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list update server microsoft

2009-02-20T15:44:00.001+07:00

Have problem with bandwith for automatic update , bellow list of ip address n server ussualy for Microsoft update :

support.microsoft.com 65.54.166.122

www.update.microsoft.com 65.55.184.29

stats.update.microsoft.com 207.46.20.252

download.microsoft.com 124.195.15.137 , 124.195.15.145

go.microsoft.com 207.46.250.101

home.microsoft.com 202.89.231.21

Phones support push email (Blackberry client)

2009-01-26T11:25:00.004+07:00

Several non-BlackBerry mobile phones have been released featuring the BlackBerry e-mail client which connects to BlackBerry servers. Many of these phones have full QWERTY keyboards
AT&T Tilt Operates on 3G/HSDPA/850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 240 x 320 pixel touch screen, QWERTY keyboard
HTC Advantage X7500
HTC TyTN Operates on 3G/HSDPA/850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 240 × 320 pixel touch screen, QWERTY keyboard
Motorola MPx220 (selected models only), Operates on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 176 × 220 pixel screen
Nokia 6810 Operates on 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 128 × 128 pixel screen
Nokia 6820 Operates on 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, American variant on 850/1800/1900 GSM network, 128 × 128 pixel screen
Nokia 9300 Operates on 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 128 × 128 and 640 × 200 pixel screen
Nokia 9300i Operates on 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 128 × 128 and 640 × 200 pixel screen
Nokia 9500 Operates on 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 128 × 128 and 640 × 200 pixel screen
All Nokia E-Series phones
Qtek 9100 Operates on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 240 × 320 pixel touch screen and QWERTY keyboard
Qtek 9000 Operates on 3G-UMTS/850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 640 × 480 pixel touch screen, QWERTY keyboard
Samsung t719 Operates on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 176 × 220 pixel screen
Siemens SK65, Operates on 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, 132 × 176 pixel screen
Sony Ericsson P910 Operates on 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM network, American and Chinese variants on 850/1800/1900, 208 × 320 pixel screen
Sony Ericsson P990
Sony Ericsson M600i
Sony Ericsson P1

BlackBerry Pearl 8100 review

2009-01-25T17:49:00.002+07:00

The new Blackberry Pearl is a superb smartphone that comes packed with an array of features and looks more like an average mobile than an email device. It is simple to use thanks to its trackball key and incorporates all the intelligent features of the original Blackberry.

Blackberry has managed to keep the handset slim, with a depth of just 0.57” and weight of 88g. The handset’s small form and chrome and black finish mark a departure in style for the usually businesslike brand and make it a pleasure to hold and use.

The screen is a tad too small to read big emails on but is still clear and sharp. The front fascia lacks the usual QWERTY keyboard found on most Blackberries and instead uses a 20-key SureType keyboard, which isn’t quite as efficient to use for texts and emails as the QWERTY.

Beneath its sleek exterior the Blackberry Pearl 8100 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE-enabled, but lacks 3G. However, this smart handset more than makes up for it with Bluetooth connectivity, a loudspeaker, voice activating calling, and technology which makes it clever enough to sense when to adjust the background lighting for when indoors or outdoors.

The Pearl also includes a web browser with ultra fast download speeds, while its Blackberry interface is a dream to use. There’s also the inclusion of a music player and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the rear of the phone with its built-in flash and 5x digital zoom, highlighting the more consumer-appeal angle Blackberry have taken with the Pearl.

The Pearl 8100 is the first BlackBerry to sport a memory card slot, with a 64MB miniSD card included. You can, of course, invest in larger capacity cards.

Last but not least the Pearl features push-email (as with all Blackberry’s), which means mail is automatically delivered to your device as it's sent, without you having to attempt to retrieve it. The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 supports a wide variety of email accounts including ISP email using POP3 and IMAP4, the latest versions of Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, and enhanced access and features for Yahoo! and Gmail accounts, plus access to Yahoo! and BlackBerry instant messaging facilities.

All these added features help the Pearl to become one of the best looking and powerful personal organisers on the market – a truly great smartphone.

spefication :

Size:	104.5 x 51.3 x 13.8 mm
Weight:	89.5g
Memory:	64 MB
Display:	TFT, 64K colours, 240 x 260 pixels
Browser:	N/A
Time:	3:30 hours
Stand-by:	360 hours
Camera:	2 MP
Bluetooth:	Yes
Infrared:	No

Raiser card for PCI 32 bit

2008-11-13T21:10:00.001+07:00

This is raiser card for PCI 32 bit , new and working .

Price : $10 FOB jakarta

TOYS Shape dimension

2008-10-23T10:45:00.000+07:00

TOYS shape dimension made from wood with paint free mercury

Spefication :

Items : 42 Item

Deep : 3 cm

Width area : 36 cm

Hight area : 21

Toys PUZZLE CLAM from Wood

2008-10-22T10:08:00.002+07:00

Toys Puzzle clam made from wood.

Made from best wood and with paint free mercury .

Orginal made from home industri in Indonesia .

Dimension :

Deep : 6 cm

hight : 15.75 cm

width : 17 cm

Sony Ericsson W850i Review

2008-09-09T09:24:00.000+07:00

The Sony Ericsson W850i is a Walkman-branded phone in a slide design. Sony Ericsson are new to sliders, but they have produced a very nice design that slides nicely, has a nice keypad, a 5-way scroll key that's much easier to use than the joystick design of the K800i, and makes excellent use of the slide format to include a large screen. It's available in a choice of black or white. The white version has a real 24 carat gold Walkman logo for added bling! The keypad features a funky lighting effect that pulses to the beat of the music. On the outside, it's a beautiful phone.

Inside it's great too! This is a Walkman-branded phone, so we'll review the music features first. The Walkman series of phones have established a first-class reputation for music, and the W850i fully lives up to expectations. You can enjoy stereo sound from the music player or the FM radio with excellent audio quality and user-friendliness. The Mega Bass™ feature enhances bass frequencies and a good stereo headset is supplied in the sales package. There's plenty of room for storing music with a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duosupplied as standard - this is enough for around 250 tracks.

Managing music is very easy with the CD of PC software supplied. The W850i supports USB mass storage, which means that files can be easily and quickly transferred with a drag and drop operation (USB cable supplied). You can also download music directly to your phone with the Walkman software, and the 3G connection makes this very fast. The W850i also introduces a novel feature called TrackID™. If you hear a song on the radio that you don't know, you can use TrackID to find the name, artist and album for you - impressive!

The W850i is also a camera phone of course, and is equipped with a good quality 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and flash. There's also a video camera that you can use to record or to make 3G video calls. The W850i's camera isn't in the same league as the Sony Ericsson K800i however, as there's no autofocus. The quality of the TFT display is very high - it's large (2 inches across) and as good as any of its competitors.

This has got to be one of the best Walkman phones released so far, and that's saying a lot! The reason it doesn't quite get a 5 star rating is that it doesn't have autofocus (included in the Sony Ericsson W810i) and the keypad can be a little fiddly.

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Features of the Sony Ericsson W850i include:

3G video calling
2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and flash
Video camera with photo light
VideoDJ™ software for video editing
Display: TFT, 262,144-colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.0 inches)
Music player
FM radio
Mega Bass™ for enhanced bass frequencies
MP3 / AAC ringtones (64-voice polyphonic ringtones)
Melody composer / MusicDJ™
Speakerphone
Lighting effects
Sound recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
Wallpaper and animations
3D Java games
Personal organiser functions
File manager
Flight mode
WAP, GPRS, Web browser
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Fast Port, Infrared, USB mass storage
Memory: 16 Mbytes plus Memory Stick PRO Duo™ support
Vibration alert
Triband plus 3G (UMTS)
Size: 98 x 47 x 21 mm
Weight: 116g

Sony Ericsson W660i Review

2008-09-08T09:19:00.000+07:00

The Sony Ericsson W660i is a nice addition to the Walkman phone range. It's basically a 3G-enhanced version of the fantastic W610i with an improved keypad, although the camera isn't as good.

The W660i is a great looker. It has a classic design, with lovely curves, and is available in two distinctive colour schemes: black or rose red. The phone is slim (but not superslim) and is a good size and weight to hold. The W660i has an easy-to-use navigation key and has nicely-sized tactile keys, which is a relief after so many recent Sony Ericsson phones have suffered from clunky joysticks or small keys - Sony Ericsson haven't put a foot wrong with the W660i in terms of design. The display is a good size and, whilst not as high in resolution as the W880i or K810i, is typical for this price range.

The W660i has a good quality 2 megapixel camera and a video recording option. It can't compete with the camera on the high-end K810i, and is missing autofocus and a camera light. Being 3G, it also supports video calling.

Naturally the W660i is equipped with the latest Walkman® player 2.0 and is an excellent music phone. Audio quality is excellent, you can easily control the music player, creating your own playlists on the move, and you can now view original album art on the screen as the music plays. Interfacing with a PC is very straightforward: using the USB mass storage interface you can simply drag and drop music (and other media) from the PC to the phone. The memory capacity of the phone is not as large as we'd have liked - onboard memory is just 16 Mbytes, which is enough for just a few MP3 tracks, so you'll definitely need a memory card to make full use of the phone. Memory cards of up to 1 Gybte are supported (2 Gbytes using a special adapter). We should also mention that an FM radio is included.

Connectivity via USB and wireless Bluetooth is supported, including support for a stereo Bluetooth headset, but there's no support for infrared. With 3G the phone is permanently connected to the internet, and the phone can handle web browsing, RSS feeds and picture blogging. Push email is also supported.

In conclusion, the W660i is a great phone. It has everything that the W610i has to offer (except for the camera), but with the benefits of 3G and a more conventional keypad.

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Features of the Sony Ericsson W660i include:

3G video calling
Video clip recording
2 megapixel camera with 2.5x digital zoom
Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 176 x 220 pixels
Walkman® player 2.0
FM radio
MegaBass™ - enhances bass frequencies
TrackID™
Polyphonic ringtones / Music Tones
Speakerphone
Sound recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Push email
3D Java games (pre-installed)
Web browser
Picture blogging
RSS feeds
Animated wallpaper
Personal organiser functions
Connectivity: Bluetooth (with support for stereo headset), USB
Memory: 16 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support (up to 1 Gbyte)
Flight mode
Vibration alert
Size: 102 x 46 x 14.5 mm
Weight: 93g
Triband (GSM 900, 1800, 1900) plus 3G (UMTS 2100)

Sony ericssons K550i Review

2008-09-07T09:14:00.000+07:00

Sony Ericsson K550i Review

The Sony Ericsson K550i is an absolute scorcher of a phone. It was good value at launch, but now you can find it at incredibly low prices. This phone gets 6 out of 5 for value for money!

The K550i is the upgraded version of the popular K510i, but it's massively more powerful, borrowing many features from Sony Ericsson's flagship K800i Cyber-Shot phone. The camera is simply the best in its class. It's a 2 megapixel camera with a photo light and digital zoom, that includes the autofocus feature first found in the K800i. Instead of a fixed focus camera, with autofocus you can ensure that the subject of your photo is firmly in focus, leading to noticeably sharper images. With Sony being a world leader in digital camera technology, it's no surprise to learn that the K550i takes the best photos of any mid-range camera that we've reviewed to date. In fact it beats many phones that cost a lot more. The K550i features "picture blogging" - take a picture and send it straight to your own image blog for friends and family to view. There's also a good quality video camera.

The phone delivers on the music front too. It includes an FM radio as well as a music player. Sound quality is excellent, as you'd expect from the company that makes the top-selling Walkman range of music phones. The K550i is compatible with stereo headphones and Bluetooth wireless stereo headsets - both are available as optional accessories from Sony Ericsson. A very welcome feature is the generous amount of internal memory (64 Mbytes - enough for about a dozen songs) and the support for a Memory Stick Micro™ card, available in sizes up to 2 Gbytes. As with the Walkman phones, the K550i is equipped with two useful music features: TrackID™ & PlayNow™. TrackID lets you record a few seconds of a song, and then get the track, artist and album information sent directly to your phone. PlayNow is a service for downloading music and games to your phone (you have to pay for these.)

Available in a choice of black or white, the K550i is a compact and lightweight phone that looks very attractive (it's much less of a brick than the K800i for example). The buttons are smaller than most Sony Ericssons, but are not so difficult to use as they are well spaced out and project a millimetre or so above the surface of the phone. However, they do have a tendency to stick. The display is a good quality TFD LCD screen that retains good visibility in sunlight and is of a high resolution. At 176 x 220 pixels, it isn't as fine as the display on theK800i, but it's double the number of pixels of the K510i and is as good as anything in this price range.

Other useful features worth mentioning are the built-in speakerphone, sound recorder (for recording voices or other sounds), quadband support (for using the phone worldwide) and flight mode. There's good internet support too: EDGE for fast downloads, a web browser, and support for blogging and RSS feeds. Battery life is good.

We are impressed by the K550i. It's a great value for money phone that really offers more than it should! If only Sony Ericsson had put in a decent keypad it would be perfect!

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Features of the Sony Ericsson K550i include:

2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 2.25x digital zoom and photo light
Video recording
Display: TFD, 262,144-colour, 176 x 220 pixels
Music / media player
FM radio
Polyphonic ringtones
Speakerphone
Sound recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
3D Java games
Animated wallpaper
Alarm clock, Calculator, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Phone book, Stopwatch, Tasks, Timer
Memory: 64 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB mass storage, infrared
Web browser, RSS feeds
WAP, GPRS, EDGE
Vibration alert
Flight mode
Quadband
Size: 102 x 46 x 14 mm
Weight: 85g

samsung E840 Review

2008-09-06T08:41:00.000+07:00

The Samsung E840 is the World's slimmest slide phone, beating the Samsung U600 by a hair's breadth at 10.6mm. Usually it's the top-of-the-range phones that set these kinds of records, but the E840 is a mid-range phone. It's very impressive how Samsung have managed to cram so much into such a tiny phone at this budget. If you wanted a U600 but couldn't afford it, then this could be the one for you.

Although it's recognisably a Samsung, the E840 deviates a bit from the usual Samsung slider look and feel. Apart from its incredible thinness, it feels solid enough, weighing in at 99g (heavier than most recent Samsungs) and has a nice smooth glassy finish. The keypad isn't the best, but it'll be fine unless you have particularly large fingers. However, it does come with love-them-or-hate-them touch-sensitive navigation buttons. Our frank advice on this is to avoid the phone unless you've already had experience of touch-sensitive buttons (e.g. in theSamsung E900 or LG Chocolate). A safe alternative which now costs about the same is the Samsung D900i.

Sill reading? OK, well apart from the touch-sensitive issue, we like the phone a lot. It's got a lot of stuff packed into its miniature bodywork. First thing that you'll notice is the huge (2.2 inch) ultra high resolution LCD display on the front. The camera is less impressive, being rated at 2 megapixels and lacking a flash - it's for snaps only, and won't replace a proper digital camera. But the music player is fully featured, playing a wide range of formats and handling playlists quite nicely too. A built-in FM radio completes the scene. There's also a good amount of memory available - 70 Mbytes - which is enough for around 15 songs - and you can buy a memory card really cheaply these days to expand the storage. Connectivity is good, with support for Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and a TV-Out connection if you want to display pictures or videos directly onto your telly. It's quadband too, so you can take it anywhere abroad and it has a useful document viewer for viewing Word, Excel and Powerpoint files.

Although Samsung claim impressive an battery life, we are sceptical. You just can't fit a big battery in a phone this skinny, and the reality is that the E840 is challenged when it comes to battery life.

So, a lovely phone with plenty of features in a good looking superslim body, the E840 offers a lot for your money. Provided that you can put up with the touch-sensitive buttons and don't demand too much from the battery, this is a phone that you could really love.

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Features of the Samsung E840 include:

2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom
Video camera
Display: mirror-effect TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Music player (MP3/ ACC/ ACC+/ e-AAC+/ WMA formats)
FM radio
64-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
Voice memo recorder
Speakerphone
Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Email (POP3 / SMTP / IMAP4)
Document viewer
Java games & applications
Offline Mode (Flight mode)
Personal information functions
Caller ID (Text / Photo / Video)
WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE
Memory: 70 Mbytes plus MicroSD™ memory card slot
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, TV-Out
Quadband
Size: 102 x 53 x 10.6 mm
Weight: 99g
Talktime: 4.5 hours
Battery standby: up to 360 hours

Sony Eicsson W880i Review

2008-09-05T09:10:00.000+07:00

Whoa! What have Sony Ericsson been up to? They've put their top-selling Walkman phone on a crash diet, given it a stainless steel casing and bundled in a 1 Gbyte memory card and a stereo headset. The Sony Ericsson W880i is a stunning phone that is a contender for the best Walkman phone so far. It's also the thinnest and lightest 3G phone released in the UK (just 9.4 mm thick and 71g in weight). Yet it's an incredibly well featured music phone. This phone is surely destined to be a winner!

The W880i is a classic-shaped phone that's relatively large but flat. The keypad is reasonably well designed, avoiding the problem that the W850i slide phone had with the top row of keys being hard to access, but the keys are too small and separated. The W880i uses a 5-way scroll key rather than the clumsy joystick used on some of its other phones. Ergonomically we'd give it 3 out of 5. The stainless steel casing gives the phone a real quality feeling though, and the phone looks great both in black or silver.

Like the W850i, this is a 3G phone, with the benefits of 3G video calling, music & video streaming and fast downloads. The camera is 2 megapixels with a digital zoom and a video recording function. This is not as good as the K800i's camera, and lacks a flash, but it's typical for high-end 3G phones and is fine for casual use. The display is a high quality TFT screen with 262,000 colours and 240 x 320 pixels.

The music player is the feature that's at the heart of the W880i, and as you'd expect it's a really excellent player that can match an iPod in music quality. The music player can be accessed by a single click, and you can play, rewind, fast forward, equalise, shuffle tracks and create playlists. Sony's MegaBass™ feature gives added woomph when playing music from the built-in loudspeaker, but for the best quality audio you need to listen via a pair of good headphones. A set of good quality headphones are included in the sales package, and the phone is also compatible with Bluetooth stereo headphones. There are some extra gadgets included in the music department. TrackID™ lets you identify a song (name, artist and album) from a few seconds recording, e.g. a song that you hear on the radio or in a club. The PlayNow™ download service lets you buy and download MP3 ringtones from your phone. The phone is supplied with a 1 Gbyte memory card, so there's lots of room for storing music tracks - almost 250 tracks.

Most types of connectivity are supported. Bluetooth lets you connect your phone to another phone, a PC, a Bluetooth stereo headset, or a car handsfree kit. USB and Fast Port are supported too. The phone is also equipped for the internet age with a web browser, support for RSS feeds and a picture blogging function. 3G lets you access the internet whilst simultaneously making a call, and the internet is "always-on". Flight mode lets you use the music, imaging and organiser functions of the phone with mobile telephony switched off.

Does the W880i lack miss out on anything? It's an obvious question, since the size of the phone is about half that of the W810i Walkman phone. There are a few things. First, the camera is not as good as that on the W810i, but is about the same as that of the W850i, although there's no flash. Fair enough, as this is primarily a music phone and not an all-rounder like the K-series phones. Secondly, the screen is smaller than on some other Sony Ericsson phones. Thirdly there's no radio, and this might be a disappointment to some readers. If you want an FM radio, then the W810i or W850i are the phones for you. Finally, the keys are too small and many people will find difficulty using the keypad, especially for texting.

The Sony Ericsson W880i may not have everything, but it has a heck of a lot. And what it has most of is style. The other Walkman phones, whilst being fantastic phones to use, are shall we say a bit dull to look at. The W880i is still brick-shaped, but it's a very nice-looking brick and one that many people will be very happy to have in their pocket. However, on balance we still prefer the W810i which has the advantages of a better keypad, superior camera (with flash), and a radio.

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Samsung E900 Review

2008-09-04T08:50:00.000+07:00

Is the Samsung E900 the coolest phone of 2006? Possibly. Clearly derived from Samsung's hugely-popular D500-D600-D800 series of slide phones, the E900 takes the best features of every one of Samsung's previous phones and adds an uber-cool look to complete the package.

Just like the LG Chocolate, the E900 has touch-sensitive keys combined with a slide-up design. The outer buttons are invisible when not in use, and light up when touched. The glasslike touch screen with its glossy two-tone (black & slate) minimalist finish makes for a very sleek, very cool outer appearance. Touch the buttons and watch them magically light up! Slide open the phone and the main keypad is revealed - a standard keypad with good-size tactile buttons with a positive click response. The looks of the E900 are clearly derived from the best-selling D500, but brought right up to date with the latest technology.

Functionally, everything about the E900 is good. Starting with the display, this is a best-in-class TFT display with 262k colours and 240 x 320 pixels. The camera is a CMOS 2 megapixel camera with digital zoom and flash, plus a video recording option. Not the very best, when compared with the latest high-end phones from Sony Ericsson, but a good second-best. There's a handy mirror for self portraits. Wireless printing using Bluetooth is supported with a PictBridge-compatible printer. Like the D600, there's a TV-out connection, so you can view your recorded photos and videos directly on a TV.

The MP3 player is of high quality, and 64-voice MP3 ringtones are supported, as well as video ringtones.

The phone makes use of the same voice clarity technology used in the D500 & D600. The phone automatically senses the volume of the background noise and will increase the volume and clarity of the incoming call to make it more audible. In addition there is an integrated handsfree speakerphone.

Other notable features include Bluetooth and USB connectivity, and a generous 80 Mbytes of memory plus amemory card. A document viewer (PicselViewer) enables office documents to be viewed. The formats supported are Excel, Word, Powerpoint and HTML documents. The TV Out feature can be used to display documents on a TV screen if desired. Unlike the D600, the E900 is triband (not quad band).

The E900 has virtually all of the features that have made Samsung's slide phones popular, with a visual makeover that's stunning. Some may not like the touch-sensitive controls, so our advice is to try it and see how you get on. Compared with the LG Chocolate, the Samsung E900 outperforms on every level. TheSamsung D900 lacks the touch-sensitive keys but in other ways is a better phone and is worth considering if you plan to buy the E900. The new U600 is also an alternative to consider as it combines the best features of the D900 and E900.

Sony Ericsson W810i Review

2008-09-03T09:07:00.000+07:00

Launched in April 2006, The Sony Ericsson W810i is the upgraded version of the highly acclaimed and massively popular Sony Ericsson W800i, the first Walkman™ branded mobile phone.

There are a few physical differences between the W810i and the W800i: the W810i is slightly thinner, has raised keys instead of embedded keys, and has a 5-way navigation button instead of the W800i's slightly awkward joystick. Apart from this external makeover, the differences between the W810i and the W800i are minor. The W810i has the advantage of EDGE (for faster internet access) an is quadband instead of triband. It also has Fast Port - a system connector that enables faster data transfer from phone to PC and PC to phone, and which also serves as a charging port.

The W810i is designed to be an outstanding music player phone, and it succeeds. The media player supports both MP3 and AAC formats and audio quality is superb. Mega Bass™ enhances bass frequencies for a better overall music experience. There's loads of memory for storing music, as the W810i comes bundled with a 512 Mbyte Memory Stick PRO Duo™ - enough to store up to 20 full-length audio CD's. The memory stick is expandable to 1 Gbyte. Software for ripping CD's is supplied. In addition to the MP3 player there's an FM radio with RDS. A quality headset is included in the sales package, and the W810i can also be connected to an external speaker system via an optional cable.

On the imaging side, the W810i has the same 2-megapixel camera as the W800i. This features autofocus, for sharper images, a 4x digital zoom, camera light and a video recorder. It's one of the best camera phones available, and has an outstanding screen to accompany it.

Connectivity is excellent too, with support for all types of external connections: Bluetooth, USB, Infra-red, Fast port plus fast internet connectivity using EDGE.

The W810i is a phone that cannot be faulted. It was one of the best phones of 2006 and is still one of the best in 2008.

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Features of the Sony Ericsson W810i include:

2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 4x digital zoom & photo light
Video camera & sound recorder
Display: 262k colours, 176 x 220 pixels
Music player
Mega Bass™
FM radio RDS
40-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 & AAC ringtones
Polyphonic melody composer (MusicDJ™)
Speakerphone, voice controls, voice mail
Messaging: SMS (with predictive text), EMS, MMS, Instant messaging, email
3D Java games (embedded & downloadable)
Animated wallpaper
Picture editor and effects
Personal organiser functions
Picture phonebook
QuickShare™
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB, Infra-red, Fast port
WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE
Memory: 20 Mbytes plus 512 Mbyte Memory Stick PRO Duo™
Quadband
Vibration alert
Size: 100 x 46 x 19.5 mm
Weight: 99g
Talktime: 8 hours
Battery standby: 350 hours

Samsung D900/D900i Review

2008-09-02T08:33:00.000+07:00

The Samsung D900 puts the WOW! in WOW! FACTOR. Seriously, a phone this exceptional doesn't come along very often, perhaps not since the Samsung D500 in 2004.

You can tell we love the phone, so let's get on with the reasons why. Firstly, this is the world's slimmest slider phone (now beaten by the Samsung U600!). Samsung have really perfected the slide design, and the D900 is silky smooth. The physical appearance of the phone is unbeatable, with a lovely magnesium surface coating and a small but functional keypad making the phone very tactile and easy to use. The LG Chocolate and the Samsung E900 may look cool with their touch-sensitive keypads, but you can't beat the ease-of-use of a conventional keypad. At just 13mm thickness, the D900 even beats the Motorola RAZR in the thinness charts.

Looks aren't everything however, so let's move on to the next reason for choosing the D900 - its 3 megapixel camera with autofocus. This is simply the best camera currently available in any phone after the Sony Ericsson K800i. It gives results of amazing clarity, and what is really astounding is that Samsung have fitted their best ever camera in their thinnest slider phone! We are in awe. The video camera is also of high quality and records in MPEG4 format. The display on the D900 is very finely detailed with outstanding clarity and does full justice to the camera. Some reviewers are mistaken in believing that videos cannot be viewed in full screen, but they can - just press 1 to switch to full screen mode.

Next the music player. This handles a good range of formats - MP3, ACC, ACC+ and e-AAC+ - and has very good sound reproduction with 3D virtual surround sound and a digital power amplifier. The player is easy to use with playlists of up to 30 tracks. You can use the stereo headset supplied by Samsung or a wirelessBluetooth headset. The built-in memory is 70 Mbytes, which is enough to get started, but if you're serious about using the phone as an MP3 player you can buy a Micro SD card - a 512 Mbyte card costs around £15. The only real downside on the music front is that there's no radio included.

The phone has all the usual features that you'd expect - messaging, email, MP3 ringtones, speakerphone, Java games, etc, etc. The full spec is listed below. There are a few bonus features - a document viewer for viewing MS Office files, offline mode for use when listening to music on a plane, a TV-Out connection for viewing images directly on a TV screen, and EDGE for fast internet access. Connectivity is via Bluetooth or fast USB. The user interface is very nice and friendly, with a new menu design featuring a black background - very smart. Battery life is good. One gripe is that you can't use an MP3 for the SMS alert sound (same with all Samsungs), but good news - you can select vibrate and ring simultaneously.

2006 has been an exciting year for phones, but the Samsung D900 has got to be a serious contender for phone of the year. The D900i is virtually the same as the D900 but it also has an FM radio (but is missing the document viewer). The new Samsung U600 is even slimmer. The G600 isn't quite as slim, but features a 5 megapixel camera and is an outstanding phone.

The D900 has been the best selling phone for the first half of 2007 and there are now some incredible deals available. Use our links at the top right of this page to shop around for a bargain.

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Features of the Samsung D900 include:

3 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and 4x digital zoom
Video camera (MPEG4 format)
Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Music player (MP3, ACC, ACC+, e-AAC+ formats) with 3D sound and digital power amp
FM radio (D900i only)
64-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
Voice memo recorder
Integrated handsfree speakerphone
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, SSL, TLS)
T9 predictive text
Document viewer for MS Office, PDF and HTML files
Mobile printing via Bluetooth (PicBridge™)
Java games (Forgotten Warrior, Freekick, Arch angel, Cannon ball) plus downloadable games
Flight mode
Personal organiser functions
Memory: 70 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, TV-Out
WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE
Quad band
Size: 104 x 51 x 13 mm
Weight: 93g
Talktime: 3.3 hours
Battery standby: 260 hours

Sony ericsson P910i Review

2008-09-01T08:59:00.000+07:00

The Sony Ericsson P910i is the latest in Sony Ericsson's P-series of phones that combine PDA-style functionality with advanced mobile phone technology. The front keypad can be removed to reveal the huge internal display, offering a touchscreen facility and handwriting recognition using a specially designed pen, as well as a full QWERTY keyboard. The P900i doesn't just look like a PDA, it has many PDA-style functions. For example, its email manager can be synchronised with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, and can handle attachments including Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. At the same time, it includes an integrated video camera, MP3 player and downloadable Java™ applications. With a range of connectivity options including Bluetooth™, the P910i provides an excellent platform for working (and playing) on the move.

Physically, there is not much to differentiate the P910i from the P900, except that the keypad has been replaced with larger buttons that give a more positive response. The P910i is slightly thicker and weighs in at 5g heavier, but at 155g it is no heavier than the current generation of 3G mobile phones.

The P910i uses the same Symbian operating system as its predecessor and shares many of the features of the P900. However there are quite a few new features that make this phone more than just a minor upgrade. First thing to mention is the new QWERTY keyboard. The numerical keypad flips down to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard on the reverse side. The user now has a choice of text entry methods: QWERTY keyboard, predictive text using the normal keypad and handwriting recognition using the screen and stylus. The user interface can be driven by touching menu icons on the screen or with the jog dial on the side of the phone.

On flipping down the keypad, the full size of the LCD screen becomes apparent. The screen has been upgraded from 65,000 colours on the P900 to 262,000 colours. When you consider the enormous resolution of this screen (208 x 320 pixels), you have virtually the best display on any mobile currently available. Only the Sharp GX30 can match this screen, and that phone has a fraction of the features available on the P910i.

Another new feature is push email. Emails get sent automatically to your phone - there's no need to download from a mailserver. You can synchronise email with your PC via the Bluetooth connection.

The final change of note is the increase in the internal memory from 16 Mbytes to 64 Mbytes, which is very welcome, given the functionality of this phone.

The battery life of the P910i is slightly worse than the P900, but should still give a decent number of days use between charges, depending on how much use is made of the PDA-style functions.

All things considered, the P910i is a substantial improvement over the P900 and pushes the capabilities of the P-series forward significantly.

Features of the Sony Ericsson P910i include:

Colour display (262,000 colours; 208 x 320 pixels)
WAP 1.2.1 (GPRS), built-in web browser
High Speed Data (HSCSD - up to 28.8 kbps)
E-mail (compatible with MS Outlook and Lotus Notes)
Integrated VGA digital camera (640 x 480 resolution)
Integrated camcorder
Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS) & Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) - send pictures, sound and video like text messages
MP3 audio & video (MPEG4) player
24-voice polyphonic ringtones and MP3 ringtones
Pen-based user interface & handwriting recognition
Symbian operating system
Picture phonebook
Speakerphone
64 Mbytes memory plus external Memory Stick Duo™
Downloadable polyphonic & mono ringtones
Bluetooth™, infrared, USB & RS232 cable connectivity
Stereo headphones
"Flight mode" option for use on aircraft
3D games & downloadable Java™ applications
Wallpaper & screensaver
Calendar, contacts, voice memo, synchronisation with PC
Size: 115 x 57 x 26 mm
Weight: 155g
Battery standby: 400 hours
Battery talktime: 13 hours
Tri band

Samsung D500 Review

2008-08-31T08:22:00.001+07:00

The D500 was an absolute classic phone, but is now no longer available. The closest contemporary equivalent is probably the Samsung G600, which has a much improved 5 megapixel camera. The Samsung G600 Pink and Samsung G600 Silver are available from Dial-a-Phone. Check out their Samsung G600 deals.

In many respects, the D500 can be viewed as an enhancement of the D410, which itself has much in common with the best-sellingE800. Like these phones, the D500 has a slide-up design, which enables a large screen to be placed within a compact phone design. Many of the phones features are conveniently available on the front face, but a gentle push will make the slide mechanism open and close automatically, giving access to the full keypad below. Unlike the D410, the D500 has an internal aerial, giving it a more modern appearance, and removing the possibility of damage to the aerial. The phone is also lighter than the D410 at just 99g.

The display on the D500 is quite exceptional. With a size of 1.9 inches, a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels and 262k colours, it knocks most other phones dead, and is even bigger than the display on the D410. The screen uses TFT technology, making it bright and clear, suitable for use even in direct sunlight.

The camera has a resolution of 1.3 megapixels, making it simply the best camera phone available at the time of launch. The camera has a flash for low-light photography and a 7x digital zoom. The camera can also be used as a camcorder for making videos, with a 4x digital zoom.

The phone comes with an MP3 player, with bags of memory for storing audio tracks. MP3 clips can also be used as ringtones as an alternative to the 64-voice polyphonic MIDI ringtones that come supplied. MP3 ringtones offer the highest possible quality audio.

The phone incorporates some of the advanced technology introduced in the E800 to enhance voice clarity. The phone automatically senses the volume of the background noise and will increase the volume and clarity of the incoming call to make it more audible. In addition there is an integrated handsfree speakerphone.

The D500 is the first Samsung phone in the UK to incorporate Bluetooth™ wireless connectivity, and the phone also has a USB port for easy connection to a computer. The Bluetooth support is a full implementation, enabling data to be transferred as well as for connecting to a wireless headset or car kit.

The memory available in the D500 is a whopping 80 Mbytes - more than enough for storing videos and MP3 tracks, and enough for demanding business users too. For example, the phone can store over 1,000 megapixel images, 60 minutes of video, or up to 20 MP3 tracks.

Is there anything missing from the D500? The phone clearly addresses any shortcomings with the D410 by introducing an internal aerial, Bluetooth™ wireless connectivity and an expanded memory. Perhaps the only thing missing is the option to plug in an additional memory card - although frankly 80 Mbytes is more than adequate for most users. The phone lacks the Symbian operating system of a smartphone, which means that third-party applications are limited, but the D500 isn't a smartphone and it's not fair to compare it with one. In its class, we believe that the D500 is simply the best! The Samsung E720 is similar to the D500 but has a conventional clamshell format instead of the D500's slide-up design.

As mentioned, the D500 is now obsolete, and we recommend the newer Samsung D900i or Samsung G600.

Features of the Samsung D500 include:

1.3 megapixel camera (1280 x 1024 pixels) with flash and digital zoom
Video recording & messaging (176 x 144 pixels)
262,144 colour TFT LCD display (176 x 220 pixels)
Music player (MP3/AAC)
Java™ games (3 embedded games)
Ringtones: 64-voice polyphonic and MP3
Connectivity: Bluetooth™, USB, IrDa, SyncML
Integrated handsfree speakerphone
Messaging : SMS (with learning T9), EMS, MMS
E-Mail client (POP3, IMAP4, SMTP) / vCard / vCalendar
Personal organiser functions
Phonebook (max 1000 entries)
Memory: 80 Mbytes
WAP 2.0, GPRS class 10
Tri-band (900/1800/1900MHz)
Size: 94 x 46 x 24 mm
Weight: 99g
Talktime: up to 6.5 hours
Battery standby: up to 300 hours

Sony Ericssons S700i review

2008-08-30T08:16:00.000+07:00

The Sony Ericsson S700i features a rotating opening mechanism that is very similar to the Motorola V80. Push the phone gently and it swivels open to reveal the keypad inside (see the image on the right). As well as being a cool feature, it enables a large screen to fit within a compact phone design, as well as providing protection for the keypad when closed. First impressions of the phone are very good, with beautiful styling and bright vivid colours on the display. Build quality is impressive, although the phone is rather heavy and large.

When closed, the phone can be used for making and receiving calls, and for accessing the phone menu. The 4-way navigation button is easy to use and seems to be more robust than the joysticks on earlier Sony Ericsson phone. When opened, the full keypad becomes accessible for texting, dialling and using email or MMS. The keypad can also be opened at an angle of 90 degrees for use when gaming.

Turn the phone over and it becomes a camera! The S700i has a 1.3 megapixel camera, making it the best yet from Sony Ericsson, and placing it amongst the very small number of megapixel camera phones (at the time of writing, the only other comparable phones in the UK market are the Sharp GX30 and the Nokia 7610). The camera comes with a built in flashlight, 8x digital zoom, and picture effects. The camera can also operate as a video recorder. It has to be said that the added size and weight of the phone helps when it comes to taking pictures - heavier cameras are easier to hold steady and you can easily use two hands to hold the S700i.

The screen is of exceptionally high quality, with 262k colours and a huge 240 x 320 pixel resolution, making it the largest screen of any currently available mobile. Colours are rendered vividly. This is a fantastic screen which does justice to the high-quality camera and video capabilities of the phone. The size of the screen makes everyday tasks such as writing messages so much easier. It's also brilliant for playing 3D Java™ games.

The S700i doesn't stop there. It's a true media device with a stereo FM radio and MP3 player. You can record MP3 ringtones, or compose your own 40-voice polyphonic ringtones using the MusicDJ™ composer included with the phone. Connectivity is excellent, with full Bluetooth™ support for wireless connection to headsets, car kits and other devices, as well as infrared and cable connections. The phone comes with a 32 Mbyte Memory Stick Duo, and you can extend the storage capacity by buying additional memory sticks, currently up to 128 Mbytes.

Sony Ericsson's stated battery standby of 12 days is probably optimistic, but for most users, battery life should certainly be a few days, which is much better than that of the K700i for example.

In short, the S700i is an excellent all-round phone and is highly recommended.

Features of the Sony Ericsson K700i include:

1.3 megapixel camera (1280 x 960 pixels) with video recorder (176 x 144 resolution) and sound recorder
Video playback and download
262k colour TFT screen (240 x 320 pixels)
40 voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
Ringtone composer (MIDI polyphonic)
Screensaver
Games: embedded and downloadable
SMS, EMS, MMS with predictive text and MMS templates
Email, instant messaging
QuickShare™
Picture phonebook
Integrated handsfree
Connectivity: Bluetooth™, infrared, USB, RS232 cable
Synchronisation PC
SyncML
Personal organiser
WAP 2.0, GPRS, high-speed data
Memory: 32 Mbytes, plus external memory cards (32 Mbytes supplied)
Vibration alert
Triband
Size: 108 x 49 x 25 mm
Weight: 137g
Talktime: 7 hours
Battery standby: 12 days

UMTS 3G Mini pci embedded ( MC8775)

2008-08-29T09:26:00.000+07:00

MC8775 PCI Express Mini Card embedded module

MC8775 PCI Express Mini Card embedded module from Sierra Wireless offers connectivity to all three HSDPA/UMTS frequency bands (850, 1900, 2100 MHz) and all four EDGE/GPRS bands (850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz) used worldwide, allowing seamless global roaming on a good network.

The tri-band MC8775 PCI Express Mini Card, built using the MSM6280 Mobile Station Modem chipset from QUALCOMM offers peak download data rates of 3.6 Mbps.

The module is approved by Telstra (and in final testing with other 3G operators)

The MC8775 PCI Express Mini Card embedded module offers connectivity to all three HSDPA/UMTS frequency bands (850, 1900, 2100 MHz) and all four EDGE/GPRS bands (850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz) used worldwide, allowing seamless global roaming on the available network.

Also available is the voice enabled variant of the module, the MC8775V, which offers simultaneous voice and data transmission capability, allowing data transmissions to continue even during voice calls.

The voice enabled variant of the module, the MC8775V, offers simultaneous voice and data transmission capability, allowing data transmissions to continue even during voice calls.

Key features

World class product performance, quality and reliability
Solid documentation, tool development and consultation services
Solid support for device integration and verification
Comprehensive SDK and enabling software
Flexible driver strategy with NDIS support and non-NDIS abilities

Both modules are compatible with EDGE and GSM/GPRS networks on all four GSM frequency bands (850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz), for use in areas where a WCDMA network is not available.

Nokia 6230i review

2008-08-29T08:13:00.000+07:00

The Nokia 6230i, released in the first quarter of 2005, is a few years old now and definitely not at the cutting edge, but is a design classic and still a good phone. The fact that it's still in the shops more than two years after launch proves that it's got a lot going for it!

The 6230i has a decent 65k screen with a bright active matrix display and a good resolution, although it lags behind newer phones. The 1.3 megapixel camera is acceptable, and the video recorder can record for up to 1 hour.

A welcome feature is the memory card that can be expanded up to 512 Mbytes. This provides plenty of capacity for storing videos and MP3 tracks.

In terms of connectivity, the 6230i has it all: wireless Bluetooth™ capability, plus USB cable and infrared options. Internet access is fast with EDGE high-speed data transfer, and the phone is equipped with an XHTML browser for viewing websites. Email is also available.

There are a range of voice features including voice dialling, voice commands and an integrated handsfree speaker.

All things considered, the 6230i is still a nice phone. There are no real shortcomings with this phone, apart from its age, so if you're looking for a bargain, this could be a good buy (if you can still find it in the shops!)

Features of the Nokia 6230i include:

Active TFT display with 65k colours, 208 x 208 pixels
1.3 megapixel digital camera (image size 1280 x 1024 pixels)
Video recorder with sound (up to 1 hour recording, format: 3GPP QCIF)
Video player & music player (MP3, AAC, MPEG4)
Voice memo recorder ( up to 1 hour)
MP3 polyphonic ringtones & alerts
Integrated FM stereo radio
5-way navigation key with configurable soft keys
Animated 3D menu graphics
Speed dialling, voice dialling, voice commands
Integrated handsfree speaker
Caller identification with image
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (SMTP, POP3, and IMAP4), instant messaging
Predictive text
Push to Talk (PTT)
Games: 3D Golf and Street Racer, plus Backgammon
Downloadable Java™ games
XHTML web browser
Connectivity: Bluetooth™, USB, Infra-Red
GPRS class 10, HSCSD, EDGE (speed up to 236.8 Kbit/s)
Memory: 32 Mbytes internal memory plus MMC card (up to 512 Mbytes)
Mobile Wallet 2.0
Vibration alert
Triband
Size: 103 x 44 x 20 mm
Weight: 99g
Talktime: 3 - 5 hours
Battery standby: 150 - 300 hours

Samsung U600 Review

2008-08-28T23:00:00.000+07:00

The U600 is the slimmest slide phone ever, measuring an astonishing 10.9mm thickness. Yet it's a high-spec phone featuring a 3 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, and a fully-featured music player with expandable memory to replace your MP3 player. The only thing that may put some people off is the touch sensitive buttons - but sometimes you have to suffer a little to look good! A better buy might be the Samsung G600. Available in dark silver, red, pink, blue and chrome.

The Samsung U600 is the first of the second-generation Ultra phones to hit the shops and is the replacement for the enormously popular Samsung D900 ultra-slim slide phone. At just 10.9 mm it's even thinner than the D900, making it the slimmest slide phone available (now beaten by the Samsung E840!). As well as making it thinner, Samsung have shaved a couple of millimetres off the width of the phone, which is a very welcome improvement, as flat wide phones are not as ergonomic to use as conventionally-sized phones. It's also 10g lighter than the D900, making it an extremely lightweight phone indeed. You can hardly feel the presence of this phone in a jacket pocket! A visual makeover serves to differentiate the U600 from the D900 in the looks department. One important change is that the external buttons (the ones that you can see when the slide is closed) have been made into touch-sensitive buttons (like the Samsung E900). Touch sensitive buttons look cool, but are not to everyone's taste - read our user reviews of the Samsung E900 for a flavour of these! We feel that Samsung have made a mistake here and the touch-sensitive buttons will alienate a certain percentage of users. If you don't want to take the risk then stick with the D900 or choose the newer Samsung G600, which are very safe choices.

Inside the phone, not a lot has changed - at least from a user's perspective. The camera has been uprated from 3.0 to 3.2 megapixels. The battery is less powerful than the D900's, but Samsung claim that battery performance has actually been improved due to a new technology called OPUS (Optimized Power Usage Solution). In our experience, the battery life is only 2-3 days. User memory has been reduced slightly from 70 Mbytes to 60 Mbytes.

The camera is excellent - Samsung's best yet - with a high-resolution 3.2 megapixel resolution, LED flash, autofocus and digital zoom. It doesn't match the Sony Ericsson K800i or the Nokia N95, but it's still one of the best cameras on a phone. Our only complaint about the camera is its slowness in taking a picture - a delay of one or two seconds means that fast moving subjects are hard to photograph. There's also a good quality video camera. The display is high resolution (240 x 320 pixels) with 262,144 colours and is excellent. The music player supports a wide range of formats - MP3, ACC, ACC+ and e-AAC+ - and has very good sound reproduction. You can use the stereo headset supplied by Samsung or a wireless Bluetooth headset. You can also listen to music through the built-in loudspeaker which features a Bang & Olufsen digital power amplifier. The player is easy to use with playlists of up to 30 tracks. With 60 Mbytes of user memory, you can only store around 15 music tracks, so to use your U600 as a music player, you'll need to buy a Micro SD card - a 512 Mbyte card costs around £15 and will enable you to store over 100 tracks. The largest memory card possible is a 2 Gbyte card, with storage for around 500 songs. A PC data link kit is included in the sales package, for transferring music from a PC.

Other features that we like include the messaging options, with support for email attachments and a document viewer for viewing (but not editing) MS Office, PDF and HTML files. We like the EDGE connection for fast downloads, the quad band operating frequency, wireless photo printing with PicBridge�-compatible printers and the TV-Out connector for viewing your photos and videos directly on a TV.

Most of all, the U600 works as a lightweight, ultra-slim, look-at-me, sexy-slider kind of phone. It's got the 3 megapixel camera and the music player to back up the looks too. The phone isn't as user friendly as it could have been without the touch-sensitive buttons, so we've decided not to award the full 5 stars for the U600. A genuine 5 star phone is the G600, which is the replacement for the U600 and has a 5 megapixel camera and no touch-sensitive buttons.

Demand for the U600 has been sky high since launch, and this has driven prices down. You can probably find the best bargain by starting a new contract rather than upgrading on your existing contract (it's easy to port your phone number to a new network). The U600 is now available on Pay as you Go too.

The new Samsung U600 Vibe (or Samsung U600i) is the same as the U600 but features "haptics", i.e. a vibrational feedback when you press the touch-sensitive buttons.

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Features of the Samsung U600 include:

3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and 4x digital zoom
Video camera (MPEG4 format)
Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Music player (MP3, ACC, ACC+, e-AAC+ formats) with digital power amp
64-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
Voice memo recorder
Integrated handsfree speakerphone
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, SSL, TLS)
T9 predictive text
Document viewer for MS Office, PDF and HTML files
Mobile printing via Bluetooth (PicBridge�)
Java games
Flight mode
Personal organiser functions
Memory: 60 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot (expandable to 2 Gbytes)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, TV-Out
WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE
Quad band
Size: 103 x 49 x 11 mm
Weight: 81g
Talktime: 4 hours
Battery standby: 270 hours

LG KC550 Orsay Review

2008-08-27T20:20:00.000+07:00

The LG Orsay is the first mid-range phone to feature a 5 megapixel camera. In addition to outstanding photo and video capabilities, it also has a music player, FM radio, Wii-style games and Bluetooth. However, some may find it too large and heavy, and its internal memory is small, although it does support memory cards up to 4 GB.

Although at first glance it looks like one of the new generation of touchscreen phones from LG, the Orsay is in fact a standard slide phone, with a conventional keypad. Although it hasn't attracted the same kind of attention as some phones, the Orsay is an interesting phone, as its the cheapest 5 megapixel phone currently available - in fact it's the first 5 megapixel phone that we would classify as "mid-range". In the £200+ price range, 5 megapixels has become the standard, but we're very impressed that LG have been able to deliver such a high quality camera in a phone that's priced at much less than £200. The camera features a Schneider-Kreuznach lens, autofocus, image stabiliser and a macro feature for close-ups. Although it lacks a xenon flash, it does have a powerful LED flash. The video recording capabilities of the camera are impressive too, with a DVD-like resolution of 720 x 480 pixels.

The display is outstanding too. The resolution of 240 x 320 pixels is standard, however at 2.4 inches across, the Orsay's screen is significantly larger than most slide phones. Physically the phone is quite large and heavy - probably too large and heavy for some people. The keypad works very well, although we have to say that we don't like the joystick. Navigation keys would have been a less clumsy solution, and we are worried about the durability of the joystick.

The Orsay is also equipped with a music player and FM radio. Its memory is very limited however, at just 12 Mbytes, so you won't be able to store more than a handful of music tracks in memory. For that, you'll have to buy a microSD memory card, and fortunately the Orsay can take cards up to 4 Gbytes capacity, giving enough room to store around 1,000 songs. You can use MP3 tracks as ringtones too.

The Orsay features an auto-rotate function, so it will automatically rotate photos from portrait to landscape mode when you turn the phone. The motion sensor also lets you play Wii-style games, such as fishing or moving through a maze.

Connectivity is good, with both Bluetooth and USB available. The Orsay isn't a 3G phone, but you can still browse the web using GPRS or EDGE, and the large screen makes for a decent mobile internet experience.

Battery life seems to be excellent, and frankly you'd hope that it would be, given the size and weight of the phone.

In summary, the Orsay is a well specified mid-range phone with an outstanding camera. On the negative side it's rather large and heavy, we dislike the joystick, and the memory is very small.

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Memory DDR2 PC5300

2008-08-27T18:05:00.000+07:00

DDR2 PC 5300

Category : PC Memory
Type : Long-DIMM DDR2
Size : 130 x 30 x 2 mm
Status : Regular

Description
Capacity : 2 GB , 1 GB , 512 MB , 256MB
Speed : 667 MHz
CAL : CL 5
Chip Configuration: 64Mx8 16 Chip, 32M x 8 8 Chip
Chipset : Major Brand
IC Type :Tiny BGA
Slot : DIMM 240 pin
Type : Unbuffered
Voltage : 1.8 V
ECC : No
Registered : No

Sony Ericsson W900i Review

2008-08-26T20:00:00.000+07:00

Note: the W900i is now obsolete. For an updated design consider the Sony Ericsson W910i from Dial-a-Phone. Check out their Sony Ericsson W910i deals.

The W900i is Sony Ericsson's first 3G phone with the Walkman™ branding and is probably the best music player phone released at the time of writing (January 2006). This is a phone that simply does everything! It's not a SmartPhone, so you can't install additional software on it, but that makes it easier to use than the Nokia N91, it's closest rival.

The key feature of the W900i is its music playing ability, so we're going to focus on that first. The W900i has a media player that supports MP3 and AAC formats. Mega Bass™ enhances bass frequencies for a better overall music experience. We have to say that the audio quality is superb (and that applies to phone calls too). An essential feature of any decent MP3 device is memory, and the W900i has bags of that! It's internal memory is a whopping 470 Mbytes, and in addition it supports both Memory Stick Duo™ and Memory Stick PRO Duo™ memory cards which are available in sizes of up to 2 GBytes - as much as an iPod Nano. Usefully, when you connect the phone to a PC with a USB cable, the phone memory appears on the PC screen as a mass storage device, so you can easily copy MP3 tracks from the PC to the phone. Software for ripping CD's is supplied.

Sony Ericsson's PlayNow™ software enables you to download music samples (via 3G) and listen to them before you buy - a nice feature if you're into downloading MP3 tracks directly, rather than placing them onto the phone from your PC. There's also an FM radio supplied as a snap-on accessory. This also serves as a remote control for the phone's music player. This is perhaps the weakest feature of the phone - the radio seems to be an aftherthought, for example, you can't see which station you're listening to. Finally, there's a useful "music mode" (sometimes called "flight mode") which lets you use the phone's music player functions with the cell phone functionality turned off.

The imaging features of the phone are also first-class. The W900i has a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus, similar to the camera that first appeared on the Sony Ericsson K750i. There's also a video recorder of course, and video playback is one of the best around with fast (30 frames/second) and smooth playback, thanks to the dedicated video card. The display is a 262k colour TFT screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. It's an absolutely stunning screen.

The W900i is a very user-friendly device, with an icon-driven desktop, menu shortcuts, dedicated camera and internet keys and a large central navigation key. Most of the phone's functions can be accessed when the phone is in "closed" mode, with the phone swinging open to reveal the full keypad when required. The Walkman™ playlist functionality is very user-friendly: far better than most MP3 player phones. There is also a voice control feature.

In terms of connectivity to other devices, the W900i has everything: wireless Bluetooth™ and infra-red, plus USB. It also has Fast Port - a system connector that enables faster data transfer from phone to PC and PC to phone. It also serves as a charging port.

The battery life of the W900i is good, especially when you consider that it's a 3G phone. If you switch the 3G off, you can extend the battery life further, and you can put it into music mode if you just want to listen to music.

There is one single downside to the W900i (apart from its cost of course!) and that is its sheer weight. It's not particularly large, but it weighs as much as the very first 3G phones - nearly as much as the Sony Ericsson P910i PDA/phone. However, if you don't mind carrying a brick in your pocket, this phone really is as good as it gets in 2006!

Features of the Sony Ericsson W900i include:

3G video calling and streaming
Media player
FM radio
2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 8x digital zoom and camera light
Video camera
VideoDJ™ video editing software
Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Sound recorder
Speakerphone
Voice controls
Ringtones: MP3/AAC format
MusicDJ™ software for creating your own polyphonic ringtones
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Instant Messaging, E-mail
3D Java™ games: embedded & downloadable
Wallpaper, screensaver & themes
Picture phonebook
Personal organiser functions plus File Manager
XHTML web browser (supports CSS & JavaScript)
WAP 2.0, GPRS, HSCSD, GSM Modem, 3G
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB, infra-red, Fast Port
Memory: 470 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Duo™/Memory Stick PRO Duo™
Vibration alert
Triband plus 3G (UMTS)
Size: 109 x 24 x 49 mm
Weight: 148g
Talktime: 2 hours (3G) - 8 hours (2G)
Video calling: 1.5 hours
Battery standby: 300 hours (3G) - 370 hours (2G)

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Sony Ericsson K750i Review

2008-08-25T20:07:00.000+07:00

The Sony Ericsson replaces the Sony Ericsson K700i and is a big improvement. It's a big step up in the world of camera phones, with a 2-megapixel digital camera with autofocus. Previous camera phones were all fixed focus, which is OK for quick point-and-shoot pictures, but with autofocus you can ensure crisp sharp shots of the subject. This is an exciting development which moves phone camera technology a big step forward.

The K750i doesn't stop there - it's a fully featured phone with the best of everything - video camera, digital music player, FM radio, Bluetooth, memory stick, triband - you name it, it's got it! Its screen is as good as anything going - much better than the Nokia 6230i, the same resolution as the Samsung D500, but not quite as high as the Sony Ericsson S700i.

It's built on a dependable platform - the SE K series - and is a very easy phone to use, with a joystick, menu shortcuts and camera button to aid navigation. It's a good-looking, well-built phone that's a good size and offers everything that's available in phone technology (except 3G and SmartPhone functionality). Now replaced by the Sony Ericsson K800i, which offers 3G and an improved camera.

Features of the Sony Ericsson K750i include:

2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 4x digital zoom & photo light
Video camera & sound recorder
Display: 262k colours, 176 x 220 pixels
Music player
FM radio
40-voice polyphonic ringtones
Polyphonic melody composer (MusicDJ™)
Speakerphone, voice controls, voice mail
Messaging: SMS (with predictive text), EMS, MMS, Instant messaging, email
Java games (embedded & downloadable)
Animated wallpaper
Picture editor and effects
Personal organiser functions
Picture phonebook
QuickShare™
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB, Infra-red
WAP 2.0, GPRS
Memory: 34 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Duo™
Triband
Vibration alert
Size: 100 x 46 x 21 mm
Talktime: 9 hours
Battery standby: 400 hours

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Sony Ericsson W800i Review

2008-08-24T20:00:00.000+07:00

Launched in August 2005, The Sony Ericsson W800i is virtually the same as the D750i and K750i, the difference being that the W800i is Sony Ericsson's first mobile phone to be Walkman™ branded. The clear message is that this is both a phone and an MP3 player.

The specification of the W800i is the same as the K750i, except that the W800i is customised for music. There's a one-touch music button for controlling the MP3 player, plus extra bundled software for ripping audio tracks from CDs. The W800i also comes with a larger memory stick for storing all those songs - 512 Mbytes may not sound a lot when compared with an iPod (or even an iPod Mini), but it's pretty large for a phone, and is enough for around 150 audio tracks. The memory stick is expandable to 1 Gbyte. A quality headset is included in the sales package, and the W800i can also be connected to an external speaker system via an optional cable.

Apart from these changes, the W800i has all the features of the K750i: a 2 megapixel camera and auto-focus, a video camera, FM radio, Bluetooth and triband. It's an excellent all-round media device - surpassed only by the Sony Ericsson W900i and the new Sony Ericsson W810i.

Features of the Sony Ericsson W800i include:

2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 4x digital zoom & photo light
Video camera & sound recorder
Display: 262k colours, 176 x 220 pixels
Music player
FM radio
40-voice polyphonic ringtones
Polyphonic melody composer (MusicDJ™)
Speakerphone, voice controls, voice mail
Messaging: SMS (with predictive text), EMS, MMS, Instant messaging, email
Java games (embedded & downloadable)
Animated wallpaper
Picture editor and effects
Personal organiser functions
Picture phonebook
QuickShare™
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB, Infra-red
WAP 2.0, GPRS
Memory: 34 Mbytes plus 512 Mbyte Memory Stick Duo™
Triband
Vibration alert
Size: 100 x 46 x 21 mm
Weight: 99g
Talktime: 9 hours
Battery standby: 400 hours

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Sony Ericsson K700i Review

2008-08-23T20:09:00.000+07:00

The Sony Ericsson K700i adds additional functionality to the popular and highly-rated T630 model. What's new in the K700i? Firstly, the VGA camera has been enhanced with a camcorder capability for recording videos. The TFT screen is 65,000 colours, like the T630, but it has been increased to nearly twice the size of the T630 - great for photos, videos and games. Ringtones have been upgraded from 32-voice to 40-voice. There's also an integrated FM radio and MP3 player. Another improvement is the increased memory - at 41Mbytes, this is more than virtually any other phone on the market, and is ideal for storing photos, videos and music.

The brushed aluminium finish of the phone and the curved shape make for a very sexy image, and the phone definitely deserves 5 stars when it comes to looks.

Sony Ericsson claim that the K700i is "as much a camera as it is a phone". That's a bit of a wild claim, considering that the camera's resolution of 0.3 megapixels is less than that of even the cheapest digital camera, however let's not forget that Sony are one of the top 3 manufacturers of digital cameras and when first released this was one of the best camera phones. The integrated camera can be activated in one click, with one more click to take a picture. Sony Ericsson's new QuickShare™ technology enables you to easily share pictures with your PC or other phones, using Bluetooth™, email, MMS or data cable. The camera is equipped with a 4x digital zoom and a camera light. The K700i has been designed very much with this camera-phone dual concept in mind. From the front, the device is very much a functional mobile phone; from the other side, it's a camera!

The K700i does suffer from occasional reliability problems (mainly freezing or random shutting down) and has now been replaced by the K750i.

Features of the Sony Ericsson K700i include:

Colour display (65,536 colours, 176 x 220 pixels)
Integrated VGA camera with video recorder (including sound)
Bluetooth™, infrared and cable (USB & RS232) connectivity
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) - send pictures and sound like text messages
Downloadable 40-voice polyphonic & mono ringtones, plus ringtone editor (MusicDJ™)
Downloadable Java™ games
FM radio and MP3 player
WAP 2.0 (GPRS), email
High Speed Data (HSCSD - up to 28.8 kbps)
Speed dialling & voice dialling
Joystick, camera button, navigation key, menu shortcuts
Predictive text (T9)
Mobile chat
Voice memo / recorder
Speaker phone
Picture phone book
Wallpaper, screensaver and themes - all downloadable
Calculator, calendar, alarm, stopwatch
Sync ML
Memory: 41 Mbytes
Size: 99 x 47 x 20 mm
Weight: 93g
Battery standby: 300 hours
Battery talktime: 8 hours
Vibration alert
Sleep mode
Tri band

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Commercial N91 Ads

2008-08-23T18:48:00.000+07:00

bellow N91 commercial ads

so you want it ......?

Nokia N91 Review

2008-08-22T20:00:00.000+07:00

The Nokia N91 is the third N-Series phone to be released, and is designed to be a combined phone & music player.

The unique selling point of the N91 is that it is the first Nokia phone to be equipped with a hard drive. The hard drive offers 4 Gbytes of storage - enough to compete with the Ipod Nano and sufficient to store more than 1,000 songs. This may really be the first phone that can rival an iPod for music capabilities.

Nokia have given careful thought to making the music player an integral part of the device, not just an add-on feature. The music player supports a wide range of formats, including MP3, AAC and AAC+. Playlist management is easy. There's a dedicated music key for switching between the music player and other applications, and volume controls for the music player. Music pauses when a call is answered, then continues after the call. Audio quality, as you'd expect, is very high. Output is stereo of course, and the player is equipped with an 8-band equalizer. You can listen to music on the Nokia headset (supplied) or your own headphones via the 3.5mm audio jack, or connect the phone to external speakers. In addition to the music player, the N91 comes with an FM stereo radio with Visual Radio.

As well as being a superb music playing device, the N91 is an all-round multimedia wizard. The camera is excellent, with a 2 megapixel still camera plus a video recorder. The camera lacks the Carl-Zeiss lens features on the Nokia N90, and is also missing a flash, so if photography is your priority, then the N90 is a better choice. The display is high quality: 262,000 colours and high-resolution (176 x 208 pixels). The N91 is a 3G smartphone, so is capable of video calls, streaming video and fast data transfer, and it supports a wide range of third-party Symbian and Java applications.

The connectivity of the device enables data (music, etc) to be transferred from a PC with ease. There's a choice of Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), so you can easily and quickly copy music onto your phone. Wi-Fi gives you free access to broadband internet, when used within a Wi-Fi home or hotspot. The phone comes with Microsoft Media Player 10 to help you manage your songs and playlists.

The physical appearance of the phone is very classy, with stainless steel used to protect the hard drive from shocks. The N91 should be highly durable, despite all the high-tech gadgetry.

There are a lot of positives here. The biggest negatives are the size and weight of the device. At 164g it's a lot heavier than the average mobile, although 3G and smartphone fans may well be used to this kind of weight. Still, it's not much more than an iPod, and if you consider the fact that it replaces two devices (three if you include a digital camera!) then it may be worth it. The software is also a little buggy and has a tendency to freeze. Like all series 60 phones, the UI can be slow too.

Features of the Nokia N90 include:

3G smartphone (Symbian 60 operating system)
2 megapixel camera with 20x digital zoom
Video recorder (MPEG 4; also supports playback in 3GPP)
Display: 262k colours, 176 x 208 pixels
Music player (supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, Real, WAV, WMA, M4A, AMR-WB, True Tones, AMR-NB formats)
Visual Radio
Voice recorder
Integrated handsfree speaker
Polyphonic ringtones, True Tones
Voice dialling & voice controls
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
Compatible with Nokia Wireless Keyboard (sold separately)
Java applications
Advanced personal organiser features for S60 including calendar, contacts and to-do list
XHTML web browser
Memory: 4 Gbyte hard drive
WAP, EDGE (236.8 kbps), WCDMA (384 kbps)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, USB 2.0, WLAN 802.11b/g
Triband plus 3G
Size: 113 x 55 x 22 mm
Weight: 164 g
Talktime: 3- 4 hours
Battery standby: 170 - 190 hours
Music playback: up to 10 hours battery life

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Sony ericssons w610i in movie

2008-08-22T18:21:00.002+07:00

Bellow SE w610i in movie ....

how much this gadget can me feel enought ....

Sony Ericsson W610i Review

2008-08-21T20:00:00.000+07:00

The Sony Ericsson W610i is a mid-range Walkman phone with the new Walkman® 2.0 player. The first thing to say is that this is yet another superb phone from Sony Ericsson. It's not at the top end of the range, so it misses out on a couple of features, but offers almost everything you'd want from a music phone at a good price.

The Walkman range is now established as probably the best range of mobile phones for playing music. The W610i has the latest version of the Walkman player and is pretty well as easy as using an iPod. The Walkman key gives you one-click access to the player and from there you can play, rewind, fast forward, equalise, shuffle tracks and create playlists. Audio quality is as good as a dedicated MP3 player, and a standard set of headphones is included in the sales package. The phone is also compatible with stereo Bluetooth wireless headsets - available separately. The W610i is equipped with Sony Ericsson's MegaBass™ feature which enhances bass frequencies - a useful feature to switch on for some types of music. It also has PlayNow™ & TrackID™. PlayNow is a service for downloading ringtones (which you have to pay for) and TrackID is a free service that identifies songs that you hear on the radio - cool.

Comprehensive CD-ripping software (Disc2Phone) is supplied with the phone and the USB mass storage interface lets you transfer music with drag and drop simplicity. Whilst the built-in memory of the phone is limited, the W610i is compatible with Sony's Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) memory cards, and a 512 Mbyte card (enough for around 100 songs) is included in the sales package. This can be expanded to 2 Gbytes - a 2 Gbyte card can be bought for around £30. In addition to the music player, the W610i also includes an RDS FM radio.

The W610i has the same type of camera used in the W810i - a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus and a flash. It can also capture video clips. This is an excellent camera - one of the best in the sub-£200 price range. The display is a bright, clear TFD LCD which is easy to read. It doesn't have the high resolution of the flagship Walkman phone (the W880i), but again is one of the best in this price range.

Physically, the W610i is quite a bit thinner than the older W810i, but isn't as thin as the ultra-thin W880i. It's a good size to hold in your hand. The only gripe that we have about the W610i is the small size of the keys. If you've got big hands you'd be better off sticking with the W810i.

Overall, this is another fantastic Walkman phone, positioned in the sub-£200 market and offering outstanding value for money, with the small key size the only issue. The big question is how the W610i fits into the Walkman range. Is it a replacement for the W810i or is it a lower-spec model? We think that it's really the replacement for the W810i. Compare the W610i and the W810i and you'll see that the feature list is nearly identical - the main difference is that the W610i is thinner, has a new style of keypad and uses the latest software. The W810i was one of the very best phones of 2006, and the W610i is a worthy successor. Other phones to consider are the near-identical K550i, the 3G W660i and the ultra-slim W880i.

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Features of the Sony Ericsson W610i include:

2 megapixel camera with autofocus, photo light and 2.25x digital zoom
Camcorder
Display: TFD LCD, 262,000 colours, 176 x 220 pixels
Walkman music player (supports MP3 & AAC formats)
FM radio
Polyphonic ringtones / Music tones
Speakerphone
Sound recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
3D Java games
Animated wallpaper
WAP, Web browser, RSS feeds, picture blogging
GPRS, EDGE
Memory: Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support (512 Mbyte card included)
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB mass storage, infrared, modem
Organiser: Alarm clock, Calculator, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Phone book, Stopwatch, Tasks, Timer
Flight mode
Vibration alert
Quadband
Size: 102 x 46 x 14 mm
Weight: 93g

Iphone 3G in Preview

2008-08-21T17:59:00.004+07:00

Bellow movie about Iphone 3G from willdta taken from youtube

seem is interesting stuff do you want ????

Nokia N90 Review

2008-08-20T20:01:00.000+07:00

The Nokia N90 is designed to offer the best imaging capabilities on the market. It's a Series 60 Symbian smartphone with full 3G functionality, including video calling and fast downloads. Its key selling points are its camera and camcorder functions.

The Nokia N90 has the best camera on any Nokia phone so far released - arguably better than any rival camera phone. The closest competitor at the time of release is the Sony Ericsson W900i. The N90 has a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 20x digital zoom, a flash and a macro mode (for close-ups). It uses Carl Zeiss optics (an impressive name in the photographic world) to deliver photos that are far superior to those found on other camera phones, even those with a 2 megapixel resolution. This is a print quality camera, and for the first time you can reasonably consider a camera phone to be a replacement for a dedicated digital camera, although it clearly can't compete with the more expensive digital cameras with several times more megapixels. The camcorder capability is equally impressive.

The Nokia N90 has an innovative design - a variation on the clamshell form factor. In addition to opening and closing, the screen can be rotated, rather like a camcorder. In reality this is of marginal benefit. However, we are pleased to see that Nokia are at last making best use of the clamshell form by making the inner screen as large as physically possible (2.1 inches) - a big improvement over the old Nokia 6260 which shared the same form factor, but failed to make good use of it. The main display on the Nokia N90 is of outstanding quality.

Although it's the camera & camcorder functions that are the focus of the N90, there is also an excellent MP3 player. A stereo headset is supplied as part of the sales package. There's plenty of memory in the N90, which is needed to make use of all the features. A reduced size MultiMediaCard provides 64 Mbytes of storage - enough to hold a good selection of MP3 tracks, or a full-size movie.

The N90 supports viewing of email attachments in the following formats: jpg, 3gp, MP3, .ppt, .doc, excel and .pdf files. As already mentioned, the operating system is Symbian, and this has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that a wide range of Symbian applications can be downloaded and installed on the device. The disadvantages are threefold: 1) the user interface is more complex; 2) the user interface can be slow, sometimes too slow; and 3) series 60 phones tend to be prone to bugs, although this doesn't seem to be a major issue with the N90. Overall it's a very powerful device, although sometimes slow to respond and clunky to use.

The one major problem with the N90 is of course its size and weight. It's even heavier than the Sony Ericsson P910i. This is inevitable of course, and if you compare the N90 with a typical camcorder you can convince yourself that actually it's not that bulky at all! It's horses for courses. Now replaced by the Nokia N93.

Features of the Nokia N90 include:

3G functionality including video calling
2 megapixel camera (1600 x 1200 pixels) with autofocus, flash and 20x digital zoom
Video and still image editors
Print photos directly to a PictBridge compatible printer
Video capture in MPEG4 CIF format (352 x 288 pixels)
Main display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 352 x 416 pixels
External display: TFT, 65,536 colours, 128 x 128 pixels
RealPlayer Media Player (supports MPEG4, MP3, AAC, Real Audio & other formats)
Integrated handsfree speaker
Voice recorder
Ringtones: True Tones, polyphonic ringtones
Messaging: SMS, MMS, instant messaging, email
Compatible with Nokia Wireless Keyboard (sold separately)
Java & Symbian applications
Graphics, icons, animations, logos, themes
Push to talk
Voice commands
Speaker Independent Name Dialling
Speed dialling
Advanced contacts database with support for multiple phone and email details per entry, thumbnail pictures and groups
Personal Information Management (PIM)
Memory: 27 Mbytes plus 64 Mbyte memory card (MMC)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, USB 2.0
WAP 2.0 XHTML/HTML multimode browser
Triband plus 3G (WCDMA 2100)
Size: 112 x 51 x 24 mm
Weight: 173g
Talktime: 3 hours
Battery standby: 288 hours

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Sony Ericsson S500i Review

2008-08-19T20:30:00.000+07:00

The Sony Ericsson S500i is a stunningly beautiful slide phone, available in green, yellow, copper & purple. It features beautiful wallpaper artwork and specially-designed themes that change with the time of day and the season. Sensational lighting effects accompany incoming calls - it's a real treat! Combine this with a 2 megapixel camera and video camera, a music player, an optional memory card for storing up to 250 music tracks and you have an apparent winner. But, and it's a big but, the build quality of the S500i has gone to pot completely and these phones are literally falling to pieces as people use them. Our advice - avoid.

"The slim S500i keeps you in harmony with the world around you. Slide the S500i open to reveal materials and patterns inspired by nature." Sounds like Sony Ericsson's marketing guys have been hugging too many trees! They've even coloured their phone green. Hey, cut those trees down and put some phone masts up! Let's slash and burn our way through the forest of hype and discover what the S500i is really all about.

First thing to say is that we really liked the S500i (before the problems became apparent), despite our sarcastic introduction. You look at the phone and the first thing that strikes you is its glossy black finish and smooth, slim form. You pick it up, (wiping away the fingerprints that have just appeared on the gloss surface), slide it open, and the thing springs into life, with beautiful wallpaper artwork and themes created especially for the S500i. The background and themes will even change according to the time of day or the season. The keypad is flat and shiny: probably not the best for texting, but pleasing to the eye. The best is yet to come though: wait for an incoming call and the phone really comes alive with sensational lighting effects. The S500i is available in a choice of colours : Mysterious Green and Spring Yellow. Both will stand out from the crowd, for sure. It's a stunning phone, designed for the pixie in all of us.

In addition to looks, the S500i has gadgets too. It's a mid-range phone, so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the top-of-the-range K810i or the Walkman range, but it has everything that most users will want. The most impressive feature is probably the crisp high-resolution display. This is a bright active matrix display that you can view easily outdoors and it does justice to the artwork and themes of the S500i. The phone also has a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities. 2 megapixels is now considered average for a phone, and this one is nothing special, lacking autofocus and a flash. Still, it's good enough for snaps and video clips.

Although it's not a Walkman phone, the S500i does have a good quality music player, with support for Bluetooth stereo headsets. The built-in memory is small (12 Mbytes) and can store a handful of MP3 songs only, but you can buy a memory card to expand the storage to 1 Gbyte - enough for around 250 songs. Transferring music (and other data) between the phone and a PC is very easy using the USB connection, with drag and drop convenience. You can plug in compatible headphones, or use a Bluetooth stereo headset if you prefer.

The phone also has some useful extras such as a sound recorder, flight mode and personal organiser functions. It has fast internet access via EDGE, support for web browsing, email and RSS feeds. It's also a quadband phone, so you can use it worldwide.

The S500i offers a good level of functionality, including all the essentials, and looks beautiful. However, you should avoid this phone for the simple reason that it will probably break. The phone feels quite plasticky and flimsy, but it's the keypad that's the real problem. The keys just crack, as simple as that. Roughly half of our users have reported that their keys cracked. This is an almost unprecedented failure rate, and really you'd be daft to buy one of these phones knowing that. Better to go for the Sony Ericsson W610i or K810i instead. Or, if it's stunning looks you're after, then perhaps the Samsung U600.

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Nokia 6260 Review

2008-08-18T20:02:00.000+07:00

The Nokia 6260 is a business-orientated smartphone with a range of interesting features.

One of the characteristics of the 6260's clamshell design is the rotating screen which can be rotated to a number of positions - open, closed, facing inwards and facing outwards. The display face can be closed with the screen facing outwards for browsing the internet or using applications.

The screen is very high quality - one of the best from Nokia - using active TFT technology for a sharp bright image, with 65k colours and a high resolution. A good quality screen like this is essential for making good use of the various business applications that come with the phone.

The 6260 is a series 60 phone with a Symbian operating system. Foremost amongst the pre-installed business applications is a mobile email client that uses Quickword and Quickpoint viewers for viewing attachments (Word and PowerPoint documents). Additional Java™ and Symbian applications can be stored, and a pre-loaded memory card is supplied with a number of "try-and-buy" applications.

The internal memory is not huge at 6 Mbytes, but the memory can be expanded with 32 Mbyte memory cards. The 6260 has an excellent range of connectivity options: Bluetooth™, infrared, Pop-Port™ connector and USB.

The 6260 includes a good quality digital camera that can shoot pictures at VGA resolution (300,000 pixels) and also record video. The camera is side-mounted with a movable display that allows for self-portraits. There's also a built-in FM radio and MP3 player, although the MP3 player is mono and not the best quality.

Nokia have succeeded in packing a lot into the 6260, with the clamshell design enabling them to have a large screen but still keep the phone size small. The phone is quite heavy, but no more than the average 3G phone, and this will probably be acceptable when the full range of features is considered. The screen is excellent, the spec of the phone includes everything that most users will need, and the range of Java and Symbian applications available for the phone is impressive. With the Nokia 6260 it seems that it is finally possible to have a business-orientated phone that retains the stylishness and fun features of a mainstream phone.

The 6260 will inevitably be compared with the Sony Ericsson P910i. It has to be said that the P910i beats the Nokia is most respects, however the P910i does cost and weigh considerably more than the 6260, so there should be room in the marketplace for both.

On the negative side, the Nokia 6260 does appear to have software and reliability problems. You should read the user reviews below to find out about people's experiences with this phone, but the main issues seem to be faulty phones, phones breaking and software glitches. It seems that Nokia smartphones often come with reliability problems, especially any like the 6260 that feature novel designs or features.

Features of the Nokia 6260 include:

Active TFT rotating display display (65,536 colours, 176 x 208 pixels)
Push to Talk (PTT)
Mobile email and VPN client
HTML browser
Quickword and Quickpoint for viewing documents
Bluetooth™ wireless technology
Additional connectivity: Infrared, Pop-Port™ connector, Nokia Connectivity Adapter cable (USB)
Local synchronization of contacts, calendar, to-do items, and notes to a compatible PC using PC Suite
Downloadable Java™ and Symbian applications
Voice Features: voice dialing, voice commands, voice recorder
Integrated handsfree speaker
Integrated digital VGA camera (640 x 480 pixels, digital zoom)
Video recording and playback
FM radio and MP3 player
Polyphonic ringtones & True Tones
Five-way scrolling navigation
Text messaging with concatenated SMS: send and receive messages containing up to 459 characters
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) for receiving, editing and sending messages with text, audio files, voice clips, video clips and images
Predictive text input
Memory: 6 Mbytes
Includes a 32 Mbyte MMC memory card, preloaded with a number of applications you can try for free
GPRS class 6
Data transfer up to 43.2 kbps
Triband
Size: 102 x 49 x 23 mm
Weight: 130g
Battery standby: up to 6 days
Talktime: 2 - 4 hours

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Apple iPod Nano Review

2008-08-17T20:00:00.007+07:00

The Ipod Nano takes the key features of the Ipod and shrinks them into a tiny package, available in 1GB (240 songs), 2GB (500 songs) and 4GB (1,000 songs) models. The iPod nano is pencil-thin and will fit into your pocket (although carrying it in your pocket may lead to breakage - see below!) The Nano features the ever-popular clickwheel and friendly user interface of its big brother, with the benefit of a colour screen. The touch-sensitive clickwheel lets you easily fast-forward, rewind, play, pause or access menus. It's a very easy MP3 player to operate.

The iTunes software that accompanies the iPod Nano provides an easy way to create and manage your digital music collection on a PC or Mac. With iTunes you can transfer music from an audio CD into digital format. iTunes supports a range of formats including MP3 and AAC and you can control the quality/compression level. The Apple Lossless encoder provides a sound quality that is indistinguishable from the original.

The Ipod Nano supports a wide range of music formats, including MP3 and AAC. Music in AAC format can be compressed smaller than the MP3 format with the same quality, so is better for storing digital music. The quality of the music depends on the compression factor - the greater the compression, the lower the quality. The iPod Nano supports compression rates from 16 to 320 Kbps (the same as the Ipod 20GB). In addition the iPod supports the Apple Lossless format, as well as WAV and AIFF.

The Nano also has the capability of storing and displaying photos on its colour screen.

Battery life is similar to the big iPod, with up to 14 hours of continuous play, and a recharge time of 3 hours. This is pretty good for such a small device.

The iPod Nano really is an outstanding technical achievement. Packing this much MP3 player into such a small device is awe-inspiring. 4GB of memory may not be enough for all users, but that's what the bigger iPods are for! For typical users on the move, the trade off of memory versus size & weight seems like a good one. You should be aware that LCD screens on devices this thin are fragile, and you should treat your Nano with care! Putting it into a back pocket may not be a smart move if you accidentally sit on it. The Nano is also very prone to scratching, and you either accept that it will get scratched or you buy a case for it before you start using it. You should also regard the Nano as a device that may need replacing after a year - our user reviews below show that it isn't a durable piece of technology, although it seems to be more durable than the 4th Generation iPod. Apple themselves point out that the rechargeable batteries used in the iPod have a finite lifespan. As long as you have realistic expectations of what the iPod can do (and what it can't) you shouldn't be disappointed. The first generation Nano has now been replaced by the 2nd generation Nano.

Features of the Apple iPod Nano include:

Supported formats: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF
Photo viewing: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only) and PNG formats
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Battery life: 14 hours (3 hours to recharge)
LCD display: 176 x 132 pixels with blue-white LED backlight
iTunes software for managing your digital music collection on a PC or Mac
Connectivity: USB (cable included)
Earbud-style headphones included
Size: 90 x 40 x 6.9 mm
Weight: 42g

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Sony Ericsson W580i Review

2008-08-16T21:28:00.000+07:00

A cool-looking slide-design Walkman phone with funky lighting effects. It's not the greatest Walkman phone ever (with limited memory capacity) and doesn't have an exceptional camera, but it's a good all-rounder and is one of the best lookers. However, because of a problem with the keys breaking, we recommend that you avoid this phone.

The Sony Ericsson W580i is a Walkman phone in a slide design. It's available in a choice of white, black, pink or grey.

Physically, the W580i looks cool. It's a nice slider, with a very usable 5-way navigation key. The keypad has sensibly-sized keys that light up in use and are easy to press. Dedicated keys are used to control the Walkman functions, so you can play music when the slide is closed. The screen is of good quality and can be viewed outdoors without too much trouble. Like the S500i, the W580i features very cool lighting effects and is a beautiful phone to look at and play with.

The W580i features a "shake control" - you flick your wrist when the music player is on and a random song is selected to play. Gimmicky but cool. Another gimmick is the built-in pedometer. It's a useful feature if you do a lot of walking, but pedometers are cheap and readily available - do you really need one in your phone?

The main feature of the W580i (apart from making phone calls, of course!) is the music player. We've written about the quality of the Walkman music range many times on this site - take it from us, it's good. The W580i has the new version 2.0, and is also equipped with an FM radio. A stereo headset is included in the sales package, and there's also support for an optional Bluetooth stereo headset. The available memory is not generous - just 12 Mbytes built-in (enough for 3-4 songs) but the memory is expandable to 1 Gbyte (Memory Stick Micro™) or 4 Gbytes (Memory Stick PRO).

The phone also comes with a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities, but this cannot compare with the autofocus-equipped cameras on the K800i or W610i.

However, the big problem with the W580i is that the keys are prone to cracking. Read the user reviews below to see just how many people have reported the same problem. It was exactly the same with the Sony Ericsson S500i. We recommend that you avoid the W580i and consider the very similar W850i slide phone, which is selling for a much lower price than the W580i and has the advantage of 3G too.

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Features of the Sony Ericsson W580i include:

2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom
Video camera
3D Java games
Display: 262,144-colour TFT LCD, 240 x 320 colours (2 inches)
Music player (Walkman 2.0)
FM radio
Megabass™
PlayNow™
TrackID™
Polyphonic ringtones & music tones
Speakerphone
Sound recorder
Pedometer
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
Animated wallpaper
Personal organiser functions
Flight mode
Memory: 12 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Micro™ support (up to 1 Gbyte)
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB mass storage
WAP, EDGE
Web browser, RSS feeds, picture blogging
Vibration alert
Size: 99 x 47 x 14 mm
Weight: 94g
Quadband (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900)
Talktime: 9 hours
Battery standby: 370 hours

LG KF510 Review

2008-08-16T20:24:00.000+07:00

The KF510 is a gorgeous, ultraslim fashion phone. With a sleek touchscreen design, sparkly LED lights, a 2-tone graded colour scheme and a metal body, it's one of the best looking phones available. It's fully featured too, with a 3 megapixel camera, MP3 player, FM radio, Bluetooth and memory card.

With the LG KF510, LG does what it does best: makes a phone that just looks the business. If you want to wow your mates in the pub, look no further. We were expecting the beauty to be just skin-deep, but the more we played with the KF510, the more it grew on us. Sure, we're shallow and easily pleased, but hey!

Let's do the looks first, since that's what this phone is really all about. Well, LG have pulled out all the stops with this one. It's an ultra-slim slide phone with a sleek touchscreen design. The colour scheme is gorgeous, with a two-tone graded finish in either Sunset Red or Stardust Dark Grey. When you move your fingers over the touch-sensitive surface of the phone, LED lights blink on and off. It's quite hypnotic, or at least we thought so. Maybe LG have hypnotised us into writing such a good review! Oh, nearly forgot to mention that it's quite a heavy phone, despite being so thin, as its body is made of metal. This will give it strength, and combined with the scratch-proof tempered glass screen, it should be a pretty robust phone despite its superslim design.

Moving on, it quickly becomes clear that there's more to the phone than just looks. The camera is quite respectable for a mid-range phone, with a 3 megapixel resolution and autofocus. Not up to David Bailey standards, but as good as anything else in this price range. There's an MP3 player of course, plus the bonus of an FM radio. You can customise ringtones, play games, send messages and browse the web, just like any other modern phone. Bluetooth and USB connectivity are both present, so all boxes seem to be ticked. There are just two weak areas: the phone is triband, rather than quadband, and the inbuilt memory is quite limited at just 16 Mbytes (enough for a couple of ringtones and some photos.) However, you can expand the memory to 4 Gbytes by adding a microSD memory card.

So, despite our initial expectations of this being a rather superficial kind of phone, we find ourselves liking it very much. It's very much a mid-range phone, so don't expect it to have all the bells and whistles, but as mid-range phones go, this one is definitely a match for the competition. Take into account the fabulous looks, and you have a top notch phone. The touchscreen may annoy some users, but so far the user feedback seems to be positive. Alternatives are the Samsung U600 and the Sony Ericsson W580i, but we prefer the KF510.

Features of the LG KF510 include:

3 megapixel camera with autofocus
Video camera
Display: TFT, 262,000 colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.2 inches)
MP3 player & FM radio
Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, email
Java games
Wallpaper
Phonebook (1,000 names)
Memory: 16 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot (up to 4 Gbytes)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
Internet: WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, Google package
Vibration alert
Triband
Size: 104.5 x 49.5 x 10.9 mm
Weight: 110g
Talktime: 4 hours
Battery standby: 400 hours

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VOIP FAQ

2008-08-14T10:25:00.003+07:00

For the past 50 years companies have been using conventional PBX systems which require separate networks for voice and data communications. But with the new VOIP telephony revolution, businesses are quickly migrating to VOIP PBX systems, which offer the huge advantage of converging data and voice networks.

VOIP, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, is basically the transmission of voice traffic over IP-based networks. Initially designed for data networking, the Internet Protocol (IP) was adapted to voice networking following its successful positioning as the global standard for data networking.

With VOIP phone systems users are not limited to making and receiving calls through the IP network, traditional phone lines can be used to guarantee a higher call quality and availability. With the use of a VOIP gateway incoming PSTN/telephone lines can be converted to VOIP/SIP. This way the VOIP gateway allows the user to receive and place calls on the regular telephony network.

VOIP PBX systems provide mobility to employees, flexibility when a business expands as they are much easier to manage than the traditional PBX, and can also considerably reduce telephony administration costs.

Frequent questions about VOIP and much more are all covered in this VOIP FAQ.

Fax-VOIP

2008-08-14T10:18:00.004+07:00

FAX was designed for analog networks, and does not interoperate well at all with VOIP networks. The reason for this is that FAX communication uses the signal in a different way to regular voice communication.

When VOIP technologies digitize and compress analog voice communication it is optimized for VOICE and not for FAX. Subsequently, if you connect a Fax machine via an ATA adapter to the VOIP network it will work, but you are likely to encounter problems during fax transmissions. If you must do it this way, you should ensure that you are using the G 711 codec, which has a minimum of compression.

To deal with fax, you have the following options:

The easiest way to deal with this is to connect the fax machine directly to the existing analog phone line and bypass your VOIP environment altogether.
Replace the fax machine with a fax service provider. There are many available at a very low cost per month (cheaper then the phone line subscription)
Implement T38, which requires a T38 compatible gateway and a T38 compatible fax machine, fax card or fax software.

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T38 Protocol

2008-08-14T10:11:00.005+07:00

T38 is a protocol that describes how to send a fax over a computer data network. T38 is needed because fax data can not be sent over a computer data network in the same way as voice communication. See How does FAX work in VOIP environments? for more information about this.

T 38 is described in RFC 3362, and defines how a device should communicate the fax data. In the picture above both the gateway and the fax machine behind the gateway would have to be capable of T38. For the G3 fax machine on an analog line, this process will be transparent. The analog fax machine does not need to know T38.

Nokia 6300 Review

2008-08-13T20:17:00.004+07:00

Our favourite Nokia for years and the only Nokia phone ever to be rated 5 stars by our users. A classic design with a beautiful stainless steel finish. Slim, elegant, easy to use and with a good quality 2 megapixel camera, a built-in MP3 player, memory expandable to 2 Gbytes, and wireless Bluetooth connectivity. Only the below-average battery life stops this from getting 5 stars. Available in silver, black and white.

Nokia's slogan for the 6300 is "Simply beautiful - beautifully simple." The beauty comes from the sleek, classic design with stainless-steel surfaces, and the simplicity reflects the fact that this is an all-round kind of phone: not a smartphone, not 3G, but including all of the functionality that most people want. Sounds like a winner! Could Nokia finally be getting back to what it used to do best - a phone that does just what you want and does it well?

Certainly the phone looks good when you pick it up. It's like the early 6-series Nokia's: exclusive- and expensive-looking, practically designed with a good sized screen and functional keypad, yet updated for 2007 with a 5-way navigation button and high quality colour display. The size is perfect: it's very slim (just 11.7mm) and not too wide, and the weight is enough to make it feel solid and substantial, but not so much that it feels heavy. The keypad is a decent size and is easy to use. The display is exceptional: a high resolution 240 x 320 pixel display with an amazing 16 million colours. On the outside the 6300 ticks all the right boxes.

On the inside, the phone is equipped with all the features that a typical user would expect. The camera is 2 megapixels with an 8x digital zoom and with a video recording function. Enough for casual photography, but not brilliant. There's a music player and an FM radio. A standard Nokia headset is included in the sales package and support for a Bluetooth stereo headset is included. Memory for storing music is limited, with just 7.8 Mbytes of user memory, however you can expand the memory to a maximum of 2 Gbytes by buying a microSD card, which will give you as much memory as an iPod Nano. Both Bluetooth and USB connectivity are supported, and the phone has GPRS and EDGE for fast data downloads. Battery life is below average, which is often the case with superslim phones. The user interface is a standard Series 40 interface, that Nokia users will be used to, but with the latest enhancements. It's basically a very easy phone to use, with everything well thought out and some real attention to detail.

This is our favourite Nokia phone for a long time. It really is beautiful - quality just oozes out of the phone when you pick it up. The metallic finish completes the look, although this may show scratches if not treated carefully. Ergonomics and user-friendliness are good. The strange thing is that Nokia built their reputation with phones like this, but what have they been doing these past few years with their funky but unusable fashion-phones and their buggy brick-like smartphones? Welcome back Nokia! It was worth the wait!

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Samsung Armani Review

2008-08-13T20:12:00.004+07:00

The Samsung Giorgio Armani phone is a truly compact touchscreen phone. It doesn't have the ease-of-use of Apple's iPhone nor the high-end features of the LG Viewty touchphone, but it looks amazing. If you can get used to the touchscreen interface, you'll find that it's a beautiful phone that can also take photos, record video clips and play music.

We loved last year's LG Prada, so we were really looking forward to reviewing the Samsung Giorgio Armani. Samsung plus Armani is such a fantastic combination, that success is guaranteed, right? Well not necessarily, because a lot has changed since the Prada phone of 2007 - the Armani now has to complete with the iPhone and the LG Viewty. Let's put the phone through its paces and see how it shapes up to the competition.

The first thing to say is that if you love Armani, then stop reading now and just go and buy the phone. It's a beautiful phone, and you can call and text with it, OK? Seriously though, it's a stunning phone to look at. It's really tiny and weighs hardly anything, at just 85g (the iPhone weighs 135g!). It's the smallest and thinnest of all the touchscreen-driven phones currently on the market. The finish is much nicer than our photo here conveys - it's finished in a combination of aluminium and stainless steel. It also comes with a specially-designed leather pouch to protect it from scratches. Apart from the send and end keys located beneath the screen, the Armani is entirely touchscreen controlled, and this is the secret to its good looks and also the cause of most problems.

The device is smaller than other touchscreen phones available, and that means that the screen is smaller too (2.6" compared with the iPhone's 3.5"). It also has a lower resolution. Inevitably this makes the touchscreen interface harder to use, although Samsung have done their best with the award-winning Croix user interface which uses touch and audio feedback and specially-designed graphics and icons. The bottom line is that it isn't as easy to use as an iPhone or a Viewty, especially for texting.

Just like the iPhone and the Prada phone, the Armani phone isn't at the cutting edge feature-wise, but it does everything that most people will want. It takes reasonably good photos with a 3 megapixel camera (with zoom & flash), records video clips and plays music. The internal memory of 60 Mbytes is enough for around 15 music tracks, but you can easily expand this with a memory card. Battery life isn't great, but it's acceptable at around 2-3 days of normal use. The phone supports Bluetooth, including Bluetooth wireless headphones. You can also browse the web and send emails, if you really must.

Technically, the Armani can't compete with the daddy of touchscreen phones - the 3G LG Viewty - nor does it have the ease of use of the Apple iPhone. What it does have is the Armani brand, to-die-for looks, a truly compact body, and enough features to satisfy 90% of users. It's about expectations - don't buy this thinking it's the best phone ever, or has the most impressive spec available, because it hasn't. Buy it because you like the style and are willing to compromise on ease-of-use and high-end features.

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Samsung F490 Review

2008-08-13T20:06:00.003+07:00

The Samsung F490 is a beautiful touchscreen phone with a large screen and slim body. Equipped with a 5 megapixel camera, 3G video calling, a music player, plenty of onboard memory and a fast HSDPA internet connection, it's a very stylish and well specified phone. But texters should be aware that a touchscreen phone can never match a conventional keypad for speed.

The F490 (nicknamed the Samsung Nerva) seems to be Samsung's answer to the massive-selling LG Viewty. Like the Viewty, it has a full-size touchscreen user interface, a 5 megapixel camera, and high-speed 3G HSDPA which enables fast internet access. The Viewty and the F490 look very similar. The F490 also seems to be a development of the Samsung Armani. It looks like Samsung removed the Armani branding and made the F490 do everything that the Armani should have done! Read on and all will be made clear ...

The F490 is a touchscreen phone using Samsung's Croix user interface that first appeared in the Samsung Armani. We liked the Armani, but the trouble with the Armani is that it's just too small for a touchscreen phone. If you're relying on the screen to control everything from making calls to writing texts, then you want the screen to be big - like the iPhone at 3.5" or the Viewty at 3". The Armani's screen is just 2.6". The F490 has a 3.2 inch screen, and this makes all the difference. It's a much easier phone to use than the pocket-sized Armani, although text addicts please note that that texting on a touchscreen phone is never going to be as fast as on a conventional keypad. The screen has a 16:9 widescreen format when turned sideways, so is perfect for watching videos & movies too.

The F490 has a much higher spec than the Armani too - it's directly comparable with the LG Viewty. Don't even mention the iPhone - the F490 blows the iPhone out of the water in terms of features! First up, this is a 3G phone, with a high-speed implementation of 3G called HSDPA delivering broadband internet speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps. It also has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash - as usual, don't expect this to match a dedicated digital camera for quality, but as phones go it's in the top 20 of camera phones. 3G video calling is possible too. The F490 has a well featured music player capable of playing nearly any common digital format, and produces high quality audio. It's missing an FM radio though, which is a shame.

Memory is generous, with 130 Mbytes of onboard memory plus a slot for adding a microSD memory card. Connectivity is good too, with USB 2.0 and Bluetooth.

Physically the phone is very attractive, with its minimalist shiny black exterior. It's very slim too at just 11.8mm, making it significantly slimmer than the Viewty.

Overall we like the F490, but it doesn't quite match the Viewty. The Viewty user interface just seems to have the edge, and the Viewty's camera is better too. An excellent phone, but if you want touchscreen then the LG Viewty still rules in our opinion.

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Features of the Samsung F490 include:

5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 3x digital zoom and LED flash
Video recorder & 3G video calling
Display: TFT, 240 x 432 pixels, 262,144 colours
Music player (MP3, WMA, ACC, ACC+, e-ACC+ formats, OMA Digital Rights Management)
72-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone
Voice memo recorder
Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
Java games
Memory: 130 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0
Internet: WAP 2.0, web browser with Google search, GPRS, Edge, 3G (HSDPA 3.6 Mbps)
Triband (900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G (UMTS 2.1GHz)
Offline mode
Size: 115 x 53.5 x 11.8 mm
Weight: 102g

Samsung F480 Review

2008-08-13T20:01:00.004+07:00

The Samsung F480 Tocco is a high-spec touchscreen phone that offers fantastic features in a sexy ultraslim package. The features include a 5 megapixel camera, music player, FM radio, ultra-fast 3G web browsing and just about the most memory we've seen in a mobile phone! If the screen had been a bit larger we'd have given it 5 stars.

Samsung are on a roll with touchscreen phones in 2008. First the Armani, then the F490 Nerva, now the F480 Tocco (Tocco comes from the Italian word for "touch".) Now the Armani was a bit of a flop, but the F480 is a great phone, and so the question is, what's the difference between the F480 and the F490 and which is better? (OK, so that was two questions.)

On the face of it, these are two very similar phones. They both have a touchscreen user interface using the "award-winning" Croix UI, with haptics (vibration) for tactile feedback. Both are good looking phones - the F480 has a brushed metal finish and is supplied with a leather case to help protect it from scratches. The F480 has a conventional QVGA resolution screen instead of the extra long screen used by the F490. Losing screen resolution is bad news for touchscreen phones, and the Tocco's screen is just 2.8 inches (the F490 has a 3.2 inch screen.) Both are ultraslim phones, with the F480 being a tiny bit thinner at an incredible 11.6mm.

The touchscreen interface works well in both phones. Most people seem to have no problems using the phones, although fast texting can be a bit of a mission. Both have great cameras. The camera on the F480 is very similar to the one on the F490 - 5 megapixels with autofocus, digital zoom and LED flash. The F480 introduces a new gee-whiz feature called "Smile Shot". According to Samsung, "Smile Shot is able to identify when the subject is smiling and automatically takes a picture." Reading that made us smile, but we're probably being too cynical. Seriously though, we actually believe that the more "stuff" that camera phones introduce, the harder it is for people to use them effectively. Still, the Tocco can take good pictures, but as with all camera phones don't expect to become David Bailey with this thing.

The Tocco has a good music player (as you'd expect) that can play most file formats and has the advantage over the F490 of having an FM radio included. We're also delighted to see the huge amount of memory supplied: 240 Mbytes of internal memory, plus the option to add up to 8 Gbytes of microSD memory. That's enough to store thousands of songs. We like it. On the music front, the Tocco also introduces a feature called Shazam (no, seriously) that acts like Sony Ericsson's TrackID™ service and can identify a song that you're listening to.

Another benefit that the Tocco has over the F490 is a souped-up 3G connection. The 3G implementation uses HSDPA at 7.2 Mbps, enabling download speeds faster than most home broadband connections. In fact the Tocco is a brilliant platform for the mobile internet, with its big touchscreen and dedicated Google application.

So to answer the question: what's the difference between the F480 and the F490? The F480 has better features (FM radio, faster 3G, more memory) but the F490 has a bigger screen. Which is better? That's tricky to answer and it's really frustrating that Samsung just didn't release one phone with a big screen and all the features. Let's answer the question this way: the LG Viewty (but only just!)

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Sony Ericsson W950i Review

2008-08-12T10:35:00.005+07:00

The flagship Walkman™ phone! The W950i is a Symbian 3G smartphone with an enormous touchscreen that supports handwriting recognition. It has a fabulous music player with 4 Gbytes of flash memory - that's enough for around 1,000 songs! There's also a built-in FM radio, plus support for office applications including email, attachment viewing, third party Symbian apps and full web browsing. The one thing missing is a camera. Also, be aware that like all smartphones, the user interface is sometimes slow and may occasionally freeze.

The W950i is Sony Ericsson's flagship Walkman™ phone, and is one of the most unusual phones to be released in 2006.

This phone has been designed as a music player & business phone - an interesting concept - and the W950i meets the needs of its target market well. What the designers at Sony Ericsson have realised is that even the best camera phone on the market today (the Sony Ericsson K800i or Nokia N93) is still not a patch on a dedicated digital camera, so why include one? By scrapping the camera they have produced a feature-packed phone that doubles as a full-spec music player and really can replace your iPod, without compromise.

Apart from having no camera, the W950i is unusual in other respects. It's also the slimmest smartphone on the market, at just 15mm thick, and is also a 3G phone. It's compact and lightweight and feels just right in the hand. The W950i has a flat keypad, that is actually very easy to use, together with a jog dial and dedicated music player keys on the sides of the keypad for easy access to your music collection. In addition the W950i has a touchscreen and stylus that makes navigation a breeze. It also supports handwriting recognition. The screen is very large (2.6 inches across), is bright and sharp, and is brilliant for navigating, managing playlists, and viewing graphics. In fact this is one of the most ergonomic and user-friendly phones around, and is a real pleasure to use. Nevertheless you should still expect to have to spend some time learning to use all of the features on this device, simply because it has so many of them!

This is the flagship Walkman™ phone, and it's music player doesn't disappoint. The player supports a wide range of formats, and delivers top audio quality. There's also a built-in FM radio. All of the features that you'd expect are here - a graphic equaliser, Mega Bass™, user-friendly playlist management, and support for USB drag-and-drop for easy transfer of songs from PC to phone. You can also download songs quickly with 3G. In addition, the Walkman player features support for album art, displaying the album covers on the screen while the track is playing. The Album covers can be used to select songs from the library of music stored on the phone. Just touch the image of the album cover to select. The W950i also includes the TrackID™ feature for recognising songs from external music sources - hold the phone close to the music, and the phone will try to match the song with its database, showing you the name of the song, the artist and the album.

With 4 Gbytes of built-in flash memory, you can store up to 1,000 songs, putting the W950i on a par with the iPod Nano - no need to buy external memory cards. The sales package includes a stereo headset, a USB cable and software for ripping audio CDs. There is also support for a separately available Bluetooth stereo headset.

As well as the music player functions, there is full support for business users too. Being a Symbian-based phone, you can download a wealth of third-party applications for the phone. Push email is supported, together with a viewer for common Office attachments. 3G provides fast download speeds, and full web browsing is available with the Opera 8.0 web browser. The large screen makes it possible to view web pages pretty closely to how they are intended to be viewed, and you can use the stylus to click on links, or to scroll. This is one of the best implementations of a web browser we've ever seen on a mobile.

In some ways, the W950i is the phone that the P990i should have been! It's really got everything that you could want except a camera. The touchscreen is a delight to use, the music player is pure quality, and the phone is very well featured in other respects too. If you won't miss the camera and don't want to make video calls, this phone is highly recommended. The only thing that prevents us from awarding a full 5 stars is the fact that, like all Symbian phones, the user interface can sometimes be slow, and the phone does have a tendency to occasionally freeze or shut itself down.

Features of the Sony Ericsson W950i include:

3G Symbian smartphone
Touchscreen user interface & handwriting recognition
Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Media player
FM radio
Mega Bass™
Music DJ™ (polyphonic ringtone composer)
PlayNow™
TrackID™
MP3/AAC ringtones / 40-voice polyphonic ringtones
Sound recorder
Speakerphone
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Push Email
3D Java games
Flight mode
Opera web browser, RSS feeds
Personal organiser functions, file manager
Vibration alert
GPRS, modem
Memory: 4 GBytes
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB mass storage, Fast Port, Infrared
Triband plus 3G
Size: 106 x 54 x 15 mm
Weight: 112g
Talktime: 2.5 hours (3G) - 7.5 hours (2G)

Battery standby: up to 340 hours

Sony Ericsson P990i Review

2008-08-12T08:42:00.004+07:00

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Sony Ericsson announced their flagship phone, the P990i way back in 2005. It was eagerly awaited for nearly a year before it finally appeared, and frankly, it wasn't worth the wait.

The P990i is the upgraded version of the very successful P910i PDA-style smartphone, and incorporates a number of new features, including 3G, WiFi, an upgraded camera and an FM radio. In fact, the P990i has just about every imaginable feature. It's the ultimate phone! Or is it?

As soon as the P990i was announced, it was obvious that Sony Ericsson had taken away one of the most popular features of the P910i - its huge screen. The P990i has a smaller screen, with a full QWERTY-style keypad in the lower half of the device. This design has split the P-series community. Some like the new design, or are willing to tolerate it: many hate it. The P990i also has a downgraded version of the popular jog-dial control. The P990i has a 3-way jog dial instead of the 5-way jog dial used on the older model. This was done apparently in response to user feedback, but judging from the user reviews below, it's another unpopular decision.

The design of the P990i incorporates a conventional numeric keypad which can be flipped open or removed to reveal the full QWERTY alphanumeric keypad beneath. In addition to key-based data entry, the p990i has a touch-sensitive screen with a stylus to operate an onscreen virtual keyboard. Most users seem to prefer this to the real keyboard. The phone also has support for handwriting recognition. The 3-way jog dial can be used for scrolling and selecting and most phone functions can be accessed without opening the flip.

The P990i uses the Symbian 9.1 operating system, making it into a powerful multi-tasking device. Sony Ericsson intended the P990i to be a genuine mobile office, and the device really does come close. An advanced contacts and calendar application is incorporated, which can be wirelessly synchronised using WiFi/Bluetooth. With every conceivable type of connectivity included (3G, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, USB, infrared and Fast Port) you can connect to any other device and use the phone as a high-speed wireless modem to connect your laptop to the internet. The USB connection supports mass storage and drag and drop functionality.

The P990i is the first 3G P-Series, and it supports the full range of 3G functionality, including video calling as well as fast internet access. There are two cameras on the P990i: a forward-facing camera for video calling, and a 2 megapixel camera on the rear. This is the same type of camera first used in the Sony Ericsson K750i: a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus, a photo light and a digital zoom. It makes the VGA camera installed on the P910i look like a joke. The phone is supplied with Adobe PhotoShop 2.0 Starter Edition, for editing photos on a PC. A novel business application that make use of the camera is a card scanner that uses the integrated camera together with OCR software to store digital versions of business cards in phone contacts. There's more functionality in the P990i that you can shake a stick at. Examples include a high quality music & media player with support for Bluetooth stereo headsets, an FM radio with RDS, a speakerphone, a polyphonic ringtone composer and 3D Java games. Push email gives secure access to corporate or personal email, and a document viewer lets you both view and edit attachments. An Opera web browser is included, and there is support for RSS feeds, VPN (Virtual Private Network) and even virus protection, file encryption and a built-in firewall. The internal memory is 60 Mbytes, with a 64 Mbyte Memory Stick PRO Duo™ provided, and this can be expanded to 4 Gbytes. Memory Stick Duo™ is also supported.

As this is a Symbian-based phone, there are plenty of third-party applications available. Sample applications supplied include Audible (download and listen to spoken editions of books, magazines and newspapers), SlovoEd (multilingual translation tool), IntelliGolf (golfing assistant) and WorldMate (travel information service).

But now for the negatives, and there are several of these - quite serious ones. We've already mentioned the unpopular design, with a reduced size screen and QWERTY-style keypad. Most users find that the virtual keyboard or handwriting recognition are more effective ways of entering text. Apart from this, the really big disappointment now that the P990i is finally available in the shops is the buggy firmware. Considering the fact that the launch of the phone was delayed by about nine months, you'd think they'd have got this sorted by now. But as you can read from our user reviews, the phone is slow, buggy and crashes frequently. One of our users put this rather nicely: Miran Ali wrote that "if you buy this phone prepare to be saddled with a software more unstable than a virus ridden windows 95". It's also a rather slow interface. The third big problem with the phone is the dire battery life. You'll probably get about a day's use out of it on average.

For a flagship phone it's disappointing, especially when you consider how long we've been waiting for it. Maybe Sony Ericsson will get the firmware problems sorted soon. Maybe not. In the meantime, be careful if you're seriously considering buying this phone.

Sony Ericsson K810i Review

2008-08-11T09:58:00.004+07:00

A slimmed-down version of Sony Ericsson's hugely successful K800i, the K810i shares the amazing 3.2 megapixel Cyber-Shot™ camera with autofocus and bright xenon flash that made the K800i arguably the best camera phone so far. Also comes with a music player, 3G video calling, expandable memory and wireless Bluetooth connectivity. The K810i can be your digital camera and MP3 player as well as a mobile phone. It costs more than the K800i but is slimmer and lighter. Available in black, red or ivory.
The Sony Ericsson K810i Cyber-shot™ is virtually the same as the hugely successful and best-selling K800i. The two key differences are that the K810i is slimmer - 17mm instead of 22mm - and that the buttons have a new design. It's good to see that the phone is smaller and lighter, since that was one of the main complaints about the K800i. However, the new keypad has small circular buttons that are quite widely separated and are not obviously an improvement over the old keypad design. Perversely, Sony Ericsson have kept the fiddly joystick that really should have been changed.

Apart from these cosmetic modifications, not much has changed in the year since the launch of the K800i. Its photographic capabilities are the same as the K800i. In other words it's one of the best camera phones currently available. The camera is 3.2 megapixels with autofocus (to enable your images to be sharper), a powerful xenon flash (better than the weak LCD flashes used on most phones), high quality optics (as you'd expect from Sony, one of the leading makers of digital cameras) and a 16x digital zoom. One new feature is something that Sony Ericsson call "Photo fix", which adjusts the light balance, brightness and contrast of the image - a useful feature if you don't have access to image-editing software on a PC. The camera also has Sony Ericsson's BestPic™ feature which lets you automatically take nine photos in a second, so that you can choose the best one to keep - handy for moving subjects. There's also a picture stabiliser, which helps to reduce camera shake. One design improvement is that the camera cover is now recessed, avoiding the problem that the K800i had with the lens cover sliding off. The video camera is also of excellent quality, recording at QVGA resolution. A video editor is included, so that you can edit videos on the phone.

The screen resolution is the same as the K800i, and is standard for high-end phones at 320 x 240 pixels and 262k colours. It's an excellent display.

In addition to the photographic capabilities, the K810i is also an excellent performer in other areas. It has a built-in music player that supports MP3, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and WMA formats, and also a stereo RDS FM radio. Audio quality is good, especially using the supplied headphones or an optional Bluetooth wireless stereo headset. It's also possible to buy an adaptor to plug in standard 3.5mm headphones.

The K810i is a 3G phone, and supports video calling as well as high speed downloads at up to up to 384 kbps. In common with the K800i, there's no EDGE capability, so 2G data transfer speeds are slow. Internal memory is a reasonable 64 Mbytes (enough for around 16 music tracks), so you'll want to buy a Memory Stick Micro™ card, which are available in sizes up to 2 Gbytes. Battery life is excellent for a 3G phone.

In conclusion, the K810i is an excellent phone, and offers a lighter, slimmer alternative to the K800i. Both are outstanding camera phones, with near identical functionality, but cosmetic differences. The K810i is retailing at higher prices than the K800i, so if cost is an issue choose the K800i. If you want to stand out from the crowd with a newer thinner phone, choose the K810i. The new K850i offers a 5 megapixel camera.

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Features of the Sony Ericsson K810i include:

3G video calling
3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, xenon flash and 16x digital zoom
Video recorder (164 x 144 pixels, 30 frames per second)
Second camera for video calling
Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Music player (MP3, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and WMA formats)
FM radio
MP3 & AAC ringtones (72-voice polyphonic)
MusicDJ™ (polyphonic ringtones composer)
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
Speakerphone
Sound recorder
3D Java games
Web browser with RSS feeds & picture blogging
Flight mode
Personal organiser, File Manager, Phonebook
Memory: 64 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB mass storage, Fastport, Infrared
GPRS, 3G data transfer (up to 384 kbps download)
Vibration alert
Triband plus 3G
Size: 106 x 48 x 17 mm
Weight: 104g
Talktime: 2.5 hours (3G) - 7.5 hours (2G)
Battery standby: 350 hours

Sony Ericsson K850i Review

2008-08-11T08:11:00.011+07:00

The eagerly awaited Sony Ericsson K850i should have been the best camera phone ever, with a 5 megapixel camera, xenon flash, autofocus & automatic lens cover. But problems with the keypad and camera mean that we can't in all honesty recommend it. Choose the Sony Ericsson C902 instead.

Sony Ericsson's Cyber-Shot™ range of phones have been a massive hit. The K800i quickly gained a reputation as the best camera phone on the market; the K810i changed the styling but not much else; the K850i is the one that moves the technology forward to the next stage, with its 5 megapixel camera and high-speed 3G (HSDPA).

First, the looks. Looks like Sony Ericsson were determined to restyle the phone. It's definitely less bricklike in its looks, and it's slimmed down a lot since the K800i days, which is a welcome change. It has a funky blue gizmo on the front and side, which you may or may not like (tip - buy the "Velvet Blue" model pictured and not the hideous "Luminous Green" option.) Now a word about the keypad design. We're really happy to see that Sony Ericsson have finally dumped the horrible joystick that marred both the K800i and K810i but whose idea was it to position the navigation pad in the middle of the keypad so that it overlaps the buttons? And why the small buttons when everyone knows that bigger is better? Grr! And why have Sony Ericsson introduced touch-sensitive keys that everyone hates? We have to say it: we hate the keypad!

OK, so let's talk about the camera. This is tricky. On paper, the K850i is clearly way ahead of the competition. It has high quality Cyber-Shot optics. It has a whopping 5 megapixel resolution. It has a xenon flash (superior to the LED flashes on other camera phones). It has autofocus (to keep your subject sharp) and an automatic lens cover that fixes the problem that the K800i had with the lens cover opening by itself. The camera also has a BestPic™ feature which can automatically take nine photos in a second, so that you can then choose which one to keep. There's also a picture stabiliser, which helps to reduce camera shake. A new switch on the side of the phone lets you switch easily between camera modes, much like in a real digital camera. Used carefully, the K850i can take pictures that improve on the K800i and are even better than the Nokia N95.

Why then is the camera the thing that most of our user reviews have complained about most? Read the reviews below for yourself: there are a lot of disappointed Sony Ericsson fans who have upgraded to the K850i only to find that they end up with badly exposed or totally black pictures. The problem, we suspect, lies with the flash. The design of the flash makes it very easy to place your fingers in the wrong place and completely mess up the flash, resulting in a dark picture. To avoid this you need to hold the edge of the phone (not the best way to hold a camera steady). But we suspect that there's more than this behind the problem, and that the flash itself may have fundamental problems. Whether these can be fixed by firmware releases, we don't know, but for us, a product whose unique selling point is potentially flawed is a fundamentally flawed product. For this reason, we'd recommend that you stick with the K800i or K810i or try the Nokia N95.

Anyway, moving on to the phone's other features, the display is a very high quality TFT ultra-high resolution screen and is very large at 2.4 inches. The media player is fully featured, despite not being a Walkman phone. There's also an FM radio equipped with RDS. MP3 and AC ringtones are supported.

The K850i is also the first of the Cyber-Shots to support accelerated 3G (HSDPA), which enables you to access the web and download files at broadband speeds. Nice to see that feature available to Sony Ericsson users at last. As this is a 3G phone, video calling is enabled too, and the video quality is pretty good, using a front-facing second camera.

Connectivity is excellent with full support for Bluetooth and USB, so it's possible to listen to music on a wireless headset and making it very easy to transfer music files between phone and PC. Battery life is pretty good, with a quite high powered battery to power the big screen and 3G. The built-in memory is just 40 Mbytes, but this is expandable to 4 Gbytes with a Memory Stick Micro™, and there's also support for the microSD™ format cards too.

So, in conclusion, the K850i is a 5 star phone that fails to live up to expectation. The flawed keypad design and problems that people are experiencing with the camera mean that we cannot recommend the K850i. Choose the Sony Ericsson C902 instead.

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LG Shine ke970 Review

2008-08-11T08:11:00.010+07:00

Following on from the success of theChocolate phone, LG's next release in its "Black Label" series is the Shine. Like the Chocolate, the LG Shine is a slide-design phone, and is very much intended as a fashion statement. Whereas the Chocolate was dark and mysterious, with its hidden touch sensitive keypad, the Shine positively sparkles with light and has a more conventional keypad. The reason for the name "Shine" is that the phone is highly reflective, having a shiny stainless steel body and a large LCD display that turns into a mirror when not in use. It's definitely a cool-looking phone and one that will attract attention. The photo here doesn't do it justice. Be aware though that the metal casing does have a tendency to pick up fingerprints and scratches.

When in use the display lights up, dimming after a few seconds of inactivity. Leave the phone for a little while longer and it miraculously turns into a mirror - an effect that will have you watching with anticipation for at least the first week of ownership! Just be aware that the mirror screen isn't that easy to see in sunlight. Below the screen is a roller with two buttons. These let you navigate around the icons on screen when the phone is closed. It has to be said that the roller isn't the easiest user input method ever invented. LG should have learned their lesson after the problems with the touch-sensitive buttons on the Chocolate! Also on the side of the phone is the MP3 button, which lets you use the phone as a music payer when closed. It's a neat and effective design. Open up the slide and you find a fairly conventional metal keypad. It's not touch-sensitive thankfully, but is almost flat. In practice the keypad poses no difficulties and is similar to the keypad found on Motorola's RAZR series of ultraslim phones. It lights up blue when in use.

In terms of features, the Shine is not lacking. The camera has 2 megapixels and uses a Schneider-Kreuznach lens. Now that 2 or 3 megapixel cameras are available in phones, it's the quality of the optics that dictate picture quality, and the Shine does produce good quality pictures for a phone. The camera is equipped with autofocus, and has an LED light for night-time photography. It also has a video camera. The display is of high quality, being a TFT screen with 262,00 colours and 240 x 320 pixels - virtually the industry standard for high-end phones nowadays. As already mentioned, there's an MP3 player that supports a wide range of file formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+ and AAC++. A stereo headset is supplied, and an optional stereo Bluetooth headset is also available. The LG Shine supports MicroSD memory cards with capacity of up to 2 Gbytes, so there's plenty of storage for music. You could realistically use a phone like this as an iPod replacement. Other features worth noting are Java games, a fast EDGE connection for downloading data, and Flight Mode for using the multimedia functions when not connected to a network. The battery life of the Shine is probably a couple of days in normal use, although the battery indicator doesn't seem to be very reliable.

We like the LG Shine, but it has more than its fair share of issues. It creates a very good first impression, with its metal and mirror looks, and when handling the phone, we get an impression of quality and durability. The stainless steel casing adds to the weight, but the phone is very slim and feels nice in the hand. All of the features that you'd expect from a high-end 2.5G phone are here. However, there are downsides to having a shiny metal phone: it scratches and gets covered in fingerprints, and the mirror screen is difficult to see in sunlight. The roller is simply unnecessary and annoying. The ringtone volume is too low and the reception seems to be worse than average. There have been reports of the Shine shutting down and then refusing to switch back on, but these are quite rare. If this happens to you, try removing the battery and trying again. If this fails, it will have to go back to the shop for a replacement. The Shine looks good, but just like the Chocolate, it's not the most user friendly phone that you can buy. Alternatives worth considering are the LG Chocolate, Motorola RIZR, Nokia 7373, Nokia 7390 and Samsung E900.

Features of the LG Shine include:

2 megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, autofocus, flash and 2x digital zoom
Video recorder
Display: TFT, 262,000 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Stereo music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+ and AAC++ file formats)
MP3, AAC and AAC+ ringtones (40 voice polyphonic)
Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
3D Java games
Document Viewer (.ppt, .doc, .pdf, .xls and .txt files)
Flight Mode
Caller ID (photo / video)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, USB
Memory: MicroSD memory card (up to 2 Gbytes)
WAP 2.0, EDGE
Triband
Size: 100 x 51 x 14 mm
Weight: 119g
Battery standby: 280 hours

Sony Ericsson K800i Review

2008-08-10T08:21:00.005+07:00

One of the best camera phones currently available, incorporating a 3.2 megapixel Cyber-Shot™ camera with autofocus and a bright xenon flash. Also comes with a music player, 3G video calling, expandable memory and wireless Bluetooth connectivity. The K800i can be your digital camera and MP3 player as well as a mobile phone. The only downside is that it's a bit heavy and bricklike. Stocks of the K800i are rapidly running out, so buy now if you want to secure this classic camera phone.

The Sony Ericsson K800i is the first 3G phone in Sony Ericsson's Cyber-Shot™ range of camera phones. It's the best of the Cyber-Shot phones so far, and in our opinion, the best camera phone available in the UK at the time of release.

Whilst large and a little brick-like, the K800i is beautifully built and finished. It's clearly a solidly constructed phone that should last well. The design is traditional and a bit square, but very nicely finished. The back of the phone shares many design features with the Cyber-Shot camera range and looks more like a camera than a phone. There's a cover for the camera lens, and annoyingly this has a habit of sliding off when the phone is in a bag or pocket, causing the camera to activate by itself. The keypad is well designed and easy to use, although the keys are quite small and may not suit someone with large fingers. The screen is large (2.0 inches) and of superb quality. The phone is heavier than average at 115g, but this isn't heavy for a 3G phone, and heavy phones are better at taking pictures because there is less camera shake.

At 3.2 megapixels, the K800i's camera has the highest resolution available at the time of writing (August 2006), but its the quality of the optics that really determines the quality of a camera, and the K800i doesn't disappoint. With autofocus and a real xenon flash (most camera phones have a weaker LCD flash that leads to poor exposure and red-eye), the K800i is a real digital camera, not just a toy. Picture quality is very impressive indeed, and is a match for many dedicated digital cameras. The K800i comes with a novel feature called BestPic™. BestPic takes nine pictures at a time, enabling you to choose the best. There's also a picture stabiliser, helping to eliminate camera shake. Naturally the K800i supports direct printing on PictBridge compatible printers, so you don't need a computer in order to print your pictures.

There's also a video camera, which also makes use of the picture stabiliser, helping to avoid shaky videos. It's not the best video camera around however, which is disappointing given the outstanding quality of the still camera. A video editor is included, so that you can edit videos on the phone. A second video camera is used for 3G video calling.

The music player on the K800i is of very good quality. It's an easy-to-use player that supports playlists. There's also a stereo RDS FM radio. Sound quality by the built-in speakers is good, but doesn't match that of the Sony Ericsson W900i. Stereo output to a normal or wireless headset via Bluetooth is supported.

As well as its outstanding camera and excellent music capabilities, the K800i is a genuine all-rounder. 3G enables 2-way video calling, fast music & video downloads and business applications such as email (although there's no Office document viewer). The K800i supports genuine multitasking, enabling you to talk and access other functions at the same time. A sophisticated web browser is built into the phone, displaying web pages with images as they look on a computer. You can subscribe to RSS feeds from your phone to get news, etc, and you can blog from your phone too. The K800i can act as a broadband connection for your PC, connecting via USB cable or wirelessly by Bluetooth.

The K800i is compatible with the Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™), enabling its memory to be increased to 1 Gbyte or more ( no memory stick is supplied in the sales package). This gives plenty of space for storing music and video. A wide range of connectivity options are available - Bluetooth, USB mass storage, infrared and Fastport (for connecting a charger, portable handsfree, cable or other accessory) - everything except WiFi in fact. Battery life is excellent for a 3G phone.

The K800i is an excellent mobile. Not only is it the best camera phone around at the time of release, but it's a good all-rounder. There are a few things missing, such as wi-fi and a document viewer, but there's no doubting that this is a flagship phone from Sony Ericsson. Disadvantages include the large size, fiddly keypad, and the camera cover that slides off too easily. A bigger irritation is the PC software that is supplied with the phone - this is difficult to install and needs to be addressed by Sony Ericsson in future releases. Compared with its predecessor, the K750i, the K800i offers a significantly better camera, 3G capability, a better screen and more built-in memory but is slightly larger in size and a bit heavier. Compared with the W900i, the K800i has a better camera and is more compact, but is not as good as a music player. A phone that excels in the camera department, but isn't the best in every other respect, we've awarded the K800i 5 stars, but only just! The K800i has now been joined by the K810i and K850i.

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Features of the Sony Ericsson K800i include:

3G video calling
3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, xenon flash and 16x digital zoom
Video recorder (164 x 144 pixels, 15 frames per second)
Second camera for video calling
Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Music player (MP3, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and WMA formats)
FM radio
MP3 & AAC ringtones (72-voice polyphonic)
MusicDJ™ (polyphonic ringtones composer)
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
Speakerphone
Sound recorder
3D Java games
Web browser with RSS feeds & picture blogging
Flight mode
Personal organiser, File Manager, Phonebook
Memory: 64 Mbytes plus Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB mass storage, Fastport, Infrared
GPRS, 3G data transfer (up to 384 kbps download)
Vibration alert
Triband plus 3G
Size: 105 x 47 x 22 mm
Weight: 115g
Talktime: 2.5 hours (3G) - 7 hours (2G)
Battery standby: 350 hours

Nokia N73 Review

2008-08-10T08:03:00.002+07:00

A high-spec 3G smartphone with a fantastic camera, music player, FM radio, video calling and loads of memory. Compact and lightweight for a Symbian phone, the N73 brings smartphone technology into the mainstream. Early versions of the firmware were problematic, but the latest phones seem to be much more reliable.

The Nokia N73 updates the Nokia N70 3G SmartPhone. The N73 is a lot thinner than the N70 and weighs less as well, making it one of the lightest smartphones. It has a conventional boxy design with a regular keypad very similar to the N70. The keys are a little too small for large fingers to use easily and the joystick can be fiddly too. The display is very large with an amazing 240 x 320 pixel resolution and 262,000 colours. Its one of the best displays on any smartphone.

As well as upgrading the display, Nokia have upgraded the camera in a big way. The N73 sports a 3.2 megapixel camera using the same Carl Zeiss optics and CMOS sensor that made the N70 a powerful imaging device. The camera has a built-in flash, 20x digital zoom, macro mode, plenty of optional settings and a photo editor. It doesn't perform quite as well as the best camera phones from Sony Ericsson, but it significantly outperforms its predecessor and is a very good camera. Video recording is at CIF resolution with a framerate of 15 frames per second. Usefully video can be recorded in either 3GP or MPEG4 formats. A video editor application is included. There's a second inward-facing VGA camera for making video calls.

The N73 is also a great music device. It has a music player that supports a wide range of formats including MP3, WMA and AAC, and also an FM radio with Visual Radio functionality to display information about the artist and track playing. The music player supports playlists and an equalizer lets you adjust sound quality. Sound is through dual stereo speakers or using the stereo headset supplied.

The internal memory has been expanded to 42 Mbytes and there's support for a hot-swapable miniSD card. This will provide bags of room for storing music tracks and videos, making full use of the possibility to record videos of up to 90 minutes in length. Connectivity is via Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and infrared. Battery life is very good for a 3G phone.

As always with Series 60 phones, the complexity of the software means that they are usually slow to start, slow when browsing menus, and can be prone to crash. Read through our user reviews below and you will see that the number one complaint about the N73 is the problem of the phone freezing or shutting down, often when receiving a call. This is quite a common complaint in fact, and for this reason we have deducted two stars from our overall rating. A phone that doesn't work is not acceptable, however good it may be when it actually works! You might consider the Sony Ericsson K800i as an alternative, although it's not a Symbian phone. If you want a Nokia, but have been put off the Nseries by this review, you might like the Nokia 6300, which has most of the functionality of the N73, but isn't a Smartphone and is much more reliable and user friendly.

The latest versions of the firmware do seem to be fixing the reliability problems however, and Nokia are very good at making new firmware releases available. The N73 is such a capable phone that you might want to take a risk, particularly as there are now such good offers available on new contracts.

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Features of the Nokia N73 include:

Series 60 (3rd Edition) SmartPhone (Symbian version 9.1)
3.2 megapixel camera with CMOS sensor, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, flash and 20x digital zoom
Video camera (up to 90 minutes) in MPEG4 or 3GP formats (352 x 288 pixels, 15 frames per second) and 4x digital zoom
VGA camera (640 x 480 pixels) for video calling
Photo editor & video editor application
Print photos directly from the phone with PictBridge printer
Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Stereo music player (MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/WMA formats) with playlists and equalizer
Stereo FM radio with Visual Radio support
Voice dialling and commands
Push to Talk
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email (SMTP, IMAP4, POP3)
Document viewer (Word, Excel, Powerpoint & PDF formats)
Java applications
Web browser
Advanced contacts database with support for multiple device and email details per entry
Memory: 42 Mbytes plus miniSD memory card (hot swappable)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, Infrared
3G data transfer (384kbps download)
Size: 110 x 49 x 19 mm
Weight: 116g
Quadband GSM plus 3G (WCDMA)
Talktime: 3.5 hours
Battery standby: up to 350 hours

LG Prada Review

2008-08-08T10:09:00.006+07:00

The Prada phone is a stunning phone featuring a touchscreen display. It's Prada-branded and arguably the best looking phone currently available. It also features an array of gadgets including a camera, music player and a built-in FM radio. Unlike LG's other fashion phones (the LG Chocolate and the LG Shine), the Prada phone pulls it off - it looks cool and it's practical too!

Well, LG have been pushing fashion phones in a big way in the past year (especially the Chocolate and Shine phones), but now by teaming up with Prada, they have produced their most stylish phone yet. Wait, it's possibly themost stylish phone yet. It's so cool it's not even allowed to have the LG logo on it, but is Prada-branded. Yes, it's the LG Prada, or to give it its proper title, the PRADA phone by LG. The Prada phone is the embodiment of minimalist chic, with its gloss-black finish, slender size and um, hang on, no keypad! Yes, this is a touchscreen phone, with buttons displayed on the screen. These are not like the touch-sensitive buttons used in the LG Chocolate, but actually appear on the LCD screen and change according to the current menu function (see picture on right). There are two real buttons just below the screen for send and return, so you can at least switch the phone on and off without any trouble! There are also side buttons for controlling volume, the camera and music player. There's a choice of themes, but the default is black and white, which suits the look of the phone very well. When not in use, the screen virtually disappears from view, just like the Chocolate. The Prada has some specially designed ringtones too, which frankly we found irritating, especially the ones called "Noise" and "Man". You can listen to these on the PRADA phone website.

Now, let's talk about this touchscreen thing. In theory touchscreens are a great feature because 1) they're really cool, and 2) they eliminate the space taken up by a keypad so you can make a compact phone with a large screen. But in reality they suffer from certain disadvantages - mainly the fact that they can be difficult to use and can drive you nuts. Successful implementations include the Sony Ericsson W950i and Sony Ericsson P990i, which both have a stylus for using with the touchscreen. The LG Prada has no stylus, ('cos styluses aren't cool) so you have to use your fingers to press the buttons. The buttons are quite small, so you'll find it easier to use if you have small fingers. So, this phone may be better suited to ladies. However, if you have very long nails you may have some trouble. The menu system is actually very intuitive, and once you've got used to pressing the screen, you'll find it responsive and easy to use. Texting is done via the virtual numeric keypad, which supports T9 predictive text. This is probably the hardest thing to get used to. If you send a lot of texts, you should think really hard before choosing the Prada. On balance, the touchscreen interface is OK. Some may find it annoying; others not. In any case, sometimes you've got to suffer a little to look good! One other thing to point out is that the screen and black casing will get covered in fingerprints very quickly (unless you wear Prada gloves when handling the phone.) Prada have thoughtfully provided a branded LCD cleaner, so you can look elegant even whilst cleaning your phone. There's also an exclusive leather case, but why hide away something this pretty?

Normally when a phone looks this good, the other functions tend to let it down. But with the Prada, it doesn't just look nice, it does all the tech stuff too. Nice to know when you're spending £400 on a phone! We're going to rush this bit, because the tech stuff is probably not what most Prada users need to know. Here goes: 2 megapixel camera with flash - not the best ever, but good enough for snapping friends in restaurants (or wherever owners of Prada phones hang out); music player; FM radio; email with support for MS Office attachments; microSD memory card (expandable to 1 Gybte); Bluetooth & USB connectivity; EDGE data transfer. Nothing significant missing. Battery life is slightly less than average (probably due to powering the huge screen!)

In conclusion, the LG Prada fulfils its role as a high-fashion accessory for those with enough disposable income to distance themselves from the Chav crowd. It does everything you'd want (and more too), it is very gadgety but without being nerdy, and it probably won't annoy you too much with its touchscreen unless you're very impatient. In which case, you probably didn't read to the end of this review anyway. The new LG Viewty isn't Prada branded, but incorporates a 5 megapixel camera and other improvements.

LG Chocolate KG800 Review

2008-08-08T09:42:00.011+07:00

           
  
The LG Chocolate KG800 is a beautiful phone with touch-sensitive keys that definitely scores 10 out of 10 when it comes to looks! It's available in a choice of black, pink or lilac. It has a built-in camera, music player and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The camera isn't the best and memory is limited, with enough space to store around 30 songs. Other complaints include poor battery life and overly-sensitive buttons. But despite these problems the Chocolate has been near the top of the best-selling list for the past year. It's now available incredibly cheaply and continues to sell rapidly, but stocks will run out soon, so get yours now if you want one!
From time to time a phenomenonally original phone is released. The LG KG800 (nicknamed the LG Chocolate) is one such phone. In an age when pink seems to be the "in" colour, the LG is brown (very dark - almost black) with a beautiful gloss finish and sliver detailing. The idea that it looks like a bar of chocolate is tenuous, but it's definitely an eye-catcher, and the more that you see the cooler it gets.
A sliding phone, when closed the Chocolate just looks mysterious. It's dark, with a dark LCD screen, and just an LG logo and a silver OK button to give any clue about what to do with it. The hidden keypad is touch sensitive and glows red when in use. When opened, the full keypad is available. There are also buttons around the edge for volume control and multimedia - MP3, camera and video. The design works well and looks fantastic, although the touch-sensitive keys are quite sensitive and take a little getting used to.
Feature-wise, the Chocolate comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera (with flash) and a video camera. The display is high quality. The Chocolate has an MP3 player that can handle a wide range of formats. Music can be controlled from the touch pad or with the inline remote control supplied with the handset. A headset is included and this plugs into the charging port. MP3 ringtones are supported, and there's 128 Mbytes of memory which is pretty good, although a memory card option would have been nice to have. Both wireless Bluetooth connectivity and USB are supported. Interestingly the Chocolate can function as a mass storage device with software to enable photos, videos and music tracks to be dragged and dropped between phone and PC.
The Chocolate is quite slim and compact and weighs just 83g, making it an ideal handbag companion. Equally it will easily fit into a jeans pocket. The keypad is sensitive to touch and heat, so it won't be activated when in a bag. Battery life is below average and the phone will need charging every few days.
The Chocolate is definitely a cool phone to be seen with but it does have its problems. The touch sensitive buttons look fantastic, but have been known to drive people insane! The Chocolate is also not the most reliable phone ever, and suffers from poor battery life. Before buying, also consider the Samsung E900 and the newer LG Shine. 
Features of the LG Chocolate KG800 include:
1.3 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and      flash
Video camera
Display: TFT, 256,000 colours, 176 x 220 pixels
Music player (supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, AAC++ and      WMA file formats)
MP3 ringtones (64 voice polyphonic)
Messaging: SMS, EMS,      MMS, Email
Java games
Memory: 128 Mbytes
Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, USB
WAP 2.0
Triband
Size: 95 x 48 x 15 mm
Weight: 83g
Battery standby: 200 hours
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Samsung G600 Review

2008-08-08T09:41:00.006+07:00

     
  
The G600 is a fantastic phone. It combines fab looks with a superb 5 megapixel camera, a fully featured music player and 1 Gbyte of memory. It avoids the touch-sensitive keys of recent Samsungs, making it a totally practical phone to use. We can't praise this phone enough - go on, buy it now! Available in black, pink, purple and silver. The Belle version is a chic burgundy colour that comes with free nail varnish - go for it, girls!
 The Samsung G600 brings the power of a 5 megapixel camera into Samsung's now-classic slimline slider format. Samsung just keep pushing the boundaries of what's technically possible, and the G600 has an amazing spec and a beautiful design to match. Samsung don't always make perfect phones - the E900 and U600 irritated some users with their touch-sensitive buttons - but the G600 gets everything just right and is destined to become a classic. Whilst it lacks the wow factor of the LG Chocolate or the Apple iPhone, it's just a fantastically good phone to use with nothing to detract from the experience.
At Mobile Phones UK, we like to start reviewing phones with a look at the outside. Samsung's slider design has been around for about 3 years now, and has replaced the clamshell as the UK's most popular format. The G600 opens and closes with an easy sliding action, and has a smooth silky finish that's glossy but not a fingerprint magnet like some. The G600 is not an ultra-slim phone like the U600, but at 15mm it's certainly not a fatty. It's a good practical size, and at 48mm wide it's a couple of millimetres narrower than some of the ultra-slims, which doesn't sound like much, but makes the phone easier to hold. The keypad is responsive when pressed and there are no touch-sensitive keys. The screen is large at 2.2 inches diagonally, and with 16 million colours and 240 x 320 pixels is Samsung's best screen ever. The camera is well protected behind the slide: to use it you open the slide to reveal the lens and flash. Frankly it's hard to see how the physical design could have been improved. 5 stars so far.
The G600's camera is a 5 megapixel beast with autofocus, LED flash and 4x digital zoom. The only previous phone with a 5 megapixel camera is the enormous Nokia N95, so there's really no comparison between the two. The closest competition in camera terms is probably Sony Ericsson's K810i with its 3.2 megapixel camera. Even though the Samsung beats the Sony in megapixel terms, the K810i can still (just) keep its crown as camera king for two reasons: better optics make for a (slightly) better quality image and the K810i's xenon flash beats the LED flash on the G600 for brightness. But still the G600 is an impressive camera phone and Samsung are now very close at Sony's heels when it comes to mobile photography. The G600 features two useful camera modes - panorama mode lets you take pictures of wide views such as landscapes, and macro mode lets you take close-up shots. There's a built-in picture editor, and direct printing to a Pictbridge-compatible printer is supported. High quality video recording at 640 x 480 pixels is also available.
After a camera, the next most important gadget in a mobile is a music player, and the G600 doesn't disappoint. It's Samsung's best music player so far. Every major format is supported (MP3, AAC, AAC+, 3-AAC+ and WMA). There's support for wireless Bluetooth stereo headsets - in fact there's support for dual headsets, which means that a friend can listen to your music at the same time if you wish. The G600 has a new music player interface with a dedicated music library. You can create playlists and organise your music by artist, album or genre. It's as easy to use as an iPod. An FM radio is also built in. Memory isn't a problem either as the G600 has built-in user memory of 40 Mbytes plus a 1 Gbyte memory card supplied in the sales package.
There are plenty of other features - highlights include a document viewer, offline mode, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, and quadband. Battery life seems to be quite good - you should get a few days' usage, depending on how much you use the multimedia features and the Bluetooth.
Can we find fault with the G600? Nope! Do we love it to bits? You bet! The G600 is a very strong contender for Phone of the Year 2007 and we'd be surprised if it isn't the best-seller in the second half of 2007.
We've been surprised how many of our user reviews have criticised the G600. The main complaint seems to be the camera. We can only assume that people are using the wrong camera settings (make sure that you set the camera resolution to maximum). The G600 may not be able to match the picture quality of the Sony Ericsson K810i or the Nokia N95, but it's still a darn good camera phone! The new Samsung G800 is an even better camera phone, incorporating an optical zoom.

Apple iPhone 3G Review

2008-08-08T09:29:00.002+07:00

The iPhone 3G is an amazingly user-friendly touchscreen phone. It includes many powerful features such as GPS navigation, OS X applications, fast web browsing, Apple's famous music-playing capabilities, up to 16 GB of built-in memory, and Wi-Fi support. But at the same time it's a very expensive device that misses a number of features that we've come to expect from high-end smartphones.

The iPhone 3G. Another difficult phone to review. Some will love it, some will hate it. Let's try to steer a middle path and avoid the hate mail we received after our original iPhone review last year!

The original iPhone was a flawed beauty. It was one of the first touchscreen-driven phones, and probably the most user-friendly. It had tons of memory, and was one of the best music players on the market. Other great features included the Safari web browser, Google maps, a brilliant LCD display to make the most of the multimedia features, and WiFi support too. But on the bad side, it was phenomenally overpriced and was locked to O2. It had a very poor quality camera compared to the competition. It lacked 3G (a major problem in a multimedia phone, and the only smartphone on the market to be missing 3G) and had limited Bluetooth connectivity, with no filesharing and no support for stereo Bluetooth headsets. Battery life was also poor, and there were various other limitations, such as the omission of MMS. The whole thing clearly demonstrated Apple's lack of experience as a cell phone manufacturer.

So, one year on, has Apple learned its lessons and fixed the problems? Well, the first lesson that Apple has learned is that it needed to release the iPhone worldwide simultaneously. No waiting 6 months for the second generation to appear in the UK. 6 months is a heck of a long time in technology! So Apple learned this lesson and released the iPhone worldwide on 11 July 2008. Secondly, they learned that the first iPhone was too expensive, and so the second generation model is cheaper. Still expensive (£159 for the 16 GB version on a £30 per month contract), but not quite as expensive as before. Still, let's have a reality check here - the iPhone 3G is still the most expensive smartphone on the market.

What about the phone itself? Well, clearly it's a 3G phone, so this fixes the single biggest complaint about the original iPhone. But remember that every single smartphone on the market has this feature, so this is nothing special. However, it does mean that finally the user can make the most of that huge screen and Safari web browser for a really outstanding mobile browsing experience. The 3G feature also supports the music downloading capability of the phone, and we can start to see the second generation iPhone fulfil its potential as a true multimedia device. We'd be mean not to say that it's a fantastic platform for all kinds of multimedia.

The camera is one feature that hasn't really got any better. Apple make a big deal about how user friendly the camera is - it's certainly easy to take pictures (partly because it totally lacks any useful features such as a flash, macro, autofocus, etc that all of Apple's competitors include as standard), and the photo management system is nice too, but the camera quality still lags well behind phones such as the Nokia N95 or Sony Ericsson C902. Some other stuff that we take for granted is missing too, like MMS and video calling for instance.

But the new iPhone does include some powerful new features. First up, there's GPS, combined with Google maps. With the iPhone's huge screen, this is a brilliant implementation of satellite navigation. You can use this for in-car or pedestrian navigation, and can use keyword searches to find places like nearby cafes, etc. Traffic information is also available. Another feature is the App Store, where you can browse, download and buy third-party applications for your iPhone.

So, what to conclude? The iPhone 3G is still a strange kind of phone. Some things it does incredibly well. Others it does badly. Overall it's definitely a big improvement over the original iPhone. Is it worth the money? It really depends what you want from your phone, and what kind of compromises you're willing to make.

Features of the Apple iPhone 3G include:

OS X Operating System
Assisted GPS
2 megapixel camera
Display: 480 x 320 pixels (3.5 inch) touchscreen
Music player (AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV formats)
Memory: 8 Gbyte or 16 Gbyte flash drive
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), 3.5mm headphone jack
WAP, EDGE, HSDPA
Size: 115 x 62 x 12.3 mm
Weight: 133g
Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) plus UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
Talktime: 5 - 10 hours
Battery standby: 300 hours
Audio playback: Up to 24 hours

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