to usability on a feature phone, nobody does it better than Sony Ericsson. The W580 is a fine example of how a phone should work. The user interface is intuitive, predictable, and still managed to be very pretty. Visually the Sony Ericsson UI is matched by no others. Themes can affect most every part of the system, from animated icons and main menu effects, to even the look of the tabbed interface used in the Settings section. Pop-up information screens are now semi-transparent, and even the look of basic email messages has been spiced up in the recent versions of the software.

One of the few things worthy of a complaint is the lack of separate green and red call and end buttons. While the functionality is still offered through the softkeys and the dedicated back and C keys, many people will still miss the red and green buttons that most every phone on the planet offers. Sony Ericsson can justify this decision based on being able to offer dedicated Walkman and Shortcuts keys in the main control cluster, which is certainly handy. Having separate back and C keys also makes editing tasks easier.

The Shortcuts system in particular is of great use. The Shortcuts tabbed menu can be brought up from most any part of the system. It provides quick access to commonly used features, missed calls and messages, running applications, and internet browser bookmarks. Shortcuts can be defined for almost any command in the system's multi-level menus, exceeding the simple system offered by most other phone platforms.

A vast assortment of UI themes are available for the W580, though I find the pre-loaded Spinnin' theme to be the best. It has great main menu animations and even provides vibration feedback when the d-pad is pushed. The keypad keys can be used for navigating through the main menu and sub-menus both, but they don't quite work the same way in the File Manager, where instead the keys are used to skip to files that start with the same letter as the letters associated with the key (ie. 6 skips ahead to the 'm' files).

The Sony Ericsson UI is pretty, consistent, and efficient. It sets the standard in today's market.

Walkman player (ZOOM)

Current playlist (ZOOM)

Email message (ZOOM)

MMS edit, word prediction (ZOOM)

Conclusion

The Sony Ericsson W580 is a great example of what a feature phone can be. Not only does it handle the basics extremely well, but it has a decent camera and a top notch music player application. Bonus features like the pedometer and the Walkman application's 'shake to shuffle' functionality really are just the icing on the cake.

In short, it is a great little handset. I give it a "Highly Recommended" and consider it one of the best feature phones I have used so far in 2007.

Fujitsu F905i

The Fujitsu-manufactured F905i is the mobile TV (1Seg) enabled device and among other things comes with the 3.2 MP camera with autofocus, memory expansion slot and full HTML web browser. So what's so special about it? Well, it has a huge 3.2 mp camera swinging screen which can display resolution of up to 480 pixels in 16 million colors. That's WI wide VGA actually it's even more! Eat this iPhone, Nokia and everyone else. Fujitsu. Now, please enter other markets and show the old dogs some new tricks.