Our latest podcast, Episode 51, is now available for download. This week we hit upon Sony Ericsson and Nokia’s failings, Andy reviews his Palm Pre, the Motorola Milestone. We also answer a couple of listener questions.
On our last podcast, my old co-host Chris Oldroyd joined us. Due to the severe weather England was suffering Chris was reduced to using his 3 mifi service. When I say reduced, the service was quite impressive however the notable decline in quality was evident. 3 had served Chris well. However, no soon have we good feeling for 3 that they take it away as with the following article from Mobile Today.
3 has suspended mobile broadband sales in certain geographical areas until connectivity improves.
The move is part of a broader strategy by the operator to better manage the explosive growth of its mobile broadband (MBB) offering which has seen 3 increase its market share of MBB to 40%.
3 met with its direct, indirect and retail channels this week to explain how the suspension will work. Under the new procedure sales staff will begin any sales pitch for MBB by checking connectivity levels first. If customers are found to be in areas with poor connectivity, sales channels must advise customers against buying mobile broadband until connectivity is improved.
It’s been some weeks now since we broke the news that the camera on the HTC HD2 was producing a pink spot on some photographs taken.
The guys over at pocketnow.com have released details that this pink spot has actually been around for a long time on other cameras, so it turns out the HTC HD2 is actually no worse than its competitors.
Here are some samples shots:
HTC HD2
It would appear that this pink issue has been staring us all in the face for sometime and it wasn’t until we actually posted about it that the world suddenly became interested. Bit of an odd one but overall the camera on the HD2 produces some fantastic shots being helped greatly by its power flash.
Posted by: James
Here’s a great deal on the HTD HD2 for you courtesy of Devicewire.com
Today ONLY if you place an order for the HD2 with Devicewire.com and use the promo code HD2TAM and not only will you get free delivery but you’ll also get £10 off a the cost of the HTD HD2!
This is an exclusive offer you wont see anywhere else so make the most of it! HD2‘s are still in very short supply, act now to avoid disappointment, especially if you want one in time for Christmas.
Head over to the HTC HD2 product page on Devicewire.com and order now, not forgetting the promo code HD2TAM
Posted by: Matt
Yes, it’s another Omnia! First we had the Omnia, then the Omnia II, then the Omnia Lite, then the OmniaPRO B7320 and now the OmniaPRO 7330. Blimey, so many Omnias! Anyway, the B7330 takes on a different form factor to all the others. This one has a front facing QWERTY keyboard. Can it compare though with the likes of the HTC Snap and the numerous Blackberry’s?
What’s in the box:
Also have a look at Matt’s Samsung Omnia Pro unboxing video for more.
The ten second review:
General:
The left side of the device houses the up/down volume rocker as well as the microUSB socket.
On the right is the dedicated camera key and the microSD card slot.
Both the top and bottom of the OmniaPRO are flush with no ports or buttons.
On the rear of the handset the camera lens and speaker grill can be found. No flash though!
Highlights:
Lowlights:
Review:
The Samsung B7330 OmniaPRO is a decent looking handset. I have previously used both the Samsung i600 and i780 which are all part of the same front facing QWERTY keyboard family and the OmniaPRO is probably the best looking.
The device feels pretty well made, although very plastic like most recent Samsung releases. Although the Samsung B7330 OmniaPRO is a Windows phone it is non touch screen and so is running windows mobile 6.5 standard like on the HTC Snap. Windows mobile is not the most popular OS and the standard edition even less so. Saying that, it works well but is just not the most flashy OS.
The OmniaPRO comes with several option for a home screen. The best one in my opinion is the standard windows 6.5 screen. Like on the touch screen devices it consist of a list of features that you can move up and down to use. In addition each feature can then be toggled left or right to reveal more options. Not the best experience but its okay.
There are however many different options when it comes to home screens on the OmniaPRO. Check these out:
Once again, which you use will come down to personal preference. Some of the screens are a bit dated but all function well.
Although the keyboard on the Samsung B7330 is nice it is not as nice to use as on the HTC Snap or some Blackberry’s. The keys are a good size and feel nice but using them just doesn’t feel as smooth as on the other handsets.
The major let down I found with the hard wear on the B7330 was the navigation pad. Getting around the menus is okay although it does require a firm click. But where it doesn’t work well is the web browser. The Samsung B7730 OniaPRO comes pre loaded with internet explorer. Normally this browser performs ok but the issue I had with the navigation pad was that it only allows you to move up/down/left & right. Most other similar devices I have used allow for diagonal movement of the onscreen mouse arrow. Without this diagonal option its a real pain selecting an on screen option in the browser. So much so I hated using it. Everything I wanted to do took twice as long as on my HTC Snap and it was really frustrating. Why Samsung did not use the optical track pad like on the original Omnia and i780 baffles me but its too late now!
So what else is this OmniaPRO good for? Being a Windows Phone I love the calendar options and I find it great for organising meetings etc. With Microsoft’s MyPhone app built in to the device you can sync the phone and the calendar schedules appear on MyPhone on the PC. As I have mentioned in a few previous reviews MyPhone will also sync contacts, sms, pictures and videos. Its free and I love it!
Messaging on the OmniaPRO is simple pimple. You can set up one email account with Active Sync and this will push mail to you as its sent. In addition you can also set up multiple other email accounts but these will not be push email. You can set the phone to sync with the server every 5, 10, 15 minutes etc to retrieve mail. Its dead easy to set up and performs beautifully.
The OmniaPRO has GPS built in and the good news is that this Orange version comes pre-loaded with Orange Maps. This is a free service and will download the maps as you need them. For a free turn by turn navigation service its great and if you are not in a position to purchase one of the more popular navigation tools such as CoPilot or TomTom then Orange maps is a god send. I have tested on several devices and I have not got lost once!
Of course a Windows phone would not be complete without Office Mobile. As always this includes Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint. All of these accept PowerPoint can be created from scratch. If you could do with viewing docs while away from your office this is a great tool and one that I personally use daily. As the Samsung B7330 OmniaPRO can take a microSD card of up to 32GB you can get a hell of a lot of word and excel docs on the phone.
If you like to download apps then the OmniaPRO has Windows Marketplace built in. Its early days but there are some pretty good apps in there and the next year will be interesting.
Also included is Windows Live so you can instant message your best friends just like on your PC. This is a great form of communication and Matt and I use this constantly all day.
The camera on the B7330 was actually better than I thought it would be. Although there is no flash and its only 3.2mp in daylight it produced reasonable shots. The camera interface is easy to use and the auto focus works quickly. Not bad.
Watching video on the OmniaPRo is nice thanks to the nice big screen (well its quite big for a device with a QWERTY keyboard!). As with all Windows phones it comes with Windows Media Player. This will obviously not play all formats but you can download other players such as Coreplayer, which will play most. This way you can convert your DVDs to MP4 and watch them on the phone. Once again with support up to 32GB that means a lot of movies.
Before testing out the music player on the OmnaPRO I was expecting a good performance like on most of Samsungs phones and I am pleased to say they have done it again. The speaker is not great but once the headphones are connected the Foo Fighters sounded awesome! One major disappointment though was the supplied headphones. Not only is there no 3.5mm headset jack on the device, which means you must use the supplied headphones, but these supplied ones are different to the headphones supplied by Samsung over the last year or so. They are not as good! I love my Samsung headphones but these new ones are totally different. Not only is the in ear design different but they look and feel really, really, really cheap and I cant see them lasting too long to be honest. What were you thinking Samsung, you silly billies. I’m not impressed.
Other features on the device:
Conclusion:
So is the Samsung B7330 OmniaPro as good as the HTC Snap or Blackberry 8520, 8900 & 9700?
In my opinion – No! Its not a bad bit of kit but its not as user friendly as the others I have just mentioned. I just feel that whether you are buying sim free or upgrading your contract you will be wiser to choose another device. Sorry Samsung, better luck next time. And sort those earphones out, please!
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