Latest Samsung S8500 Wave PDA Review (tech, news, report, "David Lim")

The Samsung S8500 Wave is one of the most eagerly anticipated devices of the season and its supposed availability has been keeping the mobile world on its toes since last week. But here we aren't going to discuss whether or not you can actually purchase the handset from those stores that claim to have it in stock.

Instead we will give you several camera samples that we created with the latest Samsung S8500 Wave unit that we received. It's not a final market-ready unit but it comes damn close, or at least so it seems from the photos and videos that we are about to show you.

As you know the Wave, the first Bada-running smartphone, captures 720p videos, which is all the rage these days. The nicely saturated colors and the good framerate (those are real 30fps, no duplicated frames gimmicks this time) make up for really pleasing results.

We also took several 5 megapixel still shots with the Samsung S8500 Wave camera. The pleasing colors are again there for you to see, but the slightly too aggressive noise reduction takes its toll on the fine detail. Still this is only a pre-release unit, we might see further optimizations.

http://alturl.com/9tgo


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HTC HD Mini Phone Review (Window Mobile, tech, report, news, PDA)

There was a time when Windows Mobile used to rule the smartphone seas. Then along came Symbian but that’s a whole other story. It was touchscreen that showed to all the willing challengers that Windows Mobile is just too big to turn around quickly enough and catch the new wind. HTC however seem to disagree and dispel doubts of jumping ship. They have not given up on the cause and the HTC HD mini is the living proof.

So, mini is perhaps the right approach to users who would otherwise feel timid about giving Windows Mobile a try – especially with so many touchscreen temptations around. On the other hand, it does matter whose mini version it is. The almighty HD2 was the first PocketPC with a capacitive screen and a Snapdragon core.

Now, the HTC HD mini is obviously shorter on size, resolution and processing power. But it may be well worth the resources invested in making it what it is – a pocket-friendly, but still powerful handset with solid build, slick design and a touch-friendly UI.

Check out the HTC HD mini key strengths and possible turn-offs in the lists below to get an idea if this is the handset that will suit you.

Key features
3.2" 65K-color HVGA capacitive touchscreen with multi-touch input
Compact body and bold industrial design
Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Professional OS with Sense UI
Qualcomm MSM7227 600 MHz CPU and 384MB RAM
Quad-band GSM support with dual-band HSDPA 7.2Mbps and HSUPA 2 Mbps
Wi-Fi connectivity
Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support
5 MP autofocus camera with touch focus
VGA video recording at 30fps
microSD card slot
Standard microUSB port and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
Stereo FM radio with RDS
MS Office Mobile document editor
Opera 9.5 web browser
YouTube client, Facebook and Twitter integration
Very good audio output quality
Excellent loudspeaker performance
Main disadvantages
Poor display sunlight legibility
No dedicated camera key and no lens cover
Card slot under the battery cover
No DivX/XviD video support out-of-the-box
Preloaded CoPilot Live navigation software is a trial version only
No secondary video-call camera
No voice dialing
No handwriting recognition
Unreliable Flash support in IE Mobile
We all know there’s more to a contemporary smartphone (touchscreen at that) than its spec sheet. The HTC HD mini certainly has the pedigree but the verdict will only be passed on its performance.

Windows Mobile has been known to be pretty demanding on a phone’s processing power, and the Sense UI probably takes its toll too. Our initial impressions of the HD mini were downright positive but it still needs to pass the test of a full review.

Now then, we’ve got a PocketPC on our hands and we’re not gonna let that pet name fool us. It’s been a while so let’s not waste any more time in small talk and move on. On the next page, we look inside the box, before we set off to exploring the hardware and ergonomics. http://tinyurl.com/23k5hq7

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The LG GD880 Mini Tiesto Edition now available in the Netherlands (tech, news, report

The LG GD880 Mini has only been available for a little while and it's already getting a special Tiesto Edition. It is headed for the Dutch's DJ homeland and comes with loads of exclusive Tiesto content, including his latest album and some remixes and videos.

The LG mini has just hit the stores and we already published our detailed review. But the reason for today's news is the special LG Mini Tiesto Edition which rolled out in the Netherlands on 1 May.

While there aren't any changes on the outside of the sleek GD880, the Mini Tiesto Edition is quite different on the inside. Tiesto is one of world's greatest DJs and his fans would be glad to find his latest album, Kaleidoscope, coming preloaded on the Mini.

Also included are 10 remixes of popular tracks as well as 2 videos. The icing of the cake are the two realtones and the preloaded wallpapers.

Just to refresh your memory, we'll mention some of GD880 Mini's features such as the 3.2" capacitive touchscreen or the Wi-Fi and the stereo Bluetooth support it packs. Also on board there is a 5-megapixel autofocus snapper, a GPS receiver, support for DivX/XviD videos out of the box and social network integration.

The LG Mini Tiesto Edition is already available for 399 euro. http://tinyurl.com/gd8800

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Note: If you have any question about Apple iPhone 3G, 3GS or Apple iPhone 4 repair, unlock, jailbreak or broken screen replacement, feel free to get in touch with Abby Technology Limited.

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RIM BlackBerry BOLD 8900 Review: Dare You Go! (PDA, unlock, Repair, Auckland)

Some handsets will work their socks off to have their fifteen minutes of fame, others are simply born into stardom. The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is certainly fortunate to carry a name that stands for popularity and excellence in the RIM family of phones. But this kind of fame can be less a blessing and more of a curse if the successor fails to live up to the standards set by its illustrious namesake.

These high expectations have quite often turned otherwise decent handsets into a byword for failure. It's simply not enough to provide incremental improvements when upgrading an iconic handset. The iPhone somehow gets away with that, but Apple usually does. But for regular mobile phone manufacturers it takes something new and it certainly takes something better for the successor to achieve the same kind of success.

Key features:

2.44" 65K-color TFT landscape display with a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels

Comfortable four-row full QWERTY keyboard

Quad-band GSM support and tri-band 3G with HSDPA

Wi-Fi and built-in GPS and BlackBerry maps preloaded

3.15 autofocus megapixel camera, LED flash

624 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM

BlackBerry OS v5

Responsive trackpad navigation

Hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 16GB)

DivX and XviD video support

Good web browser

Office document editor

3.5 mm audio jack

Decent audio quality

Smart dialing

Great battery life

More compact body and lighter weight compared to the Bold 9000

Good build quality

Main disadvantages:

Many features are locked without a BlackBerry Internet Service account (plan)

Mediocre camera performance and features

No FM radio

No video-call camera

No TV-out functionality

No built-in accelerometer

No built-in compass

It's pretty obvious where the RIM R&D team is heading with the BlackBerry Bold 9700. It's hard to really overhaul a handset that was considered almost perfect by most of its users without testing their loyalty, so they embarked on optimization instead. It's not a bad formula for success to just keep the same functionality, stick it in a smaller, fitter body and improve the performance wherever possible.

One glitch or an important feature sacrificed to fit the compact package and the plan goes down the tubes. The smartphone market is increasingly competitive and smaller companies like RIM know they have little room for error. The new Bold 9700 looks fit and hot, no doubt about that. Let's see if it performs to our expectations, and yours.

Note: If you have any question about Apple iPhone 3G, 3GS or Apple iPhone 4 repair, unlock, jailbreak or broken screen replacement, feel free to get in touch with Abby Technology Limited.

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Palm unveils slimmer smartphone (Mobile, cell, phone, pda, review, tech, David, Lim, Auckland, NZ)

Palm have unveiled a new phone, the Palm Pixi, aimed at younger consumers.

The new handset follows the launch of the Palm Pre earlier this year, which is regarded by many as as a competitor to Apple's iPhone.

Palm are making a concerted effort to resurrect their fortunes after once dominating the personal digital assistant (PDA) market.

The phone will initially be sold in the US through Sprint, but there are still no details on the European release.

Like the Pre, the Pixi will run on the firm's new WebOS operating system and comes with a touch screen and Qwerty keyboard, but without wi-fi.

Ian Fogg, an analyst with market research firm Forrester Research, said that Palm were launching a "revolutionary product".

"Palm are a relatively small company and most firms need a portfolio of handsets to succeed.

"This is the second phone they have launched and although they have altered the form [from the Pre] they have kept the touch screen and Qwerty keypad," he said.

Historically Qwerty keypad phones were not very popular in Europe, as they were seen as little more than a business tool. However, they are growing in popularity and Mr Fogg says that they are now more popular than phones with a touch screen.

"Look at other companies, they tend to offer one or there other; there are a few firms - such as Nokia with its N97 - that has both touch screen and keyboard, but they are the exception not the rule.

"What Palm is trying to do is offer the best of both worlds," he added.

WebOS

Palm has said its operating system has been built with the web in mind, so it automatically organises contacts and information accessed via the handset.

The web focus has led many to portray the two phones as a rival to the iPhone. The rivalry got more intense in early June when Apple unveiled the iPhone 3GS which had a faster chipset inside.

Palm's chairman - Jon Rubinstein - said the firm was creating "a new, more intuitive smartphone experience" and that the Pixi would help bring "a unique experience to a broader range of people who want enhanced messaging and social networking".

As well as iPhone, Palm also face competition from the HTC Hero - a touch screen phone built around Google's Android operating system.

While European firms dominated the initial development of mobile phones, today innovation is now coming from North America, especially when it comes to internet capable handsets.

"Apple's iPhone, Google's Android, Canadian firm Rim's BlackBerry and now Pre have all turned the concept of the phone into a mobile data device," said Mr Fogg.

Palm say the Pixi will go on sale in the US before Christmas, but have yet to confirm a price.

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 preview (Cell, mObile, phone, PDA, tech, review, report, David Lim)

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 has been in the center of attention ever since its first unofficial shots leaked online. Much like most other gadgeteers, we've had our hands itching to get one and luckily our wishes just came true.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 is one impressive device full of industry leading features - it's the first Windows Mobile smartphone with an 8 megapixel camera and WVGA video recording and it's actually the first ever full QWERTY phone to have that sort of imaging prowess as well.

The XPERIA X2 most other features, though not as innovative, are a nice match as well. We guess they are worth going through one more time.
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 at a glance:

* General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/1900/2100 MHz, EDGE class 10, HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
* Form factor: Slide-and-tilt QWERTY touch phone
* Dimensions: 110 x 54 x 16 mm, weight 155 grams
* Display: 3.2" TFT resistive touchscreen, 800 x 480 pixels
* Platform: Qualcomm MSM 7200 528 MHz processor
* OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
* Memory: 110MB storage, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, microSD card slot
* Camera: 8-megapixels auto-focus camera, LED flash, touch focus, geotagging, face detection, image stabilizer, Smart Contrast, WVGA@30fps video recording
* Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, TV-out
* Misc: Optical trackpad, accelerometer for motion-based gaming, office document viewer and editor, XviD video support
* Battery: 1500 mAh Li-Po battery

We just got the XPERIA X2 and we wanted to share with you our first impressions of the device. So consider this article as a quick and dirty preview, with a more detailed one coming up in the following week. We hope to get as much as possible from our encounter with the X2 and you can bet we surely won't keep anything to ourselves.

The XPERIA X2 should be available in two colors - Elegant Black and Modern Silver. There's hardly anything missing from the broad range of connectivity options. Perhaps the only two things it seems to lack are the FM radio and the automatic screen rotation. Yes, there's an accelerometer on board alright, but the screen doesn't auto rotate to match the orientation of the handset.

While the XPERIA X2 uses the vanilla Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional, the thing that sets it apart from competing products is the X-panels interface. X panels have gone a long way since the XPERIA X1 and have turned into a full featured system for using various animated and interactive homescreens. But we'll get to that further down.

Anyways, enough talking, let's get to some walking. Jump on as explore what the XPERIA X2 is made of with even a brief rundown of the interface later on.

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HTC Touch Diamond2: Director’s cut (PDA, Phone, Review, David, Lim)

HTC Touch Diamond2 is next on our roll call of MWC debuts but this time it's less about the brand spanking novelty and more about balanced and sensible upgrades. People tend to have second thoughts about sequels but this one here is signed by HTC and may as well be the director's cut of a blockbuster.

It is only recently that Windows Mobile fans are receiving the treatment they deserve after years of undeserved exile. The WinMo devices are no longer stigmatized as ugly bricks with awkward handling and HTC are one of the main agents of this change. The HTC Touch Diamond was one of the most complete devices and its stand-out styling earned it well deserved popularity.

We now welcome its successor, somewhat insipidly named HTC Touch Diamond2. Improving the functionality of the original Diamond, the Diamond2 comes with rather different design that is certain to raise some degree of discussion. But it's the performance that will make the difference between a mere Number 2 and a real gem.
Key features:

* 3.2" 65K-color WVGA display
* Latest TouchFLO 3D
* Qualcomm MSM7200A 528 Mhz CPU and 288 MB RAM
* Dedicated graphics chip (64MB RAM reserved for graphics)
* Quad-band GSM support
* 3G with HSDPA 7.2Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps
* Wi-Fi and built-in GPS receiver
* Stereo FM radio with RDS
* 5 MP auto focus camera with excellent image quality
* microSD card slot
* Touch-sensitive zoom bar
* MS Office Mobile document editor
* Opera 9.5 web browser
* Standard miniUSB slot and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
* Teeter game
* Great audio quality
* YouTube client
* Excellent video playback

Main disadvantages:

* Fingerprint nightmare
* Average sunlight legibility
* Questionable build quality
* No TV out port
* No standard 3.5mm audio jack
* No magnetic stylus

The HTC Touch Diamond2 outdoes its predecessor with a larger and higher-res screen, a vastly superior camera and more RAM. The TouchFLO 3D UI has also been improved and now covers the underlying Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS from tip to toe. Sounds like a decent update with a keen eye on the competition too, which is getting stiffer by the day.

While the original Diamond had only the Samsung i900 Omnia to tackle, the HTC Touch Diamond2 faces a tougher battle. With a few new arrivals on the touchscreen market (Symbian S60, Android and BlackBerry OS have all jumped in) the Diamond2 will need spotless performance to match its predecessor's success.

There is quite a lot to test so let's not waste any more time. On the next page we open the box and meet the contender. Will it be diamond hard or will it crumble under the lightest of touches?

Nokia E-71 PDA Phone: Power Tips and Shortcuts, David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand, GDI

It had been almost a month now since I switched from my good old Nokia N95 to the Nokia E71; I am still very excited about this little cool machine. I have search on New Zealand's Vodafone site and cannot find much power tool or shortcuts.

Well, these tips are well known, but for people who doesn’t know yet, here some keyboard shortcut for Nokia E71:

- Quick double press on the bottom left ‘number shift’ key locks it. Most useful when particularly navigating around the GMail app to invoke actions instead of keep pressing the button before every keystroke.

- Copy and paste can, in some situations be done with Ctrl+C (but you need to hold down Func+Chr+C to get this on the keyboard). You can highlight text (in edit situations) by holidng the shift key and moving the direction pad. Copy will appear as on of the softkey labels.

- Page up and page down are Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down. Again you access control by pressing the function key first (so Fn+Chr+Up on the keyboard). Doing this directly is awkward. You can press Fn then Ctrl+Up. If you doble tap the function key it becomes sticky (i.e. like cap locks and as describes above) and you can then do multiple page up and page downs easily.

- From the idle screen hold down # to switch between silent and general profiles. Press and hold down * to switch bluetooth on and off.

- Press Fn Key + Return Key for quick Mark/Unmark of items like Msg. emails etc. for deletion or moving.

- On keys that show a symbol or number, hold down the key to get it.

- When in locked mode you can hold the large center ’select’ key to get a large back lit time and date display w/o unlocking or needing to re lock.

- Pressing Shift + Backspace = delete letters after cursor

- In Notes and Messaging, press Fn (most left bottom button) + Spacebar = gives input option such as turn on/off predictive text, settings, writing language, input method.

- Hold down left soft key to read out new text messages.