HP iPAQ 614c Business Navigator

Prada phones, phones studded with diamonds and fashion phones are a regular sight in the moody, glass-fronted emporia of the average high street. Yet this kind of glamour rarely casts its golden glow on the world of smartphones.

The iPhone was a rare bright spark, and there has been the odd flicker of light from HTC, E-TEN, Samsung and Blackberry, but other than that, smartphones have largely conformed to the bland business template over the past year or two. HP's latest handset, alas, does nothing to change this.

The iPAQ 614c Business Navigator is a large and ugly phone that's all drab black and grey plastics with no brushed aluminium highlights or chrome trim to set it off. It's pretty chunky, too, with porky dimensions of 60 x 117 x 18mm. And it's hardly a design masterpiece in other respects - its integrated numeric keypad has a rather cheap-looking, shiny finish and is topped by a pair of 'soft', context-sensitive keys that look like a pair of malevolent eyes leering at you as you write a text or surf the web.

It does at least try to balance out its design shortcomings with a few clever tricks. The first of these is its touch ring (don't laugh) control. Embossed in glossy relief on top of the numeric pad keys, it enables you to sweep a thumb or finger in a clockwise or anti-clockwise motion to control the navigation through lists and the like. An innovative addition, to be sure.

The phone has support for the latest super fast HSDPA mobile data networks at up to 7.2Mbps. It also has a GPS receiver built in... but this is no ordinary satellite receiver. It uses the new Assisted GPS (A-GPS) technology, which is designed to combine location information gleaned from the phone's cell location with the data from the satellites themselves to speed up initial satellite lock. The phone is, alas, only supplied with Google Maps - no sat-nav software to speak of - but it did do a decent job of locking onto satellites in central London taking a reasonably quick one minute to lock on to five satellites and provide a position.

news source : http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-devices/review/2008/03/31/HP-iPAQ-614c-Business-Navigator/p1

Vertu mobile phones taking luxury to a whole new level

Vertu is essentially a UK-based luxury brand whose sole product is the cell phone. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia. But, these are not your run-of-the-mill phones that are widely available in the market today.

Vertu manufactures premium high-end mobile phones which offer a perfect blend of design and technology. And, in India they are available at a few high-end stores one of which is Popley & Sons Jewelers in Bandra West, Mumbai. Incidentally, Popley Jewelers also houses other high-end brands like Tag Huer and Omega watches.

Vertu has introduced four families of Vertu phones in the country - the Ascent, Constellation, the Signature and the Ascent Ti. The starting prices of these phones is Rs.2,20,000 and mind you, this is the price of the Ascent which is more of an “entry-level” phone according to the folks over at Vertu. Prices soar even higher than one can imagine! Apparently, the Vertu Ascent series of phones are the most popular in India. We got a chance to see the Limited Edition Vertu Ferrari version of the Ascent Ti as well as a Yellow Ascent phone with the Monaco race track on its steel back.

But, there is a reason for the exorbitant price tag that Vertu phones carry. The Vertu Signature phone for instance has its glass screen made of Sapphire crystal, making it scratch resistant. After all, it is a similar kind of glass used in a Rolex watch! Some Vertu phones have Ruby ball bearings under their buttons while the LiquidMetal and Titanium combination makes these phones very durable.

Vertu phones also have a ceramic cushion for the ear and even offer a Concierge service available at the touch of a button when traveling.

That’s not to say that the Vertu phones with their rich design fall short of anything on the interior. In fact, the power conductivity used in this phone is made from pure gold components which help the battery utility to be optimized.

Nokia solely provides user-friendly OS for Vertu handset, but they are not the manufacturers.

news source :
http://www.techshout.com/features/2008/22/vertu-mobile-phones-taking-luxury-to-a-whole-new-level/

Glu Mobile Updates Guidance to Include Recent Acquisition of Superscape; Provides Further Update of Tender Offer

Greg Ballard, president and chief executive officer, Glu, commented, "We're excited to be joining forces with Superscape, a pioneer in the mobile games industry. Superscape's strong heritage in 3D technology, high-quality original titles and innovative white label programs complement our existing world-class operations. This acquisition is an important achievement in becoming the leading mobile games publisher in the world."

Rocky Pimentel, chief financial officer, Glu, added, "We expect Superscape will have a positive impact on our financial results. While the integration of Superscape will continue through most of this year, we currently anticipate that the acquisition will be neutral to non-GAAP earnings until the fourth quarter, at which time it will become accretive. Accordingly, we are raising our full year guidance."

The Company is providing guidance today to reflect Superscape's expected contribution to Glu for the first quarter and the full year 2008. Because Glu declared the tender offer unconditional in all respects on March 7, 2008, Superscape's results will be consolidated into Glu's financial results as of that date. Furthermore, although Glu expects to ultimately acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Superscape, the Company will record a minority interest to reflect the portion of shares that it does not own until it has acquired 100% of the outstanding shares.

news source : http://www.centredaily.com/business/technology/story/482714.html

Nokia Unveils the 8800 Sapphire Arte

Expanding its range of premium handsets, Nokia today announced the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte, which makes a unique statement with its single Sapphire as center-key.

Marrying elegance and high-functionality, the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte has a high-end steel and glass composition. The sense of exclusivity is heightened by a genuine Sapphire gem stone at the center and an accent of soft brown napa leather. The phone's smooth slide mechanism comprises state-of-the-art ball bearings and a unique spring mechanism to make it a pleasure to touch and behold.
The elegantly designed handset features 3G capabilities along with a 3.2 mega pixels auto-focus camera and a stunning OLED display. It has unique tap-for-time and turn-to-mute features while living wallpapers move organically through the day to give unique on-screen decoration.

Double-tapping the steel surface below the display makes an analogue clock appear -- indicating time in its most classic form. Incoming calls can be silenced on the phone inconspicuously -- by simply turning over the phone, screen-side down. The Sapphire Arte comes with Nokia's new anti-fingerprint coating, which reduces smudges on metal and glass. Besides, unsightly outer seams are hidden with an all-in-one microUSB connector.

Nokia has created an exclusive soundtrack for the phone composed by internationally-acclaimed master producers Kruder and Dorfmeister with visuals by Fritz Fitzke.

The Nokia 880 Sapphire Arte sports a price tag of Rs 62,829.

news source : http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Nokia_Unveils_the_8800_Sapphire_Arte/551-87837-615.html

Fly Mobile’s SX 200 comes to Woolworths

This is Fly’s fifth offering in the UK market and it is expected to be as popular as previous models that have provided a high level of feature in a mobile phone at outstanding value for money.

Simon Gregory, Vice President of Fly Mobile said: “Why should mobile phones with music players, video recording and stereo Bluetooth be expensive on pay as you go? At Fly we like to think differently and offer these features in well designed, good looking devices at fantastic value for money.”

“The SX 200 is launched as we celebrate one year of bringing value to the UK mobile market and it will compliment our range of reliable, highly featured and good looking mobile phones, all offered at outstanding value. We are delighted to once again be partnering with Woolworths to bring this product to the British public.”

The SX 200 is available from Woolworths on the Virgin Mobile network.

Fly Mobile will ship more than 3 million phones into high growth markets around the world this year , and is now delivering a range of prepay handsets to the UK mobile market – the first of which were the SL 500i, SL 600, SLT 100 and SL 399e.

http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=37704&hilite=

Fly Mobile intros the MC100, doesn't mind how many laws you break

We've seen a lot of phones float our way over the years, and some of them have had emulation capability, but it's rare when you see a mobile phone-maker actually advocating that you pirate ROMs for their device. Of course, that's exactly what Fly Mobile is doing when it comes to its MC100 handset. The phone has all kinds of regular features we're sure you'd be interested in, like a 240 x 320 display, AAC, MP3 and MPEG4 playback, a microSD slot, and that handsome, "noble" dark brown finish. It all sounds good, but we know there's only one set of qualities you'll be laying down cash for: the phone's ability to play SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and NES ROMs. Just remember, your favorites "can be freele [sic] downloaded frim [sic] Internet." $270 and it's yours.

news source :
http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/27/fly-mobile-intros-the-mc100-doesnt-mind-how-many-laws-you-brea/

HP iPAQ 514 voice messenger review

H P has been around in the smartphone world for a few years now. Some years ago Compaq was taken over by HP. Since then the name iPAQ is being used for mobile phones of Hewlett Packard. Mid 2007 HP put the iPAQ 514 voice messenger on the market. The HP iPAQ 514 is a straight to the point business device. The consumer looking for a cell phone with a high resolution camera and enhanced multimedia player should forget about the HP 514. The HP iPAQ 514 has been equipped with Windows Mobile 6 and offers many functions that will appeal to the business user. Thanks to its price of around € 200 we can easily call it the cheapest business handset at the moment.

HP iPAQ Voice Messenger

Hewlett Packard had to make concessions to be able to offer this price. One of these concessions is the monitor; the HP iPAQ 514 has been equipped with a 2-inch monitor with a resolution of 176x220 pixels and 64,000 colours. If you are not used to a high resolution monitor this small sized one will not bother you. But if you are a frequent visitor of internet pages you'll soon find out that you have to scroll not only vertically but also horizontally through the web pages.

HP iPAQ 514 Test

Although HP had to compromise with equipping the HP iPAQ 514; we can say that it is a business mobile phone with enhanced functions. The price of the device is just as attractive as its functionalities. Despite its many functions and the attractive price tag, we think some points need improvement. HP would do a great job as to equip the device with 3G for the business man who is always on the road. HP compromised in installing Wi-Fi but since you cannot always use a Wi-Fi connection; 3G would be the solution.

news source :http://www.letsgomobile.org/en/3145/hp-ipaq-review/

VK Mobile VK2000

The Korean manufacturer VK Mobile have had some recent success in Europe through a distribution agreement with Vodafone, which brought the cute VK570 and VK530 handsets to the UK market.

Their latest GSM phone for European release is the remarkable VK2000 - remarkable because it's the smallest mobile handset that we've ever seen. VK Mobile report that the VK2000 weighs just 48 grams, and measures a tiny 90x50x8.8mm - that's even thinner than the Motorola SLVR.

That's tiny - roughly the same footprint as a business card, and it weighs less than 6 Euro or 5 British pound coins, or a little more than a bag of Doritos. Or less than half the weight of a Nokia 6230.

As you might expect, the VK2000 doesn't pack in much in the way of features, but it does come with a 128x143 pixel TFT display, GPRS and a WAP 2.0 browser. The keypad is a metal one that appears to be similar to that on the Motorola RAZR. Available in two dual band configurations of 900/1800 MHz and 850/1900 MHz depending on market. There's no Bluetooth or MP3 player, and certainly no camera, but that's easily forgivable.

Previous VK mobiles launched in Europe have been a bit "girlie". The compact size of the VK2000 *will* appeal to girls, but the overall design is quite masculine - in other words, VK appears to have carefully designed the look of the VK2000 to appeal to both sexes.

Pitched as a low end phone, we suspect that the VK2000 will make a great second mobile for those people who don't want to take a bulkier phone with them for a night out.

According to VK, the VK2000 is already shipping to China and will be followed by Europe, Asia Pacific and then the Americas later.

news source : http://www.mobilegazette.com/vk-vk2000-051018.htm

Pantech G300

There's a mobile phone out there to suit everyone's needs. There's a basic phone for ultra-budget users, phones with music players for people who travel frequently, smart phones for the tycoons who need a lot more than just a communication tool. With the G300, Pantech has introduced a phone that should appeal to the fairer sex.

Now reviewing a phone like this for a guy can be pretty tricky, and I'm quite certain every word I say will be scrutinized. So to make sure my opinions are not too "testosterone driven" and that I don't do injustice to this model just because it's not meant to appeal to me, I took opinions of some of my women coworkers. With that out of the way, let's see what's inside the package.

Package and Looks
On opening the box you will find the main mobile unit, two 680mAh Li-Ion batteries, a mobile charger, data cable, mono headset for hands-free calls, a mini software CD, and a thick manual.

Aimed at the female market, the G300 sports a glossy metal-finished wine-red color with silver edges, giving it an overall classy look. It's quite small in size at 76 x 40 x 23.5 mm (weighing 90 g), and would easily fit even in small hands. The top of the clamshell sports a diamond that lights up in seven different colors and a monochrome LCD display with white backlight.

The LCD on the inside, however, looks crisp within its 260,000-color TFT display. The 128 x 128 pixel resolution ensures that even in its small size, visibility will never be a problem. The brightness level of the screen is also just right with perfect visibility even with bright overhead sunlight.

The keypad is as usual present on the lower inner part of the phone. The keys are soft and extremely easy to use. The numeric keys are perfectly sized and spaced for convenience during single handed as well as double handed operation.

news source : http://www.techtree.com/India/Reviews/Pantech_G300/551-51852-614-1.html

Bird D636 - user opinions and reviews

This is a very nice phone, it is light and easy to use. The graphics are more sleek and modern than previous Bird phones, it has a Lenovo or LG look about it, greys and blues, which complement the blue glow from the keypad. However, the alert boxes are unmatched graphically.

It is worth noting that my phone does not have French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Hindi. It is a mainland China model, so perhaps an export model is slightly different. This phone supports the display of traditional chinese characters, which is a refreshing change for most mainland phones. However, the interface is limited to English and Simplified Chinese, you also cannot input in Traditional (HK, Macau etc) characters (Bird is attempting to break into the HK market). Previous models of Bird phones only supported mainland characters. Similar Bird generation phones with similar software may be able to imput in Traditional Characters (I don't remember the model numbers I tested though, they all had the new grey look)

The dictionary function is still present in this phone, though along with the other current generation bird phones, it has a much worse interface than before. You are required to break out of the screen to a dedicated imput screen, then back into the dictionary. On the plus side, there are more language tools, and they seem to be upgradable by changing some files on the phone (though I have not explored this).

The input for text is changed, pressing 1 used to scroll through the puncuation marks, but now it brings up a break out screen of all the puncation to move through, slightly annoying to get used to. The Chinese input is also different, instead of pressing left and right to change words and down to change characters you need to press star to change words and left and right to change characters.

Some settings, display settings and menu settings (matrix or list) have gone, but you can now use any ring tone for your sms and alarm. Another small annoyance is that the large "OK" button doesn't go to the menu, instead it loads up the internet, and you can't change this, or any of the d pad's short cuts.

The screen is very clear and bright. The camera is typically slow at large res, but it does a decent job. It has the usual photo editing tools for bird phones, add text, change colours, icons etc (though it is somewhat lacking on the non touch screen models). It also has a few other apps such as paint (really limited - not a selling point, I think they are just experimenting), MFlash player (comes loaded with a couple of animations, no KTV though it seems to be able to play them but not a dedicated app this time), health, currency converter, stop watch. The firm ware has a version number so I assume you can update it, but Bird has no downloads on their website.

Mitsubishi tapping out of the phone market? UPDATE: Yeah

A lot of readers might be surprised to learn that Mitsubishi even makes cellphones, but yeah, it sure does. Its domestic Japanese market has typically been the recipient of its impressive wares, selling models on NTT DoCoMo using the "D" model name prefix -- but maybe not for much longer. Nikkei is throwing out some rumors today that Mitsu will be exiting the dog-eat-dog cellphone manufacturing biz and possibly doing so very swiftly, even withdrawing models due to hit DoCoMo in the next few weeks. Despite raking in over 100 billion yen (about $958M) annually from its mobile division alone, the company has apparently been unable to make it profitable and recently downgraded its handset sales forecast for the current fiscal year. Frankly, we wish Mitsu had sold enough handsets abroad for us to be really upset about this. Nikkei says an official announcement could come as soon as today, so we'll update you when we know more.

news source :
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/02/mitsubishi-tapping-out-of-the-phone-market/

HTC Shift X9500

Verdict: HTC's long awaited Shift is finally here but, despite valiant efforts, it fails to revitalise the UMPC format.

HTC might be best known for its range of Windows Mobile-powered smartphones and PDAs, but its latest offering, the Shift, hopes to inject some new life into the flagging UMPC market.

Even if the considerable price tag doesn't give enough of a clue as to the Shift's luxurious aspirations, the HTC's packaging will. The Shift comes in a huge black box, sheathed in a cardboard slip with a natty aluminium-effect finish.

The attention to such minor aesthetic details is a reassuring touch, especially when you've spent ï900 of your hard-earned cash, but delve inside the box and the good impressions continue - at least in some regards.

HTC provides an assortment of extras: an attractive brown leather pouch for protecting the unit itself and a drawstring felt bag for the mains adapter and accessories. There's also a wired hands-free kit and a mini docking station which provides three USB ports and ethernet networking.

But, after patiently waiting the months it's taken for the HTC Shift to finally arrive, the first glimpse of the hardware is somewhat less than revelatory. The 7in wide screen display takes up most of the front of the device, save for a handful of buttons and controls; a mini-trackpad and a fingerprint reader are spread around the display's aluminium bezel.

The rest of the unit is finished in a glossy gunmetal grey, which looks smart enough, but set against the likes of OQO's gorgeous Model e2, it looks decidedly plain, and more than a little bit on the chunky side.

Considering how much smaller it is than a traditional laptop, it's really not that light either. Without the power supply, the HTC still weighs in at a not-inconsiderable 790g, and its dimensions preclude it from being carried in all but the most gargantuan of pockets.

Still, build quality is beyond reproach, and apart from the odd creak when we really grappled with it, the Shift feels well up to being carted around on a daily basis, even if you do need to carry a bag with you to do so.

news source : http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/177297/umpc-htc-shift-x9500.html#

Sagem my511X Roland Garros

F or the Mobile World Congress (formerly 3GSM) in Barcelona, Sagem Mobiles (Safran Group), official partner of the French Open for the third year running, unveils Roland Garros by Sagem, an all new model but every bit as elegant and dedicated to tennis. Elegantly-styled with the trademark Roland-Garros signature and sleek white and grey finishing, the Roland Garros my511X mobile phone by Sagem was designed not just for sports fans but also people equally passionate about styling. The elegant and sophisticated lines highlight an understated yet fashion-conscious design.

Sagem my511X Roland Garros - Customization

Ultra-compact, slim line (106.9x46.3x10.9) and featherweight (81 g), the Sagem my511X Rolland Garros will fit anywhere. What really makes it a collector's item is the level of customization on offer: courtside ball sound effect ringtones, Java tennis game, themed wallpapers, and that original tennis ball tin-style packaging. Technology-wise, it has the complete game: a 1.3-megapixel camera plus video with 4x digital zoom, music player (mp3 and AAC), SMS and MMS functions, Bluetooth, and a 13 MB memory made expandable via a microSD card.

Sagem Roland Garros mobile phone - Battery life

The ultra-smooth white fascia boasts a subtle mirror effect that really sets off the champagne-colored keys, 65K-color 128x160-pixel high-resolution TFT display, and curvaceous keypad. The my511X Roland Garros by Sagem also has stamina, with a battery life covering 220 hours on standby and 3 hours of talk-time. Roland Garros by Sagem will be released in April 2008.

news source : http://www.letsgomobile.org/en/3038/sagem-my511x-roland-garros/

Siemens C65 Review

The Siemens C65 is an entry-level camera phone that retails for under £100. The phone is compact, lightweight and very nicely styled. For the money you seem to get quite a lot of features - camera, 65k colour display, voice recorder, handsfree speaker, etc. However, look closer and you find that the phone is not as good as it seems. Starting with the display, on closer inspection we find that it's not a TFT screen, which means that it's hard to read outdoors. The digital camera is just CIF resolution - that's 0.1 megapixels, whereas most entry-level camera phones have VGA resolution nowadays (0.3 megapixels). The connectivity is infra-red only, with no cable option for transferring photos to a computer.

Having said all that, the good points might just outweigh the bad points, except that the reliability of the C65 is poor. Read the user reviews below for stories of how the C65 may freeze or switch itself off at random. It is possible that the latest firmware upgrades will fix these problems, but in an entry-level phone such problems should simply not be present, and it is not acceptable for Siemens to release a phone knowing that its software is buggy. The Siemens CX65 is a much better phone all round and not much more expensive.

news spource : http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/siemens-c65.htm

Sharp GX30i Review

The Sharp GX30i is an enhanced version of the GX30. Enhancements are improved Blutooth™ wireless support and MP3 player. The enhanced support for Bluetooth™ is a very welcome addition. The GX30 suffered from only being able to connect wirelessly to a Bluetooth headset or car-kit. The GX30i now has full Bluetooth support for transferring data to a computer or another phone.

The basic specification is unchanged and includes an integrated digital camera with a 1 Mega-pixel CCD with 7 stage digital zoom and 5 picture sizes ranging from 858 x 1144 to 120 x 160 pixels.

To complement the high-resolution camera, the GX30i features an ultra-high resolution QVGA 240x320 pixel 262,000-colour LCD display measuring 2.2 inches. It also has a 65K colour external LCD. In terms of imaging and display technology, the Sharp GX30i is still one of the best mobiles around!

news source: http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/sharp-gx30i.htm