Sony PSP Phone

There have been whisperings about the Sony PSP for a few months now and recent news from the Mobile World Congress is that there are still plans for the development and release of the Sony PSP.

It will be the first partnership between Sony Ericsson and the Sony PSP in a bid to compete with both the Apple iPhone and the recently announced Windows Mobile 7 platform.

Sony Ericsson’s closest competitor to the new breed of smartphones was its Aino model, however there have been numerous complaints over the phones firmware and functionality.  This has hindered its ease of connectivity to the PS3 and the PS3 home network so hopefully with Sony PSP phone they will address these issues and we will see an all singing, all dancing Sony rival to the iPhone.

We all know Sony can come up with the goods when they need to with sleek design and powerful technology so here’s hoping we see a Sony PSP phone release by the end of 2010 which will combine the playability and connectivity expected from a PSP or PS3 and a new mobile platform to rival that of Sony and Microsoft.

There have been no technical specifications or images released yet but when they are, expect to see them here first.

What is Windows Phone 7?

In short, its a ‘revolutionary’ mobile platform that Microsoft intend to use to shake up the state of the smartphone market in the next 5 years.

Unlike the Pocket PC, Microsoft’s latest entry to the phone market is a brand new user platform heralded in with the slogan: “The phone is not a PC”

Is this a sly dig at Apple, with their iPhone gradually taking over the smartphone market? Many users compare their iPhones to portable PCs with all the functions and usability of their laptops and home PCs.

Technical details of the Windows Phone 7 platform are scarce at the moment but have a look at Microsoft’s demo video below and you will see a very different, streamlined interface compared to that of the iPhone:

So as you can see, they have done away with the grid layout but when more details arise, we will hopefully demo it ourselves and see if it has the ‘revolutionary’ feel Microsoft are hoping for.

LG Chocolate Review

The first LG Chocolate, a black slide phone, burst on the scene in 2006. Since then, the LG Chocolate BL40 has conformed to the modern sleekness and updated technology that phones now provide. It is making it’s way back into the light with its contemporary look and amazing features.

Unique Design

The LG Chocolate BL40 is longer than most phones, but in an attractive way. It is slim and black with red trim outlining the phone, resembling a tasty chocolate bar. The phone is pretty solid in weight and does not appear flimsy and cheap, but light and of high quality.

Touchscreen Features

In certain modes the screen splits allowing a dual interface. The phone can be used in portrait mode, which displays a virtual alphanumeric keyboard when entering text. When the landscape mode is used, a virtual QWERTY keyboard is shown.

HD Display

This phone has an attractive and large HD screen display. The screen display has good resolution of 800×345 pixels and a 4 inch screen measured diagonally. The large screen comes in handy and is great when viewing HD videos or full screen web pages.

Other Cool Features

Aside from the benefits mentioned, the LG Chocolate phone has many other features that make it worth having. It has a music player, which also comes with FM radio and a FM transmitter that streams music to compatible systems. The 1.1 GB built-in memory in this phone is also nice, plus there is the option to add a micro SD card for additional memory.

The LG Chocolate BL40 is absolutely worth the money spent. It has many great features and is in a class of its own. The phone is receiving rave reviews from many and is highly recommended for anyone.

Blackberry Bold 9700

The Blackberry Bold 9700 is Research In Motion’s (RIM) successor to it’s very popular Blackberry Bold 9000. The first noticeable difference is that the new Bold 9700 has a smaller, sleeker form factor which feels very comfortable when handling it. It is one of the most lightest and streamlined blackberry devices ever made. Although it is very light it still feels sturdy and not cheap.

The back has a leather strip which also gives it a touch of elegance and although it is uncommon for a cell phone to have leather parts, it definitely fits this particular phone. The Blackberry Bold 9700 has the usual standard Qwerty keyboard and although the form factor of the phone is smaller the keyboard and it’s keys have stayed the same size so typing emails are as easy as ever. There are three features of the new Blackberry Bold 9700 that stand out and makes using this phone a pleasure.

The first feature is the new optical track pad that has replaced the trackball that users of the Blackberry model have become accustomed to. It takes some getting used to especially if you are a current Blackberry user but the navigational experience is far superior and smoother than the trackball. The second feature is that it’s performance is greatly improved. Overall it is very fast, applications open and run faster and the lag time is greatly reduced. The third feature that stands out is the 480 x 360 display which is absolutely beautiful and is one of the best screens available on any smart phone today. The Blackberry Bold 9700 is a great new addition to the Blackberry line up.

Samsung Tocco F480

The Samsung Tocco F480 is a very attractive smart phone which offers an excellent set of features. The Tocco F480 has a brilliant 2.8in touch-screen with a haptic touch-screen interface. The screen quality, color and responsiveness are top notch with little no problem. Although the screen size is slightly smaller than some of the competition at just 2.8in the Tocco F480 makes up for this by being ultra slim at just 11.6mm.

The Tocco F480 features a great 5MP camera which takes surprisingly clear pictures. The camera also includes autofocus, digital zoom and LED Flash which worked about normal for a cell phone flash making it suitable for moderate to low light situations but not great when it is pitch black. The F480 also includes a new feature called “Smile Shot” which according to Samsung, “Smile Shot is able to identify when the subject is smiling and automatically takes a picture.” Everything considered, the F480 has a great camera which does not disappoint however you shouldn’t expect to become a professional photographer with just the Tocco F480.

The Tocco has a great music player which was to be expected from a Samsung phone. The Tocco F480 dedicates 240 Mbytes of space to music with the option to add an additional 8GB via a microSD card. This will allow for thousand upon thousands of songs. The Tocco F480 also introduces a new music feature called “Shazam” which allows the phone to identify any music or song being played, an impressive tool.

Overall the Tocco F480 is a great Touch-screen phone with a large screen, slim design, great camera and multimedia capabilities. The Tocco also has an impressive 3G implementation which uses HSDPA at 7.2 Mbps. The only flaws are occasional poor voice quality and semi-frequent dropped calls.

Nokia X3

Nokia starts off its newest X series with the Christmas release of the Nokia X3 mobile phone. With a new phone as part of a brand new series, it has been an exciting wait to see how Nokia took the time to reinvent the way they think and the way they present a handset to the world of mobile phones for people on the go.

The Nokia X3 boasts one great thing in particular – it is a full on, well packaged music box. It is an affordable Series 40 slider phone that proudly displays stereo speakers that provide high, crisp quality audio and a built in FM radio antenna. In conjunction with its well supported battery, the Nokia X3 can handle up to 26 hours of music playback before requiring a charge to stay alive. A user can take their favorite set of headphones and plug it into the convenient 3.5 mm headphone jack as well.

For those who enjoy taking that impulsive picture on the spot, the starter to the X series can also cover this with its high quality 3.2 megapixel camera. Also, the Nokia X3 not only can hold a sizeable amount of pictures, but there is a microSD slot that can support cards up to 16 GB. The phone itself comes with a 2 GB card to get users started.

The third and final top feature of the X3 is perhaps its aesthetically pleasing display. The phone glistens and shows off a 2.2 inch display but has a full 256K color onset for the QGVA display. With a number of pre-installed, rich applications – many more of which may be downloaded via the Ovi store – they may all be displayed clearly on the screen.

Nokia N900

The Nokia N900 Smartphone is a very powerful mobile handset which features a number of customization options and browsing capabilities. As one of the earlier phones on the Linux-based Maemo platform, the Nokia N900 has yet to reach its full potential in light of this. For people who wish to adopt this early software and those comfortable with cutting-edge technology, the N900 is a great choice.

The Linux-based Nokia N900 offers vast customization options. While the product is difficult to use without spending some time with it, the phone offers a number of customizable widgets, shortcuts, and features to truly personalize your phone. As this requires a considerable deal of time and effort, or advanced knowledge of the system, one will get what they put into the phone due to its interface and software.

The phone’s call quality is very good. The audio on cellular phone calls exhibits no background noise or voice distortion. Additionally, there are no problems or inconveniences in volume level. The N900 gives reliability in regard to sound quality.

Another top feature on the Nokia N900 is in respect to its sharp display. You can view Flash content such as video or games with AJAX support and Adobe Flash Player 9.4. Based on Mozilla technology, the phone offers one of the most powerful mobile browsers on the market today.

The Nokia N900 is a great choice for those looking to spend some time and reap the rewards of a truly customizable smartphone. With a powerful operating system, great sound quality, and sharp display and additional functions, the N900 is a great smartphone choice.

iPhone 3GS

Apple’s latest iPhone 3GS has fast become the most popular handset on the market.

Best Features:

-Multi-touch support, which allows you to zoom in to photos and websites using your fingers.
-Support for Twitter, Myspace, and other social networking sites
-Quick response time and a solid OS

Worst Features:

-Lack of free applications for the OS. these are easily available but the best ones cost money.
-Low customization capabilities
-Lack of resilience, fragile if dropped

Thanks to an overblown marketing campaign, the iPhone has been the centerpiece of the mobile market for awhile now. Competing against other popular OS and platforms like the Google® Android or the Blackberry®, the Iphone is one of the major contenders for the Smartphone race of the 2010′s decade. While the phone itself has a wonderful set of features, a lack of resilience and the size of the phone itself make it cumbersome and bothersome to haul around. Fortunately, there are a large amount of accessories and carrying cases (which are notably cumbersome as well) that help reinforce the otherwise fragile phone from serious damage.

Users have complained at the lack of free applications, calling most of the downloads ‘Gimmicky’ or ‘Cheap’, once they are bought and used. The Google® Android platform seems to support a wider range of application capabilities overall, while the iPhone still succeeds with OS stability and better 3G coverage plans.