Mobile Arena

2009-12-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

2009-12-14T07:31:00.000-08:00

Motorola MILESTONE is now available in UK

2009-12-14T07:09:00.000-08:00

The much anticipated and discussed Motorola MILESTONE is already available in the UK for 450 pounds. But the Christmas shopping choice is limited, because eXpansys UK hold the MILESTONE exclusivity until the end of the year.
Motorola's biggest hope is already available in the UK and can be yours SIM-free for 450 pounds. Of course you can also opt for a subsidizing T-Mobile contract.

If you need a memory refresh, the MILESTONE is the European version of the USA DROID. It's the same Android 2.0 running touchscreen slider packing high-res 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen, full QWERTY sliding keyboard, all-round connectivity, 5 megapixel camera, fast ARM Cortex A8 processor and all that comes in only 13.7mm thickness, which makes the MILESTONE probably the slimmest side-sliding QWERTY phone to date.

Well, there is only one difference with its DROID sibling and that is the multi-touch support. The MILESTONE is capable of all that fancy pinching gestures, well known from the iPhone.

Here's a quick video ad of the new mobile:

Nokia 5230 review: Foot soldiers get smarter

2009-12-14T07:01:00.000-08:00

Introduction
When touchscreen handsets start to take over the lower segments of the market you know the rules of the game have changed. The Nokia 5230 is a smartphone but it doesn’t mind rubbing shoulders with the common run of handsets. So, it’s free to explore grounds where few smartphones have ever gone, let alone full touchscreen gadgets.

The land of affordability was the last territory for touchscreen phones to settle in and not quite the place smartphones would call home. So it was, but Nokia just won’t wait for a special invitation when a niche is wide open. And they’ve got quite a fleet already of low key touchscreen smartphones that’s certain to make an impact. The Nokia 5530 XpressMusic had a great bang for the buck and the 5230 is welcome to try and beat the bargain.
Cheap is nice but free is even better – and we guess the 5230 will be available both ways through retail stores and carriers. But let’s see what it has and what’s been left out.

Key features:

3.2" 16M-color TFT LCD 16:9 touchscreen display (360 x 640 pixels)
Symbian S60 5th edition
ARM 11 434 MHz CPU, 128MB RAM memory
Quad-band GSM support
3G with HSDPA 3.6Mbps support
Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support; Ovi maps
2 megapixel fixed focus camera with and VGA@30fps video
microSD card memory expansion, ships with a 4GB card
FM radio with RDS
Bluetooth with A2DP and USB v2.0
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
Accelerometer sensor for automatic UI rotation, motion-based gaming and turn-to-mute
Ovi integration (direct image and video uploads, Ovi Contacts)
Landscape on-screen virtual QWERTY keyboard
Excellent audio quality
Price tag on the cheap side
Changeable color battery covers (two extra ones available in-box)
Plectrum dongle available in the retail package

LG Mobile Rates

2009-12-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

Prices Updated on 24th July 2009

	LG KE 770 GSM Not available in market.		LG KE 970 Shine GSM Price: Rs.14,700.
	LG KU 990 GSM LG Viewty Price: Rs.30,000.		LG KG 195 GSM Price: Rs.6,000.
	LG KG 200 GSM Not available in market.		LG KC-550 GSM Price: Rs.20,000.
	LG KG 270 GSM Price: Rs. 2,600.		LG KG 275 GSM Price: Rs.2,150.
	LG KP 220 GSM Price: Rs.6,700.		LG KG 288 GSM Price: N/A
	LG KF 510 GSM Price: Rs.12,000.		LG KM 501 Price: Rs.8,200.
	LG KP 320 GSM Price: Rs.8,800.		LG KP 105 GSM Price: Rs.2,250.
	LG KP 110 GSM Price: Rs.3,000.		LG G 1600 GSM Price: N/A
	LG KG 370 Price: Rs.3,000.		LG KP 199 GSM Price: Rs.6,600.

Samsung Mobile Rates

2009-12-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

Prices Updated on 6th December 2009


	Samsung Armani - GSM Price: Rs. 41,150.MZ		Samsung-B- 100 - GSM Price: Rs. 2,300.MZ
	Samsung B-130 - GSM Price: Rs. 2,000		Samsung B-200 - GSM Price: Rs. 2,500.MZ
	Samsung B-220 - GSM Price: Rs. 3,800.MZ		Samsung B-300 - GSM Price: Rs. 3,550.MZ
	Samsung C160 - GSM Price: Rs. 2,700.MZ		Samsung D-780 - GSM Price: 14,350
	Samsung D 880 - GSM Price: Rs. 17,000.		Samsung C 3053 - GSM Price: Rs. 6,400.
	Samsung E-200 - GSM Price: Rs. 7,150.		Samsung E-250 - GSM Price: Rs. 6,100.
	Samsung E-251 - GSM Price: Rs. 6,550.		Samsung F-400 - GSM Price: Rs. 16,100.
	Samsung E-1105 - GSM Price: Rs. 2,450.		Samsung E 1080T - GSM Price: Rs. 2,200.
	Samsung E-1125 - GSM Price: Rs. 3,100.		Samsung E-1210s - GSM Price: Rs. 2,600.
	Samsung F-480 - GSM Price: Rs. 25,650.		Samsung G-800 - GSM Price: Rs. 16,100.
	Samsung i-450 - GSM Price: Rs. 18,300.		Samsung i-600 - GSM Price: Rs. 27,400. New
	Samsung i-8510 - GSM Price: Rs. 34,000.		Samsung i-900 OMNIA - 16GB Price: Rs. 49,000.
	Samsung J-150 - GSM Price: Rs. 6,350.		Samsung J-700 - GSM Price: Rs. 7,750.
	Samsung L-700 - GSM Price: Rs. 8,950.		Samsung M-150 - GSM Price: Rs. 4,500.
	Samsung M-200 - GSM Price: Rs. 6,000.		Samsung M-620 - GSM Price: Rs. 6,800.
	Samsung M-3510 - GSM Price: Rs. 9,950.		Samsung S-7330 - GSM Price: Rs. 12,900.
	Samsung U-600 - GSM Price: N/A		Samsung U-700 - GSM Price: N/A
	Samsung U-800 - GSM Price: Rs. 16,000.		Samsung U-900 - GSM Price: Rs. 22,100.
	Samsung D-980 - GSM Price: Rs. 30,600.		Samsung S-8300 - GSM Price: Rs. 29,500.
	Samsung M-7500 - GSM Price: Rs. 28,600.		Samsung S-7350 - GSM Price: Rs. 21,000.
	Samsung S-5233 Star Price: Rs. 14,300.		Samsung S-8003 - GSM Price: Rs. 40,000.
	Samsung S7220 - GSM Price: Rs. 20,000.		Samsung C-5212 - Dual Price: Rs. 12,800.
	Samsung C 3010 - GSM Price: 5,900		Samsung C-3310 Price: Rs. 9,400.
	Samsung C 450 - GSM Price: 3,100		Samsung E-2130 - GSM Price: 5,300
	Samsung E-2130 - GSM Price: 5,300		Samsung S 3653 CORBY Price: Rs. 13,900.
	Samsung B 7320- GSM Price: 23,500

SonyEricsson Mobile Rates

2009-12-14T06:06:00.000-08:00

Prices Updated on 6th December 2009

	Sonyericsson C 902 -GSM Price: Rs. 19,000. MZ		Sonyericsson C 905 Price: Rs. 28,600
	Sonyericsson C 903 -GSM Price: Rs. 23,500		Sonyericsson C 901 Price: Rs. 18,000
	Sonyericsson G 700 -GSM Price: Rs. 12,700		Sonyericsson W508 Price: Rs. 16,000
	Sonyericsson W 395 Price: Rs. 11,100. TT		Sonyericsson K 550i -GSM Price: Rs. 12,200. MZ
	Sonyericsson K 770i -GSM Price: Rs. 11,900		Sonyericsson K 850i -GSM Price: Rs. 20,000. DT
	Sonyericsson S 500i -GSM Price: Rs. 10,300. TT		Sonyericsson S 302 -GSM Price: Rs. 8,000
	Sonyericsson W 380i - GSM Price: Rs. 8,600		Sonyericsson T 700 -GSM Price: Rs. 14,300. TT
	Sonyericsson W 200i -GSM Price: Rs. 6,800. TT		Sonyericsson W 302 -GSM Price: Rs. 9,100. TT
	Sonyericsson W-350i -GSM Price: Rs. 7,000. TT		Sonyericsson W 902 - GSM Price: N/A
	Sonyericsson W-595 -GSM Price: Rs. 16,200.		Sonyericsson F-305-GSM Price: Rs. 9,800.
	Sonyericsson W 910i - GSM Price: Rs. 14,000.		Sonyericsson K 810i - GSM Price: Rs. 15,200.
	Sonyericsson W-580 -GSM Price: Rs. 10,800.		Sonyericsson T 280 -GSM Price: Rs. 7,900.
	Sonyericsson K-330i -GSM Price: Rs. 7,100		Sonyericsson C 510 Price: Rs. 15,000
	Sonyericsson W 660 -GSM Price: Rs. 7,500		Sonyericsson W 980 Price: Rs. 20,000
	Sonyericsson W 705 -GSM Price: Rs. 22,000		Sonyericsson W 995 Price: Rs. 36,000

Motorola Mobile Rates

2009-12-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

Prices Updated on 6th December 2009

Motorola W 388
Price: Rs. 6,600

Motorola W 270
Price: Rs.4,600

Motorola W 180
Price: Rs. 2,400

Motorola W 230
Price: Rs. 2,900

Motorola L 6 Pink
Price: Rs. 6,600

Motorola Pebl U 6
Price: Rs. 18,500
Motorola Krazr
Price: Rs. 11,200
Motorola C 118
Price: Rs. 1,900

Motorola SLVR L9
Price: Rs. 8,800

Motorola Razr.V8 Price: Rs. 19,000

Motorola W 218
Price: Rs. 3,500

Motorola C 123
Price: Rs. 1,750

Motorola RAZR2 V9
Price: Rs. 24,600

Motorola U 9
Price: Rs. 18,100

Motorola RIZR Z8
Price: Rs. 18,500

Motorola Rockr E8
Price: Rs. 22,500

Motorola RIZR Z3
Price: Rs. 9,700

Motorola Rockr EM 30
Price: Rs. 15,000

Nokia Mobile Rates

2009-12-14T05:31:00.000-08:00

Prices Updated on 6th December 2009

Nokia - 1202
Price: 2,200
Nokia - 1203
Price: Rs.2,300
Nokia - 1208
Price: Rs.2,300

Nokia - 1209
Price: Rs.2,500

Nokia - 1661
Price: Rs.2,900

Nokia - 1650
Price: Rs.3,250

Nokia - 1680 Classic
Price: Rs.4,050

Nokia - 2330
Price: 4,800

Nokia - 2700
Price: Rs.7,900

Nokia - 2720 Fold
Price: Rs.6,500

Nokia - 2730 Classic
Price: Rs.10,150

Nokia - 1662
Price: Rs.2,900

Nokia - 2600 Classic
Price: Rs.4,900

Nokia - 2680 - Slide
Price: Rs.5,800

Nokia - 2610
Price: Rs.3,750 A.D

Nokia - 2630
Price: Rs.5,200 A.D

Nokia - 2760
Price: Rs.5,600

Nokia - 3110 Classic

Price: Rs.7,800

Nokia - 3500 - Classic
Price: Rs.9,200

Nokia - 3600 - Slide
Price: Rs.12,700

Nokia - 5130 Xpressmusic
Price: Rs.9,400

Nokia - 5310
Price: Rs.13,200

Nokia - 5220
Price: Rs.10,400

Nokia - 5320 - MusicXpress
Price: Rs.14,900

Nokia - 5030 Xpressradio
Price: Rs.3,650

Nokia - 5630
Price: Rs.18,500

Nokia - 5530 Xpressmusi
Price: Rs.19,500

Nokia - 5730 XpressMusic
Price: Rs.23,500

Nokia - 5800 XpressMusic
Price: Rs.22,900

Nokia - 6300
Price: Rs.11,100

Nokia - 6210 Navigator
Price: Rs.20,500

Nokia - 6151
Price: Rs.9,700

Nokia - 6220 - Classic
Price: Rs.17,900

Nokia - 6600 Slide
Price: Rs.18,900

Nokia - 6720
Price: Rs.19,800

Nokia - 6500 Slide
Price: Rs.19,200

Nokia - 6260 - Slide
Price: Rs.26,000

Nokia - 6710
Price: Rs.28,000

Nokia - 6760
Price: Rs.24,600

Nokia - 6730
Price: Rs.18,500

Nokia - 7310 Supernova
Price: Rs.11,000

Nokia - 7610 - Supernova
Price: Rs.15,400

Nokia - 7210 Supernova
Price: Rs.8,700

Nokia - 7510 Supernova
Price: Rs.14,000

Nokia - 7070
Price: Rs.4,300

Nokia - E 51
Price: Rs.19,400

Nokia - E 61i
Price: Rs.27,000

Nokia - E 65
Price: Rs.24,800

Nokia - E 66
Price: Rs.24,200

Nokia - E 71
Price: Rs.28,000

Nokia - E 52
Price: Rs.25,000

Nokia - E 75
Price: Rs.28,400

Nokia - E 90
Price: Rs.50,500

Nokia - E 55
Price: Rs.29,400

Nokia - E 63
Price: Rs.19,500

Nokia-N 78
Price: Rs.19,000

Nokia - N79
Price: Rs.26,300

Nokia - N82
Price: Rs.26,300

Nokia - N85
Price: Rs.32,200

Nokia - N86
Price: Rs.33,800

Nokia - N 95
Price: Rs.31,000

Nokia - N 95 - 8GB
Price: Rs.36,000

Nokia - N96
Price: Rs.37,500

Nokia - N97
Price: Rs.46,500

Nokia - N97 - Mini
Price: Rs.44,500

Nokia - 1112
Price: N/A

Nokia - 6070
Price: Rs.5,350

Nokia - 3250
Price: N/A

Nokia - 6131
Price: Rs.10,100

Nokia - 1110i
Price: N/A

Nokia - N 73
Price: Rs.20,000

Nokia-N70 (Music Edition)
Price: Rs.18,000

Nokia - N 72
Price: Rs.15,400

Nokia - E50
Price: Rs.13,600

Nokia - N 76
Price: Rs.24,300

Nokia - 5200
Price: Rs.8,300

Nokia - 5300
Price: Rs.11,300

Nokia - 5700
Price: Rs.17,200

Nokia - 1600
Price: Rs.3,300

Nokia - 6060
Price: N/A

Nokia - N 93i
Price: Rs.36,300

Nokia - 6555
Price: Rs.14,100

Nokia - 2310
Price: N/A

Nokia - 6233
Price: Rs.15,700
Nokia - 6288
Price: Rs.15,100

Nokia - 6500
Price: Rs.18,500

Nokia - 7500
Price: Rs.12,000

Nokia - 7900 - Prism
Price: Rs.19,500

Nokia - 8800 - Arte
Price: Rs.88,000

Nokia - 8800 Sapphire Arte
Price: Rs.97,000

Nokia - 2626
Price: N/A

Nokia - 8800 - Carbon Arte
Price: Rs.115,000

Nokia - 5610
Price: N/A

Nokia-N73 (Music Edition)
Price: Rs.20,100

Nokia - N70
Price: Rs.13,000

Nokia - 6080
Price: Rs.5,450

Nokia - 6120
Price: Rs.13,200

Nokia - 3610
Price: Rs.9,800

Nokia - 5000
Price: Rs.7,100

Nokia - N81 (2 Gb Card)
Price: Rs.22,300

Nokia - N81 - 8GB
Price: Rs.29,800

Nokia - 1110i
Price: 2,950

Nokia - 1200
Price: Rs.2,400

Nokia X3

2009-11-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

GENERAL
2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Announced
2009, September
Status
Coming soon. Exp. release 2009, Q4

SIZE
Dimensions
96 x 49.3 x 14.1 mm, 65.8 cc
Weight
103 g

DISPLAY
Type
TFT, 256K colors
Size
240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches

SOUND
Alert types
Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone
Yes, with stereo speakers

- 3.5 mm audio jack- Dedicated touch music keys

MEMORY
Phonebook
2000 entries, Photocall
Call records
20 dialed, 20 received, 20 missed calls
Internal
46 MB
Card slot
microSD, up to 16GB, 2GB included

DATA
GPRS
Class 32
EDGE
Class 32, 296 / 178.8 kbits
3G
No
WLAN
No
Bluetooth
Yes, v2.1 with A2DP
Infrared port
No
USB
Yes, microUSB

CAMERA
Primary
3.2 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, enhanced fixed focus, LED flash
Video
Yes, QCIF@15fps
Secondary
No

FEATURES
Messaging
SMS, MMS, Email
Browser
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
Radio
Stereo FM radio with RDS; built-in antenna
Games
Yes + downloadable
Colors
Red on Black, Blue on Silver
GPS
No
Java
Yes, MIDP 2.1

- MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player
- Organizer
- Voice memo
- Flash Lite 3.0- T9

BATTERY
Standard battery, Li-Ion 860 mAh (BL-4CT)
Stand-by
Up to 384 h (2G) / Up to 288 h (3G)
Talk time
Up to 4 h (2G) / Up to 7 h 30 min (3G)
Music play
Up to 26 h

Nokia X6

2009-11-30T09:47:00.000-08:00

GENERAL
2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network
HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 - excl. Lat. America & Brazil
Announced
2009, September
Status
Coming soon. Exp. release 2009, 4Q

SIZE
Dimensions
111 x 51 x 13.8 mm
Weight
122 g

DISPLAY
Type
TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size
360 x 640 pixels, 3.2 inches

- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate- Handwriting recognition- Scratch-resistant glass surface

SOUND
Alert types
Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone
Yes, with stereo speakers
- 3.5 mm audio jack

MEMORY
Phonebook
Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records
Detailed, max 30 days
Internal
32GB storage, 128 MB RAM
Card slot
No

DATA
GPRS
Class 32
EDGE
Class 32
3G
HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
Bluetooth
Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port
No
USB
Yes, v2.0 microUSB

CAMERA
Primary
5 MP, 2592x1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Dual LED flash, video light
Features
Geo-tagging
Video
Yes, VGA@30fps
Secondary
Yes, QCIF@15fps

FEATURES
OS
Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5
CPU
ARM 11 434 MHz processor
Messaging
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
Radio
Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games
Spore, D Mix Tour, Asphalt4 + downloadable
Colors
Blue on White, Red on Black
GPS
Yes, with A-GPS support; Ovi Maps 3.0
Java
Yes, MIDP 2.1
- WMV/RV/MP4/3GP video player

- MP3/WMA/WAV/RA/AAC/M4A music player

- Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)- Organizer- Photo editor- Voice command/dial

- TV-out

- Flash Lite 3.0

- T9

BATTERY
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1320 mAh (BL-5J)
Stand-by
Up to 401 h (2G) / 420 h (3G)
Talk time
Up to 8 h 30 min (2G) / 6 h (3G)
Music play
Up to 35 h

Nokia 1280

2009-11-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

GENERAL
2G Network
GSM 900 / 1800
Announced
2009, November
Status
Coming soon. Exp. release 2010, 1Q

SIZE
Dimensions
107.2 x 45.1 x 15.3 mm, 62.3 cc
Weight
81.9 g

DISPLAY
Type
Monochrome
Size
96 x 68 pixels, 1.36 inches

SOUND
Alert types
MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone
Yes

- 3.5mm audio jack

MEMORY
Phonebook
500 entries
Call records
20 dialed, 20 received, 20 missed calls
Card slot
No

DATA

GPRS
No
EDGE
No
3G
No
WLAN
No
Bluetooth
No
Infrared port
No
USB
No

CAMERA
No

FEATURES
Messaging
SMS
Browser
No
Radio
FM radio
Games
Yes
Colors
Black, Gray, Blue, Orchid
GPS
No
Java
No

Other
- Exchangeable color covers
- Flashlight- Calendar
- Voice memo- T9

BATTERY
Standard battery, Li-Ion 800 mAh (BL-5CB)
Stand-by
Up to 528 h
Talk time
Up to 8 h 30 min

The million dollar review: Going window-shopping

2009-11-30T09:33:00.000-08:00

Introduction

This site is usually all about the features and performance, but not today. It's our day-off so we decided to go shopping. Well, window-shopping to be more depressingly precise. And the only bags we brought home are those under our eyes. Sometimes glitter is indeed gold - or better - and it sure can blind.
We may've seen it all: from basic phones that scratch a living out of calling and texting to technological triumphs. And they all used to make sense. Today's a challenge for our sense of right and wrong. What we are looking at are some outrageously expensive handsets for the uber rich who have more money than...ok, let's face it... us.
Some of the participants
If you find insanely overpriced featureless handsets a complete waste of time and human effort you better stop reading right now. But if you recognize the limited-edition handcrafted diamond-encrusted models as a form of artistic expression then you might be informed and entertained. Oh, and feel free to be shocked. Even our hardened geek hearts couldn't help but skip a beat when we handled those 40,000 dollar pieces.
No one buys these handsets for their functionality, user-friendly interface or great reception. In fact, no one buys these handsets is where every right-thinking person would've stopped. But no sir, these things do sell, be it with just one purpose: to flaunt just how much you have. By the way, a certain group of users may find this review particularly upsetting. Nokia Arte, Motorola Aura or Samsung Ego owners seem to like feeling superior to the rest of the crowd, but they are going to look like poverty-stricken cheapskates next to the heavy hitters we are about to review.
The phones in this review are all of the love-it-or-hate it type. None of these could ever be called a sensible purchase, but the surprising number of boutique handsets available does suggest there is demand, even in these economically tough times. So who are we to judge if the money could be better spent elsewhere when the users end up happy and wanting more?
As a small aside, we would like to make the case that every reviewer should get to keep the handsets they test. How about that? Looking back at all the top notch phones we've had to give back over the years sure hurts. Alright, we never really made fuss about it until now but we're off to a trade union meeting as soon as we finish this article. And this time we mean it because this time it's different.
What we have here is a bunch of Vertu phones, a couple of diamond-encrusted Goldvish handsets and a bonus track - TAG Heuer's Meridiist. This last one with its tongue-twisting name doesn't even come close to the grandeur of its companions, nor has it been so aggressively marketed. But the underdog quickly became the favorite around the office. And the paltry 5000 US dollars on its price tag almost had us ready to torture-test it. No offence meant, out of the whole bunch the Swiss chap sure was our kind of stuff.

A bunch of Vertu handsets captured in the wild
On second thoughts, if you have to ask about the price, then you probably can't afford it anyway, so it's probably best that we put away our wallets and focus on the job in hand. There are quite a lot of handsets waiting and the patience of the nobility shouldn't be tested. The review begins on the next page with one of the Vertu offerings.

Windows Mobile 6.5 review

2009-11-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

Windows Mobile:

The OS is half a phone's worth and there's little wonder everyone is trying to make it the better half. In the case of Windows Mobile the emphasis really is on everyone. Version 6.5 is up and running but is it the upgrade everyone was waiting for?

You don't get to see OS reviews on our homepage too often, but this is such an eagerly awaited release that we just have to see if it lives up to the hype. Windows Mobile did need a design and usability overhaul - and you don't have to trust us on that. Go check out what HTC, Samsung and SPB have been doing about it. Alright, Microsoft must've thought it's about time they did something too.
Rumors of a new WinMo release started to fly just about this time last year, but it was not until a few months later that the official confirmation was finally out. Meanwhile, the inevitable leaks were rather quick to tone down the premature enthusiasm of PocketPC buffs.
It seemed at that point that the changes introduced by the WinMo 6.5 were almost nonexistent. Well, early leaks have never been real trustworthy stuff, so as soon as there was official word from Microsoft part of the excitement started to return.
Promises of increased user-friendliness, better browsing and an app store were made and it once again seemed the 6.5 could be the thing everyone was waiting for. And those leaked screenshots were pretty neat too.
Truth be told, we were still pretty skeptical at that point but seeing manufacturers all eager to hop on the bandwagon made us hopeful again. At the time of the official release of Windows Mobile 6.5, four major manufacturers had already announced handsets that were either shipping with the new OS or eligible for a free upgrade.
We even took a couple of them for a spin already and if you have been keeping track you'd probably know what to expect from this article. The Samsung I8000 Omnia II was indeed an inspiring performer but there's no escaping the fact that a large part of its charm was in hardware (mostly the magnificent 3.7" AMOLED display and the fast CPU). From a software point of view we're more impressed with TouchWiz rather than WinMo 6.5. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 didn't manage to win our hearts completely but still had a trick or two up its sleeve.
So now, we're bringing the Windows Mobile out of its third-party guises and focusing on the upgrades 6.5 claims to carry. What we've seen so far tells us the massive overhaul has been postponed. But let's see if the changes are enough to buy Microsoft time to bring WinMo 7 as close to perfection as possible.

It is a hard enough task now that the competition is keener than ever to bite off massive chunks of the WinMo market. So, even if Windows Mobile 6.5 doesn't convert new believers it should at least be able to stand its ground against overly-ambitious newbies. Android, Symbian S60 touch, WebOS and Mac OS X are all much younger than the WinMo platform but their rapid rise must've got Redmond by surprise

Sony Ericsson Satio vs. Samsung Pixon12: 12MP shootout

2009-11-30T09:15:00.002-08:00

Introduction
A year's truce must've been enough and some heavyweight sharpshooters are called to arms again. In fact, there's never been a ceasefire in the battle for profit. But we're about to look at the future of cameraphones and the battle to take place is more for glory than anything else.
So, if 5 and 8 megapixel shooters are busy tipping the scales in favor of this or that maker, are the 12 megapixel monsters taking on low and mid-range digicams? Of course, cameraphones are still limited compared to even the most basic of point-and-shoot cameras - optical zoom for example. Samsung areworking on that, but there is still plenty of time to go.
It doesn't mean though that we'll just sit and wait. We've got two contenders here, eager to fight it out for the Ultimate cameraphone title. The Samsung M8910 Pixon12 and the Sony Ericsson Satio each have legacies to live up to and quite a challenge to conquer.

• Sony Ericsson Satio • Samsung M8910 Pixon12

The Samsung cameraphone hit the shelves several months earlier, but maybe Sony Ericsson used the extra time to fine tune their output and outdo their rival. Amazed as we were when we reviewed the Pixon12, we would be even happier if the Satio is able to bring the cameraphone world another step forward.
Sony Ericsson have been hitting low lately and the Satio might just be the right stuff to turn the tide. Yes, the Satio is a full-touch Symbian handset bringing the latest in mobile phone technology. But it will be the cameraphone we guess, not the smartphone, that will get most of the credit.
Before we proceed with the actual shootout there is an important note to make. The Samsung Pixon12 sports a 30mm wide-angle lens (advertised as 28mm) and that gives it roughly 17 percent wider field of view than the Satio's regular 35mm lens.

Wide angle lens is pretty useful when taking landscape and architecture photos as you don't need to go as far back to fit the whole subject in the frame. However fitting more stuff in the frame means that the things in it are actually smaller (drawn by fewer pixels, if you wish). In effect, the extra angle of view is not always needed but you are always losing some scene detail (unless you compensate by doing the legwork to get physically closer).
So now that we've got that cleared, we can move on and get busy shooting.

LG BL40 New Chocolate review: Chef’s best

2009-11-30T09:15:00.001-08:00

It was handsets like the original Chocolate that put LG on the map. But simply playing with the big boys was never going to be enough. It takes creativity to outsmart and outdo some formidable rivals. LG never shied away from experimenting and have been repaid more often than not. There’s Black Label and Prada, some great cameraphones and a host of capable touchscreen devices to prove it.
But that was then. The New Chocolate is new and it means it. The “Black Label” simply sticks on the BL40 but this phone seems to hold a higher purpose. It’s not merely the next of the Chocolates – it’s in touch with its times. And it does great justice to a portfolio where Viewty Smart talks to Renoir and Crystal walks with the Arena.
The LG BL40, the New Chocolate, is thin, classy and sexy but the one word that does it justice is unique. You really won’t find another phone like it out there, and only a few others have the same kind of impact.

You won’t see a designer or watchmaker’s signature on the BL40 but it definitely looks like an exquisite work of art. However, neither its price tag nor its feature set will let you think of it that way. We don’t mean it’s cheap or even affordable to many, but its all round skill puts most of the boutique handsets to shame. There are only few things the New Chocolate can’t do.

Key features
One-off touchscreen bar design
4.01" 16M-color capacitive touchscreen of 21:9 aspect ratio
Quad-band GSM support and UMTS with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
S-Class Touch UI with pinch zooming and gesture controls
Accelerometer for screen auto-rotation
5-megapixel autofocus camera, Schneider-Kreuznach certified optics, LED flash, VGA@30fps video recording
1.1GB of internal memory, microSD expansion (up to 32GB)
Wi-Fi with DLNA
GPS receiver with A-GPS support and WisePilot satnav app
Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, microUSB port, TV out
Standard 3.5mm audio jack, Dolby Mobile sound enhancement
Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM transmitter
Full-blown multi-tasking with a decent task manager
DivX/XviD video player
Motion-based games
Smart dialing
Office document viewer

Acer neoTouch review: The dragon within

2009-11-30T09:15:00.000-08:00

Introduction

It must be sweet October for Microsoft, with the launch of WinMo 6.5 on the 6th followed by the desktop Windows 7 on the 22nd. Acer are quick to sneak into the spotlight and make the most of the primetime coverage. Their neoTouch is leading a small PocketPC fleet, all powered by 6.5.
But it's the flagship of course to focus all the attention and the neoTouch should be conscious of its task. If you want it all you need to be prepared to take it - all the glory and all the enemy fire. The neoTouch is riding on the wings of a dragon but entering a territory long claimed by others.
The Acer neoTouch is not just the next in the growing line of Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets. It's the top device of a company that's determined to enter the mobile phone game with a bang. The 1 GHz Snapdragon CPU is a great way to start and the other ingredients look quite on par: complete connectivity options, spacious high-res screen and something becoming fairly typical for smartphones these days - a 5 megapixel snapper.

Key features:
3.8" 65K-color resistive TFT touchscreen, WVGA 480 x 800 pixels
Windows Mobile 6.5 with Acer Homescreen, Contacts, Agenda and Gallery
Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM (300MB user available)
5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash, geotagging, image stabilizer
VGA video recording @ 30fps
Quad-band GSM support
Tri-band 3G with HSDPA (7.2Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76 Mbps) support
Wi-Fi with DLNA technology
Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality
microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
FM radio with RDS
Bluetooth and USB v2.0
3.5mm standard audio jack, TV-out functionality
Ambient light sensor, proximity sensor for screen auto turn-off
Accelerometer sensor for automatic UI rotation
Smart dial
Office document editor (but no PDF viewer)
Full Flash support in the web browser (IE)
Top-notch audio output quality

Nokia N900

2009-11-30T09:07:00.000-08:00

Introduction
It's crystal clear by now that the Nokia N900 has almost nothing to do with the traditional Nseries values. The full QWERTY side-slider may look similar to its double-digit mates but the Maemo experience is completely different. However, the N900 is not there for the mere sake of difference - a tablet and a phone, it tries to get the best of both worlds. These are worlds though where Nokia feels at home.

The internet tablet genes are strong in the Nokia N900 so connectivity and web-browsing are its greatest virtues. The large high-res display and great typing skills are the right kind of backup but we've seen plenty of similar packages already. We told you though - the N900 is different. It's a Maemo-powered phone with Mozilla browsing and all-you-can-eat connectivity. Call it good news, call it a good start or just call it good. Let's see if it calls back.

Key features
3.5" 16M-color resistive touchscreen of WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) resolution
Maemo 5 OS
State-of-the-art Mozilla-based web browser with Adobe Flash 9.4 support
Slide-out three-row full QWERTY keyboard
ARM Cortex A8 600MHz CPU, PowerVR SGX graphics accelerator; 256 MB of RAM
Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support
5 MP autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and active camera lens cover
WVGA (848 x 480 pixels) video recording @ 24fps
10 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA support
Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS
32GB onboard storage
DivX and XviD video playback
Foldable kickstand
microSD card slot with microSDHC support
Built-in accelerometer
Proximity sensor
3.5 mm audio jack and TV-out
FM Radio receiver, FM transmitter
microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
Solid audio quality
Kinetic scrolling
Contacts integration of Skype, Google Talk and other VoIP services
Great build quality

Florida - Right Round (song)

2009-09-24T03:07:00.000-07:00

Right Round - FloRida

THE FUTURE TECHNOLOGY!

2009-09-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

Nokia 5530 XpressMusic review: Winner by design

2009-08-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Introduction

The XpressMusic lineup is fired up and coming after you with all they've got - from QWERTY smartphones to touchscreens. In fact, with the arrival of 5530 XpressMusic, the Nokia music line has more touch phones than the Nseries. We told you, they're dead serious about it.

With the 5800 XpressMusic shaping up as quite a blockbuster, Nokia had hardly any choice but to build on that momentum. The way up from the 5800 goes into Nseries territory really, so a lower spec'd device with an even sweeter price tag seems quite the right thing to do to reach the masses. And well, strategically expand the user base for the Touch UI edition of Symbian S60.

The Nokia 5800 offered value-for-money that very few could match. The 5530 comes in even more affordable but tries to deliver as much goodies as possible, pushing the value-for-money meter well towards the "must have" end of the scale. Here's what the 5530 XpressMusic offers and what was left out to keep the cost down:

Key features:

2.9" 16M-color TFT LCD 16:9 touchscreen display (360 x 640 pixels)
Symbian S60 5th edition
ARM 11 434 MHz CPU, 128MB RAM memory
3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and VGA@30fps video
Quad-band GSM support
Wi-Fi connectivity
microSD card memory expansion, ships with a 4GB card
FM radio with RDS
Bluetooth with A2DP and USB v2.0
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
Stereo speakers
Stylus, with its own compartment inside the phone
Proximity sensor for screen auto turn-off
Accelerometer sensor for automatic UI rotation, motion-based gaming and turn-to-mute
Office document viewer
OVI integration (direct image and video uploads, OVI Contacts)
Landscape on-screen virtual QWERTY keyboard
Excellent audio quality
Price tag on the cheap side

Nokia have just announced their 3G… booklet,… netbook

2009-08-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Strictly speaking GSMArena.com is not the place to source information about netbooks or laptops in general. But when the world's leading mobile phone manufacturer decided to debut their own netbook product we just couldn't stay "hush".

The new Nokia 3G Booklet is Nokia's take at the oh-so-popular netbook segment. Since we're all part-time computer geeks (besides being cellphone know-it-all's) we can't really stay indifferent as Nokia unveil their first portable computer.

But without further ado, have a look at those shots and if you're impressed enough we'll just give you the key technical features.

The Nokia 3G Booklet is based on the well known Intel Atom platform, but it's also the first netbook of its kind to feature an HDMI HD video output. Not that we would bet on the little Atom fella playing serious HD stuff, but still having that output is a nice another step into turning them netbooks into media canter PCs.

With battery life of up to 12h it's surely one serious contender as your workday sidearm. As the name suggest, the Nokia 3G Booklet has an integrated 3G/HSDPA modem - Wi-Fi goes without saying. Another interesting feature is the built-in GPS receiver, which will successfully team up with the Nokia Maps application.

The Nokia 3G Booklet has got a 10-inch screen and measures only 20mm in thickness. It weighs 1.25kg and there's a front-facing video camera and Bluetooth.

More information about the Nokia 3G Booklet will be available at Nokia World in the beginning of next month. Upsofar, no expected price has been announced.

Source

Nokia 5730 XpressMusic review: Full musical keyboard

2009-08-18T06:38:00.001-07:00

No news is good news and the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is quite keen to go about humming that tune like it didn’t care. Recruiting Symbian for an entertainment job is nothing new really and no, we’re not surprised that yet another handset wants to be the N97 of its neighborhood. The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic doesn’t really shine but it’s fit enough to handle quite a workload. Whether you need a smartphone for the knack or for the fun of it, this all-in-one messenger promises a bit of everything: music, web, gaming and connectivity.
XpressMusic has long crossed the smartphone line but only just starting to take multitasking so seriously. WLAN, GPS and a full QWERTY keyboard go side by side with enhanced music and N-Gage to make the Nokia 5730 so universally appealing. We guess we’ve had enough proof that Symbian can handle it all, so let’s see how the 5730 XpressMusic lives up to its claims.

It’s pretty obvious there will be quite some Nokia 5630 XpressMusic here. It’s virtually the same handset – add or take. So, what’s the deal in the end with adding QWERTY and a bigger screen and taking some processing power?
Key features
2.4" 16M-color TFT display of QVGA resolution
Four-row side-slide QWERTY keyboard
Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G (with HSDPA) support
Symbian OS with S60 3.2 UI
369 MHz ARM11 CPU
3.5mm standard audio jack
microSD card slot, 8GB microSD card prebundled
3.2 megapixel auto focus camera with a dedicated shutter key, geotagging and VGA video at 30fps
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with UPnP technology
Built-in GPS receiver and preinstalled Nokia Maps
USB and stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) connectivity
FM radio with RDS plus Internet radio
Dedicated music keys
N-Gage support
Dedicated gaming keys
Ovi Contacts integration
Office document viewer
Smart dialing
Contacts bar on the homescreen
N-Series-like gallery
Nokia Say and Play (voice control to music player)

Samsung Widget SDK: cocktails, widgets and cash prizes

2009-08-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

Samsung has been offering widgets on their TouchWiz-enabled phones for quite a while, but now they're taking it up a notch with the release of the Samsung Mobile Widget SDK. It's not so much the SDK that's interesting, but how Samsung are kicking it off.
For those who don't know, SDK stands for Software Development Kit, or in other words, a collection of tools that will help you develop software. The software in question here are widgets to run on TouchWiz enabled phones.
But which ones? TouchWiz runs on top of Windows Mobile, Symbian and even Samsung's proprietary OS. Well, the answer is all of them, which is good news to developers - just one version of their widget will cover all of Samsung's TouchWiz-enabled line-up.
Samsung decided that the best way to attract early adopters of the SDK is to hold a party (good choice). The Samsung Widget Developer Camp will be held from September 11-13, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency, San Francisco. Starting off with a cocktail event, the camp will provide Wi-Fi, catered and staffed meeting space for 24 hours.
During that time, developers will have a go at creating a widget to compete in one of five categories - Social Media, News/Reference, Health/Fitness, Travel/Entertainment and Humor/Fun. The winner in each category will receive a 5,000-dollar prize, while the best-in-show widget will earn its creator a cool 20,000 dollars award and the opportunity to attend CTIA I.T. & Entertainment 2009 expo and have their widget shown-off at the Samsung booth.
Devs at the camp will get an opportunity to pitch ideas to Samsung for widgets, which might end up preloaded on some of the new devices. The other two distribution paths are Samsung's Application Store and the Samsung Widget Gallery. The Samsung Widget Gallery debuts with the Samsung I8000 Omnia II.
Finally, Samsung offers a really cool way to test applications (widgets included). It's called the Virtual Device Lab, and what it does is allow you to remotely install your app on real hardware, over the Internet in the comfort of your browser. So far only WinMo-powered Samsung phones are available for remote testing but that still gives you access to a lot of real-life hardware, instead of just emulators.

Source

Touchscreen-enabled Modu 2 coming to UK in 2010

2009-08-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

Just several weeks after ,a href=http://www.gsmarena.com/modu_modular_phone_hits_the_shelves_at_long_last-news-1037.php>the official release of the first modular phone in the world - Modu - we got word on its successor. The most exciting bits about the Modu 2 are undoubtedly its touchscreen capabilities and the HSDPA support.
While the first Modu took almost two years to go from prototype stages to mass production, the Modu 2 promises to appear in much shorter time - we should be seeing it sometime next year. According to the source it will launch in UK, US, Japan as well as the continental part of Western Europe.
The manufacturer also promises a QWERTY jacket for the Modu 2 in case touchscreen input isn't your cup of tea. We are still taking those promises with a pinch of salt considering that only a tiny fraction of the promised jackets for the first Modu handset actually became available.
We hope that Modu learned their lesson, with the lukewarm reception of their handset being enough of a hint. The Modu has sold in merely 1000 units, which considering how hot the whole concept sounded when it was first demonstrated, is nothing short of a failure. It took it so long to hit the shelves that the initial hype faded out and with only three jackets currently available there's hardly much left to cheer for, really.

Source

	Motorola W 388 Price: Rs. 6,600		Motorola W 270 Price: Rs.4,600
	Motorola W 180 Price: Rs. 2,400		Motorola W 230 Price: Rs. 2,900
	Motorola L 6 Pink Price: Rs. 6,600		Motorola Pebl U 6 Price: Rs. 18,500
	Motorola Krazr Price: Rs. 11,200		Motorola C 118 Price: Rs. 1,900
	Motorola SLVR L9 Price: Rs. 8,800		Motorola Razr.V8 Price: Rs. 19,000
	Motorola W 218 Price: Rs. 3,500		Motorola C 123 Price: Rs. 1,750
	Motorola RAZR2 V9 Price: Rs. 24,600		Motorola U 9 Price: Rs. 18,100
	Motorola RIZR Z8 Price: Rs. 18,500		Motorola Rockr E8 Price: Rs. 22,500
	Motorola RIZR Z3 Price: Rs. 9,700		Motorola Rockr EM 30 Price: Rs. 15,000

	Nokia - 1202 Price: 2,200		Nokia - 1203 Price: Rs.2,300
	Nokia - 1208 Price: Rs.2,300		Nokia - 1209 Price: Rs.2,500
	Nokia - 1661 Price: Rs.2,900		Nokia - 1650 Price: Rs.3,250
	Nokia - 1680 Classic Price: Rs.4,050		Nokia - 2330 Price: 4,800
	Nokia - 2700 Price: Rs.7,900		Nokia - 2720 Fold Price: Rs.6,500
	Nokia - 2730 Classic Price: Rs.10,150		Nokia - 1662 Price: Rs.2,900
	Nokia - 2600 Classic Price: Rs.4,900		Nokia - 2680 - Slide Price: Rs.5,800
	Nokia - 2610 Price: Rs.3,750 A.D		Nokia - 2630 Price: Rs.5,200 A.D
	Nokia - 2760 Price: Rs.5,600		Nokia - 3110 Classic Price: Rs.7,800

	Nokia - 3500 - Classic Price: Rs.9,200		Nokia - 3600 - Slide Price: Rs.12,700
	Nokia - 5130 Xpressmusic Price: Rs.9,400		Nokia - 5310 Price: Rs.13,200
	Nokia - 5220 Price: Rs.10,400		Nokia - 5320 - MusicXpress Price: Rs.14,900
	Nokia - 5030 Xpressradio Price: Rs.3,650		Nokia - 5630 Price: Rs.18,500
	Nokia - 5530 Xpressmusi Price: Rs.19,500		Nokia - 5730 XpressMusic Price: Rs.23,500
	Nokia - 5800 XpressMusic Price: Rs.22,900		Nokia - 6300 Price: Rs.11,100
	Nokia - 6210 Navigator Price: Rs.20,500		Nokia - 6151 Price: Rs.9,700
	Nokia - 6220 - Classic Price: Rs.17,900		Nokia - 6600 Slide Price: Rs.18,900
	Nokia - 6720 Price: Rs.19,800		Nokia - 6500 Slide Price: Rs.19,200
	Nokia - 6260 - Slide Price: Rs.26,000		Nokia - 6710 Price: Rs.28,000
	Nokia - 6760 Price: Rs.24,600		Nokia - 6730 Price: Rs.18,500
	Nokia - 7310 Supernova Price: Rs.11,000		Nokia - 7610 - Supernova Price: Rs.15,400
	Nokia - 7210 Supernova Price: Rs.8,700		Nokia - 7510 Supernova Price: Rs.14,000
	Nokia - 7070 Price: Rs.4,300		Nokia - E 51 Price: Rs.19,400
	Nokia - E 61i Price: Rs.27,000		Nokia - E 65 Price: Rs.24,800
	Nokia - E 66 Price: Rs.24,200		Nokia - E 71 Price: Rs.28,000
	Nokia - E 52 Price: Rs.25,000		Nokia - E 75 Price: Rs.28,400
	Nokia - E 90 Price: Rs.50,500		Nokia - E 55 Price: Rs.29,400
	Nokia - E 63 Price: Rs.19,500		Nokia-N 78 Price: Rs.19,000
	Nokia - N79 Price: Rs.26,300		Nokia - N82 Price: Rs.26,300
	Nokia - N85 Price: Rs.32,200		Nokia - N86 Price: Rs.33,800
	Nokia - N 95 Price: Rs.31,000		Nokia - N 95 - 8GB Price: Rs.36,000
	Nokia - N96 Price: Rs.37,500		Nokia - N97 Price: Rs.46,500
	Nokia - N97 - Mini Price: Rs.44,500

	Nokia - 1112 Price: N/A		Nokia - 6070 Price: Rs.5,350
	Nokia - 3250 Price: N/A		Nokia - 6131 Price: Rs.10,100
	Nokia - 1110i Price: N/A		Nokia - N 73 Price: Rs.20,000
	Nokia-N70 (Music Edition) Price: Rs.18,000		Nokia - N 72 Price: Rs.15,400
	Nokia - E50 Price: Rs.13,600		Nokia - N 76 Price: Rs.24,300
	Nokia - 5200 Price: Rs.8,300		Nokia - 5300 Price: Rs.11,300
	Nokia - 5700 Price: Rs.17,200		Nokia - 1600 Price: Rs.3,300
	Nokia - 6060 Price: N/A		Nokia - N 93i Price: Rs.36,300
	Nokia - 6555 Price: Rs.14,100		Nokia - 2310 Price: N/A
	Nokia - 6233 Price: Rs.15,700		Nokia - 6288 Price: Rs.15,100
	Nokia - 6500 Price: Rs.18,500		Nokia - 7500 Price: Rs.12,000
	Nokia - 7900 - Prism Price: Rs.19,500		Nokia - 8800 - Arte Price: Rs.88,000
	Nokia - 8800 Sapphire Arte Price: Rs.97,000		Nokia - 2626 Price: N/A
	Nokia - 8800 - Carbon Arte Price: Rs.115,000		Nokia - 5610 Price: N/A
	Nokia-N73 (Music Edition) Price: Rs.20,100		Nokia - N70 Price: Rs.13,000
	Nokia - 6080 Price: Rs.5,450		Nokia - 6120 Price: Rs.13,200
	Nokia - 3610 Price: Rs.9,800		Nokia - 5000 Price: Rs.7,100
	Nokia - N81 (2 Gb Card) Price: Rs.22,300		Nokia - N81 - 8GB Price: Rs.29,800
	Nokia - 1110i Price: 2,950		Nokia - 1200 Price: Rs.2,400