Archive for the ‘Mobile Phone’ Category

Larry Magid of CBS decided to compare his gadget bills to those of his parents, and ended up wishing he didn’t. The network’s tech guru found, to what we would have assumed was no one’s surprise, we spend a lot more on gadgets than the previous generations. How much more? Well check out the quick list below:

Cost of phone in 1970 - $8 a month plus long distance charges.
Cost of phone now - $90 a month, $50 for cell phone, $40 for land line (more if you also have a Skype bill).

Cost of TV in 1970 - Free. Buy the TV, buy an antenna and you were good to go.
Cost of TV now - $120+ for premium package on cable or satellite.

Cost of Internet in 1970 - Inter-what?
Cost of Internet now - $50 seems to be an average monthly fee for fast DSL or cable.

And that’s just scratching the surface. There are also subscription based computer services to contend with, such as Norton or McAfee anti-virus packages, and online services like Yahoo! Mail that charge you monthly fees to remove advertisements.

In the end, according to Magid’s math we spend around $6,500 between electricity and subscription fees on our gadgets and electronics, or more than half of the median family income in 1970. [Source: CBS News]

Upon first glance, the new wearable cell phone concept from designer Massimo Marrazzo, pictured above, is a bit unnerving. The image of the woman doing the hand-phone move evokes painful memories of the last person we ever saw do that.

We never called them.

This concept consists of a central processor, worn on the back of the hand, and wires that extend from that processor to the tip of the thumb and pinky for optimum hand-phoning ability. Interesting, yes, but does anyone even want to hand-phone? That is the real question. Our best guess is no.

If this concept ever went into production, technophiles might be interested in owning one just for the looks they would surely receive. The problem is, most people wouldn’t be staring out of envy. They would be seeing some poor schmuck mouthing “call me” and making that silly hand-phone gesture across a crowded room. [Source: Textually.org]

Sorry, T-Mobile yanks, this one actually goes out to your German cousins; we still don’t have a Bold commitment stateside from anyone other than AT&T. It’s cool, you’ve got the WiFi Curve, remember? But yeah, back to T-Mobile Germany for a second — those guys have become the first anywhere to slap a price tag on RIM’s latest and greatest, charging €219.95 (about $348) on the carrier’s Max S plan and going down from there if you want a heftier voice / data package. T-Mob claims that interested parties will see the Bold pop up in July, which should give you enough time to pick out a nice, rugged case.

[Via Mobile Bulgaria]

If you’ve had your eye on Samsung’s forthcoming Omnia, you’ve known good and well it was coming to Europe sometime this month. Thankfully, Sammy has removed the mystery by announcing that Italy will get first dibs when it launches in said country on July 22nd. We aren’t told who will be second, third or last, but most major European locales should have it before September dawns. Obviously, prices will vary depending on operator and contract terms, but the 8GB edition (along with an Xbox 360 Arcade, as part of some random promotion) will reportedly be €499 ($789) without subsidy. Glean from that what you will.

[Via phoneArena]

The saga of the Meizu M8 is one of the more entertaining dramas in the phone biz these days, owing partly to the endless delays and tweaks, granted — but owing much more to the truly masterful ripping of the iPhone’s industrial design. Unfortunately, there’s been very little actual bite to follow up the bark coming out of the Meizu camp, and it looks like we might get a real taste of this thing for the first time as soon as next month. A post on Meizu’s website, seemingly from none other than CEO J. Wong himself, claims that a first cut of the M8 will arrive next month — along with plenty more pictures and details — but it’ll be a somewhat neutered rendition that features just 128MB of RAM and zero flash. October will bring the real deal, a 256MB baddie that rocks 8GB of storage for 2180 yuan, which works out to about $320. Meanwhile, pictures have surfaced of the latest prototype floating around Meizu’s labs, looking both as slick and as litigation-prone as ever. Bring these stateside, Mr. Wong, and we’ll be the very first to sign up — just don’t be surprised if Apple is right behind us.

[Via Electronista]

Read - August for 128MB model, October for 256MB / 8GB?
Read - Prototype M8 in the wild

Man, waiting in line for the iPhone 3G can be a royal pain, right? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just circumvent the whole boring, sheep-like process and have one delivered to your doorstep? Well thanks to Alibaba.com and the weird and wacky copyright laws of China, now you can! According to the wholesale goods supply site, you can just order up the “original” Apple device direct from a company called Union Camera — 1000 units per shipment, please — and have them sent to whatever poorly lit dock, abandoned warehouse, or suburban safe-house you desire. The best part? They’re network unlocked. You know, something seems wrong about this, but we just can’t put our finger on it…

[Via PMP Today]

Yeah, we know pixel count doesn’t equal picture quality — but like it or not, it looks like 8 megapixels are poised to become the new 5 megapixels in the upper echelon of the cameraphone world this year. Samsung’s never a company to shy away from a challenge like that, and sure enough, details are emerging on a so-called i8510 smartphone that features S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, FM radio, GPS, WiFi, and a whopping 16GB of internal storage — not to mention a microSD slot that can take you up to 24GB. Oh, and there’s the little matter of that camera, which features an dual LED flash and 120fps video capture at QVGA resolution. Add in DivX and DLNA certification, and we’re kind of at a loss to figure out what’s missing here. Boundless, unchecked hype, maybe? No word on a release date here just yet.

[Via mobil.cz]

So many of you are probably still in your jammies, reveling in the afterglow of yesterday’s purchase, repeatedly opening Maps on your glossy new iPhone 3G and watching in exaggerated wonderment as your location is determined with frightening speed and accuracy. Others might be standing in a line snaking hundreds of bodies long into your friendly local Apple Store, reading this post from the comfort of your Motorola RAZR V3 and realizing that these are some of the last moments you’ll be using a physical keypad. Still others are bemused by the fuss — but whatever your stance on the phone, it’s pretty hard to ignore the buzz that’s floating around in the aftermath of day zero. Here are some of the goings-on we’re tracking:

• The masses of humanity continue to collect. Massive stock shortages don’t seem to be an issue (yet), but patience is not a virtue we hold dear to our hearts, so we really can’t blame these people.
• Some buyers are reporting a yellow tint to their screens — probably not enough to notice without another unit side-by-side for comparison, but real nonetheless. Of course, the first iPhone suffered from the occasional crappy backlight, bum touchscreen, or negative black, so we wouldn’t be surprised if a few lame displays made it out of the factory floor for this model as well; we’re following up with Apple on this and we should have more for you later today.
• We took the iPhone 3G on a decent drive around New York, and found its tracking to be impeccable. In a situation where we might have veered off the path following Google Maps directions, the blue blip kept us right on track. Despite what you’ve read (we’re looking at you, Mr. Pogue), we see no technical reason that the aGPS can’t provide turn-by-turn directions, provided there’s software to take advantage of it.
• There are some complaints floating around about 3G reception, but it’s been just fine on our review units around the world so far. How’s it treating you out in [your location here]?
• iphone-dev has a video up of BootNeuter going about its business on a first-gen iPhone that’s been upgraded to firmware 2.0, and the process is looking as slick and painless as ever. Unlockers who haven’t shelled out for the 3G, commence your salivating.
• MobileMe seems like it’s up for the moment, but don’t breathe too hard lest you bring the whole thing down again.

Update: We just spoke with Bob Borchers, senior director of product marketing for the iPhone, and he had some very interesting info regarding the “yellow screen” phenomenon we’ve been hearing about. According to Bob (and Apple), the screen’s color temperature has been purposely altered on the new iPhone to produce warmer, more natural tones, sharper images, and deeper blacks. The company says that 1st gen iPhone screens appeared colder and less defined, and they made some adjustments for the new models. In our opinion, what he says is right on — the screens do look better on the iPhone 3G versus the older variety. What do you guys think?