BlackBerry Onyx - Review

Our sources called and let us in on the news that RIM has the BlackBerry Onyx in testing. The Onyx is the 3G version of the already released Curve 8900.

From what we hear RIM is gearing up their 3G testing and the Onyx has already been placed with carriers for testing. Beyond the addition of 3G support, we hear whispers of a keyboard revision that is more like the 9630 Tour keyboard that is also part of the Onyx design.

While we don’t yet know all of the specifics, we suspect that we will hear more soon once the Onyx gets a little more testing and development under its belt. It could be that we might see the Onyx before the end of the year, depending on how the initial field trials with the carriers go.

Samsung Omnia Pro

Is Samsung going to release a new Omnia with slide-out QWERTY keyboard and OLED screen? According to a story on Italian HDblog the Samsung Omnia Pro would have this dramatic evolution. The photo is an artist rendition how the Omnia Pro would look given the slide-out keyboard rumor is true.

Features of the Samsung Omnia Pro include 3.5 inch OLED touchscreen with WVGA resolution and 5MP camera. Samsung would still ship the Omnia Pro with Windows Mobile 6.1, but customers can upgrade to the new Windows Mobile 6.5.
Samsung would release the Omnia Pro before the Summer holiday start, which would mean a June time-frame. Samsung already surprised us this weekend with the first Android Samsung Phone I7500 to ship in Germany in June. Is Samsung planning a major attack on the iPhone 2009 that is expected to ship also in June?

Samsung Alias 2, Review

The Samsung Alias 2 is not an attempt to revive Jennifer Garner's "Alias" television show. Rather, it is the third revamp of the Samsung SCH-U740 for Verizon Wireless. Also built for messaging and sporting a dual-hinged design, the Alias 2, aka the SCH-U750, adds more significant changes than the second generation Alias. The morphing "E Ink" keyboard is undoubtedly the highlight, but the Alias 2 also adds a 2-megapixel camera and support for corporate e-mail syncing through RemoSync. The result is a functional and full-featured communication device with good performance. Be advised that learning how to use it will take time, and the extra data features almost make the handset uneconomical, but the result is a solid addition to both the Samsung and Verizon stables. You can get it for $79.99 with service and a $50 mail-in rebate.

The good:
The Samsung Alias 2 has an innovative keypad that takes different forms depending on how you're using the phone. Its feature set is well-stocked and its overall performance for calls, video, and music is satisfying.

The bad:
The Samsung Alias 2's navigation controls take acclimation. The phone lacks Wi-Fi and POP3 e-mail access is limited to a Web-based interface. Also, adding up the various data features is expensive.

The bottom line:
The Samsung Alias 2 is an inventive update to Samsung's previous messaging phone. Provided you can afford it, and learn how to use it, it's a powerful messaging device with reliable performance.

Sony Ericsson Yari - Review

Sony Ericsson Yari is a quad-band GSM slider with 3G support and is touted as the "ultimate phone for mobile fun". Its key feature is the Gesture gaming technology which should provide a Wii-like feeling. In addition, Yari has a 5-megapixel camera with face detection and geo tagging, A-GPS, stereo speakers and Stereo Bluetooth.

Features : Auto focus, Face Detection, Smile Detection, Flash: Yes, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, White balance, Scenes

Blackberry Storm 2

CrackBerry has a tipster who has sent in some leaked shots of what he says is the BlackBerry Storm 2. You might remember that our original story about the follow-up to the Storm mentioned the inclusion of Wi-Fi and a new easier typing system called 'TruePress'. We are told that the device in the picture does come equipped with Wi-Fi.





As for changes in the typing, you might not see any changes based on the snapshot, but then again, it might be too subtle a difference to see in a picture. We can tell that the four buttons on the bottom have become touch sensitive controls compared to the actual ones on the initial version of the handset. Some of the controls on the right side of the phone are different and a little sleeker in design. Although our original article referred to a 5MP camera, the photos show a 3.2MP shooter like on the original model. We are told that the Storm 2 runs faster and smoother than its predecessor. No launch date or pricing has been discussed, although the early word is to expect this out in time for the 2009 holiday season. Another blow to the early adopters?

HTC Touch Diamond review

Thanks to its dazzling, responsive interface that almost completely hides Windows Mobile 6.1 from view (the worst parts of it, anyway), the HTC Touch Diamond 2 has sprung to the top of the pack as our favorite Windows Mobile touchscreen phone on the market. The phone isn't just superfast, it's also packed with intelligent new features, like the great calling features that aggregate useful information to make business conversations more informed. There is still room for improvement. Multimedia was a mess, a real shame on a phone with a hi-res screen like this one. Also, some apps we might expect from a U.S. carrier phone, like turn-by-turn navigation and a proper IM client, were missing on this unlocked, import version. Still, we had fun with the camera features, found Opera Mobile to be a capable, speedy browser, even over the slower network connection (here in the States, at least), and overall enjoyed our time with the HTC Touch Diamond 2. Release: April 2009. Price: $575.

Pros: Fast, responsive interface and hi-res touchscreen. Great calling features put useful info at fingertips. Solid camera and Web browsing features.

Cons: Multimedia functions were buggy, underpowered. Onscreen keyboard a bit small, though smart. Lacks some apps a U.S. carrier would include.

Nokia N900 Tablet

Details of Nokia’s next-gen Internet Tablet have leaked, suggesting that the Finnish company have moved away from positioning the platform as a companion device and now perceive it more as a smartphone. According to leaked specifications, the Nokia N900 or “Nokia Rover” now has quadband GSM and 3G HSPA, in addition to the WiFi and Bluetooth of the previous-gen models. It also sheds some screen-size, scaling down to a 3.5-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen (from 4-inches) though as this leaked image suggests the overall design is very similar to that of the N810.

Storage is believed to be 32GB, with a memory card slot for boosting that up to 48GB, and there’s 1GB of total virtual runtime memory made up to 256MB physical RAM and 768MB of virtual memory. There appears to be a front-facing camera, likely for video calls, together with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash and Carl Zeiss optics on the back. The new CPU is an OMAP3430 500/600MHz chip, runs the new Maemo 5 OS, and the whole thing measures 59.7 x 111 x 18.2 mm.

Nokia’s “target launch dates” (as of the beginning of 2009) are a July 2009 release on T-Mobile International, together with the Middle East, Asia and Sout-East Asia-Pacific, followed by a T-Mobile USA release in August/September 2009, and Europe in October 2009. As the Internet Tablet now has integrated cellular, it’s likely to be carrier-subsidized; that could go some way to offsetting the high sticker price which many criticized on the previous models.

LG Dare Review

One of the most notable fallouts of the Apple iPhone launch last year is the ever-growing trend of touch-screen phones. LG was one of the first manufacturers out of the gate with phones such as the LG Voyager and the LG Vu dazzling us with features that we couldn't get on the iPhone, like live mobile TV and 3G connectivity. Samsung then came blazing out with the Instinct, a phone that directly targets the iPhone with visual voice mail, integrated GPS, and corporate e-mail support. Yet, many of these phones still walked on familiar ground with its design and features.

LG's latest handset, however, dares to take things in a different direction. The appropriately named LG Dare presents a few tricks we haven't seen before in the touch-screen phone genre. For example, you can drag and drop icons to make your own customized shortcuts on the home screen, or you can use a drawing pad to sketch ideas or draw a map, which can then be sent via MMS to a friend. The Dare also has one of the most advanced cameras we've seen on a touch-screen phone--its 3.2-megapixel camera has settings like face detection, noise reduction, panorama photo stitching, and a SmartPic technology designed for taking photos in low light. The built-in camcorder can even record high-speed video and play it back in slow-motion, which is a first for U.S. camera phones. We certainly wouldn't want to call this an iPhone killer since it doesn't have features such as Wi-Fi, and its Web browser and media player aren't as good. However, the Dare is a very appealing alternative for Verizon customers who want a touch-screen phone with a difference. The LG Dare is priced competitively at $199 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement.

The good:
The LG Dare has an intuitive touch-screen interface, an advanced 3.2-megapixel camera, a full HTML browser, EV-DO Rev. A, and plenty of other powerful features. It also has excellent call quality.


The bad:
The LG Dare's touch interface has a slight learning curve, and we weren't too pleased with the handwriting interface. Also, the Web browsing experience was quite disappointing.

The bottom line:
The LG Dare is an innovative and feature-rich handset with several surprises that sets it apart from other touch-screen phones.