Nokia 6210 Navigator

GPS handsets are catching the fancy of consumers due to convenience they offer when you get lost in middle of nowhere. Nokia has stepped up to the task and brought out a series of cellphones under the “Navigator” brand name. Nokia 6210 Navigator is the latest cell phone to join the bandwagon. Apart from GPA, Nokia 6210 has good specifications as mentioned below.

Nokia 6210 Navigator specifications :

• Dimensions : 103 x 49 x 14.9 mm
• Weight : 117 g
• Display : 2.4″ TFT display with 240 x 320 resolution
• Camera : 3.2 megapixel with autofocus
• GPS : Built-in GPS receiver
• Radio : Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• Card slot : MicroSD
• Connectivity : GPRS, HSCSD, 3G.
• Bluetooth : v2.0 with A2DP
• USB : v2.0 miniUSB
• OS : Symbian OS 9.3, Series 60 UI
• Approx. price : $400

Nokia 6210 Navigator is an upgrade to the Nokia 6110 Navigator which was released last year. Nokia 6110 Navigator is still quite popular among the people and it has a decent specifications and a great GPS navigation solution. Nokia 6210 Navigator has upgrades ranging from accelerometer to latest symbian OS.

The box contents do not lend any surprises with the standard accessories lined up inside the box. USB cable, DC charger, wired handsfree, manual, CD and a 1GB microSD card. An in-car charger should have been there in the box considering the nature of the device.

The design of the phone is much similar to its predecessor but it slimmer. The keys have also got a rejig but apart from that there is not much noticeable difference, although I preferred the overall looks of the Nokia 6110 navigator more. The phone is light weight and the sliding mechanism is sturdy and smooth.

You can find the video call camera at the top right used for making video calls over 3G networks. Just adjacent to it is the ambient light sensor. The D-pad is quite big and is flanked by soft keys on either side. You also get a dedicated key for launching the GPS navigation software which is in the form of a star.

The keypad has aptly sized keys which offer tactile feedback and a boon for SMS junkies. The phone has a 2.5 mm jack instead of a 3.5 mm one, leaving you to the mercy of the adapter. Right side has the volume rocker and the dedicated camera key. Left side which is usually bare has the mircoUSB and the card slot.

The display is a 2.4″ TFT with QVGA resolution. The display clarity is great and so is the visibility under sunlight. The auto-rotate sensor turns the screen to landscape mode automatically. The call quality of Nokia 6210 is crystal clear and no disturbance at all. The speakerphone is quite loud and you would not face any problem hearing the ringtone even in noisy environments.

The music player has become a standard on almost all Nokia Symbian 60 devices. It supports a wide variety of formats such as WMA, MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and also M3U playlists. Songs can be added directly via USB or using Nokia PC Suite and they reflect when you refresh the music library. You can sort songs by albums, artists, genre, composer, podcasts and playlists. With the A2DP profile, you can play songs wirelessly over a stereo bluetooth headset. The audio quality is good and comparable to what is offered in Nokia N series.

Real player is the default video player and works in both portrait and landscape mode. You are better off with installing a third party video player which supports more formats and offers better functionality. FM radio is also available in the form of Visual Radio. It also has RDS support and can automatically scan for channels. The interface is simple, clean and functional.

Nokia 6210 comes equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus. and LED flash. No lens protection leads to fingerprint smudges all over the lens. The image quality of the camera is great and comparable to Nokia N73. The images produced are well saturated, have low noise and good amount of detail. Geo-tagigng surprisingly isn’t available putting the inbuilt GPS functionality to shame. Video recording is possible at VGA resolution but the frame rate is limited to 15fps.

Web browsing on the Nokia 6210 is a pleasure due to the great inbuilt browser. Nokia browser has almost all the features that you desire and auto-rotation of the screen is the cherry on the cake. The web page fits perfectly both in portrait and landscape modes. A mini map of the web page is also generated which leads to quicker navigation around web pages. Search function also comes in-built into the browser allowing you to search for text, phone numbers, email addresses and VoIP address. Page zoom levels can also be adjusted but sadly the browser does not support full screen view mode.

Coming to the main features of this cell phone : GPS! The software included by Nokia to control the GPS is Nokia Maps 2.0 which is a surprise as the Route 66 application that came bundled with Nokia 6110 Navigator was brilliant. There is also an inbuilt compass which does come in handy sometimes. The dedicated GPS key illuminates as soon as you get a satellite lock. You have the option of loading maps on the go like Google Maps or download the whole map on your PC and then transfer it on to the mobile saving you the GPRS charges. Sadly auto rotation does not work in Nokia Maps 2.0 as there is no landscape mode to view the maps. The GPS receiver is sensitive and gets satellite lock even among tall buildings. In-car navigation provides turn-by-turn directions and visual guidance. There are four different modes to view the map : Hybrid, Satellite, Map, Map 3D. Points of interest are also mentioned on the maps, a great asset and are divided into categories neatly. Overall the GPS experience was great and it lived up to the expectation.

Pros :

• Good keypad
• Great display
• Loudspeaker volume high
• Music quality good
• Great camera
• Excellent GPS
• Amazing web browser

Cons :

• Small display
• No Wi-Fi connectivity
• No lens cover
• No geotagging
• VGA recording at 15fps

Final Thoughts

The Nokia 6210 Navigator is a good handset to invest in to put it straight. It has a great camera, good music quality, excellent GPS functionality and amazing web browser which will please a lot of people. Small display and no Wi-FI connectivity are its two major shortcomings. Overall if you are want great GPS functionality then this cell phone is a great investment.

My Rating: 3.75/5

Sony Ericsson C902

The Sony Ericsson C902 is the latest Cybershot from Sony Ericsson and the first of the ‘C’ series Cybershot phones. It is, in a way, the forerunner to the much awaited C905 - The first 8.1 MP camera phone from Sony Ericsson. Yet it does manage to hold out its own and has created a decent fan following. It takes over from the K850i which was moderately successful but was dogged down by many controversies and finally defeated by the Nokia N82 which reigned supreme in the 5 MP category. It aims to compete with the Samsung G600 and the Nokia N82 and the upcoming Nokia N96 and Motorola Zine ZN5. It is slim, sleek and light and has a very simple yet stylish design. It is officially, the slimmest 5 MP cam phone to date. In this review, we check out its features, its pros and cons, and whether it does manage to please its targetted audience - the cam junkies.

Sony Ericsson C902 Specifications:

• Dimensions : 108 x 49 x 10.5 mm
• Weight : 107 gms
• Display : 2.0″ TFT, 256K Colors, QVGA 240 x 320 px.
• Camera : 5 MP Cam (2592 x 1944 px) with LED Flash, Auto Focus, Image Stabilizer, Secondary
• videocall cam
• Memory : 160 MB Internal memory
• Connectivity : GPRS Class 32, EDGE Class 10, 3G HSDPA, USB 2.0
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• Price : $480 (Approx)

Other Key Features:
8 camera touch keys, Java MIDP 2.0, FM radio with RDS, MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player, TrackID music recognition

Design and Display

The Sony Ericsson C902 scores rather high on the design front. At dimensions of 108 x 49 x 10.5 mm, it is a sleek, slim and stylish phone. It does weigh slightly more relative to its dimensions - about 107 gms. It has a normal candybar form factor and is encased in a metal body. It has a glossy finish in the front faces which adds to its style.

The display is a characteristic Sony Ericsson - 2.0″ TFT, 256K colors with a resolution of 240 x 320 px. Sony Ericsson desperately needs to improve it’s device displays and add bigger, better displays with more colors. Coming back to the C902, the display is nothing impressive, just the normal type. What does impress, are the 8 touch sensitive camera keys add to the sides of the display. They can be used to switch between and adjust many settings like gallery, autofocus, shoot modes, timers and flash mode. The display is good with optimum brightness and contrast, nice vibrant colors and good sunlight legibility.

The keypad feels a bit crowded with the keys thrown in very close to each other. It is a standard Sony Ericsson keypad, with a D Pad, soft keys, ‘Call’ and ‘End’ keys. THe keypad has rather subtle backlighting which makes the corner keys slightly illegible, but that shouldn’t matter much as you get used to the keypad. On the left side of the phone is the Universal port, while the right side sports the dedicated Camera key and the Volume rocker. On the back, there is the 5 MP camera with flash hiding beneath the sliding cover.

OS and Interface features

The C902 sports the usual Sony Ericsson Firmware based OS with the familiar, simple yet effective interface found in all Sony Ericsson phones, spiced up with some new features. It sports a changed menu structure which can be changed to three layouts - Grid, Rotating and Single Icon views. The interface has had quite a few visual improvements with new animations and effects. It has cooler menu transitions and icon effects, overall a much refined and responsive interface. It also sports a highly improved camera interface with 8 new touch sensitive camera buttons to access advanced camera settings.

Camera and Multimedia

It is commendable as to how Sony Ericsson fitted a 5 MP cam in that 10.5 mm slim body, even after doing away with the Xenon flash that is a must in all camera phones. The highlight of the C902 - the camera performs well with awesome shots, low noise levels and nice crisp images with accurate color reproduction. It has many advanced features like face detection, image and video stabilizer, BestPic, auto-rotate, macro mode and more. All of these can be adjusted using the 8 new touch sensitive camera buttons which are active only in camera mode. They are also useful for accessing the photo gallery and adjusting the autofocus mode, shoot mode, scenes, timer and flash mode.

It can record video at QVGA resolutions at 30 FPS, which is a bit of a letdown considering that the N82 and many other new phones can easily do VGA at 30 FPS. The PhotoFlash LED performs good, but nowhere near a Xenon Flash. The addition of the LED flash also helps in conserving the battery life considerably. The C902 sports the new improved Cybershot v2.0 interface which is quite efficient and provides access to almost all of the camera features. The bulit-in accelerometer automatically auto rotates the images when the phone is tilted. The face detection works as expected. It is a capable camera phone, the presence of a Xenon Flash would only have added to its list of features. The BestPic feature automatically takes 9 pics in quick succession so you can choose the best among them. The image stabilizer prevents blurred pics in low light conditions.

Photos, Music and Videos can be accessed from the Media Center menu. The flash based interface simply rocks. It has a new addition though, a Games section. You get the NFS Pro Street game bundled with the phone. It can be controlled using both the D Pad and the accelerometer. Sony Ericsson is trying to sell it as a complete entertainment device. The C902 also supports TV out. It also has a standard FM Radio with RDS support and Auto Scan to automatically search and save radio stations. The Music player supports the standard TrackID feature allowing you to identify songs and download them. The gallery includes a Picture editor and blogging support. The Music Interface can be set to Auto Rotate, Portrait or Landscape.

Other Features

The C902 features many connectivity options like Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, USB v2.0. It also has GPRS, EDGE, 3G but no WLAN. However we are not complaining as it isn’t expected in media centric phones anyways but again most of its competitors do have Wi-Fi. It has a 930 mAh Li-ion battery which delivers about 8 hrs of talktime and lasts about 2 days or more with moderate usage.

It comes bundled with a charger, earphones, a USB data cable, a connectivity CD, the use manual and a 2 GB M2 card.

Pros

• Great Design and Build Quality
• Good Battery
• Great Cam & Music playback

Cons

• Rather Expensive
• No Xenon Flash
• No Wi-Fi

Final Words

The Sony Ericsson C905 is a good buy for those looking for a great camera phone with similar music capabilities all packed together in a small footprint. But it isn’t able to better the Nokia N82 which we still consider a better option to any other 5 MP phone. It maybe lose out a bit in features but makes up for it in style and design. It is a decent buy, though if you already have a K850, we wouldn’t advise you to upgrade.

Rating : 3.9 / 5.

Nokia E66

The Nokia E66 is the newest addition to the Nokia E Series family. The E Series family is reputed to have feature packed, value for money, high end business phones and the E66 is no exception. It was launched alongwith the other heavy weight from the E Series stable, the E71 which was quite a good phone, . The E66 has specifications largely similar to the E71. In fact, there is little difference between both phones except the design, form factor and the lack of the QWERTY keypad in the E66.

It is primarily aimed at business users who would like a smart phone packed with features, a superb design with a dash of style, and can do without a QWERTY keypad. It does have good multimedia capabilities as well, which make it versatile in function. It can handle almost anything you can throw on it easily as it is powered with a fast processor and loads of RAM. Being a Symbian OS v9.2 FP1 phone, it has a large repository of applications and games which add to its functionality and make it an all rounder.

Nokia E66 Specifications:

• Dimensions: 107.5 x 49.5 x 13.6 mm
• Weight: 121 gms
• Display: 2.4″ TFT, 16M Colors, QVGA 240 x 320 px.
• Camera: 3.15 MP Cam with Autofocus, Flash, secondary videocall cam
• Chipset: ARM 11 369 MHZ Processor
• Memory: 110 MB Internal memory, 128 MB RAM
• Connectivity: GPRS Class 32, HSCSD, EDGE Class 32, 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, USB 2.0, Infrared
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• OS: Symbian OS v9.2 rel 3.1 with FP1

Other Key features:
FM Radio, VoIP, GPS Receiver with A-GPS

Design and Display:

The Nokia E66 is a very sleek, slim slider with a superb finish and great design. It looks very cool in black and is amongst the best looking and slimmest sliders currently available. With dimensions of 107.5 x 49.5 x 13.6 mm, it isn’t exactly small but is just about the average size for a smartphone. It is moderately heavy at 121 gms but doesn’t feel bulky. It has a great build quality, as expected of all Nokia phones and can withstand rough usage coupled with light drops. Its looks are in total contrast to its business image, which is a nice and welcome change. It is available in two colors, grey and white complete with a metallic finish. The slider is solidly built and won’t loosen up or creaky over extended usage. The design is clean, with keys blending in with the design.

On the front panel, you find the earpiece, video call camera, ambient light sensor, 2.4″ TFT display, standard key controls, Call, End, Left and Right select keys, Cancel key and 4 other shortcut keys - Home, Contacts, Messaging, Calendar, with a D Pad in the center. The slider at the bottom includes the keypad and the mouthpiece. On the right, you find the two volume control button, a voice command button and a dedicated camera shutter button. The left side houses the 2.5 mm audio jack, the Infrared port and the microUSB port. The top sports the Power button while bottom has the standard Nokia 2 mm charger port.

The display is a superb 16 M color 2.4″ TFT display supporting the standard resolution of 240 x 320 px. The display has superb brightness and contrast levels and vibrant colors. It has decent sunlight legibility as well. Overall, the phone has a great design with a good display with nothing much to complain about.

OS and Interface features

The Nokia E66 is powered by Symbian OS v9.2 rel 3.1 with Feature Pack 1. FP 1 packs a lot of features over the original OS v9.1 and noticeably improves performance. It is surprising why Nokia didn’t include OS v9.3 with FP2 with the E66 and E71, as that would have made the phone much more irresistible. The E66 however, does have a lot of FP 2 features bundled in. Underneath the hood of the Nokia E66 lies a blazing ARM 11 369 MHZ processor supplemented by 128 MB of SD RAM. This combo is more than enough to run scores of resource hungry applications and games easily without any lag. Multitasking is a breeze on the E66, thanks to the powerful hardware. It has 110 MB internal memory which can be extended further by 8 GB through the micro SD slot.

The E66, like all other E Series phones, comes with Office applications pre installed. Document editing isn’t supported out of the box though, which is a let down considering it is a business phone. It also supports the vast library of Symbian Applications - Office Applications, Email clients, Chat clients, Imaging Apps, Audio and Video players, File Explorers etc so you can easily download all the applications you need. Web browsing is a pleasure, as on all other Nokia OS 9 phones. The built in OSS browser based on Webkit is excellent and renders even heavy and detailed web pages exactly as they would on a PC. You seldom feel any lag, thanks to the huge amount of RAM in the E66. The E66 has an accelerometer which automatically changes the screen orientation with a tilt in the position, accompanied with nice animations. It features the Active Standby screen with some improvements which make it all the more desirable to use. Most of the OS features are much the same what you have seen already in older phones.

Multimedia and Camera

The Nokia E66 has much better music capabilities than other business minded phones. It has good sound quality with a nice frequency response. It does lack a bit in the volume department though. It supports a wide range of formats like MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA. The Music Player supports 5 equaliser presets and effects like stereo widening. It also supports the A2DP profile which allows you to listen to your music on a stereo bluetooth headset. The video playback is great on the superb 2.4″ TFT display supporting 16M colors. You can view videos in portrait, landscape or fullscreen mode in the default Real player. There are no delays in opening and viewing media files, all thanks to the fast processor and ample RAM.

The Nokia E66 has a 3.15 MP camera with autofocus and a LED flash. It shoots pics at a standard resolution of 2048×1536 px. The picture quality isn’t much to speak of, though the camera performs quite decently considering it is primarily a business phone. The Camera UI is great and offers a range of advanced options like sharpness, contrast, ISO, white balance. The camera does QVGA video recording at 15 FPS with rather mediocre quality. It also has a standard FM Radio with good reception, but without RDS.

Connectivity and Accessories

The E66 offers almost all the standard connectivity options like GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi, USB 2.0, Infrared. It also offers Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP profile support. It doesn’t miss out on any feature you would expect. It also has a GPS receiver built in with A-GPS support. GPS reception is quite good with a short lock in period and works flawlessly with the bundled Nokia Maps 2.0.

Along with the Nokia E66, you get a spacious 2 GB MicroSD card, a hands free, a charger, a data cable and a leather case. You also get the regular manuals, guides and a PC Suite CD. It has a relatively weak 1000 mAh BL-4U battery, compared to the E71, which offers about 6.5 hours of talktime and lasts about 2 days with standard usage. With Wi-Fi or any data connection on, the battery drains quickly.

Pros:

• Superb Design
• Sturdy Build quality

Cons:

• No QWERTY keypad
• Mediocre camera
• No Document editing
• No RDS with FM

Final Words

The Nokia E66 is a very stylish business phone packed with a load of features. It is almost at the top when it comes to business phones. It offers decent multimedia performance as well which makes it a good buy for anyone who wants a business phone with a mix of style, usability, entertainment and performance.

Rating : 3.7 / 5

Asus P320

The Asus P320 is the latest Windows Mobile offering by Asus. It is one of the most stylish smartphones ever made by Asus. It is very light weight at just 105 gms. The Asus P320 is amongst the cheapest Windows Mobile smartphones and does miss out on a lot of features. It has slightly better hardware specs compared to other smart phones in the same range. But it still is a good buy considering its price. In this short review, we check out whether it is worth its salt or not.

Asus P320 Specifications:

• Dimensions: 99 x 55 x 13 mm
• Weight: 105 gms
• Display: 240 x 320 px, 2.6“ TFT, 65K Colors
• Camera: 2 MP (1600 x 1200 px) Cam with AF
• Chipset: TI OMAP 850 (201MHz) processor
• Memory: 64 MB RAM, 128 MB ROM
• Connectivity: GPRS Class 10, EDGE Class 10, WLAN 802.11 b/g, USB v2.0
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• GPS: Built in GPS Receiver
• OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Battery: Li-ion 1100 mAh
• Price (Approx): $299

Design:

The Asus P320 is a very stylish and sleek phone. It is one of the lightest Windows Mobile powered smartphones at 105 gms. The build quality is good with rounded edges and glossy colors and the phone feels compact at 99 x 55 x 13 mm. It has a normal candybar form factor. It is available in three colors - black, white and pink. To add to it, it has a whole lot of features packed in that small body. The design is beautiful with buttons added aesthetically and cleanly to such a small form factor without any cramming. It has the Call, End, Windows, Ok and two Menu buttons and a 5 way thumb control pad on the front face along with the screen. It also has a lock-unlock slider on the right side, which is a novelty when it comes to Windows mobile phones. There is also a Micro SD slot on the left, to add additional memory. The display is good with decent brightness levels. The tiny dimensions do prove to be a bit of a problem though. It is slightly difficult to work on such a small screen on Windows Mobile as Windows Mobile displays are generally jam packed with information, the scroll bars, the buttons, the menus all appear a bit small for comfort.

OS Features:

The Asus P320 features the latest version of Microsoft Windows Mobile : Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. It is a bit underpowered to run it though. It has just a sluggish 201 MHZ TI OMAP processor and a measly 64 MB RAM. It isn’t very good at multitasking either but can manage about 2 apps easily. With it, comes the huge Windows Mobile Application library which give it enough power and makes it smart enough to live up to its name. It comes with Microsoft’s Mobile Office suite and can view, edit and save all type of office documents. The P320 comes with the new Asus Launcher and it own new customized Today screen with missed calls, messages alerts, email alerts, calendar appointments, to do lists, weather information and a large clock. One other disadvantage of the Asus P320 is the lack of a QWERTY keypad which is understandable considering its slim form factor.

Multimedia:

The Asus P320 is basically an Office phone, but performs the multimedia playback part rather well too. IT has a good 2.6″ screen supporting resolutions of 240 * 320 px and 65k colors. Video playback is good and the audio quality is decent. You can play a whole load of formats using 3rd party players. It also has a 2 MP camera with autofocus and captures images at resolutions of 1600 x 1200 px. It doesnt have flash though. The picture quality is decent, one wouldn’t expect more from a 2 MP cam. It doesn’t have a FM radio receiver.

Connectivity:

It features lots of connectivity options like GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, USB 2.0, but misses out on 3G and Infrared. the absence of 3G is one of the biggest drawback in this phone considering it is the standard for high speed data transfer all over the world now. It does have a GPS receiver but again doesn’t support A-GPS which is a drawback. The GPS receiver is decent and has a small lock in period.

It has a powerful little 1100 mAh Li Ion battery which provides about 4-5 hrs of talktime and a standby time of about 200 hrs. It lasts about 1.5 days with normal usage.

Pros:

• Small size
• Stylish Design
• Good Build quality
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• Low RAM, Processor
• Bad Camera
• No 3G
• No FM radio
• No A-GPS

Conclusion:

The Asus P320 is a stylish new phone and is packed with many features However it also does miss out on some important ones like 3G, A-GPS and FM radio. It also is plagued by performance problems due to its low processor speed and low RAM. Nevertheless, considering its price, it is a good deal for many who are looking for a decent smartphone with sleek looks and a small footprint and with regular Office goodies, applications, games and good multimedia capabilities.

Rating: 3.3/5.

Nokia 5320 Xpress Music

The Nokia 5320 is the newest Xpress Music branded music phone from Nokia. It is way ahead of its older Xpress Music siblings in terms of features and even pure music. It is powered by the new Symbian S60 OS 9.3 with FP2. It is small, sleek and very light. It has excellent sound quality and above all, it is not very expensive. In fact, it is one of the cheapest S60 smartphones. It is fully packed with most standard connectivity options as well, which makes us wonder whether it should be marketed as a music phone or a smart phone.

It is one of the few phones that possess almost everything a phone should and at a very reasonable price. It does lack out at some points like the absence of Wi-Fi and GPS. We attempt to review this device and try to showcase its weak and strong points. Finally, we check out whether this phone emerges out a winner or turns out to be just another damp squib.

Nokia 5320 Specifications:

• Dimensions : 108 x 46 x 15 mm
• Weight : 90 g
• Display : 2.0″ TFT, 16M Colors, QVGA 240 x 320 px.
• Camera : 2 MP Cam with LED Flash, secondary videocall cam
• Chipset : ARM 11 369 MHZ Processor
• Memory : 140 MB Internal memory
• Connectivity : GPRS Class 32, HSCSD, EDGE Class 32, 3G HSDPA, USB 2.0
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• OS : Symbian OS v9.3 rel 3.2 with FP2

Other Key Features :
8 way Navi key, FM Radio with RDS, Nokia Say and Play, Java MIDP 2.1, 3.5 mm audio jack.

Design and Display:

The Nokia 5320 Xpress Music is a very compact phone and has dimensions of 108 x 46 x 15 mm which are very small compared to other smartphones with similar features. It weighs just 90 gms which is light compared to smartphone standards. It has a normal candy bar form factor and features a cute new design with rounded edges. It is fully made of plastic and has quite a good build quality. It is sturdy enough, conforming to Nokia’s famous durability standards meaning that it can easily withstand some light drops. The design was meant to appeal to the younger generation and it seems to do quite a good job at that. The alphanumeric keypad is standard and ergonomic with large keys that are easy to press. It has good backlighting making it easy to operate in the dark. The D Pad is comfortable and gels in with the keypad.

Coming to the design details, the front face of the 5320 consists of the 2.0″ screen and the keypad. On the top of the front face are the earpiece, the videocall camera and a “My Own” key which can be used to set personalized shortcuts to any application or function. The right side sports the camera key and the volume rocker while the left face houses three dedicated music control keys. On the top is just the Power key in the middle. The bottom sports the Micro USB slot, the 3.5 mm headphone jack and the charger slot. The back of the phone houses the 2 MP camera with dual LED flash.

The display is a 2.0″ TFT supporting 16 M colors and resolutions of the standard 240 x 320 px. The screen size is a bit of a letdown as it isnt very easy to read it at such resolutions. The display quality is good with decent brightness and contrast levels and vibrant colors. It has good sunlight legibility as well.

OS and Interface features :

The Nokia 5320 Xpress Music is powered by Symbian OS v9.3 rel 3.2 with Feature Pack 2. It is the latest edition of the very popular Symbian OS. It is one of the few phones to sport the new features including the N78 and the E71. Feature Pack 2 adds in a host of new functionality and visual and performance improvements. As the 5320 has a powerful 369 MHZ ARM 11 processor and a good amount of RAM - about 80 MB at bootup, the OS feels very fast and responsive. There are no lags or delays when multitasking about apps.

The 5320 never slows down even with quite a few apps active. FP2 comes with a lot of cool new animations added to the User Interface. The 5320 supports the vast library of Symbian Apps - Office Applications, Email clients, Chat clients, Imaging Apps, Audio and Video players, File Explorers and much more. It has the standard Symbian Contacts and Messaging apps with slight improvements. It does have a few quirks but those can easily be fixed with firmware updates.

Web browsing is a pleasure, as on all other Nokia OS 9 phones. The built in OSS browser based on Webkit is excellent and renders even heavy and detailed web pages exactly as they would on a PC. You seldom feel any lag, thanks to the huge amount of RAM in the 5320. The only thing you can complain about is the small screen.

It is rumored that the 5320 will support Ngage 2.0 games with a future firmware update as soon as all bugs related to the Ngage 2.0 app on FP2 are ironed out.

Multimedia playback :

The Nokia 5320 Xpress Music doesn’t quite live up to expectations of being the latest Xpress Music phone.The sound quality is definitely better than most phones but nothing spectacular. The loudspeaker quality is great and is very loud too. It supports many audio formats like MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WMA natively. The new Music Player is simple and easy to use. It has 5 default equalizer preset settings you can choose from. You can also create more if you wish to. The 5320 XM also supports A2DP which enables you to hear streaming music wirelessly on your stereo Bluetooth headset. The three dedicated music keys on the side are a great addition allowing you to control your music with a click. You can also plug in your own headphones directly to the 3.5 mm jack without the need of any adapters.

The video playback is great on the superb 16 M color screen. You can view videos in fullscreen mode in the default Real player. You can also install many other video players like Smartmovie player, DivX player or Core Player. However, a bigger screen would definitely have added to the video watching experience. the 2″ screen is not very suitable for watching videos. Other than that, there are absolutely no negatives when it comes to video playback. There are no delays in opening and viewing media files, all thanks to FP 2.

Camera and FM :

The Nokia 5320 XM has a sub standard 2.0 MP (1600 x 1200 px) camera with a dual LED Flash. The camera interface is good but it doesn’t feature many customizable options. It doesn’t have autofocus. It comes as a shocker as almost all new phones these days sport atleast a 3.2 MP camera. It takes average pics that have slightly washed out colors. It shoots video at 15 FPS at QVGA (320 x 240) resolution. The video quality isn’t much to speak of either. Overall, if you want a decent camera phone, this isn’t where you should be looking at.

It also features a FM Radio with RDS and comes a nice, easy to use interface which can auto scan all the available stations and store them. It comes with RDS support and the Visual Radio app.

Connectivity :

The 5320 carries a host of connectivity options like GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Bluetooth, USB 2.0 which is a bit surprising considering that is is essentially a Xpress Music phone. However it does miss out on Wi-Fi which shouldn’t be much of a problem as it wasn’t intended to be an office phone anyways. It doesn’t have IR support also but that standard is almost dead now. It also doesnt support GPS which means that you will have to use an external GPS receiver. But that is understandable considering the other features it packs, and its price.

Accessories :

Along with the Nokia 5320 XM, you get a 1 GB MicroSD card, the Xpress Music handsfree, a charger and a Micro USB data cable. You also get the regular manuals and a PC Suite CD. It has a weak 890 mAh BL-5B battery powering it which provides about 3.5 hrs of talktime and lasts for more than a day with standard usage.

Pros :

• Sturdy build quality
• Relatively Inexpensive
• Fast processor and High RAM
• Good audio quality

Cons :

• Small screen
• Substandard 2.0 MP cam with no AF
• No Wi-Fi
• No GPS
• Poor battery life

Final Words :

The Nokia 5320 Xpress Music is a great phone and offers the best of both worlds. It is a potent mix of features and multimedia capabilities at a relatively low price. However it does have its shortcomings but that do not make it a bad buy. Apart from the mediocre cam, absence of GPS and Wi-Fi and the small screen size, there is nothing that this phone lacks in.
It should become a great hit and connect with its target audience easily.

Rating : 3.8 / 5

Asus P750

Touchscreen phones have taken off in a jiffy after the introduction of iPhone. Windows Mobile platform is a favorite among manufacturers to launch a touchscreen phone. Its capabilities have been pushed to the limit and the world is awaiting the launch of Windows Mobile 7 eagerly. Asus P750 is based on Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro and comes loaded with features to challenge its counterparts.

Asus P750 specifications :

• Dimensions : 113 x 58 x 17.4 mm
• Weight : 130 g
• Display : 2.6″ TFT, 240 x 320 pixels
• CPU : 520 Mhz
• RAM : 64MB RAM, 256 ROM
• GPRS, HSCSD, EDGE, 3G
• WLAN : WiFi 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• Camera : 3.2 megapixel with autofocus
• GPS receiver with SiRF III chipset
• OS : Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional
• Approx. price : $700

The Asus P750 has highly professional looks and has a sturdy and compact design. At first look, you will notice that it does not include a QWERTY keyboard, which is a big drawback. The display is also smaller at 2.6″ against 2.8″ ones commonly found. The display can only be operated through the stylus.

Picking it up in your hand for the first time will make you feel its heaviness. The build quality of the mobile as brilliant as high quality materials have been used. The front has a brushed metal look with high grade plastic used at the back. Accessories bundled with it include leather holster, stereo handsfree, USB data cable, car charger and surprisingly a windsheel mount holder.

The display has QVGA resolution and has good clarity. But visibility under sunlight isn’t good and you can barely see it. The display is basically a VGA screen which has been reduced to QVGA one. A little bit of hacking can lead you to its VGA resolution.

The keypad is a regular style keypad which offers good tactile feedback. The metallic keys offer a neat look to the keypad but no backlighting renders them useless in low lighting conditions.

The right side has a lot of keys stacked up. It also has a slot to plug in external antenna to boost GPS reception. Slider lets you switch between standby and keypad lock. Other keys include camera key and a reset hole.

Windows Media Player is the preinstalled multimedia player which allows watching videos and also TV streaming. You can filter content by artists, genre, album etc and also create playlists. The music quality on the device is just about average. The loudspeaker doesn’t fare much better either.

The camera has a resolution of 3.2 megapixels and autofocus. Seems good enough with the specifications unless you start using it. The interface is good and offers a variety of customisation options. It also features geotagging letting you tag photos based on where you took them. The image quality is average and fine details are not captured. Video quality is of the same stature.

Internet Explorer Mobile is the default browser which isn’t the best you can get on this platform. You are better off with installing a much better browser like Opera etc. The organiser is good as expected and has the same set of time-management features found on other Windows Mobile platform.

Pros :

• Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro
• Fast processor
• SiRF Star III GPS chipset
• Good build quality
• Great accessory bundle

Cons :

• Small screen
• No QWERTY keyboard
• Bad camera quality
• Audio quality average
• Low RAM

Final Thoughts

The Asus P750 is a good offering from Asus turned bad. The specs on paper look good but the handset underperforms. Small screen, no qwerty keyboard, bad camera quality etc. are its downpoints. There are not enough strong points to cover them up and considering its steep price point, it might not be worth investing it unless you want a small and sturdy touchscreen PDA.

My Rating : 2.85/5

Nokia 6220 Classic

check out the Nokia 6220 Classic, the latest Symbian smartphone offering by Nokia. It is the latest 5 MP by Nokia, following N82 and N95. It offers many improvements over its older siblings, the most significant being the inclusion of Feature Pack 2 along with Symbian OS v9.3, same as the Nokia N78. It has most of the features one would look for in a smartphone except Wi-Fi. It is very similar to an Nokia N82 sans Wi-Fi and with a smaller screen. Let’s have a closer look at the latest stud from Nokia’s stable.

Nokia 6220 Classic Specifications :

• Dimensions : 108 x 47 x 15 mm
• Weight : 90 g
• Display : 2.2″ TFT, 16M Colors, QVGA 240 x 320 px.
• Camera : 5 MP Cam ( 2592 x 1944 px ) with AF & Xenon Flash, Secondary CIF cam for video calling
• Chipset : ARM 11 369 MHZ Processor
• Memory : 120 MB Internal memory, 128MB SD RAM
• Connectivity : GPRS, HSCSD, EDGE Class 32, 3G HSDPA, Micro USB 2.0
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• GPS : GPS Receiver with A-GPS
• OS : Symbian OS v9.3 Rel 3.2 with FP2

Other Key Features:
FM Radio with RDS, TV Out, 3.5 mm audio jack.

Design and Display:

The 6220 Classic is a normal phone with a candy bar form factor with decent looks and oodles of functionality. It doesn’t have great looks but at the same time it isn’t outright ugly. It lies somewhere in between, more on the better side. It is available in Black and Purple colors. The build quality is amazing. The keyboard has a bit plasticky feel though. It is slim and light - weighing in at just 90 gms, and is perfectly suited for an office environment.

It has a 2.2″ display which is rather small considering the standard 2.8″ displays in almost all of Nokia’s new phones. The display supports 16 M colors and resolutions of 240 x 320 px (QVGA) . The display is great and bright enough with good contrast levels and is clear enough even in daylight. The keypad is average but has a bit plasticky feel which is not the best to work with. Of course, over time you will get used to it, but they could definitely have made it a lot better. The D Pad is smooth and good to navigate around the phone. The black keypad with a blue backlight looks quite attractive.

OS and Interface features :

The Nokia 6220 Classic is powered by the Symbian OS v9.3 with Feature Pack 2. It is the latest edition of the very popular Symbian OS. Feature Pack 2 adds in a host of new functionality and visual and performance improvements. As the 6220 Classic has a powerful 369 MHZ ARM 11 processor and a very good amount of RAM - 128 MB SD, the OS feels responsive. However the User interface does feel a bit laggy sometimes especially when navigating around the menu, due to the added animations that come with FP2. This comes as quite a surprise considering it has more RAM than a N78. This shouldn’t be much of a problem though, as it will easily be solved with a future firmware update. The Nokia 6220 Classic supports the vast library of Symbian Apps - Office Applications, Email clients, Chat clients, Imaging Apps, Audio and Video players, File Explorers and much more. It has the standard Symbian Contacts and Messaging apps with slight improvements.

Web browsing is a pleasure, as on all other Nokia OS 9.1 phones. The built in OSS browser based on Webkit is excellent and renders even heavy and detailed web pages exactly as they would on a PC. The MiniMap and Zoom features are very helpful during browsing. You seldom feel any lag when browsing, thanks to the huge amount of RAM in the 6220 Classic. However a bigger screen would have helped provide a better experience.

Multimedia playback :

The 6220 Classic fares quite decently when it comes to multimedia playback performance. It has good audio quality and supports many audio formats like MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WMA natively. The Music Player is simple and easy to use. The 6220 Classic also supports A2DP which enables you to hear streaming music wirelessly on your stereo Bluetooth headset. It has a 2.5 mm audio jack though, which may be a deal breaker for audiophiles, but it wasn’t meant to be a music phone anyways.

The video playback is simply awesome on the superb 16 M color screen. You can view videos in full screen mode in the default player. You can also install many other Video players from the vast Symbian repository available. However, a bigger screen would definitely have added to the video watching experience.

It has the good old Gallery application with some serious performance improvements. There are no delays in opening and viewing media files, all thanks to FP 2. It comes with 120 MB internal flash memory and a 2 GB Micro SD card bundled. It supports up to 8 GB external memory which should be enough for all your multimedia needs.

Camera and FM :

The Nokia 6220 Classic has a 5 MP (2592 * 1944 px) camera with Auto Focus, a superb Xenon Flash and a Carl Zeiss lens. It is one of the best 5 MP camera phones currently. It has a wide range of customizable options to fine tune the settings - Exposure, White balance, Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, ISO sensitivity etc. The 6220 Classic takes good pics with accurate color reproduction. It also supports Geotagging which is tagging the images to any geographical location. It shoots video at 30 FPS at VGA (640 x 480) resolution with stunning quality. It also has a secondary front facing CIF cam for 3G video calling.

It also features a FM Radio with RDS to obtain track information of the currently playing song using a data connection.

Connectivity :

The Nokia 6220 Classic features a range of connectivity options like USB 2.0, Bluetooth with A2DP, GPRS, HSCSD, EDGE Class 32, 3G HSDPA. It has most of the options that are currently available in any smartphone except Wi-fi. The absence Wi-fi is the major turn off in this phone. As the phone is targetted at an office going crowd, Wi-fi was an absolute necessity. It doesn’t have an infrared port but it is on its way to extinction anyways. Data transfer is blazing fast with all these options.

The Nokia 6220 Classic also supports A-GPS (Assisted GPS) which provides for better and precise location tracking. It comes with Nokia Maps 2.0 with free maps and 3 months free Voice navigation. You can also try other mapping applications like Google Maps and TomTom but Nokia Maps 2.0 is a great option with good and detailed maps of all the main cities. The GPS receiver is much more sensitive than the ones in the N82 and N95. It has a quite small startup duration - just 10 seconds to boot from cold and lock in to your current location.

Accessories :

Along with the Nokia 6220 Classic, you get a 2 GB MicroSD card, a charger, a Micro USB cable and a TV Out cable. It comes with standard Nokia 2.5 mm earphones. You also get the regular manuals and a PC Suite CD.

It has a rather underpowered BP 5M 900 mAH battery underneath its hood which provides a measly talktime of 3.5 hrs. We wonder how Nokia could have done such a blunder. A more powerful battery would have taken it places.

Pros :

• Less Expensive
• S60 OS9.3 with FP2
• Powerful GPS
• Great 5 MP Cam with Xenon Flash

Cons :

• Laggy Interface
• No Wi-fi
• Small 2.2″ screen
• Weak 900 mAH Battery

Final Words :
The Nokia 6220 Classic is a great phone at an affordable price. The performance improvements are great and FP2 is a superb addition. However it has some glaring deficiencies like the exclusion of Wi-fi and a weak battery. It would have fared great with a bigger screen as well. If you can do without FP2 and desperately need the Wi-fi, we would recommend the Nokia N82 which is almost in the same range and is better than the Nokia 6220 Classic.

Rating : 3.5 /5

Samsung Omnia i900

The Samsung Omnia i900 is the latest Windows Mobile smartphone from Samsung and is touted to be its answer to the HTC Touch Diamond and Apple iPhone 3G. It has great features, looks cool and sexy and is a worthy contender to become the king of smartphones. It is packed with features like a 5 MP camera, 8 GB / 16 GB internal memory, Multi Touch, 3G, A-GPS, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional etc. In this comprehensive and detailed review we try to cover all of its features, its strengths and shortcomings and whether it does manage to defeat the iPhone 3G and HTC Touch Diamond.

Samsung Omnia i900 Specifications

• Dimensions: 112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm
• Weight: 127 gms
• Display: 240 x 400 px, 3.2“ TFT, 65K Colors
• Camera: 5 MP Cam with AF and Flash, VGA cam for video calls
• Chipset: 624MHz Marvell PXA312 CPU
• Memory: 8 GB / 16 GB Internal memory, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM
• Connectivity: GPRS Class 12, EDGE Class 12, 3G HSDPA 7.2 MBPS, WLAN 802.11 b/g, USB v2.0
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• GPS: GPS Receiver with A-GPS
• OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Other Features: FM Radio with RDS, Geotagging, Built in Accelerometer for automatic screen rotation, 3.5 mm audio jack, TouchWiz UI, Optical Joystick.

Design & Display

At 112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm, the Samsung Omnia i900 is more on the bulkier side. It weighs about 127 gms which isnt very heavy, considering the features it packs in that relatively small body. Its design is strikingly similar to the LG Viewty KU990. It sports a very clean design with completely smooth surfaces and a brushed finish at the back. The front of the phone sports the big display, the earpiece, a secondary VGA camera for video calls and an ambient light sensor. It also has the Call and End keys at the bottom with the Optical Joystick. The left side is pretty empty with just the USB 2.0 port. On the right are the volume rocker, camera key and a key that launches the Menu. On the bottom is the mouthpiece while the top houses the Power key and a reset hole. The back of the phone sports a brushed metallic finish and has the 5 MP Camera and the LED flash. All in all, The Samsung Omnia i900 is a sturdy phone with good build quality and a simple design. It should easily withstand a drop or two.

It has a huge 3.2″ display supporting resolutions of 240 x 400 px and 65K colors which is second in size only to the Apple iPhone 3G. However the resolution is quite odd and does cause some incompatibility problems with some applications and games. It is great for watching widescreen videos though. The display is good and bright but its very difficult to read under direct sunlight.

Operating System & Interface Features

The Samsung Omnia i900 is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. It has a new custom made user Interface by Samsung called the TouchWiz which seems to be slightly inspired by HTC’s TouchFLO 3D. The display is Touch enabled and doesnt have a stylus slot. It has very few keys - The Optical Joystick, Call, End, Menu and Camera keys. They Optical Joystick can be used in two modes - as a normal touchpad and to navigate using a virtual mouse pointer. The mouse pointer is a refreshingly new concept and is fun to use and navigate around the phone. The Omnia i900’s display automatically rotates using the Accelerometer when tilted sideways. The screen is nice and sensitive and it has nice animated transitions. It also introduces haptic feedback when you press keys by vibrating for a very small period.

The new TouchWiz UI is good to use and is very fast and responsive, thanks to the 624 MHZ Marvell PXA312 CPU underneath its hood. The OS is fast and very rarely do you feel any lag. It has 128 MB ram which is enough for most applications and aids in multi tasking. It performs slightly better than the HTC Touch Diamond in most cases. However the TouchWiz UI is not as polished as the TouchFLO 3D. The Omnia i900 comes with 4 GB / 8GB internal flash memory which can be expanded by 8 GB using a Micro SD slot. The Omnia’s Touch Wiz UI also supports widgets like Notes, Explorer, Radio, Calendar and Clock. It has 3 different home screens. Underneath the flashy new UI and homescreens the good old and powerful Windows Mobile 6.1. It supports the huge library of Windows Mobile applications and games which propels it way ahead of the iPhone 3G.

It comes with a touch optimized version of Opera Mobile 9.5 powered by the Presto engine which is way better than the default Internet Explorer. It offers a fantastic, fullscreen browsing experience with browser controls available at a tap. There is absolutely no lag in page rendering and zooming. The browser switches to landscape mode automatically when held horizontally. It is very similar to Mobile Safari and even betters it in some aspects. The browser supports FlashLite 2.1.

The Omnia i900 comes with the full Office suite - Word, Excel and Powerpoint. there is also an application to view PDF files. It also comes with the regular Phonebook, Organiser and ToDo list apps.

Multimedia

The Samsung Omnia i900 is a complete beast when it comes to multimedia performance. It has a 5 MP cam which is fully loaded with autofocus, face recognition, smile detection, a digital image stabilizer and supports a maximum resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. It also supports GeoTagging and has a LED flash. The camera is top notch - a first on Windows Mobile smartphones and supports a plethora of advanced settings - self-timer, white balance, color effect, ISO settings and various modes including the smile detection mode. It produces crisp and natural images with accurate color reproduction. It records VGA video (640 x 480) at 15fps and QVGA video (320 x 240) at 30fps. It sports a new camera interface which is quite nice.

The Omnia i900 features the all new Samsung Omnia Media Album and the Samsung Touch Player for image viewing and audio / video playback respectively. It has awesome sound quality which matches that of the iPhone 3G. It has low distortion levels and a good frequency response and dynamic range. It is undoubtedly the best PMP in the Windows Mobile range. It supports DivX playback out of the box and is ideal for playing widescreen video. It supports almost all video formats due to the availability of many 3rd party applications to play video content. It also has an FM Radio with RDS support and a cool new touch optimized interface to go with it.

Connectivity

The Samsung Omnia i900 is a quad band phone supporting a wide range of connectivity options like GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA 7.2 MBPS, WLAN 802.11 b/g, USB v2.0. It also comes with an A-GPS receiver with Google Maps bundled and can easily double up as a hand held standalone navigation unit.

Phone Performance

The Omnia i900 has good reception quality and performs decently well even in low network areas.
Battery: The Samsung Omnia is powered by a very powerful 1440 mAh Li-ion battery. It provides a talktime of about 6 hours and easily lasts about 3 days with moderate usage. Also the battery life is boosted by its very efficient Marvell PXA312 processor.

Pros

• Excellent Battery
• TouchWiz UI
• Haptic Feedback
• Great Audio / Video Playback

Cons

• No Stylus slot
• No Hot swapping
• Poor readability under direct sunlight
• Odd resolution

Final Conclusions

The Samsung Omnia i900 is a great phone which is fully packed with features. It is the best Windows Mobile phone in terms of multimedia capabilities. It is a strong competitor and is better than the iPhone 3G and HTC Touch Diamond in some respects but also loses in some. The list of Pros far outweigh the Cons. It is definitely a great buy despite all its shortcomings.

iPhone 3G accessories

Its been two weeks now since the iPhone 3g launch and there has been a avalanche of iPhone 3G related accessories in the market. Most of the iPhone accessories are still compatible with the new iPhone 3G.

Here we have listed the seven best iPhone 3G accessories that are a must have for all iPhone 3G lovers:

1. Apple Universal Dock

The Apple Universal Dock is the most basic accessory for the iPhone 3G. It offers easy access to a USB port for charging and syncing your iPod or iPhone or for connecting to a TV or speakers. It comes with changeable inserts called dock adapters which enable you to use any other Apple device like iPods with the dock. When your iPod or iPhone is in the Dock and connected to a stereo or TV, the included Apple Remote lets you just lay back and just choose a playlist, slideshow, or video and enjoy. The Apple Remote offers play/pause, volume control, and forward/back buttons for easy control.

You can also connect the Dock to a stereo or speakers using a stereo audio cable to play music from iPod or iPhone and also display photos or video on a TV or other video device using a Component AV Cable or Composite AV Cable to play videos from your iPhone 3G / iPod.

The Dock is available for just $49.00. You can check out some details and buy it here : Apple Universal Dock

2. Plantronics Discovery 925 Headset

The Plantronics Discovery 925 is the coolest Bluetooth headset in town. It features a very sleek and clean design which is perfectly in harmony with your iPhone 3G. It is extremely light and is available in 12 colors. It has a good battery life, about 5 hours and great sound quality.

Its longer VFrame design include a powerful antenna and an extended microphone that picks up sound accurately. It has the AudioIQ technology which automatically cancels out background noise. Its minimal but aesthetic design has only two buttons using which you can adjust volume, pair it with other devices and perform other functions. It also offers Multi Point technology using which you can pair it with multiple devices. It has an effective range of about 30 feet which is quite decent.

It comes with a black leather charging case which is an easy way to store, charge and protect the headset. It provides an extra 5 hours of charge to the Discovery 925.

It is priced at $149.95. Check out the following link for more details : Plantronics Discovery 925

3. Altec Lancing T612 Speakers

The T612 digital speaker system from Altec Lancing was originally intended for the older iPhone. But it is fully compatible with the iPhone 3G as well. In addition to its striking good looks, the T612 delivers delightfully clear sound with satisfyingly deep bass. And if you get a call while listening, the music pauses automatically. Then once you’ve completed your conversation and re-docked the iPhone, the music resumes playing exactly where it left off.

To ensure superior sound quality, the T612 includes internal GSM shielding to keep its speakers from picking up potential intermittent noises emitted by iPhone or other mobile devices. It also provides powerful neodymium speakers and XdB bass-enhancement technology.

The T612 comes equipped with a wireless remote for maximum convenience and control. It offers power on/off, volume up/down, track back/forward, play/pause, and separate bass and treble controls.

All in all, its the perfect little speaker system for your iPhone 3G and is available for $199.95.
You can check it out here : Altec Lancing T612

4. Etymotic HF2

The Etymotic HF2 is the perfect companion for all the geeky audiophiles who own an iPhone 3G. It is compatible with both the iPhone and the iPhone 3G as well as the entire range of iPods and other PMPs with 3.5 mm jacks. These are the best in canal earphones money can buy. They provide you with the most accurate and flat audio reproduction in earphones. It has an excellent frequency response and is the ideal stereo headset. The bass is nice and perfectly balanced. The ear buds do look a bit weird but are the best when it comes to audio quality. It comes with an inbuilt mic so that you can answer calls just as easily.

It is available for $179 which may seem a bit steep, but they are worth every cent. You can check out more details and specifications at this link : Etymotic HF2

5. iSkin Revo - Black

The iSkin Revo is like a protective second skin for your iPhone 3G. It is made of the finest grade silicone and polycarbonate and covers all surfaces, ports, and controls of your iPhone 3G. It also offers some shock resistance. It includes “privacy” skins to cover your iPhone 3G display when viewed form certain angles thus protecting it from prying eyes. When viewed normally, it gives ou a clear display.

The display allows full touch sensitivity. iSkin revo also includes the ViSOR, a durable scratch-resistant polycarbonate cover to further protect your iPhone screen. It easily snaps to the front of the revo case when the screen isn’t in use. And when you want to tap commands or operate the phone, it snaps to the back.

It goes for $39.95. Details here : iSkin Revo - Black

6. Kensington Mini Battery Pack

The Kensington Mini Battery Pack is a mini charger for your iPhone 3G. It keeps your iPhone juiced up while on the move. It is quite small and convenient to use. it is compatible with all iPods and iPhones. It also has an LED Power meter which keeps track of the amount of charge left. It is powered by a small yet powerful Li-ion Polymer battery pack.

It is available for $49.99. Check out the details here : Kensington Mini Battery Pack

7. Apple USB Power adapter

And last but not the least, we bring you the Apple USB Power adapter. It is very compact and handy and can be used to charge your iPhone / iPhone 3G and any iPod when you are not near a computer. Just plug it to any power outlet and you are ready to roll. It is very simple but very useful.

It is priced at $29.00. Check it out here : Apple USB Power Adapter

Apple iPhone

The Apple iPhone App Store has become very popular and has crossed about 10 million downloads already in the first 3 days. The App Store has about 800 apps at the time of writing this article. The best thing about the App Store is that most of the cool Apps and Games are either free or priced low.

Here we present a list of the best free iPhone 3G Apps.

1. Google Mobile :

Google Mobile gives you a single text box to search the web and your contacts on the iPhone. As soon as you start typing, it automatically starts searching Google and gives search suggestions. Google Mobile saves the searches in memory to provide you a better searching experience over time. It also has the My Location feature to detect your current location on a map. You can also access other Google services using Google Mobile. Google Mobile is very fast and intuitive.

2. Twitterific :

Twitterific is a must have for all the Twitter junkies out there. It enables you to read and publish Tweets while on the go. It has a very simple and clean interface which makes Tweeting a joy.

3. Remote :

Remote converts your iPhone into a wireless remote control to control your music on your Mac (iTunes) or Apple TV via a wifi network. You can search / play / pause / skip tracks from your iPhone. It is the perfect application for all the lazy bums out there.

4. eBay Mobile :

You can use eBay mobile to login to your eBay account, to search for items, to track items, to participate in auctions, and buy / sell items from eBay. You no longer need a computer to trade on eBay, the iPhone can do it for you.

5. Shazam :

Shazam is pretty much like the TrackID feature of Sony Ericsson. You can listen to any song, identify it via Shazam, and purchase it online. Additionally you can save your tag history, share it with friends, see related videos on YouTube and link Photos and Images with your tags.

6. Facebook :

Facebook allows you to login to your Facebook account through a simple interface, instead of through the website which might be a bit heavy for the Safari browser. You can check your messages, chat with friends on Facebook and check updates.

7. AIM :

AIM is a free App allowing you to chat away using your AOL Instant messenger ID on the iPhone 3G. You can set different statuses, group your contacts, mark them as favorites and much more.

8. NetNewsWire :

NetNewsWire is an RSS reader for the iPhone. You can sync your feeds with NetNewsWire on your Mac. It features a nice and polished interface to keep in touch with the latest news and other feeds.

9. Loopt :

Loopt turns your iPhone into a social compass. Find out where your friends are and what they are doing. You can share your information with Facebook if you wish. You can also share photos and tips on cool places. You can alter your privacy settings if you dont want to be tracked.

10. Evernote :

Evernote is a cool little application to create notes on the iPhone, sort them accordingly and find them easily later. You can capture notes, web pages, images etc and tag them. It syncs with EverNote on your Mac or PC.

11. MySpace Mobile :

A sweet App to access your MySpace account from your iPhone. It provides you all the options you would expect in a MySpace account. More ever, it is fast and light.

12. PhoneSaber :

PhoneSaber is not exactly an application, but it is still loads of fun. It converts your iPhone into a virtual lightsaber. You can change the color of your lightsaber and listen to cool lightsaber sound effects. Get ready to kick some bad ass using your iPhone.

Note : To download the Apps through the App Store, you can use the App Store icon on your iPhone 3G to browse through the various Apps and Games available and download them to your phone. You can also login to the App Store using your iTunes account and then sync the Apps or Games to your iPhone.

Apple 3G iPhone

So finally, after an eternity of waiting, the 3G iPhone is here. The iPhone has been the most hyped gadget in the history of mobile phones. Despite it lacking some very essential features, it went on to become very popular and changed the way people perceive smartphones, catalyzing innovation from another manufacturers as well. It has made MultiTouch a standard feature in upcoming smartphones. Let’s see if the iPhone 3G can live up to the huge hype created by its older sibling.

First Look :

The iPhone 3G is basically the same old iPhone in a new shell with 3G and A-GPS thrown in. Apple hasn’t addressed the demand for features like Video Recording, a better Cam, Flash support in Safari and setting songs as ringtones yet. However it now comes with the much faster 3G network support. Apple has also bundled in A-GPS for all the GPS lovers. The 3G iPhone is available in 8GB and 16GB versions, available for $199 and $299 with contracts and $599 and $699 for the contract free versions respectively. The iPhone 3G also comes with the new iPhone v2.0 firmware. It supports downloading softwares and games from the App Store for a fee.

Apple iPhone 3G Specifications:

• Dimensions : 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm
• Weight : 133 g
• Display : 3.5″ Touchscreen with MultiTouch, 16M colors
• Resolution : 320 x 480 pixels
• Connectivity : GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA, WLAN 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0
• Internal Memory : 8 GB / 16 GB.
• Camera : 2MP Cam, 1600*1200 pixels
• Price : $199 / $299 (with contract) & $599 / $699 (w/o contract).

Design :

The iPhone 3G, as like any Apple product, is slim and beautiful. It has more or less the same design as the iPhone. The iPhone 3G has sloping edges unlike the original iPhone and is a bit thinker at the center. It is slightly lighter than the older iPhone. The back of the phone is now made of black plastic instead of the silver aluminium original. The 8 GB iPhone 3G is out in only black, while the 16 GB will be available in black and white. The screen is the same as the old iPhone. The other ports and keys show no changes. One other change is that you no longer get the Dock bundled with the iPhone. It has to be purchased separately for $30. Not that it matters much, because you do get a small and cute charger with the iPhone 3G now.

3G and GPS :

The iPhone supports 3 major UMTS bands making it compatible with 3G networks all around the globe. The 3G support greatly increases the surfing speed in Safari, providing a much better browsing experience. The iPhone 3G also supports A-GPS (Assisted GPS) which traces your position using satellites and nearby cell phone towers. It also supports Live tracking to track you on the move as well as Geotagging to tag images and other media with geographic locations. The A-GPS works perfectly with the bundled Google Maps application.

Applications :

The iPhone 3G also offers support for 3rd party Apps and Games via the newly launched App Store. Users can purchase and download many Apps over Wi-Fi or over a data connection using their iTunes account. The App Store currently features many cool apps like eBay, Loopt, Facebook etc. It includes support for office documents and also offers Microsoft Exchange support - Push email, Contacts, Calendar etc. It also supports the POP3 and IMAP mail protocols (for popular mail services like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hot Mail etc) like its predecessor. Apple’s new service - Mobile Me, offering features like Push Email, Contacts, Calendar, Data backup, Online storage, is also fully compatible with the iPhone 3G. Safari is better than ever and changes its orientation with the help of the accelerometer according to angle at which the phone is held. MultiTouch gestures are used when browsing to navigate, zoom just like the older iPhone. However, it still doesn’t support Flash. The onscreen virtual QWERTY keyboard autocorrects any mistakes as you type, but still it is a bit difficult typing on it without any tactile feedback. Also there is no cut-paste support yet. It is as if Apple has simply ignored all the demands of the First Gen iPhone users.

Multimedia :

The iPhone has great sound quality, living up to its iPod lineage. Coverflow looks great on the iPhone 3G. It has excellent video playback, with transparent video controls available with just a tap. The 3.5″ screen offers much more screen real estate then other phones and is ideal for watching movies. One welcome addition for music lovers is the inclusion of a new flush headphone jack instead of the recessed jack in the older version, allowing you to use any standard 3.5mm headphones with it. The device syncs perfectly with iTunes on a PC or Mac. The iPhone 3G still has the old 2MP cam with no Autofocus or Flash. It still doesn’t have FM or video recording. It doesn’t support sending files over Bluetooth and no A2DP.

Other Features :

The iPhone 3G seems to have significantly better call reception quality than the original iPhone. It has an improved battery life lasting about 4.5 hours with 3G and Wi-Fi usage and offers 10 hours of talktime. You can also turn off 3G from the settings to squeeze even more juice out of the battery. It also has better Wi-Fi reception than the older version.

Pros :

• Great Design
• MultiTouch Screen
• Superb Audio and Video playback
• 3G and A-GPS support
• 3rd Party Applications - App Store
• Good browsing experience
• Better battery life

Cons :

• Network Locked
• Expensive
• No mechanical QWERTY Keypad
• Mediocre 2MP Cam with no AF/Flash/Video recording

Final Thoughts :

The iPhone 3G, though expensive, is still a good buy considering its great features. Its MultiTouch interface is a major plus point. Apple hasn’t ironed out many of its much complained about creases from the iPhone. It doesn’t exactly trump its competitors but does carve out its own place. It offers a superb multimedia and web browsing experience. It may also turn out to be a decent gaming device with the new Games churned out by the App Store, some of them making brilliant use of the Accelerometer and other sensors. We definitely give it a “Recommended” rating. However existing iPhone users don’t actually need to upgrade if they don’t require the faster 3G connection or GPS as they don’t have any other new noteworthy features.

Our rating : 7/10

Nokia E71

Nokia recently released two spanking new business class phones which offer a whole lot of featured packed into slim and classy cellphones. The Nokia E71 was released in the market a few days ago with Nokia E66 to follow suit shortly. Nokia E71 features a full hardware QWERTY keyboard and a slim body. It is dubbed as a successor to Nokia E61i.

Nokia E71 specifications :

• Dimensions : 114 x 57 x 10mm
• Weight : 127g
• Display : 2.36″ TFT with 16M colors
• Display resolution : 320 x 240
• RAM : 128MB
• Processor : ARM 11 369MHz
• Memory card slot : microSD
• GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSCSD
• WiFi : 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• OS : Symbian OS 9.2 Series 60 v3.1 UI
• Built in GPS receiver
• 3.2 MP camera with autofocus
• Approx. price : $500

So much for the specifications, lets start with the review. The first thing that you will notice about this cellphone is its extremely small QWERTY keyboard. Nokia has cramped the keyboard in a small space by reducing space between buttons and making them smaller. Maybe that also explains the reduced display size to 2.36″ from the 2.8″ found in the E61i. On the brighter side, Nokia has made the handset extremely slim at just 10mm thickness.

Design and Display

Talking about design, the build quality is absolutely amazing with a solid exterior. It has been made of metallic, duo-toned finished which offers a neat and stylish look. The handset feels solid in the hands. So much for the praise, Nokia has still not sorted out the fingerprint smudges that appear on the metallic part of the exterior, similar problem as the E51 had with its metallic backside.

The display is dissappointing as it has been reduced to a mere 2.36 inches from the 2.8″ one found in E61i. The resolution of the display is still 320 x 240 which is good enough for the display of its size. But the quality of the display is great as expected. The clarity and brightness is excellent and visibility under sunlight isn’t of any concern either.

The QWERTY keyboard has smaller keys and lesser spacing between the keys. That does hinder in typing but slowly you get accustomed to it but few typos are still unavoidable. The phone also has auto correction feature built in to rectify the typos but unless you are typing emails, using it while typing SMS is pretty useless.

Camera and Operating System

The camera resolution gets bumped to 3.2 megapixel along with the inclusion of LED flash. But the camera quality isn’t great which still remains a downpoint of the E-series. The camera interface is good with all the standard settings that you would expect. The LED flash is weak which makes night shots pretty much useless. The pics turn out good but nowhere near the quality that you would expect with a good 3.2 megapixel camera.

The Nokia E71 comes with S60 Platform with FP1, a bit of shock as FP2 is already out. Probably Nokia will FP2 in one of the future firmware upgrades for this phone. Some of the standard features include active standby screen, Calendar, Quick Office, Maps 2.0 etc. Maps 2.0 is the default application for using the built in GPS. Encryption feature has been incorporated which is a boon for enterprise users which allows you to encrypt contents of both your phone as well as the memory card.

Some extra features include Online music store and online sharing applications like Flickr,Vox etc. Its a pity that no accelerometer has been incorporated into the phone. The music capabilities of the phone are ordinary and nothing spectacular can be seen apart from the standard music player.

Easy Dial is another great feature as it lets you call the contacts as you type in their name. Apart from this, Flash Lite 3 support lets you watch Youtube videos on your cellphone. Calendar and Contacts applications have been bumped up with some new features.

Performance

The battery life is excellent and it can last a fortnight with a single charge and normal usage. Phone reception has hardly been a problem for Nokia and same goes for this handset. The 128MB RAM is sufficient for running multiple applications and menu navigation is also fast. Lack of 3.5 mm jack is another thing that might deter a few users. Camera and music player performance are nothing spectacular. But being the business class phone, it excels in business class features and plethora of connectivity options.

Pros :

• Extremely slim
• Fast performer
• Wi-Fi, GPS compatible
• Great battery life
• Flash Lite 3 support
• Great business class apps and features

Cons :

• Small display
• Cramped QWERTY keyboard
• No 3.5mm jack
• Average Camera
• Ordinary music capabilities

Final Thoughts

The Nokia E71 is a great phone with small dimensions to hit the market. It is a typical business phone which lacks imaging and multimedia capabilities. Great battery life, GPS, Wi-Fi, fast performance run away with all the glory. Small display is its major problem which might not make this phone a big success.

My Rating : 3.75/5

Top 5 iPhone 3G

The iPhone 3G has just released and we have reviewed it already. It is a great phone but definitely not the best out there. We take a look at some phones which, while priced similarly to the iPhone, have many features that are much better than the iPhone 3G. They can easily kick the iPhone 3G’s ass in a one to one face off. So here we present the devices, that we think, can dethrone the iPhone to become the king of smartphones. All these phones have all the regular features like calling, messaging, email, high speed web browsing etc, so we won’t be elaborating much on those points. We will highlight and compare just those features which are in direct contrast to the iPhone. All these devices will be releasing, hopefully, by the end of 2008. All new phones now have accelerometers, touchscreens and other sensors, all thanks to the iPhone. Do note that the devices are in no particular order.

Side note: The iPhone 3G has changed the history of mobile phone development and set the path for constant innovation. Its Multi Touch UI is its biggest asset. It was so cool and innovative, that even after a year of the iPhone’s release, no manufacturer has been able to beat it in terms of user interface capabilities. However even after the release of the iPhone 3G, it still has some very stupid shortcomings like - no video recording, no cut paste abilities, no MMS, no A2DP, no Flash support etc.

Top 5 iPhone 3G Killers

• Samsung Omnia i900 :

The creators of the Omnia i900 at Samsung definitely had the iPhone 3G as a target in mind when they made the Omnia i900. Whatever features the iPhone lacks in, the Omnia makes up for it in the best possible way. It is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 and sports an iPhone esque Multi Touch interface - Touch Wiz. Though it is not as refined as the iPhone Multi Touch UI, it does come very close. It sports a superb 5MP cam and has everything that the iPhone does not - Flash, Video recording ( VGA at 15 FPS & QVGA at 30 FPS ), FM with RDS, A2DP. The audio quality is close in line with the iPhone 3G. Being a Windows Mobile phone, it offers a greater variety of softwares and games. It offers up to 8 GB expandable memory compared to iPhone 3G’s 8 / 16 GB.

• HTC Touch Pro :

The HTC Touch Pro is the most powerful and feature packed phone ever on Earth. It sports 288 MB RAM, coupled with a very powerful 528 MHZ processor. It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro and features a very cool User Interface - TouchFLO 3D which is just as good as the iPhone’s UI. In addition it features many more softwares and games from the Windows Mobile stable. The 3.2 MP Cam with AF & Flash is much better than iPhone’s 2 MP Cam. It supports CIF ( 352*288 ) Video recording at 30 FPS. It comes with a QWERTY keypad too which slides under the back of the phone. It combines style (Multi Touch) with usability (QWERTY) and is much more suited for office executives.

• Sony Ericsson XPeria X1 :

The Sony Ericsson XPeria X1 is a slightly underpowered clone of the HTC Touch Pro. It marks Sony Ericsson’s foray into Windows Mobile phones. It is slimmer and lighter than the HTC Touch Pro and with a supposedly inferior UI. It sports 256 MB RAM, a little lesser than the Touch Pro. It has a 3.2 MP Cam too, with Auto Focus, Flash and VGA Video recording at 30 FPS. The other features are almost same as the Touch Pro which mean that it pretty much pawns the iPhone 3G except in the UI department. The QWERTY keyboard is much more comfortable when typing, compared to a virtual onscreen keyboard.

• Nokia N96 :

The Nokia N96, though not a touchscreen phone, has everything you could ever expect from a phone. A superb 5 MP cam with Auto Focus and Flash, Video recording - VGA at 30 FPS, 16 GB Internal memory, A-GPS, a DVB - H receiver, a Dual ARM 9 CPU, 128 MB RAM, a brilliant 2.8″ 16M color screen - the list just doesn’t end. It is powered by Symbian s60 V3.2 OS v9.3 - The most popular smartphone OS ever. It has huge 3rd party application support, second only to perhaps Windows Mobile. It has the most user friendly interface in smartphones. Even though it doesnt have Multi Touch, it easily surpasses the iPhone in terms of its easy to use UI. It is going to be the flagship Nokia smartphone and packs enough power to kill the iPhone 3G. The UI with the iPhone 3G comparison is subjective. Its Webkit based inbuilt OSS browser and Opera mobile are just as good as Apple OS X’s safari and even beats it in some aspects.

• Sony Ericsson C905 :

The C905 is Sony Ericsson’s latest and greatest Cybershot. It will have a mind boggling; yea, hold your breath, 8.1 MP Super Cam with AF, Flash, VGA Video recording at 30 FPS and the likes. It is the best camera phone ever and gets precariously close to digicam territory. Taking awesome pictures is in its genes. It has 128 MB internal memory and theoretically supports up to 32 GB. It has all the other regular stuff like 3G, A-GPS, Geo tagging, WLAN, Bluetooth with A2DP etc. Like the Nokia N96, this one also doesn’t sport a touchscreen, but WTH! , does one need Multi Touch with all such features packed in?

And Re-introducing the current nemesis of the iPhone 3G,

• The HTC Touch Diamond :

The HTC Touch Diamond is the current reigning iPhone 3G ass kicker. It will soon be surpassed by its successor, the HTC Touch Pro. It has similar features to the HTC Touch Pro - Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro + Touch FLO 3D, except that it doesnt have the QWERTY keypad and has less RAM - just about 192 MB. The only negatives with the Touch Diamond are the absence of a QWERTY keypad and the slightly laggy Touch FLO 3D user interface. You can check out the here.