Recently in Phones Category

Boy Genius Report has been playing with a Blackberry Bold for the past month and they have now posted their review. Here's what they thought:

"Remember all that talk about overheating and battery drain? It definitely wasn't crap -- we'll tell you that! Even still, the device gets a little warm, but nothing to get too concerned about. RIM has made strides in regards to updated software builds for the Bold. Let's bring you back to when we first got the device, ok? We thanked our very friendly FedEx Sameday delivery man (or delivery person since there's this cute female that sometimes brings us goodies... anyway) and proceeded immediately to remove the SIM card and microSD card from our BGR edition BlackBerry Curve 8310. After that, we took a bat to it, Office Space style. Once the battery was installed in the Bold, we patiently waited for the unit to turn on.".......

Click below for the rest of the review.

BlackBerry Bold review at BGR

Gene Munster from Piper Jaffray is estimating that shortages in the supply of iPhone 3G handsets will last until mid-August.

Munster said that he'd wager "we'll see problems for another two to four weeks," adding, "early demand has been more than [Apple] expected."

Apple's own supply-checking tool reports that a little over a quarter of Apple Stores had iPhone 3Gs to sell today. The hardest model to find is the black, 16GB version. It was available in only 18 stores worldwide.

AT&T stores are also "nearly out."
more at Macworld

Geardiary got some insider information on AT&T's release plans for the rest of 2008.

The news isn't too exciting for blackberry devices (the Curve 8320 and the Bold in Q3) but for Windows Mobile devices there are a couple of interesting updates coming: the Sansung Blackjack III, the HTC Tilt II, and a new Pantech Duo device.

Check the link below for more specs.

AT&T 2008 Roadmap at Geardiary

The rumors have been around for a while but now it's official: the iPhone 3G will cost half what the original iPhone cost but AT&T will more than make up the difference in higher monthly fees:

If you are a new customer or are eligible for an upgrade the iPhone 3G will cost $199 for 8GB or $299 for 16GB. Everyone else pays $200 more.

Here's the monthly fees:

AT&T Nation (unlimited data included)

• $69.99 - 450 anytime minutes, 45¢ each addtl minute, 5,000 night / weekend minutes
• $89.99 - 900 anytime minutes, 40¢ each addtl minute, unlimited night / weekend minutes
• $109.99 - 1,350 anytime minutes, 35¢ each addtl minute, unlimited night / weekend minutes
• $129.99 - Unlimited minutes

AT&T FamilyTalk (includes 2 lines, unlimited data & night / weekend minutes, $39.99 each additional line)

• $129.99 - 700 anytime minutes, 45¢ each addtl minute
• $149.99 - 1,400 anytime minutes, 40¢ each addtl minute
• $169.99 - 2,100 anytime minutes, 35¢ each addtl minute
• $209.99 - 3,000 anytime minutes, 25¢ each addtl minute
• $259.99 - 4,000 anytime minutes, 20¢ each addtl minute
• $359.99 - 6,000 anytime minutes, 20¢ each addtl minute
• $259.99 - Unlimited minutes ($129.99 each additional line)

Add Text Plan

• $5 - 200 messages per month (individual plan)
• $15 - 1,500 messages per month (individual plan)
• $20 - Unlimited messages (individual plan)
• $30 - Unlimited messages (FamilyTalk plan)
• 20¢ per message if no plan is selected

Official iPhone 3G pricing

Boy Genius Report has posted a review of the Sony Xperia X1 phone that has a lot of people excited at the moment.

The Xperia X1 has a 3" 800x480 pixel VGA screen, runs windows Mobile 6.1, had a 3.2 megapixel camera (plus a front facing camera for video calls), aGPS, bluetooth, 256MB RAM, 215MB flash, MicroSD slot, etc etc.

No conclusion to the review as such, but head over there and check out their thoughts.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 review at BGR

HP seems to be going nowhere in the pda phone arena and their latest offering isn't really that exciting compared to the kinds of devices RIM, Apple and HTC are creating.

The HP iPAQ 914 is their latest pda phone and it will be available in Europe in July for about $775.

• A-GPS compatible GPS receiver
• 2.5″ touchscreen with 320×240 pixels resolution QVGA
• Marvell PXA270 processor at 520 MHz
• Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), EDGE, 3G and triband HSDPA at 7.2 Mbps
• 3MP camera with autofocus on the back of the device - so no video conferincing
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• USB 2.0
• 256 MB ROM
• 128 MB RAM
• microSD port
• 1940 mAh replaceable lithiuom-ion battery
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Google Maps Mobile

HP iPAQ 914 specs via navigadget

Verizon has announced the availability of 3 new LG phones, the dare, the decoy, and the chocolate 3.

Full press release follows:

As you can see from the graphic Apple is making a big thing out of the price reduction from $399 to $199 for the iPhone 3G, so what if we told you it will actually cost more over two years than the old iPhone.

Yep, that's right: the hardware is subsidized to cost $200 less than before, but those sneaky bastards charming people at AT&T are trying to sneak in a $10 a month price increase for unlimited data (bumping it from $20/month to $30/month).

$10 a month over a two year contract is an extra $240, so the iPhone 3G actually ends up costing $40 more than the old iPhone.

more insider info at boygeniusreport

As expected, Steve Jobs has just announced the iPhone 3G at the Apple Worldwide Developers conference in San Francisco.

The 3G differs from the original iPhone visually in that it has a black plastic back that is thinner and more contoured at the edges. It keeps the same 3.5" screen (not a smaller screen as some rumors had suggested).

Speed: They compared the iPhone 3G tp the Nokia N95 and the Treo 750 and showed it to be 36% faster at web browsing over 3G, and 360% faster than the original iPhone.

Battery Life: They claim 300hrs standby, 10hrs 2G talk, 5hrs 3G talk, 5-6hrs web browsing, 7hrs video, and 24hrs audio playback.

GPS: the iPhone 3G has A-GPS trying together data from regular GPS along with triangulation from celltowers to give a very accurate location.

Pricing: In the US pricing will be $199 for 8GB and $299 for 16GB (16GB is available in white), both prices are with a new two-year service agreement.

Availability: The iPhone 3G will be available July 11th.

The HTC Touch Pro (formerly HTC Raphael) has now bee officially announced for Europe with a US version to follow later in the year.

Here are the specs:

* Size: 102 x 51 x 18.05mm
* Weight: 165 g
* Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA
* Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
* Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
* Camera: 3.2MP, with video calling
* Internal memory: 512 MB flash, 288 MB RAM
* Expansion Slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
* Keyboard: Slide-out 5 row QWERTY keyboard
* Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
* Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
* GPS: GPS/AGPS
* Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
* Battery: 1350 mAh
* Talk time: GSM: up to 8 hours
* Standby time: GSM: up to two-weeks
* Chipset: Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528MHz

HTC Touch Pro, via boygeniusreport

Samsung has announced a new slider phone: the SGH-L870. It has a stylish stainless steel body but the look is spoiled in our opinion by the dated look of the operating system theme and icons.

Here's the specs:

• Network: HSDPA (2100MHz) 3.6Mbps + EDGE/GPRS 900/1800/1900
• Display: 2.4″ QVGA 16M Color TFT
• Camera: 3-Megapixel Camera
• Operating System: Symbian 9.3
• S60 3.2
• Nokia Mini Map browser (full browsing)
• New Thematic UI
• Quick Office document viewer
• Push Email (Visto, Seven, Intellysync, Good)
• Advanced PIM Applications
• Music Player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, RA, AMR, WMA)
• Video Player (H.263 + AMR, MPEG4, Real One, WMV)
• FM Radio (RDS)
• Bluetooth v.2.0 EDR / USB 2.0 (Full Speed)
• Memory: 100MB internal memory + Micro SD up to 4GB
• Size: 103.5 x 50.5 x 13.5mm

Samsung Announces L870 Slider Phone via slashphone

T-Mobile has surprised a lot of people by announcing the European release of the HTC Raphael phone (which they are calling the the MDA Vario IV).

This nice looking phone has a 640x480 VGA screen, slide out qwerty keyboard, 3.2 megapixel main camera, 0.3 megapixel secondary camera, bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, FM radio, 528MHz processor, 256MB RAM, and 512MB ROM.

T-Mobile introduces HTC Raphael in Europe via GSM helpdesk

Boy Genius report got sent a Nokia E71 and has put together a review, a video review, and a photo gallery. They think it's the best Nokia phone to date:

"We're at the end of the review, but by now, you've seen how impressed we are with the phone. It takes a lot to get us excited but the E71 has done it. This thing, in our opinion, is the best phone Nokia has made to date. That's a very bold statement, we know. But this really is going to be the phone to beat by a lot of manufacturers. From the design, to the specs, to the size, the feel -- it has the entire package. It's not for everyone, though. Some people prefer a straight up phone like a flip phone, but in terms of a smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard, this takes the cake. It is just striking compared to the shit device the E61 was. It's ok, we still love y'all that carry the E61, but this puts it to shame. One thing I personally can't get over is the awesome dimensions of the device. It's so perfectly thin, yet incredibly comfortable to hold and use. We just hope Nokia doesn't wait too long to bring this to market as they need to strike now. Like right now. This second. After seeing all of the detailed shots and our impressions, how do you guys feel about the phone? Are you foaming at the mouth waiting for it or ice-grillin' us?"

Nokia E71 review at bgr

A white paper has revealed there will be two variants of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1: one for the US and one for the rest of the world.

The US variant (the X1a) will support quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) radio and tri-band (850/1900/2100Mhz) UMTS/HSPA radio for 3G data connectivity, whereas the global X1c version will support tri-band (900/1900/2100Mhz) UMTS/HSPA 3G instead.

Another interested snippet to come out of the white paper is a claim if 10hrs of GSM talktime or 6.5hrs of 3G talk time.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 at intomobile

The iPhone blog has posted a detailed comparison of the new Blackberry Bold and the soon to be replaced iPhone.

There's tons of good photos and a detailed vidoe but at the end of the day for us it comes down to personal choice: do you want a stylish hip iPhone or a more businesslike Blackberry?

We're still waiting for our ideal phone: the slide-out and flip-up keyboard of the TyTn II, the screen and usability of the iPhone, and the patented push email of the Blackberry.

iPhone vs. BlackBerry Bold comparison at the iPhone Blog

BoyGeniusReport has posted a couple of photos of the upcoming Palm Treo 850. We don't know much about this device except that it probably has a 400MHz processor, GSM/HSDPA, Windows Mobile 6.1, and 100MB RAM.

I'm finding it hard to get excited about the upcoming Treos.

Palm Treo 850 photos at BGR

The Toshiba Portege G710 is a smartphone for Europe that comes with Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), GPRS Class 10 and EDGE, Integrated SiRF Star III GPS receiver, 2.4″ TFT LCD screen with 320×240 pixel resolution, OMAP TI processor at 266 MHz, 2MP digital camera with 8x digital zoom, 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of ROM, Bluetooth 1.2 compatible A2DP (stereo), microSD card slot, MiniUSB 1.1, 1,050 mAh lithium-ion battery with 200 hours of endurance stand-by and 3 hour in communication, Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard.

Nothing special in my opinion: low resolution screen, very little storage, weak camera.

It was announced back in January and it looks like it will be available to buy any day now got about $450 (before any provider subsidies).

Toshiba Portege G710 via navigadget

Blackberry maker RIM is the only winner in the latest cellphone sales numbers increasing their market share to 5% and becoming the 5th biggest seller of phones in the US.

Overall sales of cellphones in the US dropped 22% year on year but there was an interesting trend of high-end phones increasing in sales while inexpensive basic phone lost market share: 17% of all phones sold were smartphones, 60% of all phones sold could play music, and 79% of phones had bluetooth (all the better to track you with).

Phone sales data via moconews

eprice in Taiwan have posted an unboxing with some great quality photos. The rest of the article isn't in English but it's still worth heading over there.

HTC Touch Diamond unboxing at eprice

via pocketpcthoughts

Is this the 3G iPhone?

Case manufacturer XSKN has listed a bunch of 3G iPhone cases on their site along with renderings that seem to match the rumored changes to the look of the iPhone.

via engadget