Phones

Samsung have officially announced the Samsung SGH-i600 ‘Ultra Messaging’ Windows Mobile 5.0 powered Smartphone with integrated QWERTY keyboard and HSDPA support.

In a press release Samsung Electronics and Microsoft launched the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 powered by Microsoft ® Windows Mobile ® 5.0, the first 3G smartphone with HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) support . Measuring only 11.8mm and weighing a mere 99g, the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 is the world’s thinnest 3G smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard.

“It blends the feature-rich, desktop functionality of the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform with multimedia capabilities to help people work on the go, stay in touch with family and friends or just have fun.”

Samsung SGH-i600 Specification

It also features some nice touches, such as the ability to use the device in mass storage mode, and includes a podcasts down-loader, so you have something to do with all that bandwidth.

You can see our Samsung i600 unboxing video HERE.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Samsung SGH-i600, Ultra Messaging, Samsung]

Just a few days ago the O2 XDA Orbit was offered for sale on the O2 site for business customers only. Well blow me down if they haven’t just updated the site to now offer the Orbit to all customers!

At the moment the XDA Orbit includes free CoPilot Live sat nav software which is worth £159.99.

You can pick up an XDA Orbit from O2 for as little as £85.10 (+VAT) on contract. Seems pretty reasonable!

O2 XDA Orbit Specification:

Head over to the O2 Website for more.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, O2, HTC Artemis, XDA Cosmo, XDA Orbit, HTC P3300]

We mentioned the O2 XDA Zinc (aka ASUSTek Mars 2) a while ago and since then it looks like O2 have been busy refining the design.

The XDA has now appeared on the O2 Website in their ‘coming soon’ section. It states that the device will be available from January 2007.

O2 XDA Zinc Specification:

One limitation that we have been made aware of is that it is to be Single Band (2100Mhz)3G which will severely limit the devices roaming abilities. You can also check out the manual here.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, XDA Zinc, O2, ASUSTek, Mars 2, SPV]

Brody over at MSMobileNews has just told us about the XDA Orbit (AKA HTC P3300 or HTC Artemis) which is now available to purchase from O2 in the UK. It has a slightly different design to the other ‘Artemis’ or ‘P3300’ based devices we have seen so far and looks more like ‘conventional’ HTC devices.

At the moment the XDA Orbit includes free CoPilot Live sat nav software.

“The latest addition to the XDA range, the Orbit is slim, stylish and perfect for both work and pleasure. With built in GPS and FREE Satellite Navigation software you can easily find your way to any UK destination. The XDA Orbit also has Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 built in allowing emails to be sent and received in real time.”

O2 XDA Orbit Specification:

Head over to MSMobileNews or the O2 Website for more.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, O2, HTC Artemis, XDA Cosmo, XDA Orbit, HTC P3300]

Gears for CoolSmartphone has published his review of the T-Mobile Vario II.

It’s a decent review with lots of photos to illustrate the the points he raises.

This is what he has to say:

The T-Mobile MDA Vario II is an extremely powerful device. Sure, without the power-saving turned on you’ll be needing to recharge it a couple of times a day. Sure, whenever I call someone and the line is busy it goes “BEEP BEEP BEEP” at full volume from the rear speaker for no apparent reason.

Read the full review on CoolSmartphone.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, HTC, T-Mobile, Vario II, T-Mobile Vario II, SPV, Orange SPV M3100, Tracy & Matt]

MSMobiles have a nice review of the Eten Glofiish X500.

There is an impressive gallery of photographs for this device over at MSMobiles. The Glofiish brand seems to be increasing in popularity as the days go by!

Don’t forget our £30 discount voucher for the Eten X500!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Eten, Glofiish, Eten Glofiish X500, Tracy & Matt]

Yet another O2 XDA post, this time it’s the O2 XDA Apollo that’s appeared on the FCC website.

Specification of the O2 Apollo is, as far as I can tell, pretty much the same as the Atom, with Windows Mobile 5, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, MiniSD card slot, 2.7 inch QVGA screen (240×320), WIFI, Bluetooth, FM radio, and tiny 102 x 58 x 18.5 mm size.

I think the O2 Apollo looks great in white, white devices seem to be increasing in popularity at the moment.

EDIT: Notice the video conferencing camera and the WCDMA 3G frequency tests. This is a 3G device! There is no mention in the manual because they just re-used the old one for the Atom. – Thanks Surur

More info on the FCC site.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, XDA, XDA Apollo, O2, Tracy & Matt]

There seems to be quite a bot of news lately around O2’s XDA brand. The next smartphone device to come to O2 will be the XDA Graphite.

The O2 XDA Graphite is an attractive looking ‘candy bar’ style smartphone which, according to the sales blurb, features a “Look and feel that is similar to a regular phone, the O” Graphite offers both familiaritu and ease of use.

Spec. seems pretty nifty too!

O2 XDA Graphite Specification

It’s also worth mentioning that the Graphite is NOT manufactured by HTC but rather ASUSTek and is based on an improved version of their Vodafone V1210.

Have a look at the other images at SmartphoneThoughts.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, XDA, XDA Graphite, O2, Tracy & Matt]

Further to our post about the HTC Cavalier, the device to replace the HTC Excalibur in the new year, we discovered some leaked photos on the Solopalmari site.

Looks pretty nifty and the 3G connectivity coupled with the longer battery life will make it an attractive device.

HTC Cavalier Specification

See the full post and photos at Solopalmari.com

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, HTC Cavalier, HTC, HTC Excalibur]

EDIT: You can now purchase the ETEN M700 from clove and with our offer you can save £25 on the purchase price! See this post for more info.

The ETEN Glofiish M700 is now available for pre-order on the Clove website.

The Eten M700 is the first PocketPC phone device to have both a sliding keyboard AND built in GPS!

The price of the M700 has been set at an extremely reasonable £359, quite probably the cheapeat price for the Eten M700 in the UK!!. Go check out the product page now!

Overview
Compose and send e-mails, SMS message or create and edit documents on the move with the Eten Glofiish M700. The Glofiish M700 is a compact Windows Mobile 5 device featuring an integrated sliding keyboard, Quad-band GSM/GPRS with support for EDGE, SiRFStar III GPS Receiver, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi 802.11b/g and 2.0 mega pixels camera. With all these features you only ever need to carry one device, to stay in contact by phone, accessing the Internet, managing documents, appointments and contacts, and taking quality pictures.

GPS navigation is also possible with the Eten Glofiish M700, due to the integrated SiRFStar III GPS receiver, ensuring that this is truly an all in one device.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, ETEN M700, glofiish, E-TEN Glofiish, Clove, Tracy & Matt]