Sony Unveils New iPhone, iPod Dock

Designed for bedrooms, studio apartments or college dorm rooms, Sony has unveiled its latest clock radio with a dock for the iPod and iPhone. The device features a wireless remote with full access to the iPod and iPhone devices' menus (the iPhone handset must be in iPod mode), as well as to alarm clocks, radio tuning and volume functions. It also charges the device while docked. 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.

Sony's ICF-ClipMK2 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. When first powered on, the Automatic Time Set (ATS) feature will display the correct time (formats and time can be changed to other time zones as well). The unit also has automatic Daylight Savings Time adjustment. Adjustable brightness control over the LCD display provides easy readability.

The ICF-ClipMK2 clock radio comes in both black and white designs. It will be available in May for about Rs. 3,996 ($100) at Sony Style stores and at authorized dealers in the US.

LG Shine Now in Titanium

Following the success of the LG Shine handset within the Black Label Series, LG has unveiled a new addition - the LG Shine Titanium color variant in bar and Slider form factors. LG Shine Titanium boasts of being the only phone in the market sporting a Titanium finish metal body. It incorporates the same features as the original LG Shine handset.

Anil Arora, Business Group Head, GSM said, “The new colours of Shine Slider will extend our success of the Shine series and will appeal to consumers who want their phone to say something about their personality. LG Shine color variants will magnify the modern style and chic image of the consumers, while the forthcoming premium handsets with unique design variations promise to be even more desirable, adding technology enhancements to unbeatable design.”

The LG Shine with new color variants has a 2 mega-pixel auto focus camera certified by Schneider Kreuznach and an expandable memory up to 1 GB with microSD cards. Access to Shine’s menu system is by an easy-to-use multi-function scroll key. It has a wide 2.2-inch mirror LCD screen and supports GPRS and EDGE network compatibility, Bluetooth with A2DP and USB connectivity. It also has applications like Yogasanas for health conscious people, E2E dictionary, E-mail and Document Viewer.

LG Shine Titanium Shine Bar will be available for Rs. 8,290 and the slider variant will be available for Rs. 12,490. Also the shine silver bar variant is now available for Rs. 7,990 and silver slider for Rs. 11,990.

Samsung Adds Soul to Ultra Mobile Range

Samsung’s new handset – the Soul, or Spirit Of Ultra – is the latest addition to its Ultra Series. This 3G, HSDPA-enabled, quadband slider is just 12.9mm thick and has a stylish metallic finish. It’s equipped with Magical Touch by DaCP, which is a unique navigation panel under the 2.2 inch QVGA, 16 million color screen.

Magical Touch navigation is essentially a miniature display panel that adapts in sync with the function you’ve selected. The icons change according to the function. For instance, if you have a video playing on the screen, the icons would depict functions like Rewind, Forward, Play and Pause, using the universal symbols for the same.

Other features include a 5 megapixel camera with face detection, image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), Bluetooth with A2DP profile, integrated FM radio and a nifty music player that incorporates Bang & Olfusen’s ICEpower digital power amplification technology.

The GUI has undergone a bit of an upgrade in terms of look and feel, and now comes with themes that are more customizable. External memory is supported via microSD cards.

There’s no word on the official price yet, but the Soul should be available in Europe from April. Let’s hope it doesn’t take too long to show up in our part of the world.

Samsung Launches Another Music Phone

Samsung and Symbian seem a great combo. The two companies have decided it’s time they worked with each other, and have announced the tie-up in the latest Samsung SGH i450 mobile phone.

This is a music phone that runs on Symbian OS, v9.2 and S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1. The i450 is a dual slider phone that’s well equipped for audio playback as well as high speed Internet browsing (3.6 Mbps) though HSDPA.

The keypad slides out from the bottom of the i450 and a set of metallic speakers slide out from the top. The i450 is equipped with a touch-sensitive arch-like half-wheel that can be utilized for navigation when the phone is in landscape mode.

Once again, Bang & Olufsen have contributed their bit to Samsung’s music phone range with their ICEpower amplifier. The i450 may have just 35MB of internal memory, but this can be extended using microSD cards(up to 4GB).

The i450 is equipped with a 2 megapixel camera at the rear and a secondary VGA camera in front above the 2.4 inch LCD display (240 x 320 pixel resolution) for video calling.

The i450 was on display at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London on October 16 and 17. Price and availability are yet to be revealed.

Motorola May Release RAZR V9 Ferrari Limited Edition

With all of the hub-bub on the MOTO front with executives coming and going and re-working the company's mobile handset division, Motorola is still managing to hook up with the big names like Ferrari and apparently launch a few Limited Edition handsets with the renowned car maker.

The MOTO Z8 Edition was launched somewhere at the end of last year and this 'souped' up RIZR Ferrari colored handset came loaded with goodies that included videos, wallpapers and ringtones as well as a rather generous pre-registration to the official Ferrari website.

MOTO's latest, it seems, is the RAZR V9 that will also bear the famous Prancing Horse, and come with a lamb-skin case that will have the Ferrari logo. The handset's specs won't be any different. Some of the features include a 2MP camera, Bluetooth with A2DP, MicroSD card support and a secondary 2-inch semi-touch sensitive, external display.

The good news so far is that the handset just might make it to Asia but you know these darn Limited Editions cost a bundle. No price has been officially pinned to the handset yet.

Stay Tuned.

Porsche P'9521

The trend today is – if you have a big brand name, why not ‘mobilize’ it? Plenty of companies are doing it, from fashion houses like Prada and Christian Dior to watch makers like Tag Heuer. Even carmakers seem to be getting into it. Big names like Lamborghini, Ferrari, Hummer and now Porsche are, after conquering the roads, aiming for the airwaves. Porsche's P'9521 is out in India and I managed to get hold of one. It's been a long time coming, but it's here now and here’s what I have to say about it.

Form Factor
The P9521 Porsche Mobile is, well... not as you’d imagine one of their cars to be. If you’re thinking sleek, sexy, curvy, you couldn’t be more wrong. The P'9521 is more of a Cayenne and not a Carrera. It's actually handmade from a single block of Aluminum. Although that does give the handset a squared -off block shape, it also gives it a totally rugged and macho feel. It has a 1.1-inch AM-OLED screen with a 128 x 96 pixel ratio. It's made of Dark Mineral Glass that’s scratch resistant. The black shiny glass does give the handset a certain classy and elegant look and feel to it. Though of course, it’s a finger print magnet, but I doubt anyone’s going to complain.

The internal display is a brilliant 2.2-inch QVGA screen with a 320 x 240 pixel resolution. The display portion of the handset, although you won’t see it at first, can swivel around and be placed down over the keypad. Firstly this is to facilitate the use of the 3.2 megapixel camera that can only be activated in this mode and secondly it’s a whole lot more comfortable to watch videos like this. The reason being, when reversed it has an auto rotation feature that can flip the screen any which way you want while watching videos. The Biometric sensor for fingerprint scanning is located just under the screen and this too serves a dual purpose. For the camera it can be used to activate and navigate through the camera settings and for videos it can be used to skip or play and pause the file.

The keypad is totally flat and may take a bit of getting used to if you have fat thumbs, as it’s extremely responsive and you might end up pressing two keys simultaneously. But trust me, when you get the hang of it, and you will, you’ll find the texting so much better than most other handsets. It also has a light sensor to conserve energy. The camera lens is located at the rear of the handset and it also has 2 LED flashes that double as a really bright torch if necessary.

The P'9521 doesn’t have a Hot Swap Slot for the 2GB micro SD card it comes with and it’s not extremely easy to remove it either. Then again with 2GB, would you want to? I think not. The proprietary USB and handsfree port is located at the top of the handset and the camera key that can also be used to activate the audio player is located on the side. Below that is the Zoom/volume keys. The P'9521 phone also has 2 stereo speakers located on either side. Although it seems bulky, it weighs in at 139 grams which is not too bad.

Nokia Launches 2 New XpressMusic Handsets

Nokia has added two more devices to its music range of handsets: the 5220 and the 5320 XpressMusic.

"Today's additions to the XpressMusic range up the ante with new ways for consumers to access their media, as well as interact and share content with friends and communities anytime, anywhere," said Jo Harlow, Vice President, LIVE category, Nokia.

The 5320 features 3G social entertainment capabilities with Web 2.0 access. A new voice-controlled Say and Play feature lets you say the name of an artist or song to play it. Like other XpressMusic handsets, the 5320 also has dedicated music keys, and thankfully a 3.5mm audio jack. According to Nokia, the handset can deliver up to 24 hours of playback time.

Other features include an audio chip for hi-fi sound quality, extendable memory up to 8GB, HS-USB for fast music transfer, and HSDPA for fast access to data. This loaded handset has a full-featured Internet browser, access to Ovi, and Nokia Search 4.1, which allows users to find and share media content and information. It also allows for N-Gage gaming in the convenient landscape mode.

The other handset (Nokia 5220 XpressMusic) seems to have a bit of a lopsided design. No, it’s not your eyes playing tricks; the phone is actually designed that way. It has a built-in lanyard that makes it easy to carry around. Other features include dedicated XpressMusic keys, a 3.5mm audio jack, and support for external memory via microSD cards.

These handsets are equipped with 2 megapixel cameras and FM radios. Both are compatible with the recently launched Nokia Music Store, where consumers can choose from more than 2 million tracks and browse, download, stream and sync, either to a PC or side-load directly to a mobile device.

Nokia 5320 and 5220 XpressMusic are expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008 with estimated retail prices of Rs 13,980 (€220) and Rs 10,166 (€160) respectively, before taxes and subsidies.

ROKR U9 in India

Motorola has launched the MOTOROKR U9 in India. The ROKR U9 was unveiled by Motorola's brand ambassador and international rocker and musician Wyclef Jean who presented the first ROKR U9 to Miss India World 2008 Parvathy Omanakuttan.

The ROKR U9, part of Motorola's music range of handsets is the upgrade to the PEBL and comes equipped with Motorola's CrystalTalk Technology, Bluetooth with an A2DP profile, an external touch semi-sensitive display (only for controlling audio) and a 2 megapixel camera. What makes this phone stand out from being just another Motorola handset is the external display that gives users the feeling that it's floating just under the surface of the handset. It supports animated screensavers as well.

The U9 comes with Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 and supports Windows WMAv10 plus Janus DRM, MP3, AAC, AAC+, AAC+ enhanced file formats. For PC connectivity it supports USB 2.0. It has 25MB internal memory and supports external memory via microSD cards (up to 4GB). Motorola Setup, Backup and Text allow easy setup of the device for Internet browsing, phonebook and text message backup over the air on to secure servers as a free service to users.

The price of the ROKR U9 has not yet been revealed so stay tuned.

Nokia Launches N81

Nokia's recently launched N81 and N81 8GB multimedia phones are now available globally. Designed specifically for music and gaming, these devices come with dedicated music and game keys and are loaded with memory so you can store more and play more.

The 3D Multimedia Menu introduced in these devices is the first step to bringing a new user interface to the Nokia Nseries range.

"Accessing your portable music and games collection is not enough anymore," said Jonas Geust, vice president, Multimedia, Nokia. "Today people want to be more in control of how and where they consume their digital entertainment. They want to discover new favorites and share them without being confined to one location – and it's devices like the Nokia N81 that facilitate this."

The Nokia N81 and Nokia N81 8GB also offer access to songs through the Nokia Music Store. And with their integrated Nokia Music Players, creating playlists and managing music collections on the move is simple. For enhanced sound quality, compatible high-quality headphones or speakers can be used with the standard 3.5mm headphone connector.

A preview of the N-Gage games service is also available in the devices, including playable demos of EA Sports FIFA 07, Asphalt 3: Street Rules, and Space Impact Light. After the launch of the N-Gage later this year, the full N-Gage application will be available for download. Players can then sample all N-Gage games for free and buy the ones they want.

The estimated retail price of the Nokia N81 is 360 Euro before subsidies or taxes. The 8GB version is expected to retail for 430 Euro before subsidies or taxes.

Motorola and Kodak Handset Seems to be Real

I mentioned a while back that Motorola and Kodak were planning on launching a 5 megapixel camera phone sometime soon and although it’s not yet completely official a few images of the device have been leaked and according to the grapevine the handset is going to be called the ZN5.

Apart from the obvious camera of 5 megapixels (auto-focus natch) it would also have a Xenon flash and a secondary LED for video. This cameraphone would also be able to capture images in RAW format, which is not something to sneeze at. The ZN5 is also said to be quite a slim handset at about 11.8mm thick and will come equipped with a 3.5mm earphone socket, TV out and USB (hopefully not proprietary in any way) slot. It will run on a Linux based OS probably like the MING and should also have a keypad similar to the ROKR E8 which changes according to the features.

There's still no pricing or official release date for the handset, so stay tuned.

Microsoft, Sony Ericsson Enter Alliance

Sony Ericsson on Sunday announced a new premium handset aimed at capturing the web convergence market, blending multimedia with mobile web communication in its first product using Microsoft Corp.'s operating system.


The Xperia X1 will launch in the second half of 2008 and will be sold worldwide, including in the United States.

It marks the first time Sony Ericsson is using Microsoft Windows Mobile in a departure from its collaboration with Symbian, an open operating system that's partly owned by Sony Ericsson.

Executives said their focus was on the user experience, not the operating system, and said that many Sony Ericsson signature features, including a patented nine-panel interface, had been built on top of the Windows operating system.

Sony Ericsson executive Steve Walker said Microsoft Mobile was the "ideal" platform for the X1.

"In the case of the X1, Microsoft gives us an opportunity to build on," Walker said. But he said that did not necessarily mean that subsequent handsets in the Xperia sub-brand would be based on Microsoft.

The handset features an arc sliding mechanism with a 3-inch-wide DVD-quality video display, a full keyboard alongside a touchscreen, and optical device for navigation.

Sony Ericsson executives declined to give pricing on the handset or say how many it plans to ship.

The partnership was announced on the eve of the Mobile World Congress, the largest wireless industry conference bringing together more than 50,000 industry executives from some 1,300 companies.

"With Sony Ericsson we are now working with the top five handset makers around the world," Microsoft product manager John Starkweather said in an interview before the Barcelona wireless conference.

Samsung, Motorola Inc. and LG all ship cell phones with Microsoft Mobile, while Nokia Corp., the largest handset maker by volume, incorporates some Microsoft technology, including Windows Media Player.

Microsoft expects to ship 20 million new phones using Windows Mobile in the fiscal year that ends June 30, Starkweather said.

LG Officially Launches the KF510 Globally

We said it would be out in March and here it is, LG’s KF510 has been launched globally today, but don’t expect it on shelves so soon. With it’s dazzling color gradations of Stardust Dark Gray and Sunset Red on the full metal exterior, smooth slider and of course gleaming LED lights of the navigation touchpad.




This slim slider is just 10.9mm thin. It has a 2.2 inch TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 256k colors. Its other features include a 3 megapixel autofocus camera with a flash and image stabilizer technology, Bluetooth with an A2DP profile, a media player for audio and video and an FM radio. It also supports external memory via microSD cards and supports EDGE and GPRS.

What makes this phone really stand out are the LED lights on the touch sensitive navigation pad. The KF510 uses a new ‘Interactive Touch Lighting’ system that is animated in sequence to the features being used on the phone. The handset also has an Auto Luminance Control (ALC), which self-adjusts to the brightness of the LED screen.




"With its sleek aesthetic and superior technology, it will appeal to many discerning consumers that value both style and substance." said Dr. Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

LG-KF510 will be available at most major mobile retailers in regions including Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, from April. Sadly no price tag seems to have been disclosed yet.

Fly SX100

Slim and sleek mobiles rule the roost these days when it comes to making fashion statements. Though manufacturers may design some really cool-looking and stylish handsets, it remains to be seen how well they work. The SX100 is one such handset, and I put it through its paces to see if it lives up to expectations.

Form Factor
The SX100 is a looker all right. It has a sleek, elegant appearance and feel. At just 11mm thick it’s slim enough to carry in a credit card compartment in your wallet. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m sure some of you would get that impression too. It has a decently sized 1.7 inch display with a 220 x 176 pixel resolution. The keys may seem a bit thin, but it’s not a problem even for those with plump digits. The five-way nav-pad is great for navigating menus.


On one side is a proprietary USB/handsfree slot. Thankfully, the Fly has provided a converter to 3.5mm so you can use your own earphones... and it does make quite a difference using your own earphones. A dedicated camera key that activates the 2 megapixel camera with an LED flash is located on the same side at the bottom. On the other side are the volume/zoom keys.


The SX100 supports external memory and although the compartment for the microSD card may not be accessible from the outside, you won’t need to remove the battery to get to it as it’s just under the cover. Happily, even the SIM can be removed without touching the battery.

Features and Performance
The SX100 is a decently loaded phone. It has easy-to-navigate menus and a clear interface. The menu styling can be customized and selecting items form various sub-menus is quick. All the regular features of a basic phone are intact, including a calendar for keeping dates and memos as reminders, and a separate to-do List option.


Other features include an alarm, world clock, calculator, unit converter, stopwatch and even a health feature to calculate BMI and bio-rhythm (not that anyone would use these functions, but hey, they’re there just in case). It also has a flight mode and a file manager option for locating data. Video and picture caller ID are supported.


From the media angle there's a music player with nine EQ presets and a repeat and shuffle mode. As for the quality, well, using your own earphones makes a difference. The sound is adequately loud but not spectacular. It sounds a bit like you’re in a large hall, on any setting. The bundled video player is okay. What I was quite unhappy about was the FM radio's pick-up – I was unable to get a clear signal during much of my commute, and the AMR recordings from radio were quite inaudible. There's a voice recorder and melody composer for making ringtones, apart from a few games. The loud speakerphone is a plus

CeBIT 2008: SE Unveils Stylish Slider

Sony Ericsson has unveiled the T303, an attractive phone that is small with a high-end feel as it has a mirrored screen, metal housing and chrome finish. This slider has features that include Bluetooth and USB connectivity, Sony’s TrackID feature and an integrated FM radio. It also supports GPRS. The T303 is equipped with a 1.8 inch display that has a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to support any external memory.




"The T303 is a great addition to the Sony Ericsson T-line of products, combining premium finish and materials with a good feature-set to deliver ‘style with substance’." said Lykke Tærsbøl, Senior Designer at the Sony Ericsson Creative Design Center. "Our aim was to create a phone that would function equally as a daily companion as well as something to show off on a night out."

The T303 will be available in selected markets from mid 2008, though there's no mention of any pricing yet.

Spice Corp Launches $20 Mobile Phone

Indian telecom company Spice Corp Ltd (SCL) has unveiled a no-frills mobile phone that will retail at about Rs 800 ($20) early April, the company's chairman said.

"Though we have taken various measures to reduce the cost price for the end user, it will be a technologically advanced instrument," claimed SCL Chairman BK Modi.

He said this product will prove that India is not only equipped to give the best of technology but even the cheapest at most competitive prices. Also, he didn't rule out the possibility of prices of such phones going down further.

The new voice-only phone was exhibited at a global expo in Barcelona in Spain Monday and evoked tremendous interest among mobile service providers from around the world, Modi said.

The phone does not offer a screen but will provide excellent voice clarity. An audio programme would announce the digits that are dialled to prevent errors. A Braille version will also be simultaneously introduced to benefit visually challenged users.

"Spice got nearly 40 MSPs inquiring about it at the expo itself. We have tied up with one Indian MSP to provide the phone as a package deal."

The service provider's name will be announced along with the phone launch in April this year.

Designed in India by Spice Corp Ltd, the new phone is being manufactured in China in partnership with Spice's Chinese partner.

Available in a range of attractive colours and compact and lightweight design, the phone will be compatible with all types of SIM cards currently available in the market and function on most connection types.

Within a year of launch, Modi was confident of selling between five to 10 million pieces. "Initially, we are targeting the entire Middle East, SAARC and ASEAN group of countries. Then we shall explore other markets."

He said that presently there is only 20 percent mobile penetration in India. "The remaining population has never set eyes on a mobile phone."

Worldwide, cheap mobile phones make up for nearly 20 percent of the total market. But more than half the world's population has never used a phone, so the demand potential is immense, Modi said.

The $1-billion Bombay Stock Exchange-listed SCL is an upcoming telecom company currently operating in two telecom circles – Karnataka and Punjab – and has applied for licences in other circles.

Motorola YUVA W270

Not everyone has the need for a mobile with everything in it. There are lots of people who simply need a phone to make and receive calls and messages. Of course, having some entertainment features isn't a bad thing. Motorola’s W270 is the perfect example of simplicity and style – with a few extras thrown in.

Form Factor
The W270 is quite a stylish phone for the entry level segment. Its shiny, reflective black exterior looks quite cool. Beneath the cool exterior lies a subtle alert in the form of 3 icons. A green icon that flashes when a call comes in or if you have a missed call, a blue icon for messages, and an orange icon for battery status. The W270 has a small 1.6 inch display that looks even smaller considering the empty space around it. Its resolution is 128 x 128 pixels with 65K colors.



While the keypad is large with a 5 way nav-pad and dedicated keys for the music player and FM radio, it also proved the biggest problem. For some strange reason, the keypad is so much slower than my fingers. To elaborate – I could type faster than the phone could process. And even then it gave me more errors than I care to talk about. The space key didn’t seem to function half the time. As you can imagine, messaging was a real b*tch! Of course, I'm willing to give Motorola the benefit of the doubt that the issue is only with this particular piece.



On one side of the W270 is a 2.5mm handsfree socket and on the other side is where you’ll find the standard miniUSB connector that doubles for PC connectivity as well as the charger. Just above is a dedicated key that will take you right to the multimedia menu. The volume keys are also on the same side. Unfortunately, the handset doesn’t come with a hot-swap slot for the microSD card, so you will have to remove the battery.

Features and Performance
As I said, the W270 is an entry-level handset with a few tweaks. It has a stereo FM radio, but lots of entry-level handsets (including Motorola's own W220) has it too. The pickup is just about okay. You can expect some static in a few places if you’re a daily commuter. The music player is actually quite good. It lacks options for music control, but the sound quality is better than average.




Other features include the usual – alarm clock, stopwatch, calculator and a calendar to save tasks or appointments. Thankfully the ringer and speaker phone are quite loud so you’ll always hear the alarm or phone even if you’re in another room.

Nokia E90 Communicator

Enter, the Big Daddy of all phones! The E90 may look like and perhaps feel like any other communicator, but is it really? The answer is a resounding NO! The previous models, although still quite popular in many arenas has nothing on this baby. With a combination of elegance, style and a sturdy demeanor, the new addition to the business i.e. "E" class of Nokia phones has promised to overshadow its predecessors. But whether or not it can actually live up to that is what we’re here to find out. So let's get to it.



Form Factor
Although the design is quite like any Communicators of yore, this one has a few upgrades. For example this is the first to have a fully functional ‘External Phone’ with a 16million color display and a resolution of 240x320 pixels. The reason I refer to it as an ‘External Phone’ is simply because it pretty much looks like any other Nokia phone inside some sort of shell. Whatever a normal S60 phone can do, the outer phone can do as well. No exceptions this time. This may also be the first time Nokia has placed the power switch on the side of the screen rather than on top.


The rear houses the 3.2 megapixel, Auto-Focus camera with a flash and the speakers. At the very bottom you'll notice a little flap, which is where the microSD card can be inserted. All you have to do is slide it open and insert the card. The bottom is where you’ll find the mini USB (2.0), charger pin and a 2.5mm earphone socket. What’s most noticeable are the two steel hinges. This is another factor that sets the E90 apart from the previous models. The steel hinges make the phone a lot sturdier and add a certain rugged appeal to it. On the side are 2 keys. The one on the top is a dedicated voice recorder key, and the one at the bottom just below the infrared sensor, is the shutter release key for the camera. However, it's not a dedicated key to activate it which is quite odd.

Flip it open and this is where all the magic happens. The large internal screen is what this phone is all about with a crystal clear resolution of 800x352 pixels and 16 million colors. On the sides of this fabulous screen are 2 pairs of keys. On the right just underneath the secondary camera is a set of call take and end keys and on the other side of the screen is a set of soft keys. But I don’t like the positioning too much as they’re a bit too far from the nav-pad, so you end up having to adjust your hold every now and again when selecting options.


The Full QWERTY keypad makes the E90 look like a miniaturized laptop. At the very top of the keypad Nokia has graciously provided us with direct shortcut keys to various functions and one key to call your own (Open key). There’s also a separate key to switch on the keypad light when it's dark and on the other side of the keypad is a five way Nave-Pad. So that’s it for the design of this big boy. Let's see what he’s capable of doing.

Disney and Sharp to Launch Cinderella Mobile

Sharp has gotten together with cartoon legends Walt Disney and have created a new mobile handset to be launched sometime in the first week of June. The handset being called the DM002SH is a Cinderella-themed handset and will be equipped with Disney Mobility Services.




The DM002SH handset will feature an external OLED display (0.5 inches) and a large 2.6-inch WQVGA display with a 400 x 240 pixel resolution. It will support Bluetooth, external memory via MicroSD cards and come with 50MB of internal user memory. This Disney mobile will also have a 2 megapixel camera.

The Cinderella-themed mobile will be out in Clear Crystal, Brown Topaz, and Pink Diamond colors. The price is not yet out, so we’ll have to wait for a week or so. Stay Tuned.

Disney and Sharp to Launch Cinderella Mobile

Sharp has gotten together with cartoon legends Walt Disney and have created a new mobile handset to be launched sometime in the first week of June. The handset being called the DM002SH is a Cinderella-themed handset and will be equipped with Disney Mobility Services.




The DM002SH handset will feature an external OLED display (0.5 inches) and a large 2.6-inch WQVGA display with a 400 x 240 pixel resolution. It will support Bluetooth, external memory via MicroSD cards and come with 50MB of internal user memory. This Disney mobile will also have a 2 megapixel camera.

The Cinderella-themed mobile will be out in Clear Crystal, Brown Topaz, and Pink Diamond colors. The price is not yet out, so we’ll have to wait for a week or so. Stay Tuned.

Bleu 453x

I’m feeling increasingly pleased by the simple solutions mobile manufacturers come up with nowadays. These are simple phones with simple features that cater to those who don’t need or want too much form their handsets than what they were originally created to do. The Bleu 453x is just that, a simple handset with simple features and a few more tossed in just to make things interesting.

Form Factor
The Bleu has a 1.5 inch TFT display with a 128 x 128 pixel resolution. The VGA camera is located on the rear and I have to say that although the keypad may look a bit small it’s comfortable to use. The five-way nav-pad makes navigation really easy as well.



The 453x has a simple, cool exterior for a compact entry-level handset. It’s so simple that there’s nothing more to the exterior except for a 2.5mm handsfree socket on one side, a microSD card slot on the other, and a mini USB port on the bottom for PC connectivity and the charger.



Features and Performance
The 453x is a simple phone but Bleu has managed to incorporate some pretty good features. For starters the 453x has a decent (but not loud enough for my taste) music player. The player has a few EQ presets to choose from, although the adjustment cannot be heard unless you select it by pressing the ‘OK’ option (I didn’t like that).

The FM radio was pretty good though. The reception was good in most places and there's a recording feature as well. It allows users to record files in WAV or AMR, but unfortunately doesn’t deliver too well on reproduction. The playback of those files sounded a bit hollow.



The 453x has a voice recorder and a video player that reads 3GP and reportedly AVI and MP4 files, though I couldn’t get them (except 3GP) to read. Then again it does depend on the encoding and of course, whether you would really watch a video on a handset with this reception is also a BIG question.

Other entertainment features include a melody composer and a couple of games including Sudoku.