Okay, Noah only hung out with ONE supermodel, not a bunch of ‘em … but still, not bad for a gadget geek, right? Live from Barcelona it’s day one of Mobile World Congress featuring Palm Pre, HTC Touch Pro2, Nokia N97, and a Samsung phone that plays 720p HD video. Check it out – there’s plenty more where that came from. MORE GadgetDog @ www.phonedog.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

This is my overall view on the Nokia N97 mini. Yes, this includes an intro made with new music courtesy of Tehkseven! Check out the YouTube channel for Tehkseven at: www.youtube.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

To help commemorate the launch of its new Ovi Store, Nokia is giving one lucky Crave reader an N97 Mini smartphone.

A complaint I’ve seen about the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 and the Google Nexus One is that neither phone comes with a radio. The problem is that no one really cares.

Manufacturers still cram as many features into their gadgets as possible, especially if it helps makes the premium price of high-end devices more palatable. But now that makers are learning from their first several attempts at capturing the kitchen-sink market—a group that’s willing to pay good money for a phone—they (at least Google and Sony Ericsson) have decided that it’s not really worth engineering radio hardware into their future devices.

I love my Nokia N97 because it can do anything, and yes, it’s also radio. But I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used that feature, since I started using the phone. If I’m the norm, then it’s reasonable to assume that many others rarely use their phone’s built-in radios as well, right? Especially when we can buy the songs we want, sort them into playlists, and hear the music we want, when we want it?

I’m assuming both HTC/Google and Sony Ericsson have some pretty solid market research to back-up this decision, and that the general lack of uproar over the “missing” feature validates this. But what about you, dear readers? For those who have radios integrated into their phones, how often have you used them? Be honest!

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 specs
Google Nexus One specs

Post from: The Gadget Blog

The smartphones are currently the most popular devices and all mobiles manufacturers have in the portfolio at least two models. What is, however, the most intelligent phone on the market?

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The smartphone, a popular term nowadays, but for some it may be unknown. A smartphone is a smart mobile phone equipped with an operating system that meets a variety of functions. Compared to an ordinary phone, a smartphone offers Internet browsing, GPS functions, e-mail, accelerometer, camera with multiple possibilities of image editing and touch screen. In addition, most devices are now able to add new applications.

The first smartphone in the world was Simon, created by IBM and presented at the COMDEX technology salon in 1992. It was sold by the company BellSouth in 1993. Then it followed other smart phones like Nokia 9000, Ericsson R380, and in 2001, Research In Motion launched the first BlackBerry.

The smartphone revolution was launched by Apple in 2007, with the release of the iPhone. The terminal has quickly became one of the most sold smartphones on the market, with over 30 million devices shipped worldwide.  Now let us take a look at some of the top smartphones currently available on the market.

Apple iPhone 3GS

The latest version of the famous Apple terminal, 3GS, keep all the best of the previous models (simple menu, 3.5 inch touchscreen display, 480×320 pixels resolution, but it also has new features. iPhone 3GS is twice as fast (compatible with HSDPA 7.2Mbps), compared to its predecessor, and the whole 3D graphics is displayed in a shorter time and a superior image quality. Apple has included a better 3 megapixel camera, which has autofocus and the capacity of recording videos. The phone has an ARM Cortex A8 processor 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics and 256 MB RAM. The terminal has a storage of 16 or 32 GB. More than 100 thousands of applications available on App Store turn the phone into a true gadget.

Nokia N97

The Finns at Nokia have decided very hard to move to the touchscreen technology and thus, N97, their most powerful smartphone, in addition to a touch screen, has a slider. Nokia N97 runs the Symbian operating system S60 v5 and has a 3.5 inch screen with 640 x 360 pixels resolution. The 5 megapixel camera is able to capture video clips. The processor is ARM 11 434 MHz, and the RAM memory is 128 MB. The internal memory of 32 GB can even reach 48 GB by using a micro-SD card for 16 GB. Other features include an accelerometer, GPS, TV-Out, Wi-Fi, video and photo editor, etc..

Samsung Omnia II

This terminal is based on Windows Mobile 6.5. The phone has an AMOLED screen of 3.7 inches, with WVGA resolution, and offers an unbeatable quality image even in the daylight. Omnia II has a 800 MHz processor, a 5 megapixel camera and 2GB, 8 GB or 16 GB of internal memory (microSD card up to 32GB). The multimedia features of the Omnia II phone include play and record DVD-quality (480p), browsing the Web intuitive and interactive 3D games. Users can also access and download online content at high speed during navigation (HSUPA 5.76 Mbps, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and Wi-Fi).

Sony Ericsson Satio

Sony Ericsson Satio is a smartphone that boasts the best performing camera, 12 MP. The captured images are viewed on a 3.5 inch screen with 16 million colors, ratio 16:9, resolution of 640×360 pixels and resistive technology. Satio is running the Symbian operating system. The processor is equipped with an ARM Cortex-A8 of 600 MHz, and the RAM memory is 256 MB. The internal memory is 128 MB, but the phone has a microSD card slot (TransFlash), so the memory can go up to 32 GB. Sony Ericsson Satio is equipped with Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS services based on Google Maps and Wisepilot. Other functions like the accelerometer for the automatic rotation of the screen, TV out, FM radio with RDS (excellent functioning), Office document viewer and Internet browser with Flash support are not missing.

Motorola Droid

Motorola Droid is the new terminal from Motorola in which they have put all their hopes to return to the world top manufacturers of mobile phones. Motorola Droid is running the Android operating system designed by Google and is a cell slide-out type provided with a QWERTY keyboard and a 3.7 inch screen (480 x 854 pixels. The phone receives the same processor as 3GS iPhone and Nokia N900 : ARM Cortex-A8, 600 MHz. The internal memory is 256 MB. Milestone captures images at a maximum resolution of 5 megapixels and stores them on an 8 GB card included in the package. As an Android terminal, it supports most of Google Apps including Google Talk, Google Maps, Google Mail and YouTube.

LG Arena

The South Koreans from LG are the ones who have the most touchscreen terminals in their portfolio, and the LG Arena is one of the best models. It has a 3 inch screen with an extraordinary resolution 480 x 800 pixels, which allows accurate and high quality playback of DVD formats, DivX or Xvid. The internal memory is 8GB, but it may be extended up to 40 GB, which makes the Arena an ideal device for watching movies. The battery provides a stand by time of 300 hours and up to 30 hours of operation of the MP3 player. The camera has 5 megapixels and Schneider-Kreuznach lens. Because of the 3G HSDPA 7.2 and Wi-Fi technology, you can easily access the Internet.

BlackBerry Bold 9700

BlackBerry Bold 9700 is the latest BlackBerry model. This device addresses the business segment and enables automatic receipt of the e-mail messages without the need to connect to the e-mail from the office. This model is compatible with the HSDPA technology, offering higher data transfer speeds. The phone has a 624 MHz processor and 128 MB of RAM. The terminal incorporates functions like Wi-Fi, a 3.2 megapixel camera, media player, 256MB flash memory, which can be expanded to 16GB using a micro-SD card.

HTC Hero

HTC Hero is a smartphone that has an impressive design. It has a curved form at the base, making it easily manageable. The terminal is also protected by a layer of Teflon. The operating system is Android, and the physical keyboard is completely missing. The processor is the 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200 and the RAM is 288 MB. The 3.2 inch screen has a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. Other features include a 5 MP camera, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth.

HTC HD2

The most performance model of the HTC Company is HTC HD2. It has features that can be compared with those of a netbook. HTC HD2, which runs Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional, has a Snapdragon processor of 1 GHz RAM and 448 MB. The internal memory is 512 MB, but it can be extended, the phone has a microSD slot. The 4.3 inch screen has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. Other features: 5 MP camera, accelerometer, 3.5 mm jack, FM radio, proximity sensor. Some available applications: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter (HTC Peep), Pocket Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF Viewer, OneNote).

Nexus One

Nexus One is, now, the most publicized of the top smartphones and was created by HTC for Google. The phone, which has a touch screen AMOLED 3.7 inch (9.4 cm) is running version 2.1 of the Android operating system. Nexus One has a Snapdragon processor of 1 GHz and a thickness of 11, 5 mm, weighing about 130 grams. Other features of Nexus One include a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, GPS, 3D interface, voice recognition and two microphones that are designed to filter out background noise to ensure clear calls, similar to Crystal Talk technology developed by Motorola.

On Technograph, my review of the N97 mini was relatively short, as the phone provides practically the same experience as the N97—with one key shortcoming. To summarize: while the mini has less built-in memory than fits predecessor, it’s better constructed, is more responsive, and easier to type on. And let’s not forget that the N97 mini is cheaper than the original N97, and is more compact.

Unfortunately, the N97 mini’s battery is simply too weak for a high-end phone. It’s nowhere near the hilariously short battery lifespan of the original N95, but the 1200mAh BL-4D simply doesn’t provide enough juice to use the phone for an appreciable amount of time. The N97 mini will require daily recharging, especially for power users. 1200mAh is plenty to be sure, but it seems like the phone is less frugal with power.

This drawback is glaring enough that I’d actually like Nokia to come out with the N97 mini 2 as soon as possible, the top priority of this desired project figuring out how to cram the N97’s 1500mAh BP-4L battery into the mini’s handier form factor—while still keeping the complete feature set that made the N97 a winner in my book, and the slight tweaks that makes the N97 mini better than the original.

As for new N97 mini owners, keep your fingers crossed. Let’s hope this phone reaches critical mass, enough for third-party suppliers or Nokia itself to come out with an extended battery kit, complete with a bulging backplate necessary to cover such a power pack’s necessarily increased thickness.

In any case, the Nokia N97 mini is available from Buy.com and NewEgg.com:

From Buy.Com ($500)

NewEgg.com ($480)

Post from: The Gadget Blog