LetsTalk.com Blog

Palm Pixi: Is this the smartphone for you?

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:11:57 PST

The Palm Pixi for Sprint is one of the more affordable smartphones to hit the market. But does that mean it's light on features? Watch the video below to find out. Need more information? Check out our expert review of the Palm Pixi by clicking here.

BlackBerry Bold 9700 for T-Mobile has noteworthy upgrades

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:11:07 PST

Interested in the latest BlackBerry Bold? T-Mobile announced the BlackBerry Bold 9700 is available today. This is T-Mobile's first BlackBerry Bold and it comes with support for a popular functionality for T-Mobile customers: WiFi calling. Essentially this allows users to seamlessly roam to a WiFi network during calls without interruption when in a weak service area. If you move into improved service area it seamlessly switches the call from a WiFi network to T-Mobile cell phone service. This helps keep calls from being dropped or interrupted.

That's not all the connectivity the BlackBerry Bold 9700 offers. It also has 3G connectivity and built-in GPS. The smartphone comes with a 2GB microSD card for storage of photos, music, videos and documents and will support up to a 32GB microSD card. Two big differences between this model and the BlackBerry Bold is the display, the 9700 is much sharper and the 9700 also sports a 3.2-megapixel camera compared to the original Bold's 2-megapixel camera.

T-Mobile's Jet helps keep Mac and PC users connected on the road

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:11:22 PST

T-Mobile has always been a fan of WiFi offering cell phones that have the feature as well as a way to make the most of the technology via UMA (a feature that allows users to seamlessly move cell phone calls from towers to WiFi networks) and the company's HotSpot @ Home service. It's no surprise that the recently announced webConnect Jet USB Laptop Stick aims to keep users connected in just about any environment. The USB stick that works with both Macs and PCs is all about getting an Internet connection on the road. The webConnect Jet works with T-Mobile's 3G network, EDGE, or any T-Mobile WiFi HotSpot. Since it's a USB stick you can also use it for extra memory via a 8GB microSD card. You'll need to get a data plan with this device that start at roughly $30 dollars a month. If you travel a lot and need a connection on the road this type of option may end up saving money in the end when you consider the added costs you may incur when connecting at places such as the airport or in a hotel.

Can the Samsung Mythic keep you entertained?

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:38 PST

Cell phones can do a lot these days and you don't necessarily need to get a smartphone in order to have access to all the fun features you might want. Case in point is the Samsung Mythic for AT&T. This touchscreen cell phone works on 3G networks and that's important because you'll need that functionality if you want to have some real fun. See, the Samsung Mythic supports AT&T Mobile TV so you can watch full episodes of tons of shows from CBS, NBC, and even MTV. Don't think you can really watch TV on a cell phone? That's probably not going to be the case here, since the Mythic has a lot of screen real estate - 3.3 inches to be exact, which is almost as large as the display on the iPhone.

The cell phone also has Samsung's TouchWiz interface that helps bring all your favorite information from the web front and center on the display. It also has a 3.2-megapixel camera, will support up to a 32GB MicroSD card for storing songs and videos, and stereo Bluetooth. What the Mythic doesn't have is a hidden keyboard, so you'll be using a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard to compose messages. Finally, since this cell phone is web and media centric you'll likely want to get an added data plan with it.

Palm Pixi: First impressions

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:11:07 PST

The Palm Pixi for Sprint will be available next week, but I've had a chance to spend a little bit of time with it. First, I have to say, it's a lot slimmer than the Palm Pre and a smidge longer. The Pixi isn't going to take up a lot of room in your bag. The construction feels sturdy. The back of the Pixi uses the same rubberized backing that comes included with the Touchstone when you purchase it for the Pre. The keypad, while not as spread out as the Palm Pre sports more rectangular keys, that are a bit easier to use. Also, the keys have a similar plastic raised style that's found on the Pre. However, if you look at the keyboard from the side, there's a bit of a 3D effect occurring, which is interesting. Instead of the button to shrink the size of apps found on the Pre, the Pixi has a white line that you touch to activate the same action. The display is not as big as the one found on the Pre, but it is still highly usable and crisp. The touchscreen is receptive and responds well to gestures, we did find that we had to occasionally touch the Done button a couple of times.

As far as the user interface goes, it's just like using the Pre. We particularly appreciate the fact that since we already created a Palm account on the Pre we just logged into it when first starting up the Pixi and all our contacts were loaded. We didn't just get our contacts, we also got all the apps we downloaded from the Palm app store. When the Pixi isn't in use, the screen goes dark. Simply press the power button found on the top left hand corner of the cell phone to activate the display. While it's not ideal, it does give you the sense that you won't accidently launch anything when the Pixi is loose in a pocket or a purse. The only thing we missed on the Pixi is the inclusion of WiFi. If you can live without that feature, the Pixi definitely has a lot to offer.

If you want to know more about the Palm Pixi, leave a comment and you can also check back next week for our full expert review

BlackBerry Storm2: Is it a worthy upgrade?

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:11:37 PST

Almost a year later, the second touchscreen-only BlackBerry smartphone arrives for Verizon Wireless. Although there's not a lot that's changed in the BlackBerry Storm2, there are few nice enhancements. To see what they are watch the video below. Want a more in-depth look at the new BlackBerry cell phone? Read my expert review of the Blackberry Storm2.

Use your cell phone to rent a car and we're not talking about making a phone call

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:11:02 PST

Renting a car before you head out on a trip is one thing, but doing it once you're on the road is typically not the easiest task. When you travel, things come up - that's just the nature of being on the road. Even though you can access a web site from your cell phone to rent a car it can be a painful process; not to mention the amount of data you use to download pages or extra costs involved in calling 411 to get a phone number. Enterprise car rental has just launched a mobile site, Enterprise.mobi (enter that on your cell phone web browser), and it truly is a site designed for mobile phones where you can do just the basics (rent a car, modify/cancel reservation, etc.). Regardless of how you rent a car, I'm happy to see cell phone apps that are truly mobile and that aren't limited to a particular platform. In my book, anything that gets you back to your scheduled travel is a good thing.

Samsung Moment: A First Look at Sprint's latest Google phone

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:11:12 PST

Sprint's second Android smartphone, the Samsung Moment, has arrived. See what's different about this Google phone and if its right for you by watching the video below.

HTC Droid Eris: How does it stack up against other Android cell phones?

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 07:11:36 PST

The HTC Droid Eris is available today for Verizon Wireless. The second smartphone running Google's Android OS also sports HTC's Sense experience, which will allow users more customization of the device and the ability to access text messages, e-mails, phone calls and even Flickr streams and Facebook updates from a single contact card. The Google smartphone will also sport a 5-megapixel camera, WiFi, a 3.5mm headset jack, GPS with a digital compass, a pre-installed 8GB microSD card for storing pictures, tunes and more. To get a closer look at the HTC Droid Eris check out Verizon Wireless' demonstration video below.

BlackBerry Curve 8530: Which will you get Verizon's or Sprint's?

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:11:53 PST

Both Verizon Wireless and Sprint announced availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8530. Both models will sport the new trackpad found on the BlackBerry Curve 8520 that's available for T-Mobile. The trackpad is a lot like the touchpad found on laptop computers, so it's different than the trademark trackball. Additionally the new model will be WiFi-enabled, sport a 2-megapixel camera, GPS and everything else you've come to expect in a BlackBerry smartphone. Both companies will offer the BlackBerry Curve in Black and Violet (see below for Sprint's version). While there was no mention of an availability date from Sprint, Verizon Wireless said they would have it on November 20th.

On a separate note, I look forward to hearing the names people think of to call the Violet version. Anyone have ideas, post them below.

Video Review: Samsung Rogue

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 09:11:25 PST

The Samsung Rogue for Verizon Wireless is one of the first multimedia cell phones to require a data plan. Is it a worthy investment? Watch the review of the Samsung Rogue below to decide for yourself.

Does more than charge: The BlackBerry Desktop Charger

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Mon, 2 Nov 2009 09:11:18 PST

The BlackBerry Desktop Charger for the Bold does more than just charge a cell phone. It has a few other surprising uses. Watch the video below to see what else it can do. Have a different kind of BlackBerry? No worries, there are Desktop Chargers available for a slew of different models.

Q&A: Text messaging signatures on the BlackBerry and understanding tech terms

blog@letstalk.com (Michael Cera) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:10:22 PDT

This week our Question and Answer series comes from "Ask a Merchant," a new feature launched on LetsTalk.com that can be found in the middle of cell phone detail pages. This week's featured merchant is LetsTalk's Merchandising Manager for T-Mobile Michael Cera. He answers questions about text message signatures and tech terms. Got a question you want answered? Submit your question here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

Does the BlackBerry Curve 8900 for T-Mobile have text message signature? - Justice

No, there is not a signature for your text message. There is the option to do it for your emails, but not text messages.

I’m looking at the T-Mobile Dash 3G, can you tell me what 3G Data Technology is, what Wi-Fi calling is, what Sync means and it means when a cell phone has Windows Mobile 6.1 OS? – Melissa

3G data technology means you can access the Internet on your cell phone at faster speeds than the normal EDGE network. Wi-Fi calling is very similar to a Voice over IP calling system such as SKYPE. However, for some cell phones that have the ability to do Wi-Fi calling on T-Mobile, you are able to use a T-Mobile Hotspot to make calls using Wi-Fi as opposed to your normal minutes. Lastly, Windows Mobile 6.1 is just the operating system for the phone. Similar to a PC’s operating system, it is a smaller scale operating system set to work on your mobile device.

BlackBerry's case for the Bold does more than just protect

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:10:10 PDT

Accessories, like cell phones, are personal. Picking one that's right for you isn't always easy. However, you should know that some cases do more than just keep your BlackBerry safe, like this one from BlackBerry for the Bold. (We should note that this case is available for more than just the Bold.) Watch the video below to see what's different about this case.

Sneak Peek at Google Maps Navigation

blog@letstalk.com (Joni Blecher) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:10:21 PDT

Google unveiled Google Maps Navigation, a free turn-by-turn GPS app for Android 2 smartphones - currently that's Verizon's Motorola Droid. It has many of the features found in navigation apps for cell phones plus quite a few additions such as street view -so you can see the street you're turning on (I know landmarks always help me when following directions), satellite view, and the ability to add stops (such as ATMs or gas stations) along the way finding the closes spot along your route. To see it in action watch the Google video below: