Mobile Phone News and Reviews

Another week notched off the calendar, leading up to a week ahead that’s probably going to lead up to one of the biggest Saturdays since the launch of the original iPhone. Too bad it has nothing to do with a phone, though. In any case, we’re knee deep in articles from

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Another week notched off the calendar, leading up to a week ahead that’s probably going to lead up to one of the biggest Saturdays since the launch of the original iPhone. Too bad it has nothing to do with a phone, though. In any case, we’re knee deep in articles from the last week, which saw quite a few announcements. We were also quick to bring you quite a few hands-on videos, along with our personal perspective on a recently released Nokia device. So, let’s get right into it.





Monday, March 22nd

When it comes to Nokia, we’re just as familiar with their devices as we are with their services. And that’s probably due to their hard work in the smartphone, as well as almost every other market for phones that we can think of, industry. According to a leak that broke via Twitter last Monday, it seems that Nokia is starting to rework their roadmap, and focusing more on services, rather than devices. What’s getting the axe? S60 devices. A shame for most, especially fans of the Operating System, but it looks like Nokia has their eyes set on services, rather than devices. And while Palm may be seeing some dark days, that’s not stopping them from releasing their pair of webOS smartphones on the AT&T network in the coming network. The Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are the same models for AT&T that we saw get released for Verizon Wireless, so don’t expect any major surprises here. And a last bit of AT&T-based news, we see another Android-powered handset aimed for the carrier’s 3G bands. The Dell Aero is a rebranded Mini 3, so again, nothing really groundbreaking too announce. Except that the device won’t allow for third-party downloads, and has been skinned by Dell for AT&T’s usage.

LG has announced the LG VS750. It’s a Windows Mobile Classic (which means Windows Mobile 6.5.3), and it’s not going to upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series, due to its resistive touchscreen, and power powerplant inside. It’s scheduled to hit the Verizon Wireless network some time in the next few months. In memory card news, SanDisk has announced their 32GB MicroSD card. So, you’ll finally be able to take advantage of that space allotted by some of the major new handsets being released.

And then finally, we have the Motorola i1. An Android 1.6-based device, it’s the world’s first Push-to-Talk Android handset. It’s super thin, and we managed to get some hands-on time with the device while visiting CTIA 2010 this year. If you’re interested in that whole PTT thing, then this could be your next device. It definitely felt good in the hand.

Tuesday, March 23rd

What a great way to start a Tuesday, than to see that a new way to text has broken the world record for texting. You’ve probably heard of the keyboard Swype, but if not, it’s a great new way to input text on a touchscreen device. Featured prominently on the Samsung Omnia II, it’s making a big splace on Android-based devices as well. Simply draw a line from one letter to another to input the word you want, you don’t have to worry about chicken-pecking anymore.

Tuesday also saw a literal onslaught of Android news. It started with the announcement that Kyocera would be introducing the ZIO into the world. A ridiculously thin device, running Android, which the manufacturing company promised would bring some personal touches to the Operating System. We’re wondering if that means more than the experience that HTC Sense brings to the table, so we’re excited to see what that developers into. The Android train then took us to the Galaxy S, the latest handset from Samsung. It’s a 4-inch, Super AMOLED display Android monster, with the software tweaks that Samsung is legend for. Oh, and it also has the fastest processor available in any smartphone on the market. But then we have the bigger, first 3G/WiMAX-based handset: the Sprint EVO 4G. It’s the brother to HTC’s HD2, with the same physical characteristics (with some marginal aesthetic alterations), and it’s a beast.

On the other end of the spectrum, we reviewed the Nokia 5230 Nuron, being offered up by T-Mobile. It’s got a few quirks, and it doesn’t have WiFi, but it’s probably the perfect device for someone looking for smartphone-like features, without paying the higher price tag of the smartphones available for carrier.

Wednesday, March 24th

On the world phone front, Samsung introduced the Metro 3G, which is a rebranded version of the Samsung Shark (as seen in Europe over the last few months), which is being launched in India. It’s a basic device, with some social networking functions integrated, but it probably won’t get anyone all that interested in phones too excited. It does look interesting, and that does go a long way in the cell phone market. As for Europe, it looks like the Nokia E72, which is a very popular phone, has just been voted onto the mobile network 3, by popular demand. The mobile carrier is currently testing the device, before they should be ready to launch it in the next few months.

And while Verizon Wireless talks up their LTE-based plans for later this year, it looks like MetroPCS is way ahead of the game. They are going to have their next generation network launched by the end of this year, and with it, the first LTE-based device, manufactured by Samsung. It’s rumored to be running some kind of version of Windows Mobile, but we have our fingers crossed that it cuts it close enough to this holiday season, so we get to see some Windows Phone 7 Series love for it.

And then there’s AT&T, which took Wednesday as their day of 3G MicroCell announcement time. The service is meant to make those with bad service in their homes, due to terrain or construction of their homes, have usable service. It’s being developed with Cisco, and has been in testing since last September. It’s going to cost 9.99 to buy, and you can get a monthly unlimited plan with it if you want, as well. It’s beginning to roll out later this year, with full coverage planned for 2011.

Thursday, March 25th

The HTC Desire is one of those devices that people have been clamoring for since, well, the announcement of the Nexus One. They want the guts, and Android 2.1 goodness of the HTC manufactured device, but with some of HTC’s Sense User Interface goodness. HTC must have known the demand would be there, because they indeed did create the Nexus One with Sense UI, and it’s name is the Desire. For lucky T-Mobile UK customers, that device is going to be ready to purchase starting March 29th, and not surprisingly, it will be free on the right type of contract.

Skype, while already available on the iPhone via the App Store, is a service that iPhone users can only use via WiFi. But, what about those times you don’t have a MiFi, or a WiFi signal anywhere near you? Thanks to Verizon Wireless, you’ve got choices. Well, if you don’t like WiFi, that is. Skype for Verizon Wireless launched on Thursday, for Android and BlackBerry users, with one stipulation. Feel free to use it as much as you want on the 3G network, but don’t expect to be able to connect via WiFi. You need to have an unlimited data plan to take advantage of the service, too. No surprise there, right?

Apple’s App Store is a place where hard working developers can go to show off their latest creations, and, hopefully, make a boat-load of money. That is, unless you go against Apple’s hidden rules for application approval. In that case, you should expect to be denied. In the case of mobile browsers, Safari is the one shiny gem available for the iPhone. Opera wants to change that. They’ve announced that they have submitted their mobile browser to Apple’s prized product. They even included a count-up meter, showing how long it takes for Apple to approve (or deny) the application for distribution.

Friday, March 26th

The HTC HD2 is one of those devices that’s been roaming around, enjoying the life of luxury over in the realm of Europe for quite a few months now. The fellows over at SlashGear loved it, and so do we, truth be told. It’s a great device. And, as of March 24th, T-Mobile USA finally got their carrier mitts on it. What no one probably expected, though, was that the carrier’s online retailer would sell out, along with the majority of brick-and-mortar stores across the nation. T-Mobile and HTC are sitting pretty now, we’re sure.

The Nokia Music Store, one of the manufacturer’s crux services, is getting a name change to match all of their other services: Ovi Music will mark a changing of an era, but not an end. The music store will still exist, and devices that “Come with Music” are still going to find their way to customer’s hands. And, just a quick reminder, the Samsung Galaxy S has the fastest processor available. Definitely worth checking out, if you ask us. The HTC Desire got unboxed over at SlashGear (lucky, much?), and it looks just as beautiful as it does in all those press releases. And, just in case we couldn’t mention the HTC HD2 any more, here’s a few videos of the hardware running Windows Phone 7 Series, thanks to some developers in Russia.

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Tags: 3, Android, App Store, Apple, archive, att, Dell Aero, google, HD2, HTC, HTC Desire, HTC EVO 4G, iPhone, Kyocera Zio, LTE, nexus one, Samsung Metro 3G, Samsung Shark, skype, T-Mobile UK, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, Week in Review, WiMax