Marcus Troiano

Earlier this month at CeBIT 2006, Samsung unvelied two new and noteworthy smartphones. The SGH-i310 (pictured above) is a music smartphone, boasting 8GB’s of internal memory to store both media (they advertise that it is capable of holding up to 2,000 MP3’s) and data. It also sports a 2MP camera with flash, video recording and playback, TV-out and a microSD slot. Samsung has also loaded this phone with the popular and feature rich OS, Windows Mobile 5.0. The SGH-i310 can play back MP3/WMA/AAC files, has Bluetooth with A2DP, is Plug&Play and USB 2.0. Definitely an impressive phone feature wise and also nice to look at (check these pics out). No word on how much these will go for when they’re released later this year in Europe, though we can assume they will be quite pricey. Samsung used a HDD in this phone, instead of flash memory, so that should help keep the price in check.

Samsung also took the wraps off their new 10MP camera phone, the SCH-B600 (pictured left). It comes packed with 3x optical zoom, flash, S-DMB support, Bluetooth, EV-DO, TV-out and more. It will be released in Korea sometime in Q2 of this year, for yet again, an unkown price, although we can definitely assume correctly that it will be very costly ;).

Between these two phones, I’d have to say I’m happier with the SGH-i310. It’s great to see that Samsung finally made use of Windows Mobile 5 for their OS, and also having 8GB of storage in a phone is amazing! Flash wopuld have been nicer, but for the extra cost it would add, it’s not worth it. Mini HDD’s still have quite some life left in them, and I think we’re going to see a lot more of these little wonders in all sorts of devices in the near future.

The SCH-B600 also looks like an awesome phone…..10MP camera??? Those are barely available as standalone models, at least not widely. It’s definetly impressive, but for the time being I think I’ll use a seperate phone and camera…just think of how much battery power that would take to power ;).

written by Marcus

Microsoft’s recent unveiling of their UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) concept, dubbed “Origami” definitely made a huge splash! Did it live up to the hype that was created by the three week long viral marketing campaign? Well the answer tends to differ depending on who you ask, but in my opinion, I think it definitely did!

The UMPC is basically a cross between a Tablet PC and a Pocket PC. It inherits much of the Tablet PC’s power and functionality, while keeping the formfactor closer to that of a Pocket PC’s. Microsoft, and their partners in this project (Intel, Samsung, Asus, Founder and more), are targetting a broad market with this product, hoping it will become a popular item. Microsofts foray into the mobile pc market to date hasn’t been to successful, with the Tablet PC failing to become the mainstream item that it was touted as being, and Pocket PC sales seeing little growth. The UMPC concept has the potential to avoiud the shortfalls of its siblings, offering the best of ultra mobility and power.

Some of the products many attributes and uses are outlined below, in an excert taken from the official UMPC website.

Checking out your favorite movie during a road trip. Downloading and listening to the latest hot tunes at the coffee shop. Surfing the Web at the beach while your friends surf the waves. More than ever before, people around the world are demanding simpler, more convenient ways to access and enjoy their favorite digital content while on the go.

The Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) addresses these needs with small, stylish products you can carry with you everywhere you go. The UMPC devices offer ultra-portable sizes and long battery life, plus full PC and Internet capabilities, so you can access your favorite web pages anytime, virtually anywhere!

At the unveiling, Samsung, Asus and Founder had working models of their respective UMPC’s (shown in the image below). The specs on these three pruducts vary slighty, each one offering slightly different hardware components and features. Samsungs Q1 weighs in at 779g (1.7 pound), has dimensions of 9 x 5.5 x 1and sports a 7″ touchscreen LCD. It’s powered by a Celeron M ULV processor, and comes equipped with a 40GB drive, 512MB RAM, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS and DMB options, and runs Windows XP Tablet with Touch Pack.

Both the Asus and Founder UMPC’s appear slightly more impressive, with the ASUS model having a sleek, brushed alluminum case and 1.3-megapixel front mounted camera for WiFi video conferencing, and the Founder UMPC using a 1GHz Pentium M processor compared to the 900MHz Celeron M in the Samsung and ASUS.

These first generation UMPC’s will definitely come at a premium, putting you back at least $1000. I’d advise one to wait at least a year before getting one, as battery life and performance will greatly increase (Intel mentioned an 8 hour battery life in later models), and the price should fall to a more manageable $500+ range.

Other manufacturers are beginning to release their own UMPC’s, with TabletKiosk recently announcing their V-700 UMPC. It comes equipped with a VIA C7M at 1GHz, max RAM of 1GB, 2.5-inch HDD up to 160GB, 7-inch 800×480 display and several other addons.

Will I get a UMPC? Definitely! Now? No, I’ll be waiting until the price drops and the performance increases. This device is what I’ve been waiting for, something which can replace my laptop when I’m on the go or even in my house. I’m very impressed, and it’s going to take all my will-power not to grab one of these when it comes to a store near me!

written by Marcus

Japanese watch manufacturer, Seiko Instruments Inc., recently unveiled a prototype watch which sports bluetooth connectivity for use with cell phones. The Seiko CPC TR-006, which is expected to make its way to the (Japanese) market in either late 2006 or early 2007, will extend a bluetooth enabled cell phone by acting as an interface between it and the user. The watch will display important phone information such as battery life and network strength as well as provide users with Caller ID and alerts when messages are left or text messages/e-mails received. It may also be used as a remote to control the volume and ring tones on the phone, or can even be set to ring or vibrate itself, when a call is or message is received.

Seiko will provide the necessary software for cell phones, which will capture and relay the required information to the watch. When paired with a bluetooth headset, a user could simply leave their phone in their bag or pocket, and rely on the watch to see who’s calling and read messages. This watch looks to be a very handy device, which can simplify the way wireless communication takes place, and we can only hope it makes its way over to North America, in a slightly more compact form factor.

written by Marcus

The long drawn-out legal battle between BlackBerry maker, RIM, and patent holding firm NTP has finally come to an end. RIM, maker of the poplar wireless e-mail device, agreed to pay NTP $612.5 million to settle the patent dispute, which had cast a shadow of uncertainty over use of the device in the US.

NTP had claimed RIM was infringing on their patents, and was seeking a ban on the sale and use of the device in the US. RIM had promised its users that a workaround was ready to be deployed, enabling the continuation of BlackBerry use, but many were doubtful. This settlement is definitely great for RIM and BlackBerry users (and of course, NTP) as the suit has now been dismissed, and service will continue as normal.

RIM and NTP were on the brink of a similar settlement early last year, which was to be a $450 million deal, but that fell through at the last second, making way for the lengthy legal battle which followed. The announcement was made late Friday afternoon, just before stock market close, and RIM’s stock (NASDAQ: RIMM) closed just $0.53 higher, at $71.92. However, in after-hour trading of the stock, an increase of over 19% took place, catapulting its price to $85.70.

Now that RIM has overcome this major obstacle and customers are finally at ease, they must now prepare for the real battle which is unfolding; against the Microsoft led consortium of mobile phone makers, and their respective “BlackBerry Killer” devices.

written by Marcus