Matt
More than 20 years in the IT industry. Blogging with a passion and thirst for new technology since 2005.
Matt has given me the Netgear SPH200D phone to test and review as I am the one who uses the phone at home most of the time. The Netgear SPH200D can make both landline calls and skype calls without the need for a computer. It uses DECT technology just like most household cordless phones do these days.
The Netgear SPH200D is very easy to set up and I didn’t even need to get the instructions out of the box!
There is a base unit, handset and a charger unit for the handset. Also included in the box are all the cables you need to start using the phone, you can see the contents of the box in Matt’s unboxing video.
The base unit has sockets on the back for plugging in the ethernet network cable, telephone cable and the power lead. After plugging all the cables into the base unit I put the batteries into the handset and it started up immediately. You then need to enter your country and area code.
As this phone offers both ordinary landline and Skype abilities it gives you the option to then sign into your Skype account.
Netgear even provide the rechargeable batteries for the handset however they will need charging immediately after set up as they do not come fully charged (or at least the ones I received didn’t!).
Making calls using this phone is very easy; to make a Skype call you just select a contact from your Skype address book which is easily accessed via the colour display on the handset.
If you dial a telephone number the handset will, by default, ask you if you want to make this call via landline or by using Skype-out. This can be changed in the settings to default to one or the other if you prefer.
I’m very impressed with this unit and the quality of the calls is superb. It is in fact better than the cordless phone we currently own! When using the Netgear SPH200D for Skype calls you really cannot tell the difference between this and a regular phone call.
I can’t comment on the claimed talk time standby times as I have only used the phone for about an hour at a time and tend to put in back in its charging cradle when not being used as I have nasty habit of putting phones down and then not being able to find them again! However they claim a Standby time of 120 hours and talk time of 12 hours.
Box contents:
Overall I’m extremely pleased with the Netgear SPH200D. It’s an excellent solution for anyone wanting to use Skype without having to have a PC switched on all the time and also means that we only need one handset for Skype and Landline calls.
Review by: Tracy
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Skype, Netgear, Skype Phone, SPH200D, VoIP, Tracy & Matt]
Just yesterday we were talking about the sleep/reset bug plaguing the first batch of Toshiba G900 devices. This morning we had an email from Tosh saying that they had just made a software patch available for download.
We installed the patch on our review G900 this morning and it certainly seems to have done the trick. We’ll get back to you if we come across any more problems!
Get the G900 patch HERE.
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Toshiba G900, Toshiba]
We have been using the Toshiba G900 for a few weeks while we prepare our review. One thing that we became aware of pretty early on was a bug with the device coming out of sleep mode. This problem is most obvious when you tap the power button to turn the screen off, the device will not then turn back on. Even holding down the power button doesn’t help and one is forced to remove and replace the battery in order to reboot.
This problem is a fundamental one and really does spoil an otherwise decent device. Fear not, however, the bug is only evident in the first batch of G900’s and, as Toshiba are fully aware of the problem, a bug fix is due to be released within the next few days. We’ll let you know when the fix is available and where you can download it from.
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Toshiba G900, Toshiba]
VITO Technology has just released a Smartphone version of VITO AstroNavigator II, the GPS application that displays the sky map above you according to your current position, time and direction of movement.
VITO AstroNavigator II supports the latest GPS receivers with the digital compass and rotates the screen according to your heading to display the right picture of the sky above you. Learn everything you want to know about sky objects: VITO AstroNavigator II offers extensive information about stars, planets and constellations that can be easily looked up.
Even if you do not have a GPS receiver VITO AstroNavigator II can display the actual sky picture above you. All you need to do is to point to your place at the world map.
A new night view skin allows you to watch the night sky in a more convenient way. You don’t need to wait till your eyes adjust to the night sky after the bright screen of your Smartphone. The new skin in dim red colors is dazzle free.
VITO Technology ltd. is known for its high-tech products in the field of Windows Mobile and Symbian software, GPS navigation and custom projects. Introduced in the present article VITO AstroNavigator II is a GPS application for displaying the sky map according to your current location.
Posted by: Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Vito, VITO AstroNavigator, Tracy & Matt, Smartphone Software]
A few days ago we told you about the MDA Touch hitting T-Mobile in the UK and today we’ve just had confirmation that Orange France have launched the Touch under it’s full name, HTC P3450 Touch.
Orange France have the HTC Touch available for as little as €129.99 depending on the contract you wish to sign up to. If the past is any guide, we could be seeing the HTC Touch on Orange UK very soon!
You can find out more by checking out the HTC P3450 Touch page on the Orange France website.
HTC P3450 Touch Specification:
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Orange, HTC Touch, HTC Elf, HTC P3450]
Just last week we brought you our review of the Nokia N800 internet tablet. As we mentioned in the review, the N800 is the slightly updated version of the Nokia 770 internet tablet. Yesterday eXpansys dropped us a line to say that they have just slashed the price of the Nokia 770 and that you can now pick up this fully featured internet tablet for just £73.40 including VAT!
Nokia 770 Specification:
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Windows Mobile news, Nokia 770, Internet Tablet, eXpansys,Tracy & Matt]
T-Mobile are now offering the MDA Touch, their version of the HTC Touch, for just £119 with a 18 month contract. Also, according to a source at T-Mobile, limited numbers of the Wasabi Green version of the device will be made available to customers soon!
MDA Touch Specification:
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, T-Mobile, MDA Touch, HTC Elf, HTC P3450]
Following on from our recent videos of the Netgear SPH101 and Netgear SPH200D Skype phones, we have another one to show you. This time we are looking at the UBiQUiO 101 Cordless Home & Skype Phone. This one is different in that you need a PC with USB in order to use Skype but it still includes cordless ‘landline’ coverage.
Although both of the Netgear Shype phones are excellent they both set you back over £100. If you want a basic Skype phone with PSTN functionality but want to spend considerably less than £100 then take a look at the UBiQUiO 101 you can pick one up for under £40!! We’ll bring you more of a review shortly!
The UBiQUiO 101 can be purchased from eXpansys.
Posted by: Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Skype, Skype Phone, UBiQUiO101, VoIP, Tracy & Matt]
We just heard this story, apparently hackers have been able to plant trojan code inside the Vodafone Greece network in some kind of spying operation.
“A highly sophisticated spying operation that tapped into the mobile phones of Greece’s prime minister and other top government officials has highlighted weaknesses in telecommunications systems that still use decades-old computer code. The spying case, where the calls of around 100 people using Vodafone’s network were secretly tapped, remains unsolved and is still being investigated.”
It would seem that although mobile to network communications are secure and encrypted, what actually happens within the network is another matter!
Posted by: Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Vodafone, Trojan, Tracy & Matt, security]
VITO Technology has just released a brand-new GPS application with unique features. VITO FindMe is a FREE GPS utility for Pocket PC Phone Edition that will help you and your friends easily find whereabouts of each other just by sending an SMS.
The idea is to send an SMS containing a codeword to a Pocket PC with installed VITO FindMe and receive back your friend’s coordinates via SMS as well. Input the coordinates into the search box at Google Maps and see your friend’s location. It’s that easy!
After a casual installation VITO FindMe stays in Today, tapping it brings forward the settings. In options you need to set a codeword: VITO FindMe will send out your coordinates only in return to received SMS with this codeword. In addition to this VITO FindMe can send your coordinates via email if the contact that requested your location has an associated email.
VITO FindMe requires a Pocket PC Phone Edition with a built-in GPS receiver under Windows Mobile 2003 (SE), 5.0, 6.0. VITO FindMe is distributed for free. Visit http://vitotechnology.com/en/products/findme to get an activation code.
Posted by: Matt
[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Vito, VITO FindMe, Tracy & Matt, Smartphone Software]
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