Apple released a few new videos recently that, as usual, captured my attention. The first one is an explanation or demonstration of the new Macbook’s multi-touch trackpad, while the other is just another genius iPhone commercial.
When it comes to the new trackpad, I would have to play around with it to determine whether it is absolutely genius or just some more shtick, that when it comes down to using, is too difficult for the average user. Maybe I will go down to the new Israeli Apple store and get the answer to that question. Either way, the video is well done and fun to watch.
As for the commercial, I don’t know how they do it, but I have yet to see an Apple commercial that I was not extremely impressed with (as opposed to some other company’s ad campaigns that I have now watched 30-40 times and still do not understand). There is nothing unbelievable about it, they did not spend 30 million on it, and there are no famous actors in it. It is simple, straight forward, and just a very good ad.
If I would have told you three years ago that I would be trying to determine which 8 megapixel cellphone is the best handset, and there are quite a few to choose from, I don’t think you would have believed me, in fact I don’t think I would’ve believed me.
I am not sure which made bigger waves in 2008, the touch screen or the 8 megapixel phones, but what’s for sure, they are both pretty unbelievable achievements.
GSMArena has a detailed comparison between the four 8 megapixel monsters:
Samsung i8510 INNOV8: The most feature packed out of the bunch. You already know what I think of this powerhouse, although there is no question I prefer the full touch screen over the slider form factor.
Samsung M8800 Pixon: According to GSMArena’s conclusion, the Pixon does not meet the image quality of the other touch screen 8MP handset, the LG Renoir. However, its user interface is superior to that of the Renoir’s.
Sony Ericsson C905: I personally like this one the least, but GSMArena claims it has the best camera interface out of the group.
LG Renoir: Out of the two touch screens, this offers the best image quality and video performance.
In any case, I think it is safe to say we are no longer in the era that camera phones are inferior to standard digital cameras, with these 8 MP shooters, no need to carry around an additional camera.
In other big news, the HTC Touch HD is available in stores, and I for one cannot think of a better way to spend $800 right now. The only thing that can stop me now from getting myself a nice HD is some sort of a natural disaster, like say for example, a Storm.
In the cellular world, it is not often that we come across a truly useful app that can be used by not only smartphones or iPhones, but also by pretty standard handsets that only support Java apps. I recently read about a new Mobile IM client that aggregates all the available IM networks in one easy-to-use interface on your Java-enabled phone.
Of course it was not long before I downloaded my copy of Trutap and sure enough, a really great app that I am sure to use a lot of in the future. It combines AIM, MSN Messenger, GTalk, and even Facebook chat. It is kinda like a Digsby for your phone (I cannot recommend Digsby in strong enough words, amazing app).
Not many mobile apps have impressed me so fast, in fact I think the only other one was Fring, and there is no need to tell you how awesome Fring is (although it does not work on my Java-enabled 6288). Anyway, Trutap is entering a pretty competitive market, but I think it has all the apps that I know of beaten.
Motorola seems to be attempting to get back in the game, but just like last time, they are doing it all wrong. Motorola released the new Motorola Aura (at least last time, they had a pretty cool name, I mean, Aura?) handset, I think you should sit down for this.
Before I tell you what is so special about this phone, let me tell you what is not. The specs! The phone is 18 mm thick (just for reference, the original Razr was 14mm), it does not have 3G or Wifi, and the camera is a boring 2 megapixels.
So then someone please tell me why the heck this phone costs, (are you sitting down?), a whopping (I’m telling you, you’re gonna want to sit down for this one) $2000? OK so it is supposed to be one of those stylish looking phones, I get it, but at least the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte has 3G and a decent 3.2 megapixel camera.
Well, at least they did a good job with the design, right? Wrong! This phone is, in my opinion, one of the ugliest phones I have ever seen. Is it just me? Even in the below video, in which they are attempting to show off the beauty of the phone (I think that’s what they are doing, I need to brush up on my Russian), opening and closing the phone seems painfully difficult.
I don’t know about you, but Motorola making $2,000 phones when they have not made a good $50 phone in months, just does not sit well with me. Someone needs to talk some sense into whoever is making the decisions over there in the Motorola house, otherwise, at this rate, when I buy my son his first cellphone (he is now 4, I figure he has a few more months), he will never have heard of Motorola.
In Motorola’s defense, they have not given up. I have to admit that with phones like this, this, and this, I would’ve given up long ago.
The details about the new platform are not so exciting at all. Palm is dragging far behind the iPhone’s software and now with Android, their release will likely cost them millions in loses. We have already seen their phones running on Windows Mobile, so why all of a sudden do they need to release their own OS? I think their market share is dwindling and they soon will be out of business.
Google released a new version of their Mobile Gmail client for all Java phones as well as Blackberry devices. The new client brings offline email so you can read and compose your emails when you have no access to the Web. It also supports multiple account access and a few new shortcuts to access its menu.
I have used this app many times and as convenient as it was to have Gmail on my phone, it always struck me as a little primitive. After reading about the enhancements of the second generation Mobile Gmail, my opinion has not changed. In the 3 years since the original app came out, all Google could come up with is offline access? Didn’t Outlook do that like 10 years ago? OK, granted Outlook is on a PC and this is on a cellphone, but still, I expected much greater enhancements, like maybe the ability to have it run in the background and notify you of new mail.
Maybe Google should stop spending money on fighter jets (yes, Google bought a fighter jet) and pay their developers more money to actually make useful products.
On Friday, before I left the states I canceled my AT&T plan, which I signed up for to get an iPhone. I called customer support and told them I was leaving the country and I no longer needed the plan. I was told that since I was within 30 days of activation that I did not need to pay the early termination fee of $175, which I was pleasantly surprised to hear. I then went ahead and paid my bill and I was done. There was no mention of returning the phone or paying a fee. Pretty sweet deal.
Over the last few days, things seemed to have slowed down a little in the cellular world. I really did not come across any huge industry news when going through my daily blog routine, which by the way includes the following blogs/sites:
Only two pieces of news struck me as blog worthy, one because of its beauty and innovation, while the other, for the exact opposite reason.
Let’s start with the new Intel Mobile Internet Device (MID). It does not have a real keyboard and its specs are too weak for it to be a laptop. However, it is not small enough to be a phone, it seems to be in a category of its own, the category of MIDs.
This device looks pretty cool to me, kinda like a stretched out iPhone. There are not that many specs available, but the video of the thing definitely does a good job marketing the concept.
On the flip side of things, Motorola (wait, who?) is trying to get into the touch screen game. Except they are not doing a very good job, in my opinion. I don’t know what happened to the cellular giant of the first few years of the 21st century, but it seems that after the Razr (I do not mean that with any sort of sarcasm, I remember the first time I laid hands on a Razr, I was wowed!), they disappeared completely. Yea, they make an announcement here and there, but it is not for no reason, that I have not mentioned the word Motorola on this blog until now.
Anyway, Motorola announced their new handset, what they call the Crave. Seems like a cool name for a phone, right? Well maybe the name is cool, but the phone is far from it.
Besides its obvious ugliness, the specs are outright boring. 2.8 inch touchscreen (not quite there), 2 MP camera with no flash (I am falling asleep writing this), 138 MB internal memory (didn’t Bill Gates once say a few MBs will be enough?), and, are you ready for the big feature? Bluetooth! OK, I am exaggerating a little, it also has GPS, but all in all this phone does nothing for me.
I am sure Motorola will sell a few of these devices, but I have one major question about this phone. OK, so it is a little on the boring side, and not the most attractive of handsets, fine, I can handle that. The only thing I really don’t get here is, why would Motorola cover the touch screen display with an external plastic cover? Isn’t the point of a full touch screen the ease of accessibility? Why would one want to have to lift a piece of plastic every time one wants to access the very feature that is supposed to make the phone somewhat modern? Anyone, anyone?
If you are still reading this post, maybe you are a lover of Motorola, then you can watch the video of the crave below.
To sum things up, I would have expected the Intel MID and the Motorola Crave to have been announced in different times (the MID in 2020 and the Crave in 1999), with at least a 20 year gap between them, and not in the same week. Seems like Motorola is going to have to work just a little harder.
Oh, and while I am giving Motorola some advice, I have 3 words for them: STOP MAKING RAZRS. I don’t care that they still sell, it has been too long to continue selling a phone that’s only appeal is the fact that it is slim, too long!
There really is no way to post about all the new handsets that are released on a daily basis. The trick is to pick the ones that generate the most hype or offer the most innovation. Well, the Sony Xperia is definitely bringing a lot of hype, but is it justified? Does the Xperia do anything that the iPhone, Omnia, HD, or Innov8 doesn’t?
Well, to be honest, I do not have an opinion, YET! I am not wowed by the phone, but then again, I might not have given it the attention it deserves, I was kinda busy looking at new phones like the Tube and the HD.
I am not generally a huge fan of Sony Ericsson’s phones, but I could be wrong, it has happened once or twice before. Just because my old Sony Ericsson K610 was a pretty boring and unimpressive phone, doesn’t mean they all are.
In fact, the specs on the Xperia are quite impressive. It offers a 3 inch wide VGA (800 x 480) touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera (with photo light), A2DP Bluetooth, aGPS, WiFi, and microSD, just 400MB on board. Navigation is accomplished via touch, arc-sliding QWERTY, 4-way key and optical joystick.
I will study this phone and read people’s reviews more carefully before I express my opinion (wow, my wife would be so impressed, I am actually thinking before talking), but in the meantime, check out these videos:
-Hillel
I’m visiting family in the states for a few weeks and I got bored, so I bought an iPhone. I have been thinking about it for a while now and I finally did it. I had to buy the phone with a plan and I am planning on canceling the plan and paying the $175 early cancellation fee. The people in the AT&T store claim that I will need to return the phone but I called AT&T and they said I wouldn’t. I will update when I try to cancel the plan.
Now how I unlocked the phone? You need something called a turbo sim that you attach to the sim card in the phone and it tricks the phone to thinking that it is the original sim card. You can check it out here.
So the total cost will be: $199 +$175+16.75 = 390.75 Not bad for an unlocked iPhone that is still under Apple Care because the turbo sim is totally external so no breach of warranty.
I’m happy with the phone and enjoying all the features. Ill blog about them later.
I don’t know when it happened, but it seems to me that in the world of cellphone manufacturers, HTC came out of left field, and is now a market dominating player. After announcing highly impressive handsets like the HTC Touch Pro, the ever-so-talked-about G1, and of course my all time favorite, the Touch HD, looks like HTC is wowing us once again with the introduction of the HTC T8290.
The T8290 is yet another full touch screen handset, with a display matching that of the Touch HD, a whopping 480 x 800 pixels, 3.8 inch screen. As if that was not enough, the T8290 offers something else to the consumer, something that its competitors do not, WiMAX!
WiMAX, for all of you who have not heard, is the next big thing. It enables you to connect to broadband, just like a WiFi hotspot, with one major difference. A WiMAX signal has a 30 mile radius. That means if you are within 30 miles of a WiMAX tower, you can surf the Web at speeds even higher than the ones we use today.
Anyway, this is the kind of phone that can change the way we think completely. Let’s hope other manufacturers follow in the path of HTC, both in terms of design as well as technology.
