“As expected, everything comes at a price. The pop-up, swiveling camera is replaced with immobile one. There are Home and Back keys on the front, but the D-pad is missing. It is relocated on a slider that opens from the bottom. Here also is the 4-row QWERTY keyboard, which although a fast method for text input is not the best. There are a few drawbacks: it is flat, the keys are rather hard to press, and the top row is very close to the upper slider. If you input numbers often, the fact that there is no separate row for digits would be another drawback. We preferred to use the on-screen keyboard for short texts, but opened the slider when there was more text input.” Read more here:
SoMo 650 Pocket PC handheld with antibacterial coating!
“Socket Mobile has reported it will soon release its SoMo650 handheld built with an antibacterial plastic. The original SoMo 650 was released last spring. Designed for business users this semi-rugged Pocket PC can stand a fall from one meter’s height to concrete. It features Intel PXA270 (624 MHz) processor, Windows Mobile 5.0, 3.5” QVGA display, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 128 MB RAM and 256 MB ROM.The updated SoMo 650 with antibacterial coating is targeted toward healthcare and labs that involve hygiene-sensitive environments. The company believes that the antibacterial product will provide an additional layer of protection against the multiplication and spread of potentially harmful bacteria and microbes. The new handheld will hit the stores early in 3Q 08.” via mobile-review.com
TOP10 selling phones in February 2008 by krusell!
The Swedish manufacturer of carrying cases for portable electronics, Krusell, has released their “Top 10”-list for February 2008. The list is based upon the number of pieces of model specific mobile and smart phone cases that have been ordered from Krusell during February 2008. Krusell’s list is unique due to the fact that it reflects the sales of phones on six continents and in more than 50 countries around the globe. 1. (1) Nokia 6300 2. (3) Nokia 3109/3110 3. (2) Sony Ericsson K810i 4. (7) Nokia E51 5. (5) Sony Ericsson K850i 6. (4) Nokia N95 8GB 7. (6) Nokia 6500 8. (10) Sony Ericsson K530i 9. (9) Nokia N95 10. (-) Nokia N73 () = Last month’s position. By taking seven out of ten positions, Nokia is in total lead of the Krusell Top 10 list for February. It is rather fascinating to see that no other brand than Nokia and Sony Ericsson are represented in the list this month, says Ulf Sandberg MD at Krusell. At least for the next month I will expect to see one of the units from HTC, Apple and Samsung making a comeback.
Google releases native Google Maps client for Symbian UIQ 3
“This is something many UIQ 3 users have been waiting for (me included!). A native SIS client for Google Maps instead of a Java Midlet. The new client is fast, looks neat and has a function called ‘My Location’ which basically gives a guess of your whereabouts. No press release whatsoever, but for you who want to test it, head over to http://www.google.com/gmm using your UIQ 3’s internet browser and download the SIS file.In my opinion, this is a good sign, showing support for UIQ application development. Not to forget that UIQ Technology signed an agreement with 6 new partners early this year and this could be one of the results. It is a very welcome move and hopefully it will not stop here. There are other Mobile Google Apps clients which need to be made available as native Symbian, especially the GMail Mobile client. The current Java implementation, while it does the job really well, is getting slower and not as good as it would have been, if it was made available natively.” via allaboutsymbian.com