Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Nokia E71

It is slightly strange to think that the Nokia E71 has been around for nearly two years now. It launched back in mid-2008 when the iPhone had only just got its 3G upgrade and nobody had heard of Lady Gaga. You can read the fact that it is still relevant and receiving updates from Nokia in two different ways. Either it is a testament to the fact that Nokia is willing to support its previous smartphones long after they have been launched, or it shows that Nokia is slow in updating the software platforms that it continues to employ in virtually unchanged forms on its smartphones over the last two years. An investor or competitor from within the industry might be willing to adhere to the latter opinion, but from a consumer point of view these are both perfectly acceptable options and the truth probably lies somewhere between the two.

It is known that Nokia smartphones hold their value better than most other handsets released by rivals and this is certainly due to the amount of future-proof functionality with which the Nokia E71 and its peers are packed. The most recent life extending update that Nokia provided for the E71 came just a few weeks ago when the Ovi Maps platform was modified to operate on the phone. The availability of Ovi Maps on the E71 is a significant point of interest because it brings full turn-by-turn navigation to the smartphone and allows the E71 to stand head and shoulders above alternatives in the business-centred market in this respect.

After acquiring a mapping and navigation software firm, Nokia decided that it would use its financial clout to undercut its rivals and make standalone sat navs obsolete with the updated version of Ovi Maps. First it arrived on handsets such as the 5800 XpressMusic and the N97 and then it gradually made its way to more mobiles. People who picked up the E71 two years ago might justifiably have assumed that Nokia would never be working all the way backwards to their handset, but they were proved wrong with a recent update for the software, which Nokia actually said would be the last to add new handsets to the compatibility listings for Ovi Maps. Then it launched a firmware update for the ageing N86 which added Ovi Maps, changing everything once more.

The most recent firmware update for the E71 from Nokia, which actually came after it produced the compatible version of Ovi Maps, continues to stabilise the platform whilst simultaneously adding new features. The biggest new functionalities to appear in this release include better support for instant messaging using a native Nokia app and an upgrade that supports push email provided by Microsoft Exchange. The speed at which instant messages are sent and responded to has been heightened and Gmail users in the UK can now avoid a bug which messed with the organisational properties of the email inbox in service on the E71. Nokia has even continued to tweak the full QWERTY keypad, making sure that inputting text is getting easier all the time.

The support from Nokia which is keeping smartphones such as the E71 alive, relevant and appealing in the modern market is being supplemented from all sides by third party developers, keen amateurs and new acquisitions. Nokia recently picked up a geotagging and metadata firm, which means that it is likely to bring location-based services to customers in the future. The next version of Ovi Maps could therefore feature augmented reality services, or a separate app might bring these to various Nokia smartphones. There is no reason why the E71 would not be included in this upgrade, as it has all of the right tools to make it compatible with such services and Nokia has proven that it is dedicated to supporting it for the time being. There are currently no high end handsets which offer more in terms of connectivity than the Nokia E71's Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS and Bluetooth. The main restrictions would be posed by its RAM and processor, which look a little limited when compared to the 1GHz monsters which are sitting in imposing fashion alongside the E71 on the shelves today.

The biggest benefit of having a handset that has hung around on the market for a long time is that there are plenty of other people out there who own E71s and want to share news, reviews, updates and information about being an E71 user. There are a number of blogs and fan sites dedicated specifically to the Nokia E71 and even if you think that you are fairly clued-in with the mobile phone world, owning an E71 and visiting these sites is a must. You will not only learn about official updates to the phone platform, but also about special information and deals relating to third party software that has been developed for the E71 and other Symbian-based smartphones produced by Nokia.

The Nokia E71 was received very positively by critics when it first hit the UK and it seems that time has not diminished its ability to serve well any user that picks it up. Many manufacturers concentrate on shoving new products down your throat every few months and to be fair Nokia is guilty of this from time to time. However, the E71 proves that a solid phone remains a viable option well into the future as long as the creator is willing to provide long term support to further its original concept.

Saturday, 6 June 2009

LG Arena

Released in February, LG's new KM900 Arena touchscreen phone was one of the most hotly anticipated devices at the Mobile World Congress. But does it live up to the hype?

The first noticeable aspect of the new Arena is the excellent and exceptionally bright 3-inch screen. While more and more phones feature a large touchscreen, the aesthetic is still an incredibly pleasing one, producing a real sense of value when handling the phone. Well-built, the phone feels sturdy and looks great, with its brushed metal exterior and rounded edges. It feels smooth and compact in the hand, with measurements that make the iPhone feel a little chunky. In fact, for some users the LG KM900 may be a little too small and light (only 105 grams!). It feels great in a pocket, but some people may wonder if its worth the loss of screen real estate for pictures or video. Which brings me to one of the phone's greatest strengths, the new S-interface. Slick, with lots of 3D effects that perfectly utilize the screen's space. While every one has a touchscreen, the LG KM900 feels futuristic through exceptional design. The whole operating system acts like a 3D cube, allowing the user to rotate new faces, and new features, with gentle flicks of a finger. The menus also auto-adjust to vertical or horizontal orientation, allowing for users to choose the format that best suits their browsing.

Of course, even with an exceptional interface, a phone can only be as strong as its abilities. The KM900 Area excels in this as well, with an included 5 megapixel camera. Finally phones are beginning to catch up to digital cameras, allowing for full-resolution pictures without the need to carry multiple devices. Even more remarkable is the inclusion of 120 fps video shooting, allowing anyone to capture exceptional slow-motion. Additional details, such as an FM tuner and a 3.5 mm headphone jack (instead of the annoying mini-USB found in so many phones) makes the Arena an excellent value.

The KM900 Arena is a true multimedia device, serving as an excellent platform to store pictures, videos, and music. The interface for media use is interesting, flipping around like a rolodex containing all your music and video. The phone comes with 8 gigabytes of storage, but a hot-swappable SD card slot allows for limitless expansion. Even the speakers, usually a weakness in multimedia phones, are clear and loud, thanks to help from Dolby.

While not perfect, the LG KM900 Arena may be just the trick to shake up the cell phone world. It is still uncertain how many applications will be developed for the platform, and the small screen can be occasionally hard on the eyes, but a slick interface and a plethora of features make this phone an exciting next-generation choice.

Wednesday, 3 June 2009

Samsung Tocco Ultra

The Samsung Tocco Ultra is the future of mobile phones. This phone is set to top this year's sales and beat all other phones in style, slide, and touch categories. This phone's genius comes from the fact that the phone combines the full touch screen that is taking the world by storm and the regular old 3x4 keypad that we are all used to. This is done by simply having the keypad slide out from underneath the screen! The touch screen is a vivid full 2.8 inch Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) touch screen all kept in a very slim 12.7mm body. The screen itself is gorgeous, clear, and crisp. I love the clarity of the AMOLED screen, and this screen allows us to watch movies and view photos with better clarity, contrast, higher definition, and deeper blacks.

The form of the Samsung Tocco Ultra is what makes it unique. The fact that it has a touch screen and keypad allows users to be able to easily and intuitively scroll through menus, listen to music, browse the internet, and (of course) make calls. The keypad is a great relief for people like me who don't like texting on the touch screens. That was the one thing holding me back from buying the tremendously alluring touch screen phones popping up all over the marketplace today. The upgraded TouchWiz software helps as well. I love how I can go from dragging a widget across the screen to texting on the keypad.

When it comes to style, no one does it like Samsung. The Samsung Tocco Ultra is no different in that sense. The build of the phone is great quality and seems very sturdy, yet it is still sleek and elegant. The addition of the anti-smudge screen is a great one for people with oily hands.

The features on the handset are spectacular. One that is particularly unique is the feature of the "fake call." You record yourself and then when you feel threatened you can turn the volume up and then simulate a call so that the person trying to mug you thinks that someone knows where you are. Another great one is the addition of an 8 megapixel camera with a duel powered LCD flash. This is very high for a phone camera quality, and we thought the Omnia's camera was big with 5 megapixels. If you couple this with the integrated GPS you can actually tag photographs with GPS coordinates to help you organize them and use them on social networking sites. Even the video camera is 30fps. For those web junkies out there you get 7.2 mbps internet access. Way faster than lots of other phones out on the market now. If you were looking for good battery life this has it. 4 hours of non-stop-talk battery life beats out the Samsung Omnia by an hour! The phone only has 80 megabites of internal storage but it is capable of holding up to 16GB.

All in all, I would say the Samsung Tocco Ultra is a spectacular phone that will take the market by storm. I can't wait to get my hands on one. 9.5 out of 10 stars for this phone.

Sunday, 31 May 2009

Nokia 5800

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic also known as ‘The Tube’ comes with some engaging features such as the restrictive touchscreen which houses an option for handwriting recognition and has been a long awaited competitor to other touchscreens such as th iPhone.

Complete with a little guitar type pick to use in correlation to the screen. This can be either slid into the phone or worm around your wrist. Of course the purist can still use the tap on the screen with fingers method with great effect, and what is great with this is that the touchscreen is not too overly sensitive so cuts out those little mistakes made by slips of the fingers.

The rather impressive large 640 x 360 LCD screen is easy to manage and has some rather nice color for what is not and overly glossy screen, which is an advantage if you hate glare and love to watch movies. All put together in a neat looking slimline shell.

The sound from the large rear speaker is good quality unlike the touchscreen cells made by Palm; namely the now outdated ‘Centro’ or the newer Palm ‘Pre’. Added to this the speaker located on the rear of the cell is loud, what more do you want from a cell phone with XpressMusic within its title?

Also a must nowadays with a cell phone is the ability to take and share photographs which the Nokia 5800 has a 3.2 megapixel camera with a great LED flash, the camera takes some good quality sharp images outdoors but remember you will need to use the flash inside your house as with most cell cameras.

Touch and drag scrolling is a feature if the touchscreen which helps resolve those fly away text moments that you seem to get on some other hand sets. One thing though is getting used too double clicks and single clicks, but once mastered is not so much if a nuisance, but the other features of this phone well and truly make up for any inconsistencies such as double clicking.

Among the user friendly S60 5.0v software housed in this neat cell phone are the usual suspects Wifi, GPRS, and a free 8GB microSD card which fits snuggly into the side of the phone. An impressive feature of the software is the little button above the screen that when touched activates a drop down menu from which you can select the type of media experience you wish to have at a given moment. The Media Bars give you the options of the browser and sharing, movies, music and photos.

Altogether the whole package in the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic bundle is pretty impressive and about time that Nokia developed a decent touchscreen phone which is packed with user friendly features., large icons, onscreen QWERTY keyboard, great looking video and graphics capability for the gamer and movie enthusiasts. It will quite easily stand up to anything in a similar price range from Palm or iPhone.

One thing that Nokia did forget is the whole shake your screen and make great effects application, but it was not missed.

Sunday, 24 May 2009

Sony Ericsson W595

Looking into mobile phones and doing reviews again. Today we will be looking at the Sony Ericsson W595. This phone is sharp looking, and sleek, if you like a stylish mobile phone you should seriously consider picking this as one that will be your main mobile phone for a while.

The Sony Ericsson has this awesome extra, its built-in stereo speakers, this way you can not only have yourself listening to that music, but your friends can share in the songs you have loaded on your mobile phone. To get those songs on your phone you will need to find them and of course purchase them. You can find them on TrackID. Plus this mobile phone has 2 GB of memory, which equals up to 1900 songs you can save on your W595. That's a whole lot of music to jam too. Plus the Sony Ericsson has what is called shake control. You want to turn the phone up or down, or the song, just shake the phone and it will adjust. Now that is one sweet extra to have on a mobile phone!

The screen has 18 bit colour, and not only that but the memory can be expanded up to 8 GB. That's a bunch of more songs that you can put on your mobile and share with your friends.

You have more than one colour choice for the Sony W595, in active blue, cosmopolitan white, jungle grey, and ruby black. It's better than one or two colours only so at least you have a variety, and of course you have to remember it will depend on what the store you go to get your mobile phone has, they may be out of a colour at the time you go.

The phone is lightweight at 104 grams; the camera mode offers you digital zoom, photo feed, geo tagging, photo fix, camera, video recording, and picture blogging. Of course you have the ability to watch video's on your mobile too, plus media, and games also available. There is the ability to listen to FM radio too.

Mega bass is also available when you listen to all those songs you can put onto your mobile phone. Bluetooth connectivity is also compatible with this mobile. This mobile phone is one of the nicest phones that are available out there at present. You will be amazed by the songs and how they sound with the great technology that Sony Ericsson has put into this mobile phone.

You have enough choices for the colours that you won't be stuck with a boring colour it that is important to you of course. There is a bunch of memory on the Sony Ericsson W595 and it can be added to and boosted up to a whopping 8 GB. That's a great bunch of memory and should be able to allow you to have a great library of music available and have some awesome pictures that you can keep on your phone.

Thursday, 21 May 2009

Samsung G600

Mobile phones are common and ordinary but the companies that make them can give them life. The different features on a phone is what labels each one to be your own, your child's, your spouse, your friends, and more. Individuality, we have it in clothing, homes, and cars so why not on a mobile phone? One company in particular makes phones that is conveniently customized to suit your needs and that is Samsung. With all the many features that is offered on the Samsung G600 you can see why this phone would be a choice for anyone. What does it offer?

The Samsung G600 features a TFT touchscreen display with 256K colour. It allows you to download the ringtones you want as well as wallpapers and more. You can download MP3 ringtones to get an ultimate sound on your phone. You can also add Polyphonic ringtones as well.

If you don't have time to add each caller to your contact list you can view back at a certain person who called you by checking the call records. This feature keeps track of 30 each; dialled, missed, and received. This will allow you time to add the contact without losing their number. You can accumulate 1000 addresses in your phone book. To each one of them you can add an email address, birthday, work, home, and mobile number, place of employment, website, and so much more. This gives you access to all their information by simply clicking on the contact feature.

Messaging can be so much fun when you have a phone that is set up to message. You can send SMS, MMS, and Emails all from your mobile phone anywhere and at anytime. This is an excellent feature when you have kids that are able to go out of the house. It also features a browser that can give you some time on the internet while you have a free moment.

One of the best features on this mobile phone is the camera. It is a super 5.0 megapixel built in camera, which is by far one of the better cameras on a phone. The standard megapixel for a mobile phone is the 2.0 megapixel which takes good pictures but it doesn't compare to the quality on the 5.0. The camera offers a autofocus which allows you to point and shoot for a great picture. It also features the image stabiliser to reduce blurry pictures. This is a good feature sometimes but when you are taking the picture of a lifetime you want to have complete control. You can also use the videocall camera feature available on this model.

Organise your life with the built in organiser that will get you to your appointments quick and easy. You can also use voice memo so you can make yourself notes to play back later. Using pen and paper is reliable but sometimes you don't always have it available with you and that is when you can use the voice memo.

Other features include Bluetooth capability, downloadable games, and vibration ring. This is all available with the Samsung G600.

Monday, 18 May 2009

LG KS360

For those consumers who prefer a basic mobile phone you won't go wrong with LG KS360. There are phones that can do just about anything that a consumer needs it to do but for some these gadgets can be very confusing and discouraging. Why pay a lot for features that you don't want to use? Most of the mobile phones come complete with everything and some come complete with only the basics. LG knows how to make a mobile phone that is convenient for everyone.

You can take great pictures with the LG KS360 mobile phone. It features a 2.0 megapixel camera built in with digital zoom. You can also record a short clip of video to save and email to someone on your contact list. Email a short clip of your child's favourite star that you passed by on your way to work today. It's easy to work as well. You just press the camera feature on your mobile phone and prepare to snap a picture. Although some may argue, a 2.0 megapixel can take great pictures. You can send snap shots to friends and family all around the world. Let the in-laws know what they are missing while you and your family are basking in the sunshine on the beach.

You can have your favourite rings tones downloaded on your phone to help you personalize this quality phone. You can choose MP3 and Polyfone ring tones on any site that has what you are looking for. Transfer a ring tone between you and another mobile phone user. This phone also offers a vibrating ring tone incase you are in a meeting or unable to be disturbed while you are at work. Sometimes you just want to have quality time with the kids without the interruptions of a ringer. Setting your phone on and off of vibrate is quick and easy to do.

If you like to text to keep up with your kids you will love the messaging features on the LG KS360. You can choose SMS, MMS, T9 text function, email, and internet browsing so you have something to occupy your time on that long trip to work every day. Search ebay while you ride or let your kids browse while you are driving. Sometimes younger children can be occupied with this feature while you are trying to make it to an appointment or while you wait. You can send an email along with a picture that you took during the day.

Another great feature to the LG KS360 is the FM radio that is built in. Plug in the headphone set and begin listening to all your local radio stations. This is a free service and can operate with any compatible set of headphones. Choose the station according to your mood or your favourite decade of music. Put yourself in a better mood by listening to your radio.

The LG KS360 mobile phone weighs only 3.8 ounces and can fit into almost any pocket. Additional features of this model include a full QWERTY keyboard, voice memo, built in hands free control, instant messaging ability.