Mobile Phone News

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia

We’ve already seen Nokia’s new N96 up-close and unboxed, but if you’re looking for a bit more information before your potential purchase, you may want to head over to All About Symbian, which has a few first impressions of the phone. Among other things, its contributor found the screen to be “great,” even outdoors, and the overall build quality is described as “good,” if a bit “plasticky.” He also found the music quality to be especially good over Bluetooth/A2DP, and from the built-in speakers as well, which are apparently “very loud.” On the downside, the camera shutter key proved to be a bit stiff, and some of the third-party applications like ProfiMail were to be a bit buggy, as was Nokia’s Switch app when attempting to transfer Dat. from an E90 to the N96. Hit up the link below for a few more details, and some sample photos taken with the N96’s camera.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tags: A2dp, Buggy, Camera Shutter, Contributor, Downside, E90, First Impressions, Handsets, Music Quality, Nbsp, Nokia, Nokia N96, Paces, Party Applications, Photos, Speakers, Symbian, Third Party

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Sharp, T-Mobile, Danger, GSM, EDGE

After all the buffoonery over what precisely T-Mobile intended to call its newest entry-level Danger device, they’ve ultimately decided to just go back to basics, drop the acronyms, and christen it clearly “Sidekick.” Make no mistake, though — this little puppy is a far cry from your daddy’s Hiptop launched way back in 2002, thanks to a 400 x 240 WQVGA display, 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, and a microSD slot. Though it’s being billed as the iD’s spiritual successor, the Sidekick comes dangerously close to LX territory, so it should see some solid movement at the $149.99 asking price on a two-year contract. What’s more, the Sidekick becomes Danger’s first device with user-customizable shells, available directly from sidekickshells.com for $14.99 a pop (we’ve got Bot. a really bad and a really frickin’ great feeling about the ridiculous sorts of designs people are plan to be coming up with there). The whole shebang goes on sale starting today.

We’ve spent just a little bit of time fiddling with a Sidekick this week, and in a nutshell, this thing is a killer upgrade for the iD crowd — which just so happens to be precisely what T-Mobile’s going for. On the downside, the pivot mechanism and controls feel just a little chintzier than those on their big brother, the LX — but not distractingly so — and it’s surprisingly hard to downgrade from the LX’s stunning 3-inch display to the Sidekick’s smaller 2.6-inch deal. For those of you with shell design ideas already in mind, though, where else are you gonna turn?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tags: A2dp, Acronyms, Asking Price, Big Brother, Buffoonery, Capability, Design Ideas, Downside, Far Cry, Hiptop, Little Bit, Little Puppy, Nutshell, Shell Design, Shells, Sorts, Spiritual Successor, T Mobile Sidekick, Video Recording, Whole Shebang