Verizon to get LG VX9400 on March 23?

Liking VCAST TV but that Samsung u620 -- the only supported handset at the moment -- isn't doing anything for you with its submicronic display? We can't blame you, especially after we laid eyes on that rather comely VX9400 from crosstown rival LG at CES a couple months back. A tipster is reporting that the pivot display VX9400, which was originally thought to be scheduled to launch alongside the u620, will end up dropping on the 23rd of this month in VCAST TV markets. Not too painful of a delay, eh? Pricing should come in at $350 full retail, $250 on a one-year contract after rebate, or $200 if you like that mobile TV action enough to sign up for two full years. Launching the same day should be the Samsung u540 at $80 after rebates on a two-year agreement (we'll take the VX9400, please).

Hands-on with the LG Prada

At the O2 booth at CeBIT we had an opportunity to go hands-on with much-loved but not often touched LG KE-850-based Prada. We have been diggin' this phone since we first laid eyes on it, but now that we have finally had a chance to use it a bit, we can't help but feel fairly underwhelmed. The build quality looks top-shelf, but feels like inexpensive plastic, and while the idea behind the touch interface is grand, typing an address in a browser was nasty. That being said, the lovely PR type from O2 told us that it was most definitely her fav handset and that she was hoping to take one home, so what do we know? We won't bore you with the specs again, but we will share the pics!

Samsung's SPH-W2500 slider with HSDPA

We're noticing a trend -- anyone think this thing looks like a healthy portion of the sliders Samsung has loosed in recent history? Sure, 13.8 millimeters is nice for a slider and all, but it's by no means groundbreaking; same goes for the 2 megapixel primary and VGA front-facing cameras, microSD slot, and media support. That being said, we're hard-pressed to dis any 3G phone that's managed to make it all the way to the FCC's hallowed halls, so we're going to cut the criticism right here and cross our fingers for an expedient arrival on US shores.

More details on Samsung's u540 for Verizon

Oh, happy day: another midrange clamshell for Verizon! Actually, we already knew about the Samsung u540, but last time we visited it we were a bit slim in the details department; a tipster has since managed to fill out the blanks for us. We don't have a price, but we're guessing that a minimal cash layout (after $50 mail-in rebate) is going to get you tethering capability with an EV-DO radio (albeit Rev. 0), microSD expansion, navigation, 2.1 inch primary display, and all the usual VCAST goodies -- minus VCAST TV, of course. Expect a launch rather soonly.

Apple scores absurd amount of attention with iPhone; in other news, sky is blue

Apple -- not unlike Sony -- occasionally shuns the big industry tradeshows in favor of talking bout its newest wares on its own time in its own venue. Cupertino does that with mastery just about every year (remember the iPod nano hype back in September 2005?), and its latest foray into "see why we are more special" came with the iPhone - Cingular announcement back in January during the heart of the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas. Per protocol, Apple said "bleh" and wanted to get its game on on its own terms, shunning CES for San Francisco's Moscone Center with the world-imploding iPhone announcement that scores of industry watchers had been intently waiting on for years. If there's one thing you have to give Apple credit for, it's marketing finesse and public timing -- not to mention its knack for generating free publicity. For example, Harvard Business School prof David Yoffie now estimates that the iPhone has generated about $400 million in publicity so far -- with none of that cost coming out of Apple's pockets, to boot -- an "unprecedented" level of attention for a new product introduction. We're pretty sure that's exactly what Steve Jobs was looking for.

Palm hires ex-Apple designer, puts iPhone in its sights

Even though Palm's Ed Colligan may not like it, Apple did go and "just walk in" to the mobile phone space when it announced the iPhone last month: fortunately for consumers, the company is starting to change its attitude towards the "Mac guys," thanks in part to the innovative software that makes up a significant proportion of the iPhone's appeal. So what exactly is the company doing to respond to this threat? Well, for one thing, the company recently hired Paul Mercer, a former Apple computer engineer with an extremely impressive resume. An Apple employee whom was the lead designer on the Finder team for Mac OS 7, Mercer also worked on the Samsung Z5 range, and founded Pixo, a company that original iPod owners may remember from the copyright section of that player: Pixo provided tools to develop the iPod's user interface. That sort of CV is exactly the type that Palm needs in order to tackle threats like the iPhone -- not least because of the guy's knowledge of the inner workings of Apple -- although it'll take more than just one clever mind in order to turn Palm around. Not that Palm has any choice in the matter: it either turns itself around or else.

Samsung F700

One phone that deserves a bit more attention than it has got is the recently unveiled Samsung F700. It features a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera, a full touch screen 2.8″ screen with a resolution of 440 x 240 pixels, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and full HSDPA compabiliy (7.2Mbps).

Full press release from Samsung.
SAMSUNG Unveils Revolutionary Ultra Smart F700The latest multimedia Ultra phone will be shown at 3GSM in Barcelona
Samsung today announced a new addition to its Ultra portfolio with the introduction of Ultra Smart F700. This revolutionary mobile phone will be showcased at 3GSM World Congress, the largest telecommunications event, next week. The F700 features unrivaled design and brings a superior range of multimedia experiences to consumers.
The Ultra Smart is a part of Samsung’s Ultra portfolio which boasts a full touch screen as well as QWERTY key pad. It reflects the recent trend in telecommunications industry of touch screen user interface and, for users who are not yet familiar with a touch-screen-only user interface, it also implements a QWERTY key pad and VibeTonz technology which allows them to feel the buttons accompanied by responsive vibrations. A “Drag and drop” method of touch screen was adopted for easier menu navigation along with music play list control for an expanded multimedia experience. Volume, play lists, brightness of screens as well as other menu control can be controlled utilizing the touch screen.
As speed is becoming crucial for data communications, Samsung has included the latest trends in mobile to the Ultra Smart F700. The Ultra Smart reflects the latest speed of 7.2 Mbps under the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network. Once the 7.2 Mbps HSDPA network completely deployed, F700 users can download an mp3 song (about 4MB each) in 4.4 seconds. A full HTML browser along with the QWERTY key pad enables easy access to the internet for e-mail and data services.
Using the new F700, business and creative professionals are able to view content on a stunning 2.78″ color display. The device features first class entertainment with a top-of-the-line 5 mega-pixel camera with auto focus and Bluetooth. With 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, it makes it easier to watch videos, listen to songs, share high-quality photos, or catch up on email on the move.
“The introduction of our Ultra Smart F700 reflects the needs of today’s consumers by including features such as touch screen, enhanced connectivity to mobile internet, and access to an array of multimedia content,” said Geesung Choi, President of Samsung’s Telecommunications Network Business. “The Ultra Smart F700 is a good example of how mobile phone will evolve in the future. Samsung will focus on bringing products that reflect and pursue our position as a premium leader”
Samsung F700 SpecificationsStandard: HSDPA 7.2Mbps, EDGE, 900/1800/1900 MHz + 2.1GHzCamera: 5 Megapixel with Auto-FocusDisplay: 262744 TFT (2.78”, 440×240)Features: Full Touch Screen, MPEG4/H.263/H.264/Real MP3/AAC(+)/eAAC+/Real, QWERTY Keypad, MMS / E-mail / JAVA / WAP 2.0, Bluetooth® / USB, Flash UI / Document Viewer, Full HTML Browsing, Offline Mode, BGMMemory: microSD™Size: 104 x 50 x 16.4mm

Samsung SPH-B6700

Over at Akihabaranews you can see a couple of images of the new phone from Samsung - the SPH-B6700. The phone will be available in Korea real soon and measures 8.7×5.4cm which makes it rouglhy the same size as an ordinary credit card. Even though it’s a really small product, it features a 2 megapixel camera, media player capabilities and a DMB TV tuner

K850i Cybershot

Hungarian website Terminal.hu looks to have scored a couple of pics of Sony Ericsson's yet-to-be-announced K850i Cybershot handset, which appears to boasts some specs similar to the company's rumored "Sophia" device. The most notable of which is is the handset's front-and-center 5-megapixel camera with a xenon flash, which gets backed up by a second 640 x 480 camera if that's a little too much for you. Otherwise, the tri-band handset gets some impressive if not all that unusual specs, with QVGA display of unspecified size, GPRS and UMTS connectivity, and Bluetooth (with A2DP), but apparently not WiFi, as was rumored with the Sophia. All that's squeezed into a slim 4.6 x 1.9 x 0.5 inch, candybar-style package. While there's no word on an exact release date just yet, it'll apparently make its debut sometime this spring, with an announcement possible as soon as CeBIT this week.

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

BOTTOM LINE
Hey, Linux community—your handheld is here. Now start programming so the rest of us can use it for the things we want to do.

PROS

Terrific screen. Elegant design. Excellent Web browser.

CON
No software available for many common tasks.

SPEC DATA
Operating System: Linux Internet Tablet 2007
Processor Class: TI OMAP 2420
Processor Speed: 330 MHz
Type: Linux
RAM: 128 MB
Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
Screen Size: 4.1 inches
Bluetooth: Yes
Networking Options: 802.11g
Megapixels: 0.3

Blackberry 8800

Blackberry 8800

BOTTOM LINE

A tremendously effective messaging phone, the 8800 adds a trackball and music player to the traditional Blackberry form factor. But the lack of 3G high-speed wireless will be an issue for Web surfers and laptop modem users.

PROS
First Blackberry with full keyboard, music player and trackball. Built-in GPS. Blackberry e-mail is still unmatched in ease of use and flexibility of merging many accounts.

CON

No 3G. No stereo Bluetooth.

SPEC DATA

Service Provider: Cingular Wireless
Operating System: Blackberry OS
Screen Size: 2.5 inches
Screen Details: 320x240, 65k-color screen
Camera: No
Flash Memory Type: Micro SD
Bluetooth: Yes
Web Browser: Yes
Network: GSM
Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
High-Speed Data: GPRS, EDGE
Special Features: Music
Notes: $299.99 with two-year contract

Samsung X830

Samsung X830 Review
The Samsung X830 (or the Samsung Blush as the pink version has been nicknamed) is a tiny music player phone with a rotating design. There's no doubt that this is a very trendy, cool-looking phone that is packed with features and is a real head turner. Available in black, white, pink and orange, the X830 is one of the smallest and lightest phones ever. When closed, all you can see is the screen and the click wheel used for navigation and controlling the music player. Swivel the phone open, and you can make calls and have access to a full keypad.
Now it has to be said that rotating design phones are not new, and have a sad history. Motorola introduced the V70 and V80 rotating phones a few years back. They were cool-looking phones and seemed good on paper, but were notoriously unreliable and difficult to use. Sony Ericsson's S700i was more successful, with a better design, proving that rotating phones can work if they are designed well. The benefits of the rotating design are that, like a slide phone, you can make a very compact phone with a large screen, and Samsung have really made the most of this with the X830 - it's a tiny phone! The X830 concept does work in fact, thanks to the introduction of the click wheel navigation. This makes it possible to access most of the phone's functions very easily without having to open the phone, and so the device becomes a very small music player/camera/organiser. The problems start when you open the phone to make a call. Because the X830 is so narrow, the keypad is arranged with a strange layout, with keys in unfamiliar places. With a bit of practice you can get used to this, but the other problem is that the phone becomes very long and thin when fully opened and is cumbersome to hold. This is the price you pay for having such a tiny & trendy phone!
Moving on to the functionality of the phone, we are impressed. Samsung have packed a lot of features into the X830. The main feature of the X830 is the music player. This is a high quality player that supports all of the popular formats including MP3, WMA and AAC. The click wheel and user interface make the player very easy to use. Audio quality is high with 3D surround sound and support for a stereo Bluetooth headset. Amazingly Samsung have packed in a whole Gigabyte of memory, giving plenty of space for storing music without the need to buy a memory card. With fast USB 2.0 connectivity and Bluetooth, putting music onto the phone is quick and straightforward. Flight mode lets you use the music player with the phone offline.
The phone is also equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera with video recorder, a speakerphone, Java games, 64-voice MP3 ringtones, fast internet access via EDGE and is triband. Battery life is acceptable but not particularly high.
Buy this phone for style, for its tiny size and for its great music player feature. Don't buy it if ease-of-use is your top priority or if you take a lot of photos with your phone.
You can find the best online deals for the Samsung X830 at Shopping.com.





Features of the Samsung X830 include:
1.3 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom
Video camera (MPEG4 format)
Display: TFT, 262k colours, 128 x 220 pixels
Music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+ and WMA formats)
3D surround sound
MP3 ringtones / 64 voice polyphonic ringtones
Speakerphone
Voice memo recorder
Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS
Java games
Personal organiser
Caller ID (Text/Photo)
WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0
Memory: 1 Gbyte flash memory
Flight mode
Triband
Size: 84 x 30 x 20 mm
Weight: 72g
Talk time: 5 hours
Battery standby: 230 hours

PhoneAday Rate: ۞۞۞۞
4 points

Nokia N73

Nokia N73 Review
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.
You can find the best online deals for the Nokia N73 at Shopping.com.

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

Samsung D900

Samsung D900 Review
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. 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 wireless Bluetooth 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. It's the best in its class, bar none.
You can find the best online deals for the Samsung D900 at Shopping.com


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
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