Telus goes live with Motorola Q9c and BlackBerry Curve 8330

Our friends to the North will be happy to hear that Telus has followed through on rumors that they'll be launching a Canadian-flavored BlackBerry Curve 8330. The sleek, yet full-featured BlackBerry Curve 8330 offers BlackBerry fans a good dose of EVDO data, GPS, Bluetooth, and 2 megapixel camera. That is, when it finally launches on Telus's network - no word on exactly when that will be.

And, in a more solid launch, Telus has announced that the Motorola Q9c is ready to pull duty as the CDMA carrier's slim Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard handset.

Moto Q9c fans in Canada can expect a 1.3 megapixel camera, EVDO data, and Bluetooth - all powered by Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard. The Motorola Q9c is available on Telus for about $150 CDN after 3-year contract(!).

Head on over to Telus for more details.
Telus

Not at CTIA: Nokia unveils 4 phones for the emerging market

At the Growing Together 2008 Conference in South Africa today Nokia released 4 devices. Is that a Prism? For the entry market?! Find out after the jump along with the other 3 devices.

The Nokia 5000 is a 90 Euro device with a 1.3 megapixel camera, 240×320 resolution 65k color 2 inch screen, dual band (one version to be 900/1800, the other 850/1900), 700 mAh battery all in a 11.1 mm thin package scheduled to come out in the second quarter of this year.

The Nokia 2680 Slide will cost 75 Euros when it comes out in the third quarter of this year. It has a VGA camera, again dual band with 2 versions like the Nokia 5000, 128×160 resolution screen, 860 mAh battery and it is a hair under 15 mm thin.



The Nokia 7070 Prism is the cheapest fashion phone I've ever seen out of Nokia coming in at only 50 Euros when it hits stores in the third quarter of this year. You'll get a dual band device, 128×160 resolution screen, 16 mm thin device, but with a ton of style. It looks like a clamshell version of the 7500.


The Nokia 1680 Classic is the 2680 in a monoblock form factor, but it is coming out in Q2.

For more detailed information about these 4 devices the PDF datasheets are avilable here along with more press quality [read: high resolution] photos.

[via IntoMobile]

Nokia at CTIA: N810 WiMAX announced, along with two low-end CDMA phones - Nokia 3606 and Nokia 1606

The wait is (almost) over. Just as we expected, Nokia N810 WiMAX has been announced from the CTIA floor. However, don't expect it to hit the markets till summer, when it will be available in areas where WiMAX connectivity is available. No word whether the original N810 specs are changed or not (aside from WiMAX radio, of course).

In the other news, the Finish giant unveiled two new CDMA devices for the North America - Nokia 3606 and Nokia 1606. The first, more powerful one boasts a 1.3 megapixel camera with LED flash, stereo Bluetooth support, microSD slot. On the other hand, the 1606 model is the basic feature phone that neatly doubles as a flashlight, which will work even if the device is powered off. Both Nokia 3606 and Nokia 1606 are expected to be available in Q3 2008. No carrier partners have been announced.

[via IntoMobile]

Hands-on with Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1 smartphone

Boasting an "arc-slider" design, a QWERTY keypad, and an innovative paneled interface, Sony Ericsson's first stab at a Windows Mobile smartphone looks like a winner, give or take a few rough edges. Check out my hands-on impressions from Vegas.



The Xperia X1 was a big hit at last month's World Mobile Congress event in Barcelona, but apparently it spent its moment in the spotlight stuck in a glass case. This week, Sony Ericsson reps were finally ready to air out the X1 during CTIA, and I got a chance to give the sleek handset the once-over.

First impressions: The phone itself is beautifully constructed, what with its black, brushed-metal back panel and silver keypad, and the handset slides open with a solid, spring-y action.
The Xperia's "arc" design leaves the display at the perfect angle while you're typing.That said, the Xperia is not a small phone. The handset weighs well over five ounces, and at 4.3 by 2.1 by 0.65 inches, it's no svelte iPhone (although, to be fair, it's not a monster like the Nokia E90).

Also, about the metal QWERTY keypad: It's gorgeous, all right, but during my brief testing, the keys felt a bit small and slippery to my fingertips. It could be something that you'd get used to over time, but it's worth noting.

Back on the plus side, the wide, three-inch WVGA display looks great, and the phone itself runs the professional version of Windows Mobile (yes, it'll be the newly announced version 6.1), complete with a stylus. There's also a four-way navigational keypad and an "optical" joystick—a little nub that you swipe up, down and across for scrolling through menus and Web pages.

One of the most intriguing features about the Xperia are the nine "panels" that sit on the phone's main screen. The panels can be just about anything—Web pages, widgets, applications—and tapping one of them brings it to the fore. One panel that the Sony Ericsson folks were particularly proud of looked like a blank desktop save for a few colored fish and a digital clock.

Tap and hold the screen and the fish flock to your finger; tap repeatedly and the fish scatter. If your battery's getting low, one of the fish starts to turn red, while another fish turns yellow if you miss a call. Cool.

My Sony Ericsson rep said that the company's looking to developers to build even more panels, which can be displayed nine at a time or splayed out like a deck of cards.

Running beneath the panels is, of course, the pro version of Windows Mobile, which boasts your standard lineup of mobile Office, PIM and media apps. Unfortunately, the OS was running excruciatingly slow on the Xperia I saw; the reps assured me that the Xperia software will be tight as a drum by the time it ships. Let's hope so.

The Xperia doesn't disappoint when it comes to connectivity—full-on HSDPA access (yes, even here in the States), Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Also on board is a 3.2MP camera with touch auto-focus (just touch the viewfinder to pick a focal point—nice!) and AGPS navigation.

So, when's the Xperia going to arrive? I'm told it'll be here in the second half of the year, quite possibly with a carrier (AT&T is my guess, although Sony Ericsson would only say that talks are "underway" with carriers unnamed). No details on pricing either, but from what I've seen…we could be talking upwards of $350 or more, even with carrier subsidies. Stay tuned.

Source

iPhone compatible speaker clock radio

Designed for bedrooms, studio apartments or college dorm rooms, Sony is unveiling its latest clock radio with a dock for Apple iPod and Apple iPhone. Sony is one of the first companies to launch an Apple iPhone compatible speaker clock radio. It features a wireless remote with full access to the iPod and iPhone devices’ menus (the Apple iPhone handset must be in iPod mode), as well as to alarm clock’s radio tuning and volume functions. It also charges the Apple iPhone while docked.

Sony ICF-C1iPMK2 clock radio
An adjustable backstop mechanism ensures that most devices fit snugly and securely in the clock radio's cradle. It's also compatible with the smaller iPod players. Because of its supplied cable and line-in jack, other digital music players can be easily connected to the unit. The clock radio also has a full-function alarm clock. Users can choose to wake up or fall asleep to music, the radio or a buzzer.

Sony clock radio with iPhone support
When first powered on, the Automatic Time Set (ATS) feature will display the correct Eastern Standard Time which easily can be changed to other time zones. The Sony clock radio also has automatic Daylight Savings Time adjustment, eliminating the need to reset the clock in the spring and the fall. Adjustable brightness control over the LCD display provides easy readability.

Price and Availability
The Sony ICF-ClipMK2 clock radio comes in both black and white designs. It will be available in May for about $100 at Sony Style stores or online troughout the Sony Style website and at authorized dealers nationwide.

[Source]

Hands-on with the Samsung Instinct - Sprint's answer to the iPhone

Everyone wants needs an iPhone competitor. In a market flooded with notions that sleek and slim smartphones with a rock-solid and intuitive interfaces are the way to go, no carrier can afford to ignore the touchscreen craze that's sweeping the mobile space.

And, Sprint has just announced their own attempt to woo the touchscreen crowd with the Samsung Instinct.

Sprint's Samsung Instinct wasn't available at Sprint nor Samsung's booth for some reason. I had to wait until an evening-event to get my hands on the Samsung Instinct, where Sprint had a handful of reps ready to showcase the new Sprint touchscreen handset.

Packed with a 2 megapixel camera, GPS, FM radio, EVDO Rev. A (the first Rev. A device on Sprint, according to the Sprint rep), 3-inch touchscreen (pressure-based and flush with the face of the device), and microSD card slot, the slim touchscreen offering from Samsung should help Sprint regain (or at least retain) some of its lost customer base. The Samsung Sprint measures a svelte 2.17 x 4.57 x 0.49 inches and tips the scales at a rather solid-feeling but still light 4.4 ounces.

The Samsung Instinct looks and feels much like the Samsung F700 Croix/U940 Glyde, without the sliding keyboard (of course) and without the award-winning Croix interface. The haptic feedback on the Samsung Instinct is the same pseudo-haptic feedback system that Samsung likes to use on their touchscreen handsets - the entire device vibrates with every touchscreen input. The vibration feedback novel at first, but then gets annoying quite quickly.

Overall, the pressure-based touchscreen was nice and firm - there was very little touchscreen "squish." The display's flush design helps to keep the Samsung Instinct's lines clean and smooth, and the LED backlit navigation buttons added a bit of flair to the device. As an iPhone competitor, this is probably as good as it's going to get for now (on Sprint). Capacitance touchscreen technology would have made the Samsung Instinct a little snazzier, and the UI could use some refinement. But in the end, if you want to get in on the full-body touchscreen craze, and you want to stay with Sprint, the Samsung Instinct is probably your best bet.

Booth reps said that the Samsung Instinct should be launching in June at a price point that is sure "to surprise" us all. I'd put money on the Sprint Samsung Instinct commanding a mid-$200 price tag with new contract.

[Source]

Nokia 5000 Camera Phone is Green with Envy

The newly announced Nokia 5000 candybar phone has the same appearance as so many other multimedia-centered phones in the Nokia 5000-series. As with handsets like the 5300, the Nokia 5000 is mostly white and black, with the exception of a color accent flanking the display on either side. In this case, they've gone with green.

Interestingly, the Nokia 5000 does not have the XpressMusic controls on their flanking green strips, opting instead for a more generic keypad layout. There are no dedicated music controls to speak of on this phone. Key features include a 1.3 megapixel camera, QVGA display, FM radio, MP3 ringtones, Bluetooth, and GPRS.

The good news is that the Nokia 5000 will be very affordable, selling for a mere 90 Euro ($140) when it hits retailers in Q2 2008.

[via MobileMag]