Smartphones

Dopod P800W

2007-04-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Dopod International plans to launch a GPS PDA phone known as the P800W. Not only does this phone have high tech computer capability, but it has a trackball and track wheels to aid with map browsing and web surfing. Other impressive features of the Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE connected phone include push email, a 2 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, all under Windows Mobile 5.0. The device also has a fully functional QWERTY keyboard with a 2.80 touch screen.

Design

The entire phone body is encased in smooth feeling silver grey plastic, Dopod refers to it as "Iron Grey" and with a size of only 108 x 58 x 16.8mm, this is a small and sleek smart phone, reminiscent of the more high fashion designs of phone houses such as Nokia or Motorola. Keeping with the Frankenstein motif, the P800W's stylus feels like it's come straight from the mad doctor's surgery; it's the sharpest PDA stylus we've ever used, and a danger to eyeballs everywhere.

Features

The P800W runs on a Texas Instruments OMAP 850 processor with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of ROM. User data can be stored internally or via a microSD card, although irritatingly, the card slot lives underneath the battery, so it's fiddly and difficult to change cards on the fly. The P800W's embedded digital camera has a 2 megapixel sensor and a number of photographic modes in common with most other camera-enabled Windows Mobile devices, or in other words, it can play some pretty camera tricks, but you're still not going to become Lord Lichfield with it. The GPS chipset within the P800W is the de rigueur SiRFstar III. On the phone side, the P800W is a quadband GSM handset (850/900/1800/1900MHz) with nary a 3G capability in sight. On the wireless data front, it supports Bluetooth v2.0 and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.

Performance

The P800W comes with a meaty 1,200mAh battery that Dopod rates for up to five hours of talktime and up to 200 hours of standby time. Given that the P800W's usage patterns can vary widely, depending on how much you're using the wireless and GPS functions, we weren't expecting wonderful results from the phone, and were pleased to find Dopod's figures mostly accurate; on a light usage week we'd manage the full seven days in-between recharges, while heavy Wi-Fi and GPS use dropped those figures rather alarmingly.

On the Windows Mobile front, the P800W felt a little sluggish in operation, we got very, very used to looking at the scrolling colour wheel while waiting for applications to load. That's a purely relative factor; if you're new to the smartphone market you probably wouldn't notice it, but compared to snappier smartphone models, with perhaps the exception of the even more sluggish Treo 680, the P800W feels a touch turgid in operation.

We've perhaps become spoilt by all of the recent GPS units we've looked at that have upped the ante as far as GPS triangulation is concerned. We were pretty disappointed therefore in the P800W's synchronization capabilities; despite using the same SiRFstar III chipset as its competitors, we never once managed to clock in with a GPS signal that was useful in under three minutes, and sometimes as long as ten minutes had to pass. This also essentially cripples the GPS-photo capability, as aside from popping out of the car and taking a photo then and there, you've got to have a lot of patience to take GPS co-ordinate embedded pictures.

Ultimately, while the Frankenstein approach of appropriating design and feature elements from other phones gives the Dopod a lot of appeal in the pure functionality stakes, and its slim form factor does make it a player in the style race, the overall poor performance make the P800W a less than enticing prospect.

Specification Of Dopod P800W

Datasheet Views:
5759 views since upload of datasheet (October 28, 2006)

Release Date:
December, 2006

Predecessor Model:
Dopod 830 / 818 Pro

Dimensions:
58 x 108 x 16.8 millimetres

Mass:
127 grams (battery included)

Software Environment
Operating System:
Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition AKU 3.0.0

Microprocessor
CPU:
32bit Texas Instruments OMAP 850

CPU Clock:
201 MHz

Memory, Storage capacity
ROM capacity:
128 MB (accessible: 51.16MB)

RAM capacity:
64 MB (accessible: 42.55MB)

Hard Disk capacity:
Not supported

Display
Display Type:
color transflective TFT , 65536 scales

Display Resolution:
240 x 320

Display Diagonal:
2.8 "

Sound
Microphone:
mono

Speaker:
mono

Audio Output:
Proprietary jack

Cellular Phone
Cellular Networks:
GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS850

Cellular Data Standards:
CSD, GPRS, EDGE

Call Alert:
40 -chord melody

Vibrating Alert:
Supported

Control Peripherals
Positioning Device:
Touchscreen & TrackBall

Keyboard:
Not supported

Directional Pad:
Not supported

Jog / Scroll Wheel:
Rotary full area roller

Interfaces
Expansion Slots:
SDIO, microSD, TransFlash

Serial:
RS-232 , 115200bit/s

USB:
USB 1.1 client, 12Mbit/s , USB Series Mini-B (mini-USB) connector

Bluetooth:
Bluetooth 2.0

Wireless LAN:
802.11b, 802.11g

Multimedia Telecommunication
Analog TV:
Not supported

Analog Radio:
FM radio reciever

Satellite Navigation
Built-in GPS:
SiRF Star III , 20 channels

TMC:
Supported

Built-in Digital Camera
Main Camera:
CMOS sensor, 1.9MP

Built-in Flash:
Not supported

Power Supply
Battery:
Lithium-ion polymer , removable

Battery Capacity:
1250 mAh

Samsung SCH-W579

2007-04-21T00:53:00.000-07:00

Is it a CDMA Phone? Is it a GSM Phone? Hey It’s Both! We are talking about the new and very chic Samsung SCH-W579. This one is already creating buzz as it lets the insatiable user experience the best of both worlds and prevents the headache of carrying two different devices.Though supporting both networks is nothing new, however the handset also has some great multimedia features and scores points in the eye-candy department.
The Samsung SCH-W579 has already been approved by the FCC, so be ready to experience its goodness soon. On the specs front apart from both GSM and CDMA networking, we also come across features like ; TFT, 240x320 pixels, 262K colors display, a 2megapixel CMOS Camera, a MP3 Player and support to 72-tones polyphony. We especially dig the cool digital clock on the outer body and its ability to support Office documents and TV-out. No word on pricing or availability.

Design

The SCH-W579 appeared by bringing the color was different to the other Samsung cellular phone. A clamshell cell phone looks like a pocket camera. The appointment external screen that in such a way, made it be similar a view finder in pocket camera. Plus, the Samsung SCH-W579 form that the box and layered the dark grey color made the SCH-W579 really was similar pocket camera. Aside from its dual function, the measurement of this Samsung cellular phone is classes as big. Rather was full in the grasp and was not so comfortable when being pocketed. Fortunately, the SCH-W579 weight was not too heavy for the measurement of a cellular phone that had the measurement (rather) big.

The Screen

The big body brought the blessing to the screen measurement that also became super wide. The measurement of its profile was 55 x 40 mm with the resolution 240 x 320 pixels. It could accommodate eight text lines with the font measurement 12pt, the kind Time Roman. The matter of the sharpness was guaranteed with the use of the screen of TFT 256K colors kind.

Big Softy Keypad

One soft touch has been enough to operate its keypad button. The button measurement that was big (13 x 7 mm) as well as soft when being pressured makes the keypad operation very comfortable. There was one button that especially functioned as switch button between two modes available. Its location between softkey and the navigation button was marked with C/G symbol (that symbolized CDMA and GSM).

Extra Multi Function Button

On the right of the cellular phone body, there was a button that its form likes the volume organizer in radio equipment (scroll key). One of it functions indeed to adjust the volume. But this button also functioned as the organizer of music player, shutter button for camera. And if being pressured by four times to function as SOS message button.

Fun User Interface

In this series Samsung also began flirtatious with user interface look that difference. One of its choices was appearance the aim number (dialing font) with inkpen that used classic font and full color. It increased with background theme that was attractive. The menu look will also be like this, never again only an iconic menu, but was combined with 3D iconic.

This was the superiority of the Samsung SCH-W579 cellular phone. It could be active in two networks at the same time. During the new cellular phone restart will have the SIM card choice whatever that will become the main card (CDMA or GSM). When being active, in the screen will appear signal indicator from the two networks (C for CDMA and G for GSM).

When did voice call, we could choose to use the available network. After writing the aim number or aim number from phonebook, in the screen will emerge the choice of the network. To choose it used button chose (C/G) and after that pressed call button. Even so if want to send the text message.

The greatness again, the Samsung SCH-W579 cellular phone could accept the incoming call from two numbers in this network simultaneously. In the screen emerged the number that called to respectively the network. We could choose what number that will be accepted more previously. If accepting the call entered in GSM, automatic the call in CDMA would be reject and like that was the reverse.
So, grateful to Qualcomm that developed integrated single chip that became the SCH-W579 cellular phone brain so as to be able to operate dual mode.

Although not be classes as a smartphone, the SCH-W579 cellular phone was supplied a stylus pen that was hung in hanger that its location on the top of the cellular phone body. So what for this stylus pen? Firstly, to explore the menu and undertook available feature because of its screen has adopted touchscreen. Secondly, it’s to write the text message. The W579 was supplied by the introductory capacity to handwriting. The censor sensitivity to know handwriting (with stylus the pen) was moderate well.

For those has been used to write the text message with pressed keypad possibly the use of stylus pen even made slower in wrote text. Because, the response appearance in the screen had the break time a little.
Few other notes, the stylus pen that was hung in the folder hinge, in fact moderate annoying during us activate the camera. The stylus pen shadow was printed in the lens so as we must be somewhat busy evacuated it first.

The 2-megapixel Camera

As the multimedia cellular phone, it seems incomplete when being not supplied by the camera function. Moreover Samsung that was famous with its expertise in the imaging matter. The SCH-W579 cellular phone was supplied a 2-megapixel camera that could be made function to take a picture and the video recorder. However the use of its camera was rather troublesome. Before take a picture, we must arrange first the position of the aim. Because just as the lens was turned, view finder appearance in the screen sometimes was turned over and over.

The Voice Call

There was no the problem in signal reception although the two networks were activated simultaneously. The quality of the voice during did or received voice call basically was good enough. However, indeed there was a difference when received from the CDMA or GSM network. This was related to the network quality of the relevant operator. The rest, this was a cellular phone that could become the solution for them who needed the service of two operators from two networks at the same time.

The Battery

The SCH-W579 used lithium polymer battery. This battery kind usually support for endurance spoke and standby time that was long. However for this cellular phone, was not yet it was known how big its capacity. From the test, after being used for various functions, from the condition battery that full, only the reduction happened a little of the indicator battery in the screen. Might be its battery indeed had good endurance.

The Music Player

This feature was present as feature that made the W579 increasingly attractive. It could be used to play of MP3 and AAC file format. The sound quality personally was enough to be good to be heard ears. The presence of the additional memory of the microSD type made us could keep tens MP3 songs to be heard from time to time.

Specification:

Weight
132.8 g

Dimension
94.5×54x21.15 mm

Network
CDMA (800/1900 MHz), GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz)

Screen display
TFT 256K colors, 240×320 pixels

External screen
TFT 64K colors, 96×80 pixels

Audio
MP3/AAC/AMR

Video
176×144 pixels, MPEG/MP4

Photo
Flash light, Auto-focus, 10x zoom, Photo Editor

Internal memory
20MB

External memory
MicroSD, maximal 1GB

Connectivity
Bluetooth, GPRS/EDGE, USB cable

Other features
Touch screen, Handwriting Recognition, SOS message, Namecard

Recognation, Voice Memo, Melody Composer.

Samsung i600 Ultra Messaging HSDPA Windows Mobile Smartphone

2007-04-19T02:42:00.000-07:00

It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks and for Samsung to introduce an innovative navigation user interface on the Ultra Messaging i600, which runs on a "has-been" Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone edition, we think it deserves a round of applause. That's on top of a wealth of connectivity features the i600 is equipped with, including HSDPA, 3G and Wi-Fi on a matte-black body that's irresistibly good looking. But the i600 is not alone in vying for a share of the pie in the smart phones with QWERTY keyboard arena. Find out how it stacks up against the competition.

Design

Picking up the Ultra Messaging i600 from its packaging morphs us into business executives in an instant, even when we aren't dressed like one. The matte-black i600 is sexy beyond doubt and, in some ways, remind us of a bar of Hershey's dark chocolate--irresistible and good enough to eat. In hand, this Samsung is a comfortable size and its slim profile of 11.8mm (the upcoming Motorola Q q9 measures 11.8m, too) gives the illusion that it is thinner than it really is. Even with the 1,200mAh Lithium-ion battery, the i600 stills weighs a feather-light 108g. It could just be us, but we're particularly fond of the soft-type plastic on the back of the handheld.

Two features are traded off for a more compact form factor: A smaller 2.3-inch screen compared with the larger 2.8-inch LCD on the Nokia E61 and a less spacious QWERTY keyboard. The individual keys resembling black tic tac mints organized fashionably, provide tactile feedback and are adequately backlit in dim environments. You'll know it when your thumb hovers over one. A nice touch are the numeric keys which are colored in grey so we could tell them apart from the rest of the letters in black. The immediate button to the right of each number works as a pair with the numeric key, so hitting on either gets us the same digit.

Navigating the phone's menu requires the use of the four-way directional toggle which is slightly elevated from the Call/End and soft-touch keys, as well as a center OK button. Despite various user reviews online regarding a flushed directional control which resulted in hitting the End key when we wanted to click right, we didn't encounter that on our test unit. So it's really up to you to check it out. Alternatively, there's a thumbwheel and a Back button on the right spine for a more BlackBerry-like experience.

The i600 uses a proprietary port for charging and synchronizing the handheld. The same port also connects the bundled stereo earphones, so that effectively makes obsolete both our mini-USB adapter and 2.5mm/3.5mm headset at the same time. Talk about a double-whammy. Fortunately, we could still pair our Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 stereo Bluetooth earphones for music playback on this Samsung.

A microSD expansion slot sits above the thumbwheel on the right edge of the i600 with support of up to 2GB. There are also two cameras: One on the front for video calls and a 1.3-megapixel shooter on the back flanked by a reflecting mirror and onboard speakers. More on the camera features later.

Features

At the time of writing, three Samsung HSDPA-enabled phones (SGH-Z560PerformanceWe tested the triband Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 and found the call quality decent. Surprisingly, audio output excelled beyond our expectations with the built-in speakerphone and our buddies weren't able to actually tell that we were on one. A pity, really, that the speaker is on the rear of the handset, which has the potential to muffle the sound when the phone is on its back. We loaded a 320 x 180-pixel video file at 24bits (116MB) for our tests. Video playback, too, was relatively pleasing, though we did encounter slight pixilation and occasional dropped frames during fast-moving action. Our only gripe was with the 2.3-inch LCD which was a tad too reflective for our liking and washed out slightly in harsh sunlight at default brightness. , Ultra Edition 13.8 and Ultra Messaging i600) were available in Singapore, with the i600 the Korean's first smart phone to tout high-speed data transfer faster than 3G. In short, faster data speeds would enhance the Web browsing experience, music streaming and reduce download times via the theoretical 1.8Mbps speed. Connectivity features on the triband (900/1,800/1,900MHz) i600 are aplenty. Besides leveraging on HSDPA and 3G networks, the handheld is also Wi-Fi-enabled (802.11b/g)--sorely missed on the earlier i320n--and can connect wirelessly to a PC via Bluetooth 2.0 (with support for A2DP). The i600 is missing an infrared port, though.

Unlike touchscreen PDAs, the i600 runs on the Smartphone edition of Windows Mobile 5.0, powered by a 220MHz TI OMAP 1710 processor, so you don't get the full-fledged editing capabilities of Office Mobile. Memory-wise, there's 128MB ROM and 64MB RAM.

The preinstalled Piscel Viewer allows us to read only Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files and various image formats. The i600 also supports MS Direct Push Technology so you'd be able to have ready access to your email, calendar, contacts and tasks on Outlook. Synchronization with our PC was also a breeze except there wasn't an option to sync Notes on Outlook with the smart phone.

Multimedia-wise, the i600 supports formats such as MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA and WAV for music, and MPEG-4, WMV, H.263 and H.264 for videos. There's also an RSS feed reader (a rather basic one) and podcast application for you to catch up on the latest news or gossip.

Performance

We tested the triband Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 and found the call quality decent. Surprisingly, audio output excelled beyond our expectations with the built-in speakerphone and our buddies weren't able to actually tell that we were on one. A pity, really, that the speaker is on the rear of the handset, which has the potential to muffle the sound when the phone is on its back. We loaded a 320 x 180-pixel video file at 24bits (116MB) for our tests. Video playback, too, was relatively pleasing, though we did encounter slight pixilation and occasional dropped frames during fast-moving action. Our only gripe was with the 2.3-inch LCD which was a tad too reflective for our liking and washed out slightly in harsh sunlight at default brightness.

As far as data transfer rate was concerned, the theoretical 1.8Mbps speed sounds great but a lot of it depends on the network and your location. We took the i600 for an afternoon walk around the Central Business District (CBD) of Singapore along Shenton Way to find out if the speed was as claimed. Verdict? Well, we didn't need a bib to catch our drool. While surfing CNET Asia's Web page, the network alternates between 3 and 3.5G speeds and we weren't able to get a consistent HSDPA network to gauge download rates.

Camera performance was sub-par, which wasn't surprising. It took approximately 2.5 seconds for the shooter to load, and though there's autofocus, this doesn't work like the ones on dedicated digital cameras where you can half-press the shutter to prefocus. Again, we're nitpicking. Overall, image quality was Web-standard, but without a LED flash night shots weren't stellar.

When we were running multiple applications, it was noticeable that the processing speed took a beating. The i600 has 48.6MB of memory in total, of which 26MB is available to run your programs. Opened applications remained open although holding down the Home key brought up the task manager where you can close the programs. Onboard storage capacity is limited to 40MB to install additional programs such as Instant Messenger.

The i600 is rated for 4 hours of talktime and up to 190 hours (eight days) of standby. In our tests, we managed to get 2.5 days on regular usage, making calls, sending messages and occasional connections to Wi-Fi and 3G networks, without having to reach for the charger. Our test unit arrived with a second battery which will also be included in the commercial retail sets. The only problem we foresee is that because there's no standalone charger for the Lithium-ion cell, it won't be possible to charge one battery while using another concurrently.

Specification Of Samsung Ultra Messaging i600

Phone
Phone type :
Triband

Networks :
GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900

Connectivity options :
3G, GPRS, HSDPA, Bluetooth, USB, WLAN

Physical design
Form factor :
Candy bar

Dimensions (W x D x H) :
113 x 59 x 11.8 mm

Weight w/battery :
105 g

Primary display type :
TFT

Secondary display resolution :
x pixels

Input method(s) :
QWERTY

Interchangeable covers :
No

Available colours :
Black

General
LCD display size :
2.3-inch

Color LCD :
Yes

Performance
Operating system :
Microsoft Smartphone OS

Max. talktime (in hours) :
4 hours

Max. standby time (in hours) :
190 hours

Internal memory :
64 MB

Expansion slot(s) :
TransFlash / microSD

Other Features
MMS :
Yes

Multimedia
Built-in digital camera :
Yes

Warranty
Base warranty :
1 year

Dopod 595

2007-04-19T01:41:00.000-07:00

Measuring 112.4 by 49 by 14.8 mm and weighing in at just 115g, the Dopod 595 is easily one of the smallest Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphones we've come across. It's similar in size to the O2 Xda Stealth, but the 595 gets a slight leg-up on the Stealth because in addition to tri-band GSM, it also supports 3G.
Complementing the tri-band GSM and 3G connectivity options, the 595 also offers Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP support for stereo headsets), Infrared and USB 1.1 for charging and data transfer. Conspicuously absent is 802.11b/g Wi-Fi support.

Design

The 595 sports a distinctly uncluttered European look which stands in stark contrast to its busier smartphone siblings in any of the popular 'candybar', PDA or sliding keyboard forms. It's tall, slim and stylish in an understated way. That first impression is underscored by the gently tapered gunmetal-colored chassis and its darker rubberized fairings and keypad. In fact, the 595 seems much more like a regular mobile than a smartphone.

The alphabet overlay on the keys uses a standard ABC layout rather than QWERTY, while the 1.3-megapixel camera and large 2.2-inch (5.6cm) screen are a common sight on multimedia-enhanced 3G phones. Only a single button wearing the stylised 'e' of the Internet Explorer logo gives any hint that there's more to the 595 than just talking and texting. The keyboard is somewhat cramped by the phone's compact shape but the keys are easy to use, although the backlighting created by blue lights at each side favors the outermost columns of keys while leaving the middle with a dim underglow. Navigating around the screen and menus is effortlessly achieved with the rubber-tipped four-way controller, the rocker switch atop the phone's left side or a combination of both.

Features

Once you get over the initial surprise that this modest-looking mobile is a fully featured smartphone, there's not much left under the covers to give you that little 'Ooh!' of delight. At least everything is covered in an exceptional manual that's clearly written, packed with illustrations and i we kid you not some 370 pages long. If only there was an index to help find what you're looking for.

The 595 does all that you'd expect from a smartphone running Windows Mobile 5.0. Organizing, emailing, basic browsing and media playback are par for the course, along with synchronization to a desktop or laptop PC. That process is hampered by the USB interface being restricted to the slower USB 1.1 spec rather than USB 2.0 a severe oversight for a device of this type.

That said, its email capabilities are noteworthy for hitting the trifecta of ISP-based POP3, Exchange 2003 and 2007 push and Webmail, with automatic configuration of Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail. If you can't get a message through on the 595, you're really not trying.

A microSD slot thoughtfully located on the side panel rather than under the rear cover, and protected by a small rubber cap allows for beefing up the phone's 64MB of RAM, primarily so you can load the 595 up with music or video clips.

We found Dopod's standalone MP3 player superior to the bundled Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, although like many phones, the 595 channels audio through the mini USB port so you're forced to use the supplied headphones rather than a superior pair of third-party earbuds.

Performance

The advanced data capabilities of the 3G network, with its maximum 384Kbps downlink, gives the 595 a clear edge when it comes to dealing with email en masse. Browsing sees less of a benefit--connecting and switching between sites is faster, but their usability suffers due to the limited capabilities of the cut-down Pocket Internet Explorer browser and the 2.2-inch screen.

However, users can always pipe the 3G signal to their laptop over the 595's Bluetooth 2.0 beam and turn the phone into a mobile modem. This would be an even greater advantage if the 595 supported the high-speed HSDPA protocol which M1 has recently deployed in Singapore.

The 1,190mAh battery is rated for a decent five hours of talk time and 220 hours on standby, with the capability of charging the phone through the mini-USB jack once it's connected to a PC.

The 300MHz Samsung processor drives the productivity applications with a degree of lag, although this is only noticeable if you've had experience with PDAs powered by the faster Intel Xscale chips. The most significant drawback stems from the 595's classic phone-centric design with no QWERTY keypad, touchscreen or stylus, entering data is almost a write-off (no pun intended). This makes the 595 more a device intended for 'viewing', rather than 'doing'.

Specification of Dopod 595

Datasheet Views:
1434 views since upload of datasheet (July 20, 2006)

Release Date:
July, 2006

Dimensions:
49 x 112.4 x 14.8 millimetres

Mass:
115 grams (battery included)

Software Environment
Operating System:
Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone

Microprocessor
CPU:
32bit Samsung SC32442

CPU Clock
300 MHz

Memory, Storage capacity:
ROM capacity
128 MB (accessible: 80MB)

RAM capacity:
64 MB

Hard Disk capacity
Not supported

Memory, Storage capacity
ROM capacity:
128 MB (accessible: 80MB)

RAM capacity
64 MB

Hard Disk capacity
Not supported

Display
Display Type
color transflective TFT , 65536 scales

Display Resolution
240 x 320

Display Diagonal
2.2 "

Sound
Microphone:
mono

Speaker:
mono

Audio Output:
Proprietary jack

Cellular Phone
Cellular Networks:
GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS2100

Cellular Data Standards:
CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA

Call Alert:
40 -chord melody

Vibrating Alert:
Supported

Control Peripherals
Positioning Device:
Not supported

Keyboard:
Built-in numeric phone keyboard, 12 keys

Directional Pad:
5 -way block

Jog / Scroll Wheel:
Pressable non-rotary scroll wheel (Jog Dial)

Interfaces
Expansion Slots:
SDIO, microSD, TransFlash

Serial:
RS-232 , 115200bit/s

USB:
USB 1.1 client, 12Mbit/s , USB Series Mini-B (mini-USB) connector

Infrared Gate:
115200bit/s (SIR/CIR)

Bluetooth:
Bluetooth 2.0

Wireless LAN:
Not supported

Multimedia Telecommunication
Analog TV:
Not supported

Analog Radio:
Not supported

Built-in Digital Camera
Main Camera:
CMOS sensor, 1.3MP

Macro Mode:
Supported

Built-in Flash:
Not supported

Secondary Camera:
CMOS sensor, 352x288 pixel

Power Supply
Battery:
Lithium-ion polymer , removable

Battery Capacity:
1190 mAh

Dopod 900

2007-04-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

The highly anticipated and much-lusted after Dopod 900 a.k.a. HTC Universal has finally arrived on our shores. Touted as the holy grail of PDA-phones, the Windows Mobile 5.0 handheld comes with almost every imaginable feature possible, from Wi-Fi and 3G to a QWERTY keyboard and megapixel camera. Sounds too good to be true? We put the 900 to the acid test.
Design

In stark contrast to the likes of O2's delicate mini and Palm's handy Treo, the Dopod 900 is clearly a PDA by form. Measuring 81 x 127.7 x 25mm and weighing 285g, this handheld can scarcely be considered pocket-friendly. All decked out in gun-metal grey, with a matt-black backplate, the 900 looks dull yet solid. Thankfully, the construction and build quality are excellent despite the rotating top half of the PDA. Two rubber bungs on the base of the handset keyboard prevent any possible damage to the screen when closing the flip.

The 900 can either be used in closed mode as a phone, in flip-open mode resembling and half-masquerading as a small laptop, or with the flip locked in place exposing the display on top as your typical PDA. Design-wise, what the Dopod sacrifices in terms of portability and lightness, it gains in two main areas.

For one, the huge 3.6-inch VGA screen is excellent and comparable with other offerings such as Dell's x51v. No problems with the touchscreen display, either, which is adequately sensitive and responsive. Secondly, apart from the Treo, PDAs and keyboards have generally been a mismatched marriage. Credit to Dopod for incorporating a full-sized QWERTY keypad which looks and feels a lot like those of the Nokia Communicators fame, where the large, squarish keys are individually slightly raised, generously spaced out and offer excellent tactile response.

Whether it's resting the open Dopod on a table and tapping away with our index fingers, or holding it up and pressing with our thumbs, we were able to type messages and documents at decent speeds and comfort levels. No chance of mimicking the Treo's famed one-hand operation here, though, unless you have unnaturally long thumbs. Unlike its smaller cousin, the Dopod 838, the 900 lacks a convenient one-touch silent-mode button, though it does come with a volume control toggle switch on the side.

The choice of using a traditional 3.5mm earphone jack is a welcome one since you can plug in your favorite headsets without an additional adapter. On the other hand, we found ourselves accidentally pressing the side calling buttons located halfway along the left side of the handset, and accidentally ending a couple of calls. Also, we hardly used the navigational keypad below the screen, choosing to employ the directional pad on the keyboard instead.

On the reverse of the base rests the battery cover, a 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera sensor and photo light. Without a lens cover, dust tends to accumulate at the lens.

Unlike some toothpicks that other PDAs use, the stylus here is well-sized and comfortable to hold.

Features

As of Windows Mobile 5.0, Office applications have been upgraded such as added support for embedded images, tables and charts. Two onscreen buttons appear at the bottom of the display for easy program control and menu access. Unlike the Dell X51v, we didn't experience any stability issues with the Dopod 900's implementation of the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. Thanks to the Intel Bulverde 520MHz processor, multitasking didn't slow down programs or cause any noticeable lag, except when changing between landscape and portrait orientations.

The wireless manager program offers easy access and control over the phone, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections. Web surfing on the Dopod 900 is a pleasant experience, thanks to the generous display resolution, ease of usage and widescreen viewing.

In flipped-open mode, holding the 900 sideways and pressing the dedicated camera button at the top right edge transform the screen into a large viewfinder, which is a joy to use. The camera display refresh rate is smooth as well. While the internal camera can also be used for photo-taking, its 352 x 288-pixel size is hardly sufficient. The main 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera sensor is capable up to 2-megapixel shots, possibly via interpolation, though we'd recommend software post-editing.

You can change light settings, apply effects such as grayscale and sepia, and shoot in various modes such as panoramic, burst and picture themes (think Neoprint-like frames). Sadly, photos taken are comparable with those of the O2 mini and of mediocre picture quality with grainy snapshots and poor color reproduction. Although the onboard photo light is relatively bright, low-light pictures suffer the same problems. As such, unless you don't expect much from your handheld camera, you'd tend to be disappointed with the image quality.

Using Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, the Dopod 900 performs as a decent multimedia device so long as you don't expect iPod-like sound quality. The speedy processor handles video playback smoothly, too.

While connecting to a PC, you can charge the PDA via a mini-USB cable. Besides 128MB of ROM and 64MB of RAM, the 900 offers one SDIO/MMC slot for memory expansion.

Performance

While the Dopod 900 is technically functional as a phone whether the flip is opened or closed, its design somewhat wasn't very practical when we actually used it. For one, it does not have an external display. That means you cannot see the identity of your incoming caller if the flip is closed. On the other hand, if you do take out the phone, flip, rotate and lock the top half back in place, wait for the screen orientation to change back to portrait mode, and then press the call button, a good 15 to 20 seconds would have passed by. Besides looking rather clumsy, we sometimes missed our calls this way, which could be annoying to say the least.

Leaving the Dopod's display facing up like most PDAs is not advisable since the screen will be exposed to knocks and scratches. Disappointingly, the speakerphone produced muffled sound quality during a call. Also, the 900 suffers from poor voice pickup via its microphone, especially when holding the phone in closed mode. Surprisingly, there were a few occasions when a call was unexpectedly disconnected due to lost reception, even when we weren't traveling underground on the commute.

When we tested 3G video calls on the 900 with our 3G test units (Motorola E1000 and Sony Ericsson Z800i), image quality was generally acceptable with good volume range through the two onboard speakers. Special mention should be given to the design of the 900 as the notebook-like design of the handheld allows video calls to be made handsfree.

The 1,620mAh battery managed about one-and-a-half days on normal usage, including music on the morning commute, usual phone functions such as SMSing and calling, as well as the odd Wi-Fi surfing.

Basics
Frequency: WCDMA+GSM(900/1800/1900)
Size: 81x127x25 mm
Weight: 285g
Standby time:-GSM:220-260 Hours- WCDMA:190-250 Hours
Talk time:-GSM:5-8 Hours WCDMA:2-4 Hours
Color: Titanium black
Smart model: Microsoft Windows Mobile Version 5.0
Style: mini notebook

Interface/messages
Messages: SMS; MMS
Voice/video recording: Unlimited (up to memory capacity)
Voice control: Yes
Hands free: Yes

Communications
Data transfer: WCDMA(3G)+GPRS (2.5G)
IR: Yes
Bluetooth: Yes
WiFi wireless LAN: Yes
USB: Yes

Screen
Colors: 65536 colors TFT screen
Size: 3.6 inch
Resolution:640x480 pixels

Multimedia
Original ring tones: MP3/WMA
JAVA: Yes
Multimedia player: Windows Media Player 10

Camera
CMOS resolution: 1.3 megapixels
Focus: Yes
Recording: Yes
Assist lamp: Yes
Memory slot: SD interface, up to 1G

Others
Handwritten functions: Yes
Browsing Office documents: Yes
3G telecommunications: Yes

Dopod C800

2007-04-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

Slimmest Windows Mobile PDA Phone with QWERTY Keyboard
Being slim is in, and the new C800 brings slimness to the highly functional design that started with the 838. Compared to its predecessor, the 838, the C800 is 30% slimmer.

Attractive new design
Encased in new stylish case that comes in classic grey, the C800 is sure to turn heads with its sleek, sophisticated looks.

Improved keyboard
The latest keyboard sports indicator lights showing when the CAPS LOCK and FUNCTION keys are engaged. The sliding mechanism has also been improved and is now semi-automatic with spring-loading. To top it all off, the sliding keyboard is accompanied by a pleasing musical tone (with several options to choose from) or it can be turned off altogether.

Quadband GSM and high speed WiFi (802.11g)
Frequent traveler? Fret not. With the C800, you get Quadband GSM connectivity, allowing you to connect to any GSM network in the world (with the proper roaming agreement). Furthermore, its built-in high speed WiFi connection allows users to download emails, data or surf the Internet at higher speeds.

Specification of Dopod C800

Physical design
Form factor
Slider

Dimensions
109 x 59 x 17 mm

Weight w/battery
168 g

Primary display resolution
320 x 240 pixels

Phone
Phone type

Quadband

Networks
GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM190o

Connectivity options
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, USB, EDGE

Messaging features
SMS, Email, Instant message

Ringtone options
MP3 ringtones, WMA ringtones

Additional phone features
Ringtones: Polyphonic, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, AMR

Multimedia
Built-in digital camera
Yes

Maximum camera resolution
2 megapixels

Camera sensor type
CMOS

Maximum digital zoom
x

Maximum optical zoom
x

Video features
Video recording, Video playback

Additional multimedia features
Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP and AVRDP

PDA
Operating system
Pocket PC

Main processor type
TI OMAP 850

RAM
64 MB

ROM
128 MB

Expansion option(s)
TransFlash/microSD

PC connectivity
Windows

Battery type
Rechargeable 1,130mAh battery

Rated battery life
5 hours

Installed applications
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 with DirectPush Technology; Outlook Mobile, Office Mobile (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Adobe Reader (PDF), IE Mobile, Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, PocketMSN, Activesync, Comm Manager, Internet Sharing, Network Wizard, Audio Manager (via web download), RSS News Reader, Cyberon Voice Commander, Sprite Backup, Zio Golf (Game), CE-Star (via web download)

Additional functions
802.11b/g wireless LAN; dual language (English/Chinese) support

Display
Monochrome or color
Color

No. of colors
16 bit

Touch screen
Yes

Backlit display
Yes

Data Input
Method
Pen

Interfaces
Infrared
Yes

Audio
Built-in speakers
Yes

Built-in mic
Yes

Desktop Connectivity
Desktop software included
Yes

Synchronization with desktop
Yes

Power supply
Batteries rechargeable
Yes

AC adaptor included
Yes

Warranty
Base warranty
1 year

O2 Xda Atom Exec

2007-04-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

O2's XDA Atom Exec is an incremental upgrade to the original Atom, a move the company hopes will help stave off increasing competition from the likes of HP with its iPaq rw6828 or the upcoming multimedia BlackBerry devices such as the 8100 Pearl. On its own, the Exec is a highly impressive, push email-enabled smart phone, but if you already own the first Atom, its upgrade worthiness is questionable.

Design

Following the highly successful design of the original Atom, the Exec offers the same dimensions 102 x 58 x 18.5mm and a more than manageable weight of 140g. It's not a burden to carry around in a jeans pocket, and you won't be self-conscious since the curvaceous, black chassis is quite attractive.

The most significant design difference between the vanilla Atom and the Exec is the fact that the latter uses a matte as opposed to a glossy finish. This is a smart move by O2, as the previous Atom was chastised by users for being prone to fingerprinting and other blemishes.

Menu navigation is handled using either the stylus (or, if you're lazy, a finger) or the hardware buttons that lie just below the 2.7-inch 240x320-pixel touch screen. These buttons include a five-way directional thumb pad, accept/reject calling buttons, a shortcut button for the start menu and a button for quick-launching your SMS/e-mail/MMS inbox.

Other handy shortcut buttons include volume adjustments on the left side of the device, a power button up on top and shortcuts to the notes and camera applications on the right.

In addition to the power button, the top of the Exec houses a miniSD memory card slot, while on the opposite end of the device you'll find a USB connector and a 2.5mm headphone jack.

Features

The Exec runs on the familiar Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, upgraded with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack. Among various security improvements, this provides push email capabilities which, provided you've enabled a data service through your carrier, sends new e-mail messages directly to the device without forcing you to continuously login. This is identical to the service provided by the HP iPaq rw6828 and similar to the BlackBerry's push e-mail system.

It's worth noting that owners of the original Atom are able to download the Messaging and Security Feature Pack and install it onto the device themselves, which removes one of the main benefits of said users upgrading to the Exec version.

Internally, there are a number of improvements upon the original Atom. The Exec uses a 520MHz Intel processor and 192MB of ROM, which trounces the 416MHz chip and 128MB ROM of its predecessor. The faster processor improves application performance and load time, while the increased ROM provides more space for storing data.

Connectivity options abound, and include 802.11b Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 1.2, infrared and triband (900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE. These features can easily be switched off to conserve battery life and/or to ensure that the device remains usable during air travel.

Multimedia features are also plentiful, and include an FM radio, a 2-megapixel camera (with self-portrait mirror and flash) and music/picture/video playback through the pre-installed O2 MediaPlus application. It's great having a single interface to categorise and access all multimedia files.

In addition to O2 Media Plus, the device also bundles free copies of CodeWallet Pro 5, Jeyo SMS Backup and WorldMate 2005.

Of course, all of the personal productivity applications built into Windows Mobile 5.0 are present, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer and Outlook 2002. Using ActiveSync, these applications can be synchronised with a PC to enable you to keep working whilst on the road.

Performance

One of our biggest concerns surrounding the Exec was that the faster processor would have a detrimental effect on battery life. However, O2 rates the Exec as having the same battery life as the original Atom: Up to 5.5 hours of talk time and 150 hours standby time.

In our Spb Benchmark battery test, which runs the device through constant general usage tasks with the backlight always enabled, the Exec lasted for six hours and twenty minutes. This is a pleasing score; the HP iPaq rw6828 scored seven hours and three minutes, but this is expected due to its slower 416MHz processor. Under regular, intermittent usage, we went almost four days without needing to reach for the charger.

Application performance is extremely satisfying. We found that programs loaded virtually instantly, even when multiple applications were running at the same time. We were also very impressed with the device's multimedia playback capabilities; video played smoothly and audio files were crisp and clear. However, as with the rw6828, we found that shots taken with the integrated camera were grainy, particularly in low-light conditions.

Finally, the push email feature is intuitive and easy to setup, but we found the BlackBerry's thumb wheel to be a more effective message navigation tool than the Exec's touch screen and stylus combination. Also, since there's no built-in keyboard, bashing out lengthy emails takes significantly more time, but we were nonetheless pleased with the unit's handwriting recognition performance.

While it's not a huge improvement over the original Atom, on its own the Atom Exec is an extremely attractive smartphone, possibly more impressive than HP iPaq rw6828 due to its faster processor and O2 MediaPlus application.

Specification Of O2 Xda Atom Exec

Physical design
Form factor
Pad

Dimensions
102 x 58 x 18.5 mm

Weight w/battery
140 g

Primary display resolution
x pixels

Phone
Phone type
Triband

Networks
GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900

Connectivity options
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, Infrared, USB

Messaging features
SMS, Predictive text input, Email, Instant message

Multimedia
Built-in digital camera
Yes

Maximum camera resolution
2 megapixels

Camera sensor type
CMOS

Imaging features
Onboard flash

Additional multimedia features
Built-in FM radio

PDA
Operating system
Pocket PC

Main processor type
Intel PXA 27x processor

Main processor speed
520 MHz

RAM
64 MB

ROM
192 MB

PC connectivity
Windows

Removable battery
Yes

Rated battery life
5.5 hours

Installed applications
Windows Mobile 5.0 (operating system) with messaging and Security Feature Pack; O2 AutoInstall; O2 Media Plus; O2 PhonePlus; O2 SMS Plus; Word Mobile; Excel Mobile; PowerPoint Mobile; PDF viewer; Outlook Mobile

Additional functions
Push mail

Included accessories
Infrared keyboard (while stocks last)

Display
Monochrome or color
Color

Touch screen
Yes

Backlit display
Yes

Data Input
Method
Pen

Interfaces
Infrared
Yes

Audio
Built-in speakers
Yes

Built-in mic
Yes

Desktop Connectivity
Desktop software included
Yes

Synchronization with desktop
Yes

Cradle included
No

Power supply
Batteries rechargeable
Yes

AC adaptor included
Yes

Warranty
Base warranty
1 year

Dopod 818 Pro

2007-04-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

When the O2 Xda II mini first arrived on our shores more than a year ago, we marveled at a full-fledged PDA-phone that boasted the latest features in a petite form factor that was truly portable. However, it still left some things to be desired, including Wi-Fi. 2006 welcomes two similarly handy convergent devices: The O2 Xda Atom, which heralds from an established brand name and looks the part, and the 818 Pro, brought into Asia by new kid on the block Dopod. We ran the fledgling PDA-phone through its paces, discovering another worthy entry into the wonderful world of mobile-capable handhelds.

Design and Ergonomics
Curvy, petite (by PPC phone standards) and simple: that's the JAMin in a nutshell. The casing's size and shape are unchanged from the JAM, but the JAMin adds a few more buttons. The JAM was aimed at novice users and women (sexist, yes) who might be intimidated by lots of buttons, so HTC made a device with few external controls. The JAMin still keeps it simple, though the number of buttons has increased modestly. You'll find a large directional pad flanked by call send and end keys, OK and Windows Start Menu keys and two context sensitive Windows Mobile 5 softkeys on the front face. The Comm Manager key (launches the triple wireless radio manager), camera and volume slider are on the left side while the power button and IR window are on the right. The full size SD card slot is located up top and the sync/charge connector is at the bottom. The device is finished in matte black and the camera lens and associated self-portrait mirror are on the back above the battery door.

Phone Features, Data and Reception
The JAMin is a quad band GSM world phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) that will work anywhere in the world GSM service is available. It's unlocked for use with any GSM carrier (just pop in your SIM and enter the correct settings for Internet access for your carrier). For fast (but not 3G fast) data the JAMin has EDGE class 10 as well as the older, slower GPRS. Data speeds over EDGE in the Silicon Valley area were good, coming in between 110 and 130k when using Cingular's MEdia Net service, and between 65 - 110k on T-Mobile.
Like all Windows Mobile phones, the i-mate comes with mobile versions of Internet Explorer and Outlook (the email component is called Messaging) so you can stay in touch when on the go. A recent ROM update added support for Microsoft's AKU2 which offers push e-mail for Exchange 2003 users.
Voice quality on the JAMin is quite good with clear conversations and adequate volume when talking directly to the handset. When using the included earbud headset, call clarity was also excellent and volume is more than ample. In our tests of the 850 (Cingular) and 1900MHz (T-Mobile) bands in the US, the JAMin had very good reception that's on par with the T-Mobile MDA, and beats the Treo 650 by a small margin and the i-mate JAM (850 and 900MHz models) by a greater margin. The phone is good in areas of OK to excellent reception. If you spend most of your phone-time in an area where you can barely get a signal with most phones, then it still might do the trick (but then you might want to think about changing carriers too).
The phone supports common call features such as call forwarding, conference calling, call waiting and it has a full duplex speaker phone that's decent but not stellar.
Like other recent i-mate smartphones, the JAMin comes with voice dialing that works over Bluetooth. Yes, that's still not a common feature on Pocket PC phones which is unfathomable since every decent feature phone with Bluetooth can do it. The JAMin ships with Voice Speed Dial which uses voice tags rather than true speech recognition. Yes it lacks Microsoft Voice Command's impressive recognition capabilities and range of commands but MS Voice Command does eat up a lot of resources and won't work over a Bluetooth headset or car kit. You can record tags for any contact in your address book and you can record tags to launch the applications of your choice. To initiate voice commands, assign a hardware button to the application (more expedient than launching it from the on-screen Programs group), press the button or press (press and hold for some headsets) the call button on your Bluetooth headset or car kit to have the phone listen for your command.

Horsepower and Performance
Like the HTC Wizard variants (i-mate K-JAM, T-Mobile MDA, Cingular 8125) the JAMin runs on a 200MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 850 processor (actually 195MHz, but everyone rounds up). That's quite a come-down from the original JAM's 416MHz Intel XScale CPU but the upside is improved battery life. Despite the half-speed processor and slower Windows Mobile 5 OS, the JAMin is usable but you will notice delays launching applications and might find it a tad sluggish for Skype (overclocking the CPU remedies this). Though the Cingular 8125 runs on the same CPU, it feels peppier than the JAMin, and the US T-Mobile MDA feels as responsive as the JAMin. If you're looking for decent performance (other than video playback and Skype reliability at this point), and crave great battery life by PPC phone standards, the JAMin should suffice. The lower the megahertz, the better the battery life, and the JAMin lasts longer on a charge than the faster JAM (when WiFi isn't in use).
The OMAP850is a dual core processor which has one core to handle PDA functions and another that's basically a DSP handling telephony and some multimedia duties. As you can see from the benchmarks, it offers similar performance to the K-JAM and MDA since it uses the same CPU. The JAMin has 128 megs of flash ROM and 64 megs of RAM. Under Windows Mobile 5, RAM is used in the same way it is on a PC: it's the place where running programs execute. The operating system and pre-installed applications live in Flash ROM and the remaining 43 megs are available for you to install programs and data. Should you need more space for programs and files, you can get an SD card to use with the JAMin. Typically there are 25 megs of free RAM which is an adequate amount to run several programs simultaneously.

Display, Multimedia and Gaming
The JAMin has a bright, sharp QVGA 240 x 320 transflective color display that's easy on the eyes despite its small 2.8" diagonal size. The display supports 65,000 colors and both portrait and landscape modes. The screen has very good contrast, pleasing color saturation and is quite bright at the 50% setting (though not as bright as the Wizard). Indoors it looks great, though outdoors fade and glare are noticeable (the same is true of most PDA displays).
Sound out through the included stereo earbud headphones is good when listening to MP3s using the included Windows Media Player Mobile 10 with support for DRM. Likewise movie soundtracks sound good, and certainly much better than the speaker, as is the case with all PDAs and phones. The phone does well with video encoded at 450 kbps or less and QVGA resolution using Windows Media Player and the excellent free TCPMP video player. If you're into high bitrate encoding, the JAMin isn't for you, as you'll notice frame drops above 600kbps which become unpleasant at 700kbps. Volume for both PDA audio and ringtones is average through the built-in speaker.
To test video playback we threw our usual test file at it: "The Chosen" (a neat BMW flick with Clive Owen) which is a 4:26 minute long, 10 meg MPEG1 file recorded at 320 x 240, 308 kb/s. We tested the Cingular 8215 using TCPMP, an extremely fast open source free video player that supports MPEG1, DivX, ASF, WMV and AVI files. TCPMP benchmarked "The Chosen" with a modest benchmarks of :

Average speed: 182.27%

Bench Frame Rate: 43.75

Bench. Data Rate: 564 Mbit/s

Orig. Frame Rate: 24fps

Orig. Data Rate: 310 kbit/s

Bluetooth and WiFi
Comm Manager is your one-stop destination for all things wireless on the JAMin, along with a few other goodies. Launch it by pressing its icon on the Today Screen or pressing the dedicated button on the phone's left side. You can turn the phone, Bluetooth and WiFi radios on or off, as well as controlling speaker mute, initiating ActiveSync and push email. Under Comm Manager's settings menu you'll find items that take you to Bluetooth and WiFi settings applets.
The Wireless LAN applet, similar to other recent HTC-made devices, shows signal strength, current SSID, mode, Tx rate and channel. If offers several tabs for power management (the default setting worked fine for us), manual IP settings if you don't use DHCP, LEAP and secure certificate enrollment. WiFi connections were reliable in our tests when connecting to a variety of public open access points and 802.11g access points using WEP encryption. Range was average for Pocket PCs, which is to say quite good. The device can connect to an access point that's 70 feet away through walls.
Bluetooth's user interface is less replete with features and information since the JAMin uses Microsoft's basic Bluetooth stack and software. Though the software lacks wizards or friendly graphics to guide you through connection management, it does get the job done reliably. Using the software you can make the device discoverable, discover and pair to other devices such as GPS, PCs, headsets, car kits and keyboards. The JAMin has Bluetooth 2.0 which is backward compatible with previous versions such as 1.1 and 1.2 but it does not have EDR (enhanced data rate) found on some recent Mac and PC computers. It supports most all common profiles including DUN, serial port, hands-free, headset, object push and HID (but not A2DP). We tested the i-mate with several Bluetooth headsets including the Plantronics Discovery 640, Cardo Scala and Motorola H500 and all did well in terms of voice quality, volume, call transfer and hands-free features.

Software
All Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PCs come with the operating system, Mobile Office suite including Outlook Mobile and desktop Outlook, Windows Media Player Mobile 10, Terminal Services, Pictures and Videos, Pocket MSN (Hotmail, MSN Messenger), File Explorer, handwriting recognition (print and cursive), Solitaire, Bubble Breaker (the game formerly known as Jaw Breaker), Calculator and support for secure certificates and VPN connections. Outlook on the PDA has calendar, contacts, tasks, notes and email (called Messaging), which you can sync to a Windows desktop running Outlook. In addition you get Clear Storage (wipes out the device to factory settings), Comm Manager, Club i-mate email, the camera application, Voice Speed Dial, ClearVue PDF viewer, Modem Link and Zip (unzips .zip files).
You can add any Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC app you wish and we tested several which ran well, including Resco File Explorer, Resco Photo Viewer, TCPMP, eReader, Opera beta and several current Pocket PC games.

Specification Of Dopod 818 Pro

Physical design
Form factor
Pad

Dimensions
108 x 58 x 18.2 mm

Weight w/battery
150 g

Primary display resolution
320 x 240 pixels

Phone
Phone type
Quadband

Networks
GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900

Connectivity options
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, Infrared, USB, SDIO

Messaging features
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant message

Ringtone options
MP3 ringtones, WMA ringtones

Calling Features
Speakerphone

Additional phone features
Supports polyphonic ringtones including Midi, WAV, MP3 and WMA

Multimedia
Built-in digital camera
Yes

Maximum camera resolution
2 megapixels

Camera sensor type
CMOS

Maximum digital zoom
x

Maximum optical zoom
x

PDA
Operating system
Pocket PC

Main processor type
TI OMAP 850

Main processor speed
195 MHz

RAM
64 MB

ROM
128 MB

Expansion option(s)
SD, SDIO, MMC

PC connectivity
Windows

Battery type
Rechargeable 1,200mAh battery

Removable battery
Yes

Installed applications
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 (operating system); Internet Explorer; Pocket MSN; windows Media Player; Outlook Mobile; Word Mobile; Excel Mobile; PowerPoint Mobile; ClearVue PDF; ZIP; Camera; Wireless Manager

Included accessories
Charger, USB cable, PDA case, wired earphones cum handsfree kit and extra stylus.

Display
Monochrome or color
Color

No. of colors
16 bit

Touch screen
Yes

Backlit display
Yes

Data Input
Method
Pen

Interfaces
Infrared
Yes

Audio
Built-in speakers
Yes

Built-in mic
Yes

Desktop Connectivity
Desktop software included
Yes

Synchronization with desktop
Yes

Cradle included
Yes

Power supply
Batteries rechargeable
Yes

AC adaptor included?
Yes

Warranty
Base warranty
1 year

O2 Xda Zinc

2007-04-14T03:25:00.000-07:00

The new Xda Zinc makes sending and receiving messages a breeze with the slide-out QWERTY keyboard. With its built-in Wireless LAN and Intel XScale® PXA 270 Processor you'll be able to transfer files and messages easily, wherever you are. Equipped with Windows Mobile® 5.0 the 3G-enabled Xda Zinc makes video calling, messaging and surfing the web faster and more reliable. With such impressive features, the Xda Zinc is the absolute communication tool.

Design

At 109 x 58 x 22.6mm and 175g, O2's Xda Zinc is about the same size and weight as the Dopod 838 Pro. Side-by-side, the curvaceous Dopod is undeniably sexier dressed in black-and-silver compared with the matte-gray casing and silver trimmings on the O2. But other than the QWERTY keyboard that slides out from beneath, which is about all that's similar on the two handhelds, both Windows Mobile 5.0 devices are, in fact, not quite the same.

At a cursory glance, we find more dedicated buttons on the Dopod that provide quick access to frequently used applications for surfing the Web, managing wireless connections, reading messages and voice dialing. But the O2 is not without its merits, either. There's a Hold switch on the left edge and the individual keys on the QWERTY keyboard are larger with slightly better tactile feedback, although some may prefer the softer pitch from typing on the 838 Pro. Over at the back of the unit you'll find a 2-megapixel camera with self-portrait mirror, LED strobe flash and onboard speakers.

What we didn't fancy was the location of the two soft buttons on the keyboard that eat into the W, E, U and I keys. Chances are you'll end up with unwanted keypresses, more so if you are a hasty typist or typing while on a moving train. When you slide out the keyboard, the screen switches to landscape orientation almost immediately. Unlike the slimmer Xda Atom Life, the 2.8-inch LCD on the Zinc has a wider viewing angle, so your friends beside you would be able to watch the latest video clip without having to peer over your shoulder.

In our hands, the QWERTY keyboard was easy to use and lit up adequately for typing in dim light. Larger keys also meant our thumbs had to maneuver a longer horizontal distance which took a little bit of getting used to. If we had our way, we'd have preferred a little more room between each individual key. Overall handling felt very solid, though it would have been better if the keyboard slid out and locked into position more smoothly.

The Xda Zinc charges and synchronizes with the PC via a standard mini-USB port, but falls short with a 2.5mm audio jack (considering its size, there certainly appears to be enough room for a 3.5mm port) which is incompatible with most standard earphones. So you're stuck with the bundled stereo wired headset with microphone unless you purchase an adapter.

Features

The O2 Xda Zinc runs on Windows Mobile 5.0, which allows you to read, view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint (open and view only) documents directly on the handset. You also get the usual multimedia features like Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger so you can conduct online chats or Web browsing over Wi-Fi, 3G or GPRS networks.

Other wireless connectivity features on this triband (900/1800/1900MHz) Zinc include Bluetooth, A2DP and infrared. No FM radio or HSDPA support, though. If you're on an Exchange Server, you can also synchronize the device with the server via the ActiveSync program.

Synchronization with the desktop and Outlook is a breeze. Once both terminals are connected, you'll get a prompt to set up a new user profile (if connected for the first time) and the ActiveSync program will go on to sync data between your desktop and the handheld. If you're traveling, connecting the Zinc to your PC would trickle charge the device.

Unless you rip the handheld apart, you won't see the important difference between the Xda Zinc and the 838 Pro: The Xda Zinc is powered by an Intel XScale PXA 270 processor that runs at 520MHz with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of ROM compared with the 400MHz Samsung CPU on the Dopod. Screen-wise, the large 2.8-inch, 240 x 320-pixel touchscreen LCD is easy on the eyes for document viewing, although this appeared washed-out when we were taking pictures outdoors. The Xda Zinc comes installed with a number of proprietary software to enhance user experience. There's AutoInstall, AutoConfigurator (adjusts network settings), Connect (ROM updates), MessagePlus (one-stop place for checking messages), SMS Plus and Phone Plus (additional dialing features). Unless you can remember all 1,000 numbers on your handheld, we'd recommend you install the Phone Plus program when you first power up the device. What it does is enable smart dialing so that when you key in 2, 6, 3 and 8 on the onscreen numeric pad, you'll get a filtered list of phonebook entries beginning with CNET.

Another useful and convenient feature is the O2 Plus program which allows you to switch between open applications by tapping and holding the cross button on the top right corner--the action calls up the list of running programs. Just think of it as a taskbar on your Windows PC.

There are two cameras on this Zinc: One on the front for video calls and the other at the back with a 2-megapixel CMOS fixed-focus sensor.

Unlike the 838 Pro, the camera on the face of the Xda Zinc doesn't sit flush with the surface of the phone and that could result in potential scratches. The addition of the camera could also force some business users to look elsewhere given that some companies or industries don't allow camera-phones on their premises. Unlike the Dopod 838 Pro which uses the microSD/TransFlash card, the Xda Zinc employs the miniSD format for additional memory. You slot the card in on the left edge of the handset. To remove it, you need to press the media further in (having nails would help) and the card will snap out halfway from the slot.

Performance

The Xda Zinc runs on a 1,300mAh Lithium-ion battery (handheld shuts down when you remove the battery cover) and is rated for 5 hours of talktime and up to 220 hours on standby over GSM networks. You can expect the figures to be lower if you're a heavy user who thrives on wireless LAN and streams music to a Bluetooth headset. On regular usage, that is if you make only a few calls, text a few buddies while chalking up new game scores on the machine, the Zinc should be able to last up to 2.5 days before calling it quits.

During tests, applications loaded almost instantly even though there were programs running in the background. Video playback (116MB, 320 x 180-pixel video file at 24bits) was smooth and our music was moderately loud, although it would have been better if the speakers were on the face of the handheld, rather than behind. It wouldn't matter much if you're indoors, but when you're watching a video clip outdoors the audio would be projected away from you and, together with other ambient noise, sound output wouldn't be fascinating. Picture quality, on the other hand, was average at best. Some of our pictures turned out blurred because it wasn't possible to pre-focus on the unit.

During our review, we encountered situations where the time zone shifted to -8GMT (we set to +8GMT as our default) without us having to do anything, which ends up affecting our calendar entries. Problem is, an unsuspecting user could go for his appointments 12 hours later than the scheduled time if he didn't switch back to his local time zone. According to O2, this is a Windows Mobile issue and a ROM update (some time in March or April) should rectify it.

General
Network
UMTS / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900

Announced
2006, December

Status
Available

Size
Dimensions
109 x 58 x 22.6 mm

Weight
175 g

Display
Type
TFT touchscreen, 65K colors

Size
240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches

- Handwriting recognition

- QWERTY keyboard

Ringtones
Type
Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3

Customization
Download, order now

Vibration
Yes

Memory
Phonebook
In shared memory, Photo call

Call records
Yes

Card slot
miniSD, buy memory

- 64 MB RAM, 128 MB ROM

- Intel XScale PXA 270, 520 MHz processor

Data
GPRS
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

HSCSD
No

EDGE
No

3G
Yes, 384 kbps

WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g

Bluetooth
Yes

Infrared port
Yes

USB
Yes, miniUSB

Features
OS
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 PocketPC

Messaging
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

Browser
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (PocketIE)

Games
Yes, order now

Colors
Silver

Camera
2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video, flash; secondary VGA video call camera

- Video call

- Pocket Office(Word, Excel, Outlook)

- Java MIDP 2.0

- Voice memo

- MP3/AAC player

- Video/audio album

- Built-in handsfree

Battery
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1300 mAh

Stand-by
Up to 220 h

Talk time
Up to 5 h

O2 Xda IIi

2007-04-14T02:40:00.000-07:00

If speed is your idea of breakthrough performance, then the Xda IIi is engineered specifically for you. Renowned as the fastest PDA-phone in the market, it packs dynamic functionality and efficiency into its sleek, silver and black body, making it the ideal device for busy professionals constantly on the move.

This technological wonder is more than just a phone. Empowered by the revolutionary Intel ® XScale PXA272 520MHz processor, it is also a PDA, Web Browser, Mega Pixel Camera, handheld gaming device, personal assistant and mobile office. The Xda IIi is whatever you want it to be.

Design

It would be easy to look at the O2 Xda IIi and mistakenly think you were looking directly at its predecessor, the O2 Xda II. O2's kept the same basic design for the O2 Xda IIi, which measures in at 69.9mm by 130mm by 19.9mm, weighs in at 200g and features a 3.5 inch 65,536 colour LCD screen. The stylus sits neatly on the left hand side, with the right hand side featuring quick access to the unit's camera, voice recorder and jog dial. The front of the smartphone features a very simple array of buttons, including a clickable selector at the base. Unlike the Xda IIs, there's no slideout keyboard.

Like most larger smartphones, the Xda IIi feels bulky as a phone, but is suitably sized as a PDA. If size is really a concern, you may be better suited to O2's Xda II Mini.

Features

It's in the feature set that the Xda IIi really stands out from its competition, and indeed from O2's previous smartphone offerings. Underneath the shiny exterior is an Intel XScale PXA 272 520MHz processor and 128MB each of internal ROM and SDRAM. That can be extended via the SD/MMC card slot that sits on the top of the phone.
As a phone, the Xda IIi is a tri-band (GSM 900/1800/1900) phone with GPRS capabilities. From a pure data pushing perspective, it's nicely accentuated with both Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, although on the WiFi side, it's only an 802.11b connection. The inbuilt camera is a 1.3 megapixel model that'll also double as an MPEG4 video camera.

On the software side, the O2 Xda IIi runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Phone Edition, possibly the most verbosely named operating system that Microsoft's ever offered. As a phone OS, it's usage is currently trailing Symbian (used primarily in Nokia's phones) by a very large margin, but it does benefit somewhat from having inbuilt synchronisation facilities with Windows PCs, as well as a mini-suite of cut-down Microsoft Office applications including Pocket Word, Excel and Outlook. For the time wasters amongst us, it's also got the highly addictive Jawbreaker software built in.

Performance

As a phone the O2 Xda IIi performed well enough, although you'd expect that of pretty much any smartphone these days. It did take us some getting used to correct ear placement, but that's a common factor with many smartphones, as you're essentially putting a brick up to your ear. Working out where the speaker is on a brick can take a few seconds. Similar to most other touchscreen phones, you'll also find the screen quickly picks up smudges if you use the onscreen dialling pad to make the majority of your calls.

The combination of a high speed (for a PDA) processor and a solid wodge of memory makes the O2 Xda IIi a solid performer as a PDA, although it didn't quite wow us the way we might have reasonably expected given its extra processor grunt. We experienced more than a few lockups with the unit, and intermittent slowdown with most applications, but it's unclear whether this was a function of it being an early release model (a fact which it reminded us of every time we booted it up) or whether it was an operating system level problem.

Like most phone cameras, the O2 IIi's camera performance varied wildly. As a 1.3 megapixel camera it's technically capable of producing fair photographs, but once you add in variable lighting, hand shakes and any kind of moving photographic target and you'll find yourself awash in muddy pictures. One great advantage with a phone camera of this type is that it's easy to show the pictures you take around a large pub group without having everyone squint around a tiny screen. The inbuilt software allows you to quickly switch between picture, video, contact picture and several fun picture themes basically predetermined outlines and frames for the photos you take.

The O2 Xda IIi worked well in a wireless environment, effortlessly connecting to our test wireless network. It is worth noting, however, that the inbuilt networking is only 802.11b. You're hardly likely to hit the top of the 802.11b performance barrier on a phone, but if your wireless network is otherwise 802.11g and set up for compatibility only with 802.11g equipment (an option on many routers to improve performance) you'll have to step the router back a touch.

The Xda IIi's 1300 mAH lithium-ion polymer battery lasted around four days of moderate use between charges with wireless networking switched off. If you're likely to be using either the bluetooth or WiFi connectivity on an ongoing basis (or if you're just forgetful and leave it on all the time) you can expect that figure to dive sharply.

Specification Of O2 Xda IIi

Gneral
Network
GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900

Announced
2004, 4Q

Status
Available

Size

Dimensions
130 x 70 x 19 mm

Weight

190 g

Display
Type
TFT Touchscreen, 65K colors

Size
240 x 320 pixels, 53 x 71 mm

- Handwriting recognition

Ringtones
Type
Polyphonic (32 channels)

Customization
Download

Vibration
Yes

Memory
Phonebook
Photo call

Call records
Yes

Card slot
- MMC/SDIO, buy memory
- Intel Xscale PXA272 520MHz processor

- 128 MB SDRAM

- 96 MB ROM (44 MB available)

Data
GPRS
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

HSCSD
No

EDGE
No

3G
No

WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11b

Bluetooth
Yes

Infrared port
Yes

USB
Yes

Features
OS
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 SE PocketPC

Messaging
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

Browser
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (PocketIE)

Games
2 - Jawbreaker, Solitaire

Camera
1.3 MP, 1280x960 pixels, video
- Pocket Office(Word, Excel, Outlook)

- Java

- MP3/MPEG4 player

- PDF, PPT viewer

- Voice memo

- Built-in handsfree

Battery
Standard battery, Li-Po 1200 mAh

Stand-by
Up to 150 h

Talk time
Up to 3 h 30 min

The O2 Graphite

2007-04-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

The O2 Graphite is built around a simple idea - to make communication easier for you. 3G-enabled, it allows you to make both voice and video calls, access your emails and the Internet with just one device. It's easy to use with the familiar mobile phone interface and yet has a fast processor and intelligent capabilities to make light work of mammoth tasks. With the new O2 Graphite, communication is easy again.Now that's a thought.

Smart technology in a small package
What you'll appreciate about the O2 Graphite is how familiar it feels. Its slim form factor makes it handy to carry in your pocket. With advanced functions that are intuitively simple to use, the O2 Graphite is smart technology at its simplest.

Email anywhere
Send and receive emails when you're on the move, with mere clicks. Synchronising with your computer's Outlook® allows you to remain informed always. Never miss out on time-sensitive meeting updates and closing a business deal with customers. Windows Mobile® 5.0 with Direct Push technology empowers you to make decisions no matter where you are.

Stay in touch
With Pocket MSN® preloaded onto the O2 Graphite, you'll enjoy enjoy one click access to MSN Hotmail® and MSN® Messenger, so family and friends are just a message away.

Pictures in your pocket
No space for a separate camera? The O2 Graphite comes with a 2.0 megapixel camera and built-in LED Strobe flash unit provides light where lighting conditions are not optimal. There's ample phone memory for saving all your pictures and 3G capabilities allows you to share your pictures in a snap.

Memory you can trust
Equipped with a generous storage capacity of 128MB FLASH ROM & 64MB SD RAM, store all your documents, messages, pictures, videos and music into one device. What's more, with a speedy processor, your Smartphone has the muscle to multitask, with you.

Internet anytime
The O2 Graphite's built-in wireless abilities open up constant Internet access at top speeds of 11Mb/sec at almost any hotspot. Downloads and web browsing made effortless while keeping you up-to-date.

Work smarter, faster
The Intel XScale® PXA 270 416MHz processor ensures that your O2 Graphite works at full tilt as an incredibly smart phone. Its robust processor assures you that you'll never have to fuss over starting an application, downloading a file or sending emails.

Extras that make life easier
Replicate your office experience outdoors with features like Microsoft® Office Outlook® Mobile which includes your inbox, contact list, calendar and tasks. Never miss out on that all important face-to-face interaction with built-in 3G video calls and back-up your SMS with your desktop for future reference. These are just some of the useful features without the technology complications in the O2 Graphite.

Specification Of O2 Graphite

Dimensions:
Approx. 109.5(L) x 46.9(W) x 18(T) mm
Weight with battery: 105g

Display:
2.2" TFT LCD display
320 x 240 dots resolution
65K colour

Operating Time :
Standby: 200 hours
Talk time up to 4 hours

Connectivity :
Built-in Wireless LAN 802.11b+g^
Bluetooth®

Operating System:
Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 5.0 (Smartphone Edition)

Network Frequency:
Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900
GPRS
WCDMA 2100

Processor:
Intel XScale® PXA 270 Processor at 416 MHz + Intel Hermon

Memory:
128 MB Flash ROM
64 MB RAM
MicroSD expandable memory

Camera:
2 Megapixels CMOS Fixed-focus camera
Preview mirror for self portrait
Secondary VGA camera for video calls
White LED strobe flash
Support still image and video capture

Audio:
Speakerphone
Stereo speaker
Playback support: MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV, AMR-NB, AAC
Ringtone support: 64-chord, MP3, WAV, MIDI

O2 Xda ll Mini

2007-04-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Don't let its diminutive size fool you. Weighing a mere 150g, the Xda II mini is packed with all your digital must-haves - a Tri-band GSM/GPRS phone, a full-function PDA, a digital Camera, an MP3 player, a gaming console, a personal organiser and mobile work station - all jam-packed in a sexy, matt silver-white casing not much larger than a deck of cards.

This smallest PDA-phone in the market runs on the Intel ® PXA 272 416MHz processor, and is powered by the second edition of Microsoft® Windows Mobile™ 2003 Pocket PC Phone operating system. So tools and applications like Word, Excel, Outlook®, Internet Explorer, PowerPoint® and PDF viewer will always be readily available at your fingertips, enabling you to work and play efficiently wherever you may be.

Design

You can't call a phone (or indeed, anything) a "Mini" without it being small, and indeed at 58 by 108 by 18.1 millimetres, the XDA II Mini is a small smart phone, although of course it's still only moderately sized from the phone side of the equation. In visual terms it's not a great departure from the XDA II itself; you've got a directional button at the bottom of the phone, surrounded by four selection buttons (including the two call buttons), and a 2.8-inch display with a total resolution of 240 by 320 pixels. At around 150 grams, it's much lighter than the XDA II or XDA IIs, but you'd expect that from a smaller smart phone.

Features

The XDA II Mini runs Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Phone Edition --try saying that three times fast-- on an Intel PXA 272 processor running at 416MHz. With 64MB of Flash ROM and an equal quantity of RAM, it's heavy on the storage side for a phone, but if you're looking for serious PDA usage, you may want to avail yourself of the SD/MMC card slot that sits atop the phone.

Running a variant of the Pocket PC OS means it's preinstalled with the most common PDA applications from the Pocket PC side of the fence -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint Viewer and so on -- as well as some custom O2 applications. Like the other XDA units, the Mini sports an integrated digital camera, and in keeping with the best that we're seeing in mobile phone cameras at the time of writing, it's a 1.3 megapixel unit, which should put it just into the acceptable and printable category.
As a phone, the XDA II Mini is tri-band GSM and GPRS capable, and as it's a smart phone with visual keyboard facilities, creating and sending SMS and MMS messages is a snap. It's also Bluetooth capable, although that's not the only way to synchronise it with a suitable PC; a USB cable is also provided.

Performance

The first thing we noticed about the XDA II Mini is a common fault with smart phones lacking an integrated keyboard; the screen smudges quickly and often; we'd suggest carrying a cleaning cloth around with you if you're keen to show this phone off to your friends. Aside from that, the display is clear and bright, with the usual adjustments for maximising battery life by dipping screen brightness depending on your situation. As a phone we had few complaints about its performance, aside from one situation where it for some reason it incorrectly grabbed contact details for somebody phoning us -- although to be fair to O2, it does note on the splash screen of our review unit that it's a test unit, so some bugs are probably inevitable.

As a PDA, the XDA II Mini sits well in a competitive category, although there's not too much that really catapults it ahead of the competition per se, and the fact that the rocker on the side of the unit doesn't perform scrolling functions -- it's a volume control for the PDA and phone capabilities -- threw us for a while.

The XDA II Mini's camera is one of the better implementations of a mobile camera we've seen for a while; it's undoubtedly helped by having a rather larger than normal LCD for you to frame shots with, and wisely, there's a focus on fun shots -- including a number of silly shot templates to frame with -- rather than serious photography. Predictably, without a flash, you'll end up with a number of rather dingy looking photos at night, but daytime shots perform well.

O2 claims a battery life of around 180 hours standby and 4-5 hours talk time with the XDA II Mini's 1,200 mAh Lithium Ion battery, although in our testing we'd suggest it's capable of less if you're using the PDA functionality much -- we averaged around 2-3 days before needing to recharge the battery with only moderate usage, and predictably much less if the integrated Bluetooth was switched on.

Specification of O2 Xda ll Mini

Dimensions:
Approx. 58 (W) x 108 (H) x 18.1 (T) mm Weight with battery: 150g OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 PocketPC Phone Edition Second Edition

Operating time :
Standby: 180 hours
Talk time up to 4-5 hours ^ Battery life may vary depending on RF conditions and actual usage

Display:
2.8" TFT LCD display with touch panel
240 x 320 dots resolution
Supports 64K colours

Tri-band GSM/GPRS:
GSM900
GSM1800
GSM1900

Bluetooth:

Bluetooth 1.2 compliant class 2

Memory size:
Flash ROM: 64MB
RAM: 64MB

Audio:
Microphone
Loudspeaker and receiver
Support speaker phone operation

Camera:
Colour CMOS 1.3 mega-pixel camera
Preview mirror for self portrait
Support still image and video capture

Processor:
Intel PXA 272 416MHz

Dopod U1000

2007-04-09T00:53:00.000-07:00

Dopod calls its U1000 device (originally known as the HTC Athena) a mini-notebook, and looking at it, it's not surprising why. It features a 5-inch display, larger than most other Windows Mobile handheld devices. And when the keyboard is attached for use on the unit, it sits on the table just like a tiny notebook. There isn't another product out there quite like it, so it'll have to be judged according to its own merits. Let's see what these are, and also where it fails to impress.

Design

Saying that the U1000 is large is an understatement. Compared with other handhelds, it is absolutely enormous. At 133.1 x 98 x 16mm, it is unlikely you can fit the U1000 into a pants pocket--at least not comfortably. Those dimensions make it just a little larger than the Dopod 900, the company's previous handheld with a VGA display. The U1000 weighs in at 375g which, by any standard, is very heavy for a portable phone device.

Primarily colored silver, the U1000 is a handsomely crafted device. The metallic finish makes it stylish without being gaudy. Aside from silver, a single strip of white defines the area which houses the 3-megapixel camera lens and LED flash. The main distinguishing feature of the U1000 is certainly its 5-inch VGA screen, one that is very clear and bright. As a touchscreen, it is responsive and registered all our screen taps without problems. When viewed in landscape mode, the directional pad is on the top left corner of the bezel. This is a joystick-like navigator which also acts as a selector when depressed. The front VGA camera is found in a similar position but on the right side of the screen. Various other shortcut keys are located in positions around the display and along the sides. These include an OK key, a camera shortcut key, volume control and also a small power button at the bottom of the right side.
The U1000's battery compartment is found under a flap on its base. This flap also hides the SIM card and miniSD slots. Also found on its base is a connector which is used to communicate with the detachable keyboard. This connector is exposed when the keyboard is not attached, so it might tarnish after a period of use.

What makes the U1000 look like a tiny notebook computer is the detachable keyboard, one that attaches to the handheld using magnets. The magnets are very strong and align the connectors on the U1000 perfectly with those on the keyboard. These magnets are not just found on the keyboard but also on the base of the U1000 as well. This creates a force strong enough for us to hold the keyboard upside down with the main body still attached to it. It may be a good idea to keep the U1000 away from items sensitive to magnets--like cards with magnetic strips and pacemakers.
When not in use, the keyboard can placed flat against the face of the device, doubling as a cover for the screen. It is held in place by the magnets on the keyboard. This is where the acrylic portion of the keyboard comes into play, exposing a small portion of the screen which will display vital information like network strength, battery life and time.
Typing on the U1000 takes getting used to. The keys are well spaced out, and typing with the device on a tabletop gave us decent speeds and accuracy. Don't expect the zippiness you will get on a Treo or Blackberry, though. The larger form factor of the U1000 just doesn't allow it. Furthermore, the keyboard is not backlit, so typing in the dark will be a challenge. Also, the fact that the backspace key is below the P key caused a few more typing errors than we liked, but it is a teething problem which most users will get used to after a few sessions with the keyboard.

Features

When it comes to wireless options, there's no faulting the U1000. Besides HSDPA and 3G capabilities, it also comes with Wi-Fi and GPS. As such, there's no reason you can't be connected at all times with it. The large display also makes it perfect for use as a GPS device in the car. Note that no GPS application or maps are bundled with the U1000, so factor in that extra cost if navigation is an important feature for you.

Connectors are found on the left side of the device. Besides the regular mini-USB jack for charging and syncing, there is also a 3.5mm audio jack for connecting a headset or a pair of headphones for music playback. This is a good inclusion as no adapter is required to hook up a favorite set of headphones.
That feature is especially useful considering the U1000 has an 8GB MicroDrive built in. This makes it a perfect candidate as a portable media player. Music playback is good, comparable with most flash-based MP3 players, though the Audio Manager application may not be as advanced as those found on dedicated MP3 players. For videos, most files that will run on your desktop's Windows Media Player will run fine on the U1000 as well. For those that don't, well, there are applications out there for Windows Mobile which will allow playback of other files.
The third connector right beside the other two is one that lets you attach a provided accessory which ends in a VGA connector. A monitor or projector can then be hooked up to the U1000, displaying whatever that's on the 5-inch touchscreen on a much larger display. Together with Office Mobile, this feature makes it possible not to have a notebook around and still be able to give a presentation. Of course, don't expect to be able to show as many cells in Excel Mobile or have many fancy animations on PowerPoint Mobile as they are possible only in the desktop versions.
One application that is especially useful on the U1000 is the Task Manager utility, which closes programs instead of just minimizing them when the X button is tapped. Long time Windows Mobile users will know that tapping X usually will just put the program in the background. If many applications are active, using the device will start to feel sluggish. The Task Manager application solves that problem, making the U1000 more efficient.
The shortcut key which brings you to the browser also acts as an activator for the VueFLO motion sensor. This feature makes scrolling through Webpages more convenient by allowing the user to tilt the U1000 to get the scroll bar moving. Pressing and holding the button will activate the sensor, and an icon on the information bar at the top appears to show that it is active. The angle which the U1000 is at when VueFLO starts becomes its default position. Tilting downward scrolls the page down, while tilting upward scrolls the page up. This even works for scrolling left and right, so even if you were viewing full desktop pages, it would be useful. The option screen for the VueFLO application shows that it works for only Internet Explorer and the Opera browser installed, but we hope developers will take note of this and make it useful for other applications and games as well.

Performance

One of the most embarrassing things about using a very large mobile phone is having to put it up to your face when answering a call. In a strange way, Dopod has solved that problem by not giving the user that option. Picking up a call immediately activates the speakerphone mode, and that cannot be turned off unless you connect a headset. Ironically, having to speak loudly into your handset in a public place is more embarrassing than putting a large slab of phone near your ear. We'd rather Dopod had left the option to use the U1000 as a phone in the normal sense than to remove it altogether. In any case, using a wired or Bluetooth headset is the ideal method.
The speakerphone does well in calls. In our test calls, the other party had no problems picking up what we said. Their voices also came through clearly on our end. The speakerphone was audible in most situations, and will be useful especially when driving. But in public places where there was quite a bit of noise, it wasn't loud enough. In such situations, once again, using a headset would be best.

Surfing on the U1000 as an Internet device is fantastic thanks to the many wireless options. Wi-Fi at hotspots usually gave us the best connection speeds when outdoors, but when that was not available, we went online using HSDPA and 3G. The Intel 624MHz processor made sure that was very little slowdown, which added to the browsing experience even when we loaded graphics-intensive sites. This was helped by the fact that there were very few applications running in the background, thanks to the earlier-mentioned Task Manager program.
Also in the U1000 is the ATi Graphics Chip W2284. There are not too many handheld devices that have a dedicated graphics chip, and so very few applications specifically make use of them. But the fact that it is present in the U1000 helps to relieve some load off the main processor whenever images are displayed, thereby making it more efficient when running other applications in the background.
Images shot using its 3-megapixel camera are sharp, and framing shots is a joy due to the huge screen. We felt colors of the images could be more saturated, and bright conditions tend to make the shot overexposed, so it will be good to do some adjustment of the various settings before hitting the shutter.
We got about two days of battery life on one full charge of the 2200mAh battery. This included normal phone usage, the occasional Internet browsing at hotspots and 3G use. It included about an hour of music playback using earphones. Note that we did not leave Bluetooth on all the time, which would be the case if you were to use a Bluetooth headset. Also, using the U1000 as a media player will significantly drain the battery because the 8GB MicroDrive is a small hard drive and not flash-based. Charging can be done either via the AC adapter or when it is connected to a computer via the supplied USB cable.

Physical design
Form factor
Pad

Dimensions
133.1 x 98 x 16 mm

Weight w/battery
375 g

Primary display resolution
640 x 480 pixels

Phone
Phone type
Quadband

Networks
GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900

Connectivity options
3G, HSDPA, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, USB, EDGE

Messaging features
SMS, MMS, Predictive text input, Email

Calling Features
Speakerphone

Multimedia
Built-in digital camera?
Yes

Maximum camera resolution
3 megapixels

Camera sensor type
CMOS

Maximum digital zoom
x

Maximum optical zoom
x

Video features
Video recording, Video playback

Additional multimedia features
Second VGA camera for video calls; TV-out; dual loudspeakers

PDA
Operating system
Pocket PC

Main processor type
Intel PXA 270 processor

Main processor speed
624 MHz

Graphics processor type
ATi Graphics Chip W2284

RAM
8320 MB

ROM
256 MB

Expansion option(s)
miniSD

PC connectivity
Windows

Battery type
Rechargeable, removable 2,200mAh Lithium-ion battery

Removable battery?
Yes

Rated battery life
5.5 hours

Installed applications
Windows Mobile 5.0; Outlook Mobile, IE Mobile, Office Mobile (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, Pocket MSN, 3G-324M Video Telephony, PDF Viewer, ZIP, SIM Manager, Comm. Manager, Motion Control sensor, Streaming Media Player, Network Wizard, Cyberon Voice Commander, Terminal Service Client and Opera Mobile Browser.

Additional functions
VueFlo function (using motion sensing technology); SirFStar III GPS chipset

Included accessories
Detachable magnetic keyboard; TV out cables; charger; battery; stylus; USB cable

Display
Monochrome or color
Color

No. of colors
16 bit

Touch screen
Yes

Backlit display
Yes

Data Input
Method
Keyboard, Pen

Interfaces
Infrared
No

Audio
Built-in speakers?
Yes

Built-in mic?
Yes

Desktop Connectivity
Desktop software included
Yes

Synchronization with desktop
Yes

Power supply
Batteries rechargeable?
Yes

AC adaptor included?
Yes

Warranty
Base warranty
1 year

Nokia N92

2007-04-07T08:55:00.001-07:00

The Nokia N92 is the first TV mobile in the Nokia Nseries range. The N90 IS the camera phone, N91 the music phone AND N71 AND N80 ARE MORE ALL-IN-one devices. The N92, LIKE the other Nseries phones ARE aimed AT the premium END OF the market.
The phone has a 2.8 inch screen, able TO use DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) technology TO pick up broadcasts direct FROM TV masts, NOT through operator networks. TO start watching mobile TV, you OPEN the Nokia N92 IN VIEW mode AND press the Multimedia KEY. The phone has a Electronic Service Guide (ESG) that contains information about the available TV channels, programs AND services. Nokia promises watching TIME OF up TO 4 hours.

DVB-H device
The Nokia N92 is the first in a range of products bringing together the rich experience of conventional broadcast TV with the connected experience of mobility to create a new category - mobile TV," said Richard Sharp, Vice President of Rich Media at Nokia. "We are confident that mobile TV will be an exciting new service for consumers, as well as generate new opportunities for innovation and growth in the mobile and media industries.

Watching TV and video
The Nokia N92 has four different modes for simple and easy usage. The new view mode is especially designed for watching TV and video. To start watching mobile TV, users simply need to open the Nokia N92 in view mode and press the Multimedia key. The Electronic Service Guide (ESG) contains information about the available TV channels, programs and services. Other mobile TV features include watching time of up to four hours, recording and 30 seconds replay.

The N92 Camera
The N92 camera IS a 2 megapixel camera with a 4x digital zoom. This camera IS ok, but not the focus ON this phone. For a camera phone you should buy the N90 or N80.

Display
The main screen IS a anti-glare 2.8 inch QVGA display with a 320 x 240 pixel resolution AND up TO 16 million colors. The second display IS a small 128 x 36 pixels 65 536 color display. The pixel resolution OF the main screen IS about the same AS IN the other new Nseries, but the N92 screen supports more colors. The display quality IS excellent and UI (USER interface) elements, like fonts and icons should be very smooth.

Operating System
AND MemoryThe phone IS based ON the popular Symbian OS (operating system), S60 (3rd edition, Feature Pack 1). The N92 has 90 MB OF internal memory. FOR comparison the N90 has 48 MB total RAM memory the 6680 has about 8 MB free RAM. MORE memory allow developers TO CREATE MORE advanced software FOR the phone. You can expand the phones storage capacity (FOR video, pictures, music etc.) WITH a miniSD card OF up TO 2 GB (2 000 MB).

Connections AND DATA Transmission
The N92 has Wi-Fi (WLAN) AND IS equipped WITH USB 2.0 Pop-Port, Bluetooth 1.2 AND a IR-port (infrared). The phone IS a 3G GSM 900/1800/1900 AND WCDMA 2100 phone, which means it has coverage ON up TO five continents. The phone automatically switches BETWEEN bands AND modes. DATA transmission speed reaches up TO 236.8 kbps IN EGPRS (EDGE) networks AND up TO 384 kbps IN 3G networks.

Audio
Though the N92 generates stereo sound. The phone supports many audio formats LIKE WMA, MP3, AAC, AMR AND RealAudio. You can transfer music FROM a PC TO the phone WITH the Nokia Audio Manager OR the Windows Media Player.

Size
For a multifunctional device, which serves AS a phone, TV AND AS a digital camera the weight isn´t too heavy (191 g). WITH the dimensions OF 107.4 x 58.2 x 24.8 mm this gadget IS propably nothing FOR the jeans pocket. FOR comparison the N90 weights 173 grams AND IS one OF the biggest AND the heaviest Series 60 smartphones. The Nokia 9300 weights 167 g.

Specification of Nokia N92

Phone
Phone type :

Triband

Networks :

GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900

Connectivity options :

3G, EDGE, GPRS, WAP, Bluetooth, Infrared, USB, WLAN

Calling Features :

Video calls, Voice commands, Speakerphone

Phonebook capacity :

3D audio

Physical design
Form factor :

Clamshell

Dimensions (W x D x H) :

107.4 x 58.2 x 24.8 mm

Weight w/battery :

191 g

Primary display type :

TFT

Secondary display resolution :

x pixels

Input method(s) :

Voice recognition

General
LCD display size :

2.8-inch QVGA

Color LCD :

Yes

Primary Display Color :

24 bit

Performance
Operating system :

Symbian OS

Battery type(s) supported :

1,500mAh rechangeable Lihtium-polymer battery

Max. talktime (in hours) :

4 hours

Max. standby time (in hours) :

336 hours

Internal memory :

90 MB

Expansion slot(s) :

miniSD

Other Features
Additional functions :

Onboard DVB-H receiver; email; Nokia Web Browser; Series 60 platform; electronic program guide; automatic channel discovery.

MMS :

Yes

Predictive text input :

Yes

Ringtone composer :

Yes

Polyphonic :

Yes

Built-in vibrate alert :

Yes

Multimedia
Built-in digital camera :

Yes

Warranty
Base warranty :

1 year

Noki N93

2007-04-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Now that the new Nokia N93 has been announced, I have been stuck with a very peculiar dilemma: whether to go for the N93 or the N91. Did I just say Nokia N93? That's right kids: the N93 is an all-new phone incorporating camcorder capabilities boasting a 3.2 megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss optics and 3x optical zoom.

If what Nokia claims is true, then consumers can look forward to DVD-like video capture, and later view it on a standard television thanks to the TV-out option. The bundled Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 software will further assist in burning your high-quality home videos onto DVDs. This is virtually a camcorder with a phone attached. Videos can be captured in MPEG4 format at 30 fps.

Like the N90, simply unfold and twist the main display and presto: you get a full-screen color viewfinder in landscape mode. It's that simple, really. The primary screen is a spanking 2.4" high-definition Active-Matrix display with a wide 160° viewing angle running at 320x240 pixel resolution and 262k colors, while the secondary is 1.1" offering 65k colors. Bluetooth 2.0 makes an appearance but is lost in all the other great features.

The Nokia N93 is based on S60 3rd Edition - the same as Nokia N91 - with 50MB internal memory and support for miniSD cards (expandable up to 2GB). This one's also a 3G phone, supporting WCDMA 2100MHz with simultaneous voice/packet data, and integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN connectivity. What's more, with its TV-out capability, you can even browse the web, work on your office documents and even play games on the TV.

With Adobe Premiere Elements, you can play with your videos inserting various effects and transitions, and burn 'em onto DVDs or convert them to a web-suitable format for streaming. Oh and if the videos ever get boring, there's always good old radio to fall back on: the N93 also has an integrated stereo FM receiver. Or how about the digital music player?

Nokia N93 Cell Phone Features and Specifications

Operating Frequency

Dual mode WCDMA/GSM and triband GSM coverage on up to five continents (EDGE/GSM 900/1800/1900 + WCDMA 2100 MHz networks)
Automatic switching between bands and modes

Dimensions

Volume: 133 cc
Weight: 180 g
Length: 118. 2 mm

Width: 55.5 mm
Thickness: 28.2 mm

Memory Functions

Up to 50 MB internal dynamic memory for messages, ringing tones, images, video clips, calendar notes, to-do list and
Expandable memory: 128 MB miniSD card
Memory card slot supporting up to 2 GB miniSD memory cards

Power Management

Battery: Lithium Polymer battery BP-6M 1100mAh
Talk time: up to 3.7hrs (WCDMA)/up to 5.1hrs (GSM)
Stand-by time: up to 10days (WCDMA)/up to 10days (GSM)

Form and Function

Twist and Shoot form factor with 4 modes: Imaging mode for capture, View mode for reliving memories, Fold open mode for talking and Fold closed mode for carrying.
Dedicated keys for camera
Support of applications in both portrait and landscape orientations

Displays

Active matrix 2.4" QVGA color display with wide 160° viewing angle: 320 x 240 pixels, up to 262,144 colors
Automatic brightness control for main display
1.1" second display: 128 x 36 , up to 65,536 colours

User Interface

User Interface: S60 3rd Edition
5-way scroll key, selection keys, menu key, edit and clear keys, call and end keys
Multimedia key for quick access to your favorite content
Additional selection keys for landscape mode
Side 5-way scroll key, camera mode key and flash key
Dedicated keys for capture and zoom
Active standby screen

Call Management

Contacts: advanced contacts database with support for multiple phone and e-mail details per entry, also supports thumbnail pictures and groups
Speed dialing
Logs: keeps lists of your dialed, received, and missed calls
Automatic redial
Automatic answer (works with compatible headset or car kit only)
Supports fixed dialing number, which allows calls only to redefined numbers
Conference call
Push to talk (PoC)

Voice Features

Speaker independent name dialing (SIND)
Voice commands
Voice recorder
Talking ringtone
Integrated hands-free speaker

Messaging

Text messaging: supports concatenated SMS, picture messaging,
SMS distribution list
Multimedia messaging: combine image, video, text, and audio clip and send as MMS to a compatible phone or PC; use MMS to tell your story with a multi-slide presentation
Automatic resizing of your megapixel images to fit MMS (max. 300 KB attachment size depending on the network)
Predictive text input: support for all major languages in Europe and Asia-Pacific

Data Transfer

WCDMA 2100 with simultaneous voice and packet data (PS max speed UL/DL= 384/384kbps, CS max speed 64kbps)
Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) support for simultaneous voice and packet data connection in GSM/EDGE networks. Simple class A, multi slot class 11, max speed DL/UL: 177.6/118.4 kbits/s
EGPRS class B, multi slot class 32, max speed DL/UL= 296 / 177.6 kbits/s

Connectivity

Integrated wireless LAN (802.11 b/g) and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play)
Integrated Bluetooth wireless technology v.2.0
USB 2.0 via Pop-Port™ interface and mass storage class support to support drag and drop functionality
TV out support (PAL/NTSC)
Nokia PC Suite connectivity with USB, Infrared and Bluetooth wireless technology
Local synchronization of contacts and calendar to a compatible PC using compatible connection
Remote over-the-air synchronization
Send and receive images, video clips, graphics, and business cards via Bluetooth wireless technology

Java Applications

Over-the-air download of Java-based applications and games

Other Applications

Personal Information Management (PIM)

Advanced S60 PIM features including calendar, contacts, to-do list, and PIM printing
Settings Wizard for easy configuration of e-mail, push to talk and video sharing.
Data transfer application for transfer of PIM information from other compatible Nokia devices.

Digital Services

Java and Symbian applications available from Nokia Software Market

Nokia N73

2007-04-06T18:05:00.001-07:00

Nokia does a lot of imaginative design work with handsets involving fancy shapes and sizes, twisty bits and suchlike. How nice, then, to get a Nokia handset that feels like a phone should feel in the hand and pocket (light, comfortable, unashamedly rectangular) and yet still packs in lots of features.

Weighing a mere 116g and measuring just 110 x 49 x 19mm, you could easily think the N73 is a pretty standard handset. But it is in fact brimming with features. It runs on Symbian S30 v3 and sports all that the operating system has to offer.

The star of the N73 show, though, is its camera. This is a 3.2-megapixel job with Carl Zeiss optics which ensure clear, sharp pictures.
Anyone wanting to use a handset for near-serious photography (serious shots need a dedicated digital camera), will find the auto-focus and macro modes a boon, while the easy to use controls, involving using the responsive mini joystick under the screen to move through on-screen icons and clicking to make selections for settings like ISO, scene mode and white balance, are almost frighteningly user-friendly.

Design of Nokia N73

The Nokia N73 sports an attractive candy bar-style design that's available in two stylish color schemes: silver/deep plum and frost white/metallic red. (We reviewed the former.) It's the same size (4.3 by 1.9 by 0.7 inches; 4/1 ounces) as the Sony Ericsson K800i, which is to say that it's not the most compact phone we've seen, but it's still fairly sleek. The camera lens cover on the back of the phone also adds a bit of extra bulk, but nothing too overwhelming. Plus, the N73 has a solid construction and is comfortable to hold to the ear while talking on the phone.

The N73 boasts a beautiful 2.4-inch (diagonal) QVGA screen that displays 262,144 hues at a 240x320-pixel resolution. That translates to bright colors and sharp text and images. It's also readable in direct sunlight. You can change the display's theme and backlight time, but there's no way to increase font size, which may cause some problems for users with impaired eyesight.

The numerical keypad and navigation controls sit below the screen. There are two soft keys, Talk and End buttons, and a five-way joystick for scrolling through the menu; pressing the joysticks causes it to act as a select key. Along the perimeter of the number keys are four more controls: shortcuts to the Menu and Edit function are on the left side, while the Multimedia button and Clear key are on the right side (see image above). With the exception of this last set of buttons, the keys and layout are a bit small and cramped. That's particularly disappointing since there's about 1/4-inch of extra space between the screen and the navigation keypad that could have been used for roomier keys. Instead, we suffered several misdials and launched unwanted apps. On the upside, the backlighting is nice and bright.

On the right spine, you will find the camera capture key, a review button to view the last saved image or video clip, and a zoom in/out rocker that also doubles as a volume controller. To store all your multimedia files, there's a miniSD expansion slot on the bottom of the N73. It's protected by an attached cover, which we certainly appreciate, but it's really difficult to remove--having longer nails helps. That said, we're glad Nokia placed the expansion slot on the exterior of the phone rather than behind the battery like it does with some of its other models.

The camera lens is located on the back, and it too is protected by a cover. To activate the camera, just slide the cover downward. The screen goes into landscape mode automatically and acts as a viewfinder. As a result, you're naturally inclined to turn the phone horizontally to take photos. Now, with the camera capture key and zoom keys at the top, the N73 looks and feels like a standalone digital camera. Admittedly, it's a little awkward to take vertical snapshots this way, but you get the hang of it after a few tries. While there's no self-portrait mirror, the Nokia N73 offers you something better--a second camera. It's located just above the screen in the upper right corner.

Features of Nokia N73
Like its N-series siblings, the N80 and the N93, the Nokia N73's imaging capabilities is what makes it a multimedia computer (as Nokia calls it), but we don't forget that it is first and foremost a phone. As such, we'll start with those capabilities. The address book is limited only by the available memory (42MB) and the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts. There's room in each entry for multiple phone numbers, work and home addresses, e-mail addresses, birthday, and more vitals. For caller ID, you can assign each contact to a photo, one of 30 ring tones, or a group ID. The N73 also has speed dial, voice command support, a vibrate mode (called Pager profile on this phone), a speakerphone, and text and multimedia messaging.

The N73 is equipped with Bluetooth 2.0 for wireless headsets and car kits. You can also use the device as a modem to send or receive e-mail, or to connect to the Web with a compatible PC. Unfortunately, unlike the N80, the N73 does not have Wi-Fi. While this is disappointing, we were still able surf the Net using a GPRS or EDGE connection, so you're not completely left in the cold.
The N73 runs Symbian OS 9.1 so you get the basic PIM capabilities and more. There's a calendar, a to-do list, notes, a calculator, a voice recorder, a currency converter, and an HTML/XHTML Web browser. An app called Quickoffice lets you view (but not edit) Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files; plus, Adobe Reader is there for PDFs. The N73 is also equipped to handle e-mail capabilities. The phone supports SMTP, IMAP4, and POP3 accounts with full attachment viewing and mobile VPN support for corporate users. Finally, the Nokia PC Suite helps you synchronize your N73 with your PC (using the included USB cable) to manage appointments, music, device memory, and more.

Now, without further ado: the multimedia show. The Nokia N73 ups the ante slightly compared to the Nokia N80 by offering a 3.2-megapixel camera versus a 3-megapixel camera. It features a Carl Zeiss Optics lens, an autofocus function, and 20X digital zoom. Once again, we're blown away by the vast array of photo customization and editing options available on the N73. You can choose from eight scene modes, ranging from portrait to sports to night portrait; four image qualities (large, medium, small, and multimedia messages); and five resolutions (2,048 by 1,536, 1,600 by 1,200, 1,280 by 960, and 800 by 600, 640 by 480). You can tweak the brightness, contrast, white balance, color tone, and exposure value. There's also a self-timer, sequence mode for up to six pictures in a row, and flash with red-eye reduction as one of the options. As we mentioned earlier, there's a second camera, which is of VGA quality and features a 2X digital zoom. The N73's camera captures video with sound in MP4 or 3GP formats with up to 4X zoom. You get a choice of two shooting modes (auto and night) and three quality settings (high, normal, and sharing). In addition, there are white balance and color tone controls.

For more entertainment, the N73 comes with an integrated music player that supports MP3, AAC, WMA, m4a, and eAAC+ files. To get tracks onto your handset, you simply drag and drop files from your PC to the N73 via the included USB cable. The mobile has an equalizer and you can loop songs or play them at random. There's also an FM radio, but you must use the included stereo headset to take advantage of this feature since the tuner is built into the headset. RealPlayer is also available with 3GPP and MPEG4 video streaming support.

Performance of Nokia N73
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; WCDMA 2100) Nokia N73 in San Francisco using Cingular service and in general, call quality was good. On our end, callers sounded a bit hollow, but we were able to carry on with the phone call. Our friends said they could hear us loud and clear and couldn't even tell we were using a cell phone. Activating the speakerphone diminished the audio quality just slightly, as an echo plagued both ends of the conversation.

Unfortunately, as we've experienced with some other Nokia phones, the N73 suffered from sluggish performance when switching between apps or performing its multimedia capabilities. There was a noticeable lag when we called up different menus and activated the camera or music player. In fact, the phone completely froze on us one time as we tried to switch to video mode. Though the delays are relatively short, it still gets annoying and frustrating over time. Music playback was decent, although the included set of uncomfortable earbuds leave much to be desired.
The Nokia N73 is rated for 4.1 hours of talk time and up to 14.6 days of standby time. In our tests, the N73 blew the rated talk time out of the water by clocking in 9.5 hours--good news for all you chatty Cathys out there.

Specification Of Nokia N73

General
Network :
UMTS / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

Announced :
2006, April

Status :
Available

Size
Dimensions :
110 x 49 x 19 mm

Weight :
116 g

Display

Type :
TFT, 256K colors

Size :
240 x 320 pixels, 36 x 48 mm

- Downloadable themes

- Light sensor

Ringtones
Type :
Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3

Customization :
Download

Vibration :
Yes

- 3D sound stereo speakers

Memory
Phonebook :
Yes

Call records :
Yes

Card slot :
miniSD, hot swap, buy memory

- 42 MB shared memory

Data
GPRS :
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

HSCSD :
Yes

EDGE :
Class 11, 236.8 kbps

3G :
Yes, 384 kbps

WLAN :
No

Bluetooth :
Yes, v2.0

Infrared port :

Yes

USB :

Yes, v2.0, Pop-Port

Features
OS :
Symbian OS 9.1, S60 3rd edition

Messaging :
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

Browser :
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML

Games :
Yes + Java downloadable, order now

Colors :
Silver Grey/Deep Plum, Frost White/Metallic Red, Black (Music Edition)

Camera :
3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(CIF), flash; secondary VGA video call camera

- Java MIDP 2.0

- Push to talk

- Video calling and download

- MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player

- T9

- Stereo FM radio

- Voice command/dial

- PIM including calendar, to-do list and printing

- Document viewer

- Photo/video editor

- Integrated handsfree

Battery

Standard battery, Li-Ion 1100 mAh (BP-6M )

Stand-by :
Up to 350 h

Talk time :
Up to 6 h

O2 Xda Atom Pure

2007-04-05T23:51:00.000-07:00

Since the initial release of the glossy black O2 XDA Atom back in late 2005, many complaints were generated on various forums regarding the buggy operating system, slow performance and plastic case quality. After a number of ROM upgrades, O2 finally released a stable operating system in April 2006, which fixed many of the problems users were facing. Two months later in May 2006, O2 released the XDA Atom Pure which addressed the issues regarding the quality of the case.

The O2 XDA Atom Pure is a small, lightweight and attractive device running the latest Windows Mobile 5 Operating System that includes the Messaging and Security Feature Pack and Microsoft Push Email technology.

Performance

Over the six weeks or so that I have had this unit, it has performed quite well for a 416 MHz WM5.0 device. I have found I get better performance with minimal Today Screen applications running as opposed to having a lot running. For example, on this device I have had Spb Weather 1.6, O2 Plus Wireless, O2 Plus Profiles and SBSH Pocket Breeze running. I did have SBSH Contact Breeze running as another tab in Pocket Breeze but found the performance started to lag as I have 200+ contacts. I also have WEBIS Pocket Informant Pro installed as the default PIM. When opening Pocket Informant for the first time after a reset, load times of around 4 - 6 seconds are normal. If Pocket Informant is left running in the background and the calendar or contacts are activated, Pocket Informant opens in around 1 - 2 seconds which is quite good.

Other software loaded into main memory include Microsoft Voice Command 1.5 and Skype. Microsoft Voice Command works very well on the Atom Pure - I haven't had to repeat commands for it to understand. It picks up what I am asking it to do first time. I haven't tried this in a noisy environment such as a 4WD or equipment rooms and the like, just around home and in the workshop where I work I haven't used the included Voice Dial application on the Atom as I prefer Microsoft Voice Command. Personally, I don't have the time to set up a voice tag for each of my contacts. Voice tags also take up valuable memory - something I am reluctant to do.
Skype is a program I couldn't get running on the earlier Atom (using an earlier ROM) but it works a treat on this device. All VoIP calls I have made to and from family and friends have been surprisingly clear. The occasional echo can be heard but this is due to VoIP and my internet connection (same thing happens with my computer from time to time). It is a neat feeling to be chatting to family and paying only 2.2 cents per minute for the call. Walking around the house using WiFi and Skype on the Atom Pure just seems like you are making mobile calls but heaps cheaper.

I have a lot of large PDF documents stored on the Mini-SD Card for quick reference while I am in the field such as radio service manuals, schematic diagrams and cabling diagrams. I prefer to use Adobe Acrobat Reader for the Pocket PC as this handles PDF documents more efficiently than the included ClearView PDF Viewer. However, I decided to stay with ClearView just to see the difference. The performance of ClearView with small PDF documents (100kB) is nice and quick but large documents I work with (4MB+) is just too slow. Adobe Acrobat Reader works well with larger documents but is still slower than I would like.

Regarding speaker volume and ring tones I have found the standard ring tones to be fairly quiet in noisy environments. I have to rely on the vibrate feature to alert me to an incoming call or SMS. My Wife has the JAMin which is no louder than the Atom and her work around was to edit a portion of her favourite song to make it louder and use that as her ring tone. I haven't tried that as yet but think it would be a good idea.

One of the much anticipated features of the Atom is A2DP. This is where a stereo Bluetooth headset is paired with the device so that stereo music can be listened to over Bluetooth. I have the BlueAnt Wireless X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headphones which I tested on this unit. While stereo music can be streamed from this device I found that each song had a pause of a second or so somewhere in the middle of the song. This occurred with songs in main memory or on my storage card. After mentioning this to BlueAnt, they informed me that many Atom users have used the X5 Stereo Headphones with no issues. One user reported the same problem but after formatting his storage card the problem went away. I also contacted O2 about this and they advised that some A2DP headphones had problems because of the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack. They are currently looking at resolving this issue with future ROM upgrades (this also applies to the Atom Exec).

The WiFi on this unit is 802.11b and would have been better if it supported 802.11b and g. I run a wireless network at home and also have access to the wireless network at work. I haven't had any difficulties connecting to either network. These networks appear unsecured but use MAC Address Access to only permit access to those devices whose MAC Addresses appear in the router's table. Another network at a different workshop runs a secured network and I had no problems connecting and accessing the internet through it. WiFi does use a lot of battery power and I have noticed the battery drop from 90% down to 50% in under two hours of continuous WiFi usage.

Lastly, I use OziExplorer which runs very nicely on this device. While a larger screen would be better for satellite navigation and geospatial data collection, the size of the Atom Pure makes it easy to clip to a bracket on the dash of the 4WD. I am hopeful that in the future I may be able to test Destinator on these review devices to see how they perform using voice guided satellite navigation software. At this stage all I have access to is OziExplorer.

Device Specifications

Dimensions:

Approx. 58(W) x 102(L) x 18.5(T) mm
Weight with battery: 140g
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Operating time :
Standby: 150 hours
Talk time up to 5.5 hours Battery life may vary depending on RF conditions and actual usage

Bluetooth/Wireless LAN:

Bluetooth SIG version 1.2 compliant
IEEE 802.11b compliant

Audio:

Stereo speaker
Speaker with receiver
Omni-directional mono microphone
Support speaker phone operation
Ringtone support: 64-chord MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV
Playback support: MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV, AMR

Processor:

Intel PXA272 416MHz

Display:

2.7" TFT LCD display with touch panel
240 x 320 dots resolution
Supports 262K colours (65,536 effective)

GSM/GPRS Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:

GSM900/1800/1900

Memory size:

128MB Flash ROM, 64MB RAM

Camera:

Colour 2-mega-pixel CMOS camera
Preview mirror for self portrait
White LED strobe flash
Support still image and video capture

What's in the box

Main unit
Battery
Universal AC adapter
Stereo wired headset
Mini USB cable
Additional Stylus
Getting started Companion CD with Microsoft® Outlook® 2002 and
ActiveSync®
Quick Start Guide and User Manual
Limited warranty statement

Bundled Software

Auto Configurator
WLAN Manager
O2 Connect
O2 Media Plus
O2 Phone Plus (Downloaded via O2 Connect)
O2 Plus (Downloaded via O2 Connect)
O2 AutoInstaller And all other available applications for the Xda Atom

O2 XDA Atom

2007-04-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

The phone, when compared to the likes of other PDA phones like the Motorola e680i and the Toshiba e800, there is a huge difference in size and it's not the only thing that sets it apart. It's appearance follows HTC's mini design very closely. It sports a solid black, shiny, plastic casing which leaves fingerprints easily. The Atom succeeds in shaving off 6mm in length from the Xda II mini's specifications and compresses all it's components into a 102 x 58 x 18.5mm frame. However, the struggle for estate space means some sacrifices have to be made. The manufacturer therefore chose to implement a 2.5mm audio jack, which is incompatible with all your standard earphones, and a miniSD expansion slot that effectively renders all your existing SD memory cards useless. It boasts a 262K TFT coloured screen and aside from the bright screen, only the call and end keys are lit up in green and red respectively. None of the other keys are lit, not even the Windows keys and the O2 media key found below the screen.

The 2-megapixel camera with flash (1600x1200 pixels) can do video capture a 320x240 pixels. But the camera is very slow, it takes ages to fire up the camera application. The camera has a 8X zoom and the picture on the viewfinder looks really clear. Photo files are stored in the JPEG format and another good thing about the camera is that picture frames are good for livening up your pictures, especially when you want to send a photo to a friend via MMS, or to simply store it on a regular computer or photo website.

The O2 XDA Atom may be the smallest PDA phone, but it packs a real punch with a 416 Mhz PXA272 processor, 50 MB available RAM and 43 MB of flash available to store data and install applications. It's 128MB of ROM is sufficient for a normal user. Power users can simply purchase a high-capacity miniSD card and install more applications on the media. The Atom also comes with persistent storage which retains all your data when the battery runs out. Also the most talked about feature in the Atom is the FM stereo, which you will need to plug in the headset if you want to enable this function to work. Voice notes can be accessed either from the main menu or via the shortcut button at the right side of the device. Voice dialling can be programmed into the device via the voice speed dial application in the programs menu.

On the Connectivity side, the phone comes with a bluetooth and Infra-Red. The infrared port can be found on the right of the device, next to the voice recorder hotkey. Also in addition there is a Wi-Fi connectivity, which was missing in the previous Mini phone and also EDGE is supported all the way up to class 10. And of course!! USB port, as mentioned, is found on the bottom of the device, and this is probably the best way to connect to a computer.

Other useful features are, an equalizer for sound, GPRS monitoring, voice speed dialing, a self-diagnostics utility, O2 Plus (similar to the vBar functionality that lets you close applications instead of just minimize them). On the multimedia side of it, as mentioned earlier, it includes FM radio and the O2 Media Plus worthy of their reputation. The O2 Media Plus is an interesting effort to bring a full multimedia experience with video, pictures, radio and music under a single full screen application.
The battery life here in this device is defnitely a cause for a concern. It is too low for my liking. Not only for me, I think it's way below par for such an expensive device. It includes a 1530 mAh 3.7V battery and that's one of the biggest batteries shipping with any phone today. It manages 10 hours of mp3 playback, which is way below HTC's 5 days and 15 hours respectively on a 1250 mAh battery.

Pros : Fast processor, Unique additional software, Size, Quad-wireless capability, Upgraded ROM, FM Radio And Camera with flash.

Cons: Battery life, No hardware softkeys, No speakerphone, No keyboard, Very expensive device.

Date Announced :

2005, 3Q

Network Technology :

GSM 850/ 900 / 1800 / 1900

Hardware/Processor :

Intel PXA272 416MHz processor

Dimensions (mm) :

102 x 58 x 18.5

Weight (g) : 140

Available colours :

Black

Display

Screen Size :

2.7 inch, 240 x 320

Screen Color :

TFT 262k Colours (65k effective)

Design Type :

Blok

Navigation Key :

5 way Navigation Key

Other Keys :

Volume up/down, Camera, Recorder

Antenna :

Fixed Internal

Memory

Phonebook :

Advance

Internal(MB) :

64MB SDRAM, 128MB ROM

Expansion : miniSD, SDIO

Battery

Battery Type :

Li-ion 1500mAh

Stand-by (hrs) :

150

TalkTime(min) :

330

Entertainment

Ringtones Polyphonic :

64-chord polyphonics

Customization :

MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV

MP3 :

Yes

FM Radio :

Yes

Video Record :

Yes

Video Support :

MPEG-4, H.263, WMV

Audio Support :

MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV, AMR (Stereo Speakers, 10-band equalizer, 2.5mm Audio Jack)

Voice Support :

Recording, Dial

Games :

Solitaire and Jawbreaker

Messenging

SMS :

Yes

MMS :

Yes

EMS :

Email :

Pocket Outlook

Instant Messenging :

MSN messenger

Connectivity

Bluetooth : Yes

EDGE :

Yes, Class 10

Support 3G :

Data

Types / GPRS :

Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots)

Infrared (IrDA) :

Yes

USB Port :

Yes

WIFI/WLAN :

802.11b

Data Cable :

RS-232, mini USB

Software

Java (J2ME) :

Yes ,MIDP 2.0, CLDC 1.1

WAP :

Yes Ver 2.0

Platform / OS :

Windows Mobile 5.0

Browser :

Internet Explorer Mobile

Other Application :

Windows Media Player Mobile 10, Office Mobile (Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, Powerpoint Mobile), O2 MediaPlus, ActiveSync 4.0, PDF Viewer

Personals

Themes :

Info.Caller ID :

Photo

ProfileID :

Yes

CameraLens Type :

CMOS, 2.0 Megapixel

Digital zoom :

Max. Resolution :

1600 x 1200

Flash :

Yes

Night Mode :

Extra Features :

self-portrait mirror

Photo Format :

JPEG(1600x1200,1024x768, 640x480, 320x240,176x144)

Video :

Yes

Nokia E65

2007-04-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

The Nokia E65 has been designed for easy access to the most frequently used applications from the One Touch keys on the front cover. Users can make conference calls, access their contacts database, mute and unmute calls, and access an application of choice through 'My Own' key with just one push of a button. Active Standby, the capability to customize the phone display to show and provide quick access to user-defined applications, together with One Touch keys, simplifies connecting to business and personal applications and switching between tasks. Furthermore, the E65 can be integrated with leading corporate telephony systems - with Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco, Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel and Avaya one-X Mobile Edition for Nokia solutions. The E65 also supports the most used corporate and consumer email solutions.

Design

One of the smaller Series 60 hand phones, the spring-loaded Nokia E65 slider has a soft leather-like back that adds style to this business-class phone. Weighing in at 115g with a thickness of 15.5mm, the Nokia slips easily and unobtrusively inside shirt pockets. The package comes with essential accessories such as a battery, connectivity cable, HS-5 headset (not stereo) and a travel charger, with a soft carrying pouch and 256MB microSD card thrown in as niceties.

The handset has a 240 x 320-pixel, 2.2-inch screen capable of displaying up to 16 million colors, which is easy on the eyes even under harsh sunlight. An ambient light sensor below the Power button illuminates the buttons and keypad when we move into dimly lit environments--nice touch there, but nothing new.

Over at the rear is where we find a 2-megapixel camera. Unfortunately, there's no reflecting mirror, nor is there a flash unit. So taking self-portraits will be a challenge. More on the camera features later. The E65 is also missing a front-facing camera for video calls.

In hand, the E65's sliding mechanism feels solid. Sliding up the top lid reveals the 3-by-4 keypad array beneath which is a comfortable size for one-hand typing, although hitting the bottom row requires a little stretching of the thumb. What we didn't fancy were the Left/Right selection, Menu and Clear keys which are a little too thin horizontally, making it hard to feel for the buttons. We also mistook on many occasions the Conference key for the Left selection button and the My Own key for Menu, which only added to the frustration.

Features

Powering the E65 is the Series 60 3rd edition operating system, with various business and collaborative software such as Quickoffice and Team Suite preinstalled. What the Nokia Team Suite does is manage a group of people, or contacts, into "teams". For example, you can select some of your colleagues to form a team and you can then call either the whole team or to selected team members. Likewise for sending text messages. Quickoffice is what Piscel Viewer is to the Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone edition. It doesn't allow you to create new documents, but you can view Word, Excel, PowerPoint and text files.

Connectivity-wise, the E65 is pretty much well-equipped with quadband GSM (800/900/1,800/1,900MHz), 3G, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g with VoIP support), infrared and Bluetooth 1.2. The handset also doubles as a modem when connected with a compatible computer and comes with Mobile VPN for connection to corporate intranets and services via IPsec technology. To read your emails, this Nokia supports POP/IMAP, SMTP, IMAP4 with idle protocols, Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email 8.0 and various third-party clients. But with a small screen and the absence of a QWERTY keyboard, the E65 is best for reading emails and less often for replying.

The E65 is not entirely without multimedia goodies. The installed RealPlayer plays your MP4 files while the onboard Music player croons your MP3/AAC tracks. Disappointingly, there's no FM radio. There is also a Flash application and Gallery where you can browse through all your media files using a tabbed interface. If you're up for it, there are several other trial programs which you can download via Nokia Catalogs, such as Digitizer, F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus, Psiloc Wireless Presenter and Wayfinder Navigator. The onboard message reader is a hit-and-miss situation. On the one hand it's convenient to have the program read out text messages, but when we were using it outdoors we could barely hear what it was saying until we brought it close to our ears.

Performance

The E65 didn't disappoint. Nor did it overwhelm. Call quality was acceptable, with only the speakerphone volume a tad too soft. Video playback with the RealPlayer on the unit was satisfactory though we would have preferred that it allow us to switch to full-screen landscape mode. According to Nokia, the E65 is rated for a talktime of up to 6 hours and 11 days on standby, both on a GSM network. A basic user should be able to get by for as long as three days without a need to reach for the travel charger.

As mentioned, there's no camera on the front of the E65, so that rules out video conference calls. The 2-megapixel shooter at the rear also has a rather barebones feature set. There's no LED flash for low-light shooting, nor can you autofocus with the camera. What you get are Night and Sequence modes, a self-timer and settings to adjust the white balance and color tones. Image

quality was barely satisfactory and would suffice for only snapshots or Web display purposes. There's 50MB of built-in memory, otherwise you can choose to record your snaps onto a microSD card.

General

Network :

UMTS / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

Announced :

2007, February

Status :

Available

Size

Dimensions :

105 x 49 x 15.5 mm, 74 cc

Weight :

115 g

Display

Type :

TFT, 16M colors

Size :

240 x 320 pixels

- Five-way scroll key

- Downloadable themes

Ringtones

Type :

Polyphonic, MP3

Customization :

Download, order now

Vibration :

Yes

Memory

Phonebook :

Yes

Call records :

Yes

Card slot :

microSD (TransFlash), hotswap, buy memory

- 50 MB shared memory

Data

GPRS :

Class 32

HSCSD :

Yes

EDGE :

Class 32, 296 / 177.6 kbits

3G :

Yes, 384 kbps

WLAN :

Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, VoIP over WLAN

Bluetooth :

Yes, v1.2

Infrared port :

Yes

USB :

Yes, Pop-Port

Features

OS :

Symbian OS 9.1, Series 60 UI

Messagingm :

SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

Browser :

WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML

Games :

Yes + Java downloadable, order now

Colors :

Red, Mocca

Camera :

2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(CIF)

- Java MIDP 2.0

- Push to talk

- MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player

- Office applications

- T9

- Voice command/memo

- PIM including calendar, to-do list and printing

- Integrated handsfree

Battery

Standard battery :

Li-Ion 1000 mAh

Stand-by :

Up to 265 h

Talk time :

Up to 6 h

Nokia E61i

2007-04-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

An admirable cell phone we have experimented is the Nokia E61i, a phone that was designed to compete a very competitive market. Launched around 01/4/2007 the E61i supports the networks GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 / WCDMA 2100. Being of size 117 x 70 x 14 mm and weighting only 150 g, this phone has a perfect design. The Nokia E61i comes with a powerful camera of 2.0 MP / Video Recorder. The phone is equipped with a 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery, letting a talk time of 5.00 hours and lasts in standby around 408 hours. Its engineers included a 60.0 MB memory, enough a normal use! Summing to its internal memory external memory can be added of format microSD / TransFlash memory cards.

photos of this model have been around on gadget-related sites for a long while, and this update comes as no surprise, one could even say “we’d asked for it – we got it”. Faced-off against the E61, the new Nokia E61i wins by having revamped design, camera (ok, we won’t mention how many mpix it packs), but regrettably the operating system version has remained untouched. The foremost rival of the E61 – SonyEricsson M600 – now loses to Nokia’s offspring in the sense of both the feature craved for by many users (we mean camera, of course), and looks. However the rumor has it that the M600 is being updated soon with an offering boasting WLAN support and imaging capabilities. What is my personal opinion on the E61i? They have patched up the things that used to ward many off, but more importantly, the business aim has gradually given its place to the multimedia, which seems to be still vital for enterprise users.
Incidentally, it is good to see that the design revamp has touched not only the casing’s color (to me, this combination is truly alluring), but controls as well, specifically addition of new buttons onto the faceplate – take a look for yourself at the keys flanking the joystick. Now, instead of two functional keys we have no less than four – what’s the upside I hear you ask? This reduces the time you might spend for calling up a specific application. Over and above the joystick’s design has been changed as well, so that in its present state it is handier than that found on the original model.
And of course we can’t just overlook the brilliant sales package – we only wish it wouldn’t be spoiled with that mono-headset. Since the E61i comes boxed with a 2 Gb memory card, why won’t they just allow us to listen to music right after pulling the handset out of the box?

General features

Announced in 2007, official announcement on the 13 February 2007

eGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA

Battery type 1500 mAh Li-Ion (BP-4L)

Battery life : talk mode up to 9 hoursstandby mode up to 400 hours

High-contrast graphical display, 16М colours (TFT), the resolution of 240x320 pixel(QVGA), 2,8 ", active part – 56.9x42.7 mm

5D navigational button

Special button for sending email messages and LED-indicator of new incoming messages

Run by Symbian OS version 9.1 (Platform S60 3rd edition)

Package: Nokia E61i, Nokia Battery BP-4L, Nokia Travel Charger AC-4, Nokia Headset HS-5, Nokia Connectivity Cable CA-53, Nokia microSD Card 2GB MU-37

Weight: 150 gramms

Dimensions: 117 x 70 x 11.5 mm

Memory

60 MB of memory are dynamically shared among the phonebook, the calendar, messages, images and applications

Expansion connector for micro-SD, hot change of cards

Assign a photo to numbers in the phonebook

Each name entry may contain Name and Surname (two lines), Company name, Position,

Phone number, Mobile phone, Fax and E-mail address — total number of 8 fields. Add any number of fields.

Unlimited number of user groups, assign a name to several groups at the same time

SIM-card notes are stored separately, you can't view them with phone memory at the same time

Call lists, no limit on the number of entries, type of call is specified besides of date and duration. You can set a storage period for calls in the list(a month by default)

Call management, ringing tones

Vibracall

Polyphonic call melodies, True Tones, supported formats AAC, eAAC+, MP3, RealAudio, WAV

64-tones call melody, mp3, AAC, WAV, NB-AMR, WB-AMR

Voice dial independent of pronounciation, no need in preliminary tag recording

Speakerphone

Assign melodies to names in the phonebook

SMS

Predictive text input Т9

Message templates (10 preinstalled, you can change or add own ones)

Sending and receiving graphical messages

Concatenated messages (up to 459 characters)

Camera

Integrated camera 2.0 MP (the maximum resolution of 1600x1200 pixels)

Recording video clips MPEG4/Н.263, CIF resolution

Digital zoom

Timer

Backlighting at shooting

Effects (black and white, negative, sepia)

Connectivity

WAP 2.0

Bluetooth v.1.2

WLAN 802.11b/g

IrDA

HSCSD

GPRS class 10

EGPRS (Class B, Multislot class 10)

Support for HTML, xHTML, cHTML

E-mail protocols: SMTP, POP3, IMAP4

Blackberry connectivity

MMS v.1.2

Synchronization with PC

SyncML

SMIL

USB 2.0 via Pop-Port

PoC or PTT

Instant Messaging

Organizer and extras

User profiles (5), temporary profile

Time, date

Calculator, currency converter

Stopwatch (up to 20 intermediate values), countdown timer

Organizer supports various kinds of events, setting reminders

To-do list

Dictaphone (records during phone conversations)

3GPP Video Streaming

RealOne Player: plays RealMedia and 3GPP-compatible files

Photoalbum - advanced gallery

Application showing files - MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Exel

Support for PDF

MP3 player

Support for MIDP JavaTM (2.0), 3D API (JSR-184)

Games

Nokia Unveils N95: 5MP, HSDPA, GPS, and WiFi

2007-04-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

As mentioned above, it's a true beaty. It weighs 120 g and measures 99x53x21 mm (90 cc). Matt silver front and plum back really match each other. The back side is made of a plastic so soft that it feels as if it was a rubber. And it's a VERY PLEASANT feel. The front side of the device is dominated by a huge 2.6" QVGA (320x240) screen, only a tad smaller than E61 and E61i displays - 55x41 mm. It's the same size as in the Sony Ericsson M600 and W950 phones. The screen provides exceptional quality, vivid colors and high brightness controlled by ambient light detector. Below the screen you can find shiny silver buttons (two softkeys, Send and End button, Menu and Multimedia button, Edit and C keys) and slightly above the display there is a small, secondary camera used for video calls.

Nokia N95 is powered by the fastest processor currently used in Symbian OS devices: ARM11-based Texas Instruments OMAP2420 running at 330 MHz. It's the same processor (and the same clock speed) as used in the Nokia N93/N93i, Linux-based Nokia N800 Internet Tablet and the recently announced (and already reviewed by us) Nokia E90 Communicator. What does it mean? Great performance, additionally boosted by hardware 2D/3D graphics and imaging/video acceleration. Unlike the Nokia E90 Communicator and the N800 Tablet, both equipped with 128 MB RAM, the N95 still stays in the smartphones camp with its traditional 64 MB total RAM and about ~22 MB RAM free (E90 offers almost 80 MB of free operating memory). I haven't, however, experienced any memory related problems or 'No memory' errors. The N95 has about 160 MB internal storage memory (disk C:) and can be expanded with microSD cards up to 2 GB.

Camera

The N95 should be code named "Multimedia Beast". Its 5 Megapixel (2592x1944) autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss Tessar optics (f/2.8, 5.6 mm, 10 cm ~ infinity focusing range) and 1/1000th ~ 1/3rd s mechanical shutter provide the best quality you can get from a camera phone. The 5 Mpix resolution is sufficient for even 28x36 cm (11x14") sized prints. The mechanical shutter and Zeiss optics put the N95's camera on par with simpler standalone digicams and the only thing that's missing is optical zoom a la N93 / N93i. The flash is a white LED diode working within a range of about 3-4 meters.

Performance

The N95 is fast. It uses the same hardware platform as the Nokia N93. However, GLBenchmark results are currently about 10-20% worse than N93's, most probably due to early unoptimized firmware as there are no reasons for the retail N95 to be slower than N93. Let's wait for final firmware and then compare the two. Menu operations, image processing, video recording and playback, 3D graphics in games (e.g. System Rush), web browsing - everything works very fast. Memory limitations are the same as of all the remaining S60 3rd Edition smartphones (except for the Nokia E90 Communicator), so if you have previously owned any other S60 3rd Edition phone then you can expect the N95 to offer you the same capabilities when it comes to number of programs you can run simultaneously or size of documents you can open.

Software

The N95 is a Symbian OS 9.2 S60 3.1 (3rd Edition Feature Pack 1) phone. As with other S60 phones, firmware can be updated at home using the Phone Software Update service. N95 is fully compatible with all existing S60 3rd Edition software.
The N95 supports landscape mode for the full UI, which means that every menu and application can work in both the portrait and landscape mode. UI customization has been extended with possibility to select one of three font sizes, although I'd still warmly welcome yet another size, an even smaller one. As already mentioned, the N95 supports automatic keylock, which kicks in after configured time out or when you close the keypad. The tested unit with beta firmware only had QuickOffice 3 viewers. It is unclear whether the retail version will have the newest QuickOffice 4 and if it'll also include document editors. Being based on the S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, the N95 contains the new 2.0 version of the Nokia OSS web browser. It's now faster and less memory hungry. Even the first version was very good at rendering web pages the same way as you can see them on your desktop PC, but v2 goes even further and provides almost perfect accuracy. Moreover, it now supports both WWW and WAP, so it is now the only browser preinstalled in the phone. New features in the 2.0 version also include auto-completion for form data fields, video plug-in, support for favicons, Flash Lite 2.0, RSS and Atom feeds with automatic update, password manager, support for landscape orientation, toolbar, background sounds, saving images and whole pages for offline browsing, operator cache, visual windows manager and user agent profile. Wow, it's now a fully mature browser. The only thing I miss is Opera-like small screen rendering mode.

The N95 has the same Music Player with equalizer (supporting MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA/M4A) and Real Player as all S60 phones. Full screen video playback is 100% smooth and movies look great on N95's huge screen. Supported video formats include: MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, H.263/3GPP and RealVideo 8/9/10. Video editor and Movie director let you edit and enhance recorded videos.

Nokia N95 Specifications & Features

Screen :

16 Million Colour TFT Screen (240 x 320 Pixels)

Imaging :

5 Megapixel Camera

Digital Zoom

Autofocus

Flash

Camera

KeyCarl Zeiss Optics Tessar™ Lens

Scenes Settings (Automatic, User Defined, Close Up, Portrait, Landscape & Night)

White Balance (Automatic, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent & Fluorescent)

Colour Tone (Normal, Black & White, Sepia & Negative)

Video Player

Video Recorder

Video Streaming

Video Modes

Video Calling

Second CIF Camera

GPS Navigation (100 Countries Maps)

Messaging

SMS (Text Messaging)

MMS (Multimedia Messaging)

Email (SMTP, IMAP4 & POP3)

Email with Attachments

Picture Messaging

Instant Messaging

SMS Distribution ListPredictive Text

Sound

Music Player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ & WMA)

Stereo FM Radio

Visual Radio

MP3 & Polyphonic Ringtones

Stereo Headset

Nokia Music Manager

Voice Commands

Voice Recorder

Voice Dialling

Handsfree Speaker

Vibration Alert

Entertainment

Java™ GamesJ

ava™ Applications

Embedded Games

Downloadable Games

Organiser

Phonebook

Contacts

Calendar

Notes

ClockTo Do List

Calculator

Converter

Conference Call

Push To Talk

Document Viewer

OS Symbian Operating System

S60 Software

Connectivity

Bluetooth™

USB 2.0

Pop Port™

EDGE

HSCSD

WLAN Wi-Fi

Network

Quad Band (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900)

HSDPA

Internet

XHTML

HTML

Memory & Talk Time

160 Mbytes Memory Plus 128 Mbyte MicroSD™ Memory Card

6.5 Hours Talk Time

220 Hours Standby

Weight & Size

120 g

99 x 53 x 21 mm

Samsung i320

2007-04-01T01:37:00.000-07:00

Samsung i320 is worth admiration. In its tiny (11.5 mm thin) but extremely elegant body the manufacturer has fit a full-function QWERTY keypad, a rather good display, and most importantly - Windows Mobile OS.

Phone Features and Reception
This is a tri-band GSM phone with EDGE and Bluetooth. It supports the 900/1800 and 1900MHz frequencies. This puts it at a disadvantage in the US as it loses access to the 850Mhz band used by Cingular. I’m a T-Mobile subscriber and in my area 1900 is king so I’m ok; let’s see. Interestingly, you have to manually change the band; I don’t mind this as it does mean that the phone never tries the other two bands when it loses the 1900Mhz signal, this should speed up re-acquisition. Call quality is fine; speaker phone mode is strong with the two rear speakers it’s loud enough for occasional use. To help the large of finger the phone dialer permits the number keys to use the neighboring keys to help reduce dialing errors.

Horsepower and Performance
The CPU is an Intel PXA 272 running at a solid 416Mhz; this is twice as fast as the current crop of Smartphones from HTC. It feels sporty in use. Typically, as with other Windows Mobile 5 devices it takes a moment to initially load an application but once in memory it’s quick to switch to when demanded. Oddly the ‘About’ screen refers to a ‘Intel PXA 27x’ and doesn’t disclose the speed.

Usefully there is 128MB FLASH ROM on board for storage and 64MB RAM for running applications, again double the storage from the current crop. That suits the "I’m a Q killer" - load me up with applications theme, rather than I’m a SLVR, just a phone theory.
In use there’s 95MB storage and 21MB of RAM available with a week of email and 500 contacts loaded up; no problem.

Clearing down calls can sometimes appear frustratingly slow; odd given the rest of the spec. Let’s wait for an updated firmware to see if that’s hardware. The start and stop of calls are accompanied by an acoustic jingle from the speakers; perhaps that’s the cause of the delay?
Another slight delay occurs when you’re typing into some of the text boxes; minor again but enough to notice; again, perhaps a future firmware update might address that.

Display, Gaming and Multimedia
The landscape 320x240 display is top notch; crystal clear, high contrast and super-bright. The brightness is user configurable from ok to eye-popping. LED illumination makes best use of the power. The integrated Windows Media Player is great supporting DRM’d music and automatic synchronization to your PC. For video playback, TCPMP still edges out WMP for performance, easily managing 30fps on MPEG4 video.

The keyboard is very positive and the five-way pad reliable in operation – good for gaming.
Sound quality is good, plenty of dynamic range and good clarity. The supplied phones are ok I suppose but I recommend an upgrade for great audio. The Bluetooth stack supports high quality audio (A2DP) over Bluetooth so break out those wireless stereo headphones for best mobile effect.

Camera
The 1.3Mp camera is fine; a pleasant surprise really. In good light it turns in good color and depth. The detail is good; the file sizes reveal the extra picture detail being captured. If I didn’t know better I’d say this was more than 1.3Mp. You can see an unedited sample photo to the right.

It has a fixed lens and includes an LED flash to assist night shots but frankly the LED’s range is outside the shortest focal distance of the phone in everything but pitch black but then, if you need to take head–shots in the dark; here’s a phone for you.

The extra CPU kicks in on the video side; it’ll actually grab 320x240 video which whilst it’s no camcorder replacement it is getting there. It’s for party fun only.

Software
Samnsung have loaded up the i320 with a whole bunch of really useful stuff, there’s no Word/Excel/PowerPoint but there is Email, Calendar, Contacts and Tasks plus Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer and Pocket MSN; all standard fair but then they added a good camera application that supports video encoding at 320x240, a bundled document viewer from Picsel, a Voice Assist utility (that I could get to recognize me!) , a SIM manager, a useful units of measure converter, a world clock, a ‘D-Day’ tracker and a neat but simple Stopwatch. They also bundle their own home screen application and associated program launcher. It’s nice but doesn’t seem to add value over and above the regular OS menu’s.

One notable omission is Microsoft Bubble Breaker… what am I to do? It was the only mobile game I played! Instead there is Samsung's "FunBox" which wraps the JAVA runtime and download as well as introducing a pure WAP browser to the platform. At first I thought the WAP browser existed to provide a true mobile phone browsing experience to existing mobile phone users but I realize after exploring FunBox that it’s really just there to aid in finding and downloading regular JAVA phone games from your carrier. I have an unlocked model with no carrier customization so no games for me.

ActiveSync is here of course, it is the Microsoft application used to link the phone to the desktop. Physically it’s a USB connection. From the software you can browse your phone as a disk device and set up and configure synchronization. Sync of email, tasks, favorites, calendar and contacts can be completed with the included Outlook Client or your installed Microsoft Office. Email, Calendar, Contacts and tasks can be synchronized with a Microsoft Exchange server over the air. You can’t underestimate the value of synchronization, especially over-the-air; it’s great to get a new contact number, type it into your PC then, call it on your phone. Read emails on your phone, reply and forward; great stuff. The version of ActiveSync that ships with Windows Media 5 devices is now 4.1.

Specification Samsung i320

General

Network
GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900

Announced

2006, February

Status
Available

Size

Dimensions
111 x 59 x 11.5 mm

Weight
95 g

Display
Type
TFT, 65K colors

Size
320 x 240 pixels, 2.2 inch

- QWERTY Keyboard

Ringtones

Type
Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3

Amount
35 preset

Vibration
Yes

- Dual speaker

Memory

Phonebook
1000 entries, Photocall

Call records
30 dialed, 30 received, 30 missed calls

Card slot
microSD (TransFlash), buy memory

- 128 MB shared memory- Intel PXA 272 (416 MHz) processor

Data

GPRS
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

HSCSD
No

EDGE
Yes

3G
No

WLAN
No

Bluetooth
Yes, v1.2

Infrared port
Yes

USB
Yes, v1.1

Features

OS
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone

Messaging
SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

Browser
WAP 2.0/xHTML

Games
, order now

Colors
Black

Camera
1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels, video, flash

- Java MIDP 2.0

- WMV/3GP/H.263/MPEG4 player

- WMA/MP3/AAC/AAC+/OGG/ASF player

- T9

- Organiser

- Document viewer (MS Word, Excel, PPT, PDF)

- Built-in handsfree

Battery

Standard battery, Li-Ion 1000 mAh

Stand-by
Up to 140 h

Talk time
Up to 3 h 30 min

Sony Ericsson W950

2007-03-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

W950i Walkman is a slim and stylish mobile phone with an advanced digital music player and large touchscreen for optimal ease of use. Using W950i is easy. The keypad of the slim W950i is smooth and flush with the surface and the dedicated music player keys and other controls have one-press-to-open functionality. You can also transfer hours of your favorite music from your PC to your phone easy and fast. W950i has an impressive 4GB of flash memory. 3G makes surfing the Web on the go a fast and satisfying experience. The Operaâ„¢ 8.0 Web browser gives you the Internet browsing experience youâ€™re used to and you have everywhere access to your favorite Web sites.

Until very recent times Sony Ericsson has been producing smartphones only within the bounds of P line-up – the devices belonging to this product line possess maximum functionality, and as a rule claim leading positions in this market share. At the same time, in contrast to Nokia, the company didn’t make any attempts to vary its product line of smartphones, as production facilities were strictly limited. Early in 2006, the situation fundamentally changed and the manufacturer has been widening the line-up from that point on – Sony Ericsson M600i was the first sign, armed with a QWERTY-keyboard and uncommon two-position buttons; a bit later on, the company featured W950i, which possessed in the same shell, but with a number of differences. These two handsets are powered by Symbian 9.1 and have a UIQ 3.0-like user interface applied.

Sony W950 Specs at a glance:

Music

Walkman player

Supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, E-AAC+, WAV and m4a

4 GB flash memory

Up to 4.000 songs can be stored when downloading songs from operator networks in E-AAC+ file format

Touchscreen with album art support

Polyphonic ringtones, 40 voices

Graphical equalizer and Mega Bass

Disc2Phone music management software

Stereo headphones in the box

FM radio with RDS

MusicDJ

Speakerphone

Streaming Audio/Video

Bluetooth stereo streaming support

Java MIDP 2.0

2D and 3D gaming

Music play time – 10 hours

Messaging

Bright QVGA TFT 2.6’’ Display

262K Color display

Video playback , 30fps

SMS, MMS and e-mail

Handwriting Recognition

Touch screen

Word completion and Auto correction

Connectivity

Opera 8.0 Internet browser

RSS Feeds

Bluetooth 1.2

Infrared port

USB 2.0 Mass storage, High speed (480 Mbps)

USB cable in the box

Modem

WAP 2.0 XHTML/HTML

Dual Mode UMTS 2100 – GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900

Business

Full HTML browser Opera 8

External antenna connector

USB charging

PC synchronization

Flight mode

Size: 106 x 54 x 15 mm

Weight 112 grams

Talk time: up to 2.5/7.5 hours (UMTS/GSM)

Standby time: up to 250/340 hours (UMTS/GSM)

Main advantages:

4GB of storage space

Walkman MP3 player and stereo FM radio with RDS

Dedicated multimedia keys

3G support

Symbian 9.1 OS with the UIQ 3.0 user interface

Touchscreen with QVGA resolution

Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP profile, Infrared port and USB 2.0 support

Comes with a 3.5 mm audio jack adapter

Main disadvantages:

No camera

No Wi-Fi

No memory card slot

No EDGE support

Uncomfortable keypad

Palm Treo 750

2007-03-31T03:12:00.000-07:00

Palm's first Treo with WCDMA 3G data, first with stereo Bluetooth, and first with an internal antenna. Other features of this PDA phone are similar to other recent Treos, such as Windows Mobile 5, QWERTY keyboard, 1.3 megapixel camera, miniSD memory card slot, and voice control.

Design and Ergonomics

The Treo 750, like the Palm OS Treo 680 recently released by Cingular and Palm, is most recognizably a Treo but it sports a casing re-design that makes it look and feel smaller (more so than it is), weighs 1 ounce less than the Treo 650 and most importantly removes the large stubby antenna found on the Treo 650, Treo 700w and 700wx. Palm tells us that the Treo 750v ("v" stands for Vodafone) was designed to suit Europeans' higher esthetic, and now we in the US can enjoy a bit of Palm's version of high style.

Like all Treos, the 750 feels wonderful in hand, with curves and mass that make you think Palm took a mold of an average sized hand and used that as a starting point for the Treo's casing. Though not miraculously thin like the 0.46" Samsung BlackJack (technology isn't up to fitting the full Pocket PC edition hardware into wafer-thin phones), the 0.8" Treo actually feels more pleasant in hand with no thin, rectilinear edges poking at finger and palm nerves. Clearly though, your pocket will favor the thinner BlackJack, even if your hand does not. The Treo looks and feels solid and well made.

The keyboard is largely unchanged from the Treo 700 line with similar key size, key travel and tactile feedback. The backlit keys measure 9mm wide x 10mm tall and are predominantly black with the number keys in silver for easy dialing. The numbers share keys with letters, so you'll need to hit the Fn key to enter numbers, but the Fn key is sticky (just press it once, you need not hold it down while pressing the desired number key) and with a double-tap of the Fn key you can turn num lock on (the same is true of the shift key). Though the keyboard isn't as roomy as the Cingular 8525's and not up to the venerable BlackBerry 8700's, it is quite usable. The Samsung BlackJack's keys are more widely spaced which gives you more room to type but requires more thumb movement (a matter of personal preference). We had no issues with the keyboard layout other than the colon (:) which has no place on the keyboard. Instead you'll need to press the Alt key, then select it as the first item in a pop-up list of characters and symbols.

The Treo's soft-touch finish (something along the lines of the BlackJack and T-Mobile Dash anti-slip coating) helps keep the Treo in hand. Given how easy it is to let a slick and weighty Treo 700 slip from the hand, we're thrilled with the new surface texture. The Treo is navy blue with a silver display bezel and brushed-metal looking side grips (the Treo is actually made of plastic). With a bit of industrial legedemain, Palm managed to hide the single LED (there is no window in the silver bezel). You won't know it's there until it lights to indicate charging status. Those who despise flashing LEDs indicating phone service and Bluetooth status will be happy to know that the Treo flashes for neither. However, it also doesn't flash to indicate alarms and appointment reminders that have gone off, so you'll need to turn the Treo on and look at the screen to see if you've missed any alarms. Those who hate toothpick-thin, telescoping styli will love the Treo's ample one-piece stylus.

The Treo has Windows Start Menu and OK buttons surrounding the d-pad to improve one-handed operation, but no jog wheel. The call send and end buttons are in standard locations and the device has the usual Windows Mobile softkeys just below the display. On the left side you'll find volume up and down keys along with a user-assignable button that's assigned to the camera by default. A large IR window and the door covering the miniSD slot are on the PDA's right side and the sync and charge ports are on the bottom edge. The ringer on/off slider and the stylus are located up top. The camera lens, self portrait mirror and speakerphone are on the back and the battery lives under a door on the rear. The SIM slot is located under the battery and the soft reset hole in under the miniSD cover. If you must soft reset the Treo, you'll need to remove and re-insert the battery.

Phone Features, Data and Reception

The Treo 750 is a world traveler with a GSM radio that will work anywhere in the world GSM service is available. The quad band GSM radio works on the 850/900/1800/1900MHz bands and handles GSM, GPRS and EDGE. The Treo's 3G radio works on the US and European bands (850/1900/2100MHz) and supports UMTS for data rather than the faster HSDPA standard. UMTS tops out at 384k, though you may see faster results when using Cingular's proxy (hardcoded into the registry for IE) in strong service areas such as ours. Palm states that they'll release an upgrade in Q1 2007 that will move the Treo 750 to HSDPA which means speeds from 600-1,000k in strong Cingular 3G coverage areas with a theoretical max of 1.8 Mbps (which you'll never get on a PDA). Until then, two utilities developed for non-HSDPA enabled HTC Hermes devices (not all had HSDPA enabled because they were sold into UMTS-only countries) work to enable HSDPA on the Treo 750. We installed them and are seeing an average of 950k on DSL Reports mobile speed test. For those who don't wish to install these two small programs (SetHSPDA v2 and fit4cat Hermes), UMTS speeds hovering around 400k are pretty pleasant, being 3 to 4 times faster than EDGE and similar to Verizon and Sprint's EVDO speeds on smartphones in our area.
Phone Features, Data and Reception

The Treo 750 is a world traveler with a GSM radio that will work anywhere in the world GSM service is available. The quad band GSM radio works on the 850/900/1800/1900MHz bands and handles GSM, GPRS and EDGE. The Treo's 3G radio works on the US and European bands (850/1900/2100MHz) and supports UMTS for data rather than the faster HSDPA standard. UMTS tops out at 384k, though you may see faster results when using Cingular's proxy (hardcoded into the registry for IE) in strong service areas such as ours. Palm states that they'll release an upgrade in Q1 2007 that will move the Treo 750 to HSDPA which means speeds from 600-1,000k in strong Cingular 3G coverage areas with a theoretical max of 1.8 Mbps (which you'll never get on a PDA). Until then, two utilities developed for non-HSDPA enabled HTC Hermes devices (not all had HSDPA enabled because they were sold into UMTS-only countries) work to enable HSDPA on the Treo 750. We installed them and are seeing an average of 950k on DSL Reports mobile speed test. For those who don't wish to install these two small programs (SetHSPDA v2 and fit4cat Hermes), UMTS speeds hovering around 400k are pretty pleasant, being 3 to 4 times faster than EDGE and similar to Verizon and Sprint's EVDO speeds on smartphones in our area.

For Internet-related tasks, the Treo 750 has mobile versions of IE and Outlook. Outlook supports multiple email accounts, POP and IMAP protocols, various kinds of authentication and MS Direct Push email thanks to AKU 3.2 (MS Exchange Server 2003 SP2 required). It also ships with a link to get Good Mobile Messaging and you can install 3rd party Windows Mobile compatible browsers such as Opera. You won't be able to install the free Java-based Opera mini unless you download and install a Java VM since the Treo ships with none. We installed a Java VM and were off and running with Google Maps and other Java apps.

The killer application is of course the phone, and the Treo 750 doesn't disappoint. While audio quality wasn't among the best on prior Treo models, the 750 has excellent call quality. Incoming and outgoing voice sound like a land line (in part due to 3G's superior voice codecs) and volume is more than adequate unless you're making a call from the Super Bowl. Reception on 3G is good, and is very similar to the Cingular 8525 (the BlackJack is the ultimate king of RF for 3G at the moment). Reception in GSM (non-3G) areas in very good. The Treo has a rear-firing speakerphone and a 2.5mm stereo headset jack (not proprietary thank goodness) and comes with a stereo earbud headset with inline mic.

Horsepower and Performance

We've seen Samsung's ARM/XScale compatible processors in quite a few PDA phones in the past year, and Palm has joined the ranks with the Treo 750's 300MHz Samsung SC32442A CPU. We love the strong performance combined with power-savings features of Samsung's mobile processors-- two things that don't usually go together in the world of CPUs. By Windows Mobile 5 standards the Treo 750 is very responsive (likely Palm is using some intelligent caching) with no undo lag opening menus and applications. It opens a 500 contact database quickly and has no problem scrolling quickly. 240 x 240 games aren't abundant, but those games that do support that resolution ran well. Video playback is also good, but we'll cover that later.

Unlike the first Windows Mobile Treo to market (700w), the Treo 750 has plenty of RAM to run programs-- 64 megs which is standard for Windows Mobile devices. Of that 64 megs, approximately 29 are free after booting and the Treo has 128 megs of flash ROM, of which ~ 60 megs are available for your use as persistent memory that will survive a complete battery drain. For storage expansion the Treo has a miniSD slot (a rarity now that most phones have moved to the annoyingly small MicroSD standard) and can accept cards up to 2 gigs. The slot also supports SDIO and the Treo is compatible with Spectec's miniSD WiFi 802.11b card.

Software

We've already covered some of Palm's customizations and additions, but let's review the standard Windows Mobile software offerings for those who aren't Pocket PC aficionados. All Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Pocket PC Phone Edition devices have touch screens plus handwriting recognition and on-screen keyboards, though you likely won't need the software keyboard and handwriting recognition much thanks to thereof's QWERTY thumb keyboard. They also include Microsoft's Mobile Office suite (view and edit Word and Excel docs, view PowerPoint presentations), Outlook Mobile (and desktop Outlook 2002), Internet Explorer Mobile, Windows Media Player Mobile 10, Terminal Services, Modem Link, Pictures and Videos, Pocket MSN (Hotmail, MSN Messenger), File Explorer, Solitaire, Bubble Breaker, Calculator and support for secure certificates and VPN connections. Outlook on the PDA has calendar, contacts, tasks, notes and email, which you can sync to a Windows desktop running Outlook. Windows Mobile devices sync only to Windows, so Mac users will need to purchase Missing Sync from MarkSpace.

Palm adds their popular threaded SMS application, a wired car kit manager, Keyguard (lock the Treo's buttons with an option to disable the touch screen when in a call), Sounds (an easy way to add ringtones), a Windows desktop Bluetooth plugin, and a Wireless Manager to control the phone and Bluetooth radios. The third party software bundle is quite generous: you get MS Voice Command, Handmark Express, Sprite Backup, Astraware's Dynomite (game), Picsel's PDF viewer and download links for Avvenu and Audible. The Treo 750 is compatible with TeleNav (a subscription navigation service billed by Cingular).

Pro: Snappy performance, 3G (though we'll have to wait for the official upgrade from UMTS to the even faster HSDPA flavor of 3G), excellent usability, great form factor and ever-ready keyboard. We like the new anti-slip surface coating and the lack of an external antenna. Bluetooth is solid and the camera takes decent photos as well as video at 30fps. Kudos to Palm for including MS Voice Command with enhancements to support Bluetooth headsets.

Con: The smaller battery means shorter battery life-- though our Treo 750 outlasts our BlackJack, it doesn't last as long as the Cingular 8525. No WiFi built-in, so you'll need to buy a miniSD WiFi card if you're in need. Though for us, 3G is much more important than WiFi and we find ourselves rarely using WiFi on our 8525. The 240 x 240 resolution display means you'll see a bit less on screen and while most applications support that resolution, you'll find games that don't. We hope Palm's next Windows Mobile Treo has a 320 x 240 landscape display.

Hardware Overview

Processor:
300 MHz Samsung processor

Operating System:
Windows Mobile 5.1 Pocket PC Phone Edition

Display:
240 by 240 pixel LCD

Memory:
128 MB flash memory (60 MB available)

Size and Weight:
4.5 inches long x 2.3 inches wide x 0.8 inches thick; 5.4 ounces

Expansion :
Single miniSD slot

Docking:
Palm Multiconnector

Communication :
Quad-band GSM/EDGE; tri-band UMTS; Bluetooth 1.2

Audio:
2.5mm stereo headset; speakerphone; speaker & mouthpiece for phone

Battery:
1,200 milliamp Lithium Ion rechargable/replacable battery

Input:
QWERTY keyboard; 5-way directional pad

Accessibility
Digital TTY/TDD : Yes
Multiple Languages : Yes

Connectivity
Bluetooth Supported Profiles: DUN, HFP, HSP, OPP, A2DP, AVRC, HID version 1.2
Infrared (IR) :Yes
PC Sync :Yes
USB :Yes

Data & Network
Data-Capable : Yes
Flight Mode : via Wireless Manager application
Packet Data Technology : WCDMA (UMTS) upgradeable to HSDPA / plus EDGE
WAP / Web Browser : Internet Explorer Mobile

Music
Music Player Supported Formats: MP3, WMA Windows Media Player

Photo & Video
Camera Resolution: 1,3 megapixelself-timer, multi-shot funtions / brightness control
Streaming Video : Windows Media Player
Video Capture : Max. Length: available memory. Up to CIF resolution / 3GPP format

Eten Glofiish X800, The First HSDPA Device

2007-03-30T00:49:00.000-07:00

Some people like to have keyboard-less PDA phone - because they prefer construction that has no moving parts or because they simply like to use touch screen more than physical thumb keyboards...

Here we present mini review of ETEN glofiish X800! It has no keyboard (similar model - glofiish M900 - but with slide-out QWERTY keyboard is coming this year too), but is small and thin (unlike brick-like HTC Advantage) and it has it all: auto-focus (!) camera, HSDPA (up to 3.6 MB/s), UMTS video calling, built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ultra-sharp VGA display (640x480 pixels) and even FM radio!

E-TEN Information Systems has announced its Glofiish X800 next-gen Pocket PC Phone at the CeBIT 2007. It supports 3.5G connectivity, High-speed HSDPA/WCDMA for faster downloads and easy surfing on the internet. Windows Mobile® 6 platform and large VGA display lets you work easily with documents, messages and multimedia. Glofiish PC Phone lets the users an easy access to advanced mobile services including streaming video VoIP, and video calling.

Glofiish’s new Windows Live™ for Windows Mobile® suite is loaded with utilities to simplify email, web search, instant messaging and blogging. Mobile Office suite is incorporated in the PC Phone to offer more ways to view and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Glofiish X800 is very thin and has 113.5x60.5x15.8 mm dimensions. The Glofiish X800 features all-in-one connectivity solution in the form of Wi-Fi®, GSM, GPS and Bluetooth®. It comes with two digital cameras, an auto-focus 2-megapixel version at the rear to capture high-quality photographs and video, and a front-mounted VGA camera for video calling.

Physical design

Form factor :
Pad

Dimensions :
113.5 x 60.5 x 15.8 mm

Primary display resolution :
640 x 480 pixels

Multimedia

Built-in digital camera :
Yes

Maximum camera resolution :
2 megapixels

Camera sensor type :
CMOS

Maximum digital zoom :
No

Maximum optical zoom :
No

Video features :
Video recording, Video playback

Additional multimedia features :
Streaming video; VoIP; second VGa camera for video calling

Phone

Connectivity options :
3G, HSDPA, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, USB

Messaging features :
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant message

PDA

Operating system :
Pocket PC

PC connectivity :
Windows

Installed applications :
Windows Mobile 6.0 OS; Windows Live

Display

Monochrome or color :
Color

Touch screen :
Yes

Backlit display :
Yes

Data Input

Method :
Pen

Audio

Built-in speakers :
Yes

Built-in mic:
Yes

Desktop Connectivity :

Desktop software included :
Yes

Synchronization with desktop :
Yes

Power supply

Batteries rechargeable :
Yes

AC adaptor included? :
Yes

Warranty

Base warranty :
1 year