Nokia Internet Tablet N800

Welcome to a new N-series of Nokia products, the N800. It's designed to stay online so you can enjoy the benefits of the internet, whether you are at home or on the go. Browse your favorite sites. Stay in touch with the people your love with internet calling. Chat with your friends. Check your emails. Relax with your favorite songs and videos.

Hardware
The Nokia N800 feels quite rigid, with enough force you can make it creak slightly. Currently, the Nokia N800 only comes in one color solution, a combination of silver and black.

Speakers - The stereo speakers are located on both sides of the display. Nokia put a lot of love into these speakers, they are ridiculously good. It is pleased to report the Nokia N800 does not have either of these problems, either the volume was too faint or the speaker would crackle at high volume levels, good job Nokia!

Display - With a display size of 4.1-inches at a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, the display is among one of the sharpest in the portable device category. The color range is another story, it only displays 65K colors, which is rather low for today’s standards. The low color range will only become noticeable when viewing photos or movies where there is a gradual change in color, such as an image of a sky, where there is many shades of blue.

Size - The Nokia N800 is significantly smaller than the PSP, especially in thickness. The actual dimensions of the Nokia N800 are 3.95 x 5.67 x 0.51 inches (75 x 144 x 13 mm) and weighs 7.27 ounces (206 g).



Controls - The two forms of user input come from the hardware controls found on the left side and the touch screen. Having all the hardware controls on one side is ideal for 2-handed operation, touch screen operated by the right hand via stylus and hardware controls with the left hand. All keys give good tactile feedback and a light sound of a click when pressed.

The square shaped button acts as a 5-way D-pad used to scroll through the interface. Below the D-pad rest the escape, menu and swap buttons, in order from top to bottom. The escape button denoted by the curved arrow, returns user to previous screen when pressed, if held the current window will be closed and user will be returned to home screen. The menu button displays a context menu, options in menu will change depending on what application you are using. The swap key is used for switching between applications, when held the current application running is minimized and user will return to home screen.

Stylus - The stylus acts a lot like a mouse would. Users can drag and drop items, hold stylus to display to bring up context-sensitive menus, highlight multiple files by dragging stylus over groups of items.

Camera - The camera is used for video calls, capable of 640 x 480 resolution. When the camera is ejected with a press, the video application automatically loads, so there’s no need to fumble through the menus. Don’t expect stellar results from this video camera, the video quality is rather poor, noise is very apparent even in excellent lighting conditions. The camera can also be rotated a full 180 degrees.

Storage - The Nokia N800 has two memory stick slots, the external one is found on the bottom right while the internal is positioned to the left of the battery. Supported memory stick types are as follows; SD, MicroSD, MiniSD, MMC, and RS-MMC. Maximum capacity for a single memory stick is 2GB, so overall memory capacity can reach 4GB. There is a key difference between the external and internal memory, the internal can be used as virtual memory while the external cannot.

Applications

The Nokia N800 runs a modified version of Debian Linux, Maemo 3.0, better known as Internet Tablet OS 2007. I rarely see companies embrace the open source community the way Nokia has. Instead of shunning these “hackers” they gave them the tools to develop applications for Internet Tablet OS 2007.

More details on the N800 can be found on Nokia's web site

Package Contents

• Nokia N800 unit
• Stylus
• BP-5L Li-Polymer 1500 mAh Battery
• 128MB MiniSD memory stick
• SD memory stick adapter
• Headphones 3.5mm jack
• USB cable (File transfers only, not PC synchronization)
• Power Adapter

Sidekick 3 D-Wade Edition

Only in Miami does a sports-themed limited edition phone look good enough to take down the runway. But that's exactly what the T-Mobile Sidekick 3, D-Wade Edition-designed by NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade-achieves. Unlike some of the edgier, tattoo-covered limited edition Sidekicks of yore, this one is subtle and elegant with white and tan accents and a back made of the same tough material as a basketball.

According to T-Mobile, the impetus behind getting Wade to collaborate on this limited edition communicator phone was his No. 3 Miami Heat shirt number (just like the Sidekick 3!). But it turns out the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year and recent GQ cover boy is also an avid Sidekick 3 user-you know, text messaging his agent and PR folks and all that. The phone also has a bunch of gold 3s splattered around the screen bezel.

Someone says beige and gold phone to me and I usually think, no thanks. But this limited edition doodad is a nice piece of understated unisex bling suitable for any Paris or Romeo (don't forget it's V-Day on Wednesday), whether they're basketball fans or not.

it’s pretty much exactly your standard Sidekick 3 handset. It has a 1.3-megapixel camera, a full QWERTY keyboard, trackball, and runs on a Danger-based operating system. AOL, Yahoo, and MSN instant messengers are all supported; and it allows multiple e-mail accounts to be accessed in the same place. There’s a music player for MP3’s, which you can load in through the included USB cable, and listen to with the included Bluetooth 1.2 headphones. Unfortunately, you have to remove the battery to reach it, but there’s also a mini-SD card slot to maximize the amount of music you can carry.

Internet surfing is still a little bit dicey, for instance logging on to MySpace isn’t going to happen, but generally the Sidekick 3 D-Wade Edition should do what it claims to do. The phone is available now in limited supply at select T-Mobile retail locations and online.

Motorola RIZR Z8

The Motorola RIZR Z8 is the existing RIZR, but with 3G bolted on.

The Motorola RIZR Z8 also features a 'kick slider,' a graceful mechanism that achieves a 'fit-to-face' profile by gliding open in a curve to match the contour of the user's face. With high-speed connectivity via HSDPA, and a multimedia feature set that includes a brilliant 16 million color 35 x 50 mm QVGA full screen display, RIZR Z8 boasts video playback speeds of up to 30 frames per second. The entertainment experience is brought to life via a partnership with BSkyB which will users to access Sky's mobile content services. As well as offering access to an on-demand library of updating news, entertainment and sports, Sky's 'Anytime' application also provides an access point to Sky's range of live mobile TV services.


Key Features
3G HSDPA Technology
3G Video Calling
EDGE Technology & Bluetooth™ Wireless Technology
2 Megapixel Camera with 8 x Zoom & Red Eye Reduction
Music Player with Playlists
2.2 Inch TFT 16m Colour Screen (240 x 320 Pixels)

Cool BlackBerry 8800 ^_^

The new Blackberry 8800 basically turns the Blackberry Pearl into a swirl, mixing in the Pearl’s flavor of the month trackball navigation system, with such business specific features as a full QWERTY keyboard and built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) that integrated with Blackberry Maps and e-mail; making getting and sending directions easy. Further Blackberry 8800 review reveals other Pearl holdovers, such as light-sensing technology that automatically brightens for dark environments, plays MP3s, MPEG4 and H.263 video format, and has Bluetooth. Unlike the Pearl, and nearly ever other hand held device released this century, it doesn’t have a camera.

But one advantage the Blackberry 8800 definitely does hold is regarding the microSD expandable memory slot. In the Pearl, it’s tucked behind the battery compartment and can’t be accessed without removing the battery and shutting off power. This problem has been addressed in the 8800 and while still located in the battery compartment, you no longer have to remove the battery and reset your clock just getting to the memory slot. The battery in general is a boon on the Blackberry 8800, as battery time can withstand two to three days of heavy talking.

You can’t do a Blackberry 8800 review though without noting the curious omitting of 3G network compatibility. How can you market a phone at the business community where time is money, and only allow them to access the internet on the slower EDGE network when Blackberry already offers other models already equipped with faster UMTS technology?

The 8800 is definitely a capable phone, but unless you’re infatuated with the idea of using a trackball with a QWERTY keyboard, this Blackberry 8800 review suggests you steer clear of the model, as it feels like a time bider between the innovation of the Pearl and Blackberry’s next big thing.

Simply a stunning piece of industrial design, Sony Ericsson's latest entry into the Walkman range is one of the thinnest 3G mobile phones ever released. The W880i features a sleek, brushed steel face, a 2 megapixel camera, push email support, and a 1GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) - all of this squeezed into a device measuring just 9.4mm thin.

Walkman
The W880i includes the latest version of Sony Ericsson's proprietary music software, Walkman version 2.0. The new edition offers some welcome features, as well as a stylish new look. An icon representing each menu has been added for a sleeker and more structured feel. It still uses the previous tiered system (with artists, albums, artists, tracks and playlist menus) but now adds access to Sony Ericsson's new download service PlayNow. The PlayNow download service operates in a very similar way to iTunes, allowing you to listen to samples and then download tracks to your phone or PC in MP3 or AAC format. Also included in the new software is album art support. When you transfer music from your PC to the W880i, any available album art is automatically downloaded and added to the track.

TrackID is also available on the W880i and is one of the coolest features we've seen on a phone. This allows you to record a few seconds of any song you wish, through the external microphone. The recording is then sent to a music database and if the song is recognised, the title, album and artist name are sent back to you. It then allows you to download the full track if it is available. The W880i also features A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) which enables you wirelessly stream your music to a pair of Bluetooth headphones.

In terms of sound quality, the W880i is on par with previous Walkman handsets. For a mobile phone its audio quality is quite notable and the included earphones produced a crisp and warm sound with good bass. The headphones include an adapter which allows a standard 3.5mm headphone jack to be used. You can also tailor your audio using the five band equaliser or the four presets including Sony's proprietary Mega Bass.

Features
The W880i handled voice calls fairly well, although we did note that in-call volume could have been much louder. Its fine for using the phone to your ear, but using the hands-free speakerphone with some background noise isn't ideal. In-call options include turning on the speakerphone, adding a call, switching to video, turning off the microphone and holding the call. The W880i also allows you to record a conversation, but again, volume could have been louder. Recordings are automatically saved into the music folder under the file manager menu.

The W880i is a 3G phone, so it includes dual cameras - a 2 megapixel camera on the rear for taking photographs and a VGA camera on the front for video calling (which can't be used for taking photos). Unfortunately, the camera doesn't include auto focus or a flash, but it does have 2.5x digital zoom. Although not suitable for any sort of serious photography, the W880i camera should be enough to keep users happy for the odd photo thanks to panorama, frames and burst shooting modes, night mode, a 10 second self-timer, black and white, sepia and negative effects as well as the ability to adjust white balance. The W880i can also record video (with sound thanks to the built-in microphone), but its quality is below average at best. Photos can be stored on either the 16MB of internal memory, or the included 1GB Memory Stick Micro (M2). The slot is located beneath a rubber cover on the left side of the handset.

The W880i also offers plenty of entertainment options. In addition to the Walkman feature, there is a video player and games, as well as some of Sony Ericsson's proprietary applications such as VideoDJ, PhotoDJ and Music DJ. There's also remote control and sound recording functions as well as Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0 connectivity, with Sony Ericsson including a USB cable in the sales package, along with the latest version of their PC Suite software. Unfortunately there is no included FM radio.

Push email support is a feature of the W880i, and it also offers regular SMS and MMS messaging with T9 predictive text input. The Sony Ericsson email client supports POP3 and IMAP protocols and it is capable of managing several accounts simultaneously. Users can choose to download only headers or headers and text, and the W880i can automatically check for new emails at a preset time.

One cool feature of the W880i is the ability to blog. In a couple of easy steps you can take a photo, write a small snippet of text and publish it on the internet as a blog - all through the phone itself. You get your own free personal blog website with blogger.com when you purchase the W880i and it only takes a minute or two to publish. The W880i also includes a host of organiser features - calendar, tasks, notes, alarms, calculator, synchronisation, timer and stopwatch amongst them.

Design
The W880i has to be seen to be believed. Resembling an iPod at first glance, it has dimensions of just 103mm x 46.5mm x 9.4 mm and a weight of 71g. It is a delight to hold in your hand and easily slides into a pocket or bag. The brushed steel finish gives a feel of excellent build quality, sophistication and class. The W880i is guaranteed to be a real head turner, with most simply marvelling at its slim build.

Being so compact, the W880i naturally has small controls and buttons. These consist of a five-way navigational pad (with Walkman controls), two selection buttons, back and clear keys and dedicated buttons for Internet and shortcuts. While it took some time to get comfortable with the small controls, after a full weeks use we were happy with its usability. Obviously most would prefer larger keys, but once users are familiar with the phone's interface, they work quite well. Our only complaint was with the Internet key; we regularly bumped it accidentally while using the back or selection keys.
The W880i's keypad consists of three clearly defined rows of thin, chrome keys. Although small, they are very responsive, and the generous spacing between keys means that users should be able to achieve reasonable, if not lightning fast messaging speeds. Both the keypad and controls have a bright, white backlight, so using the phone in the dark isn't a problem. Despite being so thin, Sony Ericsson hasn't failed to include any controls. The W880i includes a volume slider and dedicated camera button on its left, and a dedicated Walkman button on the right.

Battery life is about average according to Sony Ericsson figures, quoted at six and a half hours of talk time on a standard GSM network and three hours using a 3G network. Users will get approximately 425 hours of standby time, regardless of network. On average, we charged the handset every two or three days, depending on usage patterns.

Tiny NeoNode 2 with iPhone

Not at 3GSM, but wishing it was, the new NeoNode 2 is being talked about as yet another iPhone Clone. The difference this time though, is that the NeoNode 2 shares more than just a touchscreen with the iPhone - it also employs a similar gesture controlled user interface. By waving your fingers over the touchscreen in certain magical combinations, you can control the icons and menus - just like on an iPhone!

Apparently, the NeoNode 2 has been in development for some time (indeed, rumours persist that it's still in development, and will never make it out of beta!), and follows on from the similar-but-still-born NeoNode 1.

Not great in the features-department, it's the gesture-based interface and 3" screen that mark this little gadget out from the crowd (hmmmm, where've I heard that before?!). Whether we'll ever see it released or not is open to question - and quite how well it'll succeed if it it ever is released is another question altogether!

The Neonode N2, being shown at 3GSM, is a tiny, light phone with an innovative gesture-based touch screen. Not only can you click on buttons with your fingers, you can sweep your fingers over the screen to open and close menus -- it's quite slick. There's also a 5-way cursor toggle below the screen, but you don't use it.

The N2's touch-screen abilities even surpass what we've heard of the iPhone in that it has haptic touchscreen dialing. Like the iPhone, the N2 has a virtual keypad to dial on. But this keypad bites back - when you press a "button," the phone vibrates a bit to give you the feeling that you pressed it.

The iPhone runs some variant of Mac OS X, but the N2 runs Windows CE 5.0. Not Windows Mobile, mind you, but a customized version of mobile Windows with Neonode's own user interface. That means it supports Windows Media audio and video, and ActiveSync for connecting to PCs, but doesn't run standard Windows Mobile third-party applications.
And the iPhone's storage is fixed at 4 or 8 GB, but the N2 is expandable -- with a mini-SDHC card slot under its back cover, it can take flash cards up to 32 gigabytes. (8-GB cards were announced here at the show.)

Of course, not all of the tiny N2's specs beat the iPhone's. The 2-megapixel camera is just like Apple's. The slow GPRS Internet connection is much pokier than the iPhones zippy EDGE and Wi-Fi, and the 2-inch 176x220 pixel screen withers when compared to the iPhone's huge, 3.5-inch, 320x240 panel. Then again, that's what you get in 47 x 77 x 14.7 mm and only 70 grams.

Toshiba G900 and G500 Windows Smartphones at 3GSM

G900

Toshiba announced at the 3GSM 2007 two Windows Mobile Smartphones: PORTÉGÉ G900 and PORTÉGÉ G500. Both new Toshiba smartphones feature a fingerprint sensor for access control. This is great for business users, who actually use a pin code to unlock their phone every time they want to use it. Now they just need to touch the phone to get access. The Windows Mobile 6.0 running Toshiba PORTÉGÉ G900 features a slide out full QWERTY keyboard, 3 inch WVGA screen, Triband, HSDPA, 3G, EDGE, Bluetooth, WiFi and USB connectivity, 2MP camera and a miniSD card slot.

Portégé G900 key features:
Fingerprint sensor feature for extra security and easy menu navigation
Windows Mobile 6
Full keyboard making it easy to write messages and emails on the move
3-inch wide, colour W-VGA display for enhanced viewing quality
Read and write access to a USB flash memory device
Full connectivity with Triband, HSDPA, 3G, EDGE, Bluetooth™, WiFi® and USB
Extended PC connectivity
High speed internet access with worldwide HSDPA, 3G or WiFi
Direct Push Email
2 mega pixel camera
Secondary camera for video telephony
Support for VoIP
64MB of internal memory and support for miniSD card
Music playback

G500

Ideal for business and pleasure, the Portégé G500 gives you the best of both worlds. This quality and compact slider phone uses fingerprint technology to protect the data stored on the handset. Combining phone, email, web and an MP3 player on a Windows Mobile® 5.0 operating system, the G500 helps you to stay in touch whilst on the go.

Portégé G500 key features:
Fingerprint sensor feature for extra security and easy menu navigation
Windows Mobile 5.0
Full connectivity with Triband, HSDPA, 3G, EDGE, Bluetooth™, WiFi® and USB
Extended PC connectivity
High speed internet access with worldwide HSDPA, 3G or WiFi
Direct Push Email
2 mega pixel camera
Secondary camera for video telephony
Support for VoIP
64MB of internal memory and support for miniSD card
Music playback

LG KG920 – 5MP Cameraphone

LG’s KG920 is a phone for people who like their handsets to have lots of buttons and, to not put too fine a point on it, a bit on the blingy side. As the UK’s first five megapixel cameraphone, it’s a phone for those who can’t see the point of carrying a digital camera with them all the time just in case they see something they’d like to photograph for keeps.

There. I’ve said it. This is a phone with a camera that’s actually worth having. Now don’t get me wrong here: if I bought this handset I would still want a separate digital camera, and there are things about the camera that I don’t like at all. But nonetheless, you can take photos with it that you would be prepared to share, keep and even get printed at A4.

The camera is though, the best thing about the KG920 and in a lot of other respects this handset disappoints.

At first glance the KG920 is all buttons, and flouts the conventions of mobile phone key layout. Under the screen the numberpad is pushed over to the left, with the right occupied by a navigation button. This latter is marked with tiny icons indicating that pressing each of its four points has specific functions.

Pressing the bottom of this button takes you to the handset address book. The left edge accesses profiles. The right edge takes you to a four way scrolling menu where you can choose to go to voicemail, messaging, calendar and the device alarm. The top edge drops you into a listing of nine favourites actions, which you can then invoke using the numberpad. Customisation, then, is not a problem.

Three softmenu buttons sit above the numberpad and navigation button. The left and right ones get most use, while the middle one occasionally has a role to play too. These buttons are not directly beneath the screen and it took me a while to be able to use them intuitively. The other button in this area is a large Cancel button underneath the navigation button.

To the left of the screen are two pairs of buttons. The bottom pair launches the calendar software and music player. When you are using the camera they let you toggle through settings for the timer and flash. The upper pair is used with the camera’s zoom feature. All these front buttons except the Call and End buttons have an orange backlight which pops up whenever you press anything. Call and End are green and red respectively, as you’d expect.

The left and right edges are pretty busy areas too. On the right are slots for a miniSD card, headphones and mains power and all are covered. On the left are volume buttons and the camera button as well as a slider for the mechanical lens cover.

The screen delivers 240 x 320 pixels and 256,000 colours. It is reasonably good, though I have seen better.

The numberpad area and the screen are a long way apart from each other but there is a good reason for this. You can swivel the top and bottom sections of the KG920 around so that the camera lens is either sitting on the back of the phone or lodged under the screen. Either way the screen acts as a viewfinder, and this arrangement makes it as easy to take photos that of yourself as it is to take those of what you can see. It is a simple, clever system, and I actually prefer it to the more cumbersome contortions employed by the last twisty handset I looked at, Nokia’s fancy N93.

The maximum still image resolution of the camera is 2,592 x 1,944 pixels. You can also shoot stills at five other resolutions down to MMS quality. There is an autofocus, which can be set to either concentrate on the centre of your image or use multiple points – quite a sophisticated feature for a handset phone.

There is a sequence shot mode that can take up to six shots in quick succession, but you need to be using one of the lower resolutions for this to function – at the top res you can only shoot one image at a time.

Black and white, sepia and negative filters, redeye reduction and settings for close-ups, portrait, landscape, sports and dusk shots are all included. The range available isn’t up to what you’d expect from a dedicated digital camera, but accessing the set is easy – you just use a softmenu button and the navigation pad.In general I found the autofocus pretty slow, literally waiting for a couple of seconds for it to settle enough for some shots, and that means truly spontaneous snaps are out of the question. There was also quite a wait while highest resolution shots saved to the memory card – they average around 2MB each.

One of the biggest disappointments is that there is no optical zoom. I’d advise that the 4x digital zoom is to be avoided. And if you want high quality video then look elsewhere as the only resolutions on offer here are 176 x 144 and 320 x 240.

The Xenon flash works fairly well indoors though, and in general images were a lot clearer and sharper, and delivered better colour than I am used to seeing with a phone camera. My reference shot of the coloured plate was bright and clear. Outdoor scenes were also pretty good and the samples show a panorama with some foreground detail and a colourful closer range shot of book covers, illustrating that the camera works well in a range of situations.

The macro capability deserves a special mention. I’d not normally dream of taking the shot of the mushrooms in my garden with a cameraphone, but I was able to get very close to the subject in this case, and the shot is impressively detailed, though a tad out of focus.

There is an MP3 player here and while through the speaker music is decidedly tinny, the provided headset improves things greatly. It has inline controls, and while it uses a proprietary connector to the handset it has a 3.5mm jack off the inline control unit.

Neither the MP3 player nor the camera work without a miniSD card in the slot – probably just as well as there is only 8MB of built in memory. LG provides a reasonably sized 256MB card with the phone to get you started.

When it comes to the rest of what is on offer, things are pretty tame. There is a calendar but it is not up to much. Other extras include voice recorder, email support and an alarm clock. There is a unit converter which copes with a lot of standard stuff as well as shoes and clothes. Overall, though, the KG920 is at the lower end in terms of non-camera and music functions, and while you can use it in USB mode for file sharing with the provided cable, which could prove handy, you can’t synchronise calendar or any other data.

The KG920 is a chunky phone to carry around all the time. It measures 108mm tall x 50mm wide x 18mm thick and weighs 130g. As such it feels a bit clunky in the hand and pocket.

When it comes to battery life, continuous MP3 playback from a miniSD card lasted for five and a half hours. The screen goes off during playback and so this test is pretty close to what you’ll get in the real world, and it is decidedly average.

If you take an incoming call you have to start the MP3 player again manually as it doesn’t kick back in automatically. It doesn’t seem to remember where it is stopped either, so starts your playlist from the beginning again - very annoying.

Summary:
The KG920 is definitely all about the camera and its features score reflects the quality of the images it shoots. As a handset it is chunky, and its non camera related phone features are something of a disappointment. Without the camera’s goodness it would have stuggled to score more than a six.

Apple iPhone - So Cool...

The iPhone is a revolutionary phone based on OS X platform, says the developer. It features unique user interface Multi-Touch. This is a touch control system, which ignores an accidental touch, but can answer to complicated touch combinations.

Its display has a 3.5” diagonal (160 pixels per inch). There is the support of landscape and portrait screen orientation, with auto switch. The iPhone is designed for GSM networking (quad band) and supports EDGE data transfer standard, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0.

At the same time the phone features advanced functionality of the iPod players. It is equipped with a 4 or 8 GB of integrated flash ROM, and naturally can play music and video. There is a 3.5-mm headphones jack at the side. Besides we can see an integrated 2-megapixel camera. At the same time the phone is slim enough – 11.6 mm

The iPhone has Safari Web browser, e-mail (IMAP and POP3), Google Maps. The approximate release date in the US is set for June. It will come out in Europe later. The recommended price for the 8GB model makes up $599 and for the 4GB version - $499 (probably on the 2-years contract with Cingular).

The specs of the iPhone:
GSM(850/900/1800/1900 MHz), EDGE
3.5” 320x480 pixels display
Input system - Multi-touch
Operating system - OS X
4 GB or 8 GB memory onboard
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0
2-megapixel camera
HTML e-mail client
Safari Web-browser
Talk/video/Web-surfing time – up to 5 hours
Music time – up to 16 hours
Dimensions – 115x61x11.6 mm
Weight - 135 g