Nokia Shows Unique 7500 Prism Mobile Phone

Nokia has been known to dabble in some very unique designs every now and again. The 7500 Prism is of course no exception. Although it may bear resemblance to any old candy-bar phone, it does have a slightly unique quality to it when it comes to the paneling.

The criss-cross paneling gives it a sort of diamond edged look and feel to it making it a rather chic looking mobile. The 7500 is equipped with a 2-inch, 16m color screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. It’s not just a light weight phone at 82g but a slim one as well with dimensions of - 109 x 43.9 x 14.4 mm.


It has an inbuilt memory of 30MB and uses microSD cards for external memory. The 7500 Prism also has a 2 megapixel camera equipped with a flash. It’s also equipped with EDGE for net connectivity. Bluetooth v2.0 and USB v2.0 are other means by which the 7500 can connect to your PC or other devices. It has an MP3 player and a video player and can read MP3/eAAC+/WMA formats. It also has an FM radio.

The price nor the availability is known yet. But let’s just say it doesn’t seem like it would be too cheap. Let’s hope we see it here though.

Nokia 5700 XpressMusic

Having an MP3 player is one thing and I think it’s extremely sensible to have one in your mobile phone so you don’t have to worry about carrying too many gadgets with you. The 5700 hasn’t accomplished something new in that field however. It’s not the first nor will it be the last. But what phones like these have that can be construed, as distinguishing factors, are their designs and how user-friendly they are, from transferring your files and data to even the speed at which the phone operates. Let’s see how the 5700 holds up with regards to these and other factors.

Form Factor
The design concept of this funky phone I can’t say is unique. It’s a reinvented and sleeker, or should I say rounder, (for want of a better word) version of the Nokia 3250 and a little bit of the 5300 I’d have to say as well. On the top and bottom you’ll find the Power switch and 2.5mm earphone socket respectively. At first I was quite disappointed to see the 2.5mm socket but like the 3250 model, this one comes with a converter as well that’s attached to a control clip. The controller has everything to control the music player, voice dialing and taking and ending calls. So you can attach any other earphones to this if you don’t like Nokia’s ‘In-your-Ear’ earphones that come bundled


What you may find a bit odd is that there’s one speaker on the left at the top and the other on the right side at the bottom. The reason is when you twist the bottom all the way round to the media mode keypad, both speakers will be on the same side. Ingenious. Half way around is the 2 megapixel camera of course. The bottom can also be twisted the other way although it won't go all the way round but the camera will point at you in case you wanted to be a narcissist and take a shot of yourself.



On one side of the phone are the volume/zoom keys, and on the other side underneath a flap just below the infrared sensor is what houses the charging port, the microSD slot and miniUSB port. The 5700, like most of Nokia’s new models also has a light sensor located at the very top near the headset. What it does is gauge how much light is present and adjust the settings in your phone so the keypad doesn’t light up. If you cover it or if it’s dark enough the keypad will light up. The ‘Clear’ and ‘Menu’ buttons on either side of the screen would seem oddly hard and unworkable till you realize that the button itself is located just above the symbol. On the whole the keypad itself is extremely easy to use for messaging or otherwise.

Samsung Announces 5MP Camera Phone

So Samsung's in the news yet again with the launch of yet another mobile phone – the SGH G-800. What strikes me as really weird is that this model is supposed to be the successor for the very recently launched G600 mobile. I’m beginning to wonder if the guys down at Samsung have their R & D team working overtime when it comes to releasing newer phone models.

The G800 is another high-end model from Samsung that also features a 5.0 megapixel camera but this baby also has 3x Optical zoom and is an Auto-Focus camera to boot. That’s not all; it also, apparently, has a xenon flash. The lens and flash will be quite snug and well protected by a lid that will slide to the side when you want to get a bit snap-happy.



The G800 is a slider phone that is said to be 3G enabled with other features like Bluetooth, but there’s no information yet on if it’s A2DP compatible, but why wouldn’t it be considering it’s supposed to be a high end model right? It also has USB support, and let’s hope it’s not through a propriety cable this time. It also has stereo speakers and it may also have EDGE with HSDPA.

The price has not been disclosed but rumor has it that it may be available somewhere in the first half of next year. Hopefully sooner. Check out GSM Arena for more info.

Samsung Rumored to Launch i550 GPS Smartphone

Folks at Samsung it seems are too busy to sleep these days. What with, announcing phones left, right and center. We have seen plenty of releases this week itself. A rumor seems to be doing the rounds and that is of the Samsung i550.

Not much is known about this one, save that it’s a smart phone running on Symbian OS S60, and is equipped with GPS. According to sources, the i550 is the first Samsung phone to be GPS-enabled with HSDPA. Also it’s likely that the phone will feature a 3.2MP camera and a 2.6-inch display.

What we loved to hear from the grapevine though was that the phone also comes with a 3.5mm jack. Well this really takes the cake for us music lovers now, doesn’t it? It is said to boast a dimension of 115 x 53 x 13.8 mm. We like it!! Anything else, and we’ll be the first to let you people know.

Sony Ericsson P1i Launched in India

The successor to the P990 is here at last. Although it looks nothing like it but almost identical to the Sony Ericsson’s M series, with a similar interface and design. But whatever it may look like it's finally here the Sony Ericsson P1i.

This totally business class phone is set to show up the other business phone out there. It’s a 3G enabled with Wi-Fi, support for Blackberry connect, Pre-loaded Exchange ActiveSync with hi-speed UMTS. It’s also equipped with a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera. Among its many other features it also supports GPS and VOIP. It has a QWERTY keypad and supports handwriting recognition. The P1i is equipped with a large 2.6 inch touch screen with a Transflective Display.

The P1i is expected to retail for Rs. 24,000 at all leading outlets and Sony Ericsson Experience stores.

MOTO Q Launched In India

Motorola's MOTO Q comes off as an all business mobile device. Running on Windows Mobile 5.0 it offers corporate mobile messaging support with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2. The MOTO Q also offers easy access to personal email based on POP3, web mail and Hotmail.

With the MOTO Q, Motorola has joined forces with the wireless network from Tata Teleservices. The Q provides advanced phone capabilities, such as voice-activated dialing, smart contacts dialing, speakerphone, and Bluetooth v1.2. With regards to other connectivity it's also equipped with an Infrared lens and mini USB for PC connectivity. For the internet it’s equipped with EDGE but no WiFi.


The MOTO Q also offers a portfolio of entertainment capabilities ranging from stereo music and video playback to Web browsing and instant messaging. It has a 65K color screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. For media with Windows Media Player Mobile it plays MP3, AAC and MPEG4 formats. It’s also equipped with a voice recorder. The MOTO Q also has a 1.3 megapixel camera with a flash as well. The Q has QWERTY keypad that’s accentuated with a 5 way nav-pad for navigation. It has 40 MB of internal memory and supports miniSD cards for memory expansion.

The MOTO Q is available for Rs. 19,999 and that price also includes a 512-MB miniSD card with preloaded content as well as an additional high capacity 1640mAH battery.

HTC Touch

The HTC touch has been launched here in India and it's about time. This is the latest Windows mobile phone that employs a similar touch screen experience as the iPhone. However, since all its functions can still be activated by using a stylus as well as your fingers, HTC has designed the Touch’s interface to be smart enough to actually distinguish the difference between the two. This technology is called TouchFLO.

“With the HTC Touch, access to your most commonly used content, contacts and features is only a simple finger flick away,” said Peter Chou, Chief Executive Officer of HTC. “Mobile phone makers have done a great job of cramming ever-more exciting features into ever-smaller phones. But the way in which one accesses these increasingly sophisticated features has not kept pace. That ends today with the HTC Touch.”

The Touch runs off the latest Windows Mobile 6 Professional and includes applications like Outlook Mobile, Office Mobile, Internet Explorer, Windows Live and also has the capabilities to run many third-party applications as well. It also supports Direct Push Email and HTML email. The HTC Touch is a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Tri-band enabled phone that also uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with A2DP compatibility.


It’s not a very large or heavy phone either with dimensions like 99.9 x 58 x 13.9 mm. and weighs in at 112g. It has a 2.8 inch LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 65k colors. The HTC touch is also equipped with 2.0 megapixel CMOS color camera and of course it has a video and an audio player that reads MP3 and Aac files. It has 64 MB RAM and 128 MB ROM and memory can be increased using microSD( (Transflash) cards.

The HTC Touch from HTC Asia will be available from next week in India from all authorized resellers at a price (inclusive of all taxes) of Rs. 19,900.

iPhone Battery Not Good Enough

So here’s a major glitch with the iPhone. And it’s so big that a class action lawsuit was filed against Apple for the same. It seems the battery of this here revolution in the tech kingdom, is only good for 300 – 400 charge cycles. Once you’ve crossed that bar you’re going to have to send your precious iPhone back to Apple who’ll charge you a fee of approximately 75 USD (Rs. 3035) to replace it, this being due to the fact that you can’t replace the battery yourself since the iPhone is very much like the iPod. The battery is soldered into the device hence the rear panel isn’t designed to be removed.

Besides the fact that you’ll have to pay to Apple to replace the battery pack you’ll also have to pay them a fee if you want to have a replacement while they tinker with yours. That should set you back another 25 USD (Rs. 1011) or so. So you’re going to have to shell out about 100 (Rs. 4047) USD just to get the battery replaced. No fakes here.

Though the information on the battery charge is clearly evident in writing when you purchase the device the costing for a new one is not mentioned. So, till there's an alternative solution to the iPhone's battery woes, I'm going to seriously reconsider my purchasing one.

Samsung SGH-E840

How many people you know have a Samsung phone? I know only one, and after spending about a month with it, all I kept hearing was his grumbling. Well having said that, I have to say, amidst gray areas, I did find the E840 worth a lot of words too. So read on.



Design
Following closely in the footsteps of the U600, the E840 makes for an equally stylish phone. Whether you agree with me on its performance or not, you will surely be smitten by this shiny piece of work. It’s an uber-chic slider phone that doesn’t fail to grab attention. A portion of the credit goes to the mirrored glass front finish. Surely, a lot of women will find it useful! Whether this was the company’s intention or not is still a mystery. It surely works for me though!



At 101.5 x 52.5 x 10.6 mm the E840 is surely one of the slimmest phones available. This goes without saying that when it’s in your pocket, there is very little scope for any bulk and it weighs only 83 g!!

Well, now if are taking my word on the way it looks, do read on about where all the fun ends. To begin with, the keys on the front panel, save for the D-pad, are touch-sensitive. This includes the call/disconnect keys, and the right and left open keys.
To make them work you need only to touch the flat surface. While I cannot deny the innovativeness behind such a technology, I can’t suppress my ill felt experience while using these keys. If, while let’s say, messaging, your fingers hit the open keys you are most likely to get frustrated. It’s impossible to be conscious of the way you hold the phone while working on it. For instance, if you accidentally brush the disconnect button while, let’s say, typing a message, you will find yourself involuntarily staring at the main screen.

The E840 incorporates a spring mechanism where you only need to push the panel half way and it slides up on its own. The Up key on the D-pad is slightly upraised and acts as a ridge. Everything here is fine, except the slide that makes for a strenuous finger exercise. It’s not easy at all.


The keys on the inside, however, are very easy to work with. I have always closely scrutinized the keypad on all slider phones, since it’s very easy to go wrong with the design/ergonomics. This one rocks!!


On the outside, you will find the volume keys on the left above the charging/earphone slot. The camera button and the microSD slot can be found on the right panel.



Features / Performance
The E840 is said to be the slimmest slider phone in the market, although I think the U600 is thinner. Yet for a slim phone, this one is bundled with a lot of goodies. To begin with, the interface is quite fast. I did not experience any lagging while browsing across menus. The look of the UI is quite chic too. However, once the memory card gets loaded, using the phone becomes a pain. I experienced a time lag between songs, while surfing between menus etc.


The phone is a quad-band GSM handset that sports a 2.2-inch QVGA (240x320 pixel) screen, which is easy on the eye. The mirrored front, however, makes the screen reflective. I found the sun reflecting in my eye quite a few times when I brought it out on sunny days.


I haven’t used a lot of Samsung phones in the past, and with this one my main issue was messaging. After every letter, the phone prompts duly with three options. You will need to go and select the matching option every time the phone fails to do so on its own. So you end up running from the down key on the D-pad for selecting letter/word options to the ‘Hash’ key for space. This sucks!!


The phone has an internal memory of 70MB and a hot swap slot of MicroSD cards. I tried my 1GB card and it worked well. The phone supports Bluetooth 2.0 and it paired and transferred data successfully from each and every device. The E840 features the Access NetFront web browser that has a fully functional document viewer for your email attachments and is Java MIDP 2.0 supported.


The phone also supports picture ID, so you can assign an existing picture or click one and attach it to people in your phonebook.

LG Reveals First WIMAX Enabled Mobile

LG has managed to beat out many of the other big names in the phone biz by announcing the first Wimax compatible mobile, the LG KC1.

This Windows Mobile runs on a 5.0 OS but I’m sure that will change considering 6.0 is already out. It has a 2.8 inch touch screen sporting 65K colors. The KC1 also has 2 megapixel camera and supports Bluetooth with an A2DP profile as well. It also has an external memory card slot for microSD cards and comes equipped with 128 ROM and 64MB RAM. Unfortunately we have no idea when the model will be out nor what its price is going to be.

iPhone Part III - Features and Connectivity

I’ve already mentioned that the iPhone’s interface is quite extraordinary and Laiq has told you about its Audio and Video capabilities. There is of course plenty more to talk about. But with all the hype created about how futuristic and capable this phone is, let's just see how much of a super phone this is when it comes to its various features.

Misc. Features
The iPhone hype may have been exaggerated a bit in my opinion. The phone, although it has few features, copes well when compared to most high end phones out there at the moment. But the question is – Does it fare better considering the huge amount of attention it gets? The answer is – Not really. Let me elaborate. The iPhone has all the features that any other phone has. From the Calculator and Calendar to the GPS. It’s all there. Or is it? Let’s start from the top and see what the iPhone has.
First off, the iPhone’s calendar function. Although it obviously looks a wee bit different from the calendar function of any other phone, it’s not dissimilar in any way. But then again, how different could they make it right? It serves its purpose well. It allows you to see tasks or reminders scheduled in choices of per day, week or month. You can edit them, set alarms etc. Nothing new here at all.




Next up is the Stock market option. I’m not entirely sure why it’s here. My guess would be to Business-ize the iPhone. Since I’m not one to play around with the Stock Market, it doesn’t make much of a difference to me. My issue with this application is – this phone is not directed to strictly the business sector so having a dedicated Stock Market application doesn’t really make too much sense. But never the less (sigh) it’s there in case you do want to check your stocks.

Motorola ROKR E6

For those of you who saw the preview of the ROKR E6 and the outrageously funny advertisement on TV, you probably have an idea of what the device would be. But let me take you into an in-depth analysis of Motorola's ROKR E6 and let's just see if it can have your head tripping even when you're about to ascend that stairway to heaven.

Form Factor
Talk about your average candy-bar design. I saw the E6 and wanted to peel it open to taste the flavor (of course it’s full of tiny nuts and bolts). But in a nutshell (pardon the pun extension) In my opinion it’s a rather large phone. It is slim though. Its length is 111mm but width is 51.5mm. The large 2.4-inch, 265K color touch screen display that sports an impressive 240 x 320 pixel resolution is great. The five-way nav-pad is handy for moving through menus without touching the screen. The E6 also has a dedicated key for the web browser and an "Open" key that can be assigned to any function.
On the right hand side of the phone is the camera key and just below it is the screen lock switch. And thank goodness for it, since the phone is held near your ear functions keep getting activated as it touches your face. So you need to keep the screen locked before you start talking. On the left hand side of the E6 are the volume / zoom keys. Below that is the SD card slot. What puzzles me is that the E6 uses an SD card converter with a microSD card inserted. I’m thinking that although it's generous of Motorola to provide us with the converter, why not have a microSD card slot to begin with? Anyhow, below that are the skip / rewind / fast forward keys for the music player with the play / pause button in between. Oddly enough, even with the screen locked, those keys function.

The top of the phone is where the 3.5mm earphone inlet is. On the bottom is the mini USB slot and the lock for the rear panel. The rear has of course the 2.0 megapixel camera that’s in the dead center of the speaker for some reason. The camera is equipped with a switch near the lens for macro and landscape modes. The stylus slides out from the bottom corner. It’s a little tight so you’ll have to give it a good 'yank'. Now here’s a funny thing. You’d be mistaken if you think you can simply slide out your SIM without touching the battery, even though it appears like you can. A little silver clasp works as a lock that can only be slid back when the battery is removed. Then you can remove your SIM.

Spice Mobile Announces S-700

Spice's new mobile, the candy-bar S-700 targets a younger audience and claims to be loaded for entertainment.


The S-700 has a 262k TFT color display and is equipped with a digital camera with zoom. The S-700 has internal memory of 64MB but it’s expandable up to 1GB. Additional features include preloaded singtones, an integrated FM radio with Smart FM recording, Integrated Mp3 player and GPRS for entertainment and connectivity.

The Spice S-700 is already in the market and is priced at an MRP of Rs. 5399 and is available in two colors Metallic black and grey.

Motorola Unveils MOTOSLVR L9

Motorola's MOTOSLVR L9 is a premium handset that is built for multimedia in a sleek and slim design. It has a 1.9-inch screen that sports 265K colors and 176x220 pixel resolution. Other features include a 2 megapixel camera (video) and multimedia player that's compatible with MP3, AAC+ and MPEG4
formats.

The L9 is also equipped with an integrated FM radio and comes with a built-in handsfree speaker and a voice recorder. For connectivity it is USB compatible and supports Bluetooth with A2DP. The L9 also supports EDGE for quick Internet connectivity as well. Its inbuilt memory is around 20 MB but it supports up to 2GB using microSD (transflash) cards for external memory.


The L9 is also employs Motorola's CrystalTalk technology that essentially makes it a little easier to have a conversation in noisy environments. The L9 is available in the country and priced at around Rs. 9,200.

Samsung Launches 3 Metal Series Phones

Samsung launched three new Metal Series phones today - SGH E840, SGH D900i and SGH D840. The latest SGH E840 is also touted to be the world’s slimmest slide-up phone.

Speaking on this occasion Mr. H. C. Ryu, Managing Director, Samsung Telecommunications India said, "India is a very critical market for Samsung and the launch of the world’s slimmest slider Metal phone is a testimony to our commitment to meet the growing aspirations of consumers for sleek, aesthetically designed phones that accentuate their personality without compromising on premium multimedia capabilities."

According to the company, the design inspiration of the Metal series is drawn from the core attributes of metal itself i.e. power and prestige, and is designed for power players.

The SGH E840 is equipped with full mirror LCD, hidden touch keypad and 2.22-inch wide TFT LCD screen. For build, the phone uses premium materials such as tempered glass and metal. It also features a 2 mega pixel camera, FM Radio, MP3 player, mobile printing, document viewer and 70 MB internal memory with expandable microSD flash external memory (upto 2GB).



The SGH D900i is a 12.9mm slim slider that comes with artistically designed metal lining body offering loads of high-end multimedia features like 3 mega pixel camera with dynamic user interfaces, vivid 262K color screen, Bluetooth stereo headset, FM Radio, New camera UI, enhanced battery life and speedy shutter.

The SGH D840 comes packed with a 2 Megapixel Camera, MP3 player with integrated dual speaker, multi-format music player for listening to music on your Bluetooth stereo headsets wirelessly along with 80 MB of internal memory and external microSD memory.

Ryu said, "The Metal Series range completely embodies everything that Indian consumers are seeking in a mobile in terms of unique metallic design and flawless performance, making it an instant attraction to business users, fashion conscious consumers and multimedia enthusiasts."

All the Metal Series phones are secured with mobile tracker, emergency SMS alert and privacy lock.

amsung's latest music edition phone the F210 looks more like an MP3 player at first sight as you can’t seem to find any keypad. The trick is to slide out the keypad from underneath. This tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz handset is also quite slim in form making the illusion more convincing with dimensions of just 88 x 31 x 20mm. It has a 1.46-inch display with 128 x 220 pixels.



It supports formats like MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA formats plus various types of DRM. Unfortunately it doesn't have a radio but it does come equipped with a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0 for connectivity. It’s not equipped with EDGE but it does have GPRS with a WAP browser.

Another attractive feature is that it has an inbuilt memory of 1 GB and an expansion slot for external memory (microSD) up to 2GB. Prices and availability haven’t yet been disclosed yet.

Motorola Rokr Z6

The new Moto Rokr Z6 is the latest addition to the Motorola family, and is said to have "the next generation user interface and Linux operating system." The Z6 is one of the few Motorola phones in the market to feature its new Linux OS. Clearly with the kind of features the phone has, it is one of the most competitively priced products to have hit Indian shores.

Design
The phone has a plush polished black look on the front and soft padded black on the back. This baby is jet black, and for added effect you have to watch the keys light up in dark. The keypad is designed with transcendental electric blue lights zigzagging across the keys and the black helps in accentuating the effect. The Z6 is a slider phone, that comes with a ridge for ease in pushing it out, and although it's a little bit strenuous on the thumb, this probably speaks for the sturdiness of the product.


At 105x45x16.2mm, and 105g, it's a bit on the heavy side, but bulky? Certainly not! The screen is a 2-inch TFT display (320 x 240) that shows up to 262k colors. Below the screen you will find the options button and the main menu button on either side of the front panel. The dedicated Music button and the back key is in between, and at the bottom of the panel you will find the answer and cancel buttons. In the middle, shaped like a circular jog dial is the four-way D-pad. What i like about the phone is that it manages to accommodate useful buttons on the front panel without causing any surface tension. With key placements like this, you are bound to hit the wrong button, but i faced no such problems. The button placed in the center of the D-way can also be used to access the main menu, and works as an Ok/Select button.

When slid out, the phone displays the number pad placed in a cavity that is very typical of many Motorola phone designs. As usual the Star, Zero and Hash keys were a pain to get to due to the depression.


On the left side of the phone you will find the volume keys and an open customizable key. You can also use the volume key to change your ringing type.


The voice dialing button and the camera buttons are housed on the right just above the miniUSB slot. And although the phone doesn't have a hot swap slot for memory cards, you need not take the battery out. The MicroSD card slot is placed right beside the battery, and the SIM slot right beneath it. The miniUSB slot also doubles as the earphone jack and the battery charging slot.


I don't like this. Also, one of the toughest things to do with the phone is remove the SIM. There is no lever or spring action to bring the SIM card out. You will need to keep tugging at the tiny protrusion of the SIM card. Bad, I say!! On the back you will find the camera and flash.

It seems like music phones are all the rage and manufacturers are struggling to out do each other. Motorola has decided that reinvention is the name of the game for them and they’ve decided to reinvent the suave MOTO PEBL model and incorporate it into their ROKR series. The new ROKR PEBL U9 is what it’s going to be called according to sources at Engadget. Not much is known with regard to the features other than it would probably have a 3.5mm earphone socket. It could also be a probability that the U9 could be rather high-end phone considering the "9" in the phone's name indicates that, says Phone Scoop.

iPhone Unlocked in Europe

So someone did what everyone's been waiting for a long time. Hackers in Europe have claimed to have unlocked iPhone by making use of a SIM reader/writer and a blank SIM card. And what they have is the iPhone making calls with full SMS capabilities on their home network. And the cost? $96!! How? Well you can read it on the hackintosh Forum.


This has been tested, and apparently a reader managed to unlock the phone successfully. I wonder how long before someone discovers a software-based unlocking mechanism.