If inexpensive dual screen clamshells are your style then Verizon may have just the unit for you with their launch of the LG VX5500. The specs are nothing flash but with a US$50 price tag (plus two year shackle) what would you expect? Anyway here’s the low-down on the VX5500
* One touch speakerphone
* Bluetooth connectivity
* VGA Camera (640 x 480 max res) with self-timer
* Text, Image and Voice messaging
* Web Mail and IM
* VZ Navigator functionality
* Voicemail
* Calculator, Calendar, Alarm Clock, Stopwatch, Notepad
* 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 800 MHz CDMA
* 3.56″ x 1.84″ x 0.73″ inches
* 3.05 oz
* External 96 x 64 res 1.04 inch display
* Internal 176 x 220 res 1.76 inch display
* 300 minutes usage battery time
* 440 hours standby battery time
There’s an intriguing feature on the unit called Verizon Chaperone. This feature enables the VX5500 to be a chaperone ‘parent’ or ‘child’ phone. A parent unit can be used to locate a child unit and also receive alerts when a child unit moves outside a designated ‘Child Zone’. Needless to say parents will love this and kids will hate it. Also for the exceedingly lazy and irresponsible parents, Verizon warn you that
Chaperone is not a child management tool or substitute for adult supervision.
Really? Anyway we reckon it’ll take a geeky kid about a week to hack a Child unit to send incorrect data back to the parent phone. Have fun kids!
We’d not picked up on the AT&T Samsung SGH-i907 (or Epix) when it first came out, but we managed to find a great review of this sucker over at pocketnow.com. Here’s the video
They like the Samsung Epix but are not overly excited about it, so a user hands-on is probably in order prior to purchase to make sure it’s the right unit for you.
Mitsubishi’s awesome 65 inch LaserVue HDTV is now available at certain retailers around the US. No coincidence that we are less than two months away from that special day! Unfortunately as well as taking up a sizable chunk of your lounge the LaserVue will also take a big chunk out of your wallet. In fact almost 7,000 chunks, enough to induce a bank manager’s coronary. However the LaserVue reviews are good. Here are a few quotes from the press release to amuse you whilst you check your bank balance.
With operating power at approximately 135W, LaserVue is environmentally friendly, consuming approximately one-third the power of today’s LCD TVs, and one-fourth of plasma TVs.
LaserVue has demonstrated a reproduction of color gamut in excess of 200 percent of BT.709, delivering two times the color of many of today’s HDTVs. Brightness has been demonstrated at approximately 500 nits. Additional features for LaserVue include Smooth 120Hz(TM), x.v. Color(TM) and 1080p with an Ultra Thin Frame.
The LaserVue also comes with 3D-ready viewing capabilities and is 10 inches ‘thin’. It would still take a major shift in the US$7000 price tag to get me drooling but judging by the review, Mitsubishi may have a winner on their hands with ever so slightly more affluent.
All you Blackberry fans out there should mark down November 4th in your calendars. On that day, AT&T will unleash the Blackberry Bold on the world. What’s so special about the Bold? Well here’s a few choice bits and pieces on the sexy unit
* GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA
* Wi-Fi connectivity
* GPS
* 480 x 320 res LCD display
* 5 hours talktime
* 13 days standby
* 1 GB of onboard memory (expandable)
* 624 MHz CPU
* 128 MB flash memory
* Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
* 2 Mp camera (still and video)
There appear to be a few teething troubles with the unit according to Electronista, such 3G signal issues, but we’re sure AT&T will have them ironed out by November 4th. Overall the unit looks pretty good and may be RIM’s iPhone killer. Of course the proof is in the pudding and we will shall wait to see what users have to say about the unit before passing our own judgement on the Bold.
With an intriguing moniker Sprint have unleashed the Samsung Rant mobile phone on the unsuspecting world. Are Sprint are expecting only angry users to pick up this model and vent their frustration via the QWERTY slider? We’re going to assume they would like the unit to reach a broader market! Anyway this low-end unit sports a number of cool features, so if you can handle having a phone called Rant read on
* QWERTY slider
* Access to Sprint’s Music Store and Sprint TV
* GPS
* Web and email functionality
* 2.0 Mp still and video camera
* Speakerphone
* Bluetooth connectivity
* 4.5 x 2.1 x 0.7 inch
* 4.58 oz
* 5.6 hours of talk time
* MicroSD memory card slot
The phone also has a nifty US$50 price tag after rebates and two year plan. Despite all of this though we still feel that the Rant isn’t anything to, err, rant or rave about.
At US$300 the Sherwood BDP-5003 Blu-ray player is one of the cheapest around, but those of us eagerly awaiting its arrival will have to wait an extra month as it’s planned launch for this month has now been delayed until November according to this press release from the company. The unit sports a basic array of bells and whistles
* BD Bonus View support
* 1080p video playback at 60 Hz or 24 Hz
* lossless audio from both Dolby and DTS
* HDMI 1.3
* DVD upscaling
An exceedingly basic option but for US$300 what do you expect? Well, may be the extra bells and whistles available on the Panasonic DMP-BD35K unit which sports a similar price tag. Try again Sherwood.
AT&T have just unleashed the Sony Ericsson W760 handset on their 3G data network. The W760 is a sort of hybrid Walkman/cellphone with Wii handset aspirations. You can control game functions by tilting the unit and change tracks by shaking it. These intriguing functions aside here’s the hard facts on the W760
* Network connectivity - GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900, EDGE, UMTS 850, 1900, 2100 and HSDPA
* Standby time of 350 hours
* Talktime of 4 hours
* 320 x 240 res display
* 103.0 x 48.0 x 15.0 mm
* 103 g
* 40 MB memory expandable up to 4 GB with a M2 memory card
* 3.2 Mp camera with 3.2 digital zoom
* Bluetooth stereo connectivity
* Media Player with Shake Control
* Web Browser
* PC Synchronisation
* USB connectivity
* IM, SMS, MMS and email
* GPS functionality
AT&T are offering this sucker at around US$130 with the usual two year contract. On the surface, the W760 doesn’t like a bad little unit if you’re into music and games with your cellphone. However the more serious cellphone may shy away from it. But we think it looks OK, and kinda funky if only for the novelty factor of seeing users shake the unit to change tracks.
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