Sony Ericsson XPERIA x10 are available with lucrative mobile phone deals

When it comes to Sony Ericssion mobile phones every one likes those for sleek designs and advanced features. The new Sony Ericssion XPERIA x10 is no exception.
Although the sony erricssion took a little long time to launch its Sony Ericsson XPERIA x10 phone, yet it’s worth the delay as the phone has accumulated all the adavnced features that are sought after by the new generation of phone lovers.
It’s the first droid by the sony erricsion group and the company wanted perfection in its manufacturings process which indeed it has gained with all of its efforts.
Sony Ericsson XPERIA x10 Deals @ http://www.rupizcompare.co.uk/mobile/phone/deals.aspx?phonename=Sony-Ericsson-XPERIA-X10
The key aspects that distingugh this phone from other new mobile phone deals are 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA support, excellent social networking integration, excellent build quality and many more. It’s a Quad-band GSM with tri-band 3G support. If you want to use your phone to click on some excellent photos, then this sony mobile phone will be the option for you. It a in-built 8 megapixel camera with features like autofocus, LED flash, touch focus, image stabilization, geotagging, face and smile detection. What more can one ask for from a mobile camera. When it comes to video recording, it scores again with a video camera that has capacity to record pictures with 800 x 480 pixels.
Mobile Phone Deals @ http://www.rupizcompare.co.uk/mobile/
If you are looking for a phone with great storage system, then again this one will not disappoint you as it has 1GB storage capacity bundled with an 8GB card. The audio quality of the phione is also very good. One of the biggest advantages with these phones is that you can avail these phones along with many cheap mobile phone deals. Most of the leading network companies like Vodaphone, Orange, O2 and others offer unbelievable Mobile Phone Deals with this Sony Ericssion phone. It’s touch screen display is as wide as 4 inches and has 480 x 854 pixels which make it great in resolusion. You may choose contract mobile phones or pay as you go mobile phones, it will not be a problem for you and you can still avail some great phone deals with this phone.

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China Nears 800 Million Mobile Phone Subscribers

The number of mobile phone subscribers in China reached 796 million as of the end of May, while 3G subscriber numbers have almost doubled, the government said Tuesday.
Over 9.4 million new Chinese subscribers signed up for mobile phone service in May, for an official total of 48.5 million new users so far this year, according to China's Ministry of Information Industry.

The number of people signing up for 3G service, new to China as of last year, hit 22.6 million at the end of May, up 10.3 million so far this year.

But while China remains the world's largest mobile phone market by subscribers, India's subscriber numbers are growing faster.

India added 16.3 million new mobile phone subscribers in May, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The country's total now stands at 617.5 million.

Both China and India boast populations of over 1 billion.

China's three big telecommunications operators have also reported their mobile subscriber figures. China Mobile remains the largest provider with 549.0 million subscribers at the end of May, followed by China Unicom, which sells iPhones in China, at 155.3 million, and China Telecom with 71.5 million.

China Mobile reported it had 9.3 million 3G subscribers at the end of May, while China Unicom said it had 6.5 million. China Telecom did not report a figure, but a company official said it now has between 6 million and 7 million 3G subscribers. The company reported its last official figure of 5.6 million at the end of the first quarter.

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Blackberry Storm

Talk about profound professionalism with efficiency and your discussion will end at the BlackBerry 9500 Storm. The phone has an unchallengeable calibre and a look to compliment its sophistication. The device has an extra large 3.25 inches TFT supporting a resolution of 360 x 480 pixels. The touch-sensitive screen is easy to operate and browse. This business-oriented gadget comes with a DataViz document viewer/ editor. The phone is GPS enabled and has packed within BlackBerry Maps. Commendable data sharing capacity of the Black Berry 9500 Storm is on account of Bluetooth v2.0 and USB v2.0.

Talk about profound professionalism with efficiency and your discussion will end at the BlackBerry 9500 Storm. The phone has an unchallengeable calibre and a look to compliment its sophistication. The device has an extra large 3.25 inches TFT supporting a resolution of 360 x 480 pixels. The touch-sensitive screen is easy to operate and browse. This business-oriented gadget comes with a DataViz document viewer/ editor. The phone is GPS enabled and has packed within BlackBerry Maps. Commendable data sharing capacity of the Black Berry 9500 Storm is on account of Bluetooth v2.0 and USB v2.0.

The 3G compatibility of the phone makes it get along with scores of other functionalities, live video streaming, video calls, broadband data transfer, wireless voice telephony etc. This phone seems to be determined not to leave a single stone unturned as even on the camera front it exhibits an unforeseen perfection. The 3.2 MP camera with autofocus, flash and video capability, makes every shot your best shot. The device is extremely capacious as it has a 1 GB storage space and a provision for memory expansion up to 8 GB. This is what makes the BlackBerry 9500 Storm the undisputed ruler of the professional mobile phones.

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Apple iPhone 3G

Apple has started to reduce the amount of 3G stock it holds with the new model being rumoured to be on its way imminently. This can be seen in the way that Apple in the US have lifted the ban on more than one iPhone being sold to one customer. the ban was meant to reduce the risk of a large amount of their stock being unlocked and moved from network to network. Before Apple sold them abroad there was a huge demand for unlocked iPhones.

The phone has been a huge hit in the UK, with many additional 3'rd party apps now becoming available for it.

Apple are clearly leading the way in development and intergration of it's own apps and 3'rd party apps.

The iPhone 3G comes in two colours, Balck and White.

The next iPhone is expected to hit the market by around August 2009.

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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has a nice 3.2 inch touchscreen and the latest S60 interface, which is suited to touchscreen. As the Music name suggests, this is a fantastic music phone. Supporting microSD cards up to 16GB there’s plenty of storage for music and video files. There’s an accelerometer, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, FM radio and a TV out port for viewing videos or playing the built-in games on your big screen.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has a nice 3.2 inch touchscreen and the latest S60 interface, which is suited to touchscreen. As the Music name suggests, this is a fantastic music phone. Supporting microSD cards up to 16GB there’s plenty of storage for music and video files. There’s an accelerometer, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, FM radio and a TV out port for viewing videos or playing the built-in games on your big screen.

The camera on the Nokia 5800 has 3.2 megapixels and a dual LED flash. This might not sound impressive but it has a high quality Carl Zeiss and that makes all the difference. Photographs are noticeably better compared to those taken with an iPhone or with an older generation cameraphone. The built-in web browser is excellent. The screen renders quickly and web pages can be dragged with a finger swipe or zoomed with a double tap on the screen. The Nokia 5800 has 3G, HSDPA and Wi-Fi. There’s also a built-in GPS receiver and a special touchscreen version of Nokia Maps is pre-installed. Don’t forget it’s also a phone! The on-screen numeric keypad makes dialling easy and there’s a choice of on-screen QWERTY keyboards or handwriting recognition for text input.

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Nokia E55

Wow, what a nice looking phone for Nokia, a lightweight and as yet their slimmest ever phone. Weighing in at 99 grams and 9.9mm thick, yet the phone has all the features than many of it's heavy brothers.

What is also rare on phones these days is the more compact qwerty keyboard, it differs from normal key's because it's set out like the keyboard on your computer rather than the alphabetical system most phones currently use. Most people either can't stand the compact qwerty keyboard setup, or they love it and very few will swap back once they are used to the other. If you are planning on buying one of these phones, it's worth trying this out before you purchase one.

What is also amazing is the amount of life in the battery and the way the phone uses it. UK users on the GSM network should be able to get up to around 28 days on standby and a talk time of 6 hours.

Features on the phone include;

1. Wifi
2. A 2.4" screen
3. A-GPS
4. FM Radio
5. Multimedia Player
6. 3.5mm plug for standard headphones.
7. 3.2 megapixel camera
8. Predictive Text
9. 2GB MicroSDcard

The e55 has a maximum download speed of 10.2Mbps and a top upload speed of 2Mbps can be obtained using HSUPA, so hooking it upto a laptop should still produce good results.

The phone is expected to be priced at launch with a non subsidised priced tag of £249

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Nokia 6216 Classic

This Nokia has NFC capabilities (Near Field Communications, secure transfer of information between near other handset devices, used for paying for items in the future etc). These types of phones are still in their infancy but with this Nokia 6216, Nokia are starting to get ahead of the field.

The main problem with this technology is that shops don't have the software or hardware to enable phones to pay for goods at the moment, but it will happen. We predict that this system wil be widespread and widely used in around 2-3 years time.

So if you are signing upto a 12-18 month mobile phone contract, then you may want to give this a miss until your next update at the end of that time.

As for the phone itself it's nothing spectacular, The design is basically a standard handset that you could find 4-5 years ago in any pay and go shop. Hitting the shops at around £130 for a sim free handset, it's reasonably priced but there are better handsets for that money.

Other features include a very basic 2 mega pixel camera, microSD expandable memory and Bluetooth enabled.

Our advice would be to skip this variant of the phone and wait for others in the next 2 years.

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Samsung Lucido (Samsung S7220)

Sticking to the basic nice design, Samsung have certainly impressed with the Lucido. It's what you expect from a phone and everything in all the right places. Compare that to the type of designs we have been getting recently from other manufacturers who have been a bit full of themselves and their new phones.

The Lucido is boasting a standard, if not by now out of date 5 mega pixel camera, the video camera on-board runs at a non mind blowing 15 frames per seconds and 320 x 240 dimension. Saying that the screen and resolution on this phone are top class, Samsung have installed their 'anti-blur' technology.

Other features include Th GPS, and this can be used to geo-tag photographs, and it also supports Google Maps. Standard memory is 110mb going up to 8gb with the adding of a microSD card.

Connecting to other devices via support for USB 2.0 and Bluetooth 2.1.

Duel Band 900/2100 device with quad band and a maximum download speed of just over 7 Mbps.

The target market for this device is the business community or users who want a phone with good features but not to flashy.

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Nokia E52

The basic layout of the Nokia E52 is pretty standard with a simply 2.4” 240 x 320 pixel display above a simple keypad on a block style model. There are a few more buttons than a standard Nokia mobile device but each is suited for business purposes with instant access to email and organizer documents making it a standard device for businesses. The business focus is much more noticeable once you look into the full set of features and applications available on the Nokia E52.

Standard features of the Nokia E52 include a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash equipment, WIFI, Bluetooth, a microSD expandable memory, a multimedia player, 3.5G support, FM radio, and the mobile standard 3.5 audio hook-up. With this wide array of features the Nokia E52 is almost able to offer the same perks as the Nokia E55 outside of the traditional keypad that is found on the E52 instead of a full QWERTY keypad.
One major perk of the Nokia E72 is its long battery life which is able to last for about six hours of talk time on 3G, eight hours of talk time on GSM, 18 days of standby on 3G, and an amazing standby time of 28 days on GSM. Thus, if you plan on heading out for a holiday and do not anticipate using your mobile forgetting your charger at home might not be a disaster after all! Also amazing is the supported HSUPA uploading network allowing download speeds that can reach up to 10Mbps and upload speeds of about 2Mbps if your network server supports the high speeds.

Additional perks of the Nokia E72 is the inclusion of a 1GB memory card with the sales package so that you can get started with the features right away along with a wired headset and a data cable. The E52 also comes with the Nokia Maps application and a GPS application that comes equipped with a compass. As it uses a Symbian S60 operating system it also allows for Google maps but the screen is too small for practical in car navigation although it could be useful with a passenger helping out with navigation.

The Symbian operating system also offers push email protocols, a Microsoft tools package, several document viewers, and a wide range of organizational applications such as an address book, data planner, and address book which is standard on most Nokia mobile phones. While there are plenty of features on the Nokia E52 the price tag on the model which is due in the latter half of 2009 is somewhat hefty at £200. Still, if you can get past the basic layout there are plenty of features and applications to offset the price tag and you can choose between the metallic grey body and a golden aluminium body.

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Samsung S5600

An even match for the likes of the LG KP500 Cookie, the Samsung S5600 is one of a couple of new mid range affordable touchscreen phones to be announced by Samsung of late. 3G enabled and using Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface the Samsung S5600 is the most likely candidate for taking over from the popular Samsung F480 Tocco, which was launched last year, even though the recently released Samsung S8300 has taken the Tocco name for itself.

The more than adequately sized 2.8″ TFT capacitive touchscreen features a built-in accelerometer sensor, haptic feedback technology, gesture lock and handwriting recognition and the 3.2 mega pixel camera is equipped for capturing pictures as well as recording video at 15fps.

Sharing a similar set of features to the Samsung S5230, the Samsung S5600 does of course carry 3G connectivity and HSDPA high speed data access which is what the S5230 lacks. They both offer the smile detection feature for better image caption but the Samsung S5600 has the added advantage of a built-in LED flash which the Samsung S5230 doesn’t.

Other shared features include an MP3 media player, stereo FM Radio with RDS support, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP stereo support, 8GB external memory, access to Shazam Find Music service and DNSe for enhanced sound quality. The Samsung S5600 also offers integrated GPS with A-GPS support as well as full web browsing facilities and email capabilities.

The Samsung S5600 will be available from April priced at around £160.

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Nokia 2730 Classic

The Nokia 2730 Classic is a cheap alternative to the standard 3G phones that are out there from other manufacturers. In fact it is the cheapest 3G phone Nokia have ever produced and available in the shops Sim-Free from around £60.

Strangely even for the cheap price tag it is still excellent value for money and drops very few features to compensate for the price tag, yet still manages to look good.

Nokia say in their launch statement that the phone is aimed at emerging telecoms market, such as Africa and rural parts of the third world, yet we aren't falling for that. the phone is going to make a big dent in the UK market as well. The credit crunch means that we are almost like a third world country in the amount of money families have to spend at the end of each month, so this is going to be popular here too.

The phone is a dual band, holds a 2" 240 x 320 pixel screen and a basic 2 mega pixel camera. The phones memory can be extended upwards to 2GB with a microSD memory card. Other features include Bluetooth, Full multimedia player capable of playing all the major formats, 3.5mm audio socket, stereo wired headset and the standard package includes a 1GB memory function. Talktime on this phone is 3.3 hours on 3G and 7.4 hours with the standard GSM network with around 17 hours standby time.

The downsides and to this phone are few but they are there, the 2 megapixel camera is basic compared to others these days. The 2" screen is a little smaller than usual and can make things a little tricky when typing or reading information. There is no HSDPA support so downloads are capped to 384 kbps. One may have a gripe about a video calling being missing, but who cares. If you want those features then it needs to be paid for, most people don't use them and thus don't want to pay for them.

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Sony Ericsson X1

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 comes featured with A-GPS, XPERIA panel interface, Navigation in multiple ways, 3G and also allows push email. Some of its additional features include wireless connectivity, QWERTY keyboard, video call with its integrated camera, RSS feeds.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 comes featured with A-GPS, XPERIA panel interface, Navigation in multiple ways, 3G and also allows push email. Some of its additional features include wireless connectivity, QWERTY keyboard, video call with its integrated camera, RSS feeds.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is one of the best phones on the market today in terms of both build quality and usfulness, it works and works well. The Xperia X1 can easily be your mobile office and portable entertainemt center, with Windows Mobile at the heart of the Xperia, most people should be very familiar with it and how it works. The full keyboard and angled screen make using the Xperia easy and a pleasant experience, the angled screen allows for much easier viewing.

From multiple reviews online it seems that people rate the X1 extremely highly.

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Nokia 2720

This handset from Nokia will probably hit the market in the UK for less than £50 (without contract). Again another entry level phone from Nokia, but for that kind of price who is going to complain.

The design is nice and clear, 2 screens, one on internal and one external. The one on the inside measuring 1.8" 128*160 and the external screen being around half that size.

Also included in the package is a 1.3 megapixel camera, an FM radio, MP3 ringtones. All of which you would expect to see on a Nokia phone, however the difference being that they are much more basic on this handset.

The Nokia 2720 also brings in Ovi Mail, Ovi mail is a system that allows users to sign up without having a main computer. This makes it ideal for people who have no other way of setting up an email account.

It isn't yet known whether the phone will have the Nokia life tools installed when sold in the UK, it is being done in some countries but not known about this yet. These tools will enable the phone to access useful information without going via the web.

The phone will support GPRS and Edge data systems, however no 3G support.

Our view of this phone is that it is a great asset to Nokia's entry level phones, looks nice and priced right. They should sell a lot of these devices in the run up to Christmas 2009

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Motorola Devour Review

The Motorola Devour is Verizon's first MotoBlur phone, which is already out in Best Buy for $99 and will be released March 15th on all other channels for around $149 with 2 year contract and rebate. It runs Android 1.6 and comes with some nice features.


The Motorola Devour is Verizon's first MotoBlur phone, which is already out in Best Buy for $99 and will be released March 15th on all other channels for around $149 with 2 year contract and rebate. It runs Android 1.6 and comes with some nice features. The Motorola Devour is Verizon's first MotoBlur phone, which is already out in Best Buy for $99 and will be released March 15th on all other channels for around $149 with 2 year contract and rebate. It runs Android 1.6 and comes with some nice features. The Motorola Devour is Verizon's first MotoBlur phone, which is already out in Best Buy for $99 and will be released March 15th on all other channels for around $149 with 2 year contract and rebate. It runs Android 1.6 and comes with some nice features.
Here's a rundown of the Devour's features:

• Android 1.6 with MotoBlur
• EV-DO rev A
• 3.1" capacitive touch screen (320x480)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 8gb microSD card (class 4)
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 802.11b/g wi-fi
• 3.0mp camera - no flash

Unboxing
There's nothing special about the packaging here. Just the standard white box with charger and manuals. It's obvious Verizon/Motorola spent more money on the packaging for the Droid.

Cosmetic
I think Motorola did a good job of fooling people into thinking that this phone is small. It's actually not, and comes in a tad bigger than the Droid! This is probably in part to the smaller screen, creating the allusion that the phone itself is smaller. It is surprisingly heavy as well; heavier than the Droid actually. (6.35oz vs 5.96oz)

I will say that the styling of the phone is fantastic. It has some great lines and details, and the silver finish is a step in a different direction as of late. It just feels like it is put together very well.



The Devour feels good in your hands. The rubber backing pieces provide the needed grip while the sharp, but rounded metal body gives it some style. The keyboard is reveled by a spring loaded screen flip, unlike the Droid, which you fully push open yourself. (more on the keyboard later)

On the right side you have your volume buttons, a voice dial button, and camera button.


On the left you have the charger port (microUSB), and the removable side, where the battery and microSD card are stored. I'm glad to see you don't have to remove the battery to get to the SD card. The removable side is pretty unique in itself. I'm glad they chose to not cover up the charging port and even recessed it a little.


The top has a recessed 3.5mm headphone jack and the lock/power button.



Screen
As I mentioned above the screen is a bit smaller than I would have liked (I love the Droid screen) and I suspect this will be people's number one complaint. Coming in at only 3.1 inches and a lower 320x480 resolution you're not going to get the clarity you get out of the Droid's screen (3.7" @ 480x854). You're also comparing 65k colors with 16 million.



That being said, the screen is the size of most other phones out there, and works well with the phone. The touch response and haptic feedback work well.

On the bottom of the screen you'll find the menu, back, and home buttons. I was surprised to see the absence of the search icon like most other Android phones. While this isn't critical I do find it useful to search on the fly. In its place is a activity/charging light indicator.

To be honest, I didn't even realize what the square in the bottom left was at first. It's an optical track pad. It's placement is a bit odd, but it is unique and serves its purpose if you want to navigate the screen but don't feel like moving your thumb more than a quarter inch. Wait, what?



Keyboard
I can't quite decide if I like the keyboard more than the Droid or not. Here are the advantages: The keys are more separated and have a better feel, everything is centered on the phone, dedicated number row, and you can easily get used to this keyboard.

Here are the disadvantages: I really don't like it the space bar is put on the same line as letters - this gives a large gap between the v and the b letter. Missing dedicated @, ?, menu, and search keys, only one alt key on the right, and no directional pad.



So you might have to decide for yourself if you like this keyboard. Sometimes it depends on the phone that you are coming from.

I should note that the Devour does have a vertical on-screen keyboard, which is less useful because of the screen's size. I couldn't find a way to bring up a horizontal on-screen keyboard like with the Droid.

Here's a comparison between the Devour and the Droid's keyboards:


Battery
The 1400mAh battery is rated at an astounding 443 hours stand-by time and 6.48 hours talk time. I suspect this is because it has the same battery that the Droid uses. The battery definitely has more then enough power to last you through the day even with heavy use.

Software
I was disappointed to see another phone running Android 1.6 while others are being released as we speak with 2.0 and 2.1. Maybe MotoBlur wasn't ready for 2.0 yet? I'm not sure. 1.6 isn't bad at all, I'm just one of those people that likes to have the latest version of everything, and I think others will have the same feeling. Regardless, you still have access to the Android Market so many will not even need the features of the latest Android.



I do like how MotoBlur organizes things. It puts all of your messages and "happenings" in one easy to understand space. Happenings can be messages from social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Messages are e-mails, and text messages. These two sections are displayed on your home screen.

A global status update can also send your messages to multiple social networking sites all at once. Another RSS widget allows you to hook up whatever feeds you may want to see.

MotoBlur also takes care of backing up your contacts, log-in info, home screen customizations, e-mail and social network messages. Using the phone's aGPS, the phone can also be located and even erased remotely through the MotoBlur portal. These are some really nice features, I must say.

I was happy to see that the interface is very responsive and you're not left waiting for things to load. This in combination with the screen makes the phone's experiencing gratifying.

Browser
The browser is pretty standard. Missing is the double tap to zoom, which I've come to enjoy on the Droid. Don't expect to see any pinch-zoom either. I found that after you do zoom out the pages are a bit more grainy on account of the lower resolution of the screen. Like other Android phones you can open a new window, but there is no tabbed browsing. There is, however flash light.

Camera
I was glad to see that the camera is quite responsive and takes pictures quickly, but that unfortunately came with the price of 3mp and no flash. The colors in the pictures weren't as full as they could be and there is definitely some graininess on account of the lower resolution. The camera does get the job done, but if you're looking for something with a more powerful camera check our the Droid Eris or Motorola Droid, which both have 5mp cameras.

Here's some more comparison shots with the Droid:




Conclusion
The Devour definitely fits a small niche of users who don't need the Droid, and don't want the Eris because it doesn't have a keyboard. Think of this as the mash-up between the Droid and the Eris.

The addition of MotoBlur is nice, but it's not a deal breaker. Verizon is pushing the social networking features of this phone more than anything else. I guess it all depends on how you want your social networking packaged.

Here are some reasons you would want the Devour over the Droid:

• Cheaper
• Straight forward social networking features
• Nice design
• You may like the keyboard better

Reasons to get the Droid:

• You really want Android 2.0 (or 2.1 very soon)
• Being a bit more expensive doesn't matter
• Better camera is a must
• Larger and higher quality screen is a must
• You don't care about MotoBlur
• A little extra styling doesn't matter

Finally, I'll leave you with my "MotoBlur" pic complete with lots of aperture:

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HTC Droid Incredible Review

Here's a quick rundown of the Droid Incredible's features - quite robust, I must say!

• Android 2.1 with HTC Sense
• 1GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (same as in Nexus One)
• 748mb of ROM
• 8gb of internal storage & up to 32gb additional storage w/ microSD card (not included)
• 3.7 inch 480x800 WVGA AMOLED capacitive touch screen
• Optical 'joystick'
• Wi-fi 802.11 b/g
• FM radio
• GPS, proximity sensor, light sensor, and compass
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 8mp camera with dual LED flash

Unboxing

Surprisingly there is nothing special about the packaging here. Even the Droid Eris has a pretty flashy box. The Droid Incredible comes in a standard white box with quick start guide and charger. It's become obvious that when Verizon spends money on marketing of a phone, like the first couple Droid phones, they like to also spend money on the first impression. I've noticed an absence in marketing for the Droid Incredible.

Cosmetic

The Droid Incredible is a very sleek phone. This is the thinest feature phone I've ever held. The styling of the phone is fantastic. The curves of the rubberized backing adds a nice touch, and the red anodized bezel of the camera lens fits very well. I should point out that the bezel protrudes and is not flush with the back.

The little hole on the right is for the exceptional external speaker (this is probably why the camera bezel protrudes, so the speaker can be heard if on a flat surface).

On the left side we have the uncovered microUSB port, and volume controls. I'm so glad to see a microUSB port on an HTC phone. It seems they're finally moving away from their ExtUSB port (which a miniUSB plug fits into)

On the right side there is nothing - no dedicated camera button here!

On the bottom there is also nothing besides the microphone:

On the top we have the power/lock button and the 3.5mm headphone jack:

Under the back cover you'll find the (red) battery and slot for the microSD card:

Screen

The screen is fantastic! It's super bright, responsive, and has just the right amount of haptic feedback. The AMOLED design of the screen definitely helps with the brightness and contrast. The Motorola Droid also has a 3.7 inch screen (which is a TFT design), but the Incredible's screen is actually 54 pixels less in length (480x800). When comparing the two, the Incredible definitely looks more vibrant:

Keyboard

I should say that I'm used to a physical QWERTY keyboard, and I had no problem adapting to this. I found the on screen keyboard easy to use and super responsive when typing fast. This is mostly because the screen is large, the hardware on the phone is physically fast, and HTC spruced up the stock Android keyboard a bit.

I really like how you can hold down a key to get the 'shift' row. I also like how they fit a comma and return key in place of a dedicated smiley face button. Not to mention on Android 2.1 you have the built in voice input on any text field.

Battery

The battery is red (see above), 1300mAh, and could be better, especially for a feature packed phone that you're likely to spend a lot of time using the web browser and updating your status. There's definitely nothing wrong with the battery, but unlike the phone's other features, it's not exceptional. However, when you consider that amount of hardware that the battery is running, the battery is great.

The Incredible's battery is rated at 5.21 hours of talk time and 146 hours of standby time. This equals about an hour less talk time than the Motorola Droid's 1400mAh battery.

Software

I'm really loving the updated HTC Sense UI. It definitely ads a polish to the already great Android 2.1. Sense gives Android a more sophisticated look and feel, and it carries over to the overall appeal of the phone. The music, video, and photo album applications are all wonderful. For once I feel like I could replace my iPod with this phone.

The Droid Incredible can definitely compete with usability along side the iPhone, if not beat it. HTC did a wonderful job on the Sense UI - I can't stress this enough!

Here's a couple things to note about the Sense UI:

• It works great with the phones hardware - no pauses, and scrolling is easy and quick
• There are seven home screens
• You can pinch the home screen to view "cards" of all the home screens at once
• HTC Widgets are included in addition to the Google ones (like bookmarks, footprints, clocks, friend system, weather, etc.)
• Music, video, and photo browsing programs are all improved
• Flickr is included and can be synced with your album on the phone (replaced Picasa?)
• More friendly calendar layout complete with home screen widget
• Better keyboard (see above)
• Copy/paste improved
• Flash lite is included with the browser
• Improved messaging screens - Visual voicemail is part of messaging
• Integrated Twitter app

Browser

I found the browser to be wonderful to use and fast to render pages. Like stated above you get Flash lite, but not the full version of flash. So, until Android 2.2 comes out, don't expect every flash page you visit to work properly.

Regardless, I really like how easy everything is to use. You can pinch-zoom in as far as you want (literally, really really far - HTC calls this "text flow"). You get a nice screen shot of bookmarked pages. Changing windows is easy via the menu. Pages can be viewed in landscape or vertical configurations.

Camera

Did I mention that the camera is 8mp and has two LED flashes? Holy crap! Megapixel ratings don't mean everything though. I'd be happier with a 2mp camera if it takes better pics. Well, I'm glad to report that not only does it take great pics, it does it with an improved, fast, interface!

Pictures are super sharp and full of contrast. Pictures are taken via the track pad button, or by pressing the screen. There's really no need for a dedicated camera button like with the Motorola Droid.

I really appreciate how easily you can zoom and turn off the flash with the dedicated on-screen icons. I also really like the options available for adjusting pics, like brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, different color effects, and wide variety of different settings (even ISO!). At the highest resolution pics are 3264x1952 and about 1gb!

Here's a quick pic I took with the Incredible:

You can also take video with the Incredible (up to 800 x 480 in resolution). The quality is quite good, but not as good as a stand alone camcorder, of course.

Compared to the Motorola Droid:

Conclusion

The HTC Droid Incredible is a fantastic phone. You won't find much to complain about with the Incredible in your pocket. It's fast, looks great, and can do anything you want it to with the help of the Android Market.

If you considered getting a new phone from Verizon with all the features - get this phone now. If you really want a hardware QWERTY, can do without some ease of use, and don't mind a slow camera, get the Motorola Droid (it's cheaper now too).

Bottom line - this phone beats the crap out of anything out there right now. Verizon users finally don't have a reason to need or want an iPhone. If the iPhone ever does come to Verizon, phones like this will make it less climactic.

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Google Nexus One stops selling device online

Google has now announced that the Google Nexus One will no longer be sold online. This comes from people who actually want to see the phones in person that they are purchasing and to get the phone on a contract that fits their needs. Google will still sell the Google Nexus One, but only through retail stores. Once the retail stores become popular with the sell of the Nexus One, all purchase via the web store will be stopped.

The Google online store will be used to showcase the different Android phones that are available.

via: Official Google Blog: Nexus One changes in availability

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iPod/iPhone accessories

A company called, Griffin Technology, brought several new accessories at CES 2009. Griffin Technology has announced that its TuneFlex AUX SmartClick is shipping to interested individuals. Shown in the pictures is an in-car iPod / iPhone charger (via cigarette adapter) that comes with a wireless remote that is made for slipping around your steering wheel and relies on solid auxiliary input connectin, rather than messing with an FM transmitter.

Price for this little package will run you around $79.99.

via: Griffin Technology: TuneFlex AUX SmartClick

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Nokia sues Apple once again...

Will the lawsuits ever come to an end. Not only once or even twice, but now coming as the third lawsuit, Nokia has filed another suit against Apple, saying that the company has infringed upon five of it's patents.

Nokia has claimed that the Apple iPad 3G infringes its patents due to the fact that the patents “relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices.”

The new complaint was filed by Nokia with the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, U.S.

If all this goes down and is proven in court that Apple did indeed infringe on Nokia's patents, Nokia could get $1.36 billion. This new lawsuit was filed with the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin by Nokia.

via: Nokia - ShowPressRelease

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iPhone 4 begins arriving at Walmart

June 25th will be the day when the Apple’s iPhone 4 will begin launching. Besides grabbing the iPhone 4 at the Apple stores, you will now be able to get the iPhone 4 at Walmart. Engadget has reported that shipments of the iPhone 4 has already been received at Walmart by the picture above.

These units should go fast once Walmart begins selling the popular smartphone and may not last long on the first launch day.


via: Walmart starts stocking iPhone 4 » Unwired View

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Nokia sues Apple once again...

Will the lawsuits ever come to an end. Not only once or even twice, but now coming as the third lawsuit, Nokia has filed another suit against Apple, saying that the company has infringed upon five of it's patents.

Nokia has claimed that the Apple iPad 3G infringes its patents due to the fact that the patents “relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices.”

The new complaint was filed by Nokia with the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, U.S.

If all this goes down and is proven in court that Apple did indeed infringe on Nokia's patents, Nokia could get $1.36 billion. This new lawsuit was filed with the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin by Nokia.
via: Nokia - ShowPressRelease

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Nokia N8 with Music Player and HDMI

The Nokia N8, which functions in landscape as well as portrait, has been showcased in a video that showcases the N8 with HDMI and a music player. It has been reported that the Nokia N8 does well when it comes with searching for songs, artists, albums and playlists.

The Nokia N8 allows you to use Bluetooth accessories to control the content of what is viewed on your HD TV and the Nokia N8's HDMI connectivity has been the main focus. The Nokia N8 is said to be available in the third quarter of 2010 and could be launched in the UK on August 25.


via: Nokia N8 Video Walkthrough: Music player and HDMI | Nokia Conversations - The official Nokia Blog

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Samsung Windows Phone 7 prototype hands-on

It's been a bit of a unicorn since making a quick appearance at MIX, but we just got the chance to go hands-on with Samsung's Omnia i8910-based Windows Phone 7 prototype phone. Interestingly, we were told that this hardware will never be released to market -- it's just for testing purposes right now. That testing is going quite well, as far as we can see -- Microsoft's people are starting to carry WP7 devices as their personal phones now, and while the software is still quite buggy, the build we saw in action was noticeably faster than before. We were also told that the hardware in the pipeline -- particularly from Samsung -- is apparently quite spectacular, and that this particular device doesn't represent the launch set of devices. We'll have to see -- we actually thought this prototype was quite handsome in person, although it's a little thicker than you might expect. Hit up the gallery for some more pics!

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5 Extremely Addicting iPad Games

If you’d like to enjoy the outdoors today, we suggest you stop reading right now.

What follows are five iPad addictive games that maximize screen real-estate with luring graphics, break ground in the handheld gaming sector. They ultimately exemplify whyApple’s tablet device is such an impressive device for gaming.

These games will capture your imagination, demand your attention, and may ultimately destroy your relationships with loved ones if you get too sucked in.

You can’t say we didn’t warn you.

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1. We Rule GOLD

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We Rule is like FarmVille for the iPad. Things start innocently enough in level one, but as you level up and tackle the tutorial challenges, a funny thing happens — the game gets serious and intricate.

Planting and harvesting crops is a key part of gameplay, but your efforts should be focused on trying to level up by accruing experience points. Levelling up allows you to continue expanding your kingdom, unlock more farm patches and grab other essentials like shops, plants, statues, roads and rivers for your kingdom.

Some of this may sound like nonsense, but most of your time will be spent designing your kingdom, and there’s nothing more frustrating than wanting to add a dragon’s lair or prison to your kingdom and not having the funds to do so.

The best part about the game is that everyone from your friends to tech celebrities like Digg’s Kevin Rose is in on the action. This makes for extra enticing gameplay because you can add your friends from real life and web life as neighbors and check out their kingdoms or buy goods from their shops.

After a few short days you’ll be hooked, even going so far as to set up push notifications so you know when your plants are ready to harvest, and your citizens are ready to hand over their tax payments.

A few tips: Build as many cottages as you can so you can collect taxes and earn experience points quicker. Plant the most expensive crops because you make more when you harvest them, and save your mojo to use in higher levels and plan around expansion.

Price Point: Free
Addiction Rating: 4.5 stars

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2. Angry Birds HD

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What’s so great about Angry Birds? How about “everything.” This is one of those games that will continue to nag at your sense of self-worth until you can beat a particular level — which may prove to be futile for some levels. Pick up this game and soon your dreams will be haunted by squawking birds, and the taunting grins of those green pigs that just will not die.

Things begin rather easily: You start with a few angry red birds that you sling at awaiting green pigs. The goal is to kill the pigs either by lampooning them with a bird dead-on, or craftily trying to topple bricks to crush them. In total, there are 105 different levels, each one more difficult than the last.

Beginner tips: Don’t play in front of friends or family because they will try to take the game away from you, sometimes the most obvious strategy is the right one, know your angles and learn the strengths of each bird type.

Price Point: $4.99
Addiction Rating: 5 stars

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3. GodFinger

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Oh the joys of playing God. In GodFinger, you’re a deity with a commanding finger you can use to turn people into followers and put them to work on your planet.

The idea of the game is to create a thriving planet populated with followers to do your bidding. Earning gold, mana, and awe let’s you level up and build better items to help you earn all three achievements as fast as possible.

You earn gold by placing followers at barns or farms. It is used to buy new items in the store. You need mana for rain, sunshine, lightning and the other natural elements required for planet functions. You can earn mana by placing followers at your shrine. Awe is a special element that you earn each time you level up, and you can use it at the Awe Store. You can also buy it if you get desperate.

GodFinger — like We Rule — is an Ngmoco game, so gameplay begins with a challenge-based tutorial. You level up based on the experience points you accrue through in-game actions. Pay attention to each task and prompt in the tutorial mode, as instructions include information that will become vital to the health of your planet and your followers.

Tips for ruling wisely: Wells and taverns are great for faster rejuvenation, gold that you don’t collect erodes, upgrade your shrine to generate mana faster, zoom out to visit neighboring planets and save your awe to buy cooler items in higher levels.

Price Point: Free
Addiction Rating: 4 stars

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4. Plants vs. Zombies HD

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Zombie fan or not, this game will suck the life out of you as you fall victim to each engrossing level.

The ultimate goal of the game is to prevent zombies from entering your home in each level. Should they succeed, you will die.

The game starts out with a few semi-harmless zombies and some less-than-potent plants that you will need to attack and kill the oncoming onslaught of the undead. As you level up, the zombies become more menacing and the plants more lethal.

Your biggest challenges will be deciding how many sunflowers to plant, figuring out how to protect them, and picking plants to use in your arsenal of attack for each level. Don’t forget that you will need the sunflowers to buy the plants you need. Also, the plants you choose for each level will vary on whether it’s day or night, and their ability to kill depends on the zombies you’re fighting against.

Tips to stay alive: Plant as many sunflowers as you can during the first few moments of each level, the double sunflower is a waste of money and space, always buy more slots for plants when you can and make sure you have at least one big attack plant for each level.

Price Point: $9.99
Addiction Rating: 5 stars

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5. Dizzypad HD

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Who knew having frogs leap from lilypad to lilypad could be so addicting? But in much the same way thatDoodleJump can entertain and frustrate players for hours at a time, so too can Dizzypad HD for the iPad.

The object of the game is to get the frog from one lilypad to the next, by carefully timing each leap so as not to land in the water and lose a life. Unfortunately, this is one of those games that is deceptively simple: It will lure you in with its easy premise and then make you feel like a fool when you can’t beat your own high score.

Unlike most great games on the iPad, this one comes completely free of charge — but only if you’re fine with just playing the classic mode. If you’re anything like me, you’ll fork over the $1.99 (each) to add sliders, memory, and battle modes. They’re definitely worth the extra cash.

Pro tip for leapers: Learn to leapfrog as many lilypads as you can early on. For each lilypad you leapfrog, you earn an extra life. Those extra lives will come in handy as lilypads become harder to reach.

source http://mashable.com

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