Well not quite, there’s nothing official yet apart from a webpage on the US Cellular site touting the Samsung Code aka i220. However we’ve got to say that the Code is damned ugly, it looks like the designer wasn’t too sure what layout to have on the front of the unit and has ended up with a mixture of everything. If you haven’t moved on already at the sight of the i220 here are some more details on the unit
* Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard Edition
* Full QWERTY keypad
* 2.0 MP camera
* Bluetooth® 2.0 connectivity
* Plays nicely with MIDI, MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA, QCLEP, AU, AMR, RA audio formats
* Plays nicely with H.263, MPEG4, WMV, H.264, RV cideo formats
* 320 x 240px res display
* 4.61″ (H) x 2.3″ (W) x .54″ (D)
* 3.6 ounces
* Up to 32 GB of expandable memory
* 12.5 days of standby time
* 6 hours of talk-time
* Software includes Internet Explorer® Mobile & Office Mobile
Some nice specs we must admit, but unfortunately no price tag yet nor launch date so we’re a bit surprised to see it on the US Cellular website, but there it is in all its, err, glory. Yeah, it is ugly isn’t it?
CellularSouth have just unleashed RIM’s Blackberry Pearl Flip8230 handset on their customers. The Flip 8230 sports a US$100 price tag including the usual two year shackle and an online $50 discount. According to the marketing spiel the unit
combines the best of a smartphone with the convenience of a flip form factor. In addition to high-speed data capability, e-mail, a 2-megapixel camera and a video recorder, the Pearl Flip comes preloaded with the BlackBerry App World
How they managed to fit a whole world in there is beyond us ;-) but seriously it’s a definite mid-road product, wannabe smartphone yet trying to appeal to trendy handsets consumers, with even a pink option being available. Anyway to help you decide whether you’d take a chance on the Pearl Flip 8230 here’s the low-down on the specs
* 3G High-Speed Data Capable
* 2.4″, 240×320-pixel internal color display
* 1.6″, 128×160-pixel external color display
* Supports the following e-mail protocols - BlackBerry, POP3, IMAP4, MS OWA, Exchange, Domino, and Groupwise
* Supports the following video formats: MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.263 and WMV
* Supports the following audio formats: MP3, MIDI, AMR-NB, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and WMA
* 2 Mp camera
* 128MB of memory with microSD card slot
* 3.98″x1.97″x0.69″
* 3.6 ounces
* 3.5 hours of talk-time
* 216 hours on standby
* CDMA 850/1900 MHz
* 3.5mm headphone jack
For those of us who just can’t decide between a trendy cellphone or an app laden smartphone, the Blackberry Pearl Flip 8230 from CellularSouth may just be the answer. US$100 seems a pretty good price for the unit. If you’ve played with one of these suckers let us know what you think.
Finally Sony have unleashed their response to Apple’s iPod Touch with the X Series Walkman, which sports a 3 inch OLED touchscreen, Wi-Fi connectivity and 33 hours of music playback time. It comes in two capacities, namely 16 and 32 GB and has Slacker Radio integrated. Here are some more numbers on the Sony X Series Walkman
* 3 inch OLED WQVGA 432 x 240 res display
* Supports MP3/WMA/AAC/L-PCM audio formats
* Supports AVC(H.264/AVC)/MPEG-4/WMV video formats
* 2.2 x 3.9 x 0.5 inches
* 3.5 oz
* 5 band equalizer
The 32 GB version will set you back US$400 whilst the 16GB unit has a price tag of US$300, which match Apple’s prices for their iPod Touch exactly for similar capacities. The specs are relatively similar too, with the Walkman being slightly lighter, so we guess the difference will be in the displays. The iPod Touch boasts a larger display and resolution but what about the quality? Unfortunately we’ve seen neither unit in action, so if you’ve taken a look at either the Sony Walkman X Series or the Apple iPod Touch let us know what you think.
If you’re happy to accept a two year shackle with AT&T then Nokia’s cool smartphone, the E71x, is available now over at AT&T. Unshackled it’ll only set you back US$300, but at $100 it’s got to be a great bargain. Check out the features on Nokia’s E71x smartphone
* 2.4 inch 240 x 320 res display
* Symbian OS
* QWERTY keyboard
* 3.2 Mp camera with live video capture and playback
* Supports MP3, AAC, Real , WAV, WMA audio formats
* Text, image and video messaging along with IM for AOL, Windows Live and Yahoo! Messenger
* Full HTML web browser
* Calendar, Alarm clock, Call Waiting, Caller ID, Personal Organizer tools
* 3G high speed connectivity
* Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
* USB connectivity
* Speakerphone
* 4 hours talktime
* 12 days standby time
* 4.4 ounces
* 4.4 x 2.2 x 0.4 inches
* microSD slot (up to 8 GB)
* 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS
* 850/1900 MHz 3G
Some nice features on the Nokia E71x and all for only US$100 after two year contract and $50 mail-in rebate. We quite like the E71x and so do CNet, here’s their quick video review from CTIA 2009 in April.
So there you have it, the Nokia E71x looks like it could be a winner with some great features and price tag - no touchscreen admittedly but then what do you expect for $100.
We weren’t too impressed by the Cowon S9 16GB offering just before Christmas and now they’ve released a 32 GB version at least at Amazon. We’re still not too impressed as you’re basically paying over the odds for a touchscreen device but we are hearing great things about AMOLED displays so may be the 32GB S9 is worth a look. Here are the details on the unit
* 3.3 inch 16:9 AMOLED 480 x 272 res display
* Bluetooth, Voice recorder with internal microphone, FM radio and TV-out supporting composite connections
* 11 hours of video playback
* 55 hours of audio playback
* 3.5 mm headphone socket
* Codec Support for MP3/2/1 WMA FLAC OGG WAV APE
* 10.4 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches
* 1 lb
* Touch sensitive interface
We still think US$300 is a touch too much for a PMP, but you be the judge, and if you check one out let us know what you think of the Cowon S9 PMP.
MSI have unleashed an upgraded Wind U100 Plus with an Intel Atom N280 processor sitting inside plus a couple of extra colour options, Metallic Blue and Champagne Rose. It also sports XP Home, which I’m pretty sure is unsupported soon, unless of course Miscrosoft extend the deadline again. Other nice features on the Wind U100 Plus include 802.11n connectivity, built-in speakers, mic and webcam. The unit is quite obviously aimed at the user on the move especially when its marketing blurb starts out
Strolling down Avenue des Champs Elysees in Paris with style, I get swept off my feet by the Aegean Sea in Greece, let my hair down in a Brazilian Carnival ….
And so forth. Well I’m more interested in seeing some hard specs on MSI’s WInd U100 Plus and here they are
* Intel Atom N280 Processor
* Windows XP Home
* 10″ 1024 x 600 LCD Display
* Convenient Magnifying Capability
* 802.11b / g / n Wireless connectivity with Bluetooth
* 1 GB of memory
* 160 GB SATA HDD
* 1.3 Mp webcam
* 4 in 1 card reader
* Built-in 10/100 LAN
* 3 x USB 2.0 ports
* 3 or 6 cell battery option
* 260 x 180 x 31.5 mm
* 1.0 kg with 3 cell battery
Unfortunately I was unable to track down a price-tag for the U100 Plus but it sure looks like a snazzy unit, so hopefully MSI will do the honourable thing and hang a snazzy price-tag on the unit too.
More cruising around the net meant we ended up stumbling across the Samsung Impression over at AT&T. This snazzy little touchscreen slider rocks in at US$200 after rebate and shackle, but is available shackle-less for US$400. Here are a few more bits and pieces on the Samsung Impression
* 3.2 inch AMOLED 240 x 400 res 262K colour screen
* Quad-band and 3G connectivity
* Touchscreen and QWERTY slider interfaces
* 3 Mp camera with 3x digital zoom
* Music player supporting AAC, MP3, Real file formats
* Text messaging with Predictive text and IM - AOL, Windows Live and Yahoo! Messenger
* Mobile email - AOL, Yahoo, Windows Live, AT&T Yahoo
* Talk time up to 3 hours
* Standby time up to 250 hours
* microSD slot
* Web Browser
* Blue-tooth 2.0 and USB connectivity
Some quite cool features on the Impression, but may be $200 is a touch too high a price-tag? Smartphones seem to be down around that mark these days. Anyway the unit is loved by its owners as proved by a 4.8 out of 5 average rating on the AT&T website and just to cap it all off Engadget have been enthusing over the AMOLED screen
the screen is absolutely amazing, with mega-black blacks and colors that seem to pop right off the screen
So may be that price-tag is justified given the apparent quality of the Samsung Impression’s display. Here’s a positive review from Cnet Loaded.
So everyone seems to like the Samsung Impression from AT&T, so if you’re an owner of one of these suckers please let us know what you think.
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. We’re still not too impressed as you’re basically paying over the odds for a touchscreen device but we are hearing great things about AMOLED displays so may be the 32GB S9 is worth a look. Here are the details on the unit
