Palm’s Pre was certainly a watershed device alongside the impressive webOS operating system, signalling new life into this ailing company that was tethering on the brink due to dropping sales and the migration to other smartphone platforms. While the Palm Pre did not do as well as many people predicted, that doesn’t take away from the capabilities of the Pre which is still able to hold its own even until today. Well, Palm has announced its second webOS-powered smartphone known as the Palm Pixi, but don’t expect any magic fairy dust to be sprinkled all over this device for an instant corporate turnaround – there’s still work to be done, but the Pixi does look like a step in the right direction.

Read the rest of this entry »

When I first saw the iida Polaris from KDDI, I thought the idea was to put your cellular phone in a ball like a hamster so it is free to roam about the room. Of course, that is kind of silly, isn’t it? It’s not like your phone is a living thing that wants to explore.

Of course, we live in a technological age where designers often make things simply because they can, and I was actually willing to believe that rolling is what the iida Polaris does. Sadly, my dreams of a cell phone hamster ball mechanism were shattered as I discovered that the ball apparatus only serves as a cradle, not a transport.

When the user puts the phone in the cradle, it begins a process of collecting data such as healthy food suggestions, business news updates, and weather information. The user can open the fancy lid on the Polaris and use the phone as a remote control in order to access their television.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nokia’s recently announced handset, the Nokia X6, looks set to take over the XpressMusic line by offering you up to 35 hours of continuous music playback before requiring a trip to the nearest power outlet. In addition, the 32GB of internal memory alongside a memory expansion slot clearly places this on par with the iPhone when it comes to being a portable audio player, barring the user experience, of course. It does claw some ground by including a slick 3.2″ finger touch interface though, boasting a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio that is optimized for photos, videos and browsing. You can also connect to the Ovi Store directly, letting you remain connected to a maximum of 20 friends and virtual communities always through your homescreen. The Nokia X6 will retail for 450 Euros before taxes and subsidies, as the Finnish cellphone manufacturer prepares to get it ready for shipping come Q4 2009.

Press Release

I’ve reported on Spracht’s products before, and they are well known for their Bluetooth products and accesories. The latest is the Aura BluNote, a portable wireless speaker that can stream music wirelessly from any Bluetooth device.

Sure, devices like these are a dime a dozen, but this is one that promises to improve sound quality. Considering that the speakers are “smaller than a breadbox”, it makes up for it using a “bass boost and stereo widening feature to create a three-dimensional soundscape”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nokia is a name synonymous with cellphones, and this time round they’re going to unleash a double whammy on the consumer world – the new Maemo software alongside a brand new N Series device known as the Nokia N900. The open source, Linux-based Maemo software is touted to offer an experience quite like what one would expect on a computer, albeit on a device that can fit into your palm – which probably means the N900 must be pretty beefed up in terms of specifications and features in the first place. Firstly, the Nokia N900 will be the next step in evolution for Nokia’s previous Internet tablet devices, offering the added flexibility for consumers who want to multitask even on their handsets, while browsing the Internet in a same manner as they would on a normal desktop.

Read the rest of this entry »

BlackBerrys have long been in the domain of businessmen where a powerful, no-nonsense smartphone is required, and has made huge leaps into the world of of consumer level smartphones recently, trailed by Apple’s iPhone. RIM has worked with just about every carrier Stateside to make their BlackBerry available regardless of the monthly plan you decide to sign up for which is a pretty smart move in our books. Their latest handset, the Tour 9630 smartphone will be available from Sprint where it offers 3G connectivity, full multimedia support, GPS capability, a speedier browsing experience and document editing and viewing capability.

The BlackBerry Tour 9630 is designed for the traveler that needs to stay connected. The 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera easily identifies where a picture was taken with geo-tagging functionality. The smartphone also makes photo sharing simple with access to networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and flickr. The MicroSD card slot supports up to 16 GB of space, providing the room needed for images, music, and larger work files like presentations and reports. It’s slimmer than a deck of playing cards, but the Tour 9630 has the power to do more of the things that matter in life almost anywhere in the world.

Expect the BlackBerry Tour 9630 to go for $199.99 before taxes with a 2-year agreement.

Press Release

Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia is really late to the touchscreen phone market, with their 5800 not really setting the stage ablaze since its release, although it is by no means a major flop, doing quite well in certain markets around the world but never really showing off any capability of going anywhere near the iPhone’s dominance. Well, if at first you don’t succeed, try again – and that’s exactly what the folks at Nokia have done with the new Nokia 5230 – this handset was specially built for those who lead an active life and use their handsets as the main device for music, photos and videos, alongside all their online shenanigans.

Read the rest of this entry »

Growing up a fan of Dick Tracy, I longed to have Dick’s cool watch radio phone which enabled him to communicate with headquarters. But in reality, the deployment of such a device has been left “wanting,” mostly do to reception problems due to analog cell systems. But with the advent of digital carriers and broadband highspeed wireless internet, the promise is now hopeful for not only improved cellular audio capability, but video capability as well. And that means, a video watchphone is now a reality. Well, I’m excited.

Read the rest of this entry »