Nokia has finally unveiled its new flagship N97 featuring both a touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard (just like Sony’s Xperia X1). With a 3.5 inch 640 x 360 pixel screen, its other additional features include HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, 32GB onboard memory, and a 5 megapixel camera.
It is set to ship in 2009 at approximately $700 USD before subsidies.
Now that I’ve been using the iPhone 3G for a few weeks, I’ve come to grips with its many positives such as large touchscreen, wealth of programs available in one convenient online store, and the best music player in the market. However Apple still does not have a perfect device and these are some of the problems with the phone.
Reliability Issues
It’s a bit odd to hear people claim Apple’s softwares aren’t buggy, unlike Windows counterparts. In my case, iTunes clearly demonstrates Apple has a long way to go to create reliable software on the Windows platform. iTunes itself is bloaded with unappealing visuals yet surprisingly high resource usage. Sometimes it doesn’t even want to start the application.
Coupling iTunes with iPhone 3G, it occasionally causes my Vista computer to display that dreaded blue screen of death (BSOD). For the record, iTunes is the only software I’ve ever used on my computer that crashed the entire OS.
AppStore can’t update apps
This is a peculiar problem I started having after updating to 2.1 firmware. If I access the AppStore on the iPhone 3G and update the applications, it fails giving me an error message that I should connect the phone to a computer and use the AppStore from iTunes. The problem is, iTunes does not recognize that the application is supposed to be installed on the phone. In the alternative, I try to update the applications directly from iTunes, and that fails as well. Installing, updating and uninstalling applications have to be reliable. I’ve had less issues on this front with my previous phone T-Mobile Shadow and that runs on the often-derided Windows Mobile.
General lag
It is frustrating when you try to use the touchscreen (for example to scroll through the contact list) and nothing happens. Contacts and e-mails can get unresponsive every now and then, preventing you from using the phone. Making matters worse is sometimes a lag is present when you try to answer the call. Apple’s design did not afford a hardware button to answer a call, which means a finger swipe is the only way to take the call. I’ve had several calls I intended to take go to voicemail just because the phone doesn’t recognize my finger swipe to answer the call.
Organizing the applications
This isn’t really a bug in the software but it is still very annoying that there is no easy way to organize applications’ order on your home screen. The only method is this primitive icon based approach where if you move one icon, everything gets moved to create space. Windows desktop may not be the most efficient, but it lets me place icons wherever I want to, in whatever order I desire. Even worse, there is no way to create hierarchy (like you can in the menus) so you can’t really put secondary or tertiary applications away from the main home screen.
As Apple continuously puts out iPhone updates, it is only time before these issues are address (maybe with the exception of new home screen).
HTC’s latest touchscreen device sets itself apart with its gorgeous 3.8-inch 800×480 resolution screen. The rest of the specs isn’t a pushover either with a 5 megapixel camera, GPS/A-GPS, 802.11G, Bluetooth 2.0, running on Windows Mobile 6.1.
RIM has finally gone ahead and officially unveiled its first flip phone Blackberry Pearl Flip 8820 for T-Mobile. Available in black and red, it is a spiritual successor of the consumer-level Pearl, but now available in a folder format for the first time. Some may prefer this design as you don’t have to hassle with screen locks as closing the folder automatically disables the keys.
Full press release after the jump:
Palm has finally made its Treo Pro official. This device will be sold unlocked so you can use any carrier you wish, and its hardware will include HSDPA , GPS, 802.11bg, touchscreen, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, just a 2-megapixel camera.
Contract-free price will be $549 in the United States when it launches later.
PageOnce is an incredibly useful aggregator that’s available for free. What it does is it remembers your login information to various websites, ranging from e-mail such as Live Hotmail, utilities such as your cell phone provider and social networks. It can even keep track of pesky information such as your frequent flyer mileage, Starbucks cash card balance and your YouTube profile.
With the launch of the iTunes App Store, PageOnce has released its free application for the iPhone, and it works as intended. Once you set up your information on PageOnce.com, it will be available on your iPhone. Setting up is easy (as all you have to do is enter the PageOnce.com login information), and looking at the data is simplistic. The program feels sluggish when it comes to downloading your account information, but it still beats having to login to every one of those sites individually.
In short, if you’re already using PageOnce, getting your data mobile is an easy step when you have an iPhone or iPod Touch. After all, this mobile version is free as well.
[Read my review of PageOnce.com here | Visit PageOnce.com and create your account]
There is a world after iPhone 3G, and Samsung took the time to unveil its new flagship i8510 running on S60 software. Nicknamed “Innov8″, the 8 stands for 8 megapixel camera on board. It also feature image stabilization, blink, smile and face detection, built-in GPS, recording QVGA videos at up to 120 frames per second and even a FM radio.
On the connectivity, this will be a quad-band phone with dual-band UMTS/HSDPA as well as built-in wi-fi, Bluetooth 2.0 with support for stereo headsets.
Today is July 11th 2008, and that means iPhone 3G is finally launching in Canada on Fido and Rogers. Reviews are slowly trickling in and most of it is positive, as the iPhone 3G improves upon the regular iPhone in both hardware and software deparments.
All Things Digital: “If you’ve been waiting to buy an iPhone until it dropped in price, or ran on faster cell networks, you might want to take the plunge”
Engadget: “For our money, you’re going to have a hard time finding a better device for two hundred bucks – or maybe even for any price.”
USA Today: “Still not perfect, but really close”
If the Industry Minister Jim Prentice is to be believed, Bell and Telus are planning to charge for each incoming text message unless you subscribe to a package product. The Industry Minister has sent to both companies a letter asking them to meet in Ottawa before August 8th in order to explain their decision.
According to Bell, the new fee for incoming messages will start on August 8th and Telus will start charging starting August 24th.
According to insider rumors, Apple has decided not to carry the iPhone 3G when it launches in just a few days. Instead, people will have to try Rogers and Fido stores if they want it. This is in an apparent spat over Rogers’ exorbitant monthly service fees that require 3 year contract. Apple has also apparently diverted a lot of the stock originally intended for the Canadian market.
