Smartphones Review

Your Smartest Business (and Life) Plan Yet
Smartphones offer the features you need to manage the myriad details of your life whether that includes scheduling business meetings, tracking your family’s schedule, reading email, or surfing the web. The line between business smartphones and the more consumer-oriented multimedia phones is becoming blurrier with every new smartphone that’s announced.
Why Buy a Smartphone?

As a busy person, you know the importance of staying a step ahead of your clients and your family. You probably know the feeling of being tied to your desk or home so as not to miss that important email or phone call and to maintain convenient access to essential data—proposals, schedules, contact information, business news or the stock market. However, thousands have newfound freedom using PDA-style smartphones designed for business (and fun). Today’s smartphone traces its roots back to the personal digital assistant or PDA. Originally used as businessperson’s right hand to track important client information, project statuses, and task lists, smartphones have evolved into an everyman’s (and woman’s) tool.

Smartphones are much more than just cell phones; they provide instant access to the web. Whether you’re researching news to predict the stock market or looking for the perfect golf course on the weekend, you’ll find it on the net.

Many smartphones allow you to sync with your desktop computer. This means you can store, view, and work on documents directly on your handheld. You can also receive and respond to emails as they arrive in your inbox on your home computer with real-time push email.

Smartphones can also serve as multimedia devices, so your entertainment goes with you. They can store and display pictures and videos of friends and family and even entire feature-length movies. Most smartphones take pictures and capture video, but the most common multimedia function is the ability to play MP3s—sit back, relax, and enjoy your favorite tunes while traveling or during breaks.

Another perk of using a smartphone is the fairly recent development of third-party applications (or apps). These apps range from those geared toward hardworking business tasks to entertaining games and everything in between. With thousands of apps available to download in a range of prices, there’s sure to be something that will appeal.

In this site, you'll find articles on cell phones, comprehensive reviews and a side-by-side comparison that will help you make an informed decision on which smartphone is right for you. At TopTenREVIEWS, we do the research so you don’t have to.™
What to Look for in a Smartphone for Business

In the past, business people were easily identifiable—they carried large briefcases, binder planners and perhaps a brick cell phone. The scene has changed and so has the way we conduct life and business. A smartphone stores important data and documents, offers a calendar planner, provides instant access to the internet and email and keeps you in touch with clients, coworkers, friends and family – anytime and anywhere.

Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate business smartphones.

* Productivity/ Lifestyle Tools—Smartphones act as life management devices and include organizing features like calendars and task lists. Most sync with home computers allowing for document viewing and editing. They also include practical tools like calculators, map applications and GPS. Some have the ability to support third-party or browser-based programs that can perform a variety of specific functions. Third-party apps are becoming a key component of a smartphone, allowing the user to customize their phones to support their lifestyles.

* Voice/Text Features—The foundation of business is communication, and a smartphone’s first function is as a cellular phone. Smartphones for business should include all typical cell phone features including speakerphone, three-way calling, voice dialing, call waiting, etc.

* Internet Features—Most smartphones can access the internet and display full webpages. Top ranked phones will connect via Wi-Fi and 3G for faster browsing speeds.

* Multimedia Features—The best business cell phones have at least a 2 megapixel camera with zoom features and the ability to play and record audio and video.

* Technical Specifications—The most practical smartphones are compact, include good input and display options, and enough battery life to last through a full day’s work, and beyond

2009 Smartphones Product :
BlackBerry Curve 8900
Apple iPhone 3G 16GB
BlackBerry Storm
BlackBerry Bold 9000
T-Mobile G1
Palm Pre
HP iPAQ 910c
BlackBerry Pearl 8220
HTC Fuze
Apple iPhone 3G 8GB

(source : http://cell-phones.toptenreviews.com/smartphones/)

GE Skype DECT 6.0

Price: $151.45
Save: 16% off

* Model: 28310EE1
* Shipping Weight: 3lbs
* Manufactured by: GE/Thomson
Features and Benefits:
* Skype Certified, this 2 in 1 Internet and Standard Phone is used with your broadband connection for Skype calls and with your home phone line for standard calls DOES NOT REQUIRE YOUR PC TO BE ON!! The large color LCD screen provides easy user interface. This WiFi friendly phone is expandable to 4 handsets, and makes standard and Internet calls. Includes battery back-up.

GE Skype DECT 6.0 with USB
Price: $120.00
Save: 20% off

* Model: 28300EE2
* Shipping Weight: 2lbs
* Manufactured by: GE/Thomson
Features and Benefits:
* Our Skype Certified Telephone Systems allow you to use Skype with the comfort and convenience of a home phone. This WiFi friendly phone is expandable to 6 handsets, and makes standard and Internet calls.

CECT/ Hyndai W100

CECT/ Hyndai W100
WATCH PHONES

The CECT/ Hyndai W100 offers a unique experience with a 65,000 colour TFT LCD touch screen, which incorporates some of the latest touch phone technology. Amazingly the "watch" hides a 1 GB flash memory system complimenting the 1.3 megapixel camera, offering more than enough memory to save those special moment. The "phone" also has a traditional in-built FM radio, phone book, and other standard facilities present in the traditional handsets of today. Works also in the US.

Specifications
Frequency Tri-band 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz
Display TFT LCD, 260'000 colors, 128x160, QCIF, 1.33
Languages English, Simplified Chinese, traditonal Chinese, some other languages according to the quantity
Ringtone 64 chord polyphonic, MP3, MP4, MIDI
Call Voice recorder in AMR, WAV format. - Built-in speaker and stereo earphone output
Music MP3 background player, equalizer support
Radio FM radio
Video 3GP, MP4, supports fullscreen play, speed/pause
Camera 1.3M pixel, support MP4 video with sound
File formats JPEG, GIF, BMP, picture files; MP3, AAC, AMR, IMY, MID, WAV audio files; 3PG, MPG4 video files.
Memory 512MB TF card as present, extendable to 2G, document management
Data transfer USB function / data wire, Bluetooth stereo
Internet WAP, GPRS
Phonebook 250 groups of contacts of carte de visit, support incoming call with big head sticker, group ring
Messaging SMS and MMS, storage for 200 messages, SMS group sending
Power switch Support auto switch on/off, can set self-defined photo of switching on/off
Alarm Alarm clock can be set from Monday to Sunday at random, and can set MP3 as alarm rings
Games 2 common games
Talk time 180 minutes
Standby time 160 hours
Dimensions 42 X 66 X19.3 mm
Weight 57 grams
Color Black or Milk white
Miscellaneous Voice recorder, calls vibration, voice dialing, IP dialing, calculator, graphics editor, memos, calendar, stopwatch, rates exchange, world time
Comes with 2 x Battery, Watch base, User manual, USB cable, Earphones, Bluetooth earphones, Charger cable, Charger, Power adaptor
Price: ₤ 99.82

Source :https://www.specialphones.eu/

HTC Touch Pro

by Benny Har-Even, 7 Oct 2008
http://www.itpro.co.uk
Price as reviewed: £412.76 exc. VAT
Best price: £478.80

Competition in the smartphone space is fiercer than ever. Is HTC's Touch Pro as good as we initially hoped?

This year has seen quite an explosion in the smartphone space, with very decent handsets appearing on a regular basis. Inevitably, the iPhone 3G has attracted the most attention, but almost everyone has fought back in some form or another.

Nokia brought us the impressive E71, and has finally gone down the touch screen route with the 5800 XpressMusic, while RIM impressed mightily with its Blackberry Bold. Meanwhile HTC has offered up the Touch Diamond, which purported to be the mythical, ‘iPhone killer’.

Naturally it wasn’t - it actually turned out to be rush released iPhone spoiler, complete with sluggish interface and bugs. The Touch Pro appeared a good couple of months later, so hopes were high that it had managed to sort out the problems that let the Diamond down.

If you saw my video review of the Touch Pro, you’ll know that I certainly thought HTC had managed to do this. However, these initial impressions were formed after a short time with the device, but having used the Touch Pro for a good while, the various foibles of the device have come to the fore.

As I mentioned in my video review though, it’s certainly true that HTC has improved the build quality of the Pro over the rather Fisher-Price feel to the Diamond. In addition the edges have been rounded and it has a matt rather than gloss finish and a better feel to it in the hand. Inevitably it's a chunkier monkey than the Diamond, but at 18mm thick it fails the suit jacket pocket test. The 165g weight though is not too though.

Feature wise, HTC has crammed in the same amount of features that it did in the Diamond, and even with the extra girth of the keyboard that’s still impressive. Features wise it’s all here. The 2.8in display is an impressive 480 x 640 resolution, and looks cracking – it makes a big difference when web browsing. There’s an accelerometer in it too so it can do the flip to landscape mode when you turn it round. Unfortunately, this isn’t as responsive as I would have liked, due to the delay in re-rendering the page. It isn’t an issue with the accelerometer being sensitive enough as it works a treat with the bundled ‘Teeter’ game, that involves rolling a ball round an obstacle course.

The camera on the rear is a decent 3.2 megapixels, but the LED next to it is just a light, not a flash and results are adequate rather than spectacular. A camera is present on the front too, for those oh-so-popular video calls. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and present and correct as it assisted GPS, which works nicely with the preloaded Google Maps.

Samsung i760 Verizon

I am a TCM chinese tradtional medicine doctor. I am a healer by heart and wanted to figure out a way for call forwarding my cell phone number to my land line. I just got a new cell phone this year.
I don't want to sound ungrateful, but owning 2 new gadgets a new MacBook with the latest leopord and owning the gadget of the year Samsung i760 from Verizon Wireless, I had to run out to the store and buy 3 books:
* Mac OS X Leopard for dummies
* Mac OS X Leopard Visually People
* How to operate the Samsung i760 from Verizon Wireless

I like to report to you I love my Samsung i760 and I find constantly policing when my Samsung i760 from Verizon Wireless needs to be recharged and my MacBook is a bit too intimating. So one solution I found is why not buy a new Phone in 2 months and have all my cell phone calls forwarded to this phone above, if you are a Canadian cell phone user, it is very easy to forward any cell phone call to your land line.

What I find incredible is that you can take advantage of your cell phone carrier features including free nationwide mobile to mobile minutes and free weekend and night minutes, caller ID, call blocking and night mode. This means I don't have to keep track of my anytime minutes and can call forward my cell phone calls at night and weekends and not get a huge phone bill.

Get a Samsung i760 from Verizon Wireless- you will not regret it

I did not know this, I thought it would be best to leave my MacBook battery in the Macbook, but I talked to some guy called Markus and he warned me against that, he said it is better to let your MacBook run on the fully charged battery and then once it gets really low, plug the MacBook into the adapter and let it charge, you can still work on the MacBook while it is charging. Before getting the laptop and the Samsung i760 phone, I have never owned any mobile device, so it is to say the least overwhelming to keep track of which cell phone or laptop needs charging. For your newbies like me who got new Samsung i760 or other cell phones from your beloved, go ahead and check out this incredible Pansonic headset and have your cell phone calls forwarded to your land line!

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Product Price (Retail $469.99) $299.99
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Instant Discounts -$100.00
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Shipping FREE
Price Today:: only $199.99

Source: www.panasonic.com
Image courtesy of: http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/01/pan02.jpg

GOOGLE PHONE

Google phone to cost $179, debut Oct. 22
Android packs a large touch screen, trackball, and a slide-out keyboard
Mark Lennihan / AP
NEW YORK - The first phone that harnesses Google Inc.'s ambition to make the Internet easy to use on the go was revealed Tuesday, and it looks a lot like an iPhone.

T-Mobile USA showed off the G1, a phone that, like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, has a large touch screen. But it also packs a trackball, a slide-out keyboard and easy access to Google's e-mail and mapping programs.

T-Mobile said it will begin selling the G1 for $179 with a two-year contract. The device hits U.S. stores Oct. 22 and heads to Britain in November and other European countries early next year.

The phone will be sold in T-Mobile stores only in the U.S. cities where the company has rolled out its faster, third-generation wireless data network. By launch, that will be 21 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Miami.

In other areas, people will be able to buy the phone from T-Mobile's Web site. The phone does work on T-Mobile's slower data network, but it's optimized for the faster networks. It can also connect at Wi-Fi hotspots.

The data plan for the phone will cost $25 per month on top of the calling service, at the low end of the range for data plans at U.S. wireless carriers. And at $179, the G1 is $20 less than the least expensive iPhone in the U.S.

Android, the free software powering the G1, is a crucial building block in Google's efforts to make its search engine and other services as accessible on cell phones as they already are on personal computers. The company believes it eventually might make more money selling ads that get shown on mobile devices than on PCs, a channel that will generate about $20 billion in revenue this year.

Both Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. also are investing heavily in the mobile market in hopes of preventing Google from extending the dominance it enjoys in searches initiated on PCs.

In an interview, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Google's aims are broader than mobile advertising.

"Generally, we think if there are great (operating systems) out there that let people have great devices and great applications, people use the Internet on their phones much more," Brin said at the launch event in New York. "And whenever people use the Internet more, they end up using our services, and ultimately, that's good for our business. There's no secret plan to have ads pop up or anything."

Like the iPhone, the G1 has a high-resolution screen, making it easier to browse Web sites that haven't been specifically adapted for a cell phone. Unlike the iPhone, Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerrys and most other high-end smart phones sold in the U.S., the G1 has a very limited ability to connect to corporate e-mail servers. That means the device's initial market is likely to be consumers.

On the face of it, the G1 doesn't do much that other high-end phones don't already do. But Google is counting the device unleashing the creativity of software developers, who are free to write applications for it.

"There aren't a lot of `wow' features on it. I think what we can expect from it is that it's going to be a good Internet phone," said Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine.

Developers will be able to submit applications to an online store run by Google, which will apply minimal vetting.

"The key is going to be what app developers are going to do for it," said Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD Group. "They didn't have a lot to show today."

Apple launched a similar store for the iPhone this year, but keeps much tighter control over what applications are available. It has blocked programs that compete with its own.

The G1 won't connect to Apple's iTunes store, but one of the initial applications will be a music store from Amazon.com Inc., which will let users download songs directly to the phone. In an unusual move for a mobile-phone music store, the songs will have no copy protection.

Brin himself has written an application for the phone.

"It's just very exciting for me as a computer geek to be able to have a phone that I can play with and modify and innovate upon just like I have with computers in the past," he said.

Best 5 cell phones

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(Sep 12, 2008)
Kent German
Senior Editor

You carry your phone almost everywhere, so it's important that you find the model that's right for you and one that works with your carrier. Fortunately, CNET is here to help. We've chosen five handsets that we think are the best cell phones right now in any category. If you'd like to drill deeper, follow the links at the left for our favorite cell phones in several categories. These lists change frequently, so check back often.


Apple iPhone 3G
Just over a year after Apple birthed the first iPhone, the long-awaited, next-generation iPhone 3G has arrived bearing a mildly tweaked design and a load of new features. With access to a faster 3G wireless network, Microsoft exchange server e-mail, and support for a staggering array of third-party software from the iPhone Apps store, the new handset is the iPhone we've been waiting for. It still lacks some basic features but when compared with what the original model was year ago, this device sets a new benchmark for the cell phone world.

Price: Sorry, pricing not available

Filed in: Best MP3 phones, Best video phones , Best AT&T phones


RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320
T-Mobile's Curve has the same sleek design as the original Curve, but it offers a more spacious and easy-to-use keyboard. You also get a 2-megapixel camera, which will endear the 8320 to a wider audience, and we're thinking it'll be a hit. The Curve offers solid performance, a great design, excellent messaging features, and the addition of Wi-Fi is icing on the cake.

Price: Sorry, pricing not available

Filed in: Best smartphones, Best T-Mobile phones


Nokia N95
When it comes to cool Nokia phones, the United States often is left out in the cold while our friends in Europe and Asia get all the goods. Well, it seems Nokia has heard our cries; the company has started selling more of its best handsets in North America. One model in particular has attracted a lot of attention, and that would be the Nokia N95. The demand for this smartphone has been so great that Nokia decided to release a North American Edition of the Nokia N95. For the most part, it's very similar to the original version, but there are some major additions that make it a better buy, namely 3G support, more memory, longer battery life, and faster performance.

Price: $444.99 - $450.00 (check prices)

Filed in: Best smartphones


Samsung Instinct
Though the Instinct and the iPhone look about the same, there are some important feature distinctions. The Instinct offers its own brand of visual voice mail and it bests the first incarnation of the iPhone by offering 3G network compatibility, integrated GPS, and work e-mail support, just to name a few. The new iPhone 3G will be more evenly matched, but even the Instinct gets points for its multimedia messaging, voice dialing and video recording. In the important areas of usability and performance, however, the Instinct struggled on a few fronts. The Web browser wasn't quite as easy to use as we had hoped, the camera lacked editing features, and the Instinct's call and video quality were variable. However, even with those caveats, the Instinct remains a powerful, innovative cell phone with a loaded feature set and an appealing design.

Price: $129.99 - $599.99 (check prices)

Filed in: Best video phones , Best Sprint phones


Sony Ericsson W760i
The Sony Ericsson didn't let us down in the slightest. It first captured our eye at CES 2008 where it was a finalist in the cell phones category for CNET's Best of CES. At the time, we admired its slick design and its laden feature set, which includes a motion sensor, an accelerometer, and support for three UMTS/HSDPA bands. And now, seven months later, we can report that this super world phone offers so much to like that it earned our Editors' Choice Award. If you want a Walkman phone you can't do better.

Price: Sorry, pricing not available

Filed in: Best MP3 phones