Author Archive: Gareth

General Mobile DSTL1 could be the First dual-SIM Android Phone

Though we have heard a lot of promises from other manufacturers, we have yet to see another Android phone become available apart from the T-Mobile G1. Well, that may soon change if General Mobile keeps their promise and debuts the DSTL1 Imaginary at the World Mobile Congress next month. Aside from running Android, the DSTL1 also features dual-SIM capabilities making it the first dual-SIM Android phone. It’s equipped with a 624MHz Marvell processor, 3-inch display, 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and EDR, FM radio, microSD card support, and 4GB of internal memory. It’s a pretty decent spec sheet to me, but the big question is; can they deliver the good on time? Granted that the World Mobile Congress is just a couple of weeks away, we’ll probably know sooner than later.

[PMPtoday via unwiredview]

T-Mobile MDA Vario IV now available

The T-Mobile MDA Vario IV has finally appeared on the website over at T-Mobile for immediate order either as a consumer or a business user. The Vario IV is a slightly modified HTC Touch Pro with a more rounded look to it and personally speaking it looks better than the original. The phone is available from free on selected tariffs. You can find out more over at T-Mobile’s online store either business or consumer.

Pay as you go Blackberry coming to Orange UK

We have just heard from Orange that they will shortly be releasing the Blackberry Pearl 8120 on a pay as you go service. From February, Orange will be the first operator in the UK to offer BlackBerry on Pay As You Go. The launch will also include a colour exclusive of the Pearl in indigo. The handset will be priced at £145.00 and the Blackberry Internet Service or BIS will cost just £5.00 per month. Depending on how it goes Orange will look to extend the offer to other Blackberry models in the not too distant future. There will be a formal announcement tomorrow.

Has Research In Motion’s CEO lost his mind?

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about the Blackberry Storm and some of the troubles that RIM has had related to the phone’s release. The story  goes into some of the bugs, glitches, and customer dissatisfaction that plagued the Storm when it was first released at the end of November. Buried in the article is this gem of a quote by RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie where he says that buggy smartphone software is part of “the new reality”. What!

This little bit of information is not really news to early adopters, but coming from the co-chief executive of a major smartphone maker, this sentiment is truly alarming. One of the main jobs a person in that position has is to be salesman for his company’s products. Can you imagine Steve Jobs, or anybody from Apple, HTC, Nokia making a comment like that? Mr. Balsillie is basically giving RIM’s most loyal fans a big FU. Instead of trying to ensure that only the best combination of hardware and software gets released from RIM, Jim Balsillie is suggesting that we as Smartphone users should just learn to accept subpar products, because they will try and fix the problems eventually. I sincerely hope that this attitude does not permeate throughout Waterloo Ontario, and the rest of the mobile device industry.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Nokia 5800 review

We have received the Nokia 5800 phone for review and as we are by no means experts with anything to do with Symbian, rather than doing a full detailed review of the features of the Symbian S60 operating system we are going to take a look round the hardware of the phone and the touch interface and see how it works as a touch screen device compared to the experience of the iPhone and the other latest devices. Read on for our thoughts on this latest Nokia handset.

iPhone 2.2.1 Software Update available now

Apple have released iPhone firmware 2.2.1 and it is available now through iTunes. Nothing massive in the update, details below:-

This update contains bug fixes and improvements, including the following:
• Improved general stability of Safari
• Fixed issue where some images saved from Mail do not display correctly in the Camera Roll

Products compatible with this software update:
• iPhone
• iPhone 3G

Apple awarded multi-touch patent

"Apple last week was awarded a monstrous 358-page patent covering the touch screen, graphical user interface, and methods that combine to define the iPhone user experience," Zach Spear reports for AppleInsider. "Dating back to September of 2007 and granted last Tuesday, U.S. Patent No. 7479949 lists many inventors; notably, Apple co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs, iPhone software director Scott Forstall, and FingerWorks co-founder Wayne Westerman," Spear reports. "(FingerWorks was responsible for gadgets with an opaque surface that could respond to gesture controls before being acquired by Apple to aid its multi-touch efforts several years ago.)"

LG’s modular Versa is coming for Verizon

LG’s Versa is a simple slab touchscreen device with a neat twist. It has all the bells and whistle’s that would expect in a high end touchscreen phone. Including a  3 inch WQVGA screen, EVDO, and Bluetooth. The difference with this phone, is its modular accessories. In what may be a first for any carrier subsidized phone in the USA, there is an available detached QWERTY thumbboard, with other modular additions possible, including a game pad. The add-on potentials don’t stop there. I could imagine a speaker add-on too.

This isn’t the first time something like this has been proposed. Including an iPhone case, and the theoretically already available zzzPhone (this phone even includes a projector module). These new concepts are exciting for their future potential, call me old fashioned, but I still prefer my keyboard attached to the phone.

The Versa may be available as soon as February.

Source: MobileBurn

Windows Mobile 18 month plan

Microsoft’s Andy Lees has been talking at length to CNET News about the future for Windows Mobile and as we expected the big changes we all want for the platform won’t appear until Windows Mobile 7 which will be seen in 2010 at the earliest. The upcoming 6.5 update will be a pacifier to provide more of a cosmetic update whilst the OS is re-written from the ground up. According to Andy, Microsoft embarked on a new strategy some time ago that will come to fruition over the next 18 months. The first steps in that strategy, he said, will be announced at the Mobile World Congress conference that takes place in Barcelona in the middle of next month.  "You are going to see a bunch of announcements at Mobile World Congress but also it is going to be the beginning of a 12-18 month period where you are going to see a whole bunch of different stuff," Lees said.