Cellphone Review Blog

LG Dare is available through Verizon Wireless’ online store since last Friday, it will be available in your local store from July 3rd onwards. The LG Dare has a 3-inch large LCD screen, comes with handwriting recognition, 3.2 megapixel camera with face detection and flash, and photo editing capabilities.

You can find some reviews below

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/cell-phones/lg-dare-vx9700/9545.html

With no buttons to fall back on, the LG Dare can be very difficult to use, due to the way it handles touch input. It’s too bad, because some features, like the camera and the fast Web browser, deserve to be part of a great all-round package. Clearly a lot of effort went into the interface design. It’s unique, intuitive and very customizable. It looks great and the polish extends deep into the phone’s menu structure, making the entire package feel modern. Unfortunately, serious hardware flaws stymie the designer’s efforts, and where the phone should shine, it’s more frustrating than fun.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/25/lg-dare-hands-on/

http://gizmodo.com/5020820/verizons-lg-dare-full-review-verdict-best-iclone-yet

The truth is, the Dare may not be as glamorous or well-priced as the Instinct, but it has a better browser, a motion sensor and some cool software tricks that make it a fine phone for people who choose to remain in Verizon’s walled garden.

http://jenngrover.com/?p=478

The Dare seems to be living up to everyone’s expectations, including mine. I really have not been disappointed with anything yet. Actually, I have been regularly surprised as I discovered new, unexpected features.

Lastly, a long discuss thread in HowardForums can be found here

Features and capabilities of LG Dare include:

• V CAST Music-capable
• Music Player for .mp3, .wma, unprotected .aac, and unprotected .aac+ files
• microSD card slot
• USB Mass Storage mode
• 3.2 Megapixel Camera and Camcorder
• SmartPic technology and manual ISO adjustment for improved image quality
• Face Detection - detects a face when taking a picture
• Panorama, split shot and frame camera settings
• Image Editor - zoom, rotate, crop, add frames and icons and write over images
• Video Resolutions: 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 176 x 144 pixels
• Video Recording Speed: up to 120 frames per second for slow video playback
• Video Recording Time: 30 seconds (for sending); up to 1 hour (for saving) depending on memory
• Video Player for WMV, MP4, 3GP, 3G2 formats
• Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
• Phone Book with 1,000 contacts: each contact entry stores five numbers, two e-mail addresses and a Picture ID
• FOTA-capable - upgrade firmware over-the-air
• Technology: CDMA
• Frequency: 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 800 MHz CDMA (Digital Dual-Band)
• Data Transmission: high-speed EV-DO
• Dimensions: 4.1″ (h) x 2.2″ (w) x 0.5″ (d)
• Weight: 3.76 ounces
• Display: 260K Color TFT, 240 x 400 pixels, 3.0″
• Standard Battery: 1,100 mAh
• Usage Time: up to 280 minutes or
• Standby Time: up to 360 hours

The Dare is available for $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.

Out of the 18 electronics companies evaluated in the 8th edition of Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics, only two companies - Sony Ericsson and Sony - score above 5/10. The guide is now being released every 3 months, you can find the history records since 2006 here

“Electronics giants pay attention to environmental performance on certain issues, while ignoring others that are just as important. Philips, for example, scores well on chemicals and energy criteria, but scores a zero on e-waste since it has no global take-back polices,” said Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International Toxics Campaigner. “Philips would score higher if it took responsibility for its own branded e-waste and established equitable global take-back schemes.”

Many companies score well on energy efficiency as their products comply and exceed Energy Star standards. The best performers on energy efficiency are Sony Ericsson and Apple, with all of their models meeting, and many exceeding, Energy Star requirements. Sony Ericsson stands out as the first company to score almost top marks on all of the chemicals criteria. With all new Sony Ericsson models being PVC-free, the company has also met the new chemicals criterion in the ranking, having already banned antimony, beryllium and phthalates from models launched since January 2008.

“Greenpeace aims to show which companies are serious about becoming environmental leaders. We want them to race towards meeting the new criteria: phasing out other toxic chemicals, increasing the recycling rate of e-waste, using recycled materials in new products and reducing their impact on climate change,” concluded Iza Kruszewska.

Windows Mobile smartphone users will soon be able to install/buy the new Opera Mobile 9.5 for their mobile browsing. First beta version of the new version will be available on July 15th this month. Opera Mobile 9.5 will be based on the same browser engine as Opera 9.5 for desktop, and it is already being used on the new HTC Touch Diamond, Samsung Omnia i900 phone. The new version of the browser engine will ensure that you can surf the Web with a browser supporting the latest and greatest in Web standards.

You can check out the video tour below

Source [Opera]

Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) today announced four specially designed price plans for iPhone 3G customers in Hong Kong. The Company will offer iPhone 3G for as little as HK$0, and each plan comes with at least 500MB data usage and unlimited on-net SMS. All iPhone 3G plans will require a 24-month contract. In addition, Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong will include credits to apply for the Company’s multimedia content including picture downloads and video streaming, as well as text-based content including stock quotes and news.

Mobile price plan from $188 (24 USD) to $328 (42 USD) will only gave a 500MB data transfer quota to the iPhone 3G users. To get an unlimited data transfer, the only plan you need to subscribe is the most expensive plan at $498, around 63 USD a month!

Simply register online at iphone.three.com.hk from 00:00am on 1 July, 500 names will be randomly selected at 12:00 noon on 7 July to attend “iPhone 3G First Day Sale Gala” at Ocean Terminal Main Concourse, Harbour City on 11 July. The lucky customers will not only be one of the first iPhone 3GTM owners, but each will also receive a limited edition iPhone 3G leather case.

via [3gweek]

As an offcial announcement on their blog, ShoZu will soon add an iPhone version to the Apple’s iPhone Application Store. With the help of the application, iPhone users can send photos or videos to their favorite community - or transfer any image file to multiple communities and/or email addresses simultaneously - without opening a mobile browser or creating multiple messages. 

ShoZu users can also have friends’ photostreams, status changes and social network invites sent directly to the handset in the background without mobile navigation or download downtime; send photos at blog quality or full resolution; upload video clips up to 10 minutes in length; and exchange two-way commenting and messages between the mobile and Web.

Check out this page for a list of the supported sites. More details of the ShoZu iPhone version can be found here.

 Our friend at phonemag.com has received a HP iPAQ 910 smartphone. Check out the unboxing video and also a hands-on photo gallery at their site.

The HP iPAQ 900 Series Business Messenger features an integrated QWERTY keyboard, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system and the latest wireless technologies. It uses tri-band UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE wireless technology to allow customers to make calls and quickly access the Internet around the world, while integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless technology allows for convenient connectivity.

Source [phonemag]

OpenTable today announced the beta launch of the OpenTable Mobile service, enabling consumers to find real-time table availability and book restaurant reservations through their mobile devices. Users can access the mobile-optimized website by pointing the browser on their mobile device to http://mobile.opentable.com.

The OpenTable Mobile site is designed to mimic the simple, streamlined reservation process offered on OpenTable.com, enabling users to quickly identify restaurants with available tables and narrow their choices by neighborhood and desired times.

“With OpenTable Mobile, we can now deliver the convenience of online reservations to diners who are on the road or out on the town,” said Jeff Jordan, chief executive officer of OpenTable. “Now mobile users can take the power of OpenTable.com with them wherever they go, to instantly find and book available tables at more than 8,500 restaurants.”

OpenTable Mobile is currently available to book reservations at all OpenTable restaurants in the United States. In order to take advantage of OpenTable Mobile, users must have a web-enabled mobile device and subscribe to a data plan with their carrier. OpenTable does not charge users to access the site or book restaurant reservations; however, standard data and text messaging charges from users’ mobile carriers may apply. For more information on the OpenTable Mobile beta please visit www.opentable.com/mobile.

Alltel Wireless today announced the addition of “texting” to its “My Circle” offer. Starting today, “My Circle” customers with a “My Circle” message pack starting at $7.99 can send and receive unlimited text/video/picture messages to anyone in their “Circle,” as well as other Alltel Wireless customers.

Customers can choose from several message packs including plans for $7.99 or $12.99 which provides users 400 or 1,000 additional text/video/picture messages, respectively, to communicate with consumers outside of their “Circle” or that are not Alltel customers. For customers seeking unlimited messaging, Alltel Wireless still offers the $19.99 All Access Pass that includes unlimited messaging and mobile web. “My Circle” message packs can be added to any “My Circle” five, 10 or 20 calling plan.

In addition to the “My Circle” message packs, Alltel is also introducing new “My Circle” Family Choice Plus plans. For $84.99 per month, customers will receive two lines with 1,000 shared minutes and the ability to call any 10 numbers on any network. Also, customers can receive two lines with 2,000 shared minutes and unlimited calling within their “Circle” of 20 numbers for $114.99. In addition to the unlimited calling within their “Circle,” Family Choice plan customers will receive unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls and unlimited nights and weekends. Customers will also have the ability to choose either free evening calls starting at 7PM or 1,000 text/picture/video messages the plans include unlimited texting to their “Circle of Friends” and other Alltel customers.

If you are in love with the Xperia X1 high resolution display screen, you might want to take a look at this O2 XDA Vista too. Reported on it168 chinese website, O2 XDA Vista will be available in China soon with a selling price of around 500 USD.

With a similar design as the Toshiba G900, it has a 3-inch WQVGA display screen at 800 x 480 pixel. Powered by the Intel XScale 520MHz cpu, the O2 XDA Vista will also has a standalone NVIDIA GoForce 5500 GPU. According to the NVIDIA GoForce info, the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 is able to delivers a host of multimedia features, including:

• able playback H.264, WMV9 and MPEG-4 video up to D1 resolution at 30 frames per second (fps)
• Compatible with major mobile TV standards including DVB-H, ISDB-T, and DMB networks
• include surround sound processor to deliver an immersive audio experience in the palm of a hand
• 3X the 3D performance of the previous generation2
• Sharp, crystal clear digital photography
• Rapid multi-shot capabilities so users never miss a photo
• Support for up to 10 megapixel resolution
• Ultra-low power consumption
• Dedicated low-power hardware design delivers more hours of entertainment on the phone with less drain on the talk time

Other than a powerful graphic processor, the O2 Vista has a 3 megapixel camera, secondary video call camera, GPS, WiFi, bluetooth and support HSDPA data connection.

Source [it168]

Is the latest Sony Ericsson Remi the successor of Sony Ericsson T610? According to se-nse blog no confirmed model number is available yet, it has a codename “Remi” and has a similar slim body as the Sony Ericsson W890 walkman phone.

Although it is slim in its size, the source expect it to support HSDPA network and comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera.

Source [se-nse]