2008 December | dailygadget.info

Dec 31 2008

RIM’s president calls BlackBerry Storm a small netbook

Posted by: in Mobile

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, EV-DO, CDMA

Clearly, Mike Lazaridis has the chops when it comes to running a business. What he clearly lacks, however, is a firm definition of the term “netbook.” To his credit, we still feel the exact boundaries for netbooks have yet to be determined (fret not, Psion Teklogix is hammering out those details), but calling a BlackBerry Storm one is — how do you say? — a bit of a stretch. During a recent sit down with RIM’s president, CNET Asia heard the bigwig answer like so when questioned about viewing netbooks as competitors: “No, I think I can put netbooks in here [referring to the BlackBerry Storm]. These are netbooks. They are just smaller.” Wait, Mike — don’t you think smartphones are more like MIDs or UMPCs? Or do we just have you all wrong here?

[Via phoneArena]

RIM’s president calls BlackBerry Storm a small netbook originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 31 2008

Sprint’s pink Instinct shows up on Best Buy’s site for outrageous price

Posted by: in Mobile

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Sprint, EV-DO, CDMA

We’d pegged early January for the release of a pink Samsung Instinct on Sprint’s airwaves, and Best Buy’s doing everything it can to help us hold the line on that with a new “Coming Soon” page advertising just such a product. Unfortunately, they’re asking a whopping $599.99 for the pleasure of being the first kid on your block with this thing, but the off-contract pricing in Best Buy’s system is usually way out of whack — we wouldn’t worry about paying anything close to $200 on contract by the time you actually step into the store.

[Thanks, Emilio]

Sprint’s pink Instinct shows up on Best Buy’s site for outrageous price originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 31 2008

Nokia’s 6208c now official, officially in love with stylus input

Posted by: in Mobile

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, EDGE

Nokia’s 6208c (or 6208 classic, if you prefer) isn’t arriving as a surprise, though it is quite nice to see it being made completely official. The rather unique handset was designed with the Chinese market in mind, as it boasts an integrated, removable stylus modeled after bamboo slips for inputting Chinese characters via pen. You’ll also notice a stainless steel back cover, 3.2-megapixel camera (with twin LED flash), a 4x digital zoom and a microSD slot for expanding storage. Mum’s the word on pricing, but it should be loosed in “select markets” during the first half of 2009.

Nokia’s 6208c now official, officially in love with stylus input originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 31 2008

Shadow II, Curve 8900, Samsung Memoir due in coming weeks on T-Mobile?

Posted by: in Mobile

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, T-Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

We’re still waiting for even a single American launch of RIM’s luscious (or luscious-looking, anyway) Curve 8900, but if the latest blurry screenshot is to be believed, that little indiscretion is finally about to be rectified — and the curvacious BlackBerry’s bringing friends, too. Notables on T-Mobile’s alleged list of first quarter launches include the Nokia 7510 Supernova on January 21, the long-rumored Shadow II on January 28, a mysterious Motorola Renew on February 4, and the aforementioned 8900 and 8-megapixel Memoir on February 18. In other words, T-Mob fans, mark your calendars for the third week of February, because that’s where the action’s going to be. Or so we desperately hope.

Shadow II, Curve 8900, Samsung Memoir due in coming weeks on T-Mobile? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 30 2008

Rentobile offers up rental phones for folks stuck on contract

Posted by: in Mobile

Filed under: Handsets, Misc

It certainly isn’t for everybody, but if you’ve found yourself regretting your choice of handset and are still stuck on a lengthy contract, you may want to look into upstart Rentobile, which will let you try out a phone for a month or more and switch to another one whenever you get tired of it. Things could get a tad pricey if you decide to stick with the rentals for the long haul, however, with most of the phones running $24 a month for members or $36 a month for non-members, while some unlocked phones like Nokia E90 or even a 16GB iPhone will run $34/month for members and a hefty $51/month for non-members. According to RCRWireless, while the company has been around for three months already, they say they’ve only managed to sign up 50 members to date, although they’re apparently planning to step up their marketing and advertising efforts in the not too distant future, and even hope to work out some special deals with manufacturers to sweeten the deal a little.

[Via RCRWireless]

Rentobile offers up rental phones for folks stuck on contract originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 30 2008

Nokia E63 gets reviewed

Posted by: in Mobile

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia

Nokia’s QWERTY-equipped E63 handset hasn’t exactly been making itself shy since those first few spy shots turned up way back in October, but it’s been another matter getting some solid impressions of the device from folks that have actually spent some quality time with it. Thankfully, PhoneArena has now stepped in and provided one of their usually thorough reviews for those that still prefer a good ‘ol keypad. On the whole, while the site says it may not be the ideal choice for business folks or the more demanding users out there, they say that most everyone else will find plenty to like, with the phone boasting decent enough sound quality, a solid keypad, and an all-too-often overlooked 3.5mm jack, all in a sturdy and compact body. On the downside, the camera is apparently decidedly lackluster, and some of the function buttons could cause a bit of frustration, to name a few quibbles. Hit up the link below for the full rundown including, of course, plenty of pics (and even a 360 degree view).

Nokia E63 gets reviewed originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Hands-on (once more, with feeling) with the Samsung Highnote

Dec 30 2008

Hands-on (once more, with feeling) with the Samsung Highnote

Posted by: in Mobile

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Samsung, Sprint, EV-DO, CDMA

After a brief interlude at CTIA earlier this year, we’ve had another chance to play around with Samsung’s funky little Highnote for Sprint recently, so we wanted to give our quick, stream-of-consciousness thoughts on what this music-focused dual slider is all about. The phone’s claim to fame is its hidden integrated loudspeaker for blasting tunes, which can be exposed by sliding the front downward (a la Nokia N95 and the like). While we found the speaker to be loud and reasonably clear enough for occasional impromptu dance parties, we didn’t think it was any louder than similar handsets that have more traditional mono or stereo loudspeakers integrated into the body of the phone. In other words, the dual slide is a bit of a gimmick here.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Samsung Highnote

Hands-on (once more, with feeling) with the Samsung Highnote originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 30 2008

Keepin’ it real fake, part CLXXV: The SMS walkie-talkie roundup

Posted by: in Mobile

Filed under: Handsets, Messaging, Others, Apple

We know, the holiday season is officially kaput, but if you still owe that niece or nephew a gift and you feel like teaching them tech-savvy and brand loyalty, you might want to consider one of these KIRF walkie-talkies / organizers that let you send text messages in addition to voice calls in the same vein as that Slide Click we saw back in the day. Trust us, typing on a small keyboard or numpad is one of the best skills they can have when they grow up — it’s a lot more practical than the Morse code we learned back in our day. The lone exception here is the feature-less RAZR knockoff that does voice-only — hey, it’s only fitting that the one phone here that doesn’t knock off a smartphone have less features.

[Thanks, James]

Read - Discovery Exclusive Pink Slide and Text Messengers (Sidekick)
Read - iChat SMS Text Messenger/Chat Talkies (Blackberry)
Read - iText SMS Text Messenger (iPhone)
Read - Discovery Exclusive Flip Phone Walkie-Talkies (RAZR)

Keepin’ it real fake, part CLXXV: The SMS walkie-talkie roundup originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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