by Techno Witch on August 28, 2008
Drop your mobile phone and it gets damaged, and most mobile phones simply can?t soldier on forever. This is where it may be advisable to consider some of the military spec grade mobile phones available in the mobile arena.
And one such mobile device is the Samsung a837 which is set to hit AT&T in a few weeks and will become AT&T?s first rugged military spec grade 3G handset.
The Samsung a837 offers up quad-band GSM GPRS EDGE along with dual-band UMTS HSDPA 850MHz/1900MHz, AT&T Navigator, video share, aGPS, 1.3 megapixel camera, push-to-talk, Bluetooth and conference calling with up to six participants.
The Samsung a837 measures 3.95 x 2.05 x .90 inches with a weight of 4.66 ounces, and is rumoured to compete direct with Verizon?s Casio G?zOne mobile handset, and be roughly the same in pricing.
So we can expect to see the Samsung a837 sometime around September 15th with a price tag of between $99.00 and $150.00.
by Techno Witch on August 28, 2008
The net waves have been rolling with reports that it is possible the Apple iPhone 3G isn?t doing as well in Poland as elsewhere, and this stems from a report that Orange actually paid actors to stand in line to make it look as if the Apple iPhone 3G was in great demand.
I reported previously on this deception by Orange (see here) However, apparently Orange is now saying this is not true.
Orange is saying any rumours that the company hired people to stand outside stores in Poland and give the impression of demand by use of creating phony lines is untrue.
Apparently an Orange official sent an e-mail to queries from AdAge: “In response to the rumours in the Polish press.”
“As part of the excitement around the launch of the iPhone, some of our team have been joining customers outside our shops. Their aim is to welcome people to the Orange shop, share in their excitement and give information about Orange tariffs.”
So it appears that according to Orange, whoever broke this report got it wrong, but then again, Orange doesn?t deceive customers do they, after all they did admit to slowing 3G data speeds didn?t they?
I wonder if ?some of the team? were easily recognisable as Orange team members.
by Techno Witch on August 28, 2008
With all the complaints riding the net waves about the Apple iPhone 3G?s slow 3G data speeds and somewhat unreliable 3G service, one wonders if any other 3G capable mobile phone with AT&T is undergoing the same type of problems.
And the answer is it appears others are experiencing the same type of problems.
Investment research analyst Jim Suva, at Citigroup has said that in testing Research In Motion?s BlackBerry Bold has also shown 3G connectivity to be as shaky as that f the Apple iPhone 3G, which suggests that it is possible that AT&T?s network could well be to blame.
Apparently the BlackBerry Bold handset was plagued with dropped 3G signals, repeatedly dropping to EDGE without reason.
The main point being, the BlackBerry Bold uses a different 3G radio to that of the Apple iPhone 3G to connect to AT&T?s 3G network, and thus rules out any hardware problems, which in tune substantiates claims from Swedish researcher that the Apple iPhone antenna is working fine.
So it can be presumed that the network is to blame for loss of 3G connectivity; a carrier problem rather than a manufacturer, so maybe AT&T should be sorting it out.
by Techno Witch on August 27, 2008
With the HTC Dream almost upon us one would expect the Android developers to have had everything in readiness, but word coming out is that the Android developers are admitting that Google?s mobile phone platform doesn?t support Google?s own instant messenger service.
Just why they have neglected to include Gtalk isn?t apparent; one would have thought that Google would have seen to it that their own IM service was definitely included. Also it appears that Bluetooth will also be severely hampered.
However, it shouldn?t come as that great a surprise really as version 0.9 of the SDK which was launched last week also omitted Gtalk.
The word on the Android Developers Blog is a confirmation that version 1.0 will also be lacking Gtalk, and provides a reason why.
Apparently Google?s GTalk service was scrapped due to security reasons along with issues concerning temporary contacts gaining genuine identity info and thus these issues surmounted to more that the dev team could manage in the allotted time.
Still, a Google based mobile phone not carrying GTalk does sound a bit lacking if you ask me.
by Techno Witch on August 27, 2008
So who is to blame for the clone of the Samsung Armani phone? Yes, you guessed it the phone cloning experts in China.
From looking at the phone it?s a pretty good clone, you can see that appearance wise they have done a very good job, holding the real Samsung Armani and the fake it really is quiet difficult to tell the difference, but once we flip open and turn on the device it?s a different matter, you will see that the interface is looking mighty strange, well that?s our opinion.
As we have said previously we strongly recommend you not buying cloned devices, you really do get what you pay for and generally clones qualities are never up to scratch with the originals, that?s without you encouraging copyright infringements.
We have posted a couple of images of the clone and see what you think.
by Techno Witch on August 27, 2008
Nokia at one time used to push out mobile phones that were revolutionary and change the mobile arena, but with their latest, the Nokia N79, Nokia N85, and Nokia N96 maybe revolutionary should be changed to evolutionary because they do seem somewhat boring and quite bland handsets.
So what has happened with Nokia? All these of their latest have reminisces of past Nokia successes and other than internal tech advancement, many failed to impress in the slightest.
Research designer at Gartner, Carolina Milanesi, spoke to PC World saying: “Nokia needs something more distinctive going forward, truly new products rather than devices that look like a refresh of previous products on a slightly different form factor,”
It has been some time since Nokia wowed the mobile world in the design department. Gone are the days of the likes of the N90, the clamshell with a swivel camera; gone are the days of the N91 and even the N93i clamshell with its innovative display hinge that gave a laptop form factor.
So, do you feel that Nokia has lost its design prowess? Could Nokia, given the chance come up with a true iPhone competitor? Or do you feel Nokia design has reach the end of its day?
by Techno Witch on August 27, 2008
There have been lots of rumours flying around about the Palm Treo Pro, and here is another one to add to the list, it?s been reported by Cens.com who are a Taiwanese economic news site that fellow ODM partner HTC is working on a CDMA version of the Treo Pro for Sprint and/or Verizon.
Not only this but Palm is planning to launch a CDMA (which is an abbreviation for code division multiple access) version of Treo Pro series phone in the future for CDMA telecom service providers, like Sprint, Verizon and Wireless. HTC will supply the phone.
As we have been sniffing around websites trying to get the latest scoop on the Palm Treo Pro, we came across another piece of information, we read that Verizon has cancelled their planned roll out of their Treo 800w. The rumours have been somewhat cloudy some saying that they are awaiting the Treo Pro and others saying that it could not pass carrier testing.
But as “Rumour” seems to be the key word in this article we can only wait and see what happens, it seems that everyone is excited about a possible CDMA version of the Palm Treo Pro so we suggest if they are not already working on it then they should pronto.
by Techno Witch on August 27, 2008
Fancy a bit pf iPhone Bling? They?ve already given a MacBook Pro gold and iMacs too, and now Computer Choppers has set their eyes on the Apple iPhone 3G and dripped it with a touch of shine.
Apparently though, because of the poor quality of the plastic used on the Apple iPhone 3G it has taken some time to be able to plate the gold. However, the company now has the pleaser, or so they claim, to have delivered the first? iPhone 3G with 24K yellow gold housing and bezel”.
The Computer Chompers team quips: “Some other companies were hyping it up like they had done it before the phone was even released but they don’t have photos to back up the talk.”
Apparently tests are still being undergone for when the rich and famous wish to have their latest bit of bling tarted with their personalised moniker.
Price?obviously is none at the moment but then it?s obviously gone to be way beyond the means of most.
by Techno Witch on August 27, 2008
The last Nokia S60 mobile phone to land in the United States was the Nokia N75 roughly a year ago, and it is about time another made its way there, and it seems one is about to.
Hopping over the pond from Europe on T-Mobile, the Nokia 6650 is paying a visit stateside care of AT&T.
Not only will the Nokia 6650 bring a touch of Symbian love to the American Symbian lovers but it will also bring them its 2.0 QVGA display with secondary display to the front of this Nokia clamshell.
Other goodies our American friends can expect are HSDPA 850/1900 support, GPS, a 2 megapixel camera, and of course that AT&T Navigator.
Not a great deal considering what the superphones can offer, but enough to keep the Symbian lovers happy over there.
No word on when it will hit the shores or just how many bucks it will be asking, so I guess we?ll just have to sit tight and wait until the word gets out.
by Techno Witch on August 27, 2008
We have all lined up for you, Nokia?s latest N-series, if you want to know what we think of the latest Nokia creations then read on.
Ok, they may only be the prototype devices but it has given us a good indication of what?s hot and what?s not. We were extremely impressed by the Nokia E-series so they will have to go a long way to impress us after that.
We have almost discarded the N96 and N79, as the three phones almost have identical specifications; it?s the N85 that shines out from the series. The N79 screen is almost embarrassing and the N96 just looks bulky.
We only want to talk about the N85 as this seriously is the only one of the series we think is worth talking about. It has a fantastic OLED screen, 16GB built-in memory, GPS and Wi-Fi and 5 megapixel camera, although most of these are pretty standard on the new top of the range handsets.
We wouldn?t say that the Nokia N series are the thinnest phones either, there is a lot of competition out there and we would have thought Nokia would have come out with a phone to blow us away.
Needless to say we are not blown away at all with the Nokia N-series. Oh, well apart from the price tag of around $895.