Cellphones News

The HTC Touch HD that was pledged as a tough competitor for iPhone 3G didn’t make it to the U.S. market, making thousands (maybe?) of people waiting for it disappointed. However, if you are really, really, really wanted the phone, you should come to Europe on 6th November, since that is gonna be the day when the HD is sold at the European market.

The rumored cost of the HTC Touch HD is around 649 Euros. Add the price of a plane ticket going there, then this will truly become one expensive mobile phone for those who’d even think of flying to Europe just to get the Touch HD. Anyway, if you’re really looking for a very decent alternative to the iPhone 3G, then this is the best there is at the moment, and if spending on a costly flight ticket to Europe is out of the picture, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to wait for it to become available for retail on the internet which I think shouldn’t take too long since November 6 is just a couple of weeks away.

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Did you remember my post that talked about the availability of a kill switch at the iPhone 3G? Just yesterday I found out that apparently Google G1also has the same thing. This information, according to my source at Engadget is found inside the Android Market terms of service, here’s the quote:

“Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement … in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion”

Google then claims that it will make “reasonable efforts to recover the purchase price of the product … from the original developer on your behalf.” This on top of the Android Market’s policy which allows you to “return” (er, how, it’s electronic?) any application within 24 hours for a full refund. Aw shucks Google, come over here and give us a hug.

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LG Prada is a result of cooperation between LG and the famous fashion brand, Prada. But I’m sure that you already know that. What you might not aware is that this handset has reach its one million purchase, according to their announcement lately. Moreover, our guys at the Telecom Paper revealed that this success have driven both companies to extend the partnership and they also plan to launch a new handset model in Q4. Isn’t that interesting? Well, I hope that the next  generation of LG Prada will be around soon… Meanwhile, just to remind all of you, here’s the key features and some disadvantages of the LG Prada:

Key Features:

• Exclusive design and slim form factor
• Full touch-based Flash user interface
• 3″ TFT display with a WQVGA resolution (400 x 240 pixels)
• 2 megapixel camera with auto focus
• Shoots video in WQVGA resolution
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo support
• microSD memory card slot
• Office documents viewer
• FM radio
• Standard 3.5 mm audio adapter

Main Disadvantages:

• No 3G or HSDPA support
• Unimpressive battery life
• Really basic web browser
• Fingerprint magnet

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It looks like next year there will be war between phones that integrated 8 megapixel camera. Following the LG KC910, rumors said that another LG phone with an 8 megapixel camera will soon enter the market. The handset name, as for now, is the LG KC780. According to the rumor, the handset will be a full-touchscreen device with a slider design and able to capture video in VGA resolution. It also has red eye reduction, face detection and image stabilizer to get you a perfect shot. The LG KC910 announced earlier this month has a Xenon flash but I’m not sure if this KC780 will have the Xenon flash module or not. Just till next month, very soon.

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Recently over at the internet there are two very blurred leaked pictures of a new phone from Sony Ericsson codenamed Kate. According to the rumor, the handset will have a 5.0 megapixel camera and also support EDGE/UTMS/HSDPA. This handset is said to be the new member of Cyber-shot phone line. As expected from Cyber-shot, the phone will use auto focus and smile shutter that will automatically activate the shutter once it detect smile on the face. The phone is expected to have a mid-range pricing when available, though with HSDPA connection but there’s no video call features ~ no camera at the front. The Sony Ericsson Kate will be announced next month and start shipping by the end of 2008. Hmmm…Sony Ericsson Kate sounds sexy.

There’s a new buzz over at the internet saying that the first ever Nokia phone model that comes with free access to music will come on Oct 17 in Britain. A British-based website named Carphone Warehouse have said this at their web page. This information came from Maximus at the Justanothermobilephoneblog.

Nokia’s “Comes with Music” bundle of phone and music service could help the music industry make up for falling CD sales, while challenging dominance of Apple’s (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iTunes in the digital music market.

The package will differ from other bundles on the market as users can keep all the music they have downloaded during the 12 month subscription period.

Carphone, the exclusive retailer for the first model, said the phone was expected to go on sale on Oct 17.

A Nokia spokesman declined to comment.

Nokia has signed deals with the top three music labels — Universal (VIV.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Sony BMG (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) BERT.UL and Warner Music Group (WMG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) — to offer their tracks on the service.

Having the world’s three largest labels on board is set to help Nokia attract smaller music companies and challenge the dominant pay-per-track sales model for digital music.

“‘Comes with Music’ and other bundled services, should they succeed, offer a lifeline to the music labels which have seen revenues decline sharply in the digital age,” David MacQueen, analyst at researchers Strategy Analytics, said in a statement.

Strategy Analytics said its consumer survey showed clear latent demand for bundles like “Comes with Music”, with 84 percent of respondents willing to pay for such service.

“Comes with Music” is a key part of Nokia’s push to expand its offering to services, beyond maturing cellphone market.

While last year Apple grabbed most of the headlines in mobile world with iPhone, now analysts say Nokia has stolen the spotlight from Apple in the digital music world with the “Comes with Music” package.
Continue reading ‘Nokia “free” Music Phone to Come in Oct 17’ »

You may already read my post about the Apple’s iPhone 3G achievements and App store achievement several time ago. Well, since the iPhone 3G is so famous, it is no surprise that Apple is running out of 8GB iPhone 3G stock. The rumor emerge over at the internet said that there’s a possibility that Apple will introduce the new 32GB version of the iPhone 3G. Isn’t that interesting?!

We’ll see how this rumor pans out. If true, we know at least a couple editors that’ll be hocking their 16GB iPhone 3G and grabbing a bumped-up version. But, keep in mind, Apple could merely be shifting around 8GB iPhone 3G stock in preparation for the Best Buy marketing push.

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UPDATE: For folks who are jumping up and down with joy concerning news of a 32GB iphone 3G, well, sorry to burst your bubble but this handset is not meant to be at this point in time. According to Boy Genius Report, an Apple employee says that the 32GB model is nothing but a rumor. Guess you’ll just have to be happy with your 16GB handset, eh? I’m sure a 32GB model is in the pipeline somewhere though…

At first, the Blackberry Javelin codename was revealed in May 2008 and it was in June we saw the images and videos of this handset. After a while ago we found out that the device which is also known as the Blackberry 8900 is already spotted on Ebay, we now have a pre-release hands-on review of this handset, thanks to our folks at the crackberry. Here are some key features of the Javelin:

• Quad-band radios: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (no 3G)
• Wi-Fi b/g with UMA + GPS in one
• OS 4.6.1, featuring Safe Mode start up
• 480 by 360 high-res HVGA+ display
• 512 MHz Processor
• 256 MB onboard flash memory (more room for apps)
• Hot-swappable microSD slot – located under the battery door
• 3.2MP camera, includes auto-focus
• Glass cover – one piece glass cover will house the camera and flash, providing a very polished look and feel
• Micro USB charging/syncing port, w/ high speed data
• Dedicated Lock Button – will allow easy access to lock / hold the device when not using a holster
• “Sweet Spot” narrow keypad
• Battery Cover features a new easy to use, latch mechanism

Display: Frak’n awesome. In terms of physical dimensions, the Javelin’s display is narrower than the Bold’s by a ¼ inch and is the same height. Yet at 480 by 360 pixels, the 8900’s display is actually higher resolution than the Bold’s already-amazing 480 by 320 display. Looking at the homescreen, icons appear smaller and crisper on the Javelin. I can’t wait to load it up with videos and put it to the test.

Keyboard / Navigation: The Javelin’s keyboard is compact, but I’ve been finding it easy to type on (even with the French AZERTY layout, which I have already gotten used to and have concluded may actually be more efficient to use over QWERTY for typing in English!). Just like the BlackBerry 83xx series, the BlackBerry 8900’s keys are spaced out. This key spacing means there are no cool guitar-style frets, like on the Bold and Pearl Flip. If you look at the 8900’s keyboard closely, more than the Curve it most closely resembles the keyboard on the BlackBerry 8700 series, just condensed slightly.

Continue reading ‘Hands On Review: Blackberry Javelin’ »

I got an interesting post from our folks at the 3gweek, and Indonesian-based cellphones information blog. There’s a tips they got from a national newspaper about the Nokia E61. Sometimes we forgot to lock our Nokia E61 and this might allow unwanted person to open our private data. According to their source, there’s a feature that will allow users to lock or unlock their phone remotely via SMS.

The key is by sending the right password. Well, surely you need to send it from other phone, yet this trick guarantee that the phone won’t be open whatsoever (unless other people know the password, so make sure you write the difficult one to be guessed).

Kompas Tekno and Sinyal (in Indonesian) reveals the step by step way on doing it:

1. Go to Tools > Settings > Security Settings > Phone and SIM
2. Change “Allow Remote Lock” to Yes
3. Insert a password, contains 5 characters as minimal
4. Put a password again for verification

By sending an SMS contains the password to your own Nokia E61, the phone will be auto-locked (or auto-unlocked). Yet, I don’t know whether this way still valid for other Nokia phones or not.

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A poll that was conducted by a magazine named Stuff have resulted in the enthronement of the iPhone 3G as the  ‘Gadget of the Year‘. The popular new version of iPhone have managed to beat other cool gadgets such as Wii Fit, B&W’s Zeppelin iPod Speakers, the Xbox 360, the ASUS Eee PC, and Sony Playstation 3. Well, I sure do will chose the iPhone if i was in the poll…I guess Stuff readers have good taste! Readers rated gadgets in performance, design and value, and a kind of arbitrary ‘cool factor’ category.

The editorial staff of Stuff did not pick the iPhone 3G however for this award. Instead they awarded it to the ASUS Eee PC.

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