Sony Ericsson Mobile phone: The unheralded mobile King

A mobile phone is a device without which most of us just cannot live. While some of us use it just for communicating with our near and dear ones, few of us also use it as an efficient camera or music device beside making and receiving calls.

Whatever the usage of mobile phones may be, one thing is for sure that they have occupied a seizable position in the life of busy individuals. Some of us cannot think of working at our office setups in its absence while others think it is essential to own one to show their status symbol to others.

If you are looking for a mobile phone to meet your personal as well as official needs in complete style, you must go for a user-friendly, feature-rich and smart phone. A budget-friendly phone with smart mobile features such as Infrared, Bluetooth, Camera, MP3 player, HSDPA, EDGE, GPRS and MMS can be a good option for the young generation of users.

You may not get all these features in a single phone at an affordable price. This means that you must prioritise your requirements in a flexible manner after giving due consideration to your needs. You must also make a clear distinction between your actual and luxurious needs. This will definitely give you a clear picture and will help you in fetching a good mobile deal.

Some of the most eminent names in the world of mobile phones are Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola. Sony Ericsson has been a strong contender for the top position for the last few years. It has been able to win the laurels of its customers over a period of time.

The Sony mobile phones such as the Sony Ericsson K200i, Sony Ericsson J230i, Sony Ericsson K320i and Sony Ericsson K810i mobile phones are some of the most demanded mobile devices in the present day market. These mobile phones have been able to deliver mobile solutions above the expectations of its customers. This is the primary reason why more and more mobile users have switched to it in the last few years.

If you are in doubt while selecting an all-in-one mobile phone then have a look at the Sony Ericsson mobile phones. These phones will never let you down and will stay "young" in this fast-forward mobiles world.

source : http://www.bestsyndication.com/

Philips M600 Phone For The Chinese Market

The Philips M600 is specially made for music lovers. Measuring 105mm x 44mm x 15.3 mm, the GSM phone utilities the SRS WOW technology to enhance the sound quality and add a surround sound capability.The Philips M600 has a clean candy bar design, easily enjoy your MP3 songs and access essential music functions using the assigned MP3 quick access hotkeys. With a single click, launch your MP3 player, or adjust volume, and navigate the playlist.

Philips M600 Specification:

* Display screen: 2-inch 256k colors TFT, 176 x 220 pixels
* Equalizer settings: Classical, Pop, Rock, SRS WOW surround sound
* 1.3 megapixel camera
* Audio supported formats: Midi, MP3, WMA, AMR
* MicroSD card slot
* Bluetooth
* Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, Handsfree, Headset, Object push profile
* 3.5 mm Headset jack connector
* USB 1.1
* Buttons and controls: 4-way navigation key and enter, Soft keys, Side keys, Customized hot key, Dedicated music player keys
* Java MIDP 2.0
* 105 x 44 x 15.3 mm
* GPRS
* GSM dual band 900/1800 MHz
* Enjoy music playback for up to 40 hours on a single charge.

source : http://www.feelphones.com/

LG “Nipples” Typo Reveals Their Own Raunchy Little Secret

LG have launched their latest Black Label mobile phone, the mysteriously named ‘Secret’, a beautiful looking slide phone with a 5 megapixel camera
The real talking point however appears to be the Neon Touch Navigation feature, which apparently draws its inspiration from a rather unusual source!

Inspired by the way round nipples appear when objects touch the water surface, Neon Touch Navigation lets you enjoy exquisite light and delicate vibration.

Haha, I bet it was! One way of looking at it I suppose, you’ve got to take your inspiration from somewhere haven’t you!

The rest of the promotional site for the LG Secret is a luxurious flash powered journey around every intimate feature of the phone, but I know which bit I’m going to remember!

The real selling point of the phone is the fact its the slimmest 5 megapixel camera phone ever to have been released, at a measly 11.8 mm thick, and given the impressive 5 megapixel camera on the Viewty, we’d expect the new phone to be just as sharp. The Secret can also capture video at 120 frames per second, incorporates a touch sensitive glass screen and allows you to access Google Mail, Google Maps and YouTube.


source : http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/

Motorola Posts Wider Loss as Phone Shipments Decline

Motorola Inc. posted a wider loss and may lose more money this quarter than analysts estimated, hurt by a lack of new mobile phones to compete with Apple Inc. and Nokia Oyj.

The stock declined 3.1 percent after Motorola, the largest U.S. mobile-phone maker, said its first-quarter net loss expanded to $194 million, or 9 cents a share. Revenue fell to the lowest level in four years, trailing estimates.

Phone shipments plunged 40 percent as Motorola's Razr 2 and Z8 failed to keep buyers away from Apple's iPhone and a Nokia handset that has satellite-navigation. Chief Executive Officer Greg Brown, bowing to pressure from investor Carl Icahn, decided last month to spin off the handset unit to focus on TV set-top boxes, two-way radios and wireless-networking equipment.

``There's no part of this company that's really doing very well,'' Joan Lappin, president of Gramercy Capital Management in New York, said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio. ``This was a company with one of the great American brand names. There's just nothing special going on there any more.'' Lappin sold Motorola shares in 2006.

Sales growth in the non-phone businesses shrank in the quarter, showing that splitting off the phone unit may not help Motorola as much as Brown expects. Nomura International analyst Richard Windsor in London said those businesses may suffer this year amid a U.S. economic slump.

Motorola dropped 30 cents to $9.25 at 4:01 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange. The Schaumburg, Illinois-based company has declined 42 percent this year.

Loss Forecast

The company forecast a second-quarter loss, excluding costs for job cuts, of 2 cents to 4 cents a share, falling short of analysts' projections for a break-even quarter.

First-quarter revenue declined 21 percent to $7.45 billion, trailing the $7.79 billion average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Shipments fell to 27.4 million units, compared with the 34 million estimate of Morgan Keegan & Co. analyst Tavis McCourt in Nashville, Tennessee.

``We knew it would be weak, but the degree of weakness in mobile phones was surprising,'' McCourt said. He advises investors to hang on to the shares.

Profit at the division that sells wireless-network equipment and set-top boxes also slumped, dropping 8.4 percent in the first quarter to $153 million. Sales advanced 2 percent to $2.4 billion, slower than the previous quarter's 11 percent pace.

Growth

Revenue growth at the unit selling two-way radios for police departments and emergency personnel, scanners for retailers, and network gear for businesses also slowed, to 5 percent from 35 percent in the previous quarter.

The mobile-phone division's loss widened to $418 million from $233 million a year earlier. The unit has lost more than $1.5 billion since the start of 2007 as consumers snapped up rival devices that play music, surf the Web and capture video. That prompted former chief Ed Zander to announce his resignation in November, leaving the company in Brown's hands.

Sales at the mobile-phone unit will be little changed or ``slightly up'' this quarter from the previous period, helped by new devices, Brown said on a conference call today. The loss at the unit will be similar to that of the first quarter. Sales at the other businesses will increase, he predicted.

``The overall trends for those businesses and their respective performances are pretty good,'' Brown said in an interview today. ``They are getting more and more of their growth internationally.''

Expenses

Excluding costs for 2,600 job cuts, the first-quarter loss was 5 cents a share, Motorola said. Analysts on average projected a loss of 6 cents, according to a Bloomberg survey. A year ago, the net loss was $181 million, or 8 cents, the company said today in a statement.

Zander revived Motorola with the Razr, only to see its cachet fade amid gains by Nokia, Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. The Razr 2, introduced last year, has failed to match the success of its predecessor, which sold more than 110 million units since its introduction in 2004.

Yesterday, Cupertino, California-based Apple reiterated plans to sell 10 million iPhones this year after selling almost 4 million last year. The device, which combines a Web-browsing mobile-phone with the iPod media player, went on sale in June.

Market Share

Motorola's handset market share shrank to 9.5 percent last quarter, with the biggest decline in North America, Brown said today. Motorola's share of global phone sales fell to 11.9 percent in the fourth quarter from 21.5 percent a year earlier, according to Stamford, Connecticut-based researcher Gartner Inc. Nokia boosted its share to 40.4 percent, and Samsung lifted its share to 13.4 percent.

To prevent Motorola from slipping further, Brown, 47, this month began selling the Z9 with satellite navigation. The company also started shipping the Rokr E8, which holds about 5,000 songs and includes a camera, Brown said today.

source : http://www.bloomberg.com/

Sony Ericsson's profits slump along with sales of 3G phones

Sony Ericsson posted a 47% drop in first quarter profits on Apr. 23, reconfirming a slump in high end phone sales in Western Europe and North America and underscoring the challenges ahead for the company’s new CEO, Hideki “Dick” Komiyama. Financial analysts have been sounding the alarm about a drop in demand for high end phones ever since Texas Instruments, a leading supplier of semiconductors for mobile phones, set off shock waves on Mar. 10 by lowering its first-quarter growth estimates for sales of wireless chips and pinned the blame on weakening demand from a major customer for high-end chips used to power third generation (3G) phones.

The handset market is still expected to grow at 10% year-on-year in unit terms but with a greater emphasis on less expensive low-end phones, where Sony Ericsson only has a small presence. With no major new products expected in the second quarter, there is little scope for Sony Ericsson to retake lost share. The news is also negative for Samsung, which is also mainly present in the high-end of developed markets. That leads Richard Windsor, a financial analyst at Nomura Securities, to conclude that it too is likely to not fare very well this quarter.

Consumers are opting for free, lower-end devices instead of paying for an upgrade as discretionary spending is hit by an economic downturn, says Windsor.

The winners are LG, which is snapping up battered Motorola’s customers in N. America, and Nokia, because nearly 80% of its handset unit sales are lower-end models popular in high growth markets like India.

source : http://www.businessweek.com/

Sony to launch mid-range G502 mobile phone

Looks suspiciously like an updated K530i

SonyEricsson is set to announce a new addition to its mobile phone range with the launch of the mid-range, tri-band G502.

According to the Unofficial SonyEricsson Blog, the G502 (previously codenamed ‘Emelie’) will feature a two-inch TFT display of QVGA resolution capable of displaying 262.144 colours.

The G502 will be a 3G, HSDPA-enabled model that’ll come with an Access NetFront web browser and Google Maps pre-loaded from the box. It’ll also be possible to set the phone to receive email accounts using an onboard email wizard.

Bluetooth

The G502 will support Bluetooth 2.0 and EDR, as well as offering additional USB 2.0 connectivity. The inbuilt still/video camera is a rather paltry 2MP affair though.

Supplied with 32MB of internal memory, the G502 will sport a Memory Stick Micro expansion slot for additional storage.

Offered as a tri-band GSM phone with EDGE support, the G502 will reportedly come in two colours: hazel and black.

There’s no official word from Sony yet as to pricing and UK availability.

source : http://www.techradar.com/

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic mobile phone - First Look review

Continuing its music theme, Nokia has launched its latest handset, the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic handset, but can this match up to the latest offerings from Sony Ericsson? Pocket-lint was given a chance to have a quick play with a prototype at the launch of the new handset in the UK.

The new Nokia 5320 XpressMusic is one of two new handsets launched and while it doesn't feature the "Street Cred" found in the Nokia 5220 XpressMusic design, you do get more features for your cash.

On the phone side there is HSDPA connectivity for downloading tracks on the go as well as uploading images or surfing the web, Bluetooth 2.0 so you can connect wireless speakers and a 2 megapixel camera around the back for snapping your mates at a gig.

On the music front, the 5320 includes dedicated XpressMusic keys which are down the left-hand side of the bright, crisp screen. Here you get fastforward, skipback, play and pause, with volume controls on the other side.

Outside a 3.5mm audio jack completes the easy access to music from a hardware perspective.

Inside and there is the promise of 24-hours of playback from one charge and 8GB storage keeping it in line with Sony Ericsson and Apple offerings (this is supposed to be budget/affordable after all).

Aside from the new "rounder" design in keeping with N82, Nokia has added a new service called "Say and Play". A voice-controlled feature, the idea is that you can say the artist that you want to play and then the phone springs into action playing the first track of the spoken band.

In practice we had mixed results, although it's not surprising that it worked better when it was quiet. In our brief test the prototype at times made us feel like we were on one of those cinema ticket services where you have to say the town you are looking for.

Out of 10 goes trying to say a name of various artists the phone recognised our request 7 times suggesting it might have issues with our dialect (Queen's English of course) or still has someway to go before being released to the public (only fair as it's not due out till Q3).

Via the internet browser, users can get access to the usual Nokia offerings: Ovi and Nokia Search 4.1 while the dedicated N-Gage gaming keys and landscape view are said to "deliver a true gaming experience" meaning that as promised Nokia has expanded the N-Gage platform's availability beyond its Nseries range.

source : http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/

BlackBerry Curve 8330 Mobile Phone molds into Alltel Wireless

Alltel Wireless was proud to present the prestigious BlackBerry Curve 8330 mobile phone on their largest wireless network base. The BlackBerry Curve Mobile phone from Research In Motion (RIM) will feature in Alltel stores by 1st of May.

The Smartphone brings in style with the Best functionalities packed into it. The phone’s QWERTY keyboard launches itself to GPS maps and connects to the web using the high-speed EVDO network. The phone is been promoted well with Alltel’s Axcess Voice2TXT service which converts incoming voicemails efficiently and accurately to text messages and sent to the inbox of the phone.

Along with professional help, the BlackBerry Curve 8330 also does a great job of entertaining well too. The phone clicks on with a 2 MP camera which also features video recording, shopping can be done online with Digby, download content from RealTone Juke Box and Bplay and enjoy your time with friends by downloading the Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones application.

The BlackBerry Curve 8330 will be offered by Alltel Wireless for a price of $229.99 after a $100.00 mail in rebate which is a discounted rate available to customers who agree for a 2 year contract with Alltel.

source : http://www.mobiletor.com

Europe set to embrace disposable mobile phone

If you’ve ever wished for a convenient and affordable back-up to your mainstay mobile phone, then California-based gadget maker Hop-on Inc. might have just what you need to obtain that blend of cheap communication and blessed peace of mind.

Specifically, Hop-on is preparing to assault European shores with its disposable mobile phone device, a truly pocket-friendly 10GBP ($20 USD) phone that the company is hoping will leave a considerable mark on the hugely competitive mobile phone world.

According to Hop-on, which only introduced its low-end GSM mobile into the European market around 2 weeks ago, popularity for the disposable device is building swiftly with initial orders having already surpassed 150,000 units.

The company is also keen to point out that the sheer weight of regional customer inquiry coming in for the phone has subsequently led to the hiring of additional support staff in order to better cope with the increase in demand.

However, despite mounting interest, Hop-on maintains that it will not be facing any manufacturing issues of the low-cost 900/1800 MHz phone, which is built on stable and proven chip sets provided by both Texas Instruments and Infineon.

“This is our biggest opportunity to actually have Hop-on become a household name in the US and throughout Europe,” trumpeted Peter Michaels, president of Hop-on. “No one sells a new 10 pounds Sterling GSM cell phone. This is a home run for Hop-on.”

Michaels went on to say that, while Hop-on is certainly enthused by the European market interest, the company doesn’t currently have the necessary resources to take its low-end GSM mobile into the North American market.

“This will come in time,” he outlined. “We want to focus on the European and Middle East markets and then hire the personnel necessary to do it right in America!”

Unsurprisingly, given the bargain basement price, Hop-on’s phone is devoid of the usual feature trimmings that adorn most of today’s mobile devices. Specifically, 10 GBP buys a phone without an LCD screen, no Net access, no digital camera, and no MP3 player -- it’s pretty much an olde phone as we once knew them.

From a plus point perspective, the disposable phone does come with an internal tracking device (why?) and can also be topped up with extra call minutes too. However, environmental group Greenpeace has already lifted a quizzical eyebrow regarding manufacturing materials along with the associated labour and shipping costs required to keep the phone down to such a low sale price.

Hop-on’s push into the European market comes on the back of positive customer feedback for its budget disposable phone, which was garnered from the recent CTIA Wireless 2008 show in Las Vegas.

source : http://www.thetechherald.com/

New mobile broadband from O2

Broadband customers can now get a mobile service from O2, as it launches its new internet service.

O2 Mobile Broadband allows access to the internet through a memory stick, which slots into the USB of a notebook computer - which could interest broadband customers looking for extra coverage while they are on the move.

Marketing director Sally Cowdry said: "We are confident our broadband services complete a great communication experience for our customers however they want to connect to the internet."

The operator has already launched its own broadband service, which was announced in October 2007. This is now backed up by mobile broadband with 3GB data usage.

It was also revealed earlier in the year that mobile phone customers who selected the Pay As You Go option from O2 would be eligible to receive the home broadband service from £7.50 per month - the same price that contract mobile phone customers had previously been offered.

source : http://www.broadband-finder.co.uk/

US Verizon Customers Get the "Pill Phone"

In a first-of-its-kind application, Verizon Wireless customers in the US can now get information and set reminders regarding medication and dosage with "the Pill Phone" on their mobile phones.

Verizon Wireless in collaboration with VOCEL, a mobile phone applications publisher, has launched the "Pill Phone", an application that provides detailed drug information and automatic dosage reminders on mobiles. Basically, "the Pill Phone" is the mobile version of the best-selling medication reference guide, "the Pill Book", and is available exclusively for Verizon customers in the US.

Using the 'Pill Lookup' feature, users can access critical information on more than 1,800 medications and prescription drugs that are commonly prescribed by physicians. This includes indications, dosage, side effects, drug interactions, and photos of the medications. In addition, users can schedule automatic reminders to take their medicine doses at the appropriate times.

The application is compatible with some of the latest handsets including Chocolate and enV by LG, LG VX9400, the MOTORAZR maxx Ve, and the Alias by Samsung. In order to utilize this application, the user needs a 'Get It Now' feature-enabled mobile phone. "The Pill Phone" application is immediately available for download for Verizon customers in the US for a monthly subscription of $3.99.

source : http://www.techtree.com/

THQ launches Dancing with the Stars mobile game

THQ has announced that the popular ABC television show based game, Dancing with the Stars, is now available for Windows PC, online download and mobile phones.

Dancing with the Stars for mobile phones lets wireless gamers choose their celebrity and costume while training their way through five exciting mini-games. Players can select from 16 favorite celebrity dancers as they choose to perform the Cuban Cha-Cha or the Jive to wow the judges. Gamers can also track their successes and ranking in an eight week competition.

I haven't had a chance to try out the game and honestly it doesn't sound that interesting. Guess they figured it's the series of mini games that could make the Dancing with the Stars game playable. And while I'm still not convinced, I may actually try it…


source : http://www.intomobile.com/

Mobile phones safe to use: Specialist

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has supported the scientific opinion that there is no evidence of adverse health effects on mobile phone users.

This statement by the WHO follows public concerns on the health effects of using mobile phones and or being exposed to radiation from base stations or transmitters.

Based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, the WHO concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields.

And a New Zealand medical specialist confirmed this opinion yesterday saying hundreds and thousands of studies have been done to determine any health effect of mobile phones and found it was still safe to use.

Dr David Black of the Auckland University said there were certain standards to be complied by mobile phone and broadcasting companies in terms of limiting the exposure of radio frequency, particularly from base stations.

In Fiji, Black said mobile telephone base stations used small transmitters and easily complied with international standard.

He clarified reports on the link between radio frequency transmitters and cancer, which had heightened public concerns as of recent.

He said non-ionised radiation as that from mobile phones and base stations does not cause cancer.

The WHO review stated that over the past 15 years, studies examining a potential relationship between RF transmitters and cancer have been published and these studies had not provided evidence that RF exposure from the transmitters increase the risk of cancer.

In addition, Black said it was safe for children to use mobile phones.

Mobile and broadcasting companies around Australia, New Zealand and the United States for instance, comply with standards of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), including Fiji.

ARPANSA’s Dr Lindsay Martin via an interview played at Black’s seminar at the University of the South Pacific in Suva yesterday said that there was a public exposure limit designed to protect everyone from these radiations, including children.

However, Black said: “The use of mobile technology continues to expand. As a result, scientific research in this area is likely to continue, virtually indefinite”.

“And it is very unlikely that any significant adverse effects will now be found,” he said.

source : http://www.fijilive.com/

Web-Surfing Phones Riding High

It's a bit slow, but it works well enough. Reading e-mail and browsing the Internet via mobile phone have become more enjoyable and convenient than ever, thanks to new technology and clever ideas.

Mobile Internet is the hottest issue among early adopters of technology in Korea. At www.cetizen.com, the largest online community of mobile phone users, the three most popular handsets these days are all touch-screen phones specializing in Web browsing ― Samsung's Haptic, Pantech & Curitel's CanU and LG's Touch Web Phone.

These so-called full-browsing phones are selling at impressive rates. Samsung says that it has sold around 30,000 Haptic phones in 15 days since its launch on March 25, which is about the double the daily sales of other new models. Its hefty price tag ― 797,000 won ($800) without a rebate or a discount ― hasn't been discouraging customers, the company says.

``It's a bit expensive, but still we are in short supply. Retailers are even paying in advance to secure their volume,'' a company spokesman said.

LG and Curitel are also happy with their Web-surfing handsets, each selling more than 1,000 units a day.

Telecom network operators also helped handset makers make mobile Internet easier, faster and less expensive. Three telecom operators were reluctant to sell such full-browsing handsets because they wanted to tie their users to their own pay-per-view portal sites. But this year, they have changed their policies to allow their users full access. Improvement in network systems also sped up the connection speed of mobile Web.

Mobile Internet competition escalated on April 3, when LG Telecom launched the Oz price plan, which offers unlimited Internet access for 6,000 won ($6) per month.

Boon of Touch Screens

LG's Web Touch Phone is on sale at LG Telecom, combining hardware and service for mobile Internet use. Its high-definition screen, easy control and relatively low price has earned it recognition as a truly Web-oriented phone.

Web Touch Phone has a touch-sensitive screen that is superior to that of Samsung Haptic in terms of color definition. It also has an embedded Web browser, which displays Web pages the same way Internet Explorer does on a personal computer. Users can easily increase or decrease font sizea with a dial.

Samsung's Haptic phone is more versatile. Mobile TV, a digital camera and MP3 player are its basic features, and it also has two fun elements ― a vibrating screen and motion sensor.

The phone makes a tick motion when the screen is touched, confirming that it understood the user's command. It also automatically shifts the screen between horizontal and vertical positions using a built-in motion sensor, similar to that used in the Nintendo Wii game console. The same feature is being used with dice and Korean folk game Yutnoli.

Haptic is being serviced by SK Telecom. At 26,000 won per month, its unlimited Internet plan is more expensive than that of Web Touch of the LG Electronics-LG Telecom alliance. However, many users feel that Haptic is faster than Web Touch in displaying Web pages because of its clever Web browsing system.

Korean Web sites are usually crowded with traffic-heavy graphics and animation that make mobile Internet painfully slow. The Haptic-SK Telecom system circumvents the problem by showing a snapshot of the Web page to the user, instead of showing the original, data-heavy page.

When the user clicks on a certain position of the snapshot, the SK Telecom server interprets the motion into a real command on the Web page and gives the subsequent result in another snapshot of the next Web page.

This ``Web viewer'' technique is controversial among fans of mobile Internet who downplay it as fake browsing. Many also feel it's less sensitive than Web Touch Phone in reacting to users' command, though its downloading speed appears faster.

Sorry, Blackberry

Another reason that these full-browsing phones are fast gaining popularity in Korea is e-mail.

Both Samsung's Haptic and LG's Web Touch provide the e-mail services that Blackberry offers in other countries. Telecom firms' mail servers automatically refresh users' inboxes and ``push'' new mail to handsets. External mail accounts such as Hanmail, Hotmail, and Gmail can be linked to the mobile e-mail services as well.

Using e-mail on mobile phones is an old habit in Western countries, where smartphones such as Blackberry have become a staple for businessmen. But in Korea, foreign smartphones are almost non-existent because of fussy government regulations on software and hardware configuration, which the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea has cited as a non-tariff barrier on foreign goods.

source : http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/

Sony Ericsson K660i

At the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona this year Sony Ericsson announced two new Cyber-shot branded phones and in the process changed the Cyber-shot branding prefix from K (as in K850i) to C (C902). This left us wondering if the K prefix may get recycled to mean something new. If the K660i is indicative of this change, maybe K now means phones for kids.

Design
If the lime and white color scheme didn't give away the target market for this phone then the lanyard clip at the bottom of the handset confirmed our suspicions. The K660i is a cheap-to-mid range phone designed to appeal to a youth market.

Our first impressions of the K660i were not strong. The handset is a simple looking Sony Ericsson candy-bar with a two-inch QVGA color display. Below the screen and navigation buttons are tiny circular numeric keys, each about the size of M&M minis (you know, the tiny little ones). While this isn't the most attractive keypad design we've seen, it's certainly easy to use.

At 15mm the K660i is thicker than we'd like, especially for a low-spec phone, given Sony Ericsson's previous success with super-slim styled handsets. On the left-hand side of the phone you'll find an M2 memory stick slot, which is great for hot-swapping memory, and on the bottom of the handset is the combined charging and headphone port. Sony Ericsson bundle a 256MB memory card with the handset, which is generous for a phone in this price range.

Features
It seems a cruel irony that while the K660i has HSDPA, other phones designed with Web browsing in mind don't have similarly fast data speeds (we're looking squarely at you iPhone). Call us cynics, but the only reason you put HSDPA in a phone marketed at kids is to sell music downloads.

That said, the K660i does have a few nice Web-focused features. The four keys on the right side of the numeric pad (3,6,9 and #) are browser shortcuts for bookmarks, search entry, page zooming and a shortcut to Sony Ericsson's "Fun and Downloads" site. These shortcuts definitely come in handy for speedy surfing.

The pre-installed NetFront browser is apparently Web 2.0/xHTML compatible, however our experience suggested that the K660i is only adequate for browsing mobile sites; we encountered some difficulty with page rendering on some standard sites we tried to access, and the small screen makes reading long, wide pages tiresome even when using the nifty zoom tool.

The K660i also features a 2-megapixel camera on the back, with a self-portrait mirror, but no flash or autofocus. We tested the camera outside on a beautiful, sunny day and took some very nice photos. Quick processing helps keep the focus sharp and free of movement blur, and the color reproduction was bright and true. Later in the day though, without a flash, the camera struggled to perform to the same high standard.

Performance
Parents who may be considering this phone for their kids will be happy to know that the basics are in place. During our tests we constantly saw strong reception and voice calls sounded loud and clear.

Similarly comforting is the K660i's battery life; between three and four days during our tests, which is good for a phone with an HSDPA chipset. This should mean that kids will have enough charge to make a call wherever they may be.

Like all Sony Ericsson phones, the K660i includes a decent media player and Walkman-esque media browser. It's hard to ascertain whether the K660i features the same audio hardware as a Walkman branded phone, however, the music we played sounded good through the bundled headphones; nice clear audio with decent bass.

Accessing menus is pleasingly fast, with only momentary lag between selecting a menu item and having it appear on screen. We did see considerable lag when accessing certain graphics-heavy Web sites, and this is more than likely due to a less-than-ideal processor than with network speeds.

Conclusion
The K660i seems like a tricky pitch for Sony Ericsson. Its feature set resembles a basic, pre-paid model phone with the addition of HSDPA. The question is: does the targeted youth market want or need fast Web on their phones? Adding a popular instant messaging client would have made the answer to that question simpler.

In the past we've found Sony Ericsson's budget range to be very good, such as with the S500i, and while the K660i performs as well as the S500i in terms of voice and texting, it certainly doesn't match the S500i in terms style or sex appeal. Perhaps we're being overly fashion conscious, but we think sex appeal will prove to be more important than speedy Web browsing to this market.

source : http://asia.cnet.com/

Samsung SGH-u900 Soul Now on Sale

Today Samsung announced that the last of its Ultra series handsets is now available for purchase. The 12.9mm thick SGH-u900 Soul, a device that debuted in Barcelona at the 2008 Mobile World Congress, is now available for purchase in France, Germany, and the UK. The Soul supports GSM networks that function on the 900, 1800, or 1900MHz frequency bands, and also supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA data connections on 2100MHz networks.

Samsung has said that the 5 megapixel camera equipped Soul will be available for purchase in one of three colors: sterling steel, Soul gray, and platinum silver. It will retail for about 400 Euros.

source : http://www.mobileburn.com/

Charge the all-new Samsung Mobile Phone through Water

We have heard of eco-friendly mobile phones like Nokia’s Eco sensor and the Nokia Remade Concept Phone but here’s a new eco-friendly phones that tops the chart out of all. Samsung is working on making a very unique phone which will charge the device when placed in water.

Technology comes up with the most bizarre and the most innovative creations. Samsung is set to develop a micro fuel cell and hydrogen generator that charges up mobiles. In layman terms, this new-age mobile phone charges using water.

The vice president of Samsung’s research centre, Oh Yong-soo explains, “When the handset is turned on, metal and water in the phone react to produce hydrogen gas. The gas is then supplied to the fuel cell where it reacts with oxygen in the air to generate power,”

Currently the water charged phone provides a battery life of 10 hours, since there is yet a need for a higher battery life, Samsung is trying its best to pump up the battery life to higher levels. The phone’s production is set to start only by 2010 so till then we will have to console ourselves with the other eco-friendly phones.

source : http://www.mobiletor.com/