HTC Touch Diamond2 Review

The HTC Touch Diamond 2 is the long awaited update to the popular Touch series. The latest irritation of the device includes some much needed upgrades including better camera, sharper display, upgraded TouchFlo and a more powerful performance.

HTC Touch Diamond2 Design:

The HTC Touch Diamond2 features a beautiful 3.2 inch resistive touchscreen display that boasts 480×800 pixels and 65,000 colors. The screen is vibrant with colors and provides a great and rich user experience.

The phone also features a 5 megapixel camera that takes some very stunning photos. Except for the paltry flash which makes the camera virtually useless in low light, it is more then sufficient to use as a backup camera. It also camcorder functionality and shoots VGA at 15fps. More over it can support video conferencing.

Wireless features include GSM 850/900/1800/1900 as well as 3G HSDPA 900/2100. Bluetooth 2.0 is supported with A2DP and not only that but stereo FM radio as well as A-GPS support.

Overall the device is a better design from the previous version and includes more high quality material which makes the phone look more sophisticated. There are only 4 physical buttons on the front of the phone, a call send, end as well as back button and of course the Windows button.

Performance:

The device, while not the perfect mobile phone, performs much better then its predecessor. The phone includes a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A processor with 512MB of ROM and 288MB of RAM. The phone is very responsive and although the device is not multi touch it is a step-up from most Windows Phones.

Concerning web browsing, Internet Explorer Mobile is not the best and although it renders HTML good, Javascript and others might not necessarily show up correctly. A much better browser option is SkyFire or Opera Mobile or Mini.

Call quality is not the best we’ve seen. There can be static or other abstract noises depending on network coverage. On the other hand GPS is very accurate and fast. Same thing goes for 3G support. Bluetooth works well but as with all stereo Bluetooth sets, quality is no where near as good as a wired headset.

Talk time is rated at 7.5 hours and standby time up to 15 days.

Conclusion:

The Touch Diamond2 is a worthy upgrade. Unfortunately due to the lack of a physical keyboard, those who rely heavily on editing documents on the road, texting or IMing should consider the Touch Diamond2 Pro.

Design

The 5530 XpressMusic is a touch based phone so we will start with the screen. The screen size is 640 x 360. This gives you much better resolution and more than enough room to navigate the device. It can display over 16.7 million vibrant colors. You can input information into the 5530 by either using your finger or the pen that comes with the device. I found that using the pen on this device was a little more difficult than using your finger, but it still serves it purpose. The 5530 also features brightness control, which comes in handy when moving from indoors to outdoors.
The dimensions of the device are 104.0 x 49 x 13 mm, and weights about 107g, so it fits snug in your handbag, pocket, or purse without taking up much space. Just because the device is a “touch” phone does not mean that it doesn’t need any good-old-fashion plastic buttons. Nokia knew this and has graciously provided us with power, volume, camera, keylock, and dedicated touch key buttons.
To find all the colors this phone comes in I had to refer back to nokia.com and the colors are: black with red accents, white with blue accents, white with yellow accents, black with grey accents, and white with pink accents. So really, there is a color for everyone, unless you’re razzmatazz type of thing.
The phone comes with 70mb of available internal memory, a microSD memory card slot that supports up to 16GB, and a 4GB micro SD memory card. The camera on the 5530 packs 3.2 megapixels, 4x digital zoom, an LED flash, and saves pictures in JPEG format. There is so much info on the cam that I could not include all of it. But all BS aside it is just a regular 3.2 megapixel so don’t expect Samsung Omnia quality photos from this thing.
As the name suggests the phone comes with a lot of music capabilities so Nokia didn’t do us any favors by including a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and built in FM radio (that’s expected).

Performance

If you’re into physical keyboards, don’t look here, but the 5530 features two types of on-screen keyboards which are pretty easy to use with a little practice. First one is the standard full screen QWERTY keyboard; the keys are pretty big so I had no problem texting or just writing in general. The second the alphanumeric keypad works just fine I also and no problem with it. Nokia also included a handwriting function which I do not see the need for, as I found it a bit hard to use and some of the letters that are closely shaped got mixed up and came out as the wrong letter. It is a nice idea however.
Music playback is supported for almost all the major file formats including mp3, wma, MTP, etc. The quality for music playback was better than expected. The 3D surround-sound stereo speaker’s work, but not as good as I would like to see on a phone dedicated to the music lover.
Web browsing on the 5530 XpressMusic is about as good as you are going to get from any touch screen music phone, and the web browser supports the major mark-up languages like: HTML, XHTML, and WML. The dedicated facebook client also works without any glitches as far as I I have tested.
Battery life: Talk times ranges from four to five hours, standby time up to 351 hours, video playback 4 hours, and music playback about 27 hours. These are not bad times considering the device is running off a BL-4U 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery so you should do fine, and if you need, you can always get an extra battery.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a phone to help you catch up on business while on the go this is not the phone for you. On the other hand if you are a fun loving pleasure seeker with a love for music than by all means go out and pick one up. Just remember to pick your colors wisely.

Design

The first thing you will notice about this phone is that it looks a lot like the Curve and the Bold put together in one neat little package. The Tour comes with a shell almost identical to the Bold, but with a more natural look. With dimensions of (W x D x H) 2.4 in x 0.6 in x 4.4, this phone is just the right size to take on the go. The BlackBerry Tour futures a dull chrome rim which is better than a light silver one; for obvious sun reflection issues. The battery cover sports a carbon fiber-esque that can be easily removed and replaced with a 3d party cover if you do not fancy the one it comes with.
Another design feature I would like to point out is the keyboard. If you chose your new phones on keyboard design alone, then go out and buy this one. The Tour has the best and most efficient keyboard I have found on any phone. The keys are nicely laid out, well spaced, and have a real good feel and grip to them. So you won’t find your fingers slipping off one and landing on another.
Tucked neatly into the upper-center of the Tour is a high resolution 480 x 360 screen. It is perfect for reading emails, browsing the web, viewing photos, or watching movies. I give them props for upgrading the screens they put into BlackBerry phones. Gone are the days when services such as mobile tv were rendered useless because the phones could not process them. The screen however does carry a slightly annoying black border around it, why they didn’t just extend the screen size is beyond me.
Located on the upper right side of the phone is a standard sized 3.5mm headphone jack, which is always good to have so you don’t have to go out and buy special headphone adapters. The camera, what can I say about the camera? It’s a 3.2 megapixel, nothing real special about it but at least it does both pictures and videos and beats the resolution on the iPhone by 0.2 pixels. The phone also does the microSD love affair, and you will find it located under the battry. This is our biggest objection with the design of the Tour as it makes swapping memory on the phone tedious.
Over all I give the BlackBerry Tour an 8 /10 for design. You might say why not a 9/10 well the reason is out of the many features this phone comes with WiFi capability is not one of them. Sucks? Yah I know.

Performance

The BlackBerry Tour is revolutionizing the CDMA market. Yes a lot of the features on the “new” software are not new to GSM BlackBerrys but for CDMA BlackBerrys it’s a step in the right direction. For one the BlackBerry messenger is now a little easier to use than the previous versions. And the software comes with messenger applications for MSN, Yahoo, and Google. A built in GPS chip should allow you to use 3d party apps. so you don’t have to subscribe to any of the navigation plans Verizon or Sprint has to offer thus saving you between $5-$10 a month.
Reception for this phone is great as expected; no trouble in that area. It also comes with world phone capabilities so it can work on GSM, CDMA, EDGE, etc. take this baby anywhere in the world and you will never have to say “can you hear me now?” You will still have to pop a SIM card in the back when traveling abroad though. Battery life is what you would expect from a smart phone, about 5 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time. So holding charge is not a problem for the Tour and definitely beats that of phones such as the iPhone and better yet the Pre.
A visual voicemail app. is included with the Tour, but as with many things from cell phone companies you have to pay a monthly acces fee for the service. If you really hate checking your voicemail the regular way, than by all means go for it. Me, I’m going to stick to my normal caveman way of dialing in the numbers.
The Tour is Bluetooth 2.0 capable. Profile (PBAP) and Serial Port Profile are supported. Bluetooth stereo audio (A2DP/AVCRP), DUN.

Conclusion

When it comes to choosing the right smart phone we have always been forced to compromise between productivity, size, networks, etc. But the BlackBerry Tour 9630 is offering some hard to beat features. While we will nitpick at its lack of WiFi and better situated memory card slot, those are minor compared to the advantages it brings. GSM Blackberry’s have always been ahead in terms of features, but with the Tour, Blackberry has finally decided to step up their game in the CDMA arena. And if there is one thing that should be said, the Tour does the global thing in impressive style.

DESIGN

The Blackberry Curve is the upgrade to the Curve 8300. The upgrades come in the form of a redesigned keyboard as well as a streamlined body, not to mention the thing is packing Blackberry OS 5 which is a mark improvement over the former version (OS 4.3).

That said I was pretty impressed with the design of the phone. I have been a previous Curve owner (until I fell for the Palm Pre) and while it did lack in some areas, it was a beautiful device nonetheless.

In terms of specifications the Curve 8900 packs a lot of nice features into a beautiful package. Starting off the features is a beautiful 2.44 inch (diagonal) 480×360 pixel Transmissive TFT LCD screen that supports over 65k colors. While not as bright as the Blackberry Bold, it still is a nice screen. Other features include a 3.2 megapixel camera that supports JPEG encoding with auto focus and image stabilization. It also has a flash and 2X digital zoom. He camera can also shoot video in normal mode at 240180 pixels and MMS mode which drops it down to 176×144.

Wireless features include 802.11b/g WiFi and can support WPA as well as WPA2 encryption both personal and enterprise. There is also Bluetooth x2.o + EDR which allows not only a Bluetooth headset but also handsfree serial port profile, stereo audio and dial up networking.

The media player is not too shabby either. It supports a variety of sound and video formats including the AAC/AAC+/Eaac+, WMA (both standard and pro), MIDI, WAV, and of course your common MP3 and 3gp files. On the video end there is support for MPEG4, XciD, DivX, h.263 AND wmv3.Ringtones can be used from any of the variety of audio codec’s listed so there will be no need to download premium ringtones from rip off sites.

The phones dimensions are 4.29 inches long by 2.36 inches wide and .053 inches thick. Weight is only 3.87 ounces with the battery in and while I are on the battery issue, the phone comes with a 1400 mAHr removable battery that is rated at 5.5 hours of talk time and 356 hours of standby time.

PERFORMACE

In terms of performance the device performs great. Call quality is nice and so is the speakerphone although it is not as good as that found on the Bold. The camera is comparable but still lacks in quality when compared with that of other Blackberry phones. Video quality is also nice but yet again I can’t help but thing the Bold has a much more vibrant screen (in fact the most vibrant screen I have ever tested on a device).

My one major complaint in terms of this device (and it’s a big one), is the exclusion of 3G support. In a day and age I think its quite dumb for companies like Blackberry to release devices that do not take advantage of the speedier networks I have around. That said I found page load times to be quit excruciating. The average load time for a site like NY Times, CNET, Engadget etc was between 45 seconds to a minute. That is quite a contrast when you take into consideration the Bold loads site like these on average within 15-20 seconds. That said WiFi is a nice change as it will give some improvements over the EDGE network supported by the phones chip.

The OS is a mark improvement over the previous version. The menus look livelier and the Browser has been updated and now supports better navigation such as curser etc. More importantly the media player has been revamped, and while it will not afford all the luxuries of a dedicated media player or PMP, it is still nice. Music quality is excellent and bass is pretty good.

If you have a Blackberry with O.S 4.3 or earlier it would be a nice idea to upgrade if not only for the upgraded OS.

CONCLUSION

So in conclusion I think this is a nice phone. Unfortunately I cannot help but notice that there are certain flaws that make it a little less exciting. In any case your requirements will depend on the purpose of your phone. If you want something just for email and media then this is the phone. On the other hand if you surf the web VIA mobile you might want to look else ware. I suggest the comparable Blackberry Bold.

Palm Pre Design:
The design of the Palm Pre is one that speaks class. It has a beautiful 3.2 inch screen that carries a 480×320 resolution. The screen supports multitouch just like the iPhone and also supports the pinch, double tap etc. to zoom and navigate photos, webpage’s, games etc. The device is very small and fits nicely in the hand. Although the screen is a little smaller then that of the iPhone it has the same resolution and things display crystal clear.

As for the slide out keyboard, that is an added plus. One of the major contentions I have had with the iPhone is the lack of a physical keyboard. Thankfully Palm realized that not everyone is interested in the virtual keyboard and decided to include a Centro style model on it. Although it is as small as the Centro, it has more space between the keys so there is better accuracy. Also the keys are rubberized so there is hardly any slip. While the keyboard is a little cramped, trust me when I say it’s a lot easier to type on it then it looks. I have owned both the original MotoQ as well as the Blackberry Curve as personal Smartphones and while the Pre does have a smaller keyboard then the other devices I have been able to type at about the same speed. That said I will still say that the Curve’s keyboard is a little more refined then that of the Pre. But the Pre has a solid keyboard nonetheless.

Concerning the camera, the Pre has one that sports 3.2 megapixels. The picture quality is exceptional and unlike the iPhone it also carries flash as well as a metal back that can be used as a mirror for pictures.

Software:
This is the part of the phone that most people are concerned with. While there has been many phones that claim to be “iPhone killers” (namely the Instinct) and fail miserably the Palm Pre is different.
At the core of the UI is a Linux based OS called webOS. According to Palm they will have other phones that run the webOS so the software will be popping up on other devices around the world. That said I was very pleased with the UI. The gestures are smooth and navigating is pretty simple.

Unlike the iPhone the Palm Pre handles multitasking like a charm. Palm uses a system called “Cards” which allows you to open multiple programs at a time. According to Palm the system can handle a maximum of 12 Cards (programs) simultaneously. I was able to get it up to 16 and 20 but at other times when I only had 6 cards open, the phone would inform me that I had to close some Cards before attempting to open a another one. Basically put, the maximum amount of Cards that can be opened depends on its demands. While you can open up over 12 webpage cards without a problem, opening up the Pandora app, camera, YouTube, Music app and an email as well as SMS client will might overwhelm the system. The good thing about it is the device will not crash if you open too many cards. Before that happens, it will prevent any more from being opened.

The device comes with dedicated YouTube, Facebook and MySpace apps. Although the YouTube app works pretty well, it is prone to a few glitches (software related). I wasn’t too fund of the Facebook app as it was not as intuitive as that of the Blackberry. Secondly it’s just a glorified webpage. I found it less stressful and more exciting to use the normal Facebook website VIA the browser. And since it handles JavaScript pretty well, most things are in place. As for the MySpace app, it was better then that of Facebook.

The phone also has Pandora radio, ever since I used it on my previous Blackberry Curve I fell in love with the app. It does a real good job of the Internet radio and allows you to save songs as well as artists for further viewing. While we are on the subject of music, the built in music application is also very intuitive. While it lacks the patented “Cover Flow” that you will find in the iPhone or iPod Touch it does allow you to scroll through songs, albums and artists based on album cover. You can also download music from the Amazon online music store via a built in app (similar one can be found on Google Android). There is a wide selection of songs available and at a 256 bit rate with most songs being only $.99 and all being DRM free it’s pretty awesome.

The browser is probably the single best designed app on the device though. It is very intuitive and supports every type of finger function that is found on the iPhone including double tap to zoom, pinch to zoom in and out and full accelerometer for orientation changing. In my tests it loaded webpage’s as fast as the iPhone and the scrolling and rendering was just as good. I am yet to find a phone that could compare with the iPhone in browsing experience, but I can honestly say that this is on par with the browser on the iPhone.

Email on the device is also very good and allows you to view full HTML mark-up. That said I wasn’t impressed that the phone only syncs with the mail servers every fifteen minutes. I am used to getting instant feedback on my emails VIA my Blackberry. While it is a minor detail I wish there was an option which would allow you to change this. The mail client does support Exchange so that is a plus. The included SMS application is also very good and allows you to view messages in conversation format.

The only major problem I had with webOS was there were a few times when the software would slow up. So far the OS is yet to crash on me, but I would like Palm to get an update out ASAP that would fix a few of the minor performance issues some of the users have been experiencing.

CONCLUSION:
So in conclusion would I recommend the phone? Yes I would. But if you are in a contract I would advise waiting a few more months as the current news says Sprint’s exclusivity deal ends in January of 2010. And while Palm is yet to confirm this Sprint has said that they have the device through the end of 2009 and Verizon has said they hope to pick up the Pre when Sprint’s deal ends in December of 2009.

Technical specs of Sony Ericsson Idou

• Connectivity: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 + UMTS / HSDPA 900/2100
• Memory: slot MicroSD up to 8 GB
• Camera: 12.1 MP (up to 4000×3000), Autofocus, xenon flash, video (VGA 30 fps)
• Display: touch-sensitive, 3.5″, QHD (640h360), 16M colors
• Communications: USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, supports A2DP, Wi-fi 802.11 b / g (DLNA), TV-Out
• Navigation: A-GPS
• Battery: BST-38, capacity – 930 mAh
• Dimensions: 111x54x15-18 mm
• Price: To be announced
• Expected Release: December 2009

At that time we brought photos and video demonstration from the MWC in Barcelona, and now we are getting acquainted with the device in detail. First of all I would like to say that Idou is not a concept as it was nicknamed by some others who don’t see its future. New firmware comes out every day, stability of the software constantly improves, in our prototype the camera works already, there is a Touch Focus system, stable gallery, the majority of the menu. There are certainly and the incomplete parts, but we will not talk about it yet. After all, the device will appear in the market not very soon, in almost half a year, and many things can change. The main thing is to understand that the device is real, and it is in the interests of the company to release the device to the market. Looking ahead, I can tell you that Idou will appear in the fourth quarter, November-December, and will cost about $550.

Sony Ericsson Idou, as we said, is only the concept name, meanwhile the device index is not known, after all there is a lot of time until the release. The smart phone will not be in the  Xperia series, in this line there will be only Windows Mobile communicators, in particular Х2, which will be released closer to autumn of this year. Idou is Entertainment Unlimited, a new line, multimedia without limits. And for this purpose there is practically everything in the device: the powerful Symbian platform, new hardware platform OMAP, 12,1 MP camera with Sony Exmor sensor control.

Idou is a smart phone running Symbian 5th edition, the first device from Sony Ericson to be announced. It not just a S60’s fifth edition with support of touch screen, which is used in Nokia N97 or Samsung i8910 and is only compatible with Symbian Foundation, but a new OS with a number of differences. For example, there is a completely changed multimedia menu, gallery (the device strongly differs from Nokia touch-phones), a player, a desktop, and so on. Sony Ericsson completely customized the presentation of the majority of menus, there is nothing left from the quite boring S60 base. There are completely new icons, new arrangement of elements on the screen, modes and so on.

The camera interface is pleasant and convenient; it has a Touch Focus system, and also standard camera functions –face and smile recognition, geotagging and so on. Naturally, at this stage it is not meaningful to estimate the quality of a camera, so we will not show photos. Something pleasant for the fans of this brand – Idou video clips allow to write down in VGA permission and with the speed of 30 frames in a second.
The impression from the design and the assemblage is simply excellent, Sony Ericsson Idou looks beautiful, expensive and futuristic. The camera shutter adds charm, it slides smoothly, and just a little bit thickens the device. The materials of the case are pleasant, it is generally soft-touch, and the camera shutter is from metal. For the pre-selling sample the quality of work is high. All in all, it is, perhaps, the only touch phone which is completely not similar to the old iPhone style. Sony Ericsson Idou has its face, which will be remembered by many.

The slot of memory expansion, by the way, has a high-graded support of hot swap (slot for the card is situated on the left side, and is covered by a shutter) supporting microSD cards. The latter is actual in the standardization world, SD micro cards nevertheless are more widespread in comparison with M2, but touch-phone leaders Nokia N97 and Samsung i8910 which have built –in memory, seem more favorable, there is 16-32 GB built-in, besides the support of the memory cards. However, the complete set of Idou will also include 8 GB card, which is quite enough for the majority of consumers to begin with.

The screen pleases; it is 3.5” and has a resolution of 640×360 pixels, 16 million colors, which is absolutely identical with Nokia N97. The quality is also comparable; picture colors are natural, live. No stylus is provided with the device (again similar to N97), at such sizes of the screen this element seems unnecessary
On the top side there is the power button/change of profiles, on the right – the keys for the camera, switching of the modes of shooting, the start of gallery and the key for volume control. In its form, the arrangement of the keys on Idou remind the cameraphone S905 of Sony Ericsson. The keys are convenient, large, no problems with them.

There is no standard 3,5 mm audio-jack for connection sets. Perhaps, this is the biggest shortcoming of this device. Though at traditionally strong offer of every possible Sony Ericsson accessory, this moment will not be critical for the fans of the brand.

We would like to stop on this, next time we will tell you about the realization of some functions in more details. And, as a result, it is necessary to notice that Sony Ericsson has again managed to amaze everyone in the good sense of this word. Idou will wait, its popularity simply reads off scale. It is pleasant that new firmware come out regularly, the developers constantly improve the system, and the obvious difference is noticeable from what we have seen in Barcelona on Mobile World Congress 2009. The device is not something unreal any more. This is a working device, which will appear in the market this year. We are waiting impatiently for newer firmware, and we will closely observe, in general, the destiny of this smart phone. Stay with us, it will be interesting.

There are five reasons why a customer should buy cheat your way thin rather than other fat loss programmers. Firstly, if a person wants to lose his weight then he needs to change his diet and not the way he lives. Secondly, the customer should know every small detail about the company. Thirdly, it is very important for the customer to understand that one proper meal per day is very important. Fourthly, the customer should not follow any program due to its advertisement. And lastly, the customer should see that the particular program that they choose must recommend regular exercise.

The Cheat Your Way Thin program has been gaining a good amount of awareness recently as many health professionals have advocated it as a big and entertaining method to drop down weight. It is also a fact that different people may find different techniques easy for them depending upon their body. Cheat Your Way Thin Complete Program Package is a very consumer-friendly program. It is a very good program as it helps to reduce weight very easily and it helps to burn fat through metabolic activities.

The Cheat Your Way Thin program by Joel Marion has been expanding a huge contract of approval lately with shining consumer testimonials and specialist evaluations. And without a doubt, this curriculum can assist the customer reduce weight quickly although letting the customer to treat in customer’s preferred greasy foodstuffs. Thus, it is a very helpful program to shed weight quickly.

A key word here is – a compromise. Few people are ready to put up with the size and cost of the classical E90 Communicator type, not all are ready to tolerate a miniature QWERTY-keyboard smartphones E71 or E63. Nokia E75 has been created especially for this audience. Here text input is the most convenient; the size of the device is quite acceptable, as well as its cost.

Even though the E75 has a totally different form factor, this smartphone is one of the best devices with full QWERTY keyboard on the market, with the most comfortable keyboard to work with both hands. In the absence of significant demand for a strong functional, but very large and expensive device type Nokia E90 company rushes in a massive segment, leaving the continuation of E90 to better times. They only extend segment, attracting a new audience, which were not happy with the size of E90 or were not satisfied with the miniature keyboard E71.

Another important point which I would like to touch is the positioning of E series. If prior to this, E stood for Enterprise (corporate segment), now E stands for Efficiency (efficiency, productivity). Eseries devices offer the most balanced set of features, complete package. This applies not only to function but also design. Starting with the Nokia E75, with Eseries music memory cards are included; the same used in the best musical phones of Nokia, for example, the 5800 XpressMusic. Everywhere there is a 3,5 mm jack, support for all multimedia services of Ovi group, including N-Gage. On the Nokia E75, the new epoch in the development of Eseries starts, when a multimedia component becomes identical to Nseries. Differences are seen in pre-installed applications such as e-mail client in E75 (and also in E55) – the best on the market, it is ideally convenient and it is a giant step forward.

Design

Nokia E75 is designed in the form of traditional monoblock, but with a lateral sliding keyboard, the form factor was first used by HTC. The size of a smartphone can not be described as small, it looks neither too thin (with the help of sliding keyboard), nor too narrow. However, all within the rules, these are the sizes of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the majority of consumers do not have any problems with.

All the angles are smooth; the device is easy to hold. Quality materials and workmanship are at an excellent level, with the usage of active metal (this is stainless steel) – the battery compartment lid is entirely made of it, as well as the front panel edging. When closed, there id no backlash, the unit is almost monolith, even at the prototype stage. Connectors and slots of the mobile phone Nokia E75 are presented in a standard set: microUSB and the memory card slot are on the left side (they are covered with plugs), 3,5 mm jack on top and the connector for the charger in the bottom end. Everything is standard. On the right side there is a button to start the camera and recorder and the volume buttons. There are no stereo speakers in the device.
Camera Phone Nokia E75 is located on the rear surface, the module slightly projects from the Corps, and there is absence of shutter protecting.

Screen

Display of the Nokia E75 is standard of the latest sizes produced by the company, diagonally it is 2.4 inches, and the physical size is 36×48 mm. With the size and quality it coincides with the screens of such devices as the Nokia E66, N79, nevertheless, there is nothing unusual in this respect. The screen is made by TFT technology capable of displaying up to 16 million colors; it is equipped with a mirror substrate that provides visibility in bright sunlight. The display angles are large, information is virtually easily read at any angle. The brightness of the image is at a high level, with a conventional sensor light, which controls the level of illumination, depending on environmental conditions. Taking into account the size of the device and a horizontal mode of operation with full-size keyboard, I would like to see a much bigger display, the visual space is enough for more diagonally, but we have to be satisfied with whatever we have. Fortunately the screen is good, and not tiny.

Keyboard

E75 is unique, because it offers two keyboards at a time – digital and traditional full-QWERTY. The 12-button panel is quite normal, appropriate for short messaging. Frankly speaking, the frustrating thing is that the button switch off is combined with the button hanging call. Each time you press it, you see the menu change profiles appear. In addition to the standard function keys the phone Nokia E75 offers a selection (in the terminology of the manufacturer – One touch) keys for quick access to applications. Like the Nokia E66, they are situated around the navigation buttons, their size and tactile output are quite nice and comfortable to work with in any situation. The main element of this mobile phone, QWERTY keyboard, is very convenient to work with both hands simultaneously, the keys are large, with a uniform illumination, and there is also enough space to accommodate almost all the letters, which can not be said about that of a E71. When it is closed it seems to be an ordinary smartphone with a standard numeric keypad. Nokia E75 is currently the best handset with the most thoughtful keyboard. Another good point about the device is its weighing. In an open position the smartphone lies in the hand like a glove, no element impedes its recruitment.
I will not add anything else about E75 keyboard, as in my opinion it is the most comfortable keyboard of all relevant devices on the market (note – for work with both hands). It is not such a universal as the E71, but anyway, it has more ergonomics.

Communication and memory

The model has a wide range of communications capabilities for its class, it has a microUSB connector for connecting the cable, 3.5 mm headset jack and a thin slot for the charger. Nokia E75 is designed to work in networks EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, and WCDMA 850/2100, here there are no surprises. There is also a support for HSDPA. In general, the unit has a very high set of communication possibilities; here there is everything that a user might need. Version of Bluetooth, according to specifications – 2.0 + EDR, supports all the basic profiles. The speed of data transfer via Bluetooth is about 100 Kb / sec. The standard for business-smart phones Wi-Fi b / g. Nokia E75 productivity is identical to E71 and other smartphones of the manufacturer based on the base platform with one memory card ARM11 processor with a frequency of 369 MHz. The available RAM after booting the system is about 70 MB for a total memory of 128 MB. The memory allocated for the launch of an application (Heap size) and the size of the executable Java-application (Jar size) are unlimited. The amount of the internal memory is 256 MB; a storage of 50 MB is allocated for user data. The set has a memory card of 4 GB.

Nokia E75 is the first E-series smartphone with functionality Feature Pack 2, FP2 has brought many significant changes and pleasing features to the interface S60, and there is one thing in E-series which does not exist in other devices by default. For example, setting an indicator light, a new option in the phone book, and, most importantly, the desktop.
The accelerometer (motion sensor) is actively involved in the mobile phone Nokia E75, which automatically changes the orientation of the interface depending on the status of your phone. You can disable and if the ongoing upheavals impede you. Nokia E75 supports the application Active Notes, which is yet another step to improve the ease of communication with the device. It is rather a business application, and will not be of much interest to all users, but yet the possibility to consider it should certainly be taken into account. Multimedia capabilities Nokia E75, as I said, are at a height and are fully compatible with Nseries. This applies to the sound quality, time in playback mode and the player interface. There is even a 3.5 mm connector here.

Multimedia and Camera

Nokia E75 has a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and flash. With its quality this handset’s camera is better than E66 and E71, its module is quite different; it provides more natural colors and there is no care in the violet color. Closest to the quality of similar N-series is, for example, N78. Video clips are recorded to a maximum resolution of 640×480 (VGA) at 30 frames per second. Video format is MPEG4. Video quality is high and completely similar to most smartphones of N-series. The same can be said about the quality of sound recording. In this respect the devices of Nokia are traditionally strong.

According to the ongoing flow of events, Nokia E75 is one of the key devices for us this year, although at first glance it becomes clear that this form factor may not initially be too widely popular or in great demand. Nevertheless, Nokia, acts not too much as a niche, it is a great success, leaving no space for its competitors.
Nokia E75 is designed for an audience that is looking for maximum ease of input, but is not prepared to tolerate the high cost and large size of traditional communicators. The device is ideal, on the one hand, and too niche, at the expense of its form factor, on the other.
Whether Nokia will manage to make a side-slider a mass solution or not, is perhaps not clear yet.
Nokia E75 will be available in USA for $529

Full specifications of Nokia E75

Hardware

Dimensions

* Form: Side slider with full keyboard
* Dimensions: 4.40 x 1.97/3.15 x 0.57 in
* Weight: 4.89 oz
* Full keyboard + number keys
* High quality QVGA display

Display and User Interface

* Size: 2.4″
* Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA)
* Up to 16 million colors
* TFT active matrix (QVGA)
* Two customizable home screen modes

Power Management

* BL-4U 1000 mAh Li-Po standard battery
* Talk time:
o GSM up to 5 h 20 min
o WCDMA up to 4 h 20 min
o VoIP over WLAN: Up to 9 hours
* Standby time:
o GSM up to 11.6 days
o WCDMA up to 11.25 days
o WLAN up to 5.4 days
* Music playback time (maximum): 25 hours

Operating Frequency

* Nokia E75-2 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900/2100 HSDPA
* Offline mode

Keys and Input Method

* Full QWERTY keyboard
* Dedicated one-touch keys: Home, calendar and email
* Speaker dependent and speaker independent voice dialing
* Intelligent input with auto-completion, auto-correction and learning capability
* Accelerated scrolling with Navi™ Key
* Notification light in Navi™ Key

Connectivity

* Bluetooth version 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
- Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, BIP, BPP, DI, DUN, FTP, GAVDP, GAP, GOEP, HFP, HSP, HID, OPP, PBAP, SPP, SAP
* MTP (Multimedia Transfer Protocol) support
* High-Speed USB 2.0
* Printing
* Network (Raw). Direct TCP/IP socket connection to any specified port (a.k.a. HP JetDirectTM).
* Network (LPR). Line Printer Daemon protocol (RFC1179).
* Printing to file
* USB PictBridge printing
* Support for local and remote SyncML synchronisation, iSync, Intellisync, ActiveSync
* Micro-USB connector support charging, High-Speed USB 2.0
* 3.5 mm AV connector

Security Features

* Device lock
* Remove lock
* Data encryption for both phone memory and microSD content

Memory

* microSD memory card slot, hot swappable, max. 16 GB
* 50 MB internal dynamic memory

Data Transfer

* CSD
* HSCSD
* GPRS class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 100/60 kbps (DL/UL)
* EDGE class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296/177.6 kbps (DL/UL)
* WCDMA 900/2100 or 850/1900 or 850/2100, maximum speed 384/384 kbps (DL/UL)
* HSDPA class 6, maximum speed 3.6 Mbps/384 kbps (DL/UL)
* WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g
* WLAN Security: WPA2-Enterprise, WPA2-Personal, WPA-Enterprise, WPA-Personal, WEP
* WLAN Quality of Service: WMM, U-APSD
* WLAN Wizard
* TCP/IP support
* Nokia PC Internet Access (capability to serve as a data modem)
* IETF SIP and 3GPP

Communications

Email and Messaging

* Supported protocols: IMAP4, Mail for Exchange, POP3, SMTP
* Support for email attachments
* IMAP IDLE support
* Support for Nokia Messaging service
* Easy email set-up
* SMS
* Multiple SMS deletion
* Text-to-speech message reader
* MMS
* Distribution lists for messaging
* Instant messaging with Presence-enhanced contacts
* Cell broadcast
* IBM Lotus Notes Traveler

Call Management

* Integrated handsfree speakerphone
* Automatic answer with headset or car kit
* Any key answer
* Call waiting, call hold, call divert
* 3GPP VCC
* Call timer
* Logging of dialled, received and missed calls
* Automatic redial and fallback
* Speed dialing
* Fixed dialing number support
* Vibrating alert (internal)
* Side volume keys
* Mute key
* Contacts with images
* Conference calling
* VoIP

Browsing and Internet

* Supported markup languages: HTML, XHTML MP, WML, CSS
* Supported protocols: HTTP, WAP 2.0
* TCP/IP support
* Nokia browser
o JavaScript version 1.3 and 1.5
o Mini Map
* Nokia Mobile Search
* Nokia PC Internet Access (capability to serve as a data modem)

Software & Applications

Applications

* Java™ MIDP 2.1
* Flash Lite 3.0
* Chat and instant messaging
* Nokia browser
- JavaScript version 1.3 and 1.5
- Mini Map
* Dictionary
* Quickoffice (Quickword, Quickpoint, Quicksheet)
* PDF Viewer
* ZIP Manager
* Download!
* File Manager
* Nokia Search
* Nokia Maps
* Adding more applications:
- Use the Download! Client
- Over-the-air (OTA) downloads) take these away

Software Platform

* S60 3rd Edition
* Feature Pack 2 based on Symbian OS v9.3
* Two home screens with Customizable active standby views
* Voice commands

Video

*  Main camera:
- 640 x 480 (VGA) up to 30 fps
- 320 x 240 (QVGA) up to 30 fps
- 176 x 144 at 15 fps (QCIF)
- digital video zoom
- video light
* 176 x 144 at 15 fps (QCIF)
* digital video zoom
* video light
* Front camera:
- Video recording at up to 176 x 144 pixels (QCIF) and up to 15 fps
- Up to 2x digital video zoom

Video Codecs & Formats

* Video recording file formats: .mp4, .3gp; codecs: H.263, MPEG-4 VSP
* Audio recording formats: AMR, AAC
* Video white balance modes: automatic, sunny, incandescent, fluorescent
* Scene modes: automatic, night
* color tone modes: normal, sepia, black & white, negative
* Clip length (maximum): 1 h
* Video calling: 3GPP Video Call with H.263, MPEG-4 and H.264 video codecs and AMR-NB audio

Video Sharing & Playback

* RealPlayer
* Real time video sharing to another compatible mobile device
* Video sharing support (WCDMA network services)
* Online album/blog: photo/video uploading from gallery
* Video playback file formats: Flash Video, mp4, .3gp; codecs: H.263, MPEG-4 VSP,RealVideo,H.264 and WMV9
* Video streaming: .3gp, mp4, .rm
* Customizable video ring tones

Photography

Camera

* 3.2 megapixel camera (2048 x 1536 pixels)
* Image formats: JPEG/EXIF
* CMOS sensor
* 8X digital zoom
* Autofocus
* Focal length: 3.7 mm
* Focus range: 10 cm to infinity
* Macro focus: 10-60 cm
* LED flash

Image Capture

* Flash modes: Automatic, On, Red-eye reduction, Off
* Flash operating range: 1 m
* White balance modes: automatic, sunny, incandescent, fluorescent
* Center weighted auto exposure; exposure compensation:
+2 ~ -2EV at 0.7 step
* Capture modes: still, sequence, self-timer, video
* Scene modes: auto, user defined, close-up, portrait, landscape, night, night portrait /li>
* color tone modes: normal, sepia, black & white, negative
* Full-screen viewfinder with grid
* Active toolbar
* Share photos with Share on Ovi

Music and Audio

Music and Audio Features

* Music player
* Media player
* Music playback file formats: .mp3, .wma, .aac, AAC+, eAAC+
* Audio streaming formats: .rm, .eAAC+
* FM radio 87.5-108 MHz (required wired headset to be attached)
* Internet Radio
* 3.5 mm Nokia AV connector
* Nokia Music Manager
* Nokia Music Store support
* Nokia Video Manager
* Nokia Podcasting support
* Customizable ring tones
* Synchronize music with Windows Media Player
* Navi™ wheel support
* Voice Aid

Voice and Audio Recording

* Voice commands
* Speaker dependent and speaker independent voice dialing (SIND)
* Voice recorder
* Audio recording formats: AMR-WB, AMR-NB
* Speech codecs: FR, EFR, HRO/1, AMR-HR, and AMR-FR
* Text-to-speech

Navigation

Maps and Navigation

* Integrated A-GPS
* Nokia Maps application

Package Contents

Sales Package Contents

* Nokia E75
* Nokia Battery (BL-4U)
* Nokia High-Efficiency Charger (AC-8U), reduce standby energy consumption to just 10% of the power used by conventional chargers
* Nokia Connectivity cable (CA-101)
* Nokia Stereo Headset (HS-43)
* User Guide, Quick Start Guide and other documentation
* 4 GB microSD memory card

Hands-on video of Phonearena on YouTube

Nokia E75 specifications

Hands-on Video By Engadget

Main specifications Samsung UltraTOUCH S8300:

• Network: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA/HSDPA (900/2100 MHz)
• Display: AMOLED, 2,8-inch touch-sensitive, with a resolution of 400×240 pixels, 16 million colors
• Camera: 8 MP, a dual diode flash, Autofocus, the functions of identification and smiles, geotagging, 720×480 video recording
• Memory: 80 MB built-in, slot for memory microSDHC cards up to 16 GB
• Video: DivX, XviD, H.263, H.264, WMV9, MPEG4
• Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC +, WMA
• Navigation: A-GPS, cartography Mobile Navigator
• Communications: Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR with A2DP, USB 2.0 (microUSB)
• Radio: FM with RDS
• Battery: 880 mAh
• Dimensions: 110×51,5×12,7 mm
• Battery: 116 g

Samsung S8300 is not a Smartphone, is a regular phone without an operating system, but with multitask supporting, you can minimize active Java-applications. There is a developed system of widgets that you can make to the main screen and clean, with a screen scrolls vertically for more capacity. Traditionally unusual widgets are added, reporting how many days have passed since your diet or you quit smoking. By the standard set of core applications are also available adding, note Picsel Viewer for viewing office files and Share pix for direct blogging. However, the latter in the absence of Wi-Fi in person we see suspicious activity. Transitions on the menu in general, accompanied by pleasant effects animation, but it slows down the menu, it is hoped to start to optimize sales. Of the methods of digital-only input letter may activate T9. No QWERTY keyboards because of the small diagonal of the display by the standards of touchsceen, well, a handwritten input is missing following the stylus. Perot, by the way, in the management of S8300 did not require an interface perfectly sharpened by a finger, the problems arise only in the cold.

Samsung S8300 has notable, above all, a powerful camera. Here, 8 MP, flash, full settings – all seriously. Video 720×480 pixels at 30 fps, but the sound recording traditional for Samsung is not good. With respect to photos, it is all good – Samsung S8300 comparable to that effect PIXON M8800 – to record the thickness of a very worthy. Moreover, the screen does not leads – the image quality (high brightness, excellent behavior in the sun including). Technology OLED, 2.8 inches diagonally and 400×240 pixels resolution. View captured pleasure, and Gallery makes use of motion sensor – just tilt the body to scroll through the list.

As noted, Wi-Fi in the S8300 does not exist, in principle, a small loss for the majority. It’s a pity only the photos that download to a blog or costly, because from wireless communication is available only Bluetooth. But the availability of GPS with preloaded cartography will be useful to many. Initially, the phone is ready for navigation, there is even a voice prompt. In addition, the presence of common functional – slot microSD, FM-radio and EDGE support, etc. S8300 works all on small-capacity battery, 880 mAh – affects tenuity corps – and so get a half or two days at an average load, not much.

Samsung S8300 – this is the case when Samsung isn’t following LG, but the vice versa, at least until the announcement of Mobile World Congress next week. The model develops the idea last year had KF700, offering a masthead functionality. Samsung S8300 has a unique combination of a thin shell, a powerful camera and the touch screen as well as form-factor “slider.” This is a key product for Samsung in the first half of 2009 on the purchase and appropriate for its audience. This model is a hit out of a niche will not be because of the high prices and a series of compromises, in particular metal in the shell could be bigger and the screen resolution is not very high. Moreover, even without comparison with the analogs is not a smartphone, there is no Wi-Fi, and the battery isn’t top class also. As a result, we get the device for wealthy lovers of stylish touch solutions for this class of rare sliding structural, not a mass product. But Samsung S8300 is out of competition, especially taking into consideration its thickness.

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Nokia N97 Features:

• Network: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS/HSDPA 900/1900/2100
• Display: TFT 3,5″, touch-sensitive, resolution of 640X360 pixels, 16M colors
• Camera: 5 MP, Autofocus, optical Carl Zeiss, video 640×480 30 fps, double LED flash
• Memory: 32 GB built-in, support for microSD memory cards
• Communication: Bluetooth, USB, Wi-Fi 802.11 /g, TV-Out
• Integrated GPS module
• Stereo speakers
• Support for Widgets
• 3,5 mm jack for headset
• Battery: BP-4L, 1500 mAh
• Talk time – up to 6,6 hours
• Standby time – up to 430 hours
• Hours in player mode – up to 36 hours
• Size: 117,2×55,3×15,9 mm
• Weight: 150 g
• Price: 550 euros (expected)

Nokia N97 is a totally different story. This is the second touchscreen smartphone from Nokia and N97 opens a new era in the development of Nseries – the era of mobile computers. It is difficult not to notice features of 5800 – virtually the same size, the same touch screen (though slightly larger diagonal – 3.5 inches), but you’ll be wrong to see Nokia N97 simply as modified 5800 with the QWERTY keyboard and advanced features, a sense of the use of these devices is quite different.

Flagship is only slightly bigger then 5800, it also lies comfortably in the hand and is made of really pleasant material, but no metal at all. The case is made entirely of plastic, glossy front surface, matte back cover, metallized (under a layer of coating the same plastic) screen border.

And if you’d price 5800 just as it look likes, the flagship of the line, the most expensive device should have much more original design, made from some unusual materials.

It is a pity they do not exist in the N97.

On the other hand the quality of assembly and the plastic is very good, one might even say perfect, the unit is cast, even though the presence of moving parts.

The main color for the Nokia N97 – it is dark brown, white version looks interesting and fresh. Nokia N97 Brown and White will be launched at the same time, the situation with a white Nokia E71, which appeared a few months later, won’t repeat.

Display of Nokia N97 has the same resolution as the 5800 XpressMusic, but has slightly more diagonal of 3.5 inches. By increasing the diagonal is more convenient became finger control. In Nokia 5800, there is one negative point – the high edges of the screen, which makes difficult to use scroll bars. In Nokia N97, this defect is corrected; edges are only 1 mm above the surface of the display, which, nevertheless, is enough to protect the screen from damage.

One of the main hardware features that differentiates N97 from 5800, is the full slider QWERTY-keyboard, so that the users in addition to the three modes of text input (handwritten input, virtual keyboard, standard keyboard) have another, much more comfortable for a long correspondence, though the keyboard is not the best in terms of the numbers of keys. Keys are separated, slightly curved, can be perfectly pressed, and no false clicks.
Number of keys is 33, including alphanumeric 27.

Nokia N97 in no case can be referred to as a substitute, an alternative to or a continuation of E90. The devices are very different, only common they are with large screen and QWERTY keyboard. In everything else, they are fundamentally different.

Nokia N97 camera is a usual model of all current Nseries. The module is exactly the same as in Nokia N79, for example (2,8 / 5,4). It provides decent quality, but compared with the N82 is not so good. The flash is not xenon, but LED (double). There is a protective shutter, so at this point the thickness of the device reaches 18 mm (without it N97 is about 2 mm thinner). Slot for memory card is located under the rear panel, can be hot-swappable.

The amount of internal memory is 32 GB microSDHC cards are supported by up to 16 GB, but only for the reason that the 32 GB has not yet been marketed. Thus Nokia N97 is becoming the most universal telephone in the world, with such memory volume there is no one other device. Announcements at MWC 2009 will bring a lot of big numbers and from other manufacturers also, we hope at least.

With such a memory is easy to use Nokia N97 as a multimedia player, the sound quality matches the Nokia 5800, and in continuous MP3 playback N97 can be for 1.5 days – another record for mobile devices. Battery – BP-4L (1500 mAh), which is used in smartphones of Nokia.

Chipset, which is used in N97, is still a mystery to everyone except employees of the company. Data on the Forum Nokia absent representatives prefer not to answer this question. According to subjective feelings also can not be said that inside, because the speed at this stage is significantly lower than 5800. Naturally, this is due to software, prior to the issuance of N97 is still very long. And speculate about the hardware platform, we will not, the benefit of all the guesses could be wrong. Logic is the same platform as the Nokia 5800 and see what it really is.

Software which Nokia N97 runs is not so very different from 5800, this fifth edition of the same platform, the same realization of the menu, the individual applications. But there is a difference, which clearly separates N97 multimedia computer and a regular phone 5800 XpressMusic. All that is in the N97, did not appear in 5800, despite the fact that it can be. This widget desktop application Photos, and so on.

Widgets – this is the main feature of Nokia N97. There is a list of applications that can be put on the desktop, including the well-known for the 5800 panel of contacts, which, though diminished in size, became more comfortable. Other applications – calendar, music, profiles, bar links, and so on. Windows applications, you can arrange on the desktop in any way, you can hide, and in general, the functionality is maximal.
It supports all services of Nokia Group OVI – Share Online, Music Store, as well as for new companies – So-Lo. According to its functionality, this service compares with a Gypsii, which is installed in smartphones from Samsung. Thanks to the integrated GPS module and the functions of A-GPS device “understands” where you are, and you can upload information about your location, along with photos, descriptions. This is a very interesting service, which we will tell you in the near future.

Once again the search function was upgraded, and it became even more functional, user-friendly.
The remaining points of software implementation of Nokia N97, we will consider later, after a longer acquaintance, as we have a very long time before release.

N97 will be available during the first half of 2009.

The cost of the Nokia N97 will be 550 euro without taxes and subsidies, the price is fair for Europe.
Related links:

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Review

Review of Nokia N96

Omnia is interesting in every sense: on the one hand the classical Windows Mobile, but on the other – revised TouchWiz interface from the manufacturer. In addition, the smartphone is equipped with a full range of wireless communications, 5-megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, as well as supports microSD memory cards as an addition to 8 or 16 GB of internal memory.

We’ll just go over the following, little by little.

1. Design and Features
2. User Interface
3. Telephoning and Messaging
4. Organizer, office
5. Internet, GPS and Communications
6. Camera
7. Multimedia, Games and JAVA
8. Additional Applications
9. Conclusion

Samsung i900 Omnia: Review: Design and Features

We have a rectangular bar phone with smooth beveled edges and corners. Plastic is what was used to make the case. Display and surrounding area around is covered by glossy plastic. Despite the glossy surface of the screen, traces of use are not particularly noticeable, if not looking closely. The device lays comfortable in the hand and probably won’t slide out easily (but don’t forget to hold it tight). However, it’s still pretty large – dimensions of Samsung i900 are 112×56,9×12,5 , weighting 120 grams, but ultraportable smartphones to this date, perhaps, and do not exist.

Location of functional keys of i900 is traditional for these class of devices – all in their seats, so everything in order! The front includes a speaker, camera for videocalling (to the right of the speaker), display and dialing keys. Speaker is adjacent to the top side of the device going into the case and covered by grid. It is also worth noting that the horizontal speakers are long enough and it has positive impact during the conversation. However, this is the only speaker, but I should mention that it just works very well.

Display of the Windows Mobile smartphone has several unusual features, although at first glance, this is not noticeable: first, its physical size of 3,2 inches, and second, the resolution of 400×240 pixels (WQVGA) against the traditional and usual 320×240, otherwise, a typical display for Windows Mobile device,. Although, according to Samsung, i900 supports 262 144 colors, we all know about the limitation of 64 000, imposed by the operating system.

Control keys for dialing of Samsung Omnia are located at the bottom and optical trackpad between them. Trackpad is easy to work with. Despite some fear at first it was fairly easy to manage and does not require the long adjustment to it: moving it, you move the cursor, (yes!!!) and to confirm you just click it.

Additional keys located on right side of Samsung i900 are for menu access near the top edge and to the bottom – volume rocker and camera/photo album key.
On the left side brand interface connector is placed covered by removable plastic lid. Samsung i900 Omnia has only one jack for charging and sync your device with your PC, but it is a great NO, that there is no a usual miniUSB widely used by other manufacturers.
Clearly Samsung desires to get more profit by selling accessories, but this solution does not add pros.

Stylus, it is really one of the biggest parts of any touch smartphone and where is it? Anyone who wanted to look at my phone and touch it first were looking at the sides of the device looking for stylus and could not find it. It takes some time to discover the secret of stylus, as you probably already know it just hangs from the left side of the phone. The decision of the controversial and for some inconvenient placement, I really liked a lot. It is really some original design, and I don’t agree with those who argue its convenience.
At the bottom side of Omnia we can hardly see a noticeable hole of microphone, and on the top – switch on/off key and left to it reset key. Short-term pressing switch on/off key only turn offs the screen and translates smartphone into the sleep mode, and if pressed longer – you just shut off the phone.

Rear side is a cover of the battery and at the top of which we can see the slot from which camera console is seen. Despite the fact that the camera has a resolution of 5-megapixel, is equipped with autofocus function and is equipped with flash, the manufacturer did not use covers lens or a protective cover which is even a little bit strange. About the quality obtained with the camera pictures and videos we’ll talk a little later, and still come back to the rear side of the Samsung i900.

Under the lid we see is not the greatest battery in a special reservoir, to get that way. The battery is, strangely enough, blocking access to the SIM card and memory card replacement. As you know, neither memory card, nor the SIM card are hot-swappable.

According to Engadget Mobile, Samsung Saga is a now a good business device that combines the perfect shape and size with maximum efficiency. It is not too wide and not too thick for a comfortable stay in the hand, the length is just perfect for conversation. Some criticism is accepteable for the color of this device taking into consideration class of Samsung Saga.. The keyboard is one of the most important part of the Samsung Saga, made very comfortable: with excellent tactile response, a good separation of the keys, easy-to-use digital layout, as well as a good additional functionality on the bottom row of keys – there are buttons for speaker, music, communications, a long press of a button switches the silent mode.

The control “optical joystick”, which is used in many new communicators of Samsung, did not cause any problems and is much better compared to previous implementations. optical joystick has become quite large, it is round, is accurate and easy to use.

The summary is: Samsung Saga combines excellent keyboard, the best in its class “optical mouse, tested Windows Mobile 6.1, as well as the possibility of international roaming (CDMA/GSM), which makes it perhaps the best business device from Verizon.

Not to spend time of our Dear readers, we decided not to take a parallel between 5800, Apple iPhone and other comparable devices based on Windows Mobile. Each of us have our preferences, and this review is not to argue about tastes, so – immediately back to our review.
Design
A bit stretched, fairly narrow, slightly thicker than iPhone (in this case the comparison with «apllephone» is quite appropriate), and it sticks out from our pockets just a little.

All those who have had a chance to hold in their hands Nokia 5800, appreciated the pleasant rough surface of the backsides removable lid. If you talk about the quality of plastic, then for this model that I had, it was good enough (not outstanding) for the materials used. So we you want to say – plastic is plastic, nothing special.

The perimeter of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has a decorative red line, it overflows in rays of the Sun or lamps of the room, which sometimes looks quite attractive.
On the top the power button is placed. The left side has a slot for memory card microSD (the package has 8 GB card included). On the right side the volume control keypad and the camera key are for quick use.

Speakers for ringtones and music are placed on the right side end and are covered with thin decorative grid.

Installation (or actually the removal) of the SIM card has some difficulties or peculiarities – pushing it into the slot is easy, but to pull out, you should remove the battery and stylus and through a special hole push the card out.

So, clearly, to do this you have to turn off the device.

Only three keys are placed on the front panel – two traditional call and end keys and one for menu. For everything else you use the touch screen.

Overall, the appearance of Nokia 5800 is interesting. It attracts attention, and everyone who sees the Nokia 5800 will ask to hold in their hands … emmm, for ten minutes.
Display
Owners of iPhone with one voice claimed that their device has a much better screen. Yes, more precisely, it is simply larger – 3.5 inches to 3.2 from the Nokia 5800.
Many, and in particular I, did not like the boards around the perimeter of display of 5800 Tube are a bit higher.

A few days after you use the phone along the board dirt is accumulated and you’ll need to remove it with tissue. The screen at the end of the day looks not nice, especially when lights are off.

No problems with colors there – test images looked naturally. Screen size is large enough to view the images in the company of friends. Brightness is also sufficient for all situations, excluding only direct sunlight.
As expected, the device can automatically rotate the screen (using the gyroscope), which takes two seconds. It happens that sometimes 5800 rotates the screen when it is not required by mistake, for example in transport. This is an inconvenience, especially when writing a message.

Otherwise – honestly the display is perhaps the main best feature of Nokia’s answer to iPhone. Still, for the Nokia, 5800 XpressMusic is the first touch screen phone.
User Interface
Because there is no hard keyboard in 5800, its virtual analog can behold on the screen.
Keyboard for dialing can be called with one click from the main menu.
Numbers are convenient to type with even one hand, even in the car while driving. For typing, you can use four types of display layouts: a small keyboard, full keyboard, alphanumeric keyboard and handwriting recognition.

Small keyboard can be displayed in a vertical or horizontal mode, it can work only with the stylus.
Full (QWERTY-layout) keyboard is available only in the horizontal orientation of the display. In this case for typing, you can use your fingers, with a high level of comfort.

Alphanumeric is the normal phone mode, working both in vertical and horizontal modes. It’s also convenient, text and numbers can be typed with one hand. All is at decent level. When pressed to answer key device vibrates slightly, strength of vibration of course is regulated.

Handwriting recognition is perfectly realized and you can adapt Nokia 5800 to your own handwriting characters, but anyways by default it realized 80% marks from my handwriting, which is does not good at all, though I tried to write neatly.

Working with a virtual menu is possible both in vertical and horizontal modes, as you prefer.
All the icons (and not just on the main menu) are big, they are well seen in the distance of stretched hands. Moreover, they are convenient to touch with fingers, and not only with stylus or a mediator. Scroll up-down is convenient with a finger but not with gloves.
Music playback
Since Nokia 5800 is part of the musical series XpressMusic, sound obliged to be at least good. It’s pleasant listening music (in the literal sense of that word), so it is good. Of the popular audio formats device supports the MP3 (variable and fixed bit rate), WMA, AAC.
Six preset of equalizers (except for default), with the possibility of changing settings.

Equalizer is 8 band, equalizers can be moved up and down only with stylus.

Of course, the user can create a dozen of their musical presets under almost any style of music. When you switch presets sound changes very seriously, that is encouraging.

The quality of sound on the ear is the same as in Nokia 5130 XpressMusic and Nokia N85, which means that very, very high quality. For the test I chose music of different styles, with a maximum bitrate of 320 Kb/s and.

Volume is sometimes is not enough, especially in noisy places, subways and crowed transport even using proven ear-headphones Philips. But, again, the quality of my music playback is just great.

The interface is typical for smartphones on S60. Music can be sorted by artists, albums, composers, genres, play lists.

You can control player via touch screen, with fingers and also with stylus, both options are suitable. When you install a memory card into the slot and then start the player, the unit itself is looking for music in the card and updates Music library.

Interface of FM-receiver is pretty stylish. In addition, information is drawn from subcarrier (RDS), is seen running line at the bottom of the screen.
Camera
I won’t praise, because it seems that it is here just for being on it, if we compare it with «colleagues» of the Sony Ericsson C905 or Samsung i8510 INNOV8.
In Nokia 5800 Tube has a 3.2-MP camera with Tessar objective from Carl Zeiss. With two flashes, which also serve as backlight for autofocus.

We should acknowledge that it is not very convenient to switch settings using the OSD, along with touch screen. It has to stop, get stylus and have them make manipulation.

If the pictures taken outdoor in a good weather look decent, then in a room and in evenings/nights photos aren’t the best. Outcome – dark and noisy images with not perfect sharpness. But in general, want camera would you like to see in a low-cost music smartphone?

Conclusion
I can write about Nokia 5800 XpressMusic long enough. We stopped only on the main features, which buyers will pay attention to. And it is worth it. More precisely, once you hear the of volume ringtones and quality of music playback, than you’ll understand – this is a real music phone. And do not forget the high functionality of the new device, because on board it has Wi-Fi and GPS, and of course the first touch screen phone from Nokia.

See full specifications of Nokia 5800 here

Nokia N96 is made as a dual slider, as most of the current most successful phones.

N96 is available in black – front and backside. Sides of it are silver. The lid opens easily.

Screen has a QVGA resolution of 240×320 pixels, with 16 million colors and the diagonal is quite impressive – 2.8 inches. It is easily readable in any lighting conditions, though oddly enough colors tend to wash out in direct sunlight.

Above the screen, next to the main speaker is the VGA-camera for videocalling. On the right side surface, on top and bottom two additional speakers are placed, and keys for quick activation of camera and volume control. On the left side – a slot for microSD-cards.

Top side has a jack for a headset, the lock key, and on/off switch. Bottom side has jacks for microphone, USB-connector and plug for the charger.

5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera is prominently displayed, and is ringed in silver housing that flips out to act as a stand for the phone while viewing video.. If you open a multimedia keyboard, the device turns into multimedia player. In doing so, the image automatically turns clockwise by 90 degrees. To restore it back, you must open the digital keyboard. Nokia N96 folded keeps the screen orientation, which was before closing.

Navigation keys are not too convenient, too narrow bezel, it must draw a bead. And the area around the keypad is nothing more than another multimedia keyboard.

The main keypad is flush not mounted even a little. Backlight of the keys is white, very well visible almost in all conditions. Clicking on the keys is convenient. Any pressing is clearly accepted by the device.
Actually, with Nokia N96 we miss only touch sensitive screen especially after the iPhone and touch screen smartphones based on Windows Mobile.

The capacity of the battery is 950 mAh. As stated by the manufacturer, this is enough to view up to 4 hours of television (DVB-H), up to 5 hours – video or listen to 14 hours of music (video and music online Offline). In the intensive use of Nokia N96 (calls, camera, a bit of video, Internet), we used it for two days after full charging. If you use only phone’s calling functions, the charge is just enough for three days.
Embedded memory of the smartphone is divided into two parts – Phone memory and Mass memory. File manager sees them as two different discs. There are no any specific differences when you work with them. First – 256 Mb disc is to store a typical telephone personal information. Second – 16 GB you can use for everything else. If you have a microSD card inserted, then you’ve got the third disc.

USB 2.0 is included to connect to a computer. Four modes of connection is possible – as an external drive, using Nokia PC Suite, photos and synchronization with Windows Media Player.

Internet surfing can be done via mobile operators, with Wi-Fi version of 802.11 g/b which supports UPnP. When you try to open a web page in the browser Nokia N96 asks what connection to use. In addition to access to the internet, Wi-Fi can be used to transfer media files from smartphone to home devices.

N96 is equipped with a digital television receiver – DVB-H Class C. Besides, supported are downloading and sending video with streaming mode, as well as progressive downloading of files. Video playback has gotten special attention. N96 has received a hardware decoder H.263. Supported formats: MPEG-4 Part 2 (H.263/SP), MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264/AVC), Windows Media Video (WMV9), RealVideo QCIF. The maximum allowed resolution for the player is QVGA, for video output – SDTV, Frequency – 30 frames per second.

In addition, the Internet browser of Nokia N96 supports Flash-video. The quality of video playback on its own display will satisfy almost any user.

Images from the 5 megapix camera leave a dual impression. Pictures taken in the streets out in a day and did not raise any criticism, but those that are taken in a room seem blurry.
Built-in flash does not always save the situation, but leaves us with the quality of 3 megapixel camera.

Nokia N96 picture comparisions – street, document, in a room.

The music player is typical for Nokia. The sound corresponds top models. If the music in your phone is not sufficient, FM-radio will come to help you.

Nokia N96 has a GPS-receiver, which is working fast enough. The company offers free downloadable maps of 150 countries around the world. Honestly, I would like to see maps installed or in the sales package in such a device of high class and for this price.
What about applications in Nokia N96. For example, the existing Office is incomplete. It allows opening and reading text files, spreadsheet and presentation only. To create new or edit an existing document, will have to buy a license.
Full technical specifications of Nokia N96 are:

• WCDMA2100/900 (HSDPA) / EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS) connectivity
  DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz
  S60 3rd edition, FP2 UI
  2.8” QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) LCD TFT display with up to 16 million colors
  5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and auto-exposure
  Dual-LED camera flash, video light, recording indicator, auto-focus assist light
  Secondary VGA (640 x 480 px) camera for video calls
  Video capture in MPEG-4 up to VGA at 30 fps
  Digital Video Stabilization
  Built-in GPS/A-GPS
  WLAN – IEEE802.11 g/b
  Stereo FM radio (87.5-108MHz, 76-90MHz) with RDS
  Hi-Speed USB 2.0 with Micro USB type B interface
  3.5mm stereo headset plug , TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
  Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP stereo/EDR
  950 mAh battery with up to 220 min talk, 220 hrs standby time, 5 hrs video, 14 hrs music or 4 hrs TV playback
  Dimensions: 103×55×18 mm
  Weight: 125 g