Get BBC News on your iPhone with iBeeb

iBeeb is a web app allows you to view the latest news from the BBC News website. iBeeb has been formatted to fit perfectly on your iPod Touch or iPhone’s Safari browser and makes it easy and instinctive to browse through the categories of news articles from the BBC website.



iBeeb allows you to browse through many of the categories listed on the BBC News site, view article headlines and summaries and provides a link to thetext-only version of the news article.

What’s New in this Version
- Much faster (more than twice as fast).
- Better splitting of subjects.
- individual sports are now accessible directly from the front page.
- You can now read the entire article in iBeeb rather than just a summary.
- More sports coverage.
- Pages do not load until the content is ready.
- Enhanced user interface.

Point your safari browser to http://www.cmpdesigns.com/ibeeb/ to try.

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PMc magazine for the iPhone to be launched

According to the latest news, one of the most noted photographer in the world, Patrick McMullan along with a new media company called Hot Phone Hit Factory has just announced that they have launched the PMc. PMc is a magazine that can be accessed only by iPhone users. It talks about luxury, entertainment, and best of all, fashion. The PMc Magazine is actually the first of its kind. iPhone users may easily read various exclusive as well as updated content about art, fashion, and more. Aside from that, there will also be tons of fantastic photos from Patrick McMullan.


iPhone users must also watch out for the articles of the PMc Magazine’s guest writers. This includes the co-author of Nanny Diaries, Nicola Kraus. They would also feature articles from a Molly Jong-Fast, a famous novelist. The Editor-in-Chief for the PMc Magazine will be Michael Merriam.

PMc is a bi-monthly magazine that can be downloaded from the App Store. Every issue costs only $0.99. The contents of the PMc Magazine will be updated daily in order to give the readers an inside look of the glamorous world as seen by Patrick McMullan.

The inaugural issue of the PMc Magazine will become available in App Store starting September 8.

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Who’s up for an iPhone auction?

If eBay is a popular auction site among Americans, Filipinos have a famous auction site called Auction.ph. Recently, they announced that they are planning to make the second-generation iPhone from Apple Inc. available on their auction site. However, several issues including product sourcing as well as potential carrier partnership still remains shady.


According to the press release of Auction.ph, they are planning this to have a special promotion for their loyal customers as well as online merchandisers. This was the statement given by the chief of public relations of the company, Angelo Hernandez. Moreover, he also said that Auction.ph will auction off oneunit of the second-generation iPhone with a starting price of P1.00 or equivalent to $0.02. The bidding increments will start at P0.5.

Anthony Hernandez also said that the Auction.ph is expecting to have a lucky bidder that would take home the 3G iPhone at a price which is a far cry from the cost that Globe Telecommunications recently announced.

He also mentioned that the appeal of the purchasing the 3G iPhone from Auction.Ph is that their website has already gave a fixed range for the price of the second-generation iPhone which starts from 1 peso up to 5,000 pesos or equivalent to $110.

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iFooty - The must have iPhone App for all Football Fans

If you’re a big football fan then the iFooty iPhone app is a must have for you.


iFooty currently supports the English Premier League, Championship, League One and Two together with the Scottish Premiership.

Select your team and useiFooty to keep track of:
# League Tables
# Past match results
# Minute by minute updates for current matches
# Upcomming fixtures
# News

iFooty is available to download in the app store and best of all it is free.

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GeekBrief.tv - Copy and Paste on the iPhone! For real!

Cut and Paste for iPhone from Cali Lewis on Vimeo.

Not gonna say much here - but this:

Yes, its real … I mean Cali wouldn’t lie to us … and two, given how its implemented it apparently does not violate the SDK so it looks like one guy with a great idea has completely kicked ass over all those well paid Apple employees and figured out copy and paste without running a background process!!

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SAMSUNG SGH-G810 Receives EISA Award

Samsung SGH-G810 has been awarded the ‘European Photo Phone 2008-2009′ by the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA). The Convergence Panel of EISA said it voted for Samsung’s G810 because of the superior image quality. They added, “Is it a phone or is it a camera? Only a few years ago the SGH-G810’s features would have been unimaginable on anything but a high-spec camera.” In addition to the technical capabilities, the judges also commented that, “Best of all, it manages to look, at once, both elegant and robust.”


Geesung Choi, President of Samsung Telecommunication Business, said he was delighted to receive this award from EISA, an opinion leader in the European imaging and multimedia industry.

The Samsung G810 offers 5 megapixel camera equipped with 3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom and Xenon flash. Moreover, the G810 boasts its advanced photo quality with the latest digital camera features including face detection, image stabilizer, high ISO (up to 800), macro shot, panorama shot and mosaic & multi shot. Supporting Symbian v9.2 S60 3rd edition, the G810 also includes Wi-Fi connectivity for seamless communication and GPS with geo-tagging to satisfy mobile phone users. The G810 has been launched in Europe and Middle East Asia from April 2008.

Samsung G810 Specifications

* Network: Tri-Band (900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz), HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
* Size: 103 x 52.9 x 17.9 mm
* EDGE / GPRS 12, WiFi
* Operating System: Symbian v9.2 S60 3rd edition
* Display: 2.6″ 262K TFT QVGA
* Camera: 5-megapixel camera CMOS with Xenon Flash + CIF
* 3x Optical Zoom/ 4x Digital Zoom, WDR Optimizer, Face Detection
* Image Stabilization, High ISO (Up to 800)
* Macro Shot, Panorama Shot, Mosaic & Multi Shot
* Video recording (H.263, H264, MPEG4/ 30fps @ QVGA)
* Video Editor, Video Telephony
* Audio: Music Player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, AAC+(e), WMA, AMR, RA)
* FM Radio, OMA DRM v2.0, Background Music Play
* GPS navigation with geo-tagging
* Google Search
* Bluetooth v.2.0 EDR / USB 2.0 (Full Speed)
* 80MB Internal memory + Micro SD
* Battery: 1200mAh

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MetroPCS to Offer ZTE C79 Music Phone

ZTE USA today announced the general availability of the ZTE C79 handset in the U.S. market. The ZTE C79, a CDMA AWS flip phone, is being offered by carrier MetroPCS to subscribers in the U.S. markets. The ZTE C79 includes over 60 MB of user memory for downloading games and applications as well as an MP3 player which includes external music keys.


Featuring a sleek design and affordable price point, the ZTE C79 also includes a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and picture messaging. The handset operates on AWS frequency bands in addition to the PCS and Cellular bands.

Specifications:

* External Display: 64K color, 96 x 64 Pixels
* Internal Display: 262K TFT color, 176 x 220 Pixels
* Band Frequency: CDMA dual band (800/1900 MHz), CDMA2000 1xRTT, AWS
* Camera: 1.3 Megapixels CMOS Camera, Flash, Auto Focus, Self timer
* External Memory: MicroSD
* Internal Memory: 69 MB
* Standby Time: 200 hr
* Talk Time: 3.6 hr
* Technology: AWS
* Battery Capacity: 1000mAh
* Included Accessories: Battery, Wall Charger, User Guide, USB Cable, Stereo Wired Headset

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Samsung Phones Feature Chinese Text Input from Zi Corporation

Zi Corporation today announced Samsung has integrated Zi Corporation’s eZiText and Decuma text entry solutions onto its L258 and G618 handsets in China. Decuma Chinese V4.1 handwriting recognition technology bundled with predictive text entry software eZiText, to provide Samsung with a complete text input solution.


The Company’s products have been licensed to Samsung for use on the L258 handset, which went on sale this spring in China. The G618 handset has received extensive press coverage as Samsung’s donation to athletes, coaches and staff for the Chinese Olympic Team.

Milos Djokovic, President and CEO of Zi Corporation said, “Our product penetration in the Chinese market is currently very widespread and this latest deal, with one of the world’s top handset manufacturers, again highlights the development and reliability of our text entry portfolio. We are delighted that Samsung has chosen our bundled solution for two handsets and the combination of handwriting recognition and keypad input is something many OEM’s are really starting to take advantage of.”

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Samsung Steel

Who remembers my review of the Samsung Soul? We published it back in June, and I was quite impressed with various aspects of the phone, including its build and front touch panel, which offers a set of controls that vary depending on what bit of the phone you are using at the time (camera, music player, etc).

Well, now we have the Steel, a handset exclusive to Vodafone in the UK. It bears more than a passing resemblance to the Soul. Both are sliders, and their general look is very similar with silver and black as the colour scheme, and a very samey front panel design.


The casing's steel parts include the battery cover, which forms three quarters of the backplate (more than the half-backplate of the Soul), and the phone feels pretty tough. Overall, though, there isn't quite as much steel here as in the Soul, and this probably accounts for the slight weight difference - 109g as opposed to the Soul's 113g.

The sliding mechanism is just as impressive with the Steel as it was with the Soul. A gentle push is all that you need to get it going, and thereafter it follows its own spring-loaded design to become fully extended or fully closed.

If you've large hands the slide should be a joy to use, but in my smaller mitts I found that closing the phone meant applying pressure to the keypad or D-pad beneath the screen thereby hitting something I didn't want to. The alternative is to use both hands to shut the thing, which isn't that convenient when you are standing on a swinging, bumping swerving bus and holding on for dear life.

That comment should lead you to the fact that the Steel is a bit large. At 104.2mm tall when closed, 48.9mm wide and 14.2m thick it troubled the smaller pockets in my clothing. Opened, it stretches to about 145mm tall.

The good news about the overall size of this phone is that there is plenty of room for both screen and keyboard. The screen measures 2.2 inches diagonally and indoors it is clear and readable. Outdoors in bright light, I found the screen really difficult to read, though.

The front buttons are well sized. Beneath the screen, the softmenu keys and Call and End keys are all big enough to find with a thumb without any hassle at all. The D-pad, too, is sizeable at 21mm wide and 19mm tall.

Open the slide and the number pad is well thought out. Its keys are flat and lie on perfectly straight horizontal lines, despite the curved separator bars between them giving the impression that they don't. Above the 1, 2, 3 row is a shortcut to your music, the delete key and an application switcher.

Press the latter and up pops the QuickSwitch menu. Rather than letting you flick between opened apps this seems to concentrate on Vodafone Live!, messaging and the call screen, so it isn’t as powerful as you might at first think.

When you are on the main screen, the right softkey is hardwired to a toolbar that offers shortcuts and this gives you quick access to Internet services, missed calls info, messaging, profile switching, calendar events and a range of shortcuts that you can personalise. If you want to delve deeper, the main menu is on the left softkey.

In terms of comms capability, this is a tri-band GSM handset with HSDPA for fast Web surfing and a front-facing camera for two-way video calling.

The main camera’s lens is protected behind the slide when not in use, which should mean it remains scratch free for as long as possible. The location is mirrored in the Samsung Soul, but while the Soul’s camera shoots at 5-megapixels and has a self-portrait mirror and flash, the Steel comes in at 3-megapixels and drops the flash. Not surprisingly, then, the camera is closer to average than it is to outstanding, though its autofocus does help it out.

The coloured dish lacks vibrancy and seems dark. The camera was left on its auto settings throughout my tests, and indoors it didn’t manage to let enough light in all the time. Outdoors it struggled with wide variations in light too. The white chair was in partial shade when photographed and illustrates the problem well.

On the other hand, colour capture and close range work were impressive. The flower really is that colour and I took this photo quite close in. There is no macro mode, but unless you want to go mere centimetres from the subject, I think it’ll cope OK.

As a music playing handset, it is always disappointing to see a proprietary headset connector, but that is what you get with the Steel. It is one-piece so using your own 3.5mm headphones will not be an out of box experience.

But then this handset doesn’t really major on music. There is just 30MB of internal memory. Admittedly, this is expandable with SDHC microSD cards but it isn’t a lot to get started with these days.

And while you can boost the memory you are stuck with the dreadful battery. I managed four and a half hours of non-stop music from a full battery charge, with the phone staying alive a bit after music playback was cut off, so that I got a total of 6 hours of life from it. The Soul, remember, managed 11 hours 40 mins of non-stop music from a full charge and a total of more than 17 hours of life.

Other applications not already mentioned include an FM radio, alarms, calendar, memo tool, task manager, calculator, unit converter, timer, stopwatch and voice recorder. Oh, and there is access to Vodafone’s Mobile TV too.

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Sony Ericsson W350 Reviews

After the excitement of my last Sony Ericsson handset, the C902, I was ready for more of the same with the W350. In design terms I got it, but in other respects I was disappointed.

The W350 is a Walkman handset, and so is designed for music playing. It sits at the lower end of the Walkman range, though, so you shouldn't expect huge things of it. It is a tri-band GSM phone with EDGE and if you want 3G you need to look elsewhere.

Sony Ericsson has gone for another striking hardware design with this mobile phone. It is a sort of hybrid between a candybar and a clamshell phone. It looks at first glance like a candybar. The front fascia is half occupied by the screen, half by a pad containing five buttons.


The screen is small - it measures a mere 1.8in diagonally, and on paper it seems it is a bit short on pixels at 176 x 220. While the screen is a little blocky to look at, Sony Ericsson pulls of its usual trick of producing a clear and bright display. So while more pixels would have been nice, this screen is still good enough to live with.

The front buttons are designed in a very flowing, curvy arrangement. Three of them are marked up for music control (play/pause, back and forwards). The other two are unmarked but are vertical scrollers and they sit within a circle that also incorporates the pause/play button and provides a highlight of colour against the phone's mostly black fascia.

On my review handset this circle was bronze in colour, but other options are available too. Vodafone, for example, has a purple version at its website.

Now, this bottom part of the front fascia can be flipped downwards to reveal the phone's number pad, D-pad, softkeys, back and cancel keys. The flip is very flimsy, bending and bowing when opened at the least application of pressure to it. If this phone is dropped at the wrong angle with the flip open disaster could follow.

All the keys but the D-pad are shiny black and reasonably sized. They are bevelled to help with accuracy. The D-pad is silver and about as large as the space will allow it to be. There is no blank space here - every millimetre is used by a key of some sort.

With the flip closed this is a tiny phone, just 104mm tall, 43mm wide and 11mm thick. It weighs a mere 75g, making it one of the lightest phones I've ever reviewed. If, like me, you are always on the look out for something that'll fit in a small pocket, then you could be drawn to the W350.

But hold your horses. As usual, Sony Ericsson has gone for its side-mounted headset connector; that enormous lump of plastic whose connector doubles up with the mains power charger. On a phone this size it looks stupidly large, and more importantly for music fans, turns a 43mm wide phone into one requiring closer to 60mm of pocket width. Unforgivable, really.

At least there is the saving grace that the headset is two-piece with a 3.5mm slot just past the microphone, but that won't help your pocket space any. Only the Bluetooth stereo output can do that.

While I'm on the subject of music playback, let's talk about battery life. Sony Ericsson quotes up to 7 hours of GSM talk, 300 hours on standby. My own music rundown test - seeing how long the phone can play tunes non stop off a full battery charge - delivered 11 hours 52 minutes of tunes, which is very respectable indeed.

Memory is important to music fans too. The W350 has just 14MB built in. The Memory Stick Micro slot you'll need to use to expand on this sits underneath the battery cover, and you don't need to remove the battery to get to it.

Music fans will appreciate the lock button on the top edge of the phone. This locks the front keys when the flip is up so you can't unintentionally punch a button. But it has no effect on the keys that are hidden by the flip. They work when you open the flip whether the hold button is activated or not.

When you are playing music with the flip closed, the music player occupies the main screen. With the hold feature on or off, opening the flip takes you out of the music player and into whatever app you were last using. Frequent texters will love this ability to flick easily from music to texting.

Oh, and one other music related point. The loudspeaker is really loud. Fellow public transport users might not appreciate this one bit, though I found it handy when listening to the phone's FM radio.

As a Walkman phone there is little emphasis on the built-in camera, which lacks video shooting mode, flash, autofocus or self-portrait mirror and shoots stills at just 1.3-megapixels. That is a low specification even for an entry-level mobile phone these days, and I am surprised Sony Ericsson decided not to go a bit higher to 2-megapixels.

You can picture blog from the phone but there is no image editing on board for having pre-blog fun with your snaps. Picture quality is, as you might expect, not great, and the camera suffers particularly indoors.

The coloured dish, photographed under normal household lighting, is dusky and granular. Detailing on the chair is poor compared to what you would expect from a better quality lens. The flowers are reasonably good, but I'd not even attempt to get any closer than the couple of feet away that this photo required, and the flower colour is a bit more vibrant in real life.

Other features include a Web browser, RSS feed reader, FM radio, mobile email, a sound recorder, calculator, task manger alarm, calendar, notes taker, stopwatch and timer.

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AT&T and LG Introduce Invision Mobile TV Phone

AT&T and LG today announced the availability of the LG Invision, a compact Mobile TV-capable phone in the U.S. at just 4 inches tall, 2 inches wide and less than one-half an inch thick. With its crystal-clear screen, TV fanatics can enjoy watching their favorite programming, including major college football games on CBS Mobile, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile and NBC2GO. Invision also offers Video Share calling and a 1.3 megapixel camera.


Running on the nation’s fastest third-generation (3G) network, the Invision is pre-loaded with more than just video features, including AT&T Mobile Music, which provides fast access to downloadable music from eMusic, sideloading compatibility from Napster To Go and any unrestricted MP3 audio files and streaming digital radio by XM Radio Mobile. With Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities, you can wirelessly access music, listen to AT&T Mobile TV and make calls hands-free anytime.

The Invision is available in all company-owned AT&T stores for $99.99 with a new two-year agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.

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3 Offers Skypephone S2 in UK

Alongside free Skype calling and instant messaging, the new Skypephone S2 from 3 in UK brings internet services such as Facebook, Google and Windows Live Messenger to the front of the phone. The new 3 Skypephone S2 will be available for pre-order from 19th August, available to buy online from 27th August and in-store from 1st September.


Technically the handset boasts an improved 2.2″ QVGA screen, a 3.2 mega pixel camera, HSDPA capabilities and up to 4GB expandable memory. The switcher key on the side of the handset enables you to quickly and intuitively move between applications from any screen on the phone.

Skype is fully integrated into the phone, allowing you to make Skype to Skype calls and send Skype instant messages to other Skype users. Your Skype contacts are fully integrated into your phonebook alongside all your regular contacts

Kevin Russell, Chief Executive of 3 UK, said: “The first 3 Skypephone was about building one of the most popular Internet services, Skype, into the heart of the device. The 3 Skypephone S2 builds on this approach and brings a host of other popular Internet services to the front of the device.

Specifications:

* Camera: 3.2 Megapixel
* Memory: 50MB internal, expandable memory using MicroSD card up to 4GB
* Dimensions: 102.7 X 45 x 14 mm
* Weight: 95g
* Compatible with Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook, RSS feeds
* Drivers for plug and play - allows you to use your Skypephone like a USB Modem

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Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile USA Confirms TM506 Clamshell Phone

Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile USA announce today that the TM506 clamshell phone will be available in early September. The TM506, Sony Ericsson’s first handset supporting T-Mobile’s AWS spectrum (1700/2100), is a compact and stylish clamshell phone that delivers an exceptional Web experience in an eye-catching design. A built-in GPS navigation feature in the TM506 along with the TeleNav application from T-Mobile allows users to always know their location.


“The TM506 not only signifies Sony Ericsson’s expanding U.S. portfolio of handsets, but more importantly, that we have forged a strong and promising relationship with T-Mobile,” said Najmi Jarwala, president of Sony Ericsson North America. “With the launch of the TM506 with T-Mobile, Sony Ericsson is positioned to offer more choice of mobile handsets for a broader range of U.S. consumer segments at a variety of price points.”

The TM506 proves that good things come in small packages. Its compact design fits into any pocket, purse or briefcase for consumers on the move. An outer display allows users to glance at the caller ID without having to open the phone. Users can store their favorite tracks and share music with their friends using the removable Memory Stick Micro (M2).

Users can capture and share special moments as photos or video clips with a 2.0 megapixel camera with My Album, slide show and video blogging capability. Stereo Bluetooth connectivity allows hands-free wireless calls, and with Bluetooth stereo headphones, users can hear their favorite music the way it was meant to be heard.

The TM506 will be available in early September at select T-Mobile retail stores and online at www.t-mobile.com.

TM506 Phone At-A-Glance

* Weight: 3.4 ounces, including battery (approx.)
* Size: 3.7 x 1.9 x 0.69 inches (approx.)
* Talk Time: Up to 9.5 hours GSM; up to 3.5 hours UMTS (approx.)
* Standby Time: Up to 250 hours GSM, up to 250 hours UMTS (approx.)
* 2.0 Megapixel Camera
* Media Center
* aGPS Built-in
* TeleNav Navigator
* RSS Feeds
* myFaves-enabled
* Audio Postcard
* Quicksend
* Mobile Backup (T-Mobile Address Book)
* Bluetooth 2.0 / A2DP / Stereo streaming
* Tri-Band GSM (850/1800/1900)
* Dual-Band UMTS (1700/2100 & 2100)
* GSM/GRPS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA

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New PSP-3000 Support Skype VoIP with Built in Microphone

Sony Computer Entertainment will launch a new PSP (PlayStation Portable) handheld entertainment system (PSP-3000) featuring a new LCD that improves the high resolution PSP display. The new PSP will be available in stores in Japan, Asia, North America and Europe from October 2008. It also comes with a built-in microphone to meet the PSP users’ demand to enjoy games and content with voice input functionality without the use of a separate microphone.


The built-in microphone will allow users to easily enjoy games that utilize a microphone, as well as Skype and other communication tools. The new LCD screen adopts an anti-reflection technology, which enables users to see the screen more clearly in well-lit places and outdoors.

In addition to the basic “Piano Black” color, the new PSP will also come in “Pearl White” and “Mystic Silver to meet variety of lifestyle and preference of all ages.

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Bell’s Launching of HTC Touch Dual

A complete keyboard, Windows Mobile 6.1 platform, 3G support, and HTC’s “TouchFLO” user interface, are some of the features of Bell’s HTC Touch Dual which just made its first appearance in Canada.

The handset also boasts of media player with video streaming support, a touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and a microSD memory card slot for maximum

Pricing for the Touch Dual on Bell Mobility; CA$99.95 on a three-year term, CA$249.95 on a two-year term, CA$349.95 on one-year term, or CA$399.95 without any contracts.

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HP iPAQ 914c Business Messenger

RIM's BlackBerry handsets used to be in a class of their own. Anyone after a phone offering instant, push email coupled with business-level PIM integration only had one place to go. But nowadays rivals are ten a penny, and every smartphone manufacturer worth its salt has a BlackBerry-style handset in its line-up. Some - Nokia's E71 - have even managed to beat RIM at its own game.


With its heritage in the PDA arena, you'd think that HP would well be placed to give RIM and Nokia a run for their money. But though its PDAs have long been the best in the business - I reviewed its business PDA, the iPAQ 214, back in February and was very impressed - I've yet to see HP evolve its PDAs into successful smartphones. The 614c Business Navigator, for instance, was a real mish-mash - part business PDA, part GPS device, part smartphone - and a big disappointment as a result.

Fortunately, the 914c is a more straightforward device: a dyed-in-the-wool candybar QWERTY phone, and it's a far better product for it. But can it compete with the best business emailer on the market, the E71?

First impressions would suggest not - it's hardly the sexiest of devices and is a rather bulky and heavy device. The front is trimmed with shiny chrome, the rows of keys separated by strips of silver, and the rear panel finished in comfortable-feeling soft-touch plastic, It weighs 154g and is 16mm thick - a world away from the sleek lines of Nokia's superb E71, which tips the scales at a mere 127g and measures just 10mm thick.

So what does the extra bulk and weight get you? Well, the keyboard is good. Those silver strips clearly define the position of the keys vertically, while a rounded, horizontal profile to each button means that you won't keep hitting neighbouring keys when typing and editing. There are dedicated keys for the full stop and comma, and the navigation cluster above the keyboard is large and easy to use. There are no fancy touch-sensitive or trackball controls here, but the five-way up/down/left/right/select works well and it's complemented by a BlackBerry-style scroll wheel on the right hand edge. But is this any easier to use than the keyboard on the E71? It's good, sure, but the answer has to be no.

The screen then, surely, is better? Well, yes, it is bigger and, unlike the screen on the Nokia E71, it is touch-sensitive. But the size difference is only, surprisingly, fractional (2.46in versus 2.36in) and at this size the touch-sensitivity doesn't help that much - you'll only use it when you absolutely have to and only then with a stylus. This is not a finger-friendly touch-sensitive device like the iPhone or HTC Touch Diamond. The E71's screen is also transflective, which makes it easier to see in bright sunshine, though turn the brightness up on the 914c's LED backlit transmissive screen, and you won't have to squint too hard to read it.

The main reason for the 914c's size and heft, it would seem, is its enormous battery. Crack open the rear panel of the 914c and you'll find a lithium-polymer battery whose 1,940mAh capacity is bigger than anything else I've come across on any Windows Mobile smartphone. This leads to good longevity: around two to three days with push email switched on and even longer (three to four days) if you choose to switch that off. But even here, it's still no better than the Nokia. In fact, I'd say that the E71 is actually a little better, and its Exchange client also gives you more flexibility and control over what times of the day and week push email is used. This allows you to eke the maximum possible battery life out of the phone without having to keep switching it on and off all the time.

And the longer you use the 914c, the more you realise just how good its main rival, the Nokia E71, actually is. Its specification, for instance, isn't anything to be sniffed at. There's tri-band HSDPA for speeds of up to 7.2Mbit/sec in addition to GPRS, EDGE and quad-band GSM. You get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a GPS receiver that works pretty well, plus a 3.0-megapixel camera complete with LED flash. The 914c has a 416MHz processor and 128MB of RAM, which push Windows Mobile along at a fair old lick, and a reasonable 256MB of ROM for application and file storage (plus a microSD card slot for expanding that further). But the E71 manages to match that (almost) stride for stride. It lacks the faster 7.2Mbit/sec HSDPA compatibility, but has everything else that matters, adds a front-facing camera for video calls where the HP has none, and is at least as quick and responsive.

There are a few areas where the iPAQ does have the edge, especially with document editing and creation. Though the Nokia is equipped with QuickOffice 4.1, this can't compete with the iPAQ's Microsoft Office Mobile, which can edit and create Office 2007-compatible documents. Synchronisation via ActiveSync with Outlook is more effective and elegant than it is with Nokia's bloatsome PC Suite, and the iPAQ can be charged via USB where the E71 must be plugged into the mains.

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Sony Ericsson C702 Cyber-shot reviews

Sony Ericsson C702 is the less sophisticated sister of the C902 which I reviewed a few weeks ago and loved. Like the C902 this is an entrant in Sony Ericsson's Cyber-shot range and its emphasis is on camera capability.

But there is other good stuff going on here too. This is a quad-band GSM mobile with HSDPA and a front-facing camera for two-way video-calling. It has 150MB of built-in memory and the usual Memory Stick Micro support. The slot is on the left side of the casing and so is easily accessible.

It also, as is the trend for higher end mobiles at the moment, incorporates a GPS antenna. This can be used to geotag photos as well as for other activities.


Geotagging capability will sit happily in the phone for as long as you use it. The same goes for the pre-installed copy of Google Maps and the Tracker application that can be used to monitor your speed and distance and could double as a training aid if you don't want the added features you get from dedicated equipment.

You can also use the C702 for point-to-point navigation. This comes via the Wayfinder software. The software is pre-installed but I understand that you only get it for a trial period, and after that, you'll need to pay to continue with it.

One point on general handling is worth making very early on. I had the Devil's own job getting the battery cover off. Now, this isn't in itself a deal breaker for any mobile phone. After all, how often are you likely to want to get to the SIM slot or remove the battery?

I don't object to the physical battery lock which can be rotated with a fingernail. What galls is that I actually had to take a pen-knife to the cover to get it off rather than using the normal push-and-slide method. The risk of breaking the cover using my system is high, and if I'd bought this phone I'd hate having to do it. Poor design, Sony Ericsson.

This phone won't win any prizes for being exceptionally pocket-friendly, but at 105g it isn't too heavy to tote and at 106mm tall, 48mm wide and 16mm thick it is fine for most pockets.

The screen measures 2.2 inches diagonally - slightly more, in fact than the 2.0 inches of the C902. Its 262 thousand colours and 240 x 320 pixels are a match for that other handset, though.

The navigation key has a raised rim that indents towards the select button. I don't like this as it doesn't feel smooth under the finger, but it worked well enough. To its left and right sit a trio of buttons. On the left, we have a softmenu, Sony Ericsson's superb Activity menu and, nestled between them a tiny Call key. On the right another softkey, the Clear key and between them a tiny End key.

While the Call and End keys are weeny they are usable thanks to their physical design which raises them from their surroundings and has them in a different colour - black against silver on my review sample.

The number keys are long and thin and the centre column is slightly offset vertically adding a little spark of individuality to proceedings, which doesn't affect usability. The 3, 6, 9 and # column has some camera shortcuts which are backlit blue when the camera is in use.

Tap them to turn the flash on and off; turn the timer on and off; get to the scenes mode; and choose between normal, frames, panorama and burst shooting. Each press of the key in the two latter cases cycles you through the options available.

Sony Ericsson says the phone is splash and dust resistant so you should be able to use it on the beach with confidence. Don't expect it to survive immersion in water, though, as the standard is about ‘resistance' not complete proofing.

Still, maybe this partly explains the difficulties I had removing the back cover - it looks to have been designed with a no-leak seal. Indeed the soft rubber-band style part of this seal is easily dislodged but just as easily replaced.

Sony Ericsson flaunts the location of the camera key and the lens cover as designed for one-handed use. A bit of a case of over hype, that one, as many handsets have a lens cover that flips down to activate the camera and a side mounted shoot button. They work one handed, and I can't deny that this phone does too, but it is hardly a new feature.

Sony Ericsson also pushes the phone's ‘steady grip' materials. As far as I can see this amounts to an indented pattern on the rubberised battery cover. Yes it is easier to hold the phone steady one-handed than with a smoother surface, but it is hardly ground breaking stuff.

The C702 offers 3.2-megapixels rather than the 5.0 of the C902. And its general set of features is a bit reduced on that other handset too. There is no BestPic (where the camera shoots multiple images and you can keep the best), and no image stabilisation. Still, you do get face detection for automatically ensuring the camera focuses on any people in your shot rather than what is around them, and picture blogging from the handset.

The LED flash is double-barrelled which gives the camera a bit more oomph than usual for indoor shooting. You can also use it as a torch, setting it to stay on permanently or for a minute, or in flashing SOS mode.

The coloured dish photographed under normal household lights and without the flash is reasonably well defined and its colours are vibrant enough. Outdoors the chair photo is a bit less pleasing. Its white is not uniform and its detail not quite as good as I'd like. The tomatoes were photographed using macro mode, and this works well, though at a distance of a few centimetres from the subject the lens has obvious difficulty with the closest elements of the image.

Of course, this phone also plays music. Unfortunately I was not able to test its battery life in this respect, but Sony Ericsson suggests 7 hours GSM talk which is two hours less than the C902, so you should expect proportionately less than the C902's 15 and a half hours of non-stop music.

Other features not mentioned include a Web browser, RSS feed reader, FM radio, TrackID, VideoDJ, PhotoDJ, MusicDJ, Bluetooth remote control, sound recorder, mobile email, five alarms, calendar, task manger, notes taker, timer, stopwatch, and calculator.

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LG KC550 Reviews

It wasn't that long ago when phones with 5-megapixel cameras were non-existent. Things have changed, though, and 5-megapixel phones are not what you'd call ubiquitous, but certainly widespread enough for you to be able to shop around.

LG's tri-band KC550 brings the 5-megapixel phone to the masses being only around £100 on a pay as you go tariff. As I write this review, it is available from Phones 4U, Carphone Warehouse and Tesco, for example.

This handset won't win any prizes for distinctive looks. Its livery is mostly black with some silver and white highlights on the front, a sliver band round the edge and a slate grey lens cover on the back.


In physical design, this is a fairly chunky slider that feels slightly out of proportion in the hand. The main reason for this is its thickness. At 14.9mm that particular dimension is somewhat over the odds. Two thirds of its thickness is in the bottom layer which contains all the side-mounted buttons and connectors and that camera.

Thickness isn't the only reason for the slightly disproportionate appearance of this phone, though. Its width to height ratio is a little different to usual, too, making it slightly squat. It is 51.4mm wide and 96.9mm tall. Open the slide to reveal the number pad and it just shades over 130mm tall.

The number pad benefits from that 50mm plus of width. Its keys are large, and alternately coloured black and slate grey. This checkerboard look makes it easy to find and hit keys, which is a help as the number pad is flat. I was able to create SMS messages at a fair old lick.

The phone weighs 110g, which is certainly within acceptable parameters. The 2.4 inch screen manages a pretty usual 320 x 240 pixels and 262 thousand colours. LG could have made the screen a little larger, but to keep the KC550 at a lower end price compromises have had to be made.

Beneath the screen with the clam closed a large D-pad surrounds a silver select button. Call and End buttons sit on the bottom left and right of the front fascia, softmenu buttons above these. A clear key disturbs the symmetry of the arrangement sitting as it does on the right side of the D-pad.

On the left edge is LG's usual proprietary mains power connector which doubles for the headset and PC connectivity. Both headset and PC cable are provided. This connector also works with a TV out cable. It is nice to see this facility on a relatively low cost phone, but a shame that the cable isn't provided. A cost cutting measure.

Meanwhile on the right edge you'll find a microSD card slot, camera button and rocker which doubles for volume and camera zoom control.

So, without further ado let's get to that camera.

You can start it running by sliding the huge metal lens cover back. You don't need to look at the back of the phone to do this - it is easy to do by feel alone. The camera has a self-portrait mirror and a small LED flash. The autofocus allowed me to get in quite close on the tomatoes and I didn't even bother with the macro mode on this shot so it is good that definition and sharpness are both passable.

The chair doesn't quite show the level of detail that I'd like to see from a 5-megapixel camera. Indoors, without using the flash but with ordinary household lighting, the coloured dish isn't quite as vibrant as I'd like either. So while this camera may well carry 5-megapixels, it is not up there with the best in that category.

When you are using the camera the D-pad can be used to pop you into album view, set the flash (including turning it permanently on), use macro mode and set image stabilisation on and off. Video is shot at resolutions to 720 x 480 and 30fps, incidentally, which is a rather high-end capability.

When it comes to looking at photos on the handset the KC550's built in accelerometer has a role to play. Turn the handset on its side so that the screen is in wide format and photos are automatically adjusted. It is hardly a novel feature, but the accelerometer is responsive and however often I see it, I do think this is a neat little quirk for any phone.

Some of the provided games take further advantage of the accelerometer. When you move into the games area of the phone you have two choices. Just opting for ‘games' itself gives you a skateboard game and Mini Game World - which has seven integrated little games. Choosing ‘M-Toy', on the other hand, gives you six games with which to use the accelerometer. There's one where you chuck darts at a board, one in which you go fishing and another where you guide a ball round a maze, for example. I've seen these games before in the 5-megapixel but all round better featured LG Secret

The KC550 also plays music. With a mere 12MB of internal memory you are going to need a microSD card to make the most of the player, but the good news is that I got nearly ten and a half hours of non-stop music from a full battery charge. After that, the phone refused to play any more, though it still stayed alive for about another hour. LG rates it at 6 hours talktime and 450 hours on standby.

An FM radio with nine presets adds to your musical possibilities but LG's headset uses the aforementioned proprietary connector and is one-piece so you'll need an adaptor to use a 3.5mm set.

In addition to what has already been mentioned you get mobile email, calendar, memo maker, voice recorder, muvee studio for creating a slideshow with music, alarm, calculator, stopwatch, unit converter, world clock and browser.

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Sony Ericsson W760 Reviews

Sony Ericsson may be feeling the pinch, but the company continues to announce handsets with vigour. The latest one to hit my desk is the W760.

The W in the name indicates that this is a Walkman handset, so its star feature should be its music playing. But there are some canny extras on board which give it a little something more.

A penchant for gaming means there are two dedicated gaming keys sitting above the screen. There is an accelerometer built in so that the screen can flip into wide format at various times when you turn the phone sideways on. This has a use in some of the games. EA's Need for Speed sees you tilting the phone to control your car for example.


And there is built in GPS. Along with quad-band GSM, EDGE and 3G with HSDPA, the range of features seem to nudge the W760 towards the all-singing, all-dancing handsets at the top end of Nokia's ranges.

But hold on just a moment. There is no Wi-Fi here. Without that, however good it is at its individual tasks, the W760 can't touch top end Nokia handsets on the specs front. One more step, Sony Ericsson, and you may be in Nokia N series territory.

Still, what we have here is a solid and serviceable mobile phone. Let's just digress for a moment and deal with look and feel before plunging back into features.

The W760 is a little on the large side to carry around. It measures 15mm thick, 48mm wide and 103mm tall, and is a slider. When opened up, so you can get at the number pad, it is about 135mm tall. It weighs in at 103g, which frankly is surprisingly light for such a chunky phone.

The size means it feels quite solid in the hand, and Sony Ericsson has managed to put a raised horizontal bar beneath the screen to give some purchase when opening and closing the slide.

The slide mechanism isn't as smooth as some, though, and it does need a bit of a kickstart to get it going, which inevitably meant that while testing this phone I often either dabbed a greasy finger on the screen or on the buttons beneath it. In the latter case, there was the irritation of making selections I didn't want. All just reminders of why I can find the slider format a bit of a pain. On the plus side, the number pad is large and dabbing at keys for texting was fast and efficient.

The screen measures 2.2 inches across diagonal corners and its 240 x 320 pixels and 262 thousand colours are specs I've come to expect from Sony Ericsson. The TFT is sharp and bright.

Beneath the screen sits a fairly large area containing plenty of buttons. A flat plate contains the softmenu keys, one for Sony Ericsson's superb Activity menu and a clear key.

Real buttons provide the Call and End functions, and centrally there is a large D-pad. This is marked with music control functions - pause/play, back, forwards - and with a little GPS icon that calls up the various navigation options on board.

The antenna is supplemented by Google Maps, a three-month trial of Wayfinder navigator for point-to-point route planning, and, for runners, an application called Tracker, which will monitor your distance, speed of travel, and energy burned.

You can activate the Walkman software via a side button and then use the D-pad and softmenu keys to get around, making choosing music and controlling playback fast and easy.

When music is playing you can use shake control. You need to hold down the left side-mounted Walkman key then shake once to the right to move forward a track, once to the left to move back a track. Shaking it all about shuffles tracks, while moving the phone towards you raises the volume, away from you lowers it. Shakes need to be quite vigorous, and provided you don't mind looking like a numpty, it works.

Playlists can be created by mood, though to do this you have to use Sony Ericsson's Media Manager to transfer tracks as this assigns the mood tags. There is 40MB of built in memory and a Memory Stick Micro slot on the top edge of the casing. My review sample came with a 1GB card.

I'm afraid I am going to rant about Sony Ericsson's appalling proprietary headset connector again; it protrudes from the left side of the phone and is horridly ugly. You can use a 3.5mm headset thanks to a jack just past the microphone, but really, Sony Ericsson needs to put a 3.5mm connector directly into this and other similar handsets.

Battery life is crucial for a phone with GPS and music playback pretensions. My music playback test got just five and a half hours of continuous playback from a full battery charge, and for a music player that is pretty poor, though Sony Ericsson reckons the phone is up for 9 hours of GSM talk, 4 hours on HSDPA. There is no front-facing camera for video-calling.

The camera lets you geotag pictures and there is a panorama mode that helps you stitch more than one shot together. But the 3-megapixel camera and absence of self-portrait mirror and flash make the camera feel underpowered given the rest of what is on offer.

However, the camera proved quite capable, with the coloured dish photographed indoors under household lights showing quite vibrant colours, while outdoors the white chair is acceptably sharp. The hanging basket was photographed quite close up and colour reproduction is good, although a degree of edge detail is lost.

Other features not mentioned include a Web browser, RSS feed reader, FM radio, TrackID, VideoDJ, PhotoDJ, MusicDJ, Bluetooth remote control, sound recorder, mobile email, five alarms, calendar, task manger, notes taker, timer, stopwatch and calculator.

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LG KF510 Reviews

LG is not backward about coming forwards with its mobile phones at the moment. The last one I had in my hands was the Secret and before that the KF700. Both are sliders just like the LG phone I am holding right now, the KF510

The KF510 is a solid phone with tempered glass and a metal fascia that don't contribute too much to its overall weight. At 110g it is on a par with others in its class. However, as is generally the case with handsets that incorporate this sleek, glassy design, the front fascia grabs grease and I was forever wiping fingerprints off.


If you can keep it grease-free, the phone is quite a looker. The design incorporates what the press release calls ‘metal gradation paint schemes'. Basically this means that the handset's grey front fascia is darker at the top than it is at the bottom, subtly shifting between shades through its length. No, it isn't enough to make you hanker after the phone, but it is distinctive.

What might endear you more is that this is a very thin slider. Just 10.9mm thin to be precise. It is 49.5mm wide and 104.5mm tall growing to about 133mm when opened.

Open the slide and the number pad is huge. It is just a number pad, and so the keys can be stretched out to accommodate all the available space. Call, End and other keys are, well, elsewhere.

The key size might be a plus but the hardware design of the numberpad is disappointing. The flat keys are faced with a rubbery layer which feels like it won't take too much bashing. In fact, with no effort at all, I lifted it away from the base with a fingernail. I just wonder how well it will survive in the real world.

With the slide closed the screen seems a little lost in its surroundings. It measures 2.2-inches across the diagonal, and I reckon a little more could have been squeezed out. Its 240 x 320 pixels aren't a surprise, though and its 262 thousand colours are par for the course.

What makes the screen look small is the huge expanse of nothingness beneath it. Directly under the screen is a horizontal metal bar, and beneath that an area devoid of any markings or buttons at all.

You may have guessed by now, though, that this apparent lack of markings or buttons isn't quite true. That area beneath the screen is a touchpad, and it springs into life if you open the slide. Its touch icons are backlit brilliant white. Call and End keys sit at the bottom left and right corners, softmenu keys at the top left and right corners.

In the middle, as many as nine white dots can flash before your eyes, offering different configurations depending on what you are up to and sometimes just twinkling in and out of existence just for the sheer hell of it.

For example, when looking at the phone's main menu you have a five-way navi button arrangement. Move left, right, up and down through the icons on screen and the pattern changes momentarily to show an arrow indicating direction of travel.


The same thing happens when you are in the music player, at which point up and down change volume, and left and right move you between tracks. When using the camera the D-pad of touch icons gets you through the various shooting options.

A gentle haptic vibration gives you feedback when you tap an icon, and the whole thing is responsive enough. I'm not convinced that the sparkly animations add much to proceedings, but the system works, and better than some touch-sensitive options I've tried. If you really don't like it but want this phone anyway, then all options, including the 3 x 4 main menu grid, map to the keypad.

This is a mid-range phone as far as features go. There is no HSDPA, for example, but it is a quad-band GSM handset with GPRS and EDGE. And with just 16MB of internal memory vying for your music, photos and other stuff, you are going to need a microSD card pretty sharpish. The slot is on the right edge of the casing, carefully hidden away when the slide mechanism is closed.

LG does both the wrong and the right things with its provided headphones. On the wrong side, the connector to the phone is proprietary and shares the mains power socket. It is on one edge of the phone and the protruding connector regularly snagged in my pocket. On the other hand, the headset is two-piece, and there is a 3.5mm connector just beyond the rather bulky microphone section.

Music playback was pretty good with nine hours of music from a microSD card before the fully charged battery gave out. And I do like the fact that a side-mounted button calls up the music player on a short press and the camera on a longer one.

This button doesn't work at all for the camera when the slide is closed, instead doubling up to unlock the phone and power up the touchpad. This is because the lens belonging to the 3-megapixel camera sits under the slider on the back of the casing, so it is protected when not in use. The camera comes with a teeny flash and a small self-portrait mirror. There's also an anti-shake mechanism and autofocus, all of which bodes well on paper. In practice, however, the flash is too small to be of much use, and the anti-shake mechanism, while it works well enough, is let down by shutter lag.

My sample shots are a mixed bag. The coloured dish, photographed indoors under normal household lights, is a bit grainy and lacks sharpness. Outside, the chair, photographed on a very sunny day, is not uniformly white (there's a degree of colour shift), though at least detail is good. The flowers, on the other hand, photographed quite close in, are very clear and sharp.

The bundle of software runs to mobile email, calendar, memo maker, FM radio, voice recorder, alarm, calculator, stopwatch, unit converter, world clock and Web browser. The KF510 will share information with your PC via a USB data cable that uses the same proprietary connector as the headset and mains power adaptor.

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Samsung Launches F400, Dual Slider Music Phone

Samsung announced the launch of Samsung F400, a dual slider music phone equipped with ICEpower technology by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower. The music phone featuring Smart Bass, which provides rich, deep and powerful sound, and Smart Limiter which ensures an audio signal to not exceed the amplitude of the threshold.



Many other latest sound enhancing technologies are also embedded within F400, such as Digital Natural Sound engine (DNSe) 2.0 which brings an ideal and customized sonic experience for every genre of music. All the great music features are easily accessible by simply pressing a music hot key button placed on the side.

When slide up, F400 is ready to make calls with a metallic keypad that is softly brushed with hairline pattern. When slide down, F400 turns into a music player, revealing hidden dual stereo speakers that pump up quality sound.

By using a pre-installed application called Shazam, users can find out the name and artist of an unknown tune by simply pointing their phone at the music. The service is also available when a user is listening to a song on the radio integrated within the handset. F400 also comes with a 3-megapixel camera with AF, FM Radio, microSD card slot and Bluetooth v 2.0

F400 will first be available in France in May, in two colors, black and white, with glossy finishing that resembles black and white piano keys. It will continue to be available in other European countries as well as many other countries in Asia, Southeast Asia, and Middle East.

Specifications:

• Standard: HSDPA Tri-band (900, 1800, 1900 MHz) 3.6Mbps
• Display: 2.2″ 262K TFT
• Camera: 3-megapixel camera with AF and LED Flash
• Audio by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower
• Smart Bass; Smart Limiter
• DNSe 2.0
• Dual stereo speakers; an external speaker
• Dual slider
• Music Recognition
• 3.5 mm earphone jack
• Music hot key; silver wheel navigator
• FM Radio (RDS)
• Bluetooth v 2.0
• WMPRM/ MTP
• Memory: 1GB microSD included (microSD support up to 8GB)
• USB 2.0 HS mass storage
• Size: 103.2 X 48.2 X 16.9 mm

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Palm Treo 800w spy pictures

A live shot of the Palm Treo 800w has just surfaced, along with a few technical specifications. The Palm Treo 800w Windows Mobile 6.1, it supposedly features a 320 x 320 touchscreen display, 400MHz processor, 256MB Flash memory, 128MB RAM, 2.0-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, and EV-DO Rev. A.

* 320×320 screen
* 400mhz CPU
* 128mb of RAM, 256mb of ROM
* EVDO REV-A
* GPS enabled
* integrated wi-fi
* bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
* 2.0MP digital camera
* Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

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China Retailer Start Selling Samsung i900 Smartphone

Just one month after Samsung has introduced their new SGH-i900 smartphone in Dutch, some retail shops in China Wu Han have start selling the new windows mobile smartphone. They have even got two version, the i900 for worldwide and the i908 for chinese market.



Running Windows Mobile 6.1, the i900 has a 3.5-inch touch screen with 240 x 400 pixel resolution. The smartphone do not have a cool UI like Touch3D, the UI in the photo shot is just simply, boring. Now here is how you may want to own one of the i900. It has a built in 5 megapixel camera, xenon flash module, GPS chipset, WiFi, FM radio receiver and support 3.5G HSDPA and GSM Quadband network. Not enough, before you need to use a microSD card to fuel your storage space, it has a 16GB ready to use built in memory, big enough for most of the users.

The Samsung i900 is currently available at around 500 USD. Check out the full specification below:

*Network: GSM Quadband 850/900/1800/1900
*Size: 112 x 56 x 13mm
*Display: 3.5-inch 256k colors TFT Touch Screen, 240 x 400 pixel
*OS: Windows Mobile 6.1
*Camera: 5 megapixel, autofocus, Xenon Flash
*Secondary video camera, extra white LED to help in low light condition
*Bluetooth
*WiFi
*GPS
*16GB built in memory
*microSD card slot
*1500 mAh battery

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