T-Mobile will announce a $199 price tag next week during a press conference for its much anticipated handset dubbed “Dream,” according to reports. The phone, made by device maker HTC and that uses an operating system designed by Android/Google, is one of the most anticipated new phones since the release of Apple’s iPhone.
But the question remains: Can Google, HTC, and T-Mobile mimic the success of Apple and deliver a “must have” phone?
The answer is unclear whether phone fanatics will line up for hours or days (or if at all) to be the first to buy T-Mobile’s Dream. Neither Google, HTC, or T-Mobile engender the same passion and loyalty that Apple does with its customers. Also, if you ask me, too many cellphones that have come after the launch of the iPhone feel to me like want-to-be iPhones playing feature-catch-up with Apple. I certainly hope that T-Mobile’s Dream offers a fresh design and a host of innovative new features - but the only thing we do know is the Dream will be hardwired to link you to Google.
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| General |
2G Network |
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
| Announced |
2008, August |
| Status |
Coming soon |
| Size |
Dimensions |
115 x 53 x 10.6 mm |
| Weight |
100 g |
| Display |
Type |
TFT, 65K colors |
| Size |
128 x 160 pixels, 1.8 inches |
|
- Screensavers and wallpapers
- Downloadable logos |
| Ringtones |
Type |
Polyphonic, MP3, AAC |
| Customization |
Download |
| Vibration |
Yes |
| Memory |
Phonebook |
1000 entries |
| Call records |
20 dialed, 20 received, 20 missed calls |
| Card slot |
microSD (TransFlash) up to 8GB |
| Data |
GPRS |
Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps |
| HSCSD |
No |
| EDGE |
Class 12 |
| 3G |
No |
| WLAN |
No |
| Bluetooth |
Yes, v2.0 with A2DP |
| Infrared port |
No |
| USB |
Yes, v2.0 |
| Features |
Messaging |
SMS, MMS |
| Browser |
WAP 2.0/xHTML |
| Games |
Yes |
| Colors |
Black |
| Camera |
2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, video |
|
- Java MIDP 2.0
- FM radio with RDS
- MP3/AAC player
- 3.5 mm audio output jack
- Organizer
- Calculator
- Built-in handsfree
- Voice dial
- Voice memo |
| Battery |
|
Standard battery, Li-Ion 970 mAh (BK60) |
| Stand-by |
Up to 300 h |
| Talk time |
Up to 6 h |
Key features
* 2″ 262K-color display of QVGA resolution
* Symbian 9.3 OS with S60 3.2 UI
* ARM 11 369 MHz CPU and 128MB of RAM
* 140 MB of user memory
* microSD slot with support for up to 8GB, 512MB or 1GB card in the retail package
* 3G with HSDPA support
* Bluetooth and USB v2.0
* 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera
* 3.5 mm standard audio jack
* Stereo FM radio with RDS
* Dedicated music controls
* Music-centric Active Standby plug-in
* Very good loudspeaker performance
* Compact body and light weight
* Cool handsfree set in the retail package
Main disadvantages
* Mediocre camera
* QVGA at 15fps video recording max
* Poor battery life
* Smallish display
* No Wi-Fi
* N-gage gaming support is still in the works
* Audio quality is good but not great
| General |
2G Network |
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
| Announced |
2008, August |
| Status |
Coming soon. Exp. release 2008, 3Q |
| Size |
Dimensions |
99.6 x 44.3 x 19.6 mm, 67 cc |
| Weight |
97 g |
| Display |
Type |
TFT, 256K colors |
| Size |
240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches |
|
- Second external TFT display (128 x 160 pixels), 1.36 inches, 256K colors |
| Ringtones |
Type |
Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 |
| Customization |
Download |
| Vibration |
Yes |
| Memory |
Phonebook |
Yes, Photocall |
| Call records |
Yes |
| Card slot |
microSD (TransFlash), up to 4GB |
|
- 30 MB internal memory |
| Data |
GPRS |
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps |
| HSCSD |
No |
| EDGE |
Class 32, 236 kbits |
| 3G |
No |
| WLAN |
No |
| Bluetooth |
Yes, v2.0 |
| Infrared port |
No |
| USB |
Yes, v2.0 microUSB |
| Features |
Messaging |
SMS, MMS, Email |
| Browser |
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML |
| Games |
4 + downloadable |
| Colors |
Blue, Red, Green, Rose |
| Camera |
1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels, video(QCIF) |
|
- Java MIDP 2.0
- MP3/AAC/eAAC+/WMA player
- T9
- Built-in handsfree
- Voice memo/commands
- Stopwatch |
| Battery |
|
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1020 mAh (BL-5C) |
| Stand-by |
Up to 457 h |
| Talk time |
Up to 4 h 38 min |
Having proper now wowed lendees Down Under, the Palm bestseller Centro is planning to in the end be available for Verizon Wireless subscribers following June 13th, too incidentally in addition takes place to be a Friday. The handset has ideal now sold a fantastic state of affairs a good amount of as opposed to a million properties with Sprint who released the goodly smartphone go on October. Centro, so as agreeably holds the distinction of bringing about the smallest Palm device, comes surrounded by a CDMA/EV-DO network, a QWERTY keypad, touch-sensitive display, 1.3-mp camera and a multimedia player all of too run on Palm’s proprietary OS. VZ financing holders is able to be able to lays the paws on the handy smartphone for $269.99 additonally a $100 rebate for a 2-eyar contract, $399.99 additonally $100 rebate for a one year contract or if anyone is interested in going to get the phone in the service, its happening to sell cost levels $389.99 flat.
Wouldn’t you know it? Just as promised, that strikingly white XV6900 has landed on Verizon Wireless’ website and can be snapped up now by those in need. The pain? $249.99 on contract after all applicable rebates — oh, and knowing the Touch Dual is heading Stateside later this quarter.source:engadget
Not even a month after three iPods got all hot and bothered on separate occasions, along comes images showing that even Apple’s iPhone isn’t immune to melting itself. Purportedly, the handset was purchased from Carphone Warehouse in December, but was never activated for one reason or another. Just this week, the owner’s son slapped it in a dock with intentions of activating, walked downstairs to catch the last few minutes of Magnum, P.I. and returned to his room to find a “stupidly hot” iPhone which had already melted in some parts and had its screen cracked from the reaction. Not surprisingly, he’s currently in the middle of a runaround trying to get someone to remedy the issue, but thankfully no Earthlings, carpets or IKEA desks were harmed.
Update: Thanks to Logan5’s quick eyes, it appears we’ve discovered a scammer in our midst. Essentially, this bloke posted the real story here noting that the crack (more on that here) actually appeared after it was mishandled and dropped. Haven’t we learned this approach doesn’t work by now?
source:engadget
Apple’s iPhone scored another round of praise and publicity after unveiling a program that will let other companies create applications for the popular device.But the excitement didn’t make its way to the mobile music market. Although those hoping to add mobile games, corporate e-mail accounts and other content to their iPhone are thrilled, music services see little opportunity to use the groundbreaking device as a means of advancing the enjoyment or acquisition of music from mobile phones.
Apple released a beta software development kit (SDK) that gives programmers various tools to develop applications that not only run on the iPhone and iPod Touch, but also take advantage of several key capabilities — such as the touch-screen and motion sensor.
In June, Apple will issue the AppStore, an update to iTunes that will enable users to buy and download these third-party applications much like they already do music and video.
This allows developers to create mobile entertainment applications without having to negotiate with AT&T — the only carrier officially compatible with the iPhone in the United States. On the surface, this is great news for developers long frustrated with the difficult process of partnering with wireless operators.
Why? The 30 percent cut Apple proposes to take from each application sold via the AppStore is better (for developers) than the average 40 percent cut wireless operators take. And the SDK process is fairly straightforward compared with the often arduous process of negotiating carrier contracts.
“They’ve grossly simplified it,” says Paul Reddick, CEO of Handmark, which distributes mobile applications for smart phones. “It just seems like a pretty open environment.”
But ultimately, Apple decides which applications it will sell, and that spells bad news for music-related services hoping to find a home on the iPhone.
“It’s an open question at this point how amenable Apple will be to offering products or applications that could conceivably interfere with its own iTunes revenue stream,” NPD Group’s Ross Rubin says.
Amazon will be ‘interesting test case’
An iPhone version of Rhapsody or Napster is almost certainly out of the question, as both require software and digital rights management not compatible with Apple products.
In more of a gray area are online streaming services like Last.fm, Pandora and imeem. None has downloading capabilities outside of linking to such third-party services as iTunes, and as such Apple may see them as services that drive sales rather than cannibalize them.
“The real interesting test case will be Amazon,” Rubin says. “Here’s a music vendor selling songs that are clearly compatible with the iPhone. Unlike with Rhapsody or Napster, there’s no DRM you need to make work.”
The same goes for eMusic. But both are considered iTunes challengers, and Apple could easily decline to make their applications available in the AppStore.
None of the companies mentioned were available to comment on this story.
Also discouraging is that, at least in the beta version of the SDK, developers won’t have access to any iTunes functionality.
This severely restricts the ability for such iTunes plug-in applications as iLike, Last.fm, Qloud or OnTour to create iPhone-compatible widgets that might expand basic iTunes functions.
But they can still write Web applications that users can access through iPhone’s Safari browser, which does not require Apple’s SDK or approval. A few already have surfaced, such as the SeeqPod full-song streaming search engine.
The problem is that those applications won’t have access to the iPhone’s functionality to the same extent as those written with the SDK.
Additionally, such applications would be at a tremendous competitive disadvantage compared with those that can be bought directly over the phone because a) they lose the awareness bump of appearing in the AppStore, and b) they could be rendered inoperable or disrupt the phone if Apple issues an incompatible software update.
Yet developers are keen to get their applications on the device in any way possible, regardless of the risks, simply because of the quality of services it allows.
Even though the iPhone owns less than 1 percent of the overall phone market, it disproportionately owns the majority of the multimedia activity taking place on mobile phones. Apple claims 71 percent of all mobile Internet browsing activity with the iPhone simply because it’s easier to surf the Web on it than on other devices.
Source:msnbc.msn
In wireless world, living without a mobile like living on a desert island
Last Fourth of July at the beach, Leah Wilson lost her “lifeline.”
Wilson, a 22-year-old graduate student, had clipped her blue flip phone around her bikini bottom — for safekeeping. Then, she left her towel, her other belongings, to let her hair down at Pacific Beach in San Diego. But between playing sports on the beach — and drinking — Wilson’s cell phone went missing.
“My whole life crashed,” she said. “The only number I knew by heart was my mom’s.”
Many of us are so reliant on our cell phones that when they’re lost, we quickly feel lost without them.
Major mobile carriers AT&T and Verizon Wireless say they don’t track how many people lose their cell phones a year. But losing these small devices happens “a lot,” and when they go missing, it’s a huge disruption to our lives, according to Avi Greengart, mobile analyst at market research firm Current Analysis.
Cast away from society
A Pew Internet & American Life Project report released this month found that Americans for the first time picked cell phones as the technology they can least go without. In today’s wireless world, living without a cell phone is like living on a desert island. And losing one is like being suddenly cast away from society.
“Without it, there’s a disconnection with life,” said Marian Salzman, a cultural trendspotter and partner at Porter Novelli, a public relations powerhouse in New York.
Time running out for the watch?
People who’re out of their elements — drinking at a bar, rushing to leave a cab or traveling in a foreign country — are particularly prone to losing their cell phones — and its impacts.
Joe Huttner, a Haverford College junior, procured a prepaid cell phone for his time studying in Argentina, as did others in the program.
But the foreign language and environment disoriented students, some of whom lost their phones, Huttner said.
Getting a new prepaid phone meant getting a new number — so none of their study-abroad pals could contact each other, he said.
“If you didn’t have a class with them, you lost them as a friend,” said 21-year-old Huttner, who was fortunate enough to hold onto his. “That was a bummer.”
Lose new friends, keep the old
Losing your cell phone might mean losing acquaintances — but old friends can usually find you.
It’s all the more difficult, though, if you’re looking to establish new friends like Wilson was. Before you lose it …
Back up what you can
Losing your cell phone can mean losing your contacts, ringtones and text messages. So what mobile information can you safeguard? To find out, click here.
She had just moved to San Diego to attend graduate school at National University. During her first month, Wilson had collected plenty of phone numbers, particularly on the Fourth of July. She never recovered them.
“It’s already hard moving away without friends and family — and then having to do it again,” Wilson said.
But reconnecting with close friends was made easy thanks to MySpace and Facebook, where “lost my phone” groups can reel in castaways.
Two weeks after Wilson got a new cell phone and things started to look up, they went amiss again. While trying on a pair of shoes, she set down her wallet, keys — and her new phone.
It was at the store’s front counter that Wilson realized she was empty handed. It turned out her cell phone was stolen — and the thief only spared her keys and wallet case.
“The second time all I could do is cry,” Wilson said.
Source:msnbc.msn