At RIM's annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium, the company revealed two new BlackBerry smartphones, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G and the BlackBerry Bold 9650. The Bold 9650 is headed to Sprint on May 23 while the Pearl 3G will be available on multiple carriers in May. RIM also announced BlackBerry Mobile Voice System 5, a voice-over-Wi-Fi service for business users.
With a better design and stronger specs, the Kin Two (Verizon; price TBA) outshines its sibling, the Kin One. But it isn't perfect: Limitations and omissions within the software keep it from being a threat to lower-priced smartphones on Verizon.
At today's announcement of iPhone OS 4.0, Apple unveiled seven major features in the latest version of its OS.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the Apple iPad is that it is essentially a larger iPhone or iPod Touch (I’ve also heard the term “iPhone on steroids” thrown around). This is simply not true: The iPad and iPhone are completely different beasts when it comes to hardware, software and what you can actually do on each device. That said, the two devices still share a lot of the same functions: Both allow you to play games, browse the Web, send e-mails, watch videos and listen to music.
I had some pretty big expectations for the next generation of Windows phones; the 6.5 update just didn't cut it. I wanted a smooth, super touch-friendly user interface that is easy to navigate. Oh, and full integration with the Zune software. To my delight, Microsoft delivered and I was generally impressed with Windows Phone 7 Series (Microsoft has dropped the "Windows Mobile" moniker). I do have a few concerns, however, that I hope will be addressed 10 months from now.
Microsoft took the wraps off of Windows Phone 7 Series (the official name for Windows Mobile 7) here Monday at Mobile World Congress. Slated to launch on handsets by holiday season 2010, Windows 7 is a complete overhaul from previous versions of the OS.
When Samsung announced that it was developing its own mobile operating system, one question came to mind: Do we really need another mobile OS? Whether we do or not, Samsung's Bada OS has made its debut at Mobile World Congress on the new Samsung Wave handset. While I'm not yet sold on the software, the Wave has some pretty hard-to-ignore features.
The "Plus" in the Palm Pixi Plus smartphone really means one thing: the addition of Wi-Fi connectivity. Other than that, the phone is identical in specs and design to its predecessor the Palm Pixi. While the keyboard isn't perfect and WebOS performance can be sluggish, the Palm Pixi Plus is a solid, inexpensive smartphone - and Wi-Fi only bolsters its abilities.
The Palm Pre Plus is really more of an update of the original Pre than a completely new product. Even so, the subtle hardware tweaks make it an overall improvement from its predecessor the Palm Pre. Some quirks remain, however, with the keyboard design and the sluggishness of the software.
TechCrunch.com has unearthed a video of Zynga CEO Mark Pincus saying the company "did every horrible thing in the book" to make money off of players.
As the name suggests, the Nokia Mini N97 is a more compact version of Nokia's flagship smartphone, the N97. The Mini also gets the bonus of kinetic "flick" scrolling, which greatly improves Web and menu navigation. But the Mini has the same issues as its older sibling: The S60 OS interface feels out of date and lacks the ease of use found on other operating systems like Android, iPhone or webOS.
In the past, Samsung's portable media players have had excellent audio and video quality, but the user experience was marred by some strange design choices. The company's latest, the IceTouch and MyFit, seem to fit into this tradition.
Does the latest Android phone on Verizon, the Droid Eris, seem familiar? Not only does it have an almost identical name to that other Verizon Android phone, but it looks an awful lot like the HTC Hero, which debuted in the US on the Sprint Network. The HTC Droid Eris will be available alongside the Motorola Droid on Friday, November 6 in Verizon stores.
GSM BlackBerry users who felt snubbed by RIM's recent releases, like the Storm 2 and Tour 9630 on Verizon, can finally get in on the new device action. RIM took the wraps off BlackBerry Bold 9700, an update to the popular BlackBerry Bold 9000, which debuted last year on AT&T. Sporting a slimmer design, better camera (3.2-megapixels as opposed to the 9000's 2-megapixel shooter), slightly better display, the Bold 9700 is an ideal upgrade for those looking to ditch their 8300 series Curves.
When the BlackBerry Storm debuted last fall, RIM's first touchscreen device received not-so-stellar reviews.