Smartphone Essentials Awards 2009

2009 has seen an outstanding range of new smart phone devices come to the market. These smart phones are not only mobile phones, but portable computers performing all kinds of tasks which would not have been imaginable a few years ago.

The Smartphone essentials awards 2009 are now looming upon us, and the nominations have now been revealed. So which handsets are fighting to be in the spotlight? Let’s have a look at the candidates.

The first category is the ‘Best Consumer Smart Phone’. This is where you will find the key players of the smart phone market, so this will be a tough area to judge. The Apple iPhone 3GS is the first nominee, which is probably the most obvious handset to be up for nomination. Offering double the speed than the iPhone 3G and other features such as video recording and editing, could the iPhone 3GS be the most powerful smart phone on the market? The Nokia N97 is also competing for the best consumer smart phone, and is a powerful multimedia computer thanks to 32GB of internal memory plus a memory card slot. The device puts all your favourite social networking sites on your home screen as interactive shortcuts so you can stay connected. The N97 also features a slide out QWERTY keyboard making it perfect for instant messaging and email.

The Samsung i8910 HD is the first and only mobile phone capable of recording HD video. The i8910 HD runs on the Symbian operating system, and with a 3.7 inch touchscreen display, this handset is pleasurable to use. An incredible 8.0 megapixel camera takes stunning photography, and the i8910 HD also benefits from Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS and HSDPA.

HTC appear to be dominating this category, with three of their handsets up for nomination. The first is the Hero, which runs on the Android OS allowing for numerous applications to be downloaded to fully customise the phone. A built in 5.0 megapixel camera creates quality images which can be viewed clearly on the 3.2 inch touchscreen display. The Hero comes in both Black and Pink, catering for a larger target audience. The HTC Touch Diamond2 is also up for consideration, and has a range of features available for users. Running on Windows Mobile 6.1 means users can synchronise with Outlook as well as open and edit word and excel documents. The Touch Diamond2 also sports a 5.0 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, HSDPA and GPS. Finally The HTC Magic runs on Android OS supporting Google services including Gmail, Google maps and Google search. The on screen QWERTY keyboard makes composing messages a lot easier, and a 3.2 megapixel camera which is great at capturing quality photos.

The second category is ‘Best Business Smartphone’. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 is one of the candidates for this award, and can offer users a full QWERTY keypad which is ideal for firing off all of your emails, texts and other documents. BlackBerry push email is also supported so the 8520 can send and receive emails from a range of different accounts which are located all over the world. The HTC Touch Pro2 is also being marketed here as a business mobile phone. Running on Windows Mobile 6.1 you can access office documents 24/7, and the impressive 3.6 touchscreen display means that everything on screen can be read clearly.

Nokia E52 is another candidate and can offer up to 8 hours of talk time, and with a new and improved predictive text you can compose messages a lot faster. With the choice of both business and work home screens, you can keep work and play separate. The other handsets in this category include the HTC Snap and the Acer M900.

‘Best Value smart phone’ sees a range of handsets up for nomination, including the Blackberry Curve 8520 which has now been nominated for two awards. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is also up for consideration, which is a full touchscreen mobile hosting a 3.2 inch display. The 5800 also specialises in music, which recognises most digital formats including MP3 and AAC, and with an expandable memory you can be sure to have enough storage for all of your favourite tunes. Other handsets fighting for this title include the Acer F900 which boasts a 3.2 megapixel camera and runs on the WinMo 6.1 OS, the Nokia E63 which runs on the Symbian OS and has a 2.4 inch display and the O2 Xda Zest which also operates on WinMo 6.1 and has a 3.0 megapixel camera.

Some of the other categories include ‘Best SatNav system’ and ‘Best SatNav Software’. All handsets which have been nominated boast quality features and hold many opportunities for the user, so it is bound to be a hard choice to decide which mobile phones deserve to win. The results will be revealed in the next issue of Smartphone Essentials which is due 3^rd November.

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Blackberry Tour Available At Verizon Wireless

Blackberry recently introduced the new Blackberry Tour, the latest in their lineup of Smartphones. The full QWERTY keyboard Tour is now available at Verizon Wireless.

The Tour has all the great features that consumers have come to expect on their Blackberrys. Access to Email, the internet, the ability to access corporate information and access to Verizon’s 3G network. The Tour is manufactured
by Research in Motion.

Timothy O’Rourke, vice president, computer and information services at Temple University has used the device exclusively since it was introduced. O’Rourke said, “University faculty and administrators are very mobile these days. They need a dependable, easy-to-use device that keeps them in touch with students, e-mail and the university while they are out of the classroom. We also have faculty who travel to our international campuses in places like Brazil, China, France and even Senegal. The ease of use and the global capability of the BlackBerry Tour make it an easy device to recommend to our faculty and administrators.”

The Blackberry Tour is now available at Verizon Wireless communication stores and online. The Tour costs $199.99 after a $70.00 mail in rebate and requires a new 2 year customer agreement that includes voice and an Email plan.

For more information on the Blackberry Tour, please visit Verizon Wireless.

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Review: HTC Hero

The HTC Hero offers a refreshing break from the smartphone OEMs’ infinite attempts to reproduce the iPhone experience. With its focus on personalization, Sprint’s most recent – and only – Android addition forges its own unique path, and does so with pleasing results. The handset features one of the most responsive touch screens available outside of the iPhone.

The Hero comes equipped with a 5 MP camera, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, capacitive pinch-to-zoom touch screen, trackball and up to 32GB of expandable memory. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter integration is well done; each was easy to find and set up. The only thing that stuck out was the virtual keyboard’s relatively small keys.

Downloading applications from Android Market was easy. Most of the applications were useful and cheap, if not free. A download of the augmented reality browser, Layar was a joy to play with and demonstrated real-world use cases that are just the tip of the iceberg for this technology.

The Hero will be available on Oct. 11 for $179.99 after a $50 instant savings and a $100 mail-in rebate with a two-year service agreement. Pre-registration for the Hero is currently available.

Bottom Line:
The Hero may be the finest example of Android’s promise going forward, as well as the closest competitor to the iPhone. While Palm’s Pre could have been a contender, it simply doesn’t currently offer the depth of available applications necessary for success in the smartphone market. As it stands, the easily accessible Android Market offers Hero users an estimated 10,000 applications, plenty to get your new device humming with possibilities.

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Verizon Wireless Motorola Rival in Purple

Looking for a great slide-up phone with the option of an integrated keyboard, then the latest offering from Motorola is definitely one you can’t pass up. With mobile texting growing in popularity nowadays, the phone has been developed to target this market. Designed to compete with its mid-range texting counterparts, the Motorola Rival has special features that gives its competition a run for their money.

The phone was basically designed for heavy texter’s in mind. Text messaging through mobile phones has been steadily growing with the young and school-aged population.

Marketed also as a fun phone, the Motorola RIVAL makes great use of its different features. The phone comes with a 2 MP camera that produces images and videos that are good for its range. The camera is capable of making five different picture resolutions. Other features included were settings for color effects, brightness, picture balance, self-timer and three distinct shutter sounds with an option for silent capture. Picture quality was at most decent and if you’re looking for a better camera you might start with some of its rivals.

Listening to your favorite music is no problem with the RIVAL’s 8 gig memory card. This gives you the option of storing thousands of your favorite tracks and images. Music quality was poor however and getting a better headset or set of speakers is recommended for better listening experience.

Keeping track of your friends is easy with its 1000 entry phone contact. Expand contacts details with five individual phone numbers or 2 email addresses. Quickly organize your contacts into groups for even better access. Standard phone features include speaker phone, world clock, stopwatch, calculators, voice messaging, vibrate mode and notepad.

Advance communications include an instant messenger interface coupled with its standard text and multimedia messaging. The phone supports Yahoo, AIM, and Windows Live messaging. Added features are voice dialing and wireless web browsing. Bluetooth support allows for hands-free operation, dialup networking, file transfers and Bluetooth headsets.

Keep track of your online communications with email support for major sites like Windows Live or Yahoo Mail. If your into streaming videos, the phone offers this feature at better than average speeds. Browsing though WAP pages was smooth and download times were minimal. The low point in video streaming was the phones lower than average display. Video was pixilated and viewing was less than expected.

Voice quality was clear and crisp. Average battery life was placed at 5.3 talk time and testing showed that real time battery use was at par.

Overall outlook for the Motorola RIVAL^TM A455 is average. If you’re looking for a phone specifically for online and mobile texting the Motorola is proving quite to be a great inexpensive option. With its slide-up QWERTY keyboard, it makes quick work of your messaging needs. The Motorola RIVAL A455 is a mid-range phone and there are certainly better products out there which easily beats it hands-down. But if you’re searching for a texting phone the Motorola could be the best inexpensive option for you.

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LG Chocolate BL40 Review

LG last week began teasing its newest Black Label phone, an upcoming model that will bear the Chocolate label, just like the original LG Black Label phone, the LG Chocolate. We last saw the LG Chocolate in the third version of the device, available on Verizon Wireless, and we've always appreciated the multimedia family. But with the newest iteration, LG seems to be kicking things up a notch. In what appears to be an official-looking promotional video, now on YouTube and first posted on Engadget, we get what could be a first look at the high-end feature phone that will take the reigns of the Chocolate family, and it looks like a stunner.

The LG Chocolate 4, also described as the LG BL40, could be a departure from the previous models with an ultra-wide touch screen dominating the front of the device. If rumored specs are true, this might be a 4-inch screen with an obscenely wide 21:9 aspect ratio. Although this ratio might seem a bit too wide, in fact the video shows how LG could use the extra space on either side of the screen to add soft keys and visual feedback, and still have plenty of room in the middle. The design in the supposedly leaked video is also in line with the official leaked shots of the upcoming LG Chocolate 4, though LG's official images don't show the screen in full view, or in fact any active applications running on the device.

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Samsung Behold II Review

T-Mobile continued its commitment to the Open Handset Alliance and introduced its fourth Google Android device, the Samsung Behold II.

The Behold II is scheduled to launch later this year, though a specific release date and pricing were not announced at this time. It's the first Android smartphone by Samsung to be released in the United States and joins the carrier's other Google devices, which include T-Mobile G1, the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, and the upcoming Motorola Cliq.

Just like HTC and Motorola, Samsung has put its own spin on the Android operating system by using its next-generation TouchWiz interface, which allows you customized three different home screens with various widgets and shortcuts. In addition, the Behold II features a "cube menu" that provides access to six multimedia features: music, photos, videos, the Web, YouTube, and Amazon MP3. You can interact with all of these features through the smartphone's 3.2-inch AMOLED touch screen.

Other highlights of the Samsung Behold II include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera, and up 16GB expandable memory via the microSD slot. Samsung stated that the smartphone follows on the success of its Samsung Behold and takes it to the next level with the addition of Android, bringing support for Google services and Exchange ActiveSync.

While a specific availability date wasn't released, T-Mobile said the Behold II will arrive in time for the holidays.

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Quickoffice Word and Excel Office Suite For The iPhone Now Available

If you are interested in an app for the iPhone/Touch that can edit both Microsoft Word and Excel documents along with file sharing and content management capabilities, Quickoffice is now available via the App Store for $20.



This is basically an abridged version of Office for the iPhone, which could useful for a variety of applications: editing documents, typing out new ones, and doing Excel sheets without dragging open a laptop. Will include copy/paste functionality too. Great for on the go presentations.

Comments on various forums think the price is too high, but hey, people were clamoring for this functionality months ago, so compared to the full on version of Office, $20 is a bargain, it seems. But the bar seems to have been set rather low for App Store pricing it seems, and many have said they’d rather piece together various free apps to do this sort of work. To each their own, we suppose.
Download

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Vodafone BlackBerry Storm Release Update not good

We have just had an email sent to us stating that the release of the Vodafone BlackBerry Storm has been delayed.

This is what the email says: Please note that there has been a delay to the release of the Blackberry Storm. The launch date has been changed from the 7th of November to the 14th of November.

The decision had to be made due to all the interest that surrounds the device and the sheer levels of pre-reg and pre-orders. The weeks delay will allow Vodafone to ensure that they are delivering the best customer experience possible at the highest quality.

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Nokia 500 4.3 Touch Screen Auto Navigation GPS Review

This is just a quick review to refresh your memory, yes it is the Nokia 500 4.3 Touch Screen Auto Navigation GPS system that is already on the market.

We are about phones and the reason we are mentioning this GPS system is because it has Bluetooth, which means you can sync mobile phones to it. The sound quality on the Nokia 500 is brilliant with very good clarity especially when playing MP3 files.

It has an FM-transmitter which is great for playing music or navigational voice instructions via your car audio player; this is all down to the software which will allow you to store up to five fixed frequencies.

Now as we said the Nokia 500 GPS has Bluetooth technology which will allow you to pair you mobile phone and seeing as it has a FM transmitter you can talk to people on your mobile phone contacts list via the car stereo, Bluetooth connectivity works great with Nokia phones with no problems at all but can be a problem with some other branded mobile phones.

All-in-all what we are saying is that the Nokia 500 4.3 Touch Screen Auto Navigation GPS is pretty good, not the ultimate GPS system but indeed well worth buying. The handsfree calling is great and it seems to do its job well. Read full review over on Lets Go Digital

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Pre-order Nokia N79 and N85 Now: Be the first

Oh yes it seems shipping is only around corner when it comes to the all new Nokia N79 and Nokia N85.

You can go onto the Nokia website and pre-order yours right now; you can become the first in the U.S to own its new Nokia mobile phones. They will not charge you a penny until they ship your order.

Will you be getting the Nokia N79 or the Nokia N85? No details of shipping date as of yet though but it is close by, another question “Will you buy from Nokia themselves or wait for another supplier which are normally cheaper. Pre-order yours right here.

Source

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 TouchFlo 3D Demo Video

Now this is sweet because the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 smartphone is running TouchFlo 3D, and to proof it we have added the video below for you to watch it all in action.

The demo video below will show you the complete still-functional Panels; this is cool considering it is running over the Windows Mobile 6.1 load.

There are many of you that love the running of TouchFLO 3D, now instead of us banging on and on why not check out the video below that will show you lots more. After watching the video we would love to read your comments.

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Are you ready for NYC BlackBerry Storm Hunt?

Apparently the Verizon BlackBerry Storm hunt page over at Verizon Wireless has been updated to show a map with numbers over it, and each location number offers a message, why I have no idea but there you go.

The Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm Hunt begins today, well actually later tonight if you’re over in the States as its still the 5th of November over there, and the hunt for the BlackBerry Storm will continue until the 15th of November.

So, do you live near where the BlackBerry Storm hunt is taking place, fancy having a go at winning one? Then nip on over to the Verizon Wireless website and hit on NYC Storm Hunt and go to the sign up page.
Source – Verizon

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BlackBerry Storm with Telus now moved to December

The other day I reported on the BlackBerry Storm hitting Telus on the 17th of November… (See here), well apparently it now looks like the BlackBerry Storm’s arrival with Telus is being pushed back.

So you can forget about November 17th as the word is Telus won’t be seeing the Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm until early December, which is cutting it somewhat close to Christmas.

No word as yet to the BlackBerry Storm launch date with Bell Canada either, but we are guessing it will probable be in line with Telus. The word is to expect Telus to now launch the Blackberry Storm between December 4th and December 8th.
Source – blackberrysync

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HTC Touch HD now available in UK for £514.99

The guys over the pond aren’t likely to see the THC Touch HD, well they may, but it’s not often us Brits get the opportunity to say, “Look we have something you don’t!” so fellow Britons soak up the fact that the HTC Touch HD is now available in the UK.

Yes, us Brits can get our hands on this juicy Windows Mobile 6.1 packing HTC Touch HD with ultra fast 3.5 technology and 3.8 inch WVGA display sporting the touch-responsive TouchFLO 3D interface.

Devicewire are offering the HTC Touch HD without contract for the princely sum of £514.99, that’s roughly $821.00 to our missing out USA cousins.
Source – devicewire

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New Sony Ericsson W705, MBS-900 Audio System Details

We have just received a press release showing off the stunning Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman mobile phone and the MBS-900 Wireless Home Audio System.

This is all about state-of-the art mobile music experience, unveiled today is the W705 Walkman phone and Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900, now you can use Wi-Fi to connect to broadband hot spots you can even use the stunning Sony Ericsson W705 handset to go online and get all the songs you need or even visit YouTube video clips wirelessly to the stylish MBS-900 speaker via Bluetooth.

The new W705
• Award-winning clear audio experience – listen to music as it was meant to be heard
• Desktop direct search to online music – Go online for the best songs and most popular videos on YouTube™
• Wi-Fi™ and DLNA certified™ – connect the way you want
• PlayNow™ arena - a complete range of mobile entertainment
• Shake control – switch tracks and control the volume with the flick of a wrist
• SensMe™ - create playlists based on mood rather than artists or genres
• Large 2.4” screen – view websites and emails with high clarity
• Automatic rotation – switch from portrait to landscape with just a tilt of the phone
• Google Maps™ for Mobile – never get lost again
• 3.2 megapixel camera – snap and share your favourite images via Bluetooth™
• FM radio with TrackID™ - listen to the radio while on the move
• 4GB memory card – store up to 3900 songs**

To compliment the W705 is the Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900. Perfect for those who want to be first with all the gadgets, the unique innovative design of the Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900 makes a real stylish statement in a home. The MBS-900 connects wirelessly to your mobile phone through Bluetooth™ giving crystal-clear sound through the high quality, dual speaker and sub-woofer system.

The Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900 is a complete speaker system to be proud of. Make the most of a wireless world and adjust the music settings from the other side of the room with your phone, or use the touch controls on the speaker for smooth control of the music. Users can even listen to the built-in radio and make a phone call at the same time, or if the phone rings the speakers will cleverly automatically mute. Just plug the Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900 into a power socket, sit back and enjoy!

The new Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900
Let your music take shape
• Unique and innovative design – make a statement in your home
• 2.1 audio for a complete audio experience
• Stream music wirelessly – supports Bluetooth™ A2DP and AVRCP profile
• Transfer music from PC and MP3 using the 3.5 line-in function
• Built-in FM receiver – listen to the radio independently of the phone
• Control music settings with your mobile phone or speaker touch keys
• Monochrome OLED display – view track names in all their glory as well as music settings such as bass and treble.
• Call coming in? - Music mutes

Also announced today is the W705u Walkman™. UMA enables users to seamlessly roam between the mobile network and local area networks thanks to GSM/Wi-Fi™ dual capabilities. The W705u is exclusive to the operator Orange in markets where Orange is present.

The W705 and W705u (exclusive to Orange) support GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSPA 900/2100. W705 will be available in selected markets from Q1 2009 in the colours Luxury Silver and Passionate Red. W705u (exclusive to Orange) will be available from Q1 2009 in the colour.
The Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900 will be available from Q1 2009
Full press release here.

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NFL Games goes wireless on Sprint Phones Today

Good news if you like Sprint and NFL because the National Football League and Sprint have decided to team up for the ultimate relationship.

Now viewing NFL on the large screen is the best but the hopes are that fans will want to watch it on the smaller screens of their mobile phones, the Cleveland Browns vs. the Denver Broncos will be the first to broadcast on Sprint mobile phones, the deal is worth a staggering $500 million over five years.

Over the next few weeks (Seven to be precise) Sprint will phone-cast all eight games that are of course televised solely on the NFL Network, the Cleveland Browns vs. the Denver Broncos kicks of at 8:00PM ET.

You will need a Sprint TV-capable mobile phone and the Everything Plan (or a $15 per month add-on) in order to tune in, let us know what you think of this.
Source – WSJ via Engadget

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RIM BlackBerry Storm on Vodafone gets un-boxing treatment

It looks to be that Vodafone’s BlackBerry Storm availability is streaking ahead of Verizon’s BlackBerry storm availability, so we guess the North Americans will just have to sulk at Vodafone customers getting the Storm before they do.

And just to rub a little salt into the wounds, the guys over at T3 have managed to grab hold of a Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm and dragged out the camera for some un-boxing treatment.


And although there isn’t anything out of the ordinary, it’s always nice to be treated to some photo goodness of the Blackberry Storm, so hit up the source for more images.
Source – T3

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BlackBerry Storm on pre-order at Best Buy right now

Apparently the word on the streets is that Best Buy is to begin taking pre-orders for Research In Motion’s latest BlackBerry, the BlackBerry Storm as of today the 6th of November with a $50.00 deposit.

This if true shows at least that Best Buy is expecting quite a demand for the BlackBerry Storm when it finally his the shelves next month, and at least one Best Buy store has apparently confirmed this claim.

So if you are patiently awaiting the BlackBerry Storm, you may just want to pop along to your friendly neighbourhood Best Buy store and get your order in, that’s if you want to be one of the first to own the RIM BlackBerry Storm that is.
Source – Engadget

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BMW 530d M-Sport Saloon & Apple iPhone 3G Bluetooth Connection

Now here is a dilemma, many of you might be having troubles with the IPhone 3G bluetooth echo problem - In BMW and I had the same problem when I went to test drive one yesterday.

There are many BMW drivers out there who are complaining of an echo when they are using their Apple iPhone 3G in the car with the in-car Bluetooth system, yes we found this problem in a 2005 BMW 530d M-Sport Saloon.

I turned on the Bluetooth on the Apple iPhone 3G and paired with the BMW within seconds but the connection kept dropping and no contacts would show up on the BMW’s on-screen display, well after trying a few times with no success I thought I would try the salesman’s BlackBerry Curve and that worked fine. I went back into the car showroom and he showed me that it will only work with certain software as far as I could see. Now I know for a fact it works with the iPhone 2G but it does not work with the 3G which is a pain in the backside if you ask me.

Now I need a phone and if Apple do not sort this problem with a new software update they are on the verge of losing a customer, now I do not wish to give up my much loved iPhone 3G because it is an awesome smartphone, but hey it is cheaper to get rid of the phone than getting rid of the car.

If you are having any of the above problems please let me know, I would love to know your problems and fixes if any please.

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Sony Ericsson launches W902 and PlayNow Plus music service

Sony Ericsson has officially launched the Sony Ericsson W902 and along side the mobile handset has also officially launched their PlayNow Plus music service, although presently the PlayNow Plus music downloads service is only available via Sweden’s Telenor.

However, it is more than likely other carriers along with more compatible mobile phones will be added over time as I can’t see Sony Ericsson sitting back and letting the other music services hog all the music downloads business.

As it stands though, anyone outside Sweden at the moment will just have to rely on insider reports and leaks to see just how well the Sony Ericsson PlayNow Plus service fares

Source – Engadget

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