Samsung’s SCH-i730 EV-DO/WiFi Phone

Samsung i730Basically what seems to be a Pocket PC with phone features, the Samsung SCH-i730 EV-DO has a Qwerty keyboard and Pocket PC operating system.

The SCH-i730 is a very large device, even for a Pocket PC PDA. At 191g (6.7oz) with the slim 1100mAh battery (add 18g/.6oz for the extended 1700mAh unit), the i730 is almost bulky enough to rip a pocket off your shirt or pants. It is also relatively large in a physical sense, its dimensions are 115mm x 59mm x 25mm (4.5″ x 2.3″ x 1″), not including the stub antenna. You can also attach an extended battery, which increases the i730’s thickness by another 25%. Extending the keyboard increases the length to a whopping 154mm (6.1″).

The top of the phone houses the stub antenna, which has a built-in whip antenna that can be extended for better reception. The QWERTY keyboard, perhaps the most important feature of the phone, slides out from the bottom of the device. The keys themselves are quite narrow as they are on most devices like this, but decently tall that most people should have little trouble hitting them. The blue colored keys can be used as a numeric keypad in the phone application, and act as numbers during regular text input when used with the Fn key.

The device uses a 620Mhz Intel PCA272 processor. The SCH-i730 has about 57MB of available RAM for use with running apps and as storage. In addition to that, there is about 89MB of built-in flash storage available, and a SDIO card slot that can be used to add even more storage.

The phone market seems to be split as their are cell phones with PDA like functions, and PDAs with cell phone like functions. I think the bulkiness of the SCH-i730 diminishes the usefullness of the device, though I do like having a keyboard, which is what most cell phones do not have. I doubt over the coming year there will be many devices released that are not convergent devices.

August 31st, 2005 Posted by David in Samsung at 9:11 am Comment Now! »

Motorola’s CDMA RAZR V3c

Motorola Razr V3cThe Motorola CDMA RAZR V3c is the new CDMA variant of the RAZR V3 that Motorola announced back in March of this year. Unlike the version that Motorola makes for Korea, the MS500, this phone has all of the major features of the GSM counterpart, including Bluetooth. On top of that, it also has a new 1.3 megapixel camera and EV-DO 3G data, just like the Korean model.

I don’t have too many other details about this camera as it has not been released yet, but so far it seems to have better reception and audio quality that its predecesor, and with the addition of a camera it is a pretty well rounded, and useful phone.

We will have more details on it, as they are released. Motorola is hoping to get the V3c on the market by the end of the year.

August 31st, 2005 Posted by David in Motorola at 8:50 am 2 Comments »

Sony Ericsson W800i

Sony Ericsson W800iThe Sony Ericsson W800i is the first in Sony’s new Walkman Phone line. Here is a cell phone that has so many uses that you don’t really need anything else. It features a 500MB Memory Stick Duo Card, stereo headphones, 2 megapixel digital camera, up to 30 hours playing time per battery charge on the music player and a dedicated start stop button.

The stylish look, ease of use, and music features are part of Sony’s marketing campaign to bring back the Walkman name. The W800i’s menus are a virtually the same as those of the K and D 750i. The only perceivable alteration is the removal of the generic media player, replaced with a Walkman-branded version. This Walkman application allows your stored music to be viewed by either artist or track name as well as allowing you to create play-lists on the fly.

Some downsides of this phone are that it has a weird file transfer process with confusing file structure, and the Sync software is for PC only. Since one of the main features of this phone are its music playing abilities, Sony better get this right on their next version.

August 30th, 2005 Posted by David in Sony Ericsson, Camera Phone at 2:18 pm 2 Comments »

50% of Teens Prefer Cell Phones to TV

Results released today from ACE*COMM Corporation’s online survey, conducted for ACE*COMM by Itracks, polled 1000 teens across North America between the ages of 13 and 18 from July 30 to August 9, 2005.

The Itracks survey found that many teenagers are abusing their mobile phone privileges. More than one-third (38 percent) of teens surveyed use their mobile phones to text-message their friends during school, 30 percent play video games on their phones while in school, and more than one-quarter (26 percent) use their phones to talk to people their parents would not approve of. The survey also revealed that on average, teens spend almost as much time on their mobile phones as they spend doing physical activity.
(more…)

August 30th, 2005 Posted by David in News at 1:58 pm Comment Now! »

LG VX5200 launched by Verizon Wireless

LG vx5200Another clamshell form factor phone released from LG, the VX5200 released for Verizon Wireless, showcases both style and function. Some of the major features include an integrated VGA camera, speaker-independent voice recognition and LG’s hands-free ‘drive mode’ for maximum safety while using the phone in the car.

Being able to send picture messages with the VX5200’s VGA CMOS camera owners will never miss a moment with its digital zoom, integrated flash and room to save up to 200 photos in the phone’s gallery.

Another bit of evidence of more and more PDA functions being put into a cell phone.

Some Technical Specs:

  • Networks: AMPS 800 / CDMA 800 / 1900
  • Dimensions: 3.46″ (H) x 1.85″ (W) x 0.94″ (D)
  • Internal 65K Color STN, 128 × 160 Pixels
  • External 65K Color STN, 96 × 64 Pixels
  • 32 MB Flash/8 MB SRAM
  • Weight: 4.16 oz.
  • Standard Battery: 1,000 mAh Li-Ion
August 30th, 2005 Posted by David in LG, Camera Phone at 1:50 pm 2 Comments »

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