Nokia 6600 Slide Review
November 4, 2008
Nokia’s ability to churn out five new phones per day makes already makes things a little confusing for the phone buyer, but now it’s recycling its old phone names. Back in 2003, the 6600 was the Finns’ flagship mobile thanks to its astonishing VGA camera. And now, five years later, we welcome the 6600 Slide – a fashion phone with very different ideas. Read more
Unlocked iPhone 3G to be Sold in Australia?
October 28, 2008
For some people, it’s a dream come true: the ability to buy an iPhone 3G in Australia totally unlocked and without a contract.
When Apple unveiled the iconic first generation iPhone, it tried a new business model that no other handset maker had dared consider: demanding a chunk of the carrier’s monthly plan fee. For that payment, the carrier got exclusivity on selling the iPhone in its country, and Apple was able to sell a very expensive device for what appeared to the consumer as a cheaper up-front cost. Read more
BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220
October 16, 2008
BlackBerry shows up with another potential hit on their hands, and it’s clear what they’ve learned in the last couple of years. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 is a much cooler phone than we expected, after months of rumors and spy photos were proven almost entirely correct. In person, the phone feels much more solid, with a soft finish and some gentle, comfortable curves. Read more
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: More than just an ‘iPhone clone’
October 9, 2008
With many electronics manufacturers around the world once again playing catch-up to Apple’s innovations, it is no surprise that Nokia has announced its first touch-screen mobile, which is more than a little similar to Apple’s iPhone. Read more
Nokia N96 Review
October 7, 2008
THIS has been a terrible year for the global bourse, but it has probably been the best year ever for the smartphone market, with the advent of Apple’s slick iPhone 3G and RIM’s Swiss Army Knife of mobile business, the BlackBerry Bold.
Nokia N96 slides into multimedia battle
Nokia’s N96 has a long feature and accessory list Not to be left in the prop wash as the smartphone market takes off, Nokia has trotted out its N96, a device it touts as “our most advanced multimedia computer yet”.
Like its predecessor, the 95, the N96 is a two-way slider phone: notch the screen over to the right and a set of four media player buttons is revealed, go right, and there’s a traditional mobile-phone keypad.
Sliding left also puts the screen into horizontal aspect for a better look at video and pictures on the 2.8in, 240×320 pixel display that sits between the iPhone and the Bold in size.
The crisp-looking screen is excellent, offering enough area for even ageing eyes to make sense of video at viewing distances of 40cm to 50cm. The N96 has a long feature and accessory list, which it should for a phone that retails for a hefty $1349, the price of a pretty good laptop.
The phone’s accoutrements include 16GB of internal memory that can be boosted as high as 24GB through the micro SD slot, a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera with dual LED flash that can also shoot quite respectable 30fps video, stereo speakers, assisted GPS, 3.6Mbps HSPA 3G data capability, WiFI, Bluetooth, a video-out lead, car charger, FM radio, a universal 3.5mm headphone jack and a neat little fold-out stand that props up the N96 on a flat surface for watching video.
Unfortunately, one of the N96’s strongest multimedia features, its built-in DVB-H mobile television receiver, is useless in Australia, where the telcos are more interested in trying to run video over their 3G networks than broadcast it through DVB-H.
There’s a reasonably comprehensive software suite both on the phone and for a supporting PC, which includes a video converter that can turn most formats into N96-friendly video.
Anyone used to Nokia’s Symbian/S60 operating system user interface combination will feel right at home with the N96.
That’s part of the phone’s problem against the recent competition.
Anyone who has mucked about with the iPhone’s interface will feel as though they are stepping back into the 20th century when they begin manipulating the N96.
The clunky, D-pad interface takes quite a bit of learning, with lots of scrolling and keystrokes required to drive the rich list of features.
Both RIM and Nokia are hard at work developing touch interfaces and Nokia has already shown off its new 5800 touch model.
With Google’s new Android mobile phone a reality, next year is shaping as the battle of the touchy feely phones.
Nokia losing market share
September 8, 2008
NOKIA, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, said it expects to lose market share in the third quarter as it fights to maintain profit margins, sending its shares as much as 14 per cent lower.
Nokia warned its third-quarter market share would fall from the 40 per cent notched up in the second three months of the year, compared with a steady market share it forecast earlier. Read more
Nokia E71 Review
August 10, 2008
So there’s this phone called the Nokia E71. It magically showed up on our doorstep yesterday (shout out to FedEx Sameday!) and was begging for us to review it. Well, we’re not going to disappoint you. In fact, there will be no disappointment at all as you’ll see in our review. The Nokia E71 has officially entered the ring, and it’s coming out fighting. Spoiler Alert: we love this phone. Full review is after the break!
Nokia N78 Review
August 10, 2008
Over the past few years, Nokia’s N Series has blossomed into a diverse line of multimedia-focused smartphones. For example, the top-quality Nokia N95 8GB is a dual-slider with extra media controls, while the N82 sticks to a basic candy-bar form factor while packing in one of the best phone cameras on the market. The midrange N78 is a little bit different. It trades in all the extra controls and looks like, well, a plain old phone—though a particularly stylish one. It includes Assisted GPS (A-GPS) for faster position locating, image geotagging, and a robust music player. It’s also 3G and Wi-Fi capable.
iPhone 3G Review
July 16, 2008
As I write this, my new white 16GB iPhone 3G is in the process of syncing about 10GB of music from my iTunes library. This is my second sync. Although I was one of the lucky ones able to both buy and eventually activate an iPhone 3G on Friday, I at first opted to copy over just the paltry 2GB of music that was stored on my first-generation 4GB iPhone along with my e-mail accounts and a handful of applications from the Apple Store. Having waited close to four hours in line at a New York AT&T store, close to 20 minutes for the purchase process, and another four-plus hours attempting to activate my iPhone at home via iTunes, I simply couldn’t wait for a full sync before putting my iPhone through its paces.
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 Review
July 16, 2008
Ah, the joy of a BlackBerry Curve. One of our favorite smartphones ever, the Curve just works—and that goes for Alltel’s model too. It’s a great buy for anyone who wants a terrific phone with unparalleled messaging, excellent media features, and a bit of Web thrown into the mix. One complaint, though: Alltel could have done a little more to set its model apart from the pack.
