iphone

Yesterday we gave you a glimpse at the new Nokia N79 and Nokia N85 handsets, leaked a day early.

But despite some photos and a bit of specs, there was not too much information about the new devices yet.

Well, today is the official day for the launch of Nokia N79 and N85 and all the details about the new handsets are finally out there in the open.

Let’s start with Nokia N79:
Nokia N79 specs include:

* WCDMA 900/2100 (HSDPA), EGSM 900, GSM 850/1800/1900 (EGPRS) connectivity
* S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 OS
* 2.4 inch QVGA (240 x 320 px) 16M color display
* 5 mpx (2584 x 1938) camera with CArl Zeiss lens, dual LED flash and 30 fps video recording
* WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g with UPnP support
* Built-in A-GPS
* FM Transmitter
* Built-in accelerometer (orientation sensor)
* MicroUSB connector, Hi-Speed USB 2.0
* 3.5 mm stereo headphone plug
* TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
* Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, USB 2.0
* Up to 50 MB internal user memory
* 4 GB inbox microSD memory card
* Nokia battery BL-6F, 1200 mAh with:
o Up to 210 min (3G), 330 min (GSM) talk time
o Up to 400 hrs (3G), 370 hrs (GSM) stanby
o Up to 5 hours video playback (offline mode)
o Up to 24 hours music playback (offline mode)

Candybar Nokia N79 looks like a logical progression from Nokia N73, packs all the features of high end multimedia device and ads some style with colored replaceable covers with matching themes.

I’d expect it to do as well as it’s predecessor did in the market. Although, if the price is comparable, I’m not sure where this device leaves Nokia N78.

Nokia N85 has been among the most rumored upcoming Nokia phones lately. We’ve seen it’s various photos leaked, speculated about it’s camera capabilities, various versions and specs based FCC documents and what not.

Well, today all speculation is over with the official release of Nokia N85.

Dubbed as a “definitive entertainment package”, Nokia N85 certainly looks that way. It comes with a bright 2.6″ 16M color AMOLED QVGA display, dedicated control keys for music and gaming, changing their appearance according to the needs and functions, built-in FM transmitter and 8GB microSD memory card in a box.
Full Nokia N85 specs include:

* WCDMA 900/1900/2100 (HSDPA) and GSM 850/900/1800/1900 or
* WCDMA 850/1900/2100 (HSDPA) and GSM 850/900/1800/1900 versions
* S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 OS
* AM OLED 2.6″ QVGA (240 x 320 px) 16M color display
* 5 mpx (2584 x 1938) camera with CArl Zeiss lens, dual LED flash and 30 fps video recording
* WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g with UPnP support
* Built-in A-GPS
* FM Transmitter
* MicroUSB connector, Hi-Speed USB 2.0
* 3.5 mm stereo headphone plug
* TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
* Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, USB 2.0
* Up to 74 MB internal dynamic memory
* up to 78 MB internal NAND flash memory
* 8 GB inbox microSD memory card
* Nokia battery BL-6F, 1200 mAh with:
o Up to 270 min (3G), 410 min (GSM) talk
o Up to 360 hrs (3G), 360 hrs (GSM) standby time
o Up to 7 hours of video playback (15 fps,offline mode)
o Up to 30 hours of music playback (offline mode)
* Dimensions: 103 x 50 x 16 mm (L x W x H)
* Weight: 128 g

Unsubsidized Nokia N85 price is expected to be 450 EUR when it starts shipping in October.

One of the these new things was the rather timely release yesterday of the spectacular Kinoma Play – an application that the company calls the “World’s First Mobile Media Browser” and which I naturally promptly installed.

Best Windows Mobile Streaming Media PlayerAt its most basic Kinoma Play is a Windows Mobile software that allows you to view, play, stream, download, email, share and post all sorts of video, audio (MP3’s, audiobooks, podcasts, radio +more) and pictures via your Windows Mobile Treo smartphone from thousands of sources including Audible, YouTube, Live365, SHOUTcast, ABC, CNN and Flickr – all of these sources are conveniently included and accessed from the Kinoma Guide.
My Media Files
Whether your personal media files are saved on the smartphone or on your memory card Kinoma Play indexes everything and neatly files it here. You can quickly Search for any media files no matter if you have 10 or 10,000 of them on your device or go directly to one of the media categories created by Kinoma Play (Movies, Music, Pictures, Audiobooks, Playlists, Downloads, My Documents or Storage Card).


What you’ll immediately notice with Kinoma Play is not only how fast the application runs but also how smooth all the animations are. In the video above I have tried to give you a quick perspective of this by: 1) performing a search (Stacey), navigating to the main folder containing all of the albums for this artist and playing them; 2) I further get some file info and adjust the audio settings then prepare to send this audio file via email straight frm within Kinoma Play; 3) I play a video file in my Movies that I had previously downloaded and adjust the volume which shows discreetly on screen; 4) I select Music and search the artists listing (typing brings up all matches); 5) I open my Pictures and select to play a slideshow with random transitions as well as stopping one image and zooming + panning into it (you can actually swipe your finger across the screen to move forth and back just as you would on the iPhone); 6) I navigate to my Classical Music folder on my Storage Card and finally 7) return to the Now Playing screen.

Kinoma Play - Kinoma Guide Kinoma Play - Search

Kinoma Guide
This section is where Kinoma Play gives you access to the “outside world” – streaming media and pictures of all sorts found online and neatly categorized for easy searching and playback.


In the video above you’ll see how I can: 1) quickly search all third-party providers for “podcast” for example and open the stream or download to my smartphone; 2) browse the huge list of Providers (from ABC, Amazon and Audible to Wall Street Journal and YouTube) where I open the BBC folder and London stations list to listen to a podcast; 3) I search Flickr for a “rose” image that I want to download to my device; 4) I open Live365 (which offers 5 days free trial); 5) continue to watch a National Geographic video which I want to send via SMS; 6) listen to the live NPR radio stream; 7) select a SHOUTcast classical opera station; 8) search for an Olympics video at YouTube as well as one of its Featured video which I go on to send via email; and 9) finally I open the Business category to stream a Harvard Business Review interview.

Search
This section offers specific searches such as images (via Flickr, Google Images or Yahoo Images) or video (via YouTube) as well as radio stations (via SHOUTcast and TUNED.mobi) plus access to the Digital Podcast service and full Kinoma Guide search.

Kinoma Play - Google Images Search Kinoma Play - Google Images

In the example above, I’ve used the Treonauts keyword to find related images which appear almost instantaneously 20 items at a time (above right).

Services
Kinoma Play has taken great effort to seamlessly integrate with a number of well known web services such as Audible, Flickr, iDisk, Live365, Orb, SHOUTcast and YouTube to provide an absolutely terriffic media experience.

Kinoma Play Services - Audible Kinoma Play Services - Orb

The beauty is that you can now login directly from within Kinoma Play to access any of the media that you have store with any of the above services. This will for example save you the considerable hassle of having to install and manage the Audible installer. I really hope that Kinoma will be adding more services such as Rhapsody and Yahoo! Music Jukebox in the future.

History & Favorites
The small History section stores the latest 100 media files that you have viewed and Favorites keeps any media that you’ve selected for easy and quick repeated playback. It’s a shame that you can’t create individual folders here though to for example save favorites in Radio, Podcasts, etc.

Overall, Kinoma Play is a terrific (albeit not quite yet perfect) application and there’s no doubt that it sets a new standard for streaming and on-board media files. The program is ultra-fast and smooth, offers one of the richest and vastest set of online media sources to choose from as well as delivering a truly complete set of functionalities.

Finally, I believe that Kinoma Play offers a perfect demonstration of the significant improvements that an increasing number of Windows Mobile developers have made in the consumer space – easily matching those found on the iPhone for example – and it may be one of the best examples of things to come.

I mentioned a couple of days ago, the release of the high-end enterprise-class Palm Treo Pro has literally stunned me and been a complete revelation – I would probably have to go back to the Treo 600 some four years ago to match the level of excitement that I have felt since getting this smartphone in my hands. I absolutely love my existing very trusted Centro and the Palm OS but I can already tell you that it’s going to be nearly impossible for me not to switch to the Treo Pro as it offers such a huge leap in performance and mobile experience.

From a hardware perspective alone the Treo Pro is undoubtedly exactly the device that Treonauts have been waiting for years to get as it meets almost every single design and specifications criteria that we’ve wanted. In this respect, the Treo Pro smartphone highlights the single most important milestone yet in Palm’s ongoing corporate transformation and opens a completely new door to a much brighter future.

From a software perspective there is no doubt that the major sticking point for many (particularly existing Palm OS users) will be the Windows Mobile operating system that the Treo Pro runs. The fact is that my experience has shown that Windows Mobile has come a long way and become increasingly more “friendly” and usable. The key point however is the fact that the stunning hardware design of the Treo Pro is finally giving me the energy to make the switch to WinMo – I’m basically willing to compromise a little to gain access to all the many other benefits this smartphone offers.
More importantly still is the fact that the Treo Pro design engenders a level of passion that had almost completely disappeared from Palm smartphones in recent years – there isn’t a single person that I have shown it to (devout BlackBerry and iPhone fans alike) that didn’t feel good holding it in their hands. Where it previously often appeared that narrow-minded accountants were in charge of design at Palm it’s clear that energetic and passionate artists have now thankfully firmly taken over. The Treo Pro is the first Palm smartphone in years that can proudly stand tall on its two feet without the need of crutches.

A perfect example of how quickly the Treo Pro appears to already have won the hearts and imagination of Treonauts is the result of our recent “Is the Treo Pro hot or not?” poll below. Not only has the poll now broken past the 1,000 votes but even more importantly in the last seven days the balance has steadily increased in favour of a “Super Hot” rating from 40% to 50% (more than statistically relevant) while the combined overall positive “Hot” rating is now a staggering 92%.Within this rather cheerful context, let me now take you through a closer look at exactly where and why the Treo Pro is so Super Hot.

Treo Pro Hardware (External) – Rating 9.5/10

Overall Look & Feel (Form-Factor, Size & Weight) – 9/10
At long last the Treo Pro delivers a completely revamped form-factor design which is ultraslim (so thin it actually fits in an iPhone case) and ultraslick with a smooth black casing – it’s basically the coolest looking smartphone Palm has produced to date (even when you can’t see its full form in total darkness below) and may very well be the near perfect form-factor for any keyboard + touchscreen smartphone.As I mentioned in my Treo Pro Preview, it looks a bit like a high-tech polished black pebble – a Zen of tranquility on the outside but one that also happens to be bursting with energy inside (thanks to a fast processor, 3G data, WiFi, GPS and a whole lot more). The whole smartphone just seems to be made of one piece as opposed to glued together from different parts.

One very minor issue is the fact that because the Treo Pro is so shiny and black it has the habit of visibly accumulating your fingerprints both on the screen and at the back. This is quickly remedied by keeping a Microfiber Cleaning Cloth in your pocket and I have to admit that I’ve actually developed a particular pleasure polishing my Treo Pro every so often and bringing it back to its full shine.

High-Resolution Touchscreen – 9/10
The Treo Pro also finally offers Palm’s first flush crisp high-resolution (320x320 pixels) touchscreen and it’s evident that this makes a huge difference both for the overall look and feel of this smartphone as well as more importantly how much easier it makes it to get to even the smallest icons and corners.Thanks to the much easier access to the full touchscreen Palm has for example now been able to remove the physical “soft buttons” found on other Windows Mobile devices as you can now simply and quickly use the on-screen buttons instead. The actual full-size 320x320 screenshot taken from my Treo Pro above should help you to get an impression for how good and crisp its display is.

In terms of screens, the next step for Palm will be the introduction at some point in the future of either a 480x320 or 480x480 resolution screen but for now this one certainly doesn’t get any complaints from me (aside the fact that it could be just a bit brigther).

5Way & Navigation Buttons – 9/10
I particularly like the fact that in addition to the new flush touchscreen Palm’s designers have maintained the same smoothness with the main four Start, OK, Calendar and Messaging buttons while slightly raising and rounding the left green Phone/Send and right red Power/End buttons (which are both made from a clear hard resin).At the same time, the redesigned round 5Way button at the center remains as good and easy to use as before and there is also conveniently no need for the physical soft buttons as the flush touchscreen is so immediately accessible (Contacts + Internet areas above).

Keyboard – 9/10
Some people have argued that the use of the same Centro keyboard design on the Treo Pro was somehow “inferior” but I strongly disagree. Not only is the keyboard here a full 10% wider but the “bouncy” rubber keys (below right) offer excellent tactile response and Palm has also ensured that the Space bar is a harder plastic. Overall even with my big hands I had absolutely no difficulties whatsoever typing (either in daylight or in total darkness thanks to the backlight).At the same time, I cannot stress enough the benefits of having a physical full QWERTY keyboard compared to a device that has an on-screen virtual keyboard. In this respect it is also worth remembering that this Treo Pro is the only high-end smartphone that offers an all-in-one touchscreen + full front keyboard + 3G + WiFi + GPS (BlackBerry Bold for example has no touchscreen and iPhone has no keyboard).Ringer Switch & Power Button – 10/10
In addition to the always ultra-convenient ringer switch button at the top of your device (basically a slider that quickly silences your smartphone when you’re in a meeting or another place where you don’t want to suddenly disturb others with your ringtone or alarms) there is now also a dedicated Power button that quickly and equally conveniently switches just your screen off (press once) or all phone, data and WiFi connections (press and hold for a couple of seconds).

Treo Pro - Ringer Switch + Power

Side Buttons – 10/10
In the meantime, Palm’s designers have so elegantly merged the side buttons into the device that you would hardly know they’re there (they’re almost completely flush). As before, on the left of your smartphone you’ll find the volume Up/Down buttons as well as one dedicated button that can be assigned to launch any application that you like (the default is Camera).

Treo Pro - Side Buttons

At the same time, the right side of your Treo Pro smartphone now offers both a deidcated WiFi button (press once to quickly switch it On/Off or press+hold to open your WiFi connections) as well as the IR port.

MicroUSB Sync & Charge + Stereo Port – 9/10
There are two other welcome additions on the Treo Pro. The first one is the use of a more convenient high-speed microUSB Sync & Charge connector (uses USB 2.0) and the second is the use of an even more convenient 3.5mm headset port which now means that you’ll be able to plug any one of the thousands of standard high-quality headsets available without the need for a 2.5mm stereo adapter.

Treo Pro - Ports

Speakers, Speakerphone & Microphone – 10/10
Even though the Treo Pro back speaker is visibly smaller (a good thing from a design perspective) and therefore not as powerful as on previous Treo or Centro smartphones the fact is nonetheless that the volume that it generates is more than loud enough to listen to music and engage in speakerphone calls.


Above you will find a short audio sample from a call that I made testing both the on-board Treo Pro microphone as well as its rather good built-in speakerphone.

Memory Expansion Slot – 9/10
I’ve always loved the solid memory card expansion capabilities that Treo smartphones offers and the Treo Pro provides a microSDHC slot that I happily use with my existing 8GB cards (it supports up to 32GB). The slot is accessible by just removing the back cover and thankfully not under the battery but easily within reach on the side.

Stylus – 9/10
A welcome addition is that Palm has finally reintroduced a solid metal stylus as standard with the Treo Pro. It appears that previous rumours that the metal stylus might interfere with the Treo radio may have been true and this is also why presumably Palm has now placed the stylus at the bottom as opposed to the top of the device.

Treo Pro Stylus

Battery & Back Cover – 9/10
Although the Treo Pro is already ultraslim you don’t realize just how small it is until you remove both the back cover and the battery (image below) – you’re left wondering how anybody could have crammed such a powerful smartphone with a touchscreen and full keyboard into such a small device.

Treo Pro - Back Cover & Battery

The huge and powerful 1500mAh battery which provides a very healthy five hours of talk time (PCMag actually claims 7 hours 8 minutes continuous talk time!) appears to take up some 40% of the space on its own. At the same time, I really like the introduction of a full back cover as you now get a beautifully smooth surface instead of one interrupted by the half battery cover used previously. It’s true that the cover can sometimes prove a little difficult to remove but here again I’m willing to dismiss this in favour of the design benefits it offers.

Overall, I have to admit that before the release of the Treo Pro I had come to seriously doubt Palm’s engineering and design capabilities to deliver such an ultraslim and full-featured device – wondering aloud if the company would ever be able to regain its position among the smartphone elite now dominated by the BlackBerry and iPhone. Thanks to the wonderful Treo Pro my answer is now a categorical and very firm “Yes! I believe that Palm can do it.”

Processor – 9/10
A lot of people have been somewhat worried that the overall speed and performance of the Treo Pro might somehow be compromised because it runs Windows Mobile but thankfully this is absolutely not the case.

As many other reviewers are already reporting, the Treo Pro may in fact very well be one of the fastest Windows Mobile smartphones on the market today. The combination of WM 6.1 and the powerful 400MHz processor have now helped to significantly improve the mobile experience and I have found no serious speed limits – not all applications may load in a flash but you’re certainly not kept waiting more than a couple of seconds either.
Platform – 8.5/10
Additionally, as I’ve grown to better understand the workings of Windows Mobile in general and this Treo Pro smartphone in particular the speed with which I now manage to perform repetitive tasks using either software or harware features has steadily improved. Since I can get frustrated rather quickly if things don’t work well, the most important thing for me has been the fact that throughout my interactions with the Treo Pro I have not found a barrier that I couldn’t quickly jump over.

It’s a fact that any new device takes a little while to get used to and the Treo Pro is no exception. As I mentioned yesterday, although the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system is not perfect I have to admit that it’s improved significantly and I’ve now almost completely overlooked any limitations (primarily in the area of usability) for the simple reason that the hardware design and specifications of the Treo Pro are so good.

Wireless Data (3G HSDPA, 2G EDGE, GPRS) – 9.5/10
While the Treo Pro is undoubtedly fast its 3G wireless data capabilities are even faster and very powerful. Thanks to very good HSDPA coverage in my area I have been able to quickly download emails, install large software files over the air, listen to streaming audio and video with Kinoma Play for example and perhaps even more importantly load web pages in a snap using multiple web browsers such as Internet Explorer Mobile and the powerful latest Opera 9.51 beta or Skyfire.

As I commented yesterday, wireless data connectivity on the Treo Pro is so good and fast that I don’t even bother to look for mobile-optimized web pages any more as full standard web pages not only look great but load quickly.

I also like the fact that the Today screen now offers one-click access to all connections via the Comm Manager – a simple screen (see image below left) where you can quickly enable Airplane Mode or turn On/Off your Phone, Bluetooth, WiFi, Microsoft Direct Push and Data Connection as well as gain access to further Settings for your Phone, Bluetooth and Wireless Lan.

WiFi – 10/10
If for any reason you’re not within reach of a good wireless data connection the Treo Pro offers an excellent and rather powerful 802.11b/g WiFi implementation. I was particularly impressed to experience just how good and steady the built-in WiFi range is. I had no problem connecting to my own router or other public networks and the WiFi settings have pretty much every authentication and data encryption protocol that you will ever need. There’s even a Power Save Mode setting within WiFi Prefs where you can choose between Best Performance (range) or Best Battery optimization.Additionally, the dedicated WiFi button on the right side of your Treo Pro significantly extends the overall simplicity of using and accessing WiFi networks. You just press the button once to quickly switch WiFi On/Off or press+hold to open your Wireless Networks settings screen.

GPS – 9/10
The Treo Pro doesn’t stop at just having a fast processor, fast 3G data and fast WiFi as it now also offers a built-in GPS receiver that you can use with either the bundled TeleNav software or Google Maps as well as any third-party on-board GPS Navigation software such as CoPilot Live 7.

There’s also another bundled program called QuickGPS that can speed up the time for determining your GPS position by downloading the latest satellite data via an Internet connection (3G, WiFi or ActiveSync).I haven’t yet been able to fully test either TeleNav or CoPilot Live but for now at least I can tell you that Google Maps is a joy to use – particularly the way that it’s now been fully integrated with your Contacts to be able to get driving directions. I use Google Maps so frequently that I would ideally love to add a search box to my Today screen but I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet.

Memory – 8.5/10
I must have installed some twenty third-party programs on my Treo Pro so far and I still have some 30MB of storage free (out of a total 105MB user available) plus naturally I still get plenty more storage space via my 8GB microSDHC memory card.

At the same time, with 128MB RAM the Program Memory can withstand to simultaneously open pretty much any number of applications that you want. I haven’t yet had a single occasion where my Treo Pro became unresponsive for any reason due to lack of memory. Additionally, Palm has implemented a rather convenient Task Manager in the top right corner of your Today screen (screenshot above right) from where you can quickly completely exit any open applications.

The only reason I haven’t awarded the Memory a higher rating is that I think that by now Palm could have gone the extra mile by adding at least 512MB or even 1GB of on-board memory. Having said this, as I mentioned before the microSDHC slot nonetheless provides plenty of extra storage space.

Modem – 9/10
If you happen to subscrible to an unlimited data plan and are frequently in range of a UMTS/HSDPA wireless data connection you’ll be happy to know that your Treo Pro can also double as a high-speed modem for your laptop while on the go (via your USB cable or Bluetooth).

I haven’t fully tested this yet but based on previous experience data connectivity provided by my Treo smartphone to my laptop has always proven very good.

Bluetooth 2.0 and A2DP – 8.5/10
Given the increasing number of Treo Bluetooth accessories that are part of my kit I was naturally very curious to find out just how well the Treo Pro would perform when paired with these.

The number one priority was ensuring flawless compatibility with my New Jawbone Bluetooth headset which the Treo Pro gladly quickly did – delivering both excellent sound and volume for both inbound and outbound calls.

Next was the matter of Bluetooth Stereo Headphones and ensuring that my Motorola S9 would work properly during my morning runs as well as the slightly more complex issue of ensuring compatibility with Bluetooth Stereo Speakers such as the stunning BlueAnt M1 Stereo Speakers and Motorola EQ5 that I recently reviewed (here and here respectively). [Please also read my Bluetooth Stereo Roundup for an in-depth overview.]

My experience with A2DP wireless audio specifically on the Treo Pro is that it works flawlessly (no stuttering or breaking) when playing either on-board music files or using your wireless data connection (3G, EDGE, GPRS) or ActiveSync connection for streaming audio. However, if you try to use A2DP with a streaming audio via WiFi there appears to be quite a bit of stutter – it’s a shame because I rather enjoy listening to streaming radio over my Bluetooth Stereo Speakers.

I guess that asking the Treo Pro processor to simultaneously keep a WiFi connection + Bluetooth A2DP + audio playback is just a little bit too much but at least it works superbly well – ultracrisp and clear – with either normal playback or streaming audio/video via your wireless data connection or ActiveSync.

Camera & Video – 9.5/10
Aside from the fact that Palm has now upgraded the camera to 2.0 megapixels resolution the actual camera software is also much improved. For starters aside from the normal camera and video capture modes you also get MMS video, Contact Picture, Picture Theme (which collages three images together to form a panorama), Sport (to capture fast moving action with five rapid shots focusing on a moving target) and also a Burst mode (seven capture modes in total). Among others, the new camera software offers one-touch access via an on-screen button at the bottom center of the camera screen (image above right) to quickly change the resolution, white balance, brightness, storage and self-timer (image below left).There are even more adjustments that can be made via an on-screen Capture Settings including Effects (such as Sepia or Grayscale), Metering Mode, Shutter Sound and more. I have to admit that I wish that some of the functions found here were available on my high-end digital camera and I can’t be happier with what’s offered here. Virtually the only thing missing is a flash with the camera for evening or low-light situations.

Wireless Radio – 9.5/10
Palm may have crammed all of these specs into an ultraslim, ultrasmall and light body but it has certainly not affected the performance of its radio – on the contrary I think that it’s one of the best that I’ve owned to date providing me with better reception even in areas that I previously considered to be weak spots.

With an HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM radio that offers Tri-band UMTS (850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz) and Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) there are certainly few if any remote corners of the world where you won’t be able to use your Treo Pro.

Here again I also found the integration of hardware and software on Palm’s part to be very good. Not only is the easily accessible Comm Manager within a couple of clicks away to manage your connections but pressing+holding the new Power button at the top of your smartphone now also quickly and conveniently closes virtually all connections (Phone, Data, WiFi, etc.).

Quick Treo Pro Specs:

* Platform: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition
* Processor: Qualcomm MSM7201 400MHz
* Display: 320x320 transflective color TFT touchscreen
* Radio: HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM radio
Tri-band UMTS — 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz
Quad-band GSM — 850/900/1800/1900
* Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, and 801.1x authentication
* GPS: Built-in GPS (standalone and assisted)
* Bluetooth wireless technology: Version 2.0 + Enhanced data rate (with Stereo Bluetooth capabilities)
* Memory: 256MB storage (100MB user available), 128MB RAM
* Camera: 2.0 megapixels, up to 8x digital zoom and video capture
* Battery: Removable, rechargeable 1500mAh lithium-ion battery (up to 5.0 hours talk time and up to 250 hours standby)
* Expansion: microSD cards (up to 32GB supported)
* Connector: MicroUSB 2.0 for synchronization and charging
* Audio: 3.5mm stereo headset jack
* Dimensions: 2.36” (W) x 4.49” (L) x 0.53” (D); weighs 4.69 oz
60mm (W) x 113mm (L) x 14mm (D); weighs 132 grams

Conclusion
As you will have been able to appreciate from this review of the Treo Pro specifications it’s been nearly impossible for me to find a real and major fault anywhere on this smartphone. Sure we could always want more (a bigger screen, more memory, an even bigger keyboard, etc.) but when it comes to these specs there really is no doubt that Palm has spared no detail or expense to ensure that it delivers a truly superior high-end business smartphone.

I have no doubt that like me many people will eventually find that these superb Treo Pro specs combined with a truly stunning body design far outweighs any of the real or perceived limitations (increasingly few) that Windows Mobile might have.

Separately, if you haven’t really done so please cast your vote in our poll below and share your views with your fellow Treonauts – most of whom are already finding the Treo Pro “super hot”.

As you know there are few things that can cheer my day more than to have the opportunity to review a great product – one that is both carefully designed and extremely well built as well as practical. Today I have the real pleasure to present the new Body Glove Side Case – an impressive Treo and Centro case which has rapidly shot to the top of its league and that offers not only superb design, build and quality but also a perfect “universal” fit to elegantly carry your smartphone by your side.You may not be able to immediately appreciate it from these images but this Body Glove Side Case is actually rather ultraslim thanks to both a very low profile belt clip (image below) and a thin rubber material of about 1mm used for entire body.
Additionally, there is also the tactile and visual quality of this case with for example the front flap offering a modern wavy embossed pattern (detail below) and the rest of the body made out of Body Glove’s characteristic smooth rubber.The designers have not only paid careful attention to the outside but also the inside which is lined with soft black velvet ensures that your smartphone is not only protected agains scratches but also conveniently polishes the device every time it’s inserted in the case.Adding to the great design touches is the fact that the large front flap offers the most convenient magnetic closure with two strong magnets (detail below left). This not only ensures that your smartphone is securely strapped inside the case at all time but also that you will be able to quickly insert or remove it when needed. I have to admit that there is something particular about hearing the magnets “click!” when you close it.Even more impressive for me is the fact that thanks to two elastic bands (detail above right) stitched into the sides this Body Glove Side Case can really provide a perfect fit for a range of Palm smartphones including the small Centro, ultraslim Treo Pro as well as the Treo 800w and Treo 680 pictured below (it would also fit the Treo 750, 755p but unfortunately their rubberized body does not slide properly into this case).Overall this excellent new Body Glove Side Case offers not only a very elegant and modern solution to carry your smartphone by your side but it is also extremely well built, feels great in your hands and happens to deliver one of the most convenient ways to access your device thanks to its large magnetic flap.

HTC Touch Diamond, or HTC P3700 as it is officially called, is the top communicator phone of the company.

It is first and foremost a fashion phone; HTC Diamond is not for techies or gadget fans, but for those users who want the coolest looking, most feature-packed device.

It’s probably safe to say then that HTC’s flagship phone for 2008 will be competing not with other Windows Mobile handhelds, but with devices like iPhone and iPhone 3G.
The smartphone comes in keyboard-less candybar form factor case made from glossy black plastic. The front is mostly taken up by the 2.8” touchscreen, while the back has faceted, diamond-like surface - a little similar to Nokia Prism.
The phone really looks quite stylish; all those glossy surfaces, however, are also extremely prone to getting smudges and prints on them. You will literally have to put up with cleaning it all the time if you want your gadget to look as shiny as new.

Although we have heard that the commercial version of HTC Diamond might have regular soft touch plastic used for its back panel (making it less prone to smudges and easier to grip) the image of the phone would suffer slightly as a result.
HTC Touch Diamond controls

The phone has a power button on the top edge and volume control buttons on the left side. Stylus is hidden on the right edge. At the bottom edge the phone is equipped with HTC’s universal port which looks a lot like miniUSB, and more, is compatible with it. Regrettably, there’s no standard 3.5 mm audio jack.The front panel has four standard buttons that you will know from other Windows Mobile devices; they’re Home, Back, and Accept/Deny as well as the navigation wheel.
Interface of Touch Diamond

The interface is easily the most important part of the phone, and HTC has put in a lot of work here. While some Windows Mobile devices are infamous for being inconvenient to use (without a stylus, especially) that can’t be said about HTC Diamond, thanks to its TouchFLO 3D interface (an evolution of TouchFLO used in earlier Touch devices).There are several tabs at the bottom of the desktop, such as Home, People, Messages, E-Mail, Internet, Photos & Videos, Music, Weather, Settings, and Programs. You can move between these by selecting a specific one or simply dragging your finger along the screen to switch between them one-by-one.The Home tab contains some standard information like a stylish-looking clock, date, carrier logo and a link to recent call list. People tab contains your contact list; if available, photos are shown with a cool 3D effect for each person. The Messages are implemented in a way similar to iPhone: messages from the same sender are grouped into “conversations”. The text content of e-mails can be previewed in a 3D perspective, and double clicked for a more traditional view. 3D effects are also used when listing through photos or video clips.

Opening the Internet tab gives you a scrollable list of bookmarks and, of course, a shortcut to the browser. It is very user-friendly and functional Since HTC adapted Opera Mini for the Touch Diamond. You can view pages either in mobile or full view; when using the latter, the navigational wheel might be used for zooming in and out by moving your finger in a circular motion.The music player interface is also very interesting and what’s more, easy to use. HTC Diamond has 4 GB of built-in memory, so using it as a music player is completely feasible. It comes with a stylish headset; the sound quality, while nothing incredible, is more than satisfactory.

The Weather tab will give you a scrollable list of cities and display weather forecasts for each, as well as an indication of last update.The Settings tab has all the basic settings and options of the phone that you might want to play with. Finally, the Programs tab is essentially a big list of shortcuts to various applications.

The TouchFLO 3D interface allows the user to access almost all functions of the phone without having to interact with Windows Mobile operating system directly. Everything from making phone calls to reading your text messages looks simply amazing on Diamond’s VGA display. While some people might say that HTC ripped the concept off iPhone, even they won’t be able to deny that the graphical interface of this phone is awesome.

The downside is that the device sometimes becomes unresponsive for a short time and there are occasional delays when moving between tabs or items. Simply put, the interface is sluggish, which ruins the overall impression a little. Hopefully HTC will fix this problem in their future products.
Conclusions

HTC Touch Diamond is a communicator phone with an astonishing design and a graphical interface that both looks gorgeous and is very user-friendly.

At the beginning of the review, we already mentioned that the phone is not targeted at people who normally buy communicators, but for those who want the best feature-packed phone available.

HTC Diamond might lose to Apple’s iPhone in usability department – mainly due to its often sluggish interface, and inferior implementation of finger-based control – but it’s still well worth the price if you’re looking for a device like this, and fills its niche perfectly. HTC Diamond has more features and technological capabilities than the iPhone, and you can safely say there’s no equal to it among Windows Mobile or Symbian devices.

Basically the Motorola W388 is just the W396 but in candy-bar form. It's a little lighter at 83 grams, but otherwise it seems to be the same. It's a smart looking device with an unfussy layout that should appeal to customers looking for a more traditional style of mobile phone.
Motorola W396 at a glance

Available:


Q3 2008

Network:


GSM 900 / 1800 or 850 / 1900

Data:


GPRS

Screen:


128 x 160 pixels, 65k colours

Camera:


0.3 megapixels

Size:


Lightweight monoblock
109 x 46 x 15mm / 83 grams

Bluetooth:


No

Memory card:


microSD

Infra-red:


No

Polyphonic:


Yes

Java:


Not specified

GPS:


No

Battery life:


9 hours talk / 16 days standby

Basically the Motorola W388 is just the W396 but in candy-bar form. It's a little lighter at 83 grams, but otherwise it seems to be the same. It's a smart looking device with an unfussy layout that should appeal to customers looking for a more traditional style of mobile phone.
Motorola W396 at a glance

Available:


Q3 2008

Network:


GSM 900 / 1800 or 850 / 1900

Data:


GPRS

Screen:


128 x 160 pixels, 65k colours

Camera:


0.3 megapixels

Size:


Lightweight monoblock
109 x 46 x 15mm / 83 grams

Bluetooth:


No

Memory card:


microSD

Infra-red:


No

Polyphonic:


Yes

Java:


Not specified

GPS:


No

Battery life:


9 hours talk / 16 days standby

The LG KF310 is a slightly odd 3G phone from this prolific Korean manufacturer. While most modern handsets sprout buttons and control keys all over the place, the KF310 appears to be almost shockingly minimalist when it comes to design. When closed, the main feature of the KF310 is the unusually simple navigation key which might make you think that the handset only has a limited number of features. But in fact, the KF310 comes with a 2 megapixel camera plus a secondary video calling camera, an MP3 player, microSD expandable memory, an email client and web browser..
pretty much everything that you would expect to find in a modern handset. It simply seems that the designers of the KF310 wanted to make it as simple as possible.It isn't a very high-specification phone - the display on the KF310 is a 2" 176 x 220 pixel panel, Bluetooth is limited to version 1.2 and not the more common 2.0, there's no mention of autofocus or flash for the camera and there doesn't seem to be a standard audio jack socket.
One good thing about the LG KF310 is price - it is one of the cheapest 3G mobile phones around, priced at roughly the same level as Nokia's entry-level 3G 3120. 3 Ireland have the KF310 listed for just €99 as a prepay handset, 3 Australia lists it for AU$199.. in both cases nearly the least expensive of all phones listed.

It's a reasonably light weight 3G device at 95 grams [Note 1], talktime is around 3 to 3.5 hours [Note 2] with up to 12 days standby time. Overall dimensions are 94 x 47 x 17mm [Note 3]. There seems to be two different colour combinations for the KF310: black and a two-tone black/white combo , although the black one appears to be more common.
LG KF310 at a glance

Available:


Q3 2008

Network:


GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 + UMTS 2100

Data:


GPRS + UMTS (3G)

Screen:


176 x 220 pixels, 262k colours

Camera:


2 megapixels

Size:


Medium slider
94 x 47 x 17mm / 95 grams

Bluetooth:


Yes

Memory card:


microSD

Infra-red:


No

Polyphonic:


Yes

Java:


Yes

GPS:


No

Battery life:


3.5 hours talk / 12 days standby (3G)
5 hours talk / 18 days standby (GSM)

The LG KF310 is a slightly odd 3G phone from this prolific Korean manufacturer. While most modern handsets sprout buttons and control keys all over the place, the KF310 appears to be almost shockingly minimalist when it comes to design. When closed, the main feature of the KF310 is the unusually simple navigation key which might make you think that the handset only has a limited number of features. But in fact, the KF310 comes with a 2 megapixel camera plus a secondary video calling camera, an MP3 player, microSD expandable memory, an email client and web browser..
pretty much everything that you would expect to find in a modern handset. It simply seems that the designers of the KF310 wanted to make it as simple as possible.It isn't a very high-specification phone - the display on the KF310 is a 2" 176 x 220 pixel panel, Bluetooth is limited to version 1.2 and not the more common 2.0, there's no mention of autofocus or flash for the camera and there doesn't seem to be a standard audio jack socket.
One good thing about the LG KF310 is price - it is one of the cheapest 3G mobile phones around, priced at roughly the same level as Nokia's entry-level 3G 3120. 3 Ireland have the KF310 listed for just €99 as a prepay handset, 3 Australia lists it for AU$199.. in both cases nearly the least expensive of all phones listed.

It's a reasonably light weight 3G device at 95 grams [Note 1], talktime is around 3 to 3.5 hours [Note 2] with up to 12 days standby time. Overall dimensions are 94 x 47 x 17mm [Note 3]. There seems to be two different colour combinations for the KF310: black and a two-tone black/white combo , although the black one appears to be more common.
LG KF310 at a glance

Available:


Q3 2008

Network:


GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 + UMTS 2100

Data:


GPRS + UMTS (3G)

Screen:


176 x 220 pixels, 262k colours

Camera:


2 megapixels

Size:


Medium slider
94 x 47 x 17mm / 95 grams

Bluetooth:


Yes

Memory card:


microSD

Infra-red:


No

Polyphonic:


Yes

Java:


Yes

GPS:


No

Battery life:


3.5 hours talk / 12 days standby (3G)
5 hours talk / 18 days standby (GSM)

Palm Treo Pro is an advanced Windows smartphone from one of the oldest names in the handheld computing business.This Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional handset comes with a QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA high-speed data, WiFi, GPS and a 320 x 320 pixel touchscreen display, all wrapped up in an attractive and very business-smart package.
Windows Mobile 6.1 comes with all the usual features such as "Pocket" versions of Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer, a PDF and ZIP document viewer, push email support and Windows Media Player. Palm have enhanced the Treo Pro's interface with a number of shortcuts and enhancements to make the Windows experience a bit better.

Inside is a Qualcomm MSM7201 400MHz processor with 128 RAM and 256MB internal flash (of which 100MB is available to the user). Most users would probably want to use a memory card, and the Palm Treo Pro accepts microSDHC cards up to a maximum capacity of 32GB. The Treo pro supports quad-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE data blug tri-band 850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz UMTS and 802.11 b and g WiFi (with a dedicated on/off button). Local connections can be made through Bluetooth 2.0 or a USB 2.0 cable. The Treo Pro even has a 3.5mm audio jack socket so that it can accept a standard headset.
As with a lot of Windows Mobile devices, the camera is a bit limited being only a 2 megapixel unit with no flash, although it does at least support video capture. The Palm Treo Pro also supports GPS and A-GPS, so you can use it with your favourite personal navigation application.Although the Palm Treo Pro's display is a slightly more limited resolution than the BlackBerry Bold 9000, it is at least a touchscreen.. and at 320 x 320 pixel it is clearly better than most of the competition. Palm didn't say what size the display is, but from our measurements it is around 2.4 or 2.5 inches across the diagonal.
Weighing 133 grams (4.69 ounces) and measuring 114 x 60 x 13.5mm (4.5" x 2.4" x .53") the Palm Treo Pro is a little narrower than the BlackBerry Bold and almost the same weight. The beefy 1500 mAh battery can power the Treo Pro for up to 5 hours talktime and 10 days standby time (we don't know if there are 3G or GSM figures though).

Vodafone and O2 in Europe have agreed to carry the Treo Pro, plus Australia's Telstra network. Surprisingly, no carrier in the US has picked it up so the Treo Pro is available there unlocked and SIM free for a recommended price of around $550. Expect to see the Treo Pro in Europe from September onwards.

The Palm Treo Pro is not alone in this market segment, but it seems to be a well rounded and very attractive device which should appeal to many power users.
Palm Treo Pro at a glance

Available:


Q3 2008

Network:


GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 +
UMTS 850 / 1900 / 2100

Data:


GPRS + EDGE + UMTS (3G) + HSDPA + WiFi

Screen:


320 x 320 pixels

Camera:


2 megapixels

Size:


Messaging device
114 x 60 x 14mm / 133 grams

Bluetooth:


Yes

Memory card:


microSD

Infra-red:


No

Polyphonic:


Yes

Java:


Limited

GPS:


Yes (A-GPS)

Battery life:


5 hours talk / 10 days standby

OS:


Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Palm Treo Pro is an advanced Windows smartphone from one of the oldest names in the handheld computing business.This Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional handset comes with a QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA high-speed data, WiFi, GPS and a 320 x 320 pixel touchscreen display, all wrapped up in an attractive and very business-smart package.
Windows Mobile 6.1 comes with all the usual features such as "Pocket" versions of Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer, a PDF and ZIP document viewer, push email support and Windows Media Player. Palm have enhanced the Treo Pro's interface with a number of shortcuts and enhancements to make the Windows experience a bit better.

Inside is a Qualcomm MSM7201 400MHz processor with 128 RAM and 256MB internal flash (of which 100MB is available to the user). Most users would probably want to use a memory card, and the Palm Treo Pro accepts microSDHC cards up to a maximum capacity of 32GB. The Treo pro supports quad-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE data blug tri-band 850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz UMTS and 802.11 b and g WiFi (with a dedicated on/off button). Local connections can be made through Bluetooth 2.0 or a USB 2.0 cable. The Treo Pro even has a 3.5mm audio jack socket so that it can accept a standard headset.
As with a lot of Windows Mobile devices, the camera is a bit limited being only a 2 megapixel unit with no flash, although it does at least support video capture. The Palm Treo Pro also supports GPS and A-GPS, so you can use it with your favourite personal navigation application.Although the Palm Treo Pro's display is a slightly more limited resolution than the BlackBerry Bold 9000, it is at least a touchscreen.. and at 320 x 320 pixel it is clearly better than most of the competition. Palm didn't say what size the display is, but from our measurements it is around 2.4 or 2.5 inches across the diagonal.
Weighing 133 grams (4.69 ounces) and measuring 114 x 60 x 13.5mm (4.5" x 2.4" x .53") the Palm Treo Pro is a little narrower than the BlackBerry Bold and almost the same weight. The beefy 1500 mAh battery can power the Treo Pro for up to 5 hours talktime and 10 days standby time (we don't know if there are 3G or GSM figures though).

Vodafone and O2 in Europe have agreed to carry the Treo Pro, plus Australia's Telstra network. Surprisingly, no carrier in the US has picked it up so the Treo Pro is available there unlocked and SIM free for a recommended price of around $550. Expect to see the Treo Pro in Europe from September onwards.

The Palm Treo Pro is not alone in this market segment, but it seems to be a well rounded and very attractive device which should appeal to many power users.
Palm Treo Pro at a glance

Available:


Q3 2008

Network:


GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 +
UMTS 850 / 1900 / 2100

Data:


GPRS + EDGE + UMTS (3G) + HSDPA + WiFi

Screen:


320 x 320 pixels

Camera:


2 megapixels

Size:


Messaging device
114 x 60 x 14mm / 133 grams

Bluetooth:


Yes

Memory card:


microSD

Infra-red:


No

Polyphonic:


Yes

Java:


Limited

GPS:


Yes (A-GPS)

Battery life:


5 hours talk / 10 days standby

OS:


Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

The Nokia 7250 comes out a couple months after the popular 7210 model. Much of the two phones are similar: the 128 x 128 px 4096 color screen, FM radio, loudspeaker, and downloadable Java games. However the 7250 contains one exciting addition that us sure to please. The built-in digital camera. Add to that the sleek curves and looks of the 7200 series and you've got a phone turns people's heads. With all the great designs and appearances, you might be wondering about whether its all looks and no substance.
Design

Nokia's 7200 series has always been known to be the stylish phones in Nokia's arsenal, and the 7250 follows suit. The 7250 looks quite different from its predecessor the 7210. The tapered keypad has been replaced now with a more traditional design. However, on the inside much of the 7250 is the same as the 7210, not that that's a bad thing.

Nokia has kept the great speaker phone capabilities of the 7210, as well as the dynamic FM radio. Unfortunately what has also stayed the same is the 4,096 color screen, and 4 note polyphonic ring tones. With Samsung's new phones coming out with 65,000 color screens and 40 note polyphonic ring tones, the 7250 is trailing behind in the technology. Granted it's still better than most phones on the market, its just 9 months behind the best.

Nokia 7250 FrontOn a bright note, the 7250 plays ring tones through its internal speaker rather than an ordinary buzzer. That means you'll get vastly improved sound quality for ring tones, alerts, and game tones.

What has been improved upon is the new addition of a built-in camera. With Sony Ericsson, and Samsung planning cameras in their new phones, Nokia had to follow. In terms of image quality, it's not the best. But what would you expect from a camera phone. It's main purpose is talking on the phone. It does it's job for taking quick snaps of some idea you jog a napkin, or taking pictures of people to stick as your background. But aside from that, don't expect to get printable photos.

Things that Nokia hasn't added since the 7210 are still voice commands. If you use this feature a lot, it'll be quite disappointing to you. Better get your thumbs ready, because they'll get quite a workout.

Screen

The 4096 color passive matrix display is similar the the Nokia 7210. It has a resolution of 128 x 128 px and shows 5 lines of text and a service line. When messaging, 8 lines of text and 2 service lines are displayed due to scaling.

The 7250's screen is slightly brighter and clearer than the 7210, but ghosts are still an issue. With games that change a lot, you'll see remnants of the previous screen when it changes to the new screen. It's not that noticeable when you're using slow changing menu functions, but a game like bounce makes it more noticeable. The screen is bright and clear in dim conditions. However in sunny weather, the screen becomes a bit washed out.

Controls

Nokia 7250 Camera LensNokia decided to change back to a more traditional keypad design. If many of you liked the look of the 7200 series but were turned off by the problems the 7210 would give you while text messaging, then this might be your alternative.

Clean, stylish design doesn't hinder functionality this time around. So text messaging should be just as you remembered. If you've gotten used to the 7210, I'm sorry. You'll have to relearn everything all over again.

The Nokia 7250 is also equipped with the usual 4 direction keypad. Will Nokia ever switch to a 5 way jog dial? We can only hope.

Storage

Nokia 7250 BackThe 7250 comes with an incredible 5 MB of internal memory for storing pictures, ring tones, text messages, and Java applications. Nokia has vastly expanded from the 725 kb memory of the 7210.

The internal memory lets you store up to 300 phone book entries, 150 text messages or 50 picture/concatenated messages, 250 calendar notes, and up to 30 To-do list entries.

Since the memory is dynamic, you can share memory between your ring tones, pictures, and games.

Connections

On the 7250 you'll find an infrared port for transferring files between your computer and phone. On the bottom is the outlet for charging your phone, and a system connector, Pop-port.

This is Nokia's next innovation. Pop-port can automatically identify accessories attached to the 7250. It also offers stereo sound with the use of headphones. Lastly, its also where you can charge your accessories with a single USB cable without the use of separate power sources. Pop-port transmits up to 230 kb/s.

Unfortunately the 7250 still doesn't come with Bluetooth technology, for most people this wont be a problem, since it has an infrared port. If wires on your headsets don't bother you, or you don't have a PDA to connect to, then you'll be fine with the Nokia 7250.

One thing that we would have liked to see was software shipped with the Nokia 7250. That's not to say there's no software included, just that you have to download the whopping 56 MB file from Nokia's website. The PC Suite has an excellent package of tools for the 7250. Definitely worth downloading. It includes:
· Nokia Application Installer - Lets you install Java software on the 7250.
· Nokia Image Converter - Edit pictures for wallpapers or MMS.
· Nokia Sound Converter - Convert midi files to polyphonic ring tones.
· Nokia Content Copier - Backup your phone to a PC.
· Nokia PC WAP Manager - Configure WAP settings.
· Nokia Phone Editor - Edit contacts or SMS messages.
· Nokia PC Sync - Synchronize with applications like Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Organizer, Lotus Notes, and more.
· And much more...
Nokia has created its 7250 with a 4 chords capable ringtones, making a great phone for you to add many ringtones. The gaming system included in the Nokia 7250 is based on J2ME, supporting fun little games! Not surprisingly, as it is available in all cell phones nowadays, the 7250 offers both services EMS and SMS messaging. Additionally it has MMS messaging to send all your multimedia messages! The phone includes a calendar which is very easy to use and Nokia included a phone book having a capacity of 300. The prediction text tool exploits the T9 technology, being very easy to use. This cell phone is using the GPRS (Class 10) technology. The 7250 is also equipped with an infrared port for all your data transfer. The phone may be connected to a computer with a cable to transfer data between both systems.

The Nokia 7250 comes out a couple months after the popular 7210 model. Much of the two phones are similar: the 128 x 128 px 4096 color screen, FM radio, loudspeaker, and downloadable Java games. However the 7250 contains one exciting addition that us sure to please. The built-in digital camera. Add to that the sleek curves and looks of the 7200 series and you've got a phone turns people's heads. With all the great designs and appearances, you might be wondering about whether its all looks and no substance.
Design

Nokia's 7200 series has always been known to be the stylish phones in Nokia's arsenal, and the 7250 follows suit. The 7250 looks quite different from its predecessor the 7210. The tapered keypad has been replaced now with a more traditional design. However, on the inside much of the 7250 is the same as the 7210, not that that's a bad thing.

Nokia has kept the great speaker phone capabilities of the 7210, as well as the dynamic FM radio. Unfortunately what has also stayed the same is the 4,096 color screen, and 4 note polyphonic ring tones. With Samsung's new phones coming out with 65,000 color screens and 40 note polyphonic ring tones, the 7250 is trailing behind in the technology. Granted it's still better than most phones on the market, its just 9 months behind the best.

Nokia 7250 FrontOn a bright note, the 7250 plays ring tones through its internal speaker rather than an ordinary buzzer. That means you'll get vastly improved sound quality for ring tones, alerts, and game tones.

What has been improved upon is the new addition of a built-in camera. With Sony Ericsson, and Samsung planning cameras in their new phones, Nokia had to follow. In terms of image quality, it's not the best. But what would you expect from a camera phone. It's main purpose is talking on the phone. It does it's job for taking quick snaps of some idea you jog a napkin, or taking pictures of people to stick as your background. But aside from that, don't expect to get printable photos.

Things that Nokia hasn't added since the 7210 are still voice commands. If you use this feature a lot, it'll be quite disappointing to you. Better get your thumbs ready, because they'll get quite a workout.

Screen

The 4096 color passive matrix display is similar the the Nokia 7210. It has a resolution of 128 x 128 px and shows 5 lines of text and a service line. When messaging, 8 lines of text and 2 service lines are displayed due to scaling.

The 7250's screen is slightly brighter and clearer than the 7210, but ghosts are still an issue. With games that change a lot, you'll see remnants of the previous screen when it changes to the new screen. It's not that noticeable when you're using slow changing menu functions, but a game like bounce makes it more noticeable. The screen is bright and clear in dim conditions. However in sunny weather, the screen becomes a bit washed out.

Controls

Nokia 7250 Camera LensNokia decided to change back to a more traditional keypad design. If many of you liked the look of the 7200 series but were turned off by the problems the 7210 would give you while text messaging, then this might be your alternative.

Clean, stylish design doesn't hinder functionality this time around. So text messaging should be just as you remembered. If you've gotten used to the 7210, I'm sorry. You'll have to relearn everything all over again.

The Nokia 7250 is also equipped with the usual 4 direction keypad. Will Nokia ever switch to a 5 way jog dial? We can only hope.

Storage

Nokia 7250 BackThe 7250 comes with an incredible 5 MB of internal memory for storing pictures, ring tones, text messages, and Java applications. Nokia has vastly expanded from the 725 kb memory of the 7210.

The internal memory lets you store up to 300 phone book entries, 150 text messages or 50 picture/concatenated messages, 250 calendar notes, and up to 30 To-do list entries.

Since the memory is dynamic, you can share memory between your ring tones, pictures, and games.

Connections

On the 7250 you'll find an infrared port for transferring files between your computer and phone. On the bottom is the outlet for charging your phone, and a system connector, Pop-port.

This is Nokia's next innovation. Pop-port can automatically identify accessories attached to the 7250. It also offers stereo sound with the use of headphones. Lastly, its also where you can charge your accessories with a single USB cable without the use of separate power sources. Pop-port transmits up to 230 kb/s.

Unfortunately the 7250 still doesn't come with Bluetooth technology, for most people this wont be a problem, since it has an infrared port. If wires on your headsets don't bother you, or you don't have a PDA to connect to, then you'll be fine with the Nokia 7250.

One thing that we would have liked to see was software shipped with the Nokia 7250. That's not to say there's no software included, just that you have to download the whopping 56 MB file from Nokia's website. The PC Suite has an excellent package of tools for the 7250. Definitely worth downloading. It includes:
· Nokia Application Installer - Lets you install Java software on the 7250.
· Nokia Image Converter - Edit pictures for wallpapers or MMS.
· Nokia Sound Converter - Convert midi files to polyphonic ring tones.
· Nokia Content Copier - Backup your phone to a PC.
· Nokia PC WAP Manager - Configure WAP settings.
· Nokia Phone Editor - Edit contacts or SMS messages.
· Nokia PC Sync - Synchronize with applications like Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Organizer, Lotus Notes, and more.
· And much more...
Nokia has created its 7250 with a 4 chords capable ringtones, making a great phone for you to add many ringtones. The gaming system included in the Nokia 7250 is based on J2ME, supporting fun little games! Not surprisingly, as it is available in all cell phones nowadays, the 7250 offers both services EMS and SMS messaging. Additionally it has MMS messaging to send all your multimedia messages! The phone includes a calendar which is very easy to use and Nokia included a phone book having a capacity of 300. The prediction text tool exploits the T9 technology, being very easy to use. This cell phone is using the GPRS (Class 10) technology. The 7250 is also equipped with an infrared port for all your data transfer. The phone may be connected to a computer with a cable to transfer data between both systems.

A notable phone we have experimented is the Nokia 7260, a phone that was designed to rival a very competitive market. Launched around 01/10/2004 the 7260 supports the networks GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900. Measuring only 105 x 45 x 18 mm while weighting only 92 g, this cell phone makes an interesting tool. The Nokia 7260 also includes a compact camera of 0.3 MP / 640 x 480 px / Night Mode / Self-Timer / Video Recorder. It comes with a 760 mAh Li-Ion battery, letting a talk time of 3.00 hours and lets in standby mode about 350 hours. Its creators added a 900 KB memory, a good quantity for a regular use! An interesting option of the Nokia 7260 is the speaker phone, which is useful in the car for example! The nice screen of this cell phone lets you insert wallpapers of 128 x 128 px.
Nokia has created its 7260 with a 16 chords ringtones engine, ready for you to add a lot of ringtones. The gaming system included in the Nokia 7260 is based on J2ME, providing cool games to play with! Not surprisingly, being standard in all cell phone, the 7260 offers both services EMS and SMS messaging. It also supports MMS messaging to send all multimedia files! The calendar available is very easy to use and Nokia included a phone book having a contact list capacity of 1000.

The text prediction tool is based on the T9 technology, which is renowned as a good tool. The High speed data transfer uses the GPRS (Class 10) / EDGE technology. The 7260 comes with an infrared port for all your data transfer. Connection to a computer is supported with a cable to exchange data between both systems.

A notable phone we have experimented is the Nokia 7260, a phone that was designed to rival a very competitive market. Launched around 01/10/2004 the 7260 supports the networks GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900. Measuring only 105 x 45 x 18 mm while weighting only 92 g, this cell phone makes an interesting tool. The Nokia 7260 also includes a compact camera of 0.3 MP / 640 x 480 px / Night Mode / Self-Timer / Video Recorder. It comes with a 760 mAh Li-Ion battery, letting a talk time of 3.00 hours and lets in standby mode about 350 hours. Its creators added a 900 KB memory, a good quantity for a regular use! An interesting option of the Nokia 7260 is the speaker phone, which is useful in the car for example! The nice screen of this cell phone lets you insert wallpapers of 128 x 128 px.
Nokia has created its 7260 with a 16 chords ringtones engine, ready for you to add a lot of ringtones. The gaming system included in the Nokia 7260 is based on J2ME, providing cool games to play with! Not surprisingly, being standard in all cell phone, the 7260 offers both services EMS and SMS messaging. It also supports MMS messaging to send all multimedia files! The calendar available is very easy to use and Nokia included a phone book having a contact list capacity of 1000.

The text prediction tool is based on the T9 technology, which is renowned as a good tool. The High speed data transfer uses the GPRS (Class 10) / EDGE technology. The 7260 comes with an infrared port for all your data transfer. Connection to a computer is supported with a cable to exchange data between both systems.

Delivering powerful, complex and sophisticated communications and personal management applications on a device little bigger than an audio cassette tape with a screen which would barely occupy 3% of a 15" monitor is a singular challenge. Nokia believe that they have met this challenge in their Series 60 Platform that is used in the Nokia 7650 and the forthcoming Nokia 3650. Nokia developed the Series 60 User Interface to delivery ease of use to their future generation of Smartphones. The challenge was to develop a User Interface and physical navigation mechanism that was capable of being used single handed, was simple to use when accessing sophisticated messaging and multimedia and encouraged users to use it. The result is both an interface paradigm and a collection of applications which sits over V6.1 of Symbian OS. While I have been able to exercise the Series 60 User Interface for sometime using the SDK it was with some interest that I approached the Nokia 7650 to see how it worked on a device. In many respects I found that the emulator is a poor substitute for the hands-on experience of using Series 60. A great phone we had the chance to review is the Nokia 7650, a cell phone that has been created to compete this year's market. Released around 01/4/2002 the 7650 is supporting the networks GSM 900 / 1800. Being of size 114 x 56 x 26 mm while weighting only 154 g, this item's size will satisfy its most skeptic users. The Nokia 7650 is equipped with an interesting camera of 0.3 MP / 640 x 480 px. It comes with a 830 mAh Li-Ion battery, letting a talk time of 4.00 hours and lets in standby mode about 150 hours. Its creators added a 3.4 MB memory, enough for your daily tasks! A cool thing of the Nokia 7650 is the speaker phone, which is useful in the car for example! The screen on this cell phone lets installation of wallpapers of 176 x 208 px.
The User Interface
Basic navigation on the Series 60 takes place through one of 4 controls, three press buttons and a 5 way rocker switch, giving left, right, up, down and, on pressing, a select or activate action. These buttons can be supplemented by device specific controls, which on the Nokia 7650 includes a "voice" button and the on/off switch, which can also be used to access the phone profiles, keyboard and device locks. The graphical interface consists of a window with three zones or panes that can be overlaid by temporary messages and menus. The three screen zones are the Status, Main and Control panes as illustrated below.



The status pane contains 5 sub elements, the Title, Context, Navi, Signal and a Battery/Universal indicator.



While the status pane is usually visible it may be hidden in certain applications. The Main pane displays the application specific interface and usually consists of a list, a grid or a find (in association with a list). These can be replaced with status and soft indicators when the phone is in idle mode.

The Control pane indicates the actions that are achieved with each of the two soft keys at the bottom of the display. It also includes an indicator to show if a list has items above or below the currently displayed portion.

Overlaid over these elements are pop up, windows that display temporary information such as error messages or soft key menu options.

There is also a separate interface standard for games designed to maximize the space available for the game playing area.
The Applications
Series 60 provides a rich set of standard applications for:

* Personal Information Management, Phonebook, Calendar, Notepad, Photo Album, Pinboard (favorites), Clock, Calculator, To-Do, Composer, Unit Converter and Voice Recorder
* Synchronization, SyncML to the 1.0.1 specification for over the air synchronization of phonebook and calendar details
* GSM Telephony Applications, Advanced Phone features, Call Logs and Message Indications, User Profiles, Speed dialling plus a framework for support of Voice dialling and Voice tags, and
* Application Installation and Management, to allow applications to be loaded over the air or from a connected PC, the Java implementation is Symbians standard MIDP Java implementation.
* WAP browser using the 1.2.1 specification
* Messaging support for MMS, SMS, Nokia Smart Messaging based on specification 3.0.0 and POP3 or IMAP4 email


In addition to these standard application each phone is likely to have a unique set of vendors and phone specific application, the Nokia 7650 for example has an application to control the Camera and two games.
In Use
Nokia have suggested that the Series 60 is not only easy to use but encourages users to explore the functionality that the phone delivers. One interesting experience of the Nokia 7650 regards a person who has always had access to email and a digital camera, but has been an infrequent emailer. The process of turning on the PC, downloading the pictures and writing an email has always seemed more effort than getting a set of photos developed, scribbing a short note and posting them, because these services have always been accessible as part of the daily routine. Since she has had the opportunity to use the Nokia 7650 she has probably sent more emails in a couple of weeks than she would have done over the previous year. The immediacy is probably the key factor, see it, snap it, write it, post it all in a matter of minutes.

I found myself strangely compelled by the interface (which contributed to this article being posted a day late!). Despite initial reservations, largely based on the fact that I expected to find Series 60 disappointing when compared to the Series 80 interface on my 9210 I found this not to be the case. True the functionality is not as rich as the 9200’s, the absence of a notification alarm on To Do list items for example. However Series 60 should more than meet the requirements of both corporate and private users, people who want a phone that does more but don't want the size or cost of a 9200 series communicator or PDA and phone.
Conclusion
The Series 60 interface is in many ways all that Nokia suggest it is. It's simple to get to grips with yet powerful enough to deliver functionality that should more than satisfy the target owners.

The additional features of Series 60 phones, such as the Nokia 7650's camera and the Nokia 3650s ability to record and playback video also add to the appeal of these devices.

Given that competing platforms are not able to deliver the same ease of use, performance and features it is difficult to see Series 60 not being hugely successful. Device numbers are likely to be significant and the opportunities for developers tangible. Perhaps the greatest opportunity with Series 60 is that it will bring powerful computing to new ranges of consumers who are largely untapped as purchaser’s of add-on software.

Delivering powerful, complex and sophisticated communications and personal management applications on a device little bigger than an audio cassette tape with a screen which would barely occupy 3% of a 15" monitor is a singular challenge. Nokia believe that they have met this challenge in their Series 60 Platform that is used in the Nokia 7650 and the forthcoming Nokia 3650. Nokia developed the Series 60 User Interface to delivery ease of use to their future generation of Smartphones. The challenge was to develop a User Interface and physical navigation mechanism that was capable of being used single handed, was simple to use when accessing sophisticated messaging and multimedia and encouraged users to use it. The result is both an interface paradigm and a collection of applications which sits over V6.1 of Symbian OS. While I have been able to exercise the Series 60 User Interface for sometime using the SDK it was with some interest that I approached the Nokia 7650 to see how it worked on a device. In many respects I found that the emulator is a poor substitute for the hands-on experience of using Series 60. A great phone we had the chance to review is the Nokia 7650, a cell phone that has been created to compete this year's market. Released around 01/4/2002 the 7650 is supporting the networks GSM 900 / 1800. Being of size 114 x 56 x 26 mm while weighting only 154 g, this item's size will satisfy its most skeptic users. The Nokia 7650 is equipped with an interesting camera of 0.3 MP / 640 x 480 px. It comes with a 830 mAh Li-Ion battery, letting a talk time of 4.00 hours and lets in standby mode about 150 hours. Its creators added a 3.4 MB memory, enough for your daily tasks! A cool thing of the Nokia 7650 is the speaker phone, which is useful in the car for example! The screen on this cell phone lets installation of wallpapers of 176 x 208 px.
The User Interface
Basic navigation on the Series 60 takes place through one of 4 controls, three press buttons and a 5 way rocker switch, giving left, right, up, down and, on pressing, a select or activate action. These buttons can be supplemented by device specific controls, which on the Nokia 7650 includes a "voice" button and the on/off switch, which can also be used to access the phone profiles, keyboard and device locks. The graphical interface consists of a window with three zones or panes that can be overlaid by temporary messages and menus. The three screen zones are the Status, Main and Control panes as illustrated below.



The status pane contains 5 sub elements, the Title, Context, Navi, Signal and a Battery/Universal indicator.



While the status pane is usually visible it may be hidden in certain applications. The Main pane displays the application specific interface and usually consists of a list, a grid or a find (in association with a list). These can be replaced with status and soft indicators when the phone is in idle mode.

The Control pane indicates the actions that are achieved with each of the two soft keys at the bottom of the display. It also includes an indicator to show if a list has items above or below the currently displayed portion.

Overlaid over these elements are pop up, windows that display temporary information such as error messages or soft key menu options.

There is also a separate interface standard for games designed to maximize the space available for the game playing area.
The Applications
Series 60 provides a rich set of standard applications for:

* Personal Information Management, Phonebook, Calendar, Notepad, Photo Album, Pinboard (favorites), Clock, Calculator, To-Do, Composer, Unit Converter and Voice Recorder
* Synchronization, SyncML to the 1.0.1 specification for over the air synchronization of phonebook and calendar details
* GSM Telephony Applications, Advanced Phone features, Call Logs and Message Indications, User Profiles, Speed dialling plus a framework for support of Voice dialling and Voice tags, and
* Application Installation and Management, to allow applications to be loaded over the air or from a connected PC, the Java implementation is Symbians standard MIDP Java implementation.
* WAP browser using the 1.2.1 specification
* Messaging support for MMS, SMS, Nokia Smart Messaging based on specification 3.0.0 and POP3 or IMAP4 email


In addition to these standard application each phone is likely to have a unique set of vendors and phone specific application, the Nokia 7650 for example has an application to control the Camera and two games.
In Use
Nokia have suggested that the Series 60 is not only easy to use but encourages users to explore the functionality that the phone delivers. One interesting experience of the Nokia 7650 regards a person who has always had access to email and a digital camera, but has been an infrequent emailer. The process of turning on the PC, downloading the pictures and writing an email has always seemed more effort than getting a set of photos developed, scribbing a short note and posting them, because these services have always been accessible as part of the daily routine. Since she has had the opportunity to use the Nokia 7650 she has probably sent more emails in a couple of weeks than she would have done over the previous year. The immediacy is probably the key factor, see it, snap it, write it, post it all in a matter of minutes.

I found myself strangely compelled by the interface (which contributed to this article being posted a day late!). Despite initial reservations, largely based on the fact that I expected to find Series 60 disappointing when compared to the Series 80 interface on my 9210 I found this not to be the case. True the functionality is not as rich as the 9200’s, the absence of a notification alarm on To Do list items for example. However Series 60 should more than meet the requirements of both corporate and private users, people who want a phone that does more but don't want the size or cost of a 9200 series communicator or PDA and phone.
Conclusion
The Series 60 interface is in many ways all that Nokia suggest it is. It's simple to get to grips with yet powerful enough to deliver functionality that should more than satisfy the target owners.

The additional features of Series 60 phones, such as the Nokia 7650's camera and the Nokia 3650s ability to record and playback video also add to the appeal of these devices.

Given that competing platforms are not able to deliver the same ease of use, performance and features it is difficult to see Series 60 not being hugely successful. Device numbers are likely to be significant and the opportunities for developers tangible. Perhaps the greatest opportunity with Series 60 is that it will bring powerful computing to new ranges of consumers who are largely untapped as purchaser’s of add-on software.

Delivering powerful, complex and sophisticated communications and personal management applications on a device little bigger than an audio cassette tape with a screen which would barely occupy 3% of a 15" monitor is a singular challenge. Nokia believe that they have met this challenge in their Series 60 Platform that is used in the Nokia 7650 and the forthcoming Nokia 3650. Nokia developed the Series 60 User Interface to delivery ease of use to their future generation of Smartphones. The challenge was to develop a User Interface and physical navigation mechanism that was capable of being used single handed, was simple to use when accessing sophisticated messaging and multimedia and encouraged users to use it. The result is both an interface paradigm and a collection of applications which sits over V6.1 of Symbian OS. While I have been able to exercise the Series 60 User Interface for sometime using the SDK it was with some interest that I approached the Nokia 7650 to see how it worked on a device. In many respects I found that the emulator is a poor substitute for the hands-on experience of using Series 60. A great phone we had the chance to review is the Nokia 7650, a cell phone that has been created to compete this year's market. Released around 01/4/2002 the 7650 is supporting the networks GSM 900 / 1800. Being of size 114 x 56 x 26 mm while weighting only 154 g, this item's size will satisfy its most skeptic users. The Nokia 7650 is equipped with an interesting camera of 0.3 MP / 640 x 480 px. It comes with a 830 mAh Li-Ion battery, letting a talk time of 4.00 hours and lets in standby mode about 150 hours. Its creators added a 3.4 MB memory, enough for your daily tasks! A cool thing of the Nokia 7650 is the speaker phone, which is useful in the car for example! The screen on this cell phone lets installation of wallpapers of 176 x 208 px.
The User Interface
Basic navigation on the Series 60 takes place through one of 4 controls, three press buttons and a 5 way rocker switch, giving left, right, up, down and, on pressing, a select or activate action. These buttons can be supplemented by device specific controls, which on the Nokia 7650 includes a "voice" button and the on/off switch, which can also be used to access the phone profiles, keyboard and device locks. The graphical interface consists of a window with three zones or panes that can be overlaid by temporary messages and menus. The three screen zones are the Status, Main and Control panes as illustrated below.



The status pane contains 5 sub elements, the Title, Context, Navi, Signal and a Battery/Universal indicator.



While the status pane is usually visible it may be hidden in certain applications. The Main pane displays the application specific interface and usually consists of a list, a grid or a find (in association with a list). These can be replaced with status and soft indicators when the phone is in idle mode.

The Control pane indicates the actions that are achieved with each of the two soft keys at the bottom of the display. It also includes an indicator to show if a list has items above or below the currently displayed portion.

Overlaid over these elements are pop up, windows that display temporary information such as error messages or soft key menu options.

There is also a separate interface standard for games designed to maximize the space available for the game playing area.
The Applications
Series 60 provides a rich set of standard applications for:

* Personal Information Management, Phonebook, Calendar, Notepad, Photo Album, Pinboard (favorites), Clock, Calculator, To-Do, Composer, Unit Converter and Voice Recorder
* Synchronization, SyncML to the 1.0.1 specification for over the air synchronization of phonebook and calendar details
* GSM Telephony Applications, Advanced Phone features, Call Logs and Message Indications, User Profiles, Speed dialling plus a framework for support of Voice dialling and Voice tags, and
* Application Installation and Management, to allow applications to be loaded over the air or from a connected PC, the Java implementation is Symbians standard MIDP Java implementation.
* WAP browser using the 1.2.1 specification
* Messaging support for MMS, SMS, Nokia Smart Messaging based on specification 3.0.0 and POP3 or IMAP4 email


In addition to these standard application each phone is likely to have a unique set of vendors and phone specific application, the Nokia 7650 for example has an application to control the Camera and two games.
In Use
Nokia have suggested that the Series 60 is not only easy to use but encourages users to explore the functionality that the phone delivers. One interesting experience of the Nokia 7650 regards a person who has always had access to email and a digital camera, but has been an infrequent emailer. The process of turning on the PC, downloading the pictures and writing an email has always seemed more effort than getting a set of photos developed, scribbing a short note and posting them, because these services have always been accessible as part of the daily routine. Since she has had the opportunity to use the Nokia 7650 she has probably sent more emails in a couple of weeks than she would have done over the previous year. The immediacy is probably the key factor, see it, snap it, write it, post it all in a matter of minutes.

I found myself strangely compelled by the interface (which contributed to this article being posted a day late!). Despite initial reservations, largely based on the fact that I expected to find Series 60 disappointing when compared to the Series 80 interface on my 9210 I found this not to be the case. True the functionality is not as rich as the 9200’s, the absence of a notification alarm on To Do list items for example. However Series 60 should more than meet the requirements of both corporate and private users, people who want a phone that does more but don't want the size or cost of a 9200 series communicator or PDA and phone.
Conclusion
The Series 60 interface is in many ways all that Nokia suggest it is. It's simple to get to grips with yet powerful enough to deliver functionality that should more than satisfy the target owners.

The additional features of Series 60 phones, such as the Nokia 7650's camera and the Nokia 3650s ability to record and playback video also add to the appeal of these devices.

Given that competing platforms are not able to deliver the same ease of use, performance and features it is difficult to see Series 60 not being hugely successful. Device numbers are likely to be significant and the opportunities for developers tangible. Perhaps the greatest opportunity with Series 60 is that it will bring powerful computing to new ranges of consumers who are largely untapped as purchaser’s of add-on software.