Mobile Gadget Blog – News, Reviews, Commentary

Cell Phone marketing is getting more and more clever in this troubled economic environment.  LogicBuy is offering a package deal; a Nokia N97 with a Dell Vostro A860 laptop.  The phone is originally priced at $700 and the Dell is $420.  With there deal you’ll get the laptop for free if you buy the $700 Nokia N97.  Sounds like a nifty deal.  The details of the deal is that you buy the Nokia N97 for $700 and the Dell for $420.  This gives you a $259 savings.  Top that with a given 20% savings coupon, the final price comes to $730.

Update:  This offer expired already.  Surprisingly, the laptops have sold out.

TerreStar is hoping to change the commucation industry and offer more mobility to handheld device users.  They launch a satellite that will fly around about 22,000 miles above North America, providing satellite voice and data service to the United Sates, including Alaska, Havaii, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.  The data speed will be at 64K bps.  Their plans are to merge normal cellular communications with satellite into one hybrid device.

…Read Some More…

Here’s a Harbor Master game review from AppVee.  Harbor Master is a mobile game available on the iPhone.

If you are a Verizon loyalist and have been enviously reading a bunch of news about all these Androids being release, there is good news.  You should probably wait on that upgrade until Verizon Wireless comes out with a Motoroloa smartphone based on Google’s Android OS.  That’s right, Motoroloa is joining with Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile to release an Android based smartphone. …Read Some More…

Interesting research was reported by Design Research Lab pointing out that cell phone makers don’t take the women population into account quite enough.  They point out that current trend of manufacturers to focus on stereotypical preferences rather than “in functionality and service” and totally turns a blind eye on menu structure or interaction patterns. …Read Some More…

Porn is a bit too easy to access online by minors.  Sure, I was a teenager once but porn magazines were something we couldn’t get so easily – and it was probably better off that way.  Now, online, it’s a matter of clicking on a few links and typing in an address.  MobileCrunch is taking a poll about the issue of Apple allowing bare breasts on the apps.  This brings up interesting discussion since Apple hasn’t been too loose when it came to the sort of apps allowed.  Some bring mention of the access children will have while others bring up the Freedom of Speech argument.  We’ll ask too: What’s the limit on YOUR cell phone?  Apple is a private company and does have the right to block certain types of content but should they?  Check out their poll.

There are blogs that give advice as to whether or not to buy the N97 or to look the other way.  As far as performance is concerned, it’s actually a toss up and a matter of preference.  Now the next issue is durability.  Phones are destined to be abused and not by a simple drop on the floor.  A drop in the toilet, cow meneuer, septic tank, and perhaps even your cereal.  The folks at N97Geeks.com have done consumers the favor of testing the versatility of the N97 by doing a series of “Stress Tests” like scratches and drops. …Read Some More…

The folks at Cnet got what few in the states can’t get until August and that’s a hands-0n look and feel of T-Mobile’s second Android.  It’s called MyTouch 3G and it’s better than the first, as we should expect.  Here’s the gist on what Cnet felt about the phone.  Read …Read Some More…

For months there has been hyped up talk about what Nokia’s N97 will bring to the mobile world.  With its release now old news there’s been plenty of time for it to be toyed, played, and tinkered with.  The folks at the Nokia Phone Blog had a chance to play with it – the phone that is – for a few hours and they seem to be mixed with opinion.  Note how the author never says he caved in and bought the thing.  (Makes you wonder if they secretly own BlackBerrys.) Read …Read Some More…

In the competitive world of laptops Acer does quite well providing notebooks and minis with comparative quality and a lower price tag.  Looks like they couldn’t do the same in the mobile phone market with their Tempo M900 smart-phone.  As Engadget Mobile points out, they have to compete with HTC Touch Pro2 or at least provide a cheaper version of the phone.  Apparently they don’t want to be known as the K-Mart (and I shop there) of the tech industry but EM is right, you can’t just enter the market with success without innovation or an incredible deal.  $600 unlocked for a HTC Touch Pro knock off is neither of those.

I do like the Qwerty slider thing going on though.  Note to Acer…make it less expensive for us who don’t mind the generics!

Crackberry fans of the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition will be pleased to know of the unveiling its successor, the BlackBerry Tour 9630.  If you’re tied, by contract, to either Verizon or Sprint you will also be pleased to know that both providers will be carrying the phone.  More spectacular news is that it will be provided to CDMA carriers like the before mentioned along with Bell, Alltel, Telus, and perhaps any other provider that carried the 8330 World Edition.

Those lucky bastards at CrackBerry had the chance to personally review the pre-release version of the phone back in march.  From the gist of it, it’s a worthy successor.

If you are a Google person and prefer to buy an Android-powered phone all the while being in love with Samsung you will no longer haveto experience the wretching choice to choose between the two of them.  Samsung, the world’s second-largest cell phone maker, now has an Android phone on its roster, the Samsung I7500.

This touchscreen smartphone will have a five megapixel camera with a 7.2 megapixel camera, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, WiFi, and of course all the Google goodies.

IA technologies has been working on what they call the Zumbafone by Zumba Lumba.  This phone should be comming out sometime soon but there’s no word on the time but the pre-release buzz which naturally comes before a new phone comes out is already going around the internet.  This clever phone is pretty inovating in that it is totally controlled through voice recocgnition software.

The size of the phone is small enough to just be placed on top of the ear, being hidden by shoulder-length hair.  The technology is being kept Top-Secret and demonstrations aren’t even being given.  Some good points for this phone is that voice recognition would make cell phone use  more user-freindly for the disabled who are not presently able to work cell phones very well, if at all.  Also, with the voice recognition being personalized to the owner, stealing the phone would be pointless.

We’ll keep an eye out for any news on the release of the Zumbafone.  By the way, they’re looking for some investors.  Also, check out the BBC coverage for a bit more.

Sources:

Zumbalumba

GearLive

BBC

Jessica Pohlkamp was pretty sure about her invention, the Celly Smellys.  So sure she spent $100,000 of her own money to develop and bring it ito market.  They are convenient little wipes in cute little packages that do what some tissue and alchohol can do.  But these have 3 different scents.  Hey Jessica, pitch this to the farmer who found his cell phone in a pile of buffalo dung after the beast ate it and expelled it.  You know, these just may do well with the Department of Corrections since cell phone smuggling is on the rise.

In all seriousness it seems like these just may do well.  The price is a bit too much for my blood.  She does have a pretty nifty site so check out Cellysmelly.com and buy a few packs.  You do drop and/or mess up your phone more often than you have tissue and alcohol on you.

Motorola has proven to the mobile world that cell phone technology can be a bit earth friendly.   The plastic parts of the Renew W233 are made out of recycled water bottles.  The Renew also claims a 9 hour talk-time and an 18 standby time on its battery thus requiring less frequent charges – a feature that can only be more energy efficient if the cell phone owners remember to unplug the charger between charges.  The reduced carbon emissions and waste from the use and manufacture of the Renew apparently required reduced features.  Nonetheless it is still a decent phone for the modest cell phone user with a message that mobile convenience and earth-friendly can go together. Read on for the full review. …Read Some More…

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine – and how.  The LG Shine does exactly what the name suggests with its metallic glossy finish and a display that’s also a mirror.  If you’re an ugly duckling there’s no worry about the mirror breaking as this phone is solid.  Of course we won’t be fooled by pretty phones.  It’s not always what it looks like on outside; it’s always how it performs on the inside.  Let’s scrutinize… …Read Some More…

Has the economy emptied your pockets? Does the Touch Fuze, BlackBerry Storm, or the iPhone require too many Benjamin-Franklins? Would you rather pay your car payment or even eat over buying an overpriced cell phone but just want to get a piece of that 3G action? Well, folks at AT&T want to appeal to the little too. According to BetaNews, AT&T will be adding the Pantech C630 to its holiday 3G collection for a mere $49, with a plan of course.

There was a press party and Pantech showed off the phone journalists but asked them to wait until the “official” announcement in December before publishing photos.  However, PhoneArena was apparently gobbling the hors d’oeuvres or hitting on the waitresses when Pantech requested the hold off –or perhaps they just weren’t there – because they have a photo of this affordable but speedy phone. Now the peasants of America – the majority – can access the wireless babble via Advanced GSM for a price that won’t max out there $100 limit credit cards.

Other specs include a speakerphone, Bluetooth, MP3 player, e-mail, IM, AT&T’s video exchange and Video Sharing, a microSD slot, and a 1.3 megapixel camera – can’t expect 5mp for $49. There’s more to be revealed when AT&T feels the time is right.

BetaNews added that there are more phones AT&T are giving away at the fiddy bones mark. This includes the clamshell Pantech C610 and Slate, which is QWERTY.

 You may have came to this post via a link from a post chattering about how the GPS of a hunter’s cell phone allowed for rescuers to save his life.  Even though the hunter was in difficult terrain, the fact that he was in an open field allowed searchers to locate him.  Another man, who was also in dire need to be located, wasn’t as fortunate. …Read Some More…

How good is the GPS on your phone?  When you’re out hunting, perhaps you should know how well your network is accessed from where you’re sight seeing.  43-year-old Michigan hunter, Jim Suwal, fell out of a tree stand and sustained critical injuries early Thursday evening.  He was knocked unconscious and when he woke up he called one of his friends and then 911.  Ottawa County sheriffs and Robinson Township firefighters responded to the call and found the hunter with the help of his cell phone’s GPS. 

By the time the rescuers found Jim he was already a victim of hypothermia with injuries to his head and neck.  He was also incoherent and disoriented, according to Fire Chief Paul VanEssen.  It was estimated that Jim had fallen around 5pm but wasn’t found until 11.15pm.  If it took any longer, he probably would have been found dead.

He was about a half a mile from his truck in an area that is not easily accessible.  They had to transport him out of the area with an all terrain vehicle but had to carry him on a backboard several yards before they could even get to the transport vehicle. 

The state game area he was hunting on is 1,665 acres and has Grand River frontage of 3 miles.  This is not the type of country where a lost person is easily found.

Now credit can’t just go to the great reception his phone must have been getting that night; acclaim must also go out to the Robinson Fire Department and Ottawa County Sheriff Department for rescuing the guy and Spectrum Health Connection, for treating him.

Perhaps a satellite phone would be more suitable for hunters because most of the prime hunting grounds are in the middle of somewhere that Verizon Wireless can’t even reach.

Source:  Grand Rapids Press on Mlive.com

Picture Source:  1cabinfurniture.com

(This site isn’t an affiliate of the picture source but thought it fit the topic well and looked sorta cute.)

FindWhere enables GPS tracking through iFind Mobile service on RIM’s BlackBerry Bold.  This feature will locate the high priced phone should it be lost or stolen.  Let the capers be warned, should you steal a Bold phone with this service enabled, plan on storm troopers barging through your door. The phone also has a panic button for desperate times.  iFind works on all GSM networks across the globe.  If you own the Bold or plan on buying one, check out www.findwhere.com to find out more about this feature.  

Source:  Market Watch