[MobileRatty] tag: rim

Hutchinsons 3 Skypephone S2 available for pre-order in UK

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:59:46 +0000

Hutchinson’s 3 has recently announced the second generation of the Skypephone. The new device goes a little beyond Skype calls, bringing such Internet services as Facebook, RSS feeds, Google and Windows Live Messenger to the mix.

Specs wise, the new Skypephone is also better than its predecessor. For one thing, there’s a 3.2 megapixel camera on board, and so is microSD memory card slot. The handset measures 102.7×45x14 mm and has a weight of 95 grams.

Commenting on the announcement, 3 UK’s Kevin Russell said: “The first 3 Skypephone was about building one of the most popular Internet services, Skype, into the heart of the device. The 3 Skypephone S2 builds on this approach and brings a host of other popular Internet services to the front of the device.”

[Via: slashphone]

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Top 5 SmartPhones (Cnet Base)

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:53:45 +0000

Spotted on PhoneMagz, this list taken from Cnet editor choice for best Smartphone. This list may usefull to guide you whilr buying new smartphone.

The top 5 Smartphone list based on Cnet editor is:

AT&T Tilt [..] AT&T just released the highly anticipated Windows Mobile 6 smartphone crowning its new name of AT&T Tilt.[..]

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320 - pale gold (T-Mobile) [..] BlackBerry Curve 8320 Smartphone Titanium is the smallest and lightest BlackBerry with full QWERTY keyboard. [..]

Samsung SCH-i760 (Verizon Wireless) [..] Samsung SCH-i830 is telecommunications tool for global travelers, This Handset come from Verizon with features dual mode, CDMA/GSM functionality, [..]

Nokia N95 - brown/silver (North American Edition, Unlocked) [..] Got your Nokia N95 lack of 3G and battery life? Nokia just released the special Nokia N95 for North American Edition [..]

Palm Centro - red (Sprint) [..] Palm touts the Centro as its smallest smart phone yet, and they’ve managed to fit a lot in a small package. [..]

[phonemagz]

BlackBerry Bold Loses Against iPhone 3G/EDGE in Browser Race

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:28:11 +0000

Plenty of people have complained that iPhone 3G's network performance is much slower than advertised -- but an experiment by MobileComputer shows BlackBerry users may have it even worse.

MobileComputer pitted the new BlackBerry Bold's browser against that of the iPhone 3G and found that the Bold's browser severely lagged behind. In fact, the Bold couldn't even beat the first-generation iPhone's browsing speed on the EDGE network.

The test focuses on browsing speed and doesn't imply that the Bold is worse with 3G overall. Other than laggy browsing, iPhone 3G users have complained about constant dropped calls or not being able to stay on the 3G network.

More interesting to note is that MobileComputer's test demonstrates several factors come into play in 3G performance: not just hardware and cellular networks, but software as well.

RIM BlackBerry Bold [MobileComputer via DaringFireball]

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Video: BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone Web Browser Showdown (It Gets Ugly) [Blackberry Bold]

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:00:00 +0000

We've seen the BlackBerry Bold and iPhone head-to-head before, as well as the Bold's greatly improved browsing powers over past BlackBerrys, but not side-by-side in a web browser race. It actually gets pretty ugly, uglier than we thought it would. Update: So it looks like in Mobile Computer's test the Bold was either dropping off of Wi-Fi or wasn't on it at all. We've emailed them to see what's up.

With both running on Wi-Fi and a cleared cache, in a test using Slashdot, the iPhone is actually able to open an entirely new page before the Bold finishes with the first one. The Bold renders everything correctly, it just takes a looooong time to do it. The Bold's got some fairly heavy duty hardware though, so an update from RIM should be able to give the browser a much-needed jolt. [Mobile Computer Mag via jkOntheRun]

Nokia full touch screen phone by 2008 end

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:20:01 +0000

NEW DELHI: Setting at rest speculations, cell phone major Nokia has confirmed it will launch a full touch screen handset by the end of this year.

"We have been working on the Series 60 platform for touch screen user interface and a mobile device is expected to be launched by the year-end," Devinder Kishore, Nokia India's marketing director, told reporters.

The Nokia full touch screen phone, codenamed the 'Tube' was also featured in the latest Batman movie "The Dark Knight" and will be Nokia's second full touch screen device, the first of which was launched in 2003 but was later discontinued.

The past year has seen cell phone majors such as Samsung and LG debuting their full touch screen mobile phones in the market after the success of the Apple iPhone.

It is widely anticipated that Research in Motion (RIM) - the makers of Blackberry - are also working on a full touch screen phone, codenamed 'Blackberry Thunder'.

Nokia first unveiled the touch screen S60 interface last October.

"The new software would allow licensees to develop devices with a variety of input methods, such as touch screen with traditional keypad, QWERTY keyboard, or standalone touch screen, supporting both finger or stylus optimised input," a Nokia statement had then stated.

Mobile phone maker Symbian Ltd, in which Nokia held a majority stake till a few months ago, has developed the S60 platform.

The Finnish giant announced the acquisition of the remaining 52 percent stake in Symbian in June this year from Sony Ericsson, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Panasonic and Siemens.

"With the acquisition of Symbian, we will be able to offer our customers more innovative products and the latest technology," Kishore said.

On being asked about the Apple's OS X, the fastest growing mobile operating system, Kishore said: "Symbian is the largest mobile phone software developer globally and it is up to our customers to decide how popular and accepted our software is."

OS X recently displaced Microsoft Windows for mobiles as the number three mobile phone operating system after Symbian and Blackberry.

Google, which some time back announced the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), is also working on a mobile OS - Android, based on the Linux platform.

Kishore said the Nokia Music store, which the company launched last year, will be opened in India by the year-end.

"The music store is doing well in the UK and we hope the success will be matched when it is launched in India," he said.

source

BlackBerry Bold Plagued by Same 3G Problems as iPhone [Unconfirmed]

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:10:00 +0000

The BlackBerry Bold has been out in Chile and Germany and drops in Canada tomorrow, so as much as analysts talk out of their ass, Citigroup analyst Jim Suva might not just be blowing hot air when he says that the Bold is plagued by the same 3G connection issues as the iPhone 3G (though 2.0.2 might've made them worse still). Apparently it has a similar penchant for dropping you to EDGE even when there's a perfectly decent 3G signal.

He speculates that the reason the US is late to the party is because AT&T is holding the phone until the cause of the issue—rough software—is sorted out. [Update: For the record, when asked, AT&T punted us to RIM.] After all, one phone having issues seems like a hardware problem. Its two most high profile phones? Well, people start talking. This actually would pose a larger problem for RIM than AT&T, since BlackBerry is largely built on a rep of being a reliable workhorse, and in the wake of the iPhone's wobbly legs (still quaking well over a month post-launch) reliability is a huge point for RIM to harp on to keep suits from straying. [Electronista]

Analyst: Treo Pro Won't Cut It; Palm Has One More Chance

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:55:12 +0000

Palm's buzzworthy Treo Pro is merely a flotation device for the troubled company as it readies its next smartphone, coming in 2009, an analyst says.

Since 2006, Palm has declined in U.S. market share each year. And it won't be the Treo Pro that reverses this trend; rather, Palm's next new offering -- about which little is known -- is the company's last hope, said Tero Kuittinen, a telecom analyst at Global Crown Capital.

"At the moment, Palm is just trying to keep the company going before this hopefully revolutionary new device arrives," he said.

Just two years ago, Palm was the leader in the U.S. smartphone market, but since then the company has fallen behind its major competitors HTC and Research In Motion (RIM). And Apple is hot on Palm's heels.

Kuittinen said the Treo Pro's major downfall is its pricing in the United States, where Palm is only offering the smartphone for $549 -- unlocked and without carrier subsidy. He explained that the handset's lack of subsidy will turn off many consumers, especially when taking into account Apple's recently slashed prices of the tremendously popular iPhone 3G.

"The problem here is the pricing structure has changed: The iPhone went down to $200; the Samsung Instinct went down to $230," Kuittinen said. "This is no longer the same phone market we had a year ago."

However, Palm's product-line manager Phil McClendon insisted that the Treo Pro will be a tough contender against other popular devices. He explained that the iPhone is designed for casual consumers, while the Treo Pro focuses on business users. As for competing with Research In Motion, McClendon said the Treo Pro has software and networking advantages that make the handset more convenient than RIM's BlackBerry.

Despite Kuittinen's criticism regarding lack of U.S.-carrier subsidy, McClendon defended the decision, saying users would appreciate the freedom to use the Treo Pro wherever they wanted without having to enter new contracts.

Nonetheless, Nielsen Mobile's research illustrates that Palm is constantly heading downward, and Kuittinen said Palm needs to wow the phone market in order to get its groove back.

Just what does Palm have in store for us next? Little is known about Palm's upcoming phone other than that it will feature an entirely new platform and new hardware. McClendon declined to disclose details, but it's interesting to note that just this year Palm hired Jon Rubinstein, a former Apple engineer instrumental to the creation of the iPod, as its head of product development. Will Rubinstein lead Palm to introducing the next revolutionary device?

There's no knowing until we see the phone, but Kuittinen encouraged Palm to put a larger screen on its next device. He said the Treo Pro's 320-by-320 pixel screen is still too small compared to the iPhone's 480-by-320 pixel screen. And a major reason the iPhone is so popular is its large screen makes web browsing a convenient experience, he explained.

Speaking on the subject of Palm's next platform, Peter Hoddie, president of mobile software developer Kinoma, said that in order to revitalize itself, Palm also needs to offer a suite of new, innovative applications.

"Operating systems don't matter to most customers," Hoddie said. "What matters to them is what they can do. ... Why do [people] love iPhone? They love the apps. Why don't people love Windows Mobile? It's in fact an amazing operating system ... but the apps on top of it? Not so inspired."

Looking ahead, Kuittinen said consumers should feel excited about Palm's next offering, considering its new leader's repertoire for revolutionizing hardware.

"It's really exciting; it's one of the biggest mysteries right now," Kuittinen said. "What are they going to do?"

(Photo courtesy Palm; graph by Wired.com; graph data courtesy Nielsen Mobile)

Blackberry 8210, 8220 Flip phones getting pre-ordered

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:03:04 +0000

Blackberry’s first flip phone, Kickstart has made an entry onto the product list of Expansys UK. The two variants – 8210 and 8220 bear the same specifications except the swapping of assisted-GPS from 8210 to Wi-Fi in 8220. As other blackberries, this one’s also a quad-band phone. The phone is MicroSDHC compatible and has 2-megapixel camera, Suretype keyboard and a large 2.6-inch internal screen.

Foraying in the clamshell market for the first time, RIM doesn’t want its users to lose the messaging charm.

8210 Product Page
8220 Product Page

[Via Engadget]

BlackBerry Bold Hits Rogers in Just Two Days: Aug. 21 [Blackberry Bold]

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:30:20 +0000

RIM, why have you forsaken us? With no date or price yet for the US, Rogers has just confirmed that the BlackBerry Bold will launch in RIM's backyard on Thursday. They didn't release pricing info, but a leaked flyer on Friday that looked pretty damn legit pegged it at $399. Since it's launching 'round the world by the end of this week, odds are we'll be getting US launch details soonish. [Reuters]

BlackBerry Bold available in Canada on Thursday

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:00:06 +0000

The long wait is over, it is official: Rogers Communications will offer the BlackBerry Bold on Thursday, August 21st , for a price ranging from $300 to $400 according to RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie. The pricing details were still not revealed, and AT&T will be its major carrier in the US.

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