Hey guys, I think these would make really good gifts for your significant other. You’re quite sure she has a mobile phone so why not get her a bag for it? I never understood how women can have a small purse and put it into another bag that’s just a wee bit bigger. It’s sorta like a concept you borrow from those Russian dolls. Still, I must admit that the bags look rather elegant, and if you aren’t in the mood to put your mobile phone, it may make for a great carrying case for your pet hamster.

Post from: Cellphone9

The Samsung “Armani phone” is a credit card thin mobile with EDGE connectivity, a 3.15MP camera, Bluetooth, 60 MB of internal memory and a fancy touch screen. This phone is geared really towards the fashion bazaar with a little discernment for technology.

[Specs]

Post from: Cellphone9

“Music on the outside, phone on the inside” seems to be the new slogan for these clamshell phones that are also marketed as MP3 players. What makes the Sony Ericsson W380i unique is a new feature called Gesture Control. If you want to mute an incoming call or stop an alarm all you need to do is put on some Darth Vader and pass your hand across the phone ala using the Force and the phone will respond to this action.

The phone comes with 14MB of internal memory and comes with memory card expansion options. Though there is no price listed yet, this phone seems to be one of the more affordable in the clamshell line of Sony Ericsson. The W380i is expected to ship soon.

Post from: Cellphone9

Nowadays, a touch screen phone like the LG Viewty would necessitate certain features like wireless Internet. Unfortunately the nice big screen of this Viewty KU990 model is laid to waste as it doesn’t support WiFi.

Oh no. Did I just put the phone down in the first paragraph? Well, in fairness to aesthetics, LG has always been innovative with its real estate design, as seen with the LG Chocolate. The LG Viewty is supposed to be a phone that does not compete with such models like the iPhone or Nokia N series. It seems to be a fashion phone, primarily, with some neat features like photo editing and YouTube video viewing. It also has a nice 5MP camera. Xenon flash seems to be the new trend with camera phones as this is the same thing equipped on the Nokia N82. It’s so good, CNET has this to say:

Many camera phones take good pictures but don’t look that great themselves — fortunately the LG KU990 Viewty is not an ugly camera phone. In fact, we can go so far as to say it’s one of the best-looking camera phones we’ve seen so far. [CNET Review]

From the reviews online, the Viewty seems to be a good camera phone – if that’s all you’re looking for. I really suggest they improve on this model further by adding other productivity features such as wireless Internet and BlackBerry email. That would kill.

Photo courtesy of CNET.

Post from: Cellphone9

Remember back in the day, when cellphones were literally bricks that could kill and had a battery charger the size of a car battery? Well, retro is back this Christmas with the block phone. Some features include a camera and video player, 128MB of memory, and 2 batteries. [Source via Textually]

Post from: Cellphone9

According to Bloomberg, an upgraded version of the iPhone will debut in 2008. The new model will feature 3G as one of its highlights.

The device will operate on third-generation wireless networks, Stephenson said today at a meeting of the Churchill Club in Santa Clara, California. San Antonio-based AT&T is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S.

“You’ll have it next year,” Stephenson said in response to a question about when the 3G iPhone would debut. He said he didn’t know how much more the new version will cost than the existing model, which sells for $399. Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs “will dictate what the price of the phone is,” he said. [Bloomberg]

May I put a question forward then? Does it mean then that Apple really does understand the international cellphone industry in the first place, offering the bogus iPhone model to the West and the improved model to the East, where the real technology show off happens?

Post from: Cellphone9

Nice things happening in Asia. Singapore manufacturer Verzio, a new player in the digital market, has come up with the first batch of dual SIM phones. Called the Verzio Twinn and Verzio Duplii, these two phones come with two SIM card slots.

I have nothing bad to say about the phones’ design. What I do wonder though would be how battery life would perform given that the phone is emitting two signals at once. Nonetheless, the engineers and designers put in a lot of work in the user interface:

So how does it work? I managed to try the user interface and worked my way through the nicely skinned menu system resembling Nokia and Sony Ericsson design. What happens basically is that your SIM cards are assigned “1″ and “2″ accordingly and you can make calls and reply using SIM “1″ or “2.” In the same way, messages are labeled as coming from either phone number. I must stress — both SIMs are active simultaneously.

Duplii SRP USD $300
3G Tri-Band Dual SIM Phone
Candybar design
Simultaneous dual SIM standby
Bluetooth 2.0
Data transfer via USB
3G video conference and calls
FM Radio
2.0MP camera
microSD expandable memory
Available in metal black

Twinn SRP USD 200
Triband EDGE Dual SIM Phone
EDGE connectivity
Slider design
Bluetooth
Touch screen with stylus
microSD expandable memory
1.3MP camera
Available in Racer Black

Check out my coverage of the Verzio line here. Verzio makes more than just phones. They are into the development of laptops, digital still cameras, phones and PDAs.

Post from: Cellphone9

I had the chance to review the Nokia 7500 Prism. As a follower of the nomenclature Nokia commonly employs, the “7″ series is now dedicated to the fashionista line of phones which are slightly more expensive yet seem to claim similar features with the classic series. The 7500 is no exception, boasting a very unique real estate design. The Prism’s body is designed to look jagged and geometric, thus resembling a precious stone. The middle button is actually not a joystick, but a button designed to move with the thumb presses.

The 7500 runs on the Series 40 platform. One of the newest features highlighted in the Prism is the new Nokia Sensor app which serves as a social networking tool for Nokia phone owners:

Nokia Sensor is designed to promote spontaneous communication between users in sociable settings such as bars, nightclubs and railway platforms, business functions etc. Bluetooth wireless technology is used to detect the presence of other suitably enabled mobile phones located within a radius of 10 meters.

As such, this makes the Prism an added attraction in bars and parties as it becomes an interesting conversation piece for other phone owners who want to meet up within Bluetooth radius.

Post from: Cellphone9

This is by far the most affordable fashion hack I’ve seen. For only $989.00, you can own an LG Prada that’s dipped in 24 karat gold.

Prada, one of the World’s leading designers, have teamed up with LG to unveil this completely touch screen mobile phone. The Prada Phone by LG (KE850) is a breakthrough in the industry, with its sophisticated design and elegant looks.
Other features of LG include a web browser, email client and MP3 player. This fantastic looking phone is probably the hottest designer phone at the moment.

I like the web copy on this one. It’s a 24 karat coat that just so happens to have other features like email and blah, blah, blah. I really wonder if “feature packed” is directly proportional to uber fashion line. Are these features that the affluent will even appreciate?

Thanks to Angelica from Geek Sugar

Post from: Cellphone9

The problem with LG is that they have the worst product naming schemes. They should have just stuck to “Chocolate” and other dessert profiteroles.

Okay, that was a useless rant. I came by some pictures of the VX8700, which is one of the fancier clamshells of LG. It resembles much of what Samsung inherited in terms of design but operates more like the LG Chocolate. For more pictures and video, you can click here.

Post from: Cellphone9