The LG Chocolate BL20

Chocolate seems to be theme when it comes to developing new phones. Chocolate bars like the new LG BL20 Chocolate is the new addition to its older brother the BL40.

The LG BL20 may not have the splendor of the BL40 but is definitely an-awe inspiring device to be reckoned with. The chocolate series is back and here is the ingredient that keeps the chocolate sweeter than it is.

The latest BL20 Chocolate comes with a spectacular lively screen and a touchpad for easy navigation. To add to the functionality it has a sliding keypad that steers away from both traditional designs. Definitely the LG BL20 is a fashion phone and here are some of its core features.

First of all the LG BL20 by far is the slimmest of all LG slider phones available in the market. It only measures 106.9 x 50.8 x 12.3 mm, and the handset can still fit in your pocket. It only weighs at 115g just above the average phone you would encounter.

It has a 2.4 inch screen big enough for you to glide your hands through. Screen resolution is by far the best feature of this phone supporting 240 x 320 pixels at 262K colors. Just behind the back lies the LG BL20 Chocolate’s 5 megapixel auto-focus camera fully equipped with Schneider-Kreuznach certified optics. In addition to that, it also has an LED flash which can be used as a source of video light.

The LG BL20 also has some useful applications, this include an organizer, a calendar, a To-Do app, memos, Alarm settings, calculator and stopwatch just to name a few.

The new Chocolate series by LG is a great all rounder phone featuring all the best bits mold up into one. Not only it is powerful enough but it is also great to suite as a fashion statement.

The Funky Nokia 5530

In just a short span of months Nokia has released another ground breaking device in the form the new Nokia 5530. Hitting the market within six months apart, the Nokia 5530 definitely by some call it as the younger brother of the Nokia 5800. Well consumers might have a hard time comparing the two devices on which is better but after you take a glimpse of the handheld you would notice that it is definitely two unique devices.

To start it off, the Nokia 5530 phone casing comes with myriads of color combination casings of red, white on grey, black, and pink on white and yellow and white. The camera specs of the phone are awesome; it is built with “True Colors” by Cindi Lauper. The Nokia 5530 boasts a 3.2 mega-pixel camera with Auto Focus and can capture videos in a dazzling 640 x 360 pixels or in short up to 16 million colors.

The phone is touch based so there is actually no physical keyboard in place. Instead, the Finish manufacturer opted to have a virtual numeric keypad shown in front of the high definition 2.9 inch screen. When the phone is held horizontally on its left, the screen displays a QWERTY keyboard in response to your action.

The phone itself boasts a 70mb of internal memory and is equipped with a microSD card that is expandable of up to 16GB. As well for its raw power, it has a CPU speed of RM 11 434 Mhz processor. In terms of connectivity it has Wi-Fi capabilities and also has a FM and Bluetooth support. And to top it all, the Nokia 5530 even has a 1000mAh battery that means the phone has a talk time of up to 4.9 hours and a stand by time of up to 14 days.

The Latest Edition of Nokia’s NSeries

It couldn’t be that much bigger and better this time around. Nokia the leader in mobile technology has launch another one hell of a phone. A launch like this caliber wouldn’t be so intense and groundbreaking than ever. With the release of the Nokia N97 Nseries the ground is set for another one whooping daybreak for million of geeks waiting around the world.

The Android-Based G1 proved to be that QWERTY slider phones are really in for the taking. Clocking in at 117.2 x 55.3 x 16.9 mm and only weighing in at 150 grams this phone sure is in for the picking. Its 2mm thinner than its older brother the N96 and much bigger than the XPERIA. Well, who wouldn’t want that extra fat screen? The Nokia N97 features a 16M-color resistive touch screen and measures at 3.5” diagonal. It has a 360 x 640 pixels falling a bit short compared to the E90.

Like the N96, this little baby has a 5-megapixel camera with dual flash Carl Zeiss lens for ultra precision and detailed pictures on the go. They can easily be tagged through geo then A-GPS uploaded for OVI-share.

In terms of memory the phone has a 32GB on board memory and can be expandable with the use of a micro SD card. Just like the NSeries it still sports the same Symbian OS 9.4 with S60 5^thedition UI. Connecting to the internet would be breeze, it supports Wi-FI , Bluetooth and GPS, with 3 months free A-GPS via free voiced guided navigation through Ovi Maps.

With just a slight of touch,you can easily slide in the phone upwards to reveal its full QWERTY keyboard. All in all the N97 series is a great addition to the NSeries of Nokia, users of the old N96 will never be disappointed.

iTech's SolarCharger 906

With all these storms, typhoons, and flash floods, one of the most important things you should have is a mobile phone as it is the only way you can communicate with the outside world while you're stuck in a bad situation.

However, there will come a time that you will be unable to charge your gadget and then you'll feel really alone. That's what happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I got stranded on top of a building for a few days. It's a good idea then to invest on equipment that will help you charge your mobile phone or other electronic equipment in the house. Here is just one of them.

After a storm or a flash flood, the sun usually rises but you're still stuck in your location because of either raging flood waters or an inability to reach civilization due to destroyed streets and bridges. It would be wise then to check out iTech's SolarCharger 906.

Key Features

• Discreet and elegant product design
• Highly efficient solar conversion due to a high-performance monocrystalline solar panel
• Comes with 10 adapter plugs
• Red light indicator to show the charging condition
• Separate row of four battery status indicator lights specifies the device's charge level
• Dual mode charging: charged through a computer USB port and solar sunlight

Specifications

• Battery capacity: 1260 mAh
• Dimensions: 105(L) x 64(W)x 15mm(H)/
• 4.13(L) x 2.52(W) x 0.59(T) inches
• Weight: 100 grams /3.53ounces

Selling for $59.99 right now at iTech's site.

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Crystal Clear as LG’s GD900

Having waited for millennia for a phone like this couldn’t be much greater. When I first got the hand on the new LG Crystal GD900 I was in for a surprise.

The first thing I notice was the Crystal was dressed like a princess with all its glory and yet stays to be surprisingly cool as a jack in the box. If you fell for cupid’s arrow with the LG Arena then the Crystal will definitely make you fall in love with.

The new LG Crystal sports a 3-inch touch screen display at 480 x 800 pixel WVGA resolution. It can display up to 16 million colors and remains as crisp and vibrant as ever. Aside from the display the earpiece, the video call camera, proximity and light, It quickly locks automatically whenever your place the phone next to your ear whenever you have a call.

The bottom part of the phone houses a sensitive keypad for phone calls and end calls. It also has the same features that found in the Arena that made it famous, the S-class cube menu to access the rotating cube.

Sliding up the phone reveals the crystal clear keypad made out of tempered glass. It is touch sensitive and totally unique from the usual keypad you have found in most phones. The keypad is smooth to touch and tinker with the individual keys separated by grids.

The LG crystal houses a whooping 1.5GB internal memory and can be expanded with the use of MicroSD cards. It also features a 8-megapixel camera with Schneider Kreuznach lens and LED flash hidden underneath the slider. It has GSM/GPRS/EDGE and HSDPA 7.2 Mbps so connectivity wouldn’t be much of a trouble.

With our current active lifestyle it is just fascinating to see and hear, beauty and art can be combined into technology.

SE Xperia X3: Out by January 2010?

Android OS powered mobile phones are slowly crawling out of the woodwork and it seems everyone from HTC, Motorola to LG are getting in on the fun; you might as well possibly include Sony Ericsson to the mix thanks to rumors of the existence of the Xperia X3.  We said "possibly" because even premier tech blog Mobile Crunch is unsure:

Go ahead – grab your bag of salt. Pull a grain out, and have it at the ready. While we’re still digging for independent confirmation of this, we just got it on good word that Sony Ericsson’s first big jump into Android, the XPERIA X3, is tentatively set for a launch in January.

Yep January 2010 is a date most SE and Android fans will be looking forward to. Until then will have to contend ourselves with supposedly leaked screenshots, specs (which we reported almost a month ago) and a video of how it's going to look like:

Sony Ericsson's Foray Into Android?


With the Xperia X2 coming out on the same month next year, it would be a big risk for SE to send out both the X2 and X3 at the same time. Wouldn't it be a bit uneasy when both the Windows Mobile and Android guys are on the same stage and presenting their gadgets after each other? On the other hand, it would be an opportunity for SE to gauge the taste of its users and focus on the OS that most of them will agree on.

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Screenshot source

The Cliq: Motorola's First Android

With all the name changing around here, I wasn't surprised at all that the Motorola Morrison has turned up to be the Motorola Cliq. Touted as one of the more affordable Android OS powered mobile phone out there, the Cliq sure has a tough act to follow with the HTC Tattoo (curiously used to be known as the HTC Click) also known for it's Android OS and wallet saving properties.

We presented you with the leaked specs last time and it seems to be the same, but the really weird news here is the mobile phone's name! At first, we all thought it was going to be the Motorola Morrison, then it became the Motorola Blur (as mentioned in the hastily made keynote), then it became the Cliq. Were they worried that having a phone named Blur would be a bad thing? It was so bad it got a lot of flack from both Gizmodo and PC Mag

Considered as "The first phone with social skills", it does really seem to focus more on how you connect to social network services like Twitter, Facebook, etc.

The social networking is very deeply integrated into the phone. For example, if you click on a contact anywhere under any social network, it'll give you the full contact information for every social network that guy belongs to. From there, you communicate with him through any network.

So here's to Motorola's first Android phone, the Morrison, er..the Blur...ok the Cliq.

Source for quote
Source of Motorola Cliq image

Palm's Lack of Good Games is Showing

Image by PatrickMoorhead via Flickr

Despite some security issues, the Palm Pre is a magnificent mobile phone. It's almost gone toe to toe with its main rival, Apple's iPhone 3GS. However, it does lack one feature that their rivals have: good games.

Should they be bothered with the lack of games in their phone? Both phones may not have been originally marketed for gamers, but let's admit it: a lot of gadget lovers are gamers as well! It may not beat the Nintendo DS nor the PSP, but if people get stuck in traffic or in a commuter train, some would wish for a game to whittle away their time rather than listen to some mp3s.

We're familiar with a lot of games for the iPhone 3GS, but none yet coming from Palm Pre. As far as we know only emulator hackers and homebrew heroes have tried using the Pre, but none yet coming from big time gaming companies or even from Palm itself.

It's nice to know that Palm Pre's really serious about putting games into their phones by posting a "webOS™ and Game Development" article on their site. However with the phone's WebOS, 3D games will surely be out of the picture. Instead, they are promoting "puzzles, word games, card and board games, innovative social games, and the list goes on – even simple arcade games." The question here, is how can they beat the iPhone's games with such?

Hopefully with Palm Central's list of Homebrew games for the Pre, it should urge the company and some developers out there to try using Palm's newest baby as a "somewhat" platform for gaming.

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Ringtones are Down, Ringbacks are Up

Image by Edward Barnieh [back in a few days!] via Flickr

Let's admit it: ringtones aren't such a hit here as it is in other parts of the world. What we want is a normal message alert and a normal ringing phone. Putting in the latest music as a ringtone isn't really that important and sometimes it just gets downright irritating, isn't it? There's been a study made by the folks from SNL Kagan showing just how much the ringtone market is shrinking:

Ringtone sales declined 24% in 2008 versus 2007, from $714 million to $541 million, causing overall U.S. mobile music revenues to post an annual decline -- a first for a U.S. mobile content category. Ringtones' share of the total U.S. mobile music market fell from 80% in 2005 to 63% in 2008.

Maybe it's the recession? I would rather find a job than subscribe to a ringtone, yes? Or maybe that people have finally gotten tired of the whole ringtone business as changing it to the latest music has become an expensive chore.

The music and mobile industry doesn't have to quake in their boots due to such an alarming reduction in profits as ringbacks, music played while you're waiting for the other party to pick up your call, has risen.

So what's the next revenue generator for mobile music? "When we ask mobile music insiders what will replace ringtone revenues, RBTs (ringback tones) are most often mentioned," said SNL Kagan wireless analyst John Fletcher. "We estimate this category grew at a 37% CAGR from 2005 to 2008, from $77 million to $199 million."

Ringbacks for ringtones? Less irritating as everyone in the room doesn't have to listen to it.

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LOOKUP: No more unknown callers

Ever got a call from an unknown number? Would you pick it up? What if you received an SMS message from someone you don't know. Will you even read it? With all the security problems that came with the mobile phone industry, we wouldn't be surprised if you don't entertain such calls or messages. However, what if that call or SMS message was important? How can you separate the important calls and messages from the prank ones?

That was what Whitepages thought of when they decided to make LOOKUP: a service that identifies unknown callers.

Although a basic form of caller ID is available on most mobile devices, it typically only presents the calling party number, not the name or location of the caller. LOOKUP from WhitePages shows the name and location of unknown numbers, thus helping identify friends and colleagues not in your phonebook, as well as avoiding unwanted calls. LOOKUP from WhitePages is the first text-based service to offer mobile users

It's so easy to do that you only have to don one thing: remember the letters to LOOKUP:

*An easy way to obtain the identity of an unknown incoming number or text sender. Users simply send a text with the unknown number to LOOKUP (566-587).
*LOOKUP is designed to work on any mobile device with texting capability.
*Accurate information, within seconds. The LOOKUP database includes information on over 600 million listings, including hard to find mobile and landline numbers.

So the next time you get a missed call from an unknown number and you're not sure whether it's a prospective client or a prank call, send the information to LOOKUP and you'll know what to do next.

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LG BL40 Chocolate

LG Electronics officially revealed today the full image and key specifications of the new LG Chocolate phone (model: LG-BL40).

The fourth handset of the Black Label Series boasts a distinctive 4.0-inch wide screen high-definition LCD with an 800 by 345 pixel resolution for a superb viewing quality. The wide screen breaks away from conventional screen designs with a 21:9 aspect ratio for a panoramic, cinema-like quality and optimal mobile computing experience.

With the enlarged screen, users will experience a surprisingly convenient and efficient mobile environment. Browsing the Internet is made incredibly easy because with 800 pixels at one’s disposal, there is no need to scroll horizontally to read entire web pages. The 4.0-inch display also features a Dual Screen UI that can efficiently display two different types of content simultaneously.

The wide HD LCD “Real VGA” screen provides a full range of natural colors for displayed images, making photos more crisp, videos more true-to-life, games more dynamic and documents more readable.

“The initial response to the new LG Chocolate phone has exceeded our expectations by a wide margin,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications. “Although much interest seems focused on the striking shape of the handset, the real surprise will be when people discover the advantages of the 4.0-inch screen in terms of viewing pleasure and ease of use.”

The new LG Chocolate’s wide screen is overlaid with curved tempered glass and is seamlessly encased in a glossy black finish and iconic red highlights. Although the screen may be much wider, the new LG Chocolate makes an incredibly slim and chic style statement that was also inherent in the original Chocolate.

The new LG Chocolate will be available beginning Q3 in 54 countries.

Cricket TXTM8 Now Available

Cricket Communications unveils another QWERTY device in the Cricket TXTM8. Primarily built for text and picture messaging, this latest mobile solution from Cricket was developed by Personal Communication Devices.

As most devices we see in the market today, the Cricket TXTM8 is no different. It can be used as well through mobile social networks, for email and of course mobile browsing. It has a sliding feature which reveals the QWERTY keypad below the 2.2” TFT color display screen.

Among its other striking features include:

• 1.3 MP Camera with Zoom


• MP3 Player


• MicoSD Memory Card Slot


• Voice Recognition


• Bluetooth


• Tri-Band Connectivity

The Cricket TXTM8 is now available at all Cricket retail store and dealers for $159.99.

Leaked: Motorola on Android and Experia X3

There's been a lot of leaks lately and like our friends from New Consumers, we're really doubting whether this is a new marketing strategy by the makers rather than a secret document secretly emailed to the tech bloggers. Nevertheless, it's good for the makers.

Motorola going Android confirmed!

Motorola has been in the dumps lately and they need to overhaul their OS. It was then rumored that they seem to be taking on Android as a possible substitution, but all of it were just heresay--until now:

Until this fine morn, rumors that Motorola's hazily-leaked Morrison handset would run Android were just that: Rumors. A second set of shots now gives us a clearer view of the kid-colored piece, including a clear confirmation of its alleged Google-ness.

Yes, it's now been confirmed that it will run on android and will be going up against the likes of HTC and the lot. Bad or good thing? If it's more affordable than HTC, I think this just may win.

Experia X3 leaked on retailer site

As was reported in New Consumers, the Sony Ericsson Experia X3 has been spotted, not in the wild nor in the hands of tech bloggers, but on an online retail site. Yes, Expansys: the one who were supposed to sell the as of yet unreleased mobile phone, was the one who "accidentally" leaked it.

Leak sources can come from everywhere within the process, one of them is through the retailers. In this case, online retailer Expansys seems to have not gotten the memo not to show the specs for the new Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 Android. Not only did it show the pictures, but also specs

Display:

• 800 x 400 pixels/4″
• Touch Sensitive

Network:

• 2G 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band)
• 3G: 900/2100 (Dual-Band)
• HSDPA (10Mbps)
• HSUPA (2Mbps)

Camera:

• 8 mega-pixels (auto-focus)
• 8 x Digital Zoom
• LED Flash
• Image Stabilization
• Smile Shutter
• Face Detection

Video:

• VGA Video Recording

Music:

• Supported formats: MP3, AAC, eAAC+

Ringtones:

• Monophonic
• Polyphonic (64)
• MP3
• AAC

Messaging:

• SMS
• MMS (with video)
• E-mail (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, MS Exchange)

Memory:

• Phone Book
• Dialled Calls
• Missed Calls
• Received Calls
• microSDHC (external)

Call Features:

• Hands Free
• Caller ID
• Voice Dialling

Connectivity:

• miniUSB
• 3.5mm AV connector
• Bluetooth (2.1)
• Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g)

Navigation:

• AGPS

Source for Motorola on Android

Source for Experia X3 leak

Blackberry Tour: Business Traveler's Main Phone

With all the media hype and focused interest on both the Palm's Pre and Apple's iPhone 3GS, Research In Motion's Blackberry seems to be taking quite a hit in both popularity and sales. Have the Crackberry addicts gone cold turkey and transferred elsewhere? How will RIM get them back? By adding and marketing new smartphones for those who can't afford both aforementioned mobile phones--and The Tour is just one of them.

This coming Sunday both Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless will be releasing the Blackberry Tour: a mobile phone that has the usual bells and whistles with a big plus on overseas connection. RIM's market target for this phone looks like people who are on the move globally.

The device is likely to appeal mostly to business customers, particularly those who travel, and existing BlackBerry users.

While Sprint Nextel also plans to market the phone to consumers, the carrier plans to target these customers first.

"Clearly there is already a strong base of BlackBerry customers, and many of them are business users," said Tim Donahue, vice president of business marketing for Sprint. "And we want to make sure they have access to the latest and greatest BlackBerry device out there."

Specs:

• Data services: MMS , SMS , WWW , GMail , E-Mail , Google Talk , Yahoo! Messenger , AOL Instant Messenger , Windows Live Messenger
• Modem: Integrated Wireless cellular modem
• Cellular enhancement protocol: GSM , EDGE , GPRS , HSPA , UMTS , CDMA 2000 1X EV-DO Rev. A
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 2.4 in x 0.6 in x 4.4 in
• Weight: 4.6 oz
• Built-in devices: Camera , Digital player
• Flash memory form factor:Integrated
• Flash memory installed: 256 MB
• Input device type: Trackball , QWERTY keyboard
• Band / mode: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / CDMA 800/1900 (Dual Band) / UMTS 2100
• Digital audio standards supported: MP3 , MIDI
• Display type: TFT active matrix
• Color support: 16-bit (64K colors)
• Max resolution: 480 x 360
• Battery installed: (max) 1 Lithium ion
• Max supported batteries: 1
• Talk time: 300 min
• Standby time: 336 h
• Power supply device: Power adapter
• Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0

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