Captivated by the Samsung Captivate from AT&T

July 27th, 2010

Samsung Captivate AT&T

AT&T have got a new smartphone out there, namely the Samsung Captivate. The Android based 4 inch AMOLED unit will set you back $200 with the usual two year plan or $500 sans plan. Here are the specs on what looks like a decent smartphone from AT&T

* Android 2.1 OS
* 4 inch 800×480 res AMOLED capacitive touch screen
* 5 MP Camera with 4x zoom
* 802.11x connectivity
* Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity
* GSM, UMTS networks
* GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA high-speed data
* 1 GHz processor
* Music player with streaming radio
* IM AOL®, Windows Live, GoogleTalk, and Yahoo!® Messenger
* POP, IMAP4, SMTP email
* 5 hours 50 min talk time
* 340 hours standby
* 4.5 oz
* 4.18 x 2.5 x 0.39 inches
* 16 GB internal memory expandable to 32 GB (microSD)

It certainly has all the features you’d expect from a decent smartphone. Here are a few reviews of the Samsung Captivate for you to mull over.

infoSync - 85% - screen, OS speed positives, iPhone 4 better negative
CNET - 4 stars out of 5 - screen, 16GB memory positives, lack of apps and no flash negatives
phoneArena - 8.5 out of 10 - screen, processor speed positives, photo and call quality negatives
PCMag - 4 out of 5 - processor speed, syncing options positives, flash, lack voice dialing over bluetooth negatives

Pretty good reviews all round for the Samsung Captivate. If you’re keen then check out the product info ovet at AT&T.

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US Cellular holds Android to high Acclaim

July 3rd, 2010

Samsung Acclaim at US Cellular
US Cellular now have their first Android OS phone out there with the Samsung Acclaim R880. $30 and a two year plan will get you the QWERTY slider, Android powered Acclaim which sports a 480×320 res display with a 3 MP camera.

* 3.2″ HVGA touchscreen with sliding QWERTY keyboard
* AndroidTM 2.1 (Eclair)
* 3.0 MP Camera/Camcorder with LED flash
* Full HTML Browser
* Stereo Bluetooth connectivity
* Video and Music Player
* Wi-Fi connectivity
* E911 Ready
* CDMA / EVDO
* 800 / 1900MHz
* Talk Time up to 8 hours
* Standby Time Up 18.8 days*
* 4.49″ x 2.32″ x 0.6″
* 4.59 ounces
* 4 GB microSD Card

We like the look of the Samsung Acclaim but the guys over at Android Police are most definitely under-whelmed with the features on the Acclaim. If you’ve taken the plunge on a Samsung Acclaim from US Cellular let us know what you think.

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AT&T and Pantech - In the Pursuit of Happiness

June 10th, 2010

AT&T Pantech Pursuit
AT&T have just added the Pantech Pursuit to their cellphone lineup. The Pursuit is aimed at text-messaging users with a neat slider QWERTY keyboard under the display. AT&T are offering the Pursuit for a meagre $50 after rebates but require customers to have a $20 a month messaging plan over and above their two year voice plan. As well as a QWERTY slider, the Pursuit has a touchscreen interface, 2.0 MP camera along with mobile email and easy-to-use Quick Messaging.

* 2.8 inch 320 x 240 res 262K TFT LCD display
* GSM/GPRS/EDGE Quad-Band 850/900/1800/1900MHz
* UMTS/HSDPA Dual-Band 850/1900MHz 3G
* EDGE high speed data network
* Bluetooth connectivity
* Predictive text for fast typing
* Backlit Keys
* 930 mAh lithium ion battery
* Up to 5 hours talk time
* Up to 15 days standby time
* 4.58 ounces
* 3.67 x 2.51 x 0.58 inches
* microSD memory
* 2 MP 7x zoom camera
* Supported music formats MP3, MIDI, iMelody, WAV, MMF, WMA, 3GPA
* Text Messaging
* Instant Messaging (IM)

The Pursuit comes in two colours, blue and green with glossy black being a notable exception. So much for all the numbers, the burning question is what is the Pantech Pursuit actually like? Well, it has already acquired a 4.8 out of 5 rating on the AT&T website, while over at CNet it’s received a 3.5 score out of five from the editors and testfreaks give it nine out of ten. Negatives noted in the reviews included small screen and a low spec camera whilst positives include good design and interface.

We do like the look of the Pantech Pursuit, so if you’re up for a funky-looking slider touchscreen cellphone then AT&T may just have what you’re after. If you’ve already taken the Pursuit plunge, do let us know what you think.

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LG Ally says Aloha at Verizon

May 3rd, 2010

LG Ally at Verizon
We can’t find any details on Verizon’s website about the LG Ally (aka Aloha) but all the rumours are indicating it’ll be available from them on the 20th of May. Originally named Aloha, the LG LU2300 slider handset sports a SnapDragon CPU and a 3.5 inch AMOLED touchscreen. Here are the full details for you Verizon and LG fans out there

* 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250
* 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen at 480×800 pixels
* QWERTY keyboard
* Android 2.1
* 720p video out
* 5MP camera
* D-pad
* RAM capacity 512 MB
* ROM capacity 512 MB
* Mono speaker
* 3.5 mm audio jack
* Networks GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS900, UMTS2100
* microSD, microSDHC, TransFlash expansion slots
* USB 2.0 client, 480Mbit/s micro-USB
* 802.11b, 802.11g connectivity

No news on a price tag yet, but we would imagine it’ll be on the cheap side. The unit sports all the expected bells and whistles but on the looks front we just think it’s a bit, well, ugly. Brushed metal on the keyboard and the D-pad on the front of the unit? Just not quite what we expected from the usually stylish LG boffins. Oh well, may be the price tag will make it more attractive, guess we’ll find out on the 20th of the month.

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Verizon get real with the Samsung Reality

April 20th, 2010

Verizon Samsung Reality

As of Thursday you will be able to get hold of the Samsung Reality slider cellphone courtesy of Verizon Wireless. The Reality is a QWERTY slider with a 3 inch touchscreen display and sports the Communities Widget which allows you to update your status on your fav social networking site at the touch of a button. Here are the rest of the details on the Samsung Reality

* Colour options - Piano Black and City Red
* 3 inch WQVGA (240 x 400) full touch screen
* Horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard
* Text, picture, video and voice messaging; Mobile IM; Mobile Chat; Mobile Email; and Mobile Web Email
* 3.2 megapixel camera
* Bluetooth® technology
* Corporate Email support for Microsoft Office Exchange
* microSD™ card slot with support for up to 16 GB
* Access to social networking services
* VZ Navigator® capable

The Samsung Reality will set you back $80 after a $50 credit rebate as long as you purchase an appropriate two year plan from Verizon. It seems these days that the line between smartphone and ordinary cellphone is blurring and the reality is that consumers are now getting better units for less of their hard-earned cash. The Samsung Reality is just another example of this phenomenon in action and if you’re after a neat slider social networking unit, then the Samsung Reality may just be the answer for you.

Source: Verizon Wireless

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Creative launch Zen X-Fi2

April 9th, 2010

Creative Labs Zen X-Fi2

Today we’re taking a look at Creative’s PMP, the Zen X-Fi2, which is a 3 inch touchscreen unit available in three capacities, starting at 8GB, through 16 and ending up at 32 gigs of media zeroes and ones. Here’s a full list of the bits and pieces on the Creative Zen X-Fi2

* 102mm x 57mm x 11.6mm
* 75g
* 3.0″ TFT Touch Screen LCD, 262k colors
* 400 x 240 pixels resolution
* Up to 25hrs of audio playback
* Up to 5hrs of video playback
* microSD memory card support
* Video formats WMV, MPEG4-SP, DivX and XviD
* Audio formats MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, FLAC
* Image formats JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, PNG
* Built-in FM Radio
* USB 2.0 connectivity

The touchscreen functionality is, dare we say, a nice touch removing any ugly buttons from the front of the unit and the X-Fi2 also supports FLAC audio, a none too popular format amongst PMPs. The Creative website says there are four capacities available but don’t supply a price tag for the 64 GB so whilst we don’t doubt its existence we’re not totally convinced about its availability. The X-Fi2 is available at Amazon in its three capacities for the following price tags - $111 (8 GB), $141 (16 GB) and $202 (32 GB). We must admit these look like good prices to us for a touchscreen PMP, let us know what you think.

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HTC HD2 sold out at T-Mobile

April 3rd, 2010

T-Mobile HTC HD2

We may have missed the HTC HD2 mobile phone when it appeared at T-Mobile but judging by the ‘Sold Out’ sign hanging on the unit at their website not many others did! This touchscreen unit with a speedy 1 GHz processor sure is popular with 21,000 units shipping in just 24 hours. Just in case there’s anyone left who hasn’t got one and is interested here’s the low-down on the HTC HD2 from T-Mobile

* 1Ghz Processor
* Touch Screen with On-Screen Keyboard
* 16GB Memory Card Included
* Direct access to Windows Marketplace
* 5 Megapixel Camera
* GPS built-in
* Messaging [Text, IM & Picture]
* Media Player
* Send and receive messages from personal and work e-mail.
* Real Web Browsing with Wi-Fi
* Stereo Bluetooth® Connectivity
* Video capture/playback
* 2.6 x 4.8 x 0.4 in
* 5.5 oz
* Talk time up to 6 hours
* Standby time up to 20 days

Rather ironically the HD2 will not be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 7, so a lot of people have rushed out and bought a soon-to-be out of date cellphone. Of course the HTC HD2 is here right now and the must-haves may not be be able to wait until ‘later’ this year for Phone 7.

Intriguingly we couldn’t find mention of a price tag on the T-Mobile website for the HTC HD2 but according to a post on PhoneReviews $200 will get you a unit plus a two year plan. We’re not convinced the HTC HD2 is great value at this price but obviously a large number of you are convinced otherwise!

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