VK Mobile’s VK5000 EDGE
A new phone from VK Mobile was showed off at CeBit 2006. The VK5000 is a very tiny tri-band GSM/EDGE handset with a pretty big feature set.
Coming in an insanely small size, the VK5000 EDGE measures 3.6″ x 2.0″ x .4″ which makes it slightly wider than Motorola’s SLVR L7, but its a little shorter and thinner to make up for it.
Mobile Burn has the details on the features of the phone.
Instead of the typical LCD display, the VK5000 uses a new OLED display with a 128×160 resolution and the ability to show 260k colors. Like other OLED displays we’ve seen, it has a barely perceptible refresh that often becomes obvious in photos, just as you would see when photographing a television. You’ll notice that the bottom half of the display has deeper colors in the example on the next page. While it lacks a memory card slot of any kind, the VK5000 has an amazing 1GB of internal flash storage built-in. That’s great news since the VK5000 has a 1.3 megapixel camera and the ability to play MP3, AAC, AAC+, and eAAC+ music files, as well as record video at 15fps.
Samsung SGH-Z550 UMTS Slider
The people over at Mobile Burn took a quick look at the Samsung SGH-Z550 while at CeBit 2006, and they loved how it fit in the hand.
Here are a couple of specifications they mentioned in their article about the new slider phone:
The Samsung SGH-Z550 sports a 2.05″ QVGA display up front, and a 2.0 megapixel snapper at the rear. To support the camera and MP3/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+ compatible music player, the Z550 has 138MB of on board storage, with a microSD slot for memory expansion. Dual speakers and a Digital Power Amp are also featured, as are Bluetooth and a Document Viewer application.
Is it just me, or are cell phones getting closer and closer to being that “one device” you will use for everything?
Samsung SGH-ZX10 Review
Mobiledia has posted a review of the SGH-ZX10, a modern clamshell phone, with some decent features.
The Samsung ZX10 is a wonderful entertainment device for the road, integrating a 1.3-megapixel camera, MP3 player, and TransFlash memory card slot. But for professionals who need to stay connected away from the office, the ZX10 proves equally capable, offering quad-band GSM with UMTS dual-band support, email access, and real-time chat on the leading instant messaging clients.
Unfortunately the ZX10 has some weaknesses. The external screen on a flagship device is baffling, especially on a video phone where it should have strengths in LCD technology. The lack of Bluetooth is also downside considering wireless headsets are gaining popularity.
In the end though they say its a fine phone for people looking for consumers who watch quick clips of information on the go, or those who need a fast device for data transfer and love the clamshell design.
Samsung’s 10MP SCH-B600
Mobile Burn looked at the SCH-B600 from Samsung, and while the model number does not sound all that interesting, the actual handset has an interesing feature, a digital camera.
You are probably thinking, “almost all of them have those now”, but do they have 10 megapixel sensors? My dedicated digital camera does not even have that high of a resolution sensor.
This new device for its home Korean market sports a massive 10 megapixel sensor mated to a 3x optical zoom auto-focus lens that telescopes out of the back of the phone when activated - just like a normal, dedicated point and shoot camera. The thing is, even dedicated point and shoot cameras aren’t using 10 megapixel sensors. A microMMC memory card slot offers plenty of expansion for those massive photos.
Even if you ignore the camera, the SCH-B600 still has what most of the world would consider a high-tech feature set. Its display is a 2.2″ QVGA unit that can generate a whopping 16 million colors. It supports the SDMB digital satellite TV system as well as Bluetooth. The media player is capable of playing MP3, AAC, and AAC+ files through the dual built-in stereo speakers. Photos and video clips recorded with the SCH-B600 can be viewed on a TV with the TV-out function.
Unfortunately, there are currently no plans to push this phone into the rest of the world, other than Korea, but I would not be surprised if this sparked other companies to include similar features in their phones.
Sony Ericsson K800 Review
Pocket-lint has a first look review of the Sony Ericsson K800, the most serious camera phone option from Sony.
First impressions were very, very good, and while we initially scoffed at the idea of leaving our holiday memories in the hands of a phone rather than a camera we left thinking that we could be convinced. Or that we might not panic if we only had one of these in our pocket when we came through passport control.
The headline feature here is obviously the 3.2 megapixel resolution, which is way up there with digital cameras from a couple of years ago, and well up to printing on standard 6×4 paper. The 2-inch 262k colour LCD display also appeared to do the business, although we were indoors and would like to see how it performs in the bright sunshine.
While they don’t give the final rating, they do list some pro’s and con’s of the phone. They were happy with the resolution, BestPic mode, and the attractive styling of the phone, but they were a little disappointed with the lack of a Carl Zeiss optics system.
EmporiaLife Details
A cell phone for grandparents is what Mobile Burn called the big buttoned slider phone from Emporia. While not in the same league as some of the new sliders from Samsung and others, the EmporiaLife will still have some buyers due to the interesting features it does have.
The Austrian manufacturer designed the handset for people that are not used to high tech gadgets. As such, the phone is very plain and simple with a very large interface.
The buttons and keypad are all made to be easily found and read, and the phone is actually designed to be used most often from the closed position. The default standby screen is actually the contacts list, meaning that there is no menu to deal with when grandma wants to call somebody. She just uses the up and down arrow keys to find the number she wants and then presses the big green OK key.
On top of that, there is a large red emergency button on the back of the handset that can be pressed when the owner is in trouble. Up to 5 emergency numbers can be programmed into the button, though carriers could potentially choose to pre-program the button ahead of time with a local emergency number.
The EmporiaLife is not being pushed by any company yet, as manufacturing of the handset is just starting this month.
Motorola SLVR L6 Review
Pocket-lint reviews the SLVR L6, a very slim handset from Motorola that not only looks god, but it has some decent features. Very much like the L7, except even smaller, and with a few less features, the L6 is an interesting feature, but will people buy it without all the cool features of the L7 and other such cell phones.
The L6 is the slimmest handset available on the market right now, and unless you want a phone that will snap every time you press a button too vigorously while texting it’s hard to see where it could shed any further micrometers. This handset is seriously thin, 10.9mm! Although it’s still quite wide and slightly taller than an iPod.
What isn’t hard to spot is the L6’s lineage, as it’s a doppelganger for the L7 we’ve looked at previously. It fits in just below it in the brand’s line up, loosing a few extra millimetres and a couple of features on the way. It’s the RAZR V3 and V3i all over again – these handsets are darn close to each other in almost every respect!
For their final rating the phone manages to earn a seven out of a possible ten, as points were taken off for only having a VGA camera and lacking a MP3 player.
February Motorola RAZR Defect
It looks like the GSM RAZRs that various carriers received in February were defective. One of the components in some of the handsets caused them to randomly drop calls and reboot.
The carriers that have received such phones have been notified and companies like Cingular and T-Mobile have pulled their stock and suspended sales awaiting properly functioning RAZRs. Carriers that received the affected phones have been notified. Many Cingular and T-Mobile stores have pulled their stock and suspended sales of all RAZRs.
Alan Buddendeck, Motorola’s Global Director of Public Relations, today said that Motorola has fixed the problem and will have RAZRs back on store shelves “in a matter of days.”
Palm Treo 700w Review
Laptop Magazine looks at the Treo 700w from Palm. Many have said that the 700w, with Windows Mobile, just does not improve upon its predecessor, and Laptop Magazine agrees.
The Treo 700w, the first Palm smart phone to run Windows Mobile, is less a sequel to the wildly popular Treo 650 than a side project to appeal to IT managers and users who want to tap into Verizon’s blazing EV-DO network. This device should satisfy its target audience, but not the masses.
Weighing 6.4 ounces, the 700w looks almost identical to the Treo 650. Palm has tapered both sides of the 700w to give it a more sleek appearance and added two action buttons above the five-way navigation button. The other two additions are a Windows button (similar to Windows XP’s Start button) and an OK button that minimizes programs.
They end up giving the Treo 700w a three out of a possible five.
Sprint Offers Unlimited Mobile Calls to and from a Home or Business
Marking a first-of-its-kind offering from a national U.S. carrier, Sprint today announced the availability of Sprint to Home and Sprint Mobile to Office. These wireless service features allow customers to make or receive unlimited voice calls between their Sprint wireless phone and a pre-designated ten-digit home or office number while on the Nationwide Sprint PCS Network or National Nextel Network, regardless of their wireline carrier, without deducting minutes from their wireless service plans.
“Sprint is the only national carrier to offer its customers the unique convergence and flexible features found in Sprint to Home and Sprint Mobile to Office,” said Tony Krueck, vice president, product development and management, for Sprint. “With these options, busy families and mobile professionals alike can experience a new level of convenience and affordability with their communications.”
Consumers
Sprint to Home will allow Sprint wireless subscribers to get unlimited calling to and from their home phone regardless of their local provider. For just $5 per month, customers can stay connected with their families without using any of the minutes in their wireless service plans. The home number provided must be a residential landline number. To sign up, customers can visit a Sprint retail store or call 888-823-4666.
Coming soon, Sprint will also offer Sprint to Home with Long Distance, a free offer for customers who subscribe to both Sprint wireless services and long distance services
Businesses
Sprint Mobile to Office provides unlimited voice calls to a pre-identified landline business phone number. Business customers with a monthly wireless service plan of $49.99 or greater can select the Sprint Mobile to Office option for $8 per month, ensuring that the workplace can be extended beyond a traditional office for increased productivity. Sprint Mobile to Office is a valuable option for those companies with a remote sales or field service force or for those with a high level of telecommuting and traveling employees who need to stay connected to a key resource. To sign up, customers can contact their local Sprint Sales Representative, visit a Sprint or Nextel retailer or call 888-703-9514.
Sprint plans to expand the value of this offer later this year to allow business customers to pre-identify a range of landline numbers – up to 30,000 DIDs - that can be called without pulling from the subscriber’s bucket of anytime minutes.
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