Nokia Enters netBook Market with Booklet 3G mini-laptop

Nokia on Monday announced that it plans to move into the PC market with the introduction of its first netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G.

The Windows-based device will be powered by an Intel Atom processor, and Nokia promises up to 12 hours of battery life. It features a 10-inch glass HD ready display, weighs about 2.75 pounds and is about 2 centimeters thick. The Booklet 3G will include 3G/HSPA and Wi-Fi connectivity options, an HDMI port for HD video out, a front facing camera for video calling, integrated Bluetooth, and an SD card reader.

The new netbook will also include integrated A-GPS, which will pinpoint a user's location using the Nokia Ovi Maps gadget for a "truly personal maps experience," Nokia said.

Nokia will incorporate other Ovi offerings into the Booklet 3G, including music through the Nokia Music Store, and the ability to sync your Nokia smartphone with your netbook via the Ovi Suite. Additional details about pricing and availability with be unveiled at Nokia World on September 2, the company said.

"A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility," Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice president for devices, said in a statment. "We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. We will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal."

Earlier this month, Microsoft and Nokia on Wednesday announced an alliance that will bring Microsoft mobile software to Nokia devices at some point next year. (story Link)

Crunchpad to make a November release

For those of you who have been keeping up with the news and announcements related to Crunchpad, the Tablet PC by TechCrunch, well all we can say for now is that it is real and its coming this November. So what features will the Crunchpad boast of?

For one, its a Tablet PC with a 12-inch screen and will mainly be used for browsing the web and doing web-related tasks. All apps on the Crunchpad will be web-based and we are still unsure if it possesses any media capabilities such as watching movies or listening to music.

It will feature a custom web-kit browser which shall be running over a custom Linux OS. There will be Wi-Fi and 3G access and also one USB port to handle/transfer data to a thumb drive.

Apart from this, there is nothing that the Crunchpad can do so we hardly believe that it will be any match for the supposed Apple Tablet that is to come in September this year. The Crunchpad will be probably priced around $400. Michael Arrington from TechCrunch will be officially introducing the device at an event somewhere in August. (with Thanks)

Hands On With the Nokia Surge

Nokia's new Surge smartphone for AT&T Wireless is designed specifically for the U.S. market – and a younger demographic.

BOSTON – I spent some time Monday checking out the Nokia Surge, the company's new smartphone for AT&T Wireless. In a twist, Nokia designed the Surge specifically for the U.S. That means there's no unlocked version with a different model number, such as with the E71 and the E71x.

In fact, it's actually Nokia's third smartphone for AT&T in the past 12 months; the first two were the Nokia 6650 and the E71x. That's significant because it signals a change in Nokia's strategy; up until recently, Nokia's diverse lineup of unlocked smartphones have barely made a dent in the U.S. marketplace due to their high upfront cost.

That said, Nokia is aiming the Surge at a younger demographic than the E71x. The big news is the Surge's thin, squat form factor, as if it endured a few passes of a rolling pin. It's made almost entirely of black gloss plastic and accumulates fingerprints like crazy. The handset measures 3.8 by 2.3 by 0.6 inches and weighs 4.4 ounces. But it felt lighter in the hand than I had expected.

A slide-out, horizontal QWERTY keyboard spans the width of the unit. In fact, the entire handset is oriented horizontally, down to the AT&T and Nokia logos and the asymmetrical front panel. As a result, it looks a little weird when holding it vertically. The keyboard's squarish keys felt a bit cheap, but they offered a pleasant, clicky resistance despite their flat look. The slide mechanism itself was smooth but also felt a little chintzy.

The power button doubles as the End key, which is a departure from other Nokia handsets. The Surge's five-way control pad was a little smaller and harder to press than I normally like, but I adjusted pretty quickly. Plenty of buttons adorn the unit's sides, including a messaging shortcut key on the front for texting fiends. Given that most horizontal sliders only rotate the screen when you slide out the keyboard, the Surge's responsive accelerometer was a nice touch. The QVGA screen was sharp and bright, but its 320-by-240-pixel resolution and simple menu graphics felt aged compared with an iPhone 3G or BlackBerry Bold.

As a proper AT&T device, the Surge features support for the TeleNav-powered AT&T Navigator. That's a step up from Nokia's confusing, proprietary GPS software, such as what came with the unlocked Nokia N78 last year. The Surge also features CV for streamed videos, and Nokia's standard-issue Mini Map browser.

There are some minor nods to the younger target market, such as JuiceCaster support, some built-in games, and support for AT&T Video Share. But even as such, the Surge is a genuine Symbian Series 60 Third Edition smartphone. It can multitask, it includes Quickoffice for editing Word and Excel documents, it works with Mail for Exchange 2.9, and it can be used as a 3G modem for a laptop. I tested a pre-production unit, though I didn't run into any bugs for the short amount of time I had the handset.

The 2-megapixel camera lacks auto-focus or an LED flash, but it's capable of recording smooth QVGA videos. The non-standard, 2.5mm headphone jack is a bummer. But other Nokia smartphones I've tested have sounded quite good when paired with stereo Bluetooth headphones; this one shouldn't be any different. There's also a built-in FM radio for the three or four people who need that. The battery is the same 1500 mAh pack that comes with the Nokia N97 and E71x, which should put talk time in the four-and-a-half hour range.

The Surge will be compatible with the Ovi Store when it launches later this year, complete with integrated carrier billing when buying mobile apps. The Surge will cost $79.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates when it drops on July 19; stay tuned for a full review. (Gearlog)

Apple iPhone 3G S - 16GB - Black

The good: The iPhone 3G S finally adds common cell phone features like multimedia messaging, video recording, and voice dialing. It runs faster; its promised battery life is longer; and the multimedia quality continues to shine.

The bad: The iPhone 3G S' call quality shows no improvements and the 3G signal reception remains uneven. We still don't get Flash Lite, USB transfer and storage, or multitasking.

The bottom line: The iPhone 3G S doesn't make the same grand leap that the iPhone 3G made from the first-generation model, but the latest Apple handset is still a compelling upgrade for some users. The iPhone 3G S is faster and we appreciate the new features and extended battery life, but call quality and 3G reception still need improvement.

Specifications: OS provided: Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11 ; Talk time: Up to 600 min (watch video)

iPhone 3G S & Pre Head-2-Head Benchmarks

Now that we know the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre share extremely similar 65nm ARM Cortex A8-based internals, it's time to break out the stopwatches and see how these blood brothers stack up. Anandtech has the first head-to-head tests we've seen, and it seems like the 3G S has the slight edge, loading a series of web pages 11 percent faster and a whopping 54 percent faster than the iPhone 3G. Not too shabby, but not exactly a thorough drubbing either -- especially when you consider webOS is still 1.0 and there's likely some optimizations to come. Full results at the read link.

Update: Anandtech had some uncharacteristically bad math going on -- the 3G S is actually 21 percent faster than the Pre, which is quite notable considering the similar hardware and WebKit-based browsers. (story Link)

AT&T Mobile TV -- Media Flows Like Greased Lightning

Do we really need another way to rot our brains? Yes, yes we do -- and live TV on our phones is just the ticket. The latest effort to get the boob tube on a mobile device is AT&T's Mobile TV with FLO (Forward Link Only), and it's surprisingly good. Coupled with the LG Vu phone, it's a match made in couch-potato heaven.

The MediaFLO service uses an unusual, nonstandard bit of spectrum to ensure that the streaming of your favorite flicks is uninterrupted. Instead of downloading the data over AT&T's 3-G network, the Qualcomm-developed technology operates primarily on the old UHF television band, though it does tap into the 3-G network in order to get started.

The result is that there's virtually no buffering and programming starts up within a few seconds. On the Vu’s brilliant 3-inch screen we found picture quality to be insanely clear and frame rates to be smooth as the ice cubes in a tumbler of 30-year-old bourbon.

"Mobile TV" is a bit of a misnomer. Only a few channels are simulcast, meaning you can watch them in near-real time: for instance, Comedy Central, breaking news on CNN and and selected sporting events on ESPN. All other programming, like episodes of your favorite Fox shows (Family Guy!), are time-shifted and updated when necessary.

There are three different Mobile TV packages to choose from. Included in the $30 package is unlimited Mobile TV, Web browsing and CV mobile video along with CBS Mobile, CNN Mobile Live, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go, Nickelodeon and PIX (Sony Pictures). The mid-tier package, at $15, gives you unlimited Mobile TV and the CNCRT channel for a limited time. The basic package includes CBS Mobile, FOX Mobile, NBC 2Go and NBC News 2Go for only $13.

Watching live streaming TV or movies like The Karate Kid on the Vu's 3-inch haptic touchscreen is, well, pretty amazing. The user interface is fairly intuitive with straightforward menus. And the mere fact that we can watch clips from 30 Rock while sitting on the bus is satisfying in itself. Hell, it almost makes us want to junk our 52-inch monster HD LCD and watch TV on our phone full time. Almost. —Peter Ha

WIRED Good selection of simulcast and time-shifted programming. No network lag. Live streaming CNN is a must for news junkies. Variety of programming packages should fit just about everyone’s viewing style.

TIRED Unless you're in an area with strong 3-G coverage, the service simply will not work.  Right now the service is only available in 58 locations nationwide.

$30 per month as tested, wireless.att.com (Story Link)

Concept Mobiles That Should/n’t Become a Reality

We know the various kinds of mobile handset form factors from the Candy-bars to the Slide out QWERTY. We also know that the latest and possible future trend is of course, touch technology and the race is on to see which handset will take that technology to the next level. One of my favorite sites, Yanko Design, has a group of individuals who design concept technology and other things and they’ve come with ideas that could seriously rock the market… if they ever made it to production of course.

While researching for an article on my favorite concept phones, I did come across a few that should have stayed in their minds and never made it out. With all due respect to the designers (and there’s plenty of that) here are my choices for handsets that I’d love to see make it to production someday. While these futuristic buggers look like something we should and could see in the future there are those I hope, never make it past this concept stage. For your amusement I’ve listed some of those as well.
Top concept mobiles I’d like to see make it past this stage –
LG Synthesis –

Designed by Andrew Suenghyun Kim, LG’s Synthesis mobile was created for the LG design competition. The designer’s inspiration was nature itself, to be more precise, photosynthesis, hence the name. It’s a gorgeous handset complete with eco friendly solar panels to charge the BT headset and a charging cum speaker dock that looks like a tree branch. It also features a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, a 5mp camera and a 1.3MP secondary for video calling (very neatly hidden in front) and was also designed to house a whopping 32GB of space. Nature never looked hotter.
SE Ai –

Although this was something that was designed about 2 years ago and much of a fingerprint magnet it may seem like, I love the design concept of the Sony Ericsson Ai. The chocolate glossy finish and classy lighting for the keypad looks great with the front they’ve gone with. It featured a 3.2MP camera, 2GB of space and came in a slider form factor as well as a standard candy bar. Personally, I’d have gone with the slider.

Nokia Morph

Nokia’s Morph may be exactly what the future of mobile technology could be like. The idea is a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) and the University of Cambridge (UK). Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to comfortably even wear the device stylishly on their person. Of course this is not something we can hope to see for a few more years, but wouldn’t you like to?
Motorola KRE-8 –

This may very well be one of the weirdest designs I’ve ever come across and I’ve come across some doozies while researching. But I still think the concept idea of this “handset” is brilliant and given the chance I’d love to test it for real. The designer Jose Tomas DeLuna’s whole inspiration when designing this handset was to thrill the audiophile who loves mixing and playing around with their music. The handset also manages to combine what can only be construed as Nintendo Wii style functionality with a mobile phone. It uses sensors and accelerometers to figure out the gestures like - Instrument Mode (guitar, drums, violin), Mix Mode and Record Mode which is a full circle for creating music. It even has a touchscreen display (of course) which makes it simpler to adjust and edit files. It supports GPS and music created on the KRE-8 can be tagged with co-ordinates as well. There are not too many words to describe this handset but Stupendous does come to mind first.
iPhone Concept -

I came across a bucket load of iPhone concept designs that were out there and I have to say most were absolutely fantastic and in my opinion, Apple would have done so much better had they gone with one of these. Of course it’s not like the iPhone isn’t good looking as is, but it is kind of ‘blah’ and generic even with the 3G’s sleeker design. But amongst all the cool designs I saw, the one I’ve include appealed to me the most. It was simple, sleek and seemed like it could offer the most amount of functionality. With an iPod Click Wheel for navigation and a QWERTY keypad for input, this concept is certainly an eye catcher. The genius behind this design is a CG artist named Olivier Demangel.

And then there were those that should remain - although technologically advanced as they may seem - on the drawing board. Here are my choices for the Top Concept Mobiles that shouldn’t make it past the drawing board -
Clamshell Glass Phone -

Image Source - Designer Mac Funamizu

This is purely my opinion of course, but a flip phone made of glass is nothing more than a fingerprint magnet and trust me those prints can get really annoying especially when they’re obstructing something on the display. Plus you’ll have to worry about scratches.

Lenovo Poison -

Image Source - Designer: Ryan Ma

The concept is rather too simplistic in it’s candybar form with a transparent display module. The keypad looks quite average and I guess it could be appealing in a ‘haute couture’ sort of way, but it did nothing for me.
Chinese Disney Phone

There’s really nothing I can say about this handset. Concept or reality is irrelevant. It should not have been thought of. But to each his own.
There’s a lot to be said about the future of mobile phone technology in terms of design and of course the kind of technology itself. I’m looking forward to what the manufacturers will come out with and itching to see what the next step will look and feel like. Perhaps you guys could share with us and the other readers what your favorite concept mobiles are, at least the ones you think should definitley make it to mass production and the ones that shouldn’t as well. So leave your comments or email me and I’ll write them up in the next feature. (link)

K850i 5 MP Sony Ericsson Camera Phone Shoots And Scores

Image isn’t everything. Beyond a solid Cyber-shot-branded cam, this tidy 118 gram candy bar comes chock full of sweet, easy-to-master programs that let you edit, remix and publish sharp pics and vid clips on the fly. In minutes, we whipped up a 45-second, 1.7 MB video slideshow that looked surprisingly decent online at 240x320. But despite Bluetooth, adequate web browsing and RSS feeds, this pin-striped, 3G beauty isn’t picture perfect. Switching between the somewhat finicky partial touch screen and quasi-D-pad really took some getting used to. And the keypad’s tiny nubs could aggravate even the daintiest netizens of Thumb Tribe, USA. —Steven Leckart

WIRED Truly pocket-size; accelerometer allows quick-flips between landscape and portrait. Swift and seamless, on-the-go publishing to Blogger. Always-on headlight option for dim video shoots. BestPic takes rapid sequence of nine images — bonus: “best” recommendation is mostly right on. Super accessible microSD slot can hold up to 4GBs (perfect for those Cloverfield moments)

TIRED No optical zoom. Sluggish Auto Fix takes 30-45 seconds per pic. Snapping shots silences FM radio. No Wi-Fi, no GPS, no geocoded vaca pics. Neither a 3.5 mm nor a 2.5mm headhpone jack (better RFID that Sony FastPort set of earbuds!)

$500, sonystyle.com (story Link)

Nokia E90 Communicator Acts Like a Laptop, Makes Calls Like a Phone

Many moons ago, a laptop, a cell phone, and a cinder block got together for a hot three-way love fest. The product of this freaky, sweaty, and possibly illegal union? The Nokia E90 communicator — a device with some serious identity issues, but also one with some serious talent too.

Let’s be up front about it: this monstrous device at 7.4 ounces and 5.2 x 2.24 x 0.79 inches is not attractive in the slightest. In fact, the unappealing shell and sheer physical size make it a colossal pain in the ass to lug around in public. Clearly, the E90 is made to fit in briefcases—not skinny hipster jeans. Business folks and texting junkies, though, will love the full QWERTY keyboard, a feature that makes composing legalese missives, or elaborate IMs a relatively painless process. (Ever try tapping out a Google doc on the iPhone’s touch screen? Yeesh.) But even more appealing is the impressive palette of functions Nokia manages to cram into the beast: a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, 640 x 480 video resolution at 30fps, 3G compatibility, Wi-Fi, infrared, and Bluetooth connectivity, a voice recorder, GPS Navigation, push-to-talk, both Flash and (scoff) Real Player.

No, it’s not going to tuck you into bed at night, and we’re guessing it won’t get you chicks either (really though, what gadget does?) but the E90 is definitely a good choice for those who want laptop functionality dressed up in the guise of a cell phone. —Nate Ralph

WIRED Great for creating and editing text docs. Can be easily set up as a wireless modem. Integrated GPS means you’ll probably never ask for directions again. Functions perfectly as a cell — the voice quality is on par with the iPhone. Reads PDFs.  Robust keyboard means you can work on that novella while waiting for the bus. No more procrastinating!

TIRED Finding applications in the endlessly layered menu system is consistently confusing. Flat keypad makes typing often feel ambiguous. Screen is hard to see in direct sunlight. Pricey, ungainly, and, worst of all, fugly. $1100, nokia.com (story Link)

Windows 7 broadband bundles

Speaking to ZDNet UK at Microsoft's Growth and Innovation Day in Brussels on Thursday, Neil Holloway, vice president for business strategy at Microsoft International, said the company was in talks with telecoms companies and other service providers to work out how netbooks running Windows 7 could be bundled with other hardware and services, in order to increase market reach.

"Microsoft is working with telcos as a specific channel," said Holloway. "The way that Carphone Warehouse bundles phones, PCs and laptops is phenomenal. We will do something slightly similar, and make some offer which includes Windows 7 and Windows Live."

Holloway added that "netbooks are here to stay", and reiterated Microsoft's announcement from February that it is developing a pared-down version of the Windows operating system for use on netbooks.

Because of their inherent mobility, netbooks have become a standard offering from most mobile operators, who are keen to extend usage of their 3G networks.

Although the cheap subnotebooks started life as Linux-bearing machines, Windows XP is now the dominant operating system on netbooks — partly because Microsoft dropped its XP prices to encourage uptake among netbook manufacturers, and partly because of customers' familiarity with the OS.

Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer recently said that the Windows 7 Starter Edition aimed at netbooks would be made available "at the current Windows XP price point".

This article was originally posted on ZDNet.co.uk.

Review: Samsung NC10-14GB

From cell phones to HDTVs, Samsung products have successfully found their way into American homes for the past decade. But the company hasn't made much headway with its laptops, and for good reason: The laptops have only recently started selling in the United States. Samsung needed a strategy that would jump-start its laptop presence. A netbook was the obvious choice, as this category is taking the market by storm. The Samsung NC10-14GB ($480 street) is a lot like every other netbook, but it has a few small advantages. It comes with a six-cell battery instead of a puny three-cell, and the keyboard is a tiny bit (1 percent) bigger than those of the MSI Wind and the HP Mini 1000. Ultimately, though, it loses out on price: The MSI Wind is a lower-priced package for now (by about $50, which in the netbook category is significant).

The white exterior of the ASUS EeePC 4G, once thought of as sleek and sexy, has been copied over and over for other netbooks like the Wind, the Acer Aspire One, and the Lenovo IdeaPad S10. Splashed in navy blue, the NC10 is neither bland nor head-turning. The HP 1000's embedded patterns and the metallic lid of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA are taking netbook designs to another level, and the trend won't stop with them. At 10.3 by 7.3 by 1 inches, the NC10's dimensions practically identical to those of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA. The HP Mini 1000 (10.3 by 6.6 by 0.9 inches) and the Lenovo S10 (9.8 by 7.3 by 0.9 inches) are slightly thinner and smaller. At 2.9 pounds, the NC10's frame seems heavy, but once you factor in the standard six-cell battery, its weight is actually on a par with its 10-inch counterparts.

By 10-inch, I mean the size of the widescreen. Netbooks like the Acer Aspire One (2.1 pounds), the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (2.3 pounds), and the ASUS EeePC 900 (2.2 pounds) are noticeably lighter because they have smaller 8.9-inch widescreens. The viewing experience is obviously better with a bigger screen, but the 1,024-by-600 resolution is the same across the board. The NC10's brightness and contrast levels are consistent with those of other 10-inch netbooks and make for pleasant viewing. Its 93 percent keyboard is 1 percent larger than those found on the Mini 1000 and the MSI Wind—not a huge difference, although the keys are noticeably bigger and the typing experience better. Consequently, the touchpad is minuscule compared with those of the EeePC 1002HA and the Wind, resulting in a tighter pinch when using your thumb and index fingers to navigate.

The NC10's features are consistent with those of other top-rated netbooks. It comes with three USB ports, a VGA-out, an Ethernet port, and an SD slot. Lenovo opted to forgo a USB port in its S10 to make room for an ExpressCard slot, which is a handy addition for expansion devices that enable 3G wireless services and other specialty ports. Both the HP 1000 and the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 have 3G wireless built in, simplifying things even further. A 160GB hard drive is included and appears to be the capacity that everyone is settling on. By next year, you'll see netbook hard drive capacities standardized at 320GB.

The NC10 contains the same parts as every netbook. Its 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and 1GB of memory are no surprise. The same could be said about the integrated graphics. The ASUS N10Jc-A1 is an exception, a netbook that utilizes two sets of graphics chipsets to its advantage—one for 3D work and another to save battery life. The NC10's SYSmark 2007 Overall score topped the Wind's by a point, though you wouldn't notice it in real-world applications. The NC10 was a bit slower on video-encoding tests, trailing the others in the comparison by at least 2 seconds. (full Story)

Best 5 Megapixel Camera Phones

Although nearly every cell phone available today lets you take photos, it's no secret that the cameras on most phones are, well, lame. Shots snapped by your run-of-the-mill phone shooter are plagued by blown-out highlights, soft focus, low contrast, and poor detail. That's not to say that phone cameras don't come in handy in a pinch; in fact, cameras on some of today's most popular handsets, including the iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Curve, can take decent pictures (especially outdoors) despite their middling 2-megapixel sensors and subpar lenses.

Still, their shots are nothing compared with those from any one of the 5MP camera phones that have hit the market in the past couple of months. Each one of these handsets takes quality photos that, while still not standalone digital camera quality, are easily good enough for archiving—even printing.

Astute digital-camera shoppers know that the number of megapixels means virtually nothing these days when it comes to choosing a camera. But when it comes to cell phones, a 5MP sensor is still rare enough to show that some thought went into the camera. These phones aren't one-trick ponies, either; all of them are solid communication devices, too.

Behold the latest 5MP camera phones. With one of these, you might actually want to ditch your digital camera.

See how the features on all these cell-phone shooters compare side by side, or click through to the full reviews below.

Camera Phones Featured in This Roundup:

Motorola MotoZINE ZN5 (T-Mobile)

$199.99 - $349.99 direct
Motorola has been struggling lately, but you wouldn't know it from the MotoZINE ZN5, a stellar Motorola/Kodak camera phone that can go toe-to-toe with lower-end point-and-shoot digital cameras. On our tests, we found the ZN5 to have good resolution, little barrel distortion or chromatic aberration, and a fast shutter. It even sports a Xenon flash that's worlds better than the wimpy LED lights you'll find on many other handsets (if they have a flash at all).

Nokia N82 (Unlocked)

$549.00 – $749.95 list
The Nokia N82 isn't only a quality Symbian smartphone, it also took stellar pictures on our tests thanks to its Carl Zeiss lens, 5MP sensor, autofocus, and xenon flash. The N82 is available only unlocked in the U.S.; which means it will work with either AT&T or T-Mobile SIM cards and doesn't require a contract—but in either case, prepare to pay a hefty up-front fee.

Nokia N95 8GB (Unlocked)

$750 list
Nokia's N95 8GB improves on its successful predecessor by adding 8GB of internal storage and plenty of additional memory. It also features a nifty dual-slider design that's perfect for N-Gage gaming and multimedia playback. Unfortunately, as with the N82, you can get the N95 8GB only unlocked in the U.S.

Samsung Behold SGH-T919 (T-Mobile)

$199 – $399 direct
The Samsung Behold SGH-T919 gives T-Mobile subscribers a powerful 5MP camera phone with autofocus. On our tests, we found that the handset takes pleasing pictures that are almost on a par with those of the Motorola ZN5, although the Behold's regular LED flash is just about useless. Except for that, it's a dependable touch-screen phone. Mobile Web fiends should also take note: It's a particularly good handset for hooking into T-Mobile's brand-new 3G data network.

Samsung Omnia SCH-i910 (Verizon Wireless)

$249.99 – $496.99 list
The Windows Mobile 6.1–based Omnia includes a fast CPU, a 5MP camera with autofocus, and 8GB of internal storage. Its shutter lag is a respectable 0.3 second with prefocusing and 1.2 seconds without, and the Omnia can even record 640-by-480-pixel videos at 15 frames per second. It also features the same robust Microsoft Outlook synchronization and document editing common to all Microsoft-based smartphones. (story Link)

Sony’s Lifestyle PC VGN-588EQ

It was more than two years ago that Mike Abary, senior vice president at Sony, reached into his inner suit pocket and pulled out the Sony VAIO VGN-UX180P. At the time, he called this handheld PC, which ran a full-blown version of Windows XP, "an achievement in ingenious design." Little did he know he'd be pulling the same stunt again at a quaint hotel in Manhattan, where I was one of a handful of journalists invited to preview Sony's take on the netbook revolution. He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a clamshell the length of two UX180Ps, not even an inch thick. This, as he described it, is Sony's answer to the surging netbook market, only it's not being classified as a netbook, it's not an update to the UX180P, and the intended audience, interestingly enough, is women. It's the Sony VAIO VGN-588EQ ($1,199 direct), better known as the Sony Lifestyle PC.

The Lifestyle PC is unlike anything you've seen before, in large part because of the 8-inch LED widescreen, the first of its kind. Even from afar, you may feel a tingling sensation as soon as you lay eyes on it, and your first instinct is to pick it up. Sony handed me a review unit while I was at the CES 2009 show in Las Vegas, allowing me to use it in multiple scenarios. I really don't want to call this a netbook, but there's no other way to classify this gorgeous device. It runs the Intel Atom platform, it's inexpensive for a Sony-branded laptop, and the keyboard is undersized—all netbook symptoms. On the other hand, it's so much more than a netbook. It weighs half as much as one and packs in features like 3G wireless, a pre-boot Linux environment, and a high-resolution screen. Although the Lifestyle PC is now at the pinnacle of design engineering, performance is an issue when Windows Vista is the only operating system offered, and the price is over $1,000 with the solid-state drive option. Based on design alone, though, I think Sony can create a huge following with this pseudo-netbook.

Even though there are no ties between them, the Lifestyle PC conjures up images of Intel's Moorestown concept device. It weighs a mere 1.4 pounds, only 0.2 pound heavier than the original UX180P. And it measures 9.7 by 4.7 by 0.8 inches, which is about the length of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA but only half its depth. It fits nicely in the inner pocket of a suit jacket or a Coach clutch bag, and is thin enough that you can slide two of them into a manila envelope. Its look is unique, and its design intentions are clear: Sony wants to dissociate the Lifestyle PC from the likes of the MSI Wind, the ASUS EeePC, and the Acer Aspire One—some of the more popular netbooks in the market. In my opinion, it has successfully done so. (full Story)

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Review: The Nokia E71 is a Tough Device to Beat

It has been over 2 months since I wrote up my first impressions of the Nokia E71. At that time I was getting flooded with review and purchased devices such as the Palm Treo Pro, Samsung OMNIA, Touch Diamond, Treo 800w, MWg Zinc II, iPhone 3G and loads of applications with iPhone 2.0, Touch Diamond updates, and the iPAQ 910. Most of those devices are gone now, but the one that keeps earning the honor of carrying my AT&T SIM card is the Nokia E71. The fantastic hardware, valuable notifications on the standby screen, outstanding 3rd party application support, and form factor keep it in my pocket most of the time.

The device I took you on a tour around before was a European version and since that time I picked up the North American version that supports 3G on AT&T’s network. The hardware is the exact same as I detailed before, with the exception of the internal radio now supporting the U.S. bands so I won’t go over the hardware again. I will say what I keep on saying to everyone that I talk to about the device, the hardware ROCKS!

Looks and feel: The E71 is targeted to the enterprise user and as soon as you pull the device out of the box you realize this is one classy and professional device with the sleek stainless steel and dense body. The front facing QWERTY keyboard challenges the BlackBerry and the business user who have Exchange should be pleased with the device. The E71 is one of the first Eseries devices that no longer supports the BlackBerry Connect functionality, which some people may understandably miss. I use an Exchange service and have been using RoadSync because it provides an advanced Exchange experience compared to the free Nokia Mail For Exchange utility (for example, better folder support).

I did notice there is more light present between the display and keyboard than there was on the European version and haven’t seen folks mention this on the forums so I think this is just a slight device flaw that is not present across the line.

Keyboard: The keyboard is surprisingly very good and I actually like it better than my BlackBerry Curve for the most part because the keys feel more solid and smooth (the Curve buttons are hard and a bit loose) and I rarely enter text I didn’t intend to enter. I love that there is a button for the @ character, comma, period, and question mark that do not require any press of a FN button like they do on my Curve. Unfortunately, Nokia hasn’t fully embraced the keyboard into the device since there are very few shortcuts that you can perform on your device and most shortcuts are application specific. For example, did you see the TON of fantastic shortcuts I listed in my Nokia Email service post I would like to see Nokia integrate these types of shortcuts throughout the system and applications. (full Story)

Inside Google’s Gmail: What’s Next?

Earlier this week, I sat down with Gmail Product Manager Todd Jackson to talk about the future of the service and to find out what's been keeping the team busy behind the scenes. Here are five tidbits from our meeting you might find interesting.

1. More Themes are coming - including ones designed by you.

No new Gmail Themes have been added since the feature launch in late November, but Jackson says more of the skins are coming. "We want to keep adding Themes. People like it. We don't know exactly how we'll do that yet. The 30 Themes that we chose were hand-designed to look great in Gmail."

Jackson says the team was split on whether to open up the design process to third parties, like what's been done on Google's customizable start page, iGoogle.

"We've thought about continuing to do it the way we did, and we thought about opening it up for other people to (design them)." Most of the hesitation has centered around Gmail's design, which makes skinning tricky business. "Gmail's structure is an application that's written all in JavaScript. It's a different beast. The detail level we did on Themes--we went pretty deep."

That complexity doesn't mean that the Gmail folks are beyond letting users design their own themes. When pressed if there would one day be a design-your-own Theme tool, Jackson said the closest thing users might be getting is a tool that lets them choose the colors of each Gmail element, similar to the color picker used for Gmail's labeling system.

As to when new Themes are coming, Jackson wouldn't say. However, I got a peek at a few rejects and early mock-ups, including several iterations of plaid that would get the lumberjack or golfer in all of us a little excited. Gmail via Safari and Mail. app is all you're getting for now.

2. No iPhone Gmail app in the works

For iPhone users who are fed up with Apple's built-in Mail application and wish that they could get a native Gmail application like the ones for Android and J2ME phones--don't hold your breath. "We could make one for mail, potentially," Jackson said, "but we'd also have to make one for Palm and BlackBerry. For each platform, it's time consuming."

Instead Jackson thinks the future of Gmail on phones centers around improved 3G coverage and new standards such as HTML 5 that will make using Gmail on your handset's browser less painful. "If we can design for the Web and give you the client-like experience that you're used to getting with Gmail on your browser, it's going to be a good experience."

3. Video chat is capable of HD

Gmail got video chat last year. However, instead of using Adobe's Flash to serve up the video, Google went with a small 2MB plug-in that had to be installed on your machine. Jackson says the team had gone back and forth between doing the add-on and Flash, but in the end, what mattered was quality, which the plug-in delivered. Going forward, Jackson says the plug-in route will be able to provide even higher-quality video as people's connections improve, going to Video Graphics Array (640x480 pixels) all the way up to high definition. (full Story)

With Earnings Call, Apple Heads Back to Business

After a week spent worrying about the health of CEO Steve Jobs, Apple will look forward to getting back to business Wednesday when it reports its fiscal first-quarter earnings.

The last three months were not kind to computer and consumer electronics companies, but Apple is expected to have weathered the storm better than others. Analysts are predicting the company will report revenue and earnings per share at the high end of the guidance it provided in October, with expectations of $9.76 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $1.38.

The three-month period between October and December is usually one of Apple's best quarters of the calendar year, but this was anything but a typical holiday season. Overall retail sales fell 2.7 percent in December as compared with November, as the full emotional impact of the late-2008 stock market swoon took hold. We got a bit of an earnings preview last week, when IDC and Gartner reported their PC market share estimates for the fourth calendar quarter. Apple's Mac shipment growth slowed from the strong pace it set throughout 2008, but the company is still growing faster than the market itself.

Measured against a U.S. PC market that fell 3.5 percent compared with last year, Apple's shipments grew 7.5 percent. That suggests that Apple is still enjoying momentum in its Mac division, which no doubt got a boost from the introduction of new notebooks in October.

Still, the economic climate is having some sort of impact on the Mac, which is almost exactly what analysts felt would happen going into this quarter. Most analysts seem to be expecting Apple to have sold around 2.6 million Macs during the quarter, representing decent year-over-year growth at around 13 percent but slower than Apple had been reporting over the last several quarters. When it comes to the other two legs of Apple's business, however, the prognosis is less clear. iPod shipments, usually the crown jewel of Apple's first fiscal quarter, are expected to decline from last year's 22 million shipments to around 19 million. But there could be a silver lining for Apple if the momentum toward higher-priced iPods like the iPod Touch continues, allowing the company to offset a volume decline in sales with an increase in revenue obtained per iPod.

Predicting the iPhone shipment totals is even less of a science, since Apple's history in this market is too short to have established seasonal patterns. The company sold way more iPhones last quarter than anyone had expected, shipping 6.9 million units. That has dampened expectations for the current quarter, since many of those sales were used by Apple's carrier partners to build inventory ahead of the pent-up demand for the July iPhone 3G launch. Financial analysts seem to expect around 5 million iPhones to have been sold during the quarter, which would be a steep decline from the company's fourth quarter but a 116 percent increase over last year's first-fiscal quarter iPhone sales. (full Story)

Apple iTunes 8 (Winter 2009)

When Apple upgrades its flagship iTunes media application, people take notice. The new version, iTunes 8, adds a tiled album-cover view, a custom playlist-generation feature called Genius, a Visualizer update, and some accessibility enhancements. It also brings high-definition TV episodes to the iTunes Store for the first time, and it marks the return of NBC content after a protracted battle over royalty rates. In addition, at MacWorld on January 6th, 2009, Apple made three key changes to the iTunes Store. First, it announced that it has finally removed DRM from all but two million of the ten million songs in its catalog (the DRM on the rest will disappear by the end of March). It also announced three tiers of pricing for tracks, in a nod to the major record labels' demands; tracks will now cost $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29 each. Finally, iPhone owners will be able to buy music tracks over 3G cellular networks, not just over Wi-Fi—putting Apple in direct competition with Sprint Music, Verizon V CAST Music, and other cellular services. These long-awaited improvements put Apple over the top; it finally takes the Editors' Choice from long-time favorite Rhapsody.

That said, iTunes 8 still doesn't do everything. It still lacks a music-subscription option, and Apple still prefers that you play within its walled-garden ecosystem of iPods, iPhones, Apple TV devices, and iTunes Store purchases—particularly when it comes to video. But there's no denying that iTunes 8 remains a formidable choice in media suites for both Mac and PC computers, even if most of the flaws we noted in our last review of version 7.7 remain.

I tested iTunes 8, using a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz Merom Core 2 Duo machine with 2GB of RAM. I also put together a test library of 581 tracks, including music purchased from the iTunes Store, music purchased from Amazon's DRM-free MP3 store, and unprotected MP3 and AAC tracks ripped from CDs. Finally, I re-ran tests on a separate 24-inch aluminum iMac and a Core 2 Duo HP Pavilion laptop running Windows Vista, each with a different music library, to check stability. All three were stable in operation, but the iTunes 8 installer crashed the aluminum iMac hard, forcing a reboot and a second attempt before it worked. (full Story)

Nokia was the World’s Largest Computer Maker in 200

The tech community is gearing up for CES and Macworld Expo 2009 events this week and it is expected there will be new from the large computer makers, Apple, HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. However, did you know that Nokia is now the world’s largest computer maker with 13.8% of market share? HP, Dell, Apple, Acer, Lenovo, RIM, and Toshiba follow in the stats. These numbers only include the Nokia smartphones and not all of the Nokia mobile phones (Series 40 phones are quite powerful too, but not included) or devices (Nokia Internet Tablets are not included), which would increase their numbers even more.

Now, the first argument you will probably make to Tomi’s article linked above is that Nokia smartphones (and those from RIM, Apple, Windows Mobile, and Google) should not be considered computers. I recommend you check out his other follow-up article that takes an in-depth look at the history of computers over the last 50 years to see how today’s modern high end smartphones fit into the computer picture.

Nokia has been calling their Nseries devices “multimedia computers” for the last couple of years and I tend to use this label often too as agree with them about the Nseries functionality. These devices capture amazing photos and video that you can even edit on the device itself and share online without ever needing to connect to a PC. Most, if not all, of the Nseries devices come with TV out cables and Bluetooth so you can actually use a Nseries device as your only computer with a connection to a monitor/TV and Bluetooth keyboard. Most people today use their computer for email and web browsing and with a Nseries device and external monitor/TV there is no reason you can’t do it all with the phone as the central core of your system.

You will never do away with the full PC computer and no one is saying they will go away because there are a ton of real needs for a full size powerful computer. However, it is quite amazing what these mobile devices today can do and I know that every phone currently in my collection blows away the PCs I had back in the 90s. I actually prefer to use my mobile phone for setting appointments, browsing through email, and browsing through my RSS feeds over using my PC since I find it more convenient and faster. Coworkers also tell me they prefer using their iPhone for browsing through their email list rather than using Outlook on the PC. (full Story)

Safe Eyes Mobile Protects Kids on the iPhone 3G

The iPhone, like many cell phones from all four carriers, has some basic parental controls built-in for free (though with some other models, protection comes from the carrier, not from the handset itself). Now InternetSafety.com has announced Safe Eyes Mobile, what it claims as the first Internet filtering software that lets parents protect children from viewing objectionable content on a mobile device.

Essentially, it's a replacement browser for the iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch; it blocks millions of pages of inappropriate online content while allowing full access to the rest of the Web, "eliminating the need to turn off the iPhone's highly acclaimed mobile browsing feature to avoid exposing children to the unsavory side of the Internet." There's a YouTube-based video demo at www.safeeyes.com/iphonedemo as well.

The app works by checking against a blacklist of Web sites that's updated daily, and defaults to protecting against adult and tasteless categories. Parents can check off up to 31 other categories using the app. Here's one important difference: the app can filter content over both AT&T's 3G data network and the iPhone's Wi-Fi radio. It will be interesting to see how the replacement browser works next to Safari; the company claims that it still supports pinch zoom, bookmarks, and Google Search. Pricing and a release date have yet to be determined. (story Link)

Pharos Announces New Unlocked GPS Smartphone

LAS VEGAS – Pharos on Tuesday at CES 2009 announced the company's latest unlocked GPS smartphone, the Traveler 137. The Windows Mobile Professional phone is distinguished by a large 3.5-inch, 800x480 touch screen and support for both AT&T and T-Mobile's high-speed 3G networks.

Pharos makes both standalone GPSes and GPS smartphones, and unlike many other manufacturers the company has decided to go it alone by offering unlocked phones that work on AT&T and T-Mobile. Most unlocked phones don't work with T-Mobile's 3G network, which runs on the unusual 1700-MHz band. But the Traveler 137 does, delivering fast Internet speeds on T-Mobile as well as on AT&T.

It actually works better on T-Mobile than on AT&T: with tri-band 1700/1900/2100 3G, it works with all of T-Mobile's and foreign 3G systems, but misses any AT&T 3G cities using the 850-MHz rather than the 1900-MHz band. In those cities, it has to drop to 2G.

The Traveler 137 is a powerful, slab-style Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 handset with a 528-MHz processor and a killer list of features. To hit the Internet, the phone supports both HSDPA 7.2 with HSUPA and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g. (That means its cellular networking is faster than what either AT&T or T-Mobile have on offer today.) The 137 has GPS, of course, along with Bluetooth 2.1, an FM radio, and dual cameras: a 3-megapixel one on the back and a VGA one on the front, for taking pretty self-portraits. The 256 Mbytes of RAM and 512 MB of Flash is supplemented by a MicroSD card slot supporting up to 16 GB memory cards.

The phone's most visible feature, though, is its screen, a 3.5-inch, 800x480 panel. That's the same size as the iPhone's screen, but more than double the resolution. Only the Sony Xperia X1 matches this resolution on a phone, and that phone costs $200 more than the Traveler 137.

Since Pharos is a GPS company, the company focused on including top-notch GPS software on the Traveler 137. The phone's Smart Navigator software downloads maps while the phone has cellular coverage, so you can still use it to navigate when you're out of phone range. The phone will come with U.S. maps for free; Canadian and European maps are available at an extra charge.

"Most navigation solutions for smartphones only work when within a carrier coverage zone," said James Oyang, Pharos' president, in a statement. "We've equipped the Traveler 137 with our hybrid navigation system that follows you wherever you want to go and charges you only when you actually use it." (full Story)