Mobile phone for the elderly!
June 26th, 2010 by Samantha
A mobile phone called the Geemac phone has gone on sale and is targeted directly at the older generation. The phone has large buttons and a big screen for the short-sighted, has been and is designed to help elderly people who struggle to use modern mobile phones due to finding them far to complex. Many of us will have seen the same thing time and time again, a neibour or a relative struggling not only to use their mobile phone, but struggling to hear it ring also! The Geemarc Clearsound CL8200 is believed to be the loudest mobile available on the market, so let your mums of dads of your grandparents know that they can get a mobile which is possibly more suited to their needs!
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Motorola launches new square Flipout mobile phone
June 25th, 2010 by Samantha
There are always new mobile phones launching and I am always intrigued to hear about new phones, with a new modern twist. Motorola are launching a new mobile phone, which flips out and is square in shape.
It is being aimed at the younger generation with features which include, a full five line Qwerty keyboard, it will run Googles Android 2.1 software along with featuring Motorola’s Motoblur interface, which aims to offer enhanced functionality, such as built in social media features like Twitter and Facebook etc. My mobile phone contract is nearly due to expire so I am on the lookout for something a bit different!
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Goodies for the first to Wave
June 19th, 2010 by Samantha
Samsung have recently released the Samsung Wave – which I now have, and love! – which is the first (of hopefully many) handset that will run the companies new Bada OS.
The OS, being new, means that it doesn’t (yet) have many developers for it, so at the moment it only has a few apps. But, to be fair to Samsung, they are doing what they can to entice new people to their Bada OS – and we all know that the more customers = the more developers will want to build and make apps for the platform.
Samsung is currently offering a driving game, which I believe to be ‘need for speed’, to the first 1,200,000 customers who download it. When I jumped on to download it myself, it was down to only 500,000 people left to get it free – so the offer is going well, and I suggest you go get yours!
I wonder what else they will bring in to help the OS gain some solid roots in the fight against Apple’s Mac OSx and Google’s Android.
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iPhone Trouble
June 15th, 2010 by Samantha
Further evidence that Apple are having issues with their latest phone has been found by EndGagdet – Apple are advertising for three new positions, available within their iPhone division.
Bizarrely these new positions are for antenna engineers!
The whole new style of antenna, that Apple and all their fanboys/fangirls have been ranting on about for a while now, isn’t actually that good… You should be aware that if you hold the phone in a certain way the signal will drop, although it mainly only affects left handed people out there, (sorry but Apple just doesn’t love you lefties).
The matter hasn’t been helped by Apple, and certainly not be Steve Jobs himself, when he responded with, “’just don’t hold your phone that way”. Meow! This has lead Nokia to come out with their slogan of ‘how do you hold your phone’.
Hehe!
I think this Is an Apple own goal here, but instead of offering free repairs or things to help, Apple are advising owners to buy a £28 piece to cover over and solve the issue.
Clever marketing, or the beginning of the end?
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Nokia – new year, new firmware
June 5th, 2010 by Samantha
Nokia have announced the release of the N8, with the latest incarnation of Symbian; the much awaited Symbian3.
This is going to be a great SmartPhone, with its 12mp camera amongst other great features. However, they have also announced that it will be the last N series phone to use Symbian – boo!
So that means every flagship phone Nokia have released recently has been the last of the OS that it carries. Looking back over the last two years, we have had the Nokia N97 with Symbian, that was then replaced by the Nokia N900 with Maemo, which flew off the shelves, until Nokia announced the software is no more as it is merged to become Meego.
Nokia have now announced the N8 running Symbian3, which has been told its software will be sold for basic phones only, rather than the much loved N-series, so the next flagship that’s in the pipeline, the N9, will most likely be running Meego.
This really isn’t going to attract new developers to Nokia, as it seems every year they change the OS on their handsets, so any apps that are made won’t have the time in the market to really bring the cash flow back to the developer.
I believe this will cause issues to Nokia if they can’t keep to a firmware soon.
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First Symbian 3 device to be released in September
May 30th, 2010 by Samantha
Nokia have announced the N8, their first device to use the Symbian 3 operating system. Due to be released in September 2010, it signals Nokia’s desire to re-enter the smartphone market.
The phone features include HDMI output, a 12 megapixel camera, a multi-touch capable capacitive screen, GPS, WiFi and 16GB of memory. These specs put the phone squarely up against the iPhone and other mid-range models currently available, but by the time it is released it could well find it has slipped back relative to the competition.
Whatever happens, it is good to see Nokia aren’t abandoning the market for smartphones after many criticised its previous efforts for being too closed and too far behind the competition.
Tags: nokia n8, symbian
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HTC Incredible around the corner
May 28th, 2010 by Samantha
The HTC Incredible, follow-up to the highly rated HTC Desire, is apparently around the corner in Europe. The phone is already available in the USA as the DROID Incredible, but there has been no concrete date issued as of yet.
However, inside sources are claiming that the release of the top-end smartphone could be imminent as HTC seek to establish the technological edge over their competitors.
The phone, featuring a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512mb of RAM along with expandable storage and an 8 megapixel camera, seems set to take the crown of most powerful phone out there. Coupled with the Android operating system platform, soon to be upgraded to v2.2, it could well be the best choice.
Tags: android, htc incredible
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Android 2.2 round the corner?
May 18th, 2010 by Samantha
Google’s Android platform has recently experienced a surge in interest and it looks like there is no sign of it stopping soon, as Google ready themselves to announce the newest version at their developer conference Google I/O tomorrow.
The event, held in San Francisco, is a chance for Google to show off their new toys, tools and developments to like-minded geeks. One of the toys they are expected to showcase is Android 2.2, an update which brings enhanced WiFi connectivity, Flash support and improved performance.
What does this mean for their competitors? Well, the lack of Flash is already a sticking point for some looking at an iPhone, but the new performance increase might just swing it for some people.
Tags: android, google
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The £10 phone – is it worth it?
May 12th, 2010 by Samantha
As you may have seen, recently the cheap economy phone has come back into vogue. Handsets costing as little as £10 are now available in most supermarkets, offering the basic functions you’d expect from a phone: voice calls, text messaging and some ability to store phone numbers. Are they actually worth it though?
I’d say a resounding “yes”. Having seen someone today using one as a replacement because their expensive phone had been damaged and was being repaired, it made me realise their value. They aren’t designed for those who must have a phone. They are designed for those who need a phone from time to time – whether they need it for emergencies or just for backup.
£10 is next to nothing to give yourself a backup phone – so next time your fancy smartphone dies, take a look!
Tags: economy
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Android outsells iPhone for the first time
May 10th, 2010 by Samantha
The Android smartphone platform has been going from strength to strength lately, with the range of devices supporting it ever expanding to cover every bit of the market from the entry-level user to the alpha geek who must have the top end of everything. But that doesn’t stop the news that it has outsold the iPhone platform for the first time, ever, in the first quarter of 2010.
It should come as no surprise because Android is backed by the behemoth that is Google, but it is still a great achievement. In a crowded marketplace, selling the virtues of an open platform against the whizz-bang effects and brand recognition of Apple is a tough job.
What this means for the market is not as clear though – with iPhone OS 4 around the corner along with a new iPhone handset, Apple are likely to set new sales records and outsell Android heavily whenever launch day comes around. But for now, Android is king.
Tags: android, iphone
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