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Samsung Glyde Verizon's latest touch screen phone aims at those who thought the LG Voyager was perfect except for the large size and price tag. The 4 ounce Glyde SCH-u940 is much smaller and wields a slide-down QWERTY keyboard for messaging. It's got a 240 x 440 pixel haptic feedback touch screen, V Cast EVDO service, GPS with VZ Navigator 4 support and a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus lens. If that's not enough, it's got a full HTML web browser. |
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LG Vu The LG Prada's stateside cousin sports the same stunning looks and small size but adds a few goodies including a quad band GSM phone radio and US 3G HSDPA. The Vu is offered by AT&T and it's one of two phones to support their new broadcast TV service powered by Qualcomm's MediaFLO. It has a widescreen 400 x 240 touch screen display with haptic vibration feedback that looks great and works well. Also inside are a microSD card slot, 2 megapixel camera with autofocus lens, Bluetooth with A2DP stereo, mobile YouTube support and more. |
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BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Think of it as "Pearl 2.0". The new Pearl is small, super-light and sexy just like the original Pearl. The 8120, available on AT&T and T-Mobile adds several tweaks and improvements including WiFi, an easily accessible microSD card that's compatible with SDHC cards, a 2 megapixel camera that takes video and still shots, improved text prediction and a better web browser. Like all BlackBerry smartphones, the pearl 8120 does push email with aplomb and it features a SureType keyboard where two letters share a key. It's a quad band world GSM world phone with EDGE for data. The T-Mobile version supports their HotSpot @Home WiFi calling. We take a look at both phones for this review. |
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LG enV2 The latest in the LG V and enV series of messaging phones from LG and Verizon, the enV2 goes on a diet and comes back slimmer, smaller and eminently more pocketable and stylish. The enV2, like its predecessors, opens lengthwise to reveal a QWERTY keyboard and a large main display. The outer display is tiny but the number pad is huge-- great for one-handed dialers. The phone supports V Cast, VZ Navigator with aGPS, and it has a music player, 2 megapixel camera and SDHC microSD card slot. |
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Nokia N95 8 Gig (N95-4) The fourth time around, the Nokia N95 is still looking good! When the original N95 came out a year ago it wowed pretty much everyone with its huge laundry list of cutting edge features, topped with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera. Flash forward to today and we've had the US N95-3, the Euro 8 gig model and now the US 8 gig N95 with US 3G HSDPA and a US warranty. The phone loses the microSD card slot and replaces it with 8 gigs of flash storage and has the latest firmware with a faster camera and other tweaks. The display size is upped to 2.8" and the phone has the usual N95 goodness: GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, 2-way slider, music player and more. |
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Motorola Z9 Motorola's sexy new slider was just announced for AT&T at the CTIA trade show in early April. This is a feature phone that seems to have it all: stunning good looks with a metallic sheen and attractive color, solid build quality and a wealth of features. The Moto Z9 is the slider cousin to the popular RAZR2 V9 and shares that phone's styling and OS. But the Z9 adds something special: it's AT&T's first feature phone with a GPS and AT&T Navigator. The Moto also has a very good 2 megapixel camera, a large QVGA display, music player, SDHC microSD card slot and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR with A2DP stereo support. |
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Sanyo Katana LX The latest in a long line of Katana models for Sprint. The Katana LX is a basic feature phone that focuses on good looks with its mirrored front flip and OLED external display. The flip phone has a retro VGA camera, Bluetooth, GPS and Sprint Vision (1xRTT) data support, but no EVDO Power Vision. It's available in three colors, all with the mirror finish. |
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Verizon XV6900 Verizon's version of the HTC Touch is small, sumptuous and one of the least geeky looking PDA phones on the market. It's nearly identical to the Sprint Touch, varying only in color and software customizations. The 4 ounce XV6900 features a large QVGA touch screen with HTC's finger-friendly TouchFLO UI and Windows Mobile 6 Professional. This Pocket PC phone has a 400MHz processor, 128 megs of RAM, 256 megs of flash memory and a 2 megapixel camera. It's got EVDO for fast data but no WiFi. If you don't need a hardware keyboard, it's definitely worth a look. |
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Nokia E51 This ESeries business smartphone looks more like a sexy feature phone. It's sold unlocked in the US by major retailers and is a quad band GSM world phone with non-US 3G. It's super-thin with a 2" QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR. There's WiFi for fast data, and support for most popular personal and corporate email including BlackBerry Connect. This affordable S60 phone dishes out some fun too with a capable music player, A2DP, RealPlayer and an FM radio. |
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Nokia N810 The third generation Internet tablet from Nokia bears a great deal of similarity to the N800 it replaces. But it adds two key features: a GPS and hardware keyboard. This handheld computer has a fantastic web browser with support for Flash 9 and AJAX, email and RSS. It weighs 8 ounces and is as big as a large-ish PDA. Other features include a 4.1" touch screen, 400MHz processor, a Linux-based OS, Bluetooth, WiFi and a PDF reader. It's not a PDA and not a cell phone, but rather a mobile Internet device, media player and a GPS. |
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Palm Centro for AT&T The Centro is back, this time for AT&T Wireless. We reviewed the Centro on Sprint's network last Fall and now AT&T is offering the GSM version for the same low $99. This makes the Centro the most affordable touch screen PDA phone on AT&T's network, and like Sprint, they're hoping that first time smartphone buyers will be attracted by the price and hop looks. The Centro runs Palm OS and it has a QWERTY keyboard that's ready for texting and email, including push email. It has a 320 x 320 color display, Bluetooth, a 312MHz processor and a microSD card slot. |
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HTC Shift US Sprint CDMA version and import GSM version review. HTC, one of the largest Windows Mobile phone manufacturers, has entered the notebook and UMPC business. The Shift is a 1.76 lb. Windows Vista UMPC with a 7" touch screen and a very usable (though not full notebook-sized) keyboard. The display slides up to reveal the keyboard, and it can be positioned flat or upright, similar to the popular HTC Tilt on AT&T.The US version of the Shift is available from Amazon and direct from HTC's website and the GSM 3G version is available from importers. The US version features EVDO for fast data and the GSM version has a 3G HSDPA radio and SIM card slot that's unlocked for use with any carrier. It's also got WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 and a web cam. The Shift runs on an 800MHz Intel processor with a 40 gig hard drive. The Shift's parlor trick is SnapVUE, a winnowed-down version of Windows Mobile that offers instant-on email, PIM info and weather reports even when the Vista portion is turned off. |
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Samsung M520 Though reasonably priced at $49 with contract from Sprint, the Samsung M520 packs a lot of features and good looks, especially if slim and shiny are your things. The phone has EVDO, Bluetooth with A2DP stereo, one of the best 1.3 megapixel cameras we've seen on a phone and it supports Sprint TV with good playback performance. The M520 has a GPS that works with Sprint's TeleNav-powered navigation services and a music player plus a microSD card slot for storing tunes. Nice for the price... |
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HP iPAQ 110 It's been more than a year since we've seen a new Pocket PC released in the US; I mean the traditional PDA kind with no phone. The HP iPAQ 110 is the first Pocket PC running Windows Mobile 6 without a phone to hit our shores, and it packs a lot of features into a small, elegant package. This "entry" level $299 PDA has a QVGA display, Bluetooth, WiFi, a fast 624MHz processor, 64 megs of RAM and 256 megs of flash memory. For those who aren't in love with converged PDA phones, the iPAQ beckons.
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E-TEN Glofiish X650 The non-3G sibling to the Glofiish X800 features a more basic industrial design that harks back to the E-TEN Glofiish X500+. Though slim and light for a Windows Mobile Professional Pocket PC phone, the X650 packs in every popular feature including a VGA display, SiRF III GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, a good camera and an FM radio. The X650 is a quad band GSM phone with EDGE for data that's sold unlocked by a variety of importers. It has a 500MHz CPU, 256 megs of flash memory and an SDHC microSD card slot. |
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Samsung Alias This new Verizon flips in two directions: it opens like a normal clamshell phone and it can also flip to landscape mode, like a tiny laptop. Though the phone is incredibly slim, small and light, it has a sturdy 2-way hinge. Why landscape mode? The u740 has a small QWERTY keyboard that targets texters who don't want a bulkier phone like the LG enV. The Samsung has EVDO, Bluetooth, a 1.3MP camera with flash, microSD card slot and a music player. All in a package slightly smaller than a RAZR. It comes in sliver and features and updated keyboard from the U740. |
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ASUS U6E 12" notebook Notebooks this small and light are generally underpowered but the 3.5 pound U6 impresses us with full notebook power in a small package. The stylish ASUS runs on a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 2 gigs of DDR2 RAM and comes with Intel integrated X3100 graphics (U6E) or NVIDIA 8400 dedicated graphics (U6S). The U6E features a pearl finish on an aluminum alloy lid and a grained white leather wrist rest. The machine has an internal DVD burner, webcam and biometric fingerprint security that recognizes your fingerprint or your face. |
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New
Accessory, Software & Gadget Reviews |
Proporta Mobile Device Charger Micro
This really small and light portable charger packs a 1700 mAh battery that can charge most popular mobile devices including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola phones as well as the iPhone, iPod and PSP. A handy way to double battery life when you're not near an AC outlet. |
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Cardo S2 Stereo Bluetooth Headset
Cardo's behind-the-neck stereo Bluetooth headset works with Bluetooth A2DP phones and other devices. They're relatively light yet sturdy and have quite good sound for calls and music. |
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Samsung SBH500 Stereo Bluetooth Headset
The best sounding stereo Bluetooth headset we've heard so far also happens to look slick and feel good on the noggin. This behind-the-neck stereo headset is light, elegant and sounds as good as wired headphones. Nice. |
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BlueAnt Supertooth Light
It's a Bluetooth speakerphone and portable car kit that weighs only 4 ounces (hence the "Light" moniker). The Supertooth offers excellent voice quality and noise reduction, easy pairing and good battery life-- who could ask for more? |
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Neuros OSD Recorder
The latest Neuros recorder can record VGA video at 30fps with stereo audio from a TV, VCR and even YouTube via its Ethernet connection. It has CF, SD and Memory Stick slots to store video and can even use flash drives and other USB storage media. A great companion to the iPhone, PSP or smartphone. |
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Plantronics Pulsar 260 Stereo Bluetooth Headset
A Bluetooth stereo earbud headset with wires-- go figure. The Pulsar 260 consists of a small Bluetooth wireless pendant with playback and call controls that connects via Bluetooth to your phone. A pair of stereo earbuds are connected via wires to the pendant. |
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Spectec miniSD WiFi Card
The perfect companion to the Treo 750, Motorola Q and Q9m, the Spectec miniSD WiFi card will get you online when cellular data isn't an option. This 802.11b card barely protrudes from the Treo and works well for email, web and more. Though we note that Skype isn't the Treo's strong point. |
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Callpod Dragon Bluetooth Headset
An unusually designed Bluetooth headset that's round. That's right- no mic boom, nothing sticking out, and the ear loop is optional. The Dragon is a rare class 1 Bluetooth headset which means extraordinary range. But the extraordinary design gets in the way of good calling experience. |
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