2008 June archive at Fun Box

Archive for June, 2008

Jun

T-Mobile Launch Nokia 6301 and Samsung T339

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Gadget, News, Nokia and Samsung

T-Mobile USA has just announced the release of two new handsets for its subscribers: Nokia 6301 and Samsung T339, both being compatible with T-Mo’s HotSpot @Home wireless service.

Nokia 6301 is a candybar that resembles the old 6300 model. Weighing 3.2 ounces (91 grams) and measuring 4.2 x 1.7 x 0.5 inches (107 x 43 x 12.7 mm), the phone packs the following features: a 2 inch TFT display with 16 million colors and 240 x 320 pixels, Wi-Fi, T-Mobile myFaves, stereo Bluetooth, Music player (MP3, WMA, AAC and eAAC+ supported), FM radio, Instant Messaging, a 2 Megapixel camera, expandable memory (up to 4GB) and tri-band GSM connectivity (850 / 1800 / 1900 MHz) with GPRS, EDGE and UMA.

Samsung T339 (or Samsung SGH-T339) is a fancy clamshell that comes after less than one week from the announcement of another Samsung clamshell, the weird looking T299. The features of T339 include: Wi-Fi, myFaves, a 176 x 220 pixel TFT display with 262K colors, Music player, stereo Bluetooth, Instant Messaging and expandable memory up to only 2GB. The new Samsung weighs 3.3 ounces (93.5 grams) and, when closed, it measures 3.62 x 1.83 x 0.78 inches (92 x 46.5 x 19.8 mm).

“Since launching T-Mobile HotSpot @Home nearly a year ago, T-Mobile has remained committed to building our portfolio of handsets to support this innovative wireless service. These new phones are stylish offerings for our customers who want to take advantage of unlimited nationwide calling and great wireless coverage – all for an affordable price,” stated Sajal Sahay, director of product marketing, T-Mobile USA, in a press release.

Although T-Mobile says the new Nokia and Samsung handsets are available as of today, both online and in select retail stores across the US, the carrier’s website doesn’t feature the phones and their prices are not known yet. Lazy workers in the “site update” department, eh?

Jun

Sony Ericsson W980 Cleared by the FCC

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Gadget, News and Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson W980, one of the latest Walkman handsets from Sony Ericsson, was recently approved by the FCC, hence it’s ready to hit the US market. Of course, FCC’s approval doesn’t mean that the W980 will surely be available across the US. But, since the handset features quad-band GSM connectivity, it’s capable of working on the networks of AT&T and T-Mobile, hence one of these two carriers (or both) will most probably offer the handset in the future.

Although it was first unveiled back in February, during MWC 2008, the W980 is not yet available in any of the countries for which it was announced (European markets mainly). Anyway, Sony Ericsson has already come up with a video presentation with the phone, so it should be released pretty soon.

Coming in a clamshell form factor, the W980 has lots of features that can make it one of the best music phones out there. The handset brings the well-known Walkman Player, stereo speakers, shake control, external music keys, TrackID, FM radio with RDS, FM Transmitter and no less than 8GB of internal memory.

Furthermore, the W980 also packs a 2.2 inch internal display with 256K colors and 240 x 320 pixels, a 176 x 176 pixel external display, UMTS/ HSDPA connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, NetFront browser, email, Instant Messaging, RSS reader, organizer, voice memo, USB 2.0 and a battery capable of providing up to 20 hours of music playback with a single charge.

Since the W980 is a handset particularly designed for playing music, its photo camera does not feature auto focus or flash. However, it comes with 3.15 Megapixels, hence it should still offer photos at a pretty good quality (depending on the environment).

The retail price of Sony Ericsson W980 is not known for the moment, but it will surely not be an affordable one.

Jun

Samsung U900 Soul in a pink version for female users

By Global Admin 1 Comment

Categories: Gadget, News and Samsung

Samsung U900 Soul in pink Samsung’s phones and female users have always had a special relationship, and I say this because the South Korean handset manufacturer is known for coming up with girls-only versions for lots of its mobile devices. Now Samsung has done it again by presenting the U900 Soul
slider in a pink edition.

This is the second color version of the U900, coming after the original metallic silver one. The Pink Soul is available, for the moment, only in the UK, from Phones4U, the well-known online retailer. Moreover, the handset can only be acquired after the signing of a contract agreement with Orange (currently the fourth largest carrier in the UK, after O2, Vodafone and T-Mobile). The good part about this is that, theoretically, the pink U900 is free. Practically, those who get it will have to pay 35 GBP per month (about $70 or 45 Euros), based on an 18-month Orange contract.

Despite it’s quite high retail price (about 400 Euros or 620 USD), Samsung U900 Soul is already a smash-hit. Only yesterday, the South Korean company said it had sold more than 1,000,000 units of the fancy slider, after less than two months from its launch. This, mainly in European countries, as Samsung has not yet released the handset in all the markets it wants to.

With its new “pink dress” and measuring only 12.9 mm in thickness, the U900 Soul is set to conquer the hearts of British girls and women. Even more, they will not get just a fashionable gadget, but also a highly advanced device. Among the best features of the Soul, we must mention its 5 Megapixel camera (with auto focus, flash and video recording), its Magical Touch navigation pad, its 240 x 320 pixel display with 16 million colors, plus lots of other Multimedia capabilities.

Jun

Sony Ericsson Paris might never hit the market

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Gadget, News and Sony Ericsson

Although it has received a lot of attention from the “mobile world”, Sony Ericsson Paris (or P5) might be canceled and never reach the market. While most of those who have been waiting for it hoped for a presentation of this handset to take place on June 17, when 5 new SE phones were unveiled, not only that Paris was not announced, but Sony Ericsson mentioned absolutely nothing about it.

Now, the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog, known for having access to a lot of the things that happen over at Sony Ericsson, says that Paris has been canceled, together with the so-called BeiBei, which is actually the Sony Ericsson G702.

One of the reasons behind the cancellation of Paris and BeiBei might be the not-so-great reviews that the handsets got from those who managed to test prototype versions of the devices. Well, this is not the first time when a big handset manufacturer cancels one or more of its products, but doing so after some unfavorable early reviews would be a first.

Anyway, until Sony Ericsson officially admits to having abandoned Paris and BeiBei, their cancellation remains a rumor. And I’m sure lots of users want it to stay that way.

On the other hand, if Paris / P5 is canceled, then the mysterious P10 device that we were talking about a few days ago might indeed be a brand new smartphone, which can be a lot better than Paris. If so, details about the P10 will probably appear pretty soon, so all we have to do is wait.

Even without Paris and BeiBei, Sony Ericsson will have at least two devices capable of wowing users this year: the recently announced 8.1 Megapixel C905 slider and the Windows Mobile 6.1 based Xperia X1. Plus, we have the already released G900 and C902, both of them being packed with high-end features.

Jun

Japan’s iPhone 3G Gets a Price

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Gadget, News and iPhone

Officially announced on June 9, Apple’s iPhone 3G will become available on July 11 in Japan, among other 22 global markets. The new iPhone will be offered in Japan exclusively from Softbank, the country’s third largest mobile operator (after NTT DoCoMo and KDDI au).

At the time the handset was announced, Softbank did not mention how much Japanese users have to pay for the iPhone 3G, but now the pricing details have been unveiled. Japan’s 8GB iPhone 3G costs 23,000 yen (around $215 or 138 Euros), while the 16GB one comes for 35,000 yen ($326 or 210 Euros). Of course, these are not the retail prices of the iPhone 3G, but those available only with the signing of a contract agreement for two years, including a data plan of at least 6,000 yen ($56 or 36 Euros) per month. In the end, the Japanese price is about the same as the one from the US, where AT&T will offer the new iPhone for $199 (the 8GB version) and $299 (the 16GB version) with two-year contracts and pretty expensive data plans.

There’s no word yet on whether or not Softbank will also sell the iPhone 3G without a contract agreement, but if so, the handset will surely have a high retail price. I’m saying this because in Europe, via Vodafone, the 8GB iPhone 3G has a retail price of 499 Euros, while the 16GB one costs 569 Euros – this would mean around 83,440 yen and respectively 95,1450 yen.

When officially confirmed for Japan, the iPhone 3G was presented in the hope that it would be a success in Japan. For example, Masayoshi Son, Softbank Mobile chairman and CEO, said that “iPhone has been enthusiastically received around the world, and we think it will be popular in Japan as well,” while Tim Cook, Apple’s COO, was even more confident regarding the new device: “iPhone 3G is an amazing product and we think customers in Japan will love it as much as we do.”

While both highly-featured and good-looking, iPhone 3G still has some flaws (see this article for more details). These might make Japanese users, who generally want to have the latest technologies in their phones, turn away from Apple’s handset. But we’ll see how successful (or not) the new iPhone is in Japan after its July 11 release.

Jun

iPhone 3G Will Actually Be Expensive in Europe

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Gadget, News and iPhone

iPhone 3G

Apple’s new and much-talked-about iPhone 3G was announced on June 9 with the now famous line “Twice as fast, half the price”. Steve Jobs, Apple’s big boss, first said that the new iPhone would cost as low as $199, revealing no further details about exactly how and where that was going to happen.

Despite the fact that most users hoped this would be the retail price of the handset, it is actually what it sells for only if you buy the 8GB version of the smartphone together with an AT&T contract agreement for two years. The 16GB iPhone 3G will cost you $299, with the same two-year contract agreement, and neither of the versions can be bought without signing a contract. Therefore, the real amount of money that users have to give (in order to own an iPhone 3G for two years) is not at all encouraging, going over the 1,000 USD mark.

In Europe, where prices for mobile devices are generally different than the ones from the US, the iPhone 3G can come even for free. That’s what O2, UK’s largest mobile operator says. But in order to get the handset for free you have to pay 45 GBP (88 USD) monthly, for at least 18 months. In the end, you get to pay no less than 810 GBP (1,580 USD or 1,025 Euros) for the joy of owning an iPhone 3G.

In Italy, Vodafone announced it would offer the iPhone 3G for the following prices: 499 Euros (about 770 USD) for the 8GB version and 569 Euros (about $880) for the 16GB one. These are the prices without any contract and without any data plan, of course. With a contract agreement, Italian users will be able to get the handset for less, but the “less” part is only for show, because with the fees they have to pay on a monthly basis, the overall price is far from what Steve Jobs initially said.

The conclusion is that the iPhone 3G does not actually come for “half the price” when compared to the first generation iPhone. It would have been really nice if it had.

Besides Italy and the UK, iPhone 3G will also be available in about all the other European countries. 14 European markets will get the smartphone starting July 11, while the rest must wait for the end of 2008 to receive the touchscreen smartphone.

For the main differences between the iPhone 3G and the previous iPhone, feel free to visit this article. It might help you decide whether the new handset is worth buying it or not.

Jun

Nokia N78 Released in India

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Gadget, News and Nokia

Nokia N78, the latest Nseries handset launched by Nokia, is now available across India, bringing users lots of high-end features, specific to any Nseries phone produced by the Finnish company up to now.

Successor of the N77 model, which is still being sold, of course, the N78 was first announced back in February, during MWC 2008, together with Nokia N96, the Nseries flagship that should be released in the next few months.

In terms of design, the new N78 can’t really be considered attractive, having a classic candybar form factor. The only thing that actually stands out is its semi-flat keypad that, although it looks too small for a proper use, it’s friendlier than it appears to be.

While the design is not its strong side, the N78 can impress with its features. Among the highlights of the phone we have Symbian S60 3.2 OS, GPS, Nokia Maps, Wi-Fi, a 2.4 inch TFT display with 16 million colors and a QVGA resolution (240 x 320 pixels), Music and Video players, email, Web browser, Instant Messaging, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, FM radio, a 3.5mm headset jack, document viewer, expandable memory and so on. There’s also a 3.2 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, auto focus, flash, geotagging and video recording, providing about anything someone would want from a mobile phone camera.

Nokia N78 can be bought in India for 19,999 INR (470 USD or 300 Euros), which is far less than the price the phone was sold for initially, in Finland (700 USD or 450 Euros). Moreover, it’s even less than the official price announced by Nokia for the N78 (350 Euros), hence Indian mobile users are able to buy the handsets for about the lowest price in the world.

Although the new Nseries is currently launched only in a couple of countries, Nokia will surely sell the phone on all the important mobile markets around the world (North America included).

Jun

New Motorola A1800 Commercial Targets Businessmen

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Gadget, Motorola and News

Motorola A1800, the latest touchscreen phone released by Motorola (and also one of the few Motos to come with a touchscreen display), appeared in a new commercial meant to lure the Chinese businessmen with its features. Why
Chinese businessmen only? Because the phone seems to be targeted exclusively for China, in a move that doesn’t seem too smart from Motorola. Not that China doesn’t have enough mobile users (it has about 565 millions, actually), but because the A1800 comes with some features that we don’t get to see too often in a Motorola device. Plus, it has a pretty weird clamshell form factor, so it’s quite a unique phone.

Also known as Motorola Ming A1800 (Ming is a common Asian name), the new handset is available via China Unicom, the second largest Chinese mobile operator. The specs that could attract users in need of business features include: dual-SIM capability (allowing you to use a GSM and a CDMA SIM card at the same time), built-in GPS with pre-installed maps, plus a 2.4 inch touchscreen display with 240 x 320 pixels, 262K colors and handwriting recognition. The last feature (handwriting recognition) seems to be a really useful one for Chinese users, as it easily transforms what you write on the display into Chinese characters.

Aside from the above mentioned stuff, the new Moto A1800 also comes with a Linux OS, Music player with lots of formats supported, a 3 Megapixel camera (auto focus and video recording included), email and Internet capabilities, Bluetooth, SMS firewall and 150MB of built-in memory expandable to up to 4GB.

While hoping that Moto will come soon with a worldwide version of the A1800 (with 3G too), we can watch the new Chinese commercial with the handset, found below. And while we’re at it, we’ll also hear how “Hello Moto” sounds in Chinese (it sound the same as in English, actually).

Jun

Motorola i335, a Mobile Phone for Superman

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Gadget, Motorola and News

Motorola i335 is one of Moto’s latest rugged phones to be released in the US via Boost Mobile, the prepaid wireless brand of Sprint.

First seen in the summer of 2007, the rugged i335 was launched only a few days ago by Boost. However, the handset got an interesting release, accompanied by a commercial that showed how “strong” the phone was. Actually, this strength is the main attraction of the device, as Moto built the phone in such a way that it meets the “military standard 810F for dust, shock and vibration”.

This being said, a video was made showing the i335 enduring lots of nasty things, including several drops on concrete, plus a car that drives over it. So it seems we have here a phone that Superman could use when on dangerous missions.

Unfortunately, the i335 is not waterproof, as you’d expect from a handset that’s presented as withstanding everything, so I guess those Supermen who will buy the phone will have to take care not to drop it into a lake, river, sea, ocean and so on.

Aside from its durability, Motorola i335 doesn’t have too many features, as it’s what we usually categorize as “low-end”. The handset comes with a small display of unknown resolution, Boost’s Walkie-Talkie feature, GPS capabilities, Bluetooth, push-to-talk, Web browser, Instant Messaging, handsfree and Java support.

The new i335 weighs 3.5 ounces (99 grams) and measures 4.9 x 1.9 x 0.6 inches (124 x 48 x 15 millimeters). A bit too long, I’d say, and many users will probably agree with that. Anyway, since the phone is targeted for those who need a tough and reliable device, this aspect might not matter that much.

Motorola i335 can be bought from Boost Mobile’s website (found at this address), for the retail price of $59.99, on Pay as You Go. But until you actually get the chance to buy it, enjoy the video below:

Jun

Memory Deals – Find Your Genuine Factory Original Modules

By Global Admin 0 Comments

Categories: Computer and Gadget

Computer Memory Memory Deal is one great online store to find your genuine factory original modules. This online store believes that every Memory Deal module is the same quality grade that top OEMs like HP, IBM and Dell specify, and they are all offered at great values.

You may find cheaper modules out there, but they are not selling the better quality and you put your computer on risks. Prices are fair here, you can check wide range of RAM Memory, all completed with specification, manufacturer, and RAM Memory Prices.

The modules offered on this site are presented with specs, manufacturer and prices so compare computer memory prices before you decide to buy. This online store also provides 2GB memory upgrade, just jump into the memorydeal.net to get your memory modules. Memory Deal is one great place on online you must consider to get your exact RAM for your computer memory upgrade.