Tasty bits - 18

That’s it, I give up! There’s no way I can ever match the level of detail of this Nokia N95 über-review :) Not to mention this multi-article review…

On the topic of Symbian devices, the announced-forever-ago Nokia N75 is available is not available from Cingular AT&T - maybe the sexy Nokia N76 is a better choice at this point?

Also, Nokia just released a widget platform for S60, Sony Ericsson is supposedly working on yet another Walkman phone (possibly Symbian-based), and I’ll be attending the UIQ Fast Track here in San Francisco!

Not content with making me drool, Apple is now teasing me with pictures taken with the iPhone [just beware of the many stupid comments to that article]… With the iPhone release fast approaching, Meizu decided to update its design of the M8/miniOne.

The Google phone is confirmed yet again, complete with a concept rendering.

Apparently, there’s some confusion about whether the OQO Model 02 is actually shipping or is further delayed - perhaps my pristine Model 02 was just a figment of my imagination :)

EVDO discount for OQO Model 02

How to get an EVDO discount (save $10 per month) for your OQO Model 02 in 10 easy steps :)

1) Visit the SERO website
2) Use “savings@sprint.com” for the Sprint employee email address
3) Select the Pantech PX-500 data card (free device, free shipping)
4) Select the unlimited data plan ($60 $50 per month, 2-year contract)
5) Checkout and finalize your purchase
6) Wait for “Order has shipped” email with your new phone number
7) Call Sprint technical support with your new phone number in hand
8) Change the ESN from the Pantech PX-500 to your OQO Model 02
9) Enjoy your EVDO discount on your OQO Model 02 today!
10) Sell your Pantech PX-500 on eBay tomorrow…

OQO Model 02 internals

After looking at this picture of the OQO Model 02 internals from the FCC documents, I’ve concluded a couple of things:

1) The Novatel EV620 EVDO mini PCIe card could be replaced with a Novatel EU 870D/860D (or Sierra Wireless MC 8755/8765/8775/8780/8781) HSDPA mini PCIe card with some SIM holder hackery

2) The Toshiba MK6008GAH 60 GB 1.8″ ZIF hard disk drive could be replaced with a Sandisk SSD_UATA_5000_18 64 GB 1.8″ ZIF solid state drive

Hmmm… This could just be my next project! Since I already have HSDPA with Cingular, I’m very motivated to have this working before the end of my trial period with Sprint :)

Unboxing the OQO Model 02

The OQO Model 02 has landed… It has been anticipated for months, but it’s here, in my dirty little hands!

Enjoy the unboxing pictures, complete with “bento box” notes and first boot. Now I’m off dealing with Sprint for the SERO discount :)

Tasty bits - 17

The Nokia N95 is now officially available in the US and is still getting a lot of love:
- More reviews, including video recording and battery life
- Pictures of the user interface, and more pictures with the camera.
- A video, internals, and tips

In other news, there’s already some discussion of the Apple iPhone being offered with rebates…

Sony Ericsson is apparently working on a new Symbian-based phone, the P700i - but for now, enjoy the LG KE850 (Prada) getting unboxed.

Here’s another touch-based device, looking an awful lot like the supposed Google phone!

Finally, Intel is betting on Linux for its MID (Mobile Internet Device) :)

Neonode N1m first impressions

It’s been almost a month since I unboxed my Neonode N1m, but then my Nokia N95 came along and stole the show :)

Nonetheless, I’ve been playing with my N1m on and off, and I’m very impressed! It’s definitely a best kept secret device - Neonode’s touch-based user interface with gesture recognition (also featured on the upcoming N2) is extremely intuitive…

The phone even offers tactile feedback through the vibration feature when using the touch screen! Hmmm, I wonder if the iPhone works like that… Are you paying attention, Apple?

Pros:
- Great touch-based user interface
- Fast operation
- Smartphone (Neno over Windows CE 5.0 .NET)
- Well made device
- Very small and light
- Good battery life
- Good music player (but no AAC support)
- Good HTML web browser
- Good GPRS performance
- Decent phone reception and audio quality
- USB mass storage device when powered off (with standard connector)
- USB charger

Cons:
- Dim, scratch-sensitive screen
- So-so camera (1 megapixel)
- No Bluetooth
- No email client by default (but here’s one available for download)
- No speakerphone?
- No iSync support (but ActiveSync support)
- No Java support
- Tri-band GPRS only

Hello AirCard 860, goodbye BlackJack

Contrary to popular belief, I rarely get free devices to review! So after recently acquiring my Nokia N95, I decided to sell my Nokia N80 - I also decided to sell my Samsung i607 (BlackJack), and I acquired a Sierra Wireless AirCard 860…

The AirCard 860 is extremely affordable and is HSDPA (1900/850MHz) and EDGE (quad-band) compatible. This is my first time owning a dedicated data card - mine is unlocked, and is working very well with both Cingular (HSDPA) and T-Mobile (EDGE) in Windows XP Pro.

I plan to test it in Linux (Ubuntu) as well :)

Nokia N95 battery life

There’s been a lot of great Nokia N95 coverage in the past week, and one of the biggest criticisms is about battery life…

I’m experiencing about the same battery life with my N95 as with my Nokia N80 or my Samsung i607 (BlackJack), i.e. I’m averaging 24-48 hours between charges, depending on use.

“Use” for me means about 1 hour of talking per charge, some web browsing (both WiFi and EDGE), some photo taking and viewing, some music playback, some GPS mapping, and some Bluetooth and USB access.

By default I keep WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth off. My N95 is set to GSM only and the display is set to maximum brightness, with a 20 second timeout.

Sure, the N95 battery life is not the best compared to some others, but it’s manageable, especially when you consider that most people charge their phone every night!

If your N95 is running on empty after 6-18 hours, what are you doing?

I’d like to know :)

Tasty bits - 16

Now that the Nokia N95 is in the wild, so are the pictures, the unboxing, a navigation review, a music review, and a camera review! In addition, here’s a video podcast about video editing, as well as info about GPS applications and the tilt sensor…

The OQO Model 02 is also in the wild - but where is mine?

Speaking of handtops, the Vulcan Flipstart is shipping.

Will you buy the Apple iPhone on June 11? I’m going to try :)

Apparently, the LG KE850 (Prada) is now available for free - check out this interface video…

Here are more pictures of the sexy Samsung F700!

It looks like Microsoft is trying to catch up to Nokia on the mobile web browser front.

Speaking of browsers, Opera Mobile for Windows Mobile Smartphone is now available for download - my Samsung i607 (BlackJack) is smiling :)

How about high-quality DRM-free music from the iTunes store? Well, it’s about time.

Pictures taken with the Nokia N95

Here are some pictures taken with my Nokia N95… I’m adding more pictures regularly, so keep looking!

I’ve color corrected them to remove the red tint problem - hopefully future firmware will address this.

So far it appears that the i-mobile 902 produces slightly better pictures (when comparing zoomed-in shots), and offers better low-light performance than the N95.