Our latest podcast is now available to download, in episode 8 we discuss the Orange Blackberry Bold problems, Xperia X1 delays, Treo Pro first impressions, WiMax, what’s it all about, video of Windows Mobile running on the iPhone and lots lots more. You can subscribe via iTunes, RSS or download the mp3 file here. Full show notes after the break.
The ever-popular ‘Poppy Download’ returns for this year’s Poppy Appeal as Tanla Mobile has been chosen by The Royal British Legion to run the mobile phone element of their 2008 Poppy Appeal. Poppy Downloads allow members of the public to make a donation using their mobile phones and in exchange receive a poppy for their mobile phone wallpaper. The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal is one of the best known and supported campaigns in the country. Its aim is to raise funds to support the Legion’s work in providing financial, social and emotional support to people who have served or are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependants.
The mobile phone is celebrating its 25th anniversary in the US. Motorola’s DynaTAC 8000X was built by a team headed by Dr Martin Cooper, a general manager for the systems division at Motorola who is widely credited with making the first mobile phone call. However, for publicity purposes the ‘first’ call was made on Soldier Field in Chicago by Bob Barnett, president of Ameritech Mobile Communications (now Verizon Wireless). He called the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell.
As you may be aware, our eXpansys £10 voucher offer was due to end on the 12th October 2008 but it’s been so successful that we’ve decided to extend the offer through to the 30th November 2008!!
If you don’t know what this is all about all you have to do is request your £10 voucher which you can then redeem when you spend £20 or more at eXpansys. It couldn’t be easier!
Please see the original voucher offer post for the full T&C’s and to find out how to register. Don’t forget, you can also get your family and friends to request a voucher, I’m sure they’ll thank you for it!
If you requested your voucher between the 12th October and today I will get your vouchers out to you later on, just as soon as a receive the new batch of voucher codes (ones that are valid until the end of November).
Happy shopping!
Posted by: Matt
Yes folks that’s right, LG have announced the second coming of the Prada handset. This time around LG have decided to throw in a QWERTY keyboard which will slide to the left and make the screen orientation change to landscape.
LG have not yet announce the full specs of the handset however we can tell you that it will have a 5 MP camera with a Schneider-Kreuznach certified lens. Not the best on the market by a long way but it does go along way replace the not so great 2 MP camera on the original Prada.
LG have also included 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity in the KF900 Prada II and we know that HSDPA is also on board, improving data transfer rates even further.
The new Prada mobile will be available though in Italy, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Netherlands in the 4Q of 2008. The price will be around 600 euro (810 US dollars).
Posted by: John
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Another video of the HTC Touch HD has emerged, this one is set to music so no translation is necessary, its a nice video look and again the device stands out on how responsive that touch screen is and how easy this is to use with touch. Still have not seen a good demo of text input, so if anyone has a Touch HD please show us how easy it is to input text, that is the main deal breaker for me if it is not a good experience. Video after the break.
Phonedog got it from two unrelated sources late last week that T-Mobile is prepping a version of HTC’s Touch HD as their next Android phone. If true this could be interesting however the Touch HD does not have a capacitive screen only a resistive screen so would differ from the G1 in that respect. Having said that it would be a nice device and after yesterdays hoax story of the iPhone running Windows Mobile maybe seeing a dual boot smartphone is not that far away. Treat this as a rumour for now but we will keep a close eye on any developments.
Ok so you have an iPhone and you yearn for the days before you traded in your Windows Mobile handset, well very soon those day may be over, a Norwegian guy Erik Kristiansen has written a piece of software for the iPhone that gives you a dual boot scenario, where on start up you can select Windows Mobile or the normal iPhone OS to run on your phone. There is a video after the break showing this in action and he is hoping to release this early next year. Cannot see this appearing in the ITunes store any time soon but you never know. Now where is the soft reset hole on this iPhone??
I thought I would start a new post in order to answer the many questions that you all posed about the Xperia X1. Apologies for the hold up but my C&J X1 arrived on Thursday minus the battery so I had to wait until the battery arrived yesterday before I could really start playing with the X1.
So let me just explain a little about the handset that I have. This is a C&J unit which stands for Customer & Journalist. It’s pretty much what you would consider to be final release spec. The hardware will no change between this and the final retail version but it is possible that the ROM build will vary slightly. It also arrived in a plain white box, hence no unboxing video!
So let’s start off with a selection of photos of the X1 and I’ll discuss them as we go. I’ll move on to the Q&A after.
As you all know, the X1 has a sliding QWERTY keyboard that slides open on an arc which is supposed to make the screen easier to see while using the keyboard.
One the left hand side there’s the MiniUSB connector and at the bottom a small ‘grille’ over the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker isn’t particularly loud though! I have to say that the MiniUSB connector on the side of the device is a little annoying, especially if you plan to use a car charger/holder as it will need a loose fitting cable.
On the top of the device you can find the power button and the 3.5mm headphone socket which permits the use of normal headphones.
So on the back we have the 3.2 Megapixel camera complete with ‘flash’. You have to remove the back cover in order to insert/remove the MicroSD card and also remove the battery to access the SIM card.
The D-pad has a recess in the middle which acts as an enter button when you press it and also as an optical pad. The problem I have with this is that you have to run your finger or thumb in the recess for the ‘optical joystick’ to work which limits how effective it is. Similar thing applies to the touchscreen. There is a bezel around the screen which makes using your fingers, rather than the stylus, that bit more difficult, especially getting in to the corners where you want to press the close button.
Finally, the keyboard itself is really quite nice, the 4 rows of keys are well space out allowing for a quick typing rate although the placement of the numeric keys, as a shift function of the keys on the right rather than across the top row of keys, may take some getting used to!
The Q&A
What’s the in-call sound quality like?
In-call the X1 is ok. There’s plenty of volume from the speaker meaning that I don’t need to have it set to maximum. The speaker itself is also reasonably good.
What is the actual RAM in the device?
The X1 has 384 MB RAM but you’ll note that the device information screen says 256MB. This is because the X1 also has an additional 128MB RAM that’s only accessible to the CPU/3D chip. There isn’t really anyway way to know this apart from taking SE’s work although HTC also confirm this but we’re looking for a way for end users to verify for themselves.
What is the Spb Panel like?
There’s a version of Spb Mobile Shell pre-installed on the X1. I’m sure fans of mobile shell will like this version but I still prefer TouchFlo.
Can you post sample videos taken from the Xperia camera?
Yep, I’ll have some of these up for you shortly.
How much free memory available on the device with Panels running and with Panels turned off?
With just the standard Windows Mobile screen in use it’s showing as having 137MB free, this amount only seems to vary by a few MB with the moste complex panels loaded.
Black or Silver? Which one do you think is best?
I personally prefer the black.
Does it have a motion sensor?
No
How is the speed switching between portrait and landscape with active panels?
Depends on the panel that you have open at the time. Some panels have more on them so take a little longer to rotate. I personally do not think it’s too big a deal, half a second perhaps.
How is the feel and reaction of the control touch pad?
As I mentioned above I don’t like how recessed the optical joystick is, I find it a little awkward to use and therefore have it turned off. I just used the regular d-pad. It’s responsive enough though.
Can you mention the processor in the device? Is it MSM7200 or MSM7201A (like the Touch Pro)? If it is MSM7200, can you mention any difference b/w the two processors from an end-user point of view – i.e. if the Touch Pro has an actual advantage over Xperia having the MSM7201A processor.
The X1 has the MSM7200. From an end user point of view I cant really tell the difference, I’m not sure what I would be looking for in performance difference. I’ll benchmark the Touch Pro and the X1 later and comment on the difference from that point of view.
How is the sound output quality of the media player? Is it good enough to use high-end headphones with, and how does it compare with more music-oriented phones like the iPhone or Nokia 5800?
I’ve got some fairly expensive headphones that I’ve been using with the X1. The audio quality is really quite good, I’m certainly happy with it. I can’t really choose between the X1 and my Sony Walkman MP3 player in this respect.
How well does the FM radio work? How is its reception in areas with weak signals?
I live in an area which is very poor for radio and phone coverage. With the Touch Diamond, I am unable to pick up and FM Radio service but on the X1 I can pick up a few of the local stations. What I also like about the X1 is that you can play the radio through the phone’s loudspeaker, although you still have to have the headphones connected as an aerial.
How well does it hold on to cellular signals during calls?
As I said above, I live in an area that’s really poor for phone coverage and all the networks are bad. The X1 shows 1 to 2 bars of coverage on Orange where the Touch Pro and the Touch Diamond get no reception at all. Definitely better than the Touch devices in that respect but nowhere near as good as a basic Nokia handset!
Does the Google panel have an offline mode?
No, the Google panel really only gives you direct access to Google searches and links to Google Maps, Google Mail and Google Calendar, all of which open up an ineternet connection.
Is the hardware fast enough to cope with several applications in the background?
Have been opening and closing applications all day, playing music and videos, browsing the internet using Opera and playing with MSN and emails. Seems ok to me, haven’t really noticed a slow down due to the apps that I am running.
How quickly does using GPS, 3G/HSDPA and Wi-Fi drain the battery?
Very difficult to comment on the battery life at this early stage but it looks like being better than the Diamond and on par with, if not better than, the Touch Pro. There is a bigger battery on the X1 so perhaps no surprise that it would last longer. Once I settle down and use it during the week I’ll be in a better position to comment.
Which is better, the X1 or the Touch Pro?
This is another difficult question to answer. I quite like both devices. I think which one would suit you best depends on how you use, or intend to use the phone. If you are a touchscreen lover that wants to use the touchscreen for almost everything (apart from emails with the QWERTY of course) without having to resort to the stylus then the TouchFlo3D interface coupled with the flush screen of the Touch Pro would be your better bet. If however you don’t want to use the touchscreen as much and prefer using physical buttons then the X1 with its additional softkeys might suit you better.
The review is now live but don’t forget to take a look at our Xperia X1 tour video!
Posted by: Matt
T he Xperia X1 has appeared on the Carphone Warehouse online store for pre-order. The surprise here is that it is on an O2 contract. It looks like it will only be available in silver but it will be free on an 18 month £45.00 contract which is very similar to the iPhone contract so not a bad deal all considering. Full details after the break.
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