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candybar posts

Nokia's 5230 inches closer to release, gets spied along the way

by Darren Murph posted Oct 17th 2009 at 7:38PM

Nokia's 5230 isn't apt to blow any minds with the likes of the HD2, Droid and XPERIA X3 on the horizon, but for those perfectly content with a touchscreen-based Symbian S60 5th Edition handset, this one sure looks purty. After dipping its toes in the FCC's expansive database just last month, a crop of new in the wild shots have surfaced to show off its 3.2-inch display (640 x 360), 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR module and variety of colorful backs. Hit the read link for more pixels if you're so inclined, and feel free to take the "January 2010" release date in with a dose of NaCl.

[Thanks, Daniel]

LG's New Chocolate BL20 spotted in the wild

by Darren Murph posted Sep 20th 2009 at 7:29PM

Calling LG's New Chocolate BL20 half of the BL40 would probably be classified as logorrhea, but there's no doubt that this slider is handsome. So handsome, in fact, that LG has seen fit to showcase it over in the company's new building in Amstelveen, Holland. GSMArena was able to snap a few pics of the installation while also gathering that it'll boast a non-touch edition of the S-Class UI.Hit the read link for a few more looks -- it ought to make waiting for LG to actually announce this thing a lot easier.

[Via slashphone]

Sony Ericsson's £530 Pureness is 'iconic' not ironic

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 15th 2009 at 7:57AM

There's nothing typical about Sony Ericsson's Pureness handset so why should details about its launch differ? Brand Republic, a magazine focused on advertising, quotes Sony Ericsson's director of marketing, Cathy Davies, saying that the low-spec'd (said to lack GPS, camera, WiFi, and gasp, a touchscreen) candybar with translucent display will go on sale in November for £530 at Selfridges and "design museum shops." And if it wasn't already clear (get it?), SE says that it's positioning the device as "an iconic niche product, not mass-market." In other words, Harrods shoppers need not apply.

[Via Techradar and Pocket-lint]

Dell Mini 3i smartphone gets official outing in China

by Thomas Ricker posted Aug 17th 2009 at 4:54AM

At last, the much rumored Dell cellphone has made its first official appearance. The 3.5-inch 360 x 640 pixel device with capacitive touchscreen was on display in China running the Android-based Open Mobile System (OMS). The Mini 3i was on-hand as part of the launch of China Mobile's new Application Platform that offers music, video, and app downloads to mobile phones from Nokia, Samsung, LG, and apparently, Dell. The candybar device lacks WiFi (or Chinese WAPI) and is strictly 2G GSM (no 3G) but does come with a 3 megapixel camera, microSD slot, Bluetooth, and 950mAh battery. Guess now we know why the early prototypes were met with a collective meh by mobile carriers earlier this year. No idea when this will ship but it looks China-bound for at least the near future. A few more pics after the break.

[Via Cloned In China]

Read -- China Mobile's Application Platform
Read -- Dell cooperating with China Mobile
Read -- Dell Mini 3i unveil

Continue reading Dell Mini 3i smartphone gets official outing in China

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXIX: we see right through the N68's antics

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 5th 2009 at 8:21PM

If you absolutely, positively must be able to see the palm of your hand while dialing, you might think that LG's lovely GD900 is the only game in town -- but you'd be very, very wrong. In fact, for the price of a single GD900, you could have a whole army of these $70 N68s delivered to your door, each bearing a pirate's booty of knicked branding and design. From the Nokia Nseries-esque model name, to the nav button layout vaguely reminiscent of the N95, to the thick slab of Lexan masquerading as a keypad, this one's a keeper -- and if that's all not enough to convince you, the "8.0 pixels" camera around back just might seal the deal. Still not sold? See some sample output after the break.

[Via Engadget Chinese and 52sogi]

Continue reading Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXIX: we see right through the N68's antics

Nokia makes 3720 official, its "most rugged mobile handset to date"

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 9th 2009 at 11:52AM

Nokia's not exactly known for its beefy, ultra-survivable gear, but unless the human race plans on getting a whole lot less clumsy, rugged phones will always be a good idea -- and Espoo's 3720 certainly seems to fill the bill. The Series 40-based candybar features a 2 megapixel cam with LED flash, triband EDGE (sorry, North Americans), FM radio, microSD expansion, and the latest and greatest Bluetooth 2.1, but the real news here is that the phone is built to meet IP54 standards. A quick check with our handy-dandy IP code reference tells us that means that "ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact" -- in other words, your phone might get nasty dirty, but it'll keep chugging -- and it can withstand "splashing" water. Scuba divers, the search for your perfect phone probably continues. Refreshingly, the 3720 will run just €125 (about $175) unlocked when it ships later this summer.

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 slider gets official reveal

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 15th 2009 at 5:30AM

Samsung's being tight-lipped with the details, but at least it did us the solid of making its Omnia Pro B7610 (aka, B7610 Louvre) QWERTY slider official today at CommunicAsia. The phone on the right is the Omnia Pro B7320, which, if we're not mistaken, is just the Jack candybar already available to AT&T customers. Unfortunately, Samsung isn't giving out any detail on the B7610 so we'll have to go on believing in the rumored 3.5-inch AMOLED display with 800x480 pixel resolution, 5.1 megapixel camera, 7.2Mbps HSDPA data, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB built-in with microSDHC expansion, and 800MHz processor driving Windows Mobile until they tell us something different.

[Via Akihabara News]

Sanyo's QWERTY-packin' SCP-2700 lands on Sprint

by Darren Murph posted Mar 31st 2009 at 2:48PM

Not that we're blindsided by its official introduction or anything, but it's still good to see Sanyo's SCP-2700 in one clear, crisp, cohesive press photo. Available exclusively on Sprint, the QWERTY-equipped handset boasts a 1.3 megapixel camera, Sprint Navigation, threaded text messaging support and Bluetooth. Prospective buyers will need to choose between Impulsive Pink (with a subtle floral overlay) and Deep Blue (which has a tactile square designer pattern on its back), but considering that you've got until May 10th to decide, we'd say there's no real hurry. Oh, and pricing? $29.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and signing away your cellular soul for two long, painful years.

Nokia introducing 5030, 5330, and 5730 XpressMusics at tomorrow's event?

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 10th 2009 at 7:39PM

We know that the shindig Nokia's putting on tomorrow has something to do with music, so it's certainly within the realm of possibility that we'd see some new XpressMusic handsets there, and indeed, All About Phones seems to have scooped the goods. It looks like we'll be treated to no fewer than three models -- all Xpress-branded, naturally -- starting on the low end with the 5030 candybar. This one eschews XpressMusic for the less audiophile-sounding "XpressRadio" name, pimping its in-built FM radio support and a large, squarish speaker around back at a crazy low price of €40 ($51) unsubsidized. Moving one rung up the range is the 5330 XpressMusic slider, packing a 3.5mm jack, some sort of special light effects for the ravers in the audience, and 24 hours of listening time; it'll be available in the third quarter for €160 ($204). Finally, we have the rumored 5730 (pictured) -- the only of the three to run S60 and lay claim to a genuine smartphone title. This one follows in the E75's footsteps by packing both a numeric and a landscape QWERTY slide, WiFi, a 3.2 megapixel cam, HSDPA, and GPS, but the most interesting new feature here might be the "Xpress Home Screen" which exposes your loaded media right from the phone's -- you guessed it -- home screen. This one should hit in the second quarter for €280 ($357) and will be offered in a Comes With Music version in some countries. How's about killing off DRM while you're at it, Nokia?

Update: iDNES.cz points out that the 5030 has already been on sale in Pakistan since November, so it's conceivable that Nokia will be using the event to present the low-end phone to a broader audience -- or that it won't be shown at all.

Digicel launching ZTE's Coral-200-Solar phone in emerging markets

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 13th 2009 at 3:56PM

It may not have the glam or the flash of the Samsung Blue Earth, but ZTE's Coral-200-Solar takes solar power to a side of the market that needs it far, far more urgently -- the side without power outlets. The Chinese manufacturer is teaming up with Jamaica's Digicel Group to roll out one of the world's first mass-market solar cellphones to folks with "limited or no access to the power grid," which represents some 2 billion people around the globe. The phone gets its juice via an integrated solar charger -- that is, there's still a battery lurking in there, you just don't need an outlet to charge it -- and should be available by June of this year. Pretty amazing world we live in where people have mobiles before they have power, isn't it?

Mobiado's 105GMT in white: still accidentally steampunk

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 12th 2009 at 4:26AM

"Clocks in a phone." It sounds like the name of an unfinished Kubrick joint, the punchline to a really bad joke, or the incoherent rambling of a luddite trying to make sense of cellular technology -- but unfortunately, it's none of these. Instead it's just Mobiado's 105GMT all over again, this time in white. This monstrosity sits squarely at the intersection of "hideous" and "trust fund," which is a territory we're sorry to say we'll never have the pleasure of experiencing ourselves -- but to those who need a gaudier way to run a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme on the road, your weapon of choice has clearly arrived.

[Via Unwired View]

Alcatel assembling a Lego (or Lego-esque) phone?

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 11th 2009 at 11:58AM

Can you guess what Alcatel's trying to do with this one? Yeah, Lego's products are some of the most recognizable in the world -- and while we can't tell if there's any official Lego brand tie-in here, we certainly wouldn't be surprised if there was in light of Lego's recent foray into the bleeding-edge frontier of consumer electronics. What we're looking at seems to be a render of a device Alcatel hopes to introduce in 2009, borrowing heavily from Denmark's favorite export to provide snap-on faceplates sure to bring a smile to any 6-year-old's face. We don't have any information beyond the screen cap, but there's no compelling reason to believe it's not real -- other than the fact that Legos don't make for the best phone ergonomics, we suppose. Theme devices like this tend to be more Modelabs' territory, but that's not to say Alcatel isn't perfectly capable of pulling this off, either. Next up: a Duplo-based DynaTAC, perhaps?

Samsung pulls a Samsung, leaks nine new models ahead of MWC

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 3rd 2009 at 1:03PM

In typical Samsung go-big-or-go-home style, the world's number two phone manufacturer is now expected to announce no fewer than nine new models at this month's Mobile World Congress -- and that's just from the EDGE-powered middle of the range on down. Starting with the most interesting of the school (if we want to go with a fish analogy here), the pictured S5050 brings high style, a 3.2 megapixel cam, 2.2-inch QVGA AMOLED display, and most interestingly, dual SIM slots -- an indication that this will very likely see duty in the Far East. Heading on downrange, the B5702 is almost as awesome but trades the high-tech display for a 2.4-inch TFT. Of course, there's more than just sliders in the mix; you've also got bars like the S3310, which supports microSD expansion, a 2.1-inch QVGA display, and FM radio (an almost ubiquitous feature in developing market phones). The E2210 holds down the clamshell fort -- but to get it, you'll have to be cool with a meager 160 x 128 display and a weak VGA cam. Heading down to the very, very bottom of the range, you get into a couple candybars designed to be accessible to the world's poorest: the E1125 and E1100, which rock 128 x 128 displays, a data-less GSM radio, and 300 / 200-contact phone books, respectively. That E1100 sounds suspiciously like the legendary Nokia 1100, doesn't it? Anyhoo, expect this all to break at MWC, along with the usual array of moderately more droolworthy high-end fodder.

[Via GSMArena]

Nokia rests on laurels, launches 6700, 6303, and 2700 classic handsets

by Thomas Ricker posted Jan 29th 2009 at 3:40AM

Nokia just launched three new handsets said to "build on the formula that made Nokia the world leader in mobile phones." The threesome includes the new 6700 classic (pictured) that continues the legacy of the Nokia 6300, a phone that "topped all sales records for a mid-range mobile phone" back in 2006 according to the tall slender cats from Espoo. As such, don't expect any fancy-pants software or touchscreen novelties here -- the "slim" 6700 classic (pre-tax €235 / about $311) plays it straight as a small-screened candybar with a 5 megapixel camera, aGPS navigation, and "high-speed" data access undoubtedly of the HSPA variety. Nokia has the nerve to call the 2.2-inch display on the (€135) 6303 classic, "large," but makes up for that assery with the inclusion of supposed "excellent" battery performance, a 3.5-mm audio jack, and aGPS with Nokia Maps. Bringing up the rear is the (€65) Nokia 2700 classic touting 2GB of on-board memory plus memory card expansion, a 2 megapixel camera, and full integration with Nokia's Ovi suite of services, natch. All are expected to ship before June. Hey, Nokia, we understand your quest for mid-market domination, but with market share in decline and your unlaunched, flagship N97 receiving a lukewarm response at announcement (think Palm Pre by comparison)... might we suggest looking forward, not back?

Gallery: Nokia rests on laurels, launches 6700, 6303, and 2700 classic handsets

Nokia N79 Active to come with heart rate monitor, guilt

by Chris Ziegler posted Jan 14th 2009 at 1:23PM

We knew something was up with these Bluetooth heart rate straps from Polar, and sure enough, Nokia has announced a partnership to get serious fitness monitoring integrated with its products. The first to take advantage will be a special version of the N79, creatively dubbed the N79 Active, which will include 4GB of onboard memory the requisite strap right in the box and sell for about €375 ($494) when it ships "soon" in "select territories." Of course, the new hardware isn't any good without new software, and it just so happens that the N79 Active will include a new version of Nokia's Sports Tracker app for keeping tabs on workouts. We'd heard that other Polar accessories like cadence sensors for biking fanatics were in the works, so this could end up developing into a whole franchise.

[Via All About Symbian]