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Site Development & WAP versions: Geoff Dennis
News by permission of Tony Dennis's Mobile Insight, and the Inquirer 
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 Samsung S8000/Jet Part I
Posted by tonydennis on Monday, August 10 @ 14:54:20 CEST
Rather reviewing Samsung's S8000 from the Press release, I've actually been putting the handset through its paces. Some interesting discoveries have resulted – including the fact that the GPS facility appears to be disabled in the UK version. The first thing that strikes you is the user interface. Given that I'm no great fan of the iPhone, the fact that the S8000 looks similar doesn't help. Anyone who assumes that a touch screen interface is always user-friendly would be seriously wrong. In the S8000's case, the UI can be described as powerful and complex but certainly not friendly. It's a long time since a handset has sent me scurrying for its quick guide and then had me printing out the user manual. Why? Because, in the S8000 - aka the Jet - 's case, in addition to tapping on the screen, you also need to learn what functions at least four other buttons perform.
(Read More... | 3475 bytes more | Score: 0)
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Samsung S8000/Jet Part II
Posted by tonydennis on Monday, August 10 @ 14:50:40 CEST
Surely I'm not that unusual in having more than 200 entries in my handset's phonebook? So why was it so difficult to transfer my numbers from a Nokia to the Samsung S8000/Jet? Perhaps I've been spoilt by having Nokia handse's which support the 'Transfer/Switch' facility which makes it so easy to transfer data when you upgrade to a new Nokia. Blackberries have an equally easy switch capability, too. Yet – even though I'd installed the accompanying PC Suite software for the Jet, -I could find no obvious way of importing my 347 records (which include email addresses not just phone numbers).
Curiously it would have been possible to send each individual entry via Bluetooth using the Nokia 'Send business card' option.
(Read More... | 3519 bytes more | Score: 5)
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mSync from Newact revisited
Posted by TonyDennis on Thursday, March 26 @ 17:38:44 CET
This review first appeared April 15th 2008. Whilst mSync from Newact holds plenty of promise, currently [2008] it fails to deliver on most of them. The software aims to be the best application for syncing a handset with the web. Unfortunately, it's not quite ready yet. Mobile Software Insight gained access to a beta account and found that Newact hasn't yet implemented most of the features that its rivals – such as Synchronica - might fear. The objective with Msync is laudable. The intention is to enable mobile phone users to back up all of the data held on their mobile phones – not just telephone numbers held in the phone's address book.
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First Look: Vufone from Newact
Posted by TonyDennis on Thursday, March 26 @ 16:29:26 CET
For anyone who's ever wanted to backup or manipulate the wealth of information that now resides on a mobile handset, Vufone is one answer to their prayers. Mobile Software Insight (MSI) first came across the app's author, Newact, when we reviewed an earlier product known as mSync. Vufone has built on this product and rightly changed its name because it doesn't just provide synchronisation. There were a number of holes in mSync which MSI
highlighted back in April 2008. As far as we can tell, they've all been plugged. What Vufone does is enable the handset owner to sync data
held on the mobile phone with Newact's servers. This would normally be achieved over a cellular connexion.
(Read More... | 4474 bytes more | Score: 0)
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SIMable easily unlocks most smartphones
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, May 18 @ 20:39:29 CEST
For anyone who has spent hours trawling the Net for hacks that unlock GSM mobile phones, the SIMable is a gift. It unlocked Mobile Software Insight's Nokia N95, for example, in seconds. The reality is that most handset vendors – particularly Nokia, Samsung and LG, have been getting much slicker at 'locking' GSM handsets into the particular network which supplied the mobile in the first place. That can prove quite frustrating especially given that UK network operators, for example, are locking their post-paying
customers into 18 month contracts.
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Soonr provide remote desktop access
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, March 02 @ 19:45:06 CET
How many times have you been travelling and required urgent access to a document on your home or office PC? Well, Soonr has come up with a solution that provides just that sort of access – via any kind of portable device. Indeed, the
company claims that Soonr is compatible with at least 600 leading smartphones and feature phones. It automatically detects what kind of terminal you have and renders information for the handset's display accordingly. The software has been designed to work with mobile phones so it will function over a GPRS or 3G connexion but it can be used with whatever comms link you have. So, if you have a mobile with a Wi-fi capability, you can use that. In fact, you can check the service out by logging in via a desktop computer and broadband should you so chose.
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Phone review: Alcatel OT-S120 ultra low cost
Posted by tonethephone on Monday, February 25 @ 11:13:20 CET
handset but few can have taken the subject so seriously as Alcatel Mobile Phones with the OT-S120. It's got a black and white screen
plus no browser, for heaven's sake. Officially launched this month (February), it should start shipping in April. Sadly, Mobile Software Insight wasn't able to obtain a price tag for this
beauty, but it must be very, very low.
Crazily, it wasn't even billed as the company's major new ultra low cost
handset. That glory went to the OT-E101 which apparently is black and white with
a colour background so its specs are slightly higher than the OT-S120.
(Read More... | 2510 bytes more | Score: 0)
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Huawei E220 HSPDA USB modem
Posted by tonethephone on Monday, February 18 @ 13:05:07 CET
The product on review here is classified as the Vodafone's Mobile Connect Modem. However, the same piece of kit is, in effect, the E220 HSPDA USB modem produced by Huawei. So in other territories, you can obtain exactly the same thing – only with a different badge on the casing. Since it has now been superseded by a 7.2 Mbit/s, version you can obtain this without having to sign an expensive contract. Given the disgraceful genuine data throughput speeds that most UK ISPs actually offer, it is not difficult to describe this product as providing a true broadband connexion, only wirelessly.
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Review: Truly useless headset from SE
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, December 02 @ 21:54:58 CET
In theory the HBH-DS220 from Sony Ericsson is a great idea. A Bluetooth stereo headset that enables you to listen wirelessly to your digital music collection. In practice operation is both fiddly and unreliable. Its maker would almost certainly argue that this device is aimed specifically at owners of Sony Ericsson mobile phones. However, if it had been designed properly it should have worked equally well with other makes of handset – especially those from the market leader – Nokia. Unfortunately, while Mobile Software Insight did actually get the
HBH-DS220 to work properly, the amount of effort expended hardly made it a
worthwhile exercise.
(Read More... | 3969 bytes more | Score: 0)
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Skypephone from 3
Posted by tonethephone on Saturday, December 01 @ 11:10:13 CET
As an excellent means of keeping in contact with all your Skype buddies whilst on the move, the Skypephone from 3 can't currently be beaten. Especially since it is only £49.99 (inc VAT) on prepay. And for that money you get a 3G capable handset plus a pretty decent camera and the maker – Amoi - hasn't even skimped on facilities such as support for Bluetooth and a 256 MB Micro SD. It supports Qualcomm's Brew environment, too. The crucial thing about the handset is that you can call any Skype user, anywhere in the world and it won't cost you a single penny.
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Nokia's N810 - everything but the phone
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, October 21 @ 12:45:16 CEST
It's almost a contradiction in terms but the N810 Tablet from Nokia is a hand-held device which doesn't actually possess any cellular capability. But it will still appeal to the smartphone fraternity. In essence the N810 is an upgraded version of Nokia's first foray into the portable world - the N800. But this time the handheld actually boasts a slide-out Qwerty keyboard. So it has gone from being a touchscreen only product to a combined touch/keypad input device. The complete opposite to Apple with the iPhone. And rather than 3G, the N810 only supports Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) or a 3G link via
Bluetooth to a mobile phone.
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Review: Sony Ericsson P1c/i is a real phone
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, May 13 @ 17:33:05 CEST
Billed as the latest addition to its P Series handsets, the latest P1c/i from Sony Ericsson is much more of a real mobile phone than a PDA with wireless communications built in. Its 25 per cent smaller than the P990 and just feels like a real handset. Sony Ericsson hasn't skimped when it comes to cramming capabilities into such a small package. Not only is it a 3G and GSM phone, it also supports Wi-Fi (802.11b) too.
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Review: Truphone Voip client from SCN
Posted by tonethephone on Monday, April 16 @ 13:09:34 CEST
The future of mobile communications very definitely lies in the direction of applications like Truphone from SCN (Software Cellular Network). If a cellular handset can support WiFi, then why not offer a VoIP client to provide access to Internet telephony? Why not, indeed. So SCN has launched Truphone onto the market as a premier supplier of VoIP telephony for mobile phones with WiFi access. The enormous attraction is that it's quite possible to make regular calls to landlines for absolutely nothing – that's depending on whether you live in North America or Europe, of course. The snag is that Mobile Insight found the software - which admittedly is still in Beta - was extremely flakey.
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Review: Nokia E65 smartphone
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, March 18 @ 20:55:49 CET
Rather than being some kind of overgrown calculator, the E65 is a true mobile handset fashioned in the old mould. Yet it's absolutely packed with features. There's absolutely no doubt that this particular mobile phone is aimed fairly and squarely at the business user but that just makes it very difficult to select which features need highlighting. Take the E65's WiFi capability, for example. It's easy to find VoIP software to turn this into an Internet handset. Mobile Insight installed Truphone's app and it worked a treat.
(Read More... | 3855 bytes more | Score: 4.5)
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Alacatel/TCT E801 musicphone
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, January 07 @ 18:45:59 CET
In order to get the cost of an MP3 enabled handset down to very a low level (£50 on prepay with Orange including a 512 MB card), Alcatel/TCT obviously had to cut some corners.
Mobile Insight had expected the E801 to be features-light. Instead the quality of speech this handset offers is well below current expectations. The E801 comes with built-in music player which allows the user to play back standard MP3 music files. Indeed to make life easy there are three dedicated music keys built-in to give instant access to your tracks.
(Read More... | 3674 bytes more | Score: 5)
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Another first ever wristwatch phone
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, September 24 @ 18:38:54 CEST
Yet another claim of a world first. This time it is the M300 - the world's first mobile phone wristwatch, apparently. Mobile Insight remembers seeing such a device years back at a CeBIT, Hanover show. Perhaps Samsung never really launched its wristwatch phone. Or it wasn't a GSM phone like the M300 from SMS developments. This one seems genuinely available even if it is only in Australasia at the moment.
(Read More... | 1672 bytes more | Score: 0)
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Quik Insight - Sony Ericsson K800i 'Cybershot'
Posted by tonethephone on Thursday, September 07 @ 17:07:47 CEST
Sony Ericsson is heavily marketing the K800i for the capabilities of its camera, so let's start there too. It has 3.2 mega pixels, with flash and red eye reduction, auto focus, plus zoom that includes 16x digital zoom. And, of
course, the 'cyber shot' mode, in which it automatically takes 9 shots in rapid succession and lets you choose the best. Matched with a 240x320 pixel TFT screen, this undoubtedly makes for a fine digital still camera. The camera is activated by sliding the slightly strangely protruding lens cover on the rear of the phone.
(Read More... | 3037 bytes more | Score: 4)
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Mio's C710 Personal Navigator review
Posted by tonethephone on Monday, June 26 @ 09:21:52 CEST
Things are
moving
very
fast in
the
world of
GPS and
satellite
receivers.
The C710
has a
features
list for
which
you
could
easily
have
paid
twice
the
price
twelve
months
ago. Its
supplier,
Mio
Communications,
calls
the C710
a
personal
navigation
device (PND).
That's
to
convey
the
meaning
that
this
product
is
designed
to work
for
pedestrians
as well
in-vehicle.
And the
C710
comes
with a
mounting
bracket
as
standard
for you
to
install
it on a
motorbike
as well
as a
bicycle.
Bizarrely,
the C710
will
also
work as
an MP3
player,
too.
(Read More... | 14609 bytes more | Score: 4)
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HTC's MTeoR 3G Windows 5.0 phone
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, June 18 @ 11:47:11 CEST
THE HTC MTeoR claims to be
the first handset to hit the
market which supports both the
Beast's Windows Mobile 5.0 OS
and high speed data via 3G. A big surprise is that HTC
CEO, Peter Chou, says that HSDPA
, otherwise known as super-fast
3G, is latent within this
handset. So throughput speeds of
1.3 Mbit/s are theoretically
possible. The main reason for
purchasing this mobile handset
is the fact that it supports
Windows Mobile 5.0 Direct Push
technology. This provides
immediate synchronisation of
email, calendar and notes and
works with the Beast's latest
version of Exchange server. That fact alone helps
companies avoid rival systems
such as RIM Blackberry and Visto.
(Read More... | 3933 bytes more | Score: 0)
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Samsung's Z320I 3G i-mode handset
Posted by tonethephone on Sunday, April 02 @ 20:15:52 CEST
The motivation for reviewing the Z320i from Samsung was to check out O2's current adverts for its i-mode service. These boldly proclaim that you can keep in touch with eBay from your handset. A status check, however, is all you get.
The Z320i is a 3G phone, so in theory it should access i-mode a great deal faster. This shows up in the speed of downloads but not much else. Its main advantages are that it's small and being a slider, doesn't give you any problems with accidentally dialling numbers.
(Read More... | 3203 bytes more | Score: 0)
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Old Articles |
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| Sunday, December 04 | | · | N70 - Nokia's smartphone workhorse (0) |
| · | Sony Ericsson P990 – not quite ready yet (0) |
| Tuesday, October 18 | | · | 3G Walkman from Sony Ericsson - W900 (0) |
| Monday, October 17 | | · | N411i i-mode handset disappoints (0) |
| Monday, October 10 | | · | P990 first to use UIQ 3 interface (0) |
| Sunday, September 25 | | · | Rckr - you get exactly what it says on the tin (0) |
| Friday, September 09 | | · | iTunes phone disappoints (0) |
| Friday, August 19 | | · | Sanyo 750i - rough edges smoothed out (0) |
| Monday, August 15 | | · | Sagem MyX6-2 - entry level music phone (0) |
| Sunday, May 29 | | · | Orange TV handset joins the fray (0) |
| Friday, May 27 | | · | review: MMC card album for Symbian phones (0) |
| Sunday, May 15 | | · | Samsung launches SCH-i539 with Unicom (0) |
| Friday, March 25 | | · | Samsung's 7 megapixel Smartphone (0) |
| · | Dinky little phones from Dnet (0) |
| · | Robotic Bluetooth camera from Sony Ericsson (0) |
| · | Walkman phone disappoints (0) |
| Thursday, March 24 | | · | Sanyo S750 - data lets it down (0) |
| Tuesday, February 15 | | · | 3GSM Cannes non-events (but Motorola pics) (0) |
| Saturday, February 05 | | · | XDA IIi bolsters O2 (0) |
| Sunday, January 09 | | · | Samsung SCH-A795 (0) |
| · | Easy text phone from Samsung (0) |
| Saturday, January 08 | | · | Put your PC settings in your watch (0) |
| Sunday, December 19 | | · | Motorola Bluetooth headset HS850 (0) |
| · | Motorola A1000 3G smartphone (0) |
| Saturday, December 11 | | · | Nokia 3G handsets lack swivel (0) |
| Wednesday, December 08 | | · | Motorola C975 is Orange's pick (0) |
| · | Sanyo's S750 is a cute little 3G number (0) |
| Monday, October 18 | | · | 7100V Blackberry shame about Bluetooth (0) |
| Saturday, October 02 | | · | Primus PTL 868 - low cost oversea phone can save you cash (0) |
| Friday, September 24 | | · | Nokia's 6670 tilts at Blackberry (0) |
Older Articles
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