Future - Review » Mobile

Unboxing the N900

Tristan — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:21:45 +0000

For $650 (£499) and running the new Maemo Linux OS instead of Symbian s60. This might be a big turning point for Nokia trying to convince us that they are still #1 in the cellphone business.

They will need a lot more to become #1 in the US though. Having apple ahead of the race with their app store. Let’s just see how the OVI store evolves and what Nokia has under their sleeves (if anything).

The N900 as I said was running a Linux OS which means “OPEN”. Programmers will be happy to see this but they will need to be switched from making apps for the Iphone to making apps for N900 and that will take some courage and work from Nokia.

Here are the specs for the N900: (taken from gsmarena.com)

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 1700 / 2100 / 900
	Announced	2009, August
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2009, November

SIZE	Dimensions	110.9 x 59.8 x 18 mm, 113 cc
SIZE	Weight	181 g

DISPLAY	Type	TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	800 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches
		- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate - Full QWERTY keyboard

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3 ringtones
	Speakerphone	Yes, with stereo speakers
		- 3.5 mm audio jack

MEMORY	Phonebook	Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
	Call records	Detailed, max 30 days
	Internal	32 GB storage, 256 MB RAM
	Card slot	microSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB

DATA	GPRS	Class 32
	HSCSD	Yes
	EDGE	Class 32
	3G	HSDPA, 10Mbps; HSUPA, 2Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, DLNA
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.1 with A2DP
	Infrared port	Yes
	USB	Yes, v2.0 microUSB

CAMERA	Primary	5 MP, 2592×1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Dual LED flash, video light
	Features	Geo-tagging
	Video	Yes, WVGA(848 x 480)@25fps
	Secondary	Yes, VGA

FEATURES	OS	Maemo 5
	CPU	ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
	Radio	Stereo FM radio (via third party software); FM transmitter
	Games	Yes, Bounce, Chess, Mahjong + downloadable
	Colors	Black
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support; Ovi Maps
	Java	Yes, MIDP 2.1
		- Digital compass - MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+ music player - WMV/RealVideo/MP4/AVI/XviD video player - TV-out - Voice command/dial - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Photo editor - T9

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 1320 mAh (BL-5J)
	Stand-by
	Talk time

Talk about what you think in the forum!

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The LG BL40 Chocolate looks close to a Hershey bar

Tristan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:16:14 +0000

The BL40 is the 4th black series device made by LG. Having a 4 inch 21:9 display, it might take up your whole front pocket. The phone though supports multitouch, A-GPS, WiFi, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, 5 mega pixel camera and a nice Flash UI.

This is one cool looking device

i8910 update is now live!

Tristan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:54:16 +0000

It’s official, Samsung has just released their first firmware update for the i8910 and is available via Samsung PC Studio 7. You need to update to the latest version for the update to work and the SIM card should be in the phone when you update it. I haven’t check it out myself but I will soon, and I will release the changes done to the device when I can. For the moment I have only seen the update work in Italy and had no feedback from people outside the Italian border.

If you have an i8910 and live outside Italy. Comment below if it works.

“L’aggiornamento è disponibile tramite PC Studio 7. Vi ricordiamo che la Sim deve essere inserita nel terminale durante l’aggiornamento. Vi ringraziamo per la pazienza e la fiducia.”

“The update is available from PC Studio 7. Remember yourselves that the Sim should be introduced in the terminal during the updating process. We thank you for the patience and the trust.”

http://www.facebook.com/SamsungOmniaHD?ref=nf

Here is a video sample from the new firmware. I hope this is it it’s awesome.

Official words from Samsung about i8910 codec fix

Tristan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:55:03 +0000

“The Italy rumours about AAC fixes and firmware updates are coming from work going on around the roll out of i8910 HD with the Italian operator. My understanding is that a fix enabling AAC for 720p only has been readied by the camcorder team, and the intention is to make it available in Italy to support the local operator. That’s good news of course, but it is a local solution and a partial solution. We have requested AAC support for all video formats not just 720p, and we also need to find a way to enable firmware updates for all users, not just in Italy. I just want to put the news into perspective. I should know more when the engineers get back from Italy. Still, one step at a time.”

So let’s just see if they release a worldwide firmware update for everyone.

The Samsung i8910 sound codec will be fixed!

Tristan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:09:24 +0000

The big annoyance with the Samsung i8910 (omnia HD) is that it performs really well recording 720p 24fps video but the audio recording is drastic and was one of the main cons of the device. After forums going crazy and Samsung Innovator site getting many complaints from owner, the Samsung team has taken action and will release an update for the phone in the upcoming weeks. There will be a total of 2 firmware updates. The first will focus to improve the general performance of the software and the battery. Probably giving users the ability to switch off unnecessary apps running in the background. The second update will hit the next week after the first update and will replace the codec that the i8910 is using for the moment to record sound while recording video. They will change the ARM codec with an ACC codec which is suppose to perform a lot better.

Thanks SAMSUNG!

source: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Samsung-Omnia-HD/77222679005?ref=mf

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Nokia 5530 Xpress Music first look

Tristan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:27:12 +0000

A French blog had their chance to get a video review of the Nokia 5530 Xpress Music. The video is in French but I am bilingual so if you have any questions, I can answer.

.So the phone looks nice indeed.

.It runs on S60 5th.

.Has a 3.2 auto focus like the Iphone with a LED flash which the Iphone doesn’t yet.

.No front camera.

.”Is basicly 5800 little brother”

.2.9 inch screen

. usb port, 3.5 mm headphone jack, dedicated charging port ( the one like on all old nokia phone like the n95)

. the phone is fluid and takes pictures and videos instantly with no lag.

N97 Review by PhoneArena

Tristan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:00:55 +0000

If you are interested in the Nokia N97 but don’t know much about it. Here is a video that will give you all the info you need.

Think about getting this phone? It is out and you can go to Nokia flagship store or order it online!
Ask questions in the Forum!

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Iphone OS 3.0 tomorrow!

Tristan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:26:15 +0000

If you haven’t herd Apple is releasing 3.0 to the public tomorrow through Itunes. If you want a sneek peek of what to expect, I found this video on youtube that explains the basics of 3.0

Love the i8910? Build a widget and get $$

Tristan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:31:41 +0000

Samsung will soon open up a competition for programmers who think they can create the best touch wiz widget. If you think you are one of them or you just want to have your widget seen by the public, then drop on in and register. You never know, you might win…

You need to register first (if you haven’t already) to the Samsung Mobile Innovator site and then proceed to the competition. You can register your already built widget, or create a new one.

Can you please create an all in one messaging widget which can connect to all IM services and skype or something. Actually maybe something like Fring.

You can register and upload your widget here http://samsungiq.com/
Good luck

What cool widget would you like? Talk about it in the Forum

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Samsung Omnia Jet running at 800MHz

Tristan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:29:18 +0000

Samsung has been showing off many new devices lately. The i8910 HD for example which should be in my hands soon hopefully (if mobilecityonline.com gets them). Then the Omnia II, the Omnia Pro and finally the Pixon. The Omnia II and the Omnia HD both run on Windows Mobile and the rest I believe run on the Samsung OS, all of course having the touch wiz homescreen and the all fancy and useless 3D cube.

The Jet will have an AMOLED and will have a 800 MHz CPU. Not bad from Samsung, let’s just see how it performs. A 5 Mgpxl camera with duel LED, 2GB built in Rom and a crappy battery only lasting 3 hours talk and 250 standby. Oh and a 3.5 mm headphone jack for you music lovers.

The Omnia Pro might be better choice. But Windows Mobile is a downer. Maybe WM 6.5 will change all that. And hopefully soon Windows Mobile will support capacitive touch screen based devices. I mean they should support it by now don’t you think?!

Samsung Jet