If pocket bulging smartphones aren’t your style, how about an unlocked GSM phone that you can wear on your wrist. You know you’ve always wanted to be a secret agent. Now you can… sorta. At least you’ll look the part with the Kempler & Strauss W Phonewatch. We’ve seen wrist phones before, but this one appears to have all the right features. First of all it has a 1.5-inch color LCD touchscreen that doesn’t require a stylus. It has Bluetooth v2.0, built in camera for snapshots and video capture. It also has a built in MP3 player, phone book, games and an SMS app. The W Phonewatch ships with a wearable Bluetooth Communicator headset and is priced at $199.

Filed in categories: News, Watches and Clocks

Tagged: GSM, Spotlight Gadgets, Watch

Your Wrist is Ringing – Kempler & Strauss W Phonewatch originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 7, 2010 at 8:49 am.

The Possio GRETA 6-in-1 lets you turn any location into your mobile office. This device is a portable GSM phone, fax, scanner and copier. The thermal printer can print incoming SMS messages. There are two versions with a triband GSM radio. The European version uses 900/1800/1900Mhz, while the US version uses 850/1800/1900. It looks like the Possio GRETA is only available right now for our UK friends from Xomobo for £628.63 Incl. VAT or £535.00 Excl. VAT.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, News

Tagged: Fax, GSM, Printer, Spotlight Gadgets

Fax anywhere with the Possio GRETA 6-in-1 portable GSM device originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 19, 2010 at 3:32 pm.

The latest smartphone to show up on my doorstep is the Pantech Matrix Pro (C820). It’s been a year since I reviewed the Pantech Duo (C810), which I enjoyed despite some faults. Today Judie of Gear Diary and I are going to give you our impressions of the latest model of this phone in a dual review. My comments are in blue italics, Judie’s are in Black.

Julie and I have been using the AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro for a while, and it is time to share our experiences with this Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Edition smartphone. This review will be appearing on Gear Diary and The Gadgeteer; before reading further, you might want to start with my First Impressions of the AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro.

The Pantech Matrix Pro is a chunky little brick measuring 4.17″ tall x 2.0″ wide x 0.85″ thick and 5.34 ounces, but I have to say that it is so nicely curved and solidly built that I never felt its size to be a problem.

Me neither. The size is almost perfect for me. I can easily hold it in my hand (I don’t do belt clips…) while I walk around at my day job. If I don’t want to carry it, it isn’t difficult to stow it in my jeans pocket. It is a bit thick, but it has two keyboards – so I can overlook that.

Technical Specifications

Operating system: Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard
Internal Memory: 256MB
Expandable Memory: Supports up to 32GB microSD™ card
Display: 2.4″ 260K TFT (240×320 pixels)
Camera: 2.0 megapixels with digital 4x zoom
Connectivity: GPRS/EDGE quad-band, UMTS/HSDPA tri-band (850/1900/2100MHz), Bluetooth 2.0 and EDR, USB 2.0 HS
Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, RealAudio®
Video: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, RealMedia, Windows Media,® 15 fps QCIF, MobiTV, Cellular Video, Video Sharing
Battery: Rechargeable Li-Ion: 1320 mAh; Talk time: Up to 6 hours; Standby time: Up to 12 days

I’ll admit that when I first got it, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. Unlike Julie, I thought that the original Pantech Duo was gimmicky, underpowered, ugly, and cheap…and I didn’t expect this one be much different. How’s that for bias going into a review?

Awwww, I liked it! It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination and I had issues with it, but I really liked the form factor. I just went back and re-read my closing paragraph and in there, I said I hoped Pantech would come out with a better version. My wish was granted. But is it better?

Julie can tell you that I dragged my feet even opening the box. When I finally did open it, I felt a twinge of guilt for how prejudiced I had been. Don’t get me wrong: the Matrix Pro is far from perfect, and for various reasons it is not what I would necessarily label a “Pro” device, but it turned out to be a very good smartphone which should appeal to heavy texters and those who appreciate the wide variety of programs available on the Windows Mobile Standard platform, but who don’t necessarily want to pay an arm and leg for the experience.

Right, the “Pro” descriptor for this phone is definitely a bit of a mis-nomer. It’s missing some key features in order to earn that designation.

As I mentioned in my first impressions post, the Matrix Pro has an attractive form factor; its buttons and other controls are nicely laid out and with the exception of the fake scroll wheel, everything works exactly as expected. Perhaps my greatest complaint about the Pro’s appearance is the use of all that awful shiny plastic. I am trying to remember who it was that told me that shiny surfaces are considered “posh” on mobile phones in Asia, but honestly? I hate them. If I thought I was compulsive about rubbing the HTC S740‘s shiny face, I can tell you that the Matrix Pro made me totally OCD. Not only is its face shiny, so are its sides and back. “Fingerprint magnet” does not even begin to describe this thing – it is a fingerprint and face grease wasteland. I realize this isn’t a big deal to everyone, but it annoys the heck out of me.

I agree with you there. Heck, on occasion, I’ve even used it as a mirror to check my hair! That said, after the initial shiny shock, I have really not noticed it being any more fingerprinty than my iPhone. Polishing it on my jeans has become an absentminded habit.

Other than my obvious negative fixation with the device’s shininess, I have very few real complaints. I expected to think it was too fat, but it isn’t. The Matrix Pro fits very nicely in my hand, and the weight is appropriate , in fact I think that the weight makes the device feel more expensive than it really is. The rounded shape is caressable – and it begs to be held.

I think it has a good balance and is comfortable to hold and use. It doesn’t feel cheap or fragile and does not exhibit any creaking or cracking when squeezed.

I really like the way that Pantech tried to keep the shape of the device streamlined by putting covers over the microSD slot and the sync/charge port…but oh man. More on the sync/charge port cover in a moment.

Hehehe… I hate covers over sync ports too. Grrrrrr…

I know that among hardcore mobility people, the non-standard and proprietary sync/charge cable is going to cause some rolled eyes. “Not another cable to carry…revolt!”

Yeah, I feel the same way, but I also look at it like this: the average consumer who buys LGs, Nokias and certain other phones (smartphones as well as dumb) is used to having to carry a separate charging cable when they travel – assuming they even do that much of it. For them, this will be par for the course; I bet they won’t even give it a second thought.

We aren’t average though, so we can complain about it I hate the cable. Why didn’t Pantech use a mini or micro USB cable instead? Why oh why do designers pick proprietary connectors over more popular (probably even cheaper) choices?

I mentioned before that I didn’t like the sync/charge port cover of doom, and in the end I did wind up ripping it off.

It does not bother me at all that the port is now exposed – instead I have immediate and easy access to a slot that I need to plug into at least every couple of days.

Port cover of doom? Ha! It’s not THAT bad Ok, it annoys me too. But, the proprietary cable annoys me more. I’ll gladly not complain about the port cover if we could have a micro USB connector behind it.

Agreed!

The 2 megapixel camera takes fairly decent pictures, but yeah, I am still hitting the Voice Recorder button when I have the Matrix Pro turned on its side.

Me too! What a lousy decision to place those buttons directly across from one another. Also the shutter button isn’t the easiest to press all the way down. It makes taking a picture a little difficult at times. And then there’s the even more annoying fact that you can’t see a #$@% thing on the display when you’re outdoors – even on an overcast day.

The camera actually doesn’t do that bad of a job. Even the macro shots are readable. Of course I wish there was a built in flash. You can click on the thumbnails to see the full-size images.

The 1320 mAh battery has proven to be quite robust during my testing. I could easily get through a day of regular use without needing a charge – even with several calls, heavy email pulling, light GPS usage and a bit of surfing. When on standby without much activity, the phone could last for several days without losing much juice. Perhaps the lack of WiFi (as in, one less battery draining radio to leave on and suck the life out of the device) contributed to my good results, but since I don’t usually use WiFi all that much anyway, who is to say?

I also had very good results with battery life while using this phone. I typically need to charge it every 3rd day when I’m only making calls and texting. Throw in some browsing, picture taking and game playing, and I’ll charge it every other day.

Is the Matrix Pro perfect? Of course not. It comes loaded with AT&T bloatware (Cellular Video, AT&T Music, MEdia Net, MEdia Mall [no, those aren't typos], AT&T GPS, AT&T Navigator, Shop Music, etc.), and while you can obviously add WM programs to the phone, for some it is as locked down as Fort Knox. For instance, if you don’t want AT&T’s preloaded programs, you can’t delete them. But even worse: Twitter addicts will have to update though the web – the excellent WM application PocketTwit can’t be installed without hacking. Another program I couldn’t install was Google Mobile Apps, though I was able to easily install Google Maps…go figure. Google Mobile Apps and PockeTwit both return an error stating that the applications can’t be installed because they “lack sufficient system permissions.” Gah! FAIL.

I ran into the same issues Google Mobile Apps although I was able to install GMail and mobile Sync. I really like Google’s mobile sync now that I’m doing the cloud thing. No more worries about 3rd party sync apps for my Mac. Yay!

On the other hand, the Matrix Pro is an excellent and largely rock solid device for anyone who likes Windows Mobile Standard, who doesn’t need a touchscreen, who doesn’t mind the proprietary sync/charge cable, and who doesn’t expect to see a 3.5mm headset jack on their phone.

And who doesn’t mind not having WiFi. Although if you think about it, people probably use WiFi mostly for browsing the web on their mobile device. I don’t know about all of you, but I’m not going to want to do very much browsing on a tiny display like the one on the Matrix Pro. So I suppose the lack of WiFi isn’t a deal breaker (for me).

The QWERTY keyboard on the Matrix Pro is very easy to thumb info onto; heavy texters will definitely appreciate it. As a matter of fact, I showed the phone to Sarah and was immediately informed she wanted one. Bear in mind that my 19 year old is a rabid texter (as I have mentioned numerous times), and she has been “making do” ever since killing her Treo 500v (also a WM Standard device) with a Nokia dumbphone that I got from AT&T when I added a line. That’ll teach her.

The dual keyboard is what attracted me to the Pantech Duo and now the Matrix Pro. The top of the phone slides to the right with a very satisfying kerchunk sound (yes, that’s a technical term). The sliding mechanism is spring assisted and is very easy to use.

I found the keyboard to be very comfortable to type on once I got used to the slightly odd layout, with the spacebar situated between the V and B keys. I do a fair amount of texting during the day, and this is the first phone in awhile that I enjoy texting on.

I do not like the keypad though. Not that I use it very often, but I have never been a fan of the Razr style flat keyboard.

I have enjoyed using this phone quite a bit. I think I’m more sold on the form factor and sliding dual keyboard design first and foremost though. Once I get past those features, I find myself wishing it had a better display (one that would allow me to view it outdoors) and a camera with higher resolution and a flash. I will say what said at the end of my Duo review… that I hope Pantech comes out with an even better version in the future. Hey, they listened last time

It would be really easy for me to rag on the Matrix Pro for not being more of a “power user” phone, but if I keep myself from falling into “phone snob” mode, I can admit that it doesn’t have to be. This is a good device – both in specifications and in price – for anyone who wants a smartphone operating system combined with a form factor made for heavy texters.

The Pantech Matrix Pro is available from AT&T.

Filed in categories: Windows Mobile related

Tagged: AT&T, GSM, Pantech, Windows Mobile

AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro (C820) Smartphone Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 27, 2009 at 4:12 pm.

Once I had completed my week with the Blackberry Storm, I asked everyone for some advice on which phone they thought I should choose for my next review. After a few days, the overwhelming choice was the Android G1 Smartphone otherwise known as the Google phone. I’m going to try it out for the next 7 days and let you know my experiences.

The G1 was originally released by T-mobile and locked to their network. Since I’m an AT&T customer and we don’t even have T-mobile coverage in my area, I figured I’d have to wait until unlocked versions of this phone showed up on eBay before I’d be able to get my hands on one.

But now it’s even easier to get an unlocked G1… You just sign up as a developer at the Android Market. Don’t worry, you don’t have to prove that you can write a Hello World program in C++ or anything like that. You just login, sign-up, pay the $25 registration fee and presto, you’re a bona fide G1 developer.  Then you can immediately buy a totally unlocked G1 for $399, which is just what I did.

Day Zero – Hardware Tour

I haven’t included a picture of the box because it’s a totally unbranded, White box. Not exactly exciting…

Specifications

Processor: Qualcomm MSM7201A, 528 MHz
Operating System: Android
Memory: ROM: 256 MB, RAM: 92 MB
Dimensions: (LxWxT) 117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm (4.60 in x 2.16 in x 0.62 in)
Weight: 158 grams (5.60 ounces) with battery
Display: 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 320 x 480 (HVGA) resolution
Network:
HSPA/WCDMA: Europe: 2100 MHz, US:1700/2100 MHz
Up to 7.2 Mbps down-link (HSDPA) and 2 Mbps up-link (HSUPA) speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g
Camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Audio: Built-in microphone and speaker
Ring tone formats: AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, MIDI, MP3, WMA, WMV
40 polyphonic and standard MIDI format 0 and 1 (SMF)/SP MIDI
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery 1150 mAh
Talk time: Up to 350 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 406 minutes for GSM
Standby time: Up to 402 hours for WCDMA, Up to 319 hours for GSM
Expansion Slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A

Package Contents

G1 Phone
Battery
USB Cable
AC Adapter (not shown)
Earbuds / microphone with earbud covers
Setup Guide

You might be wondering how the developer’s version of the G1 differs from the T-mobile consumer version. For one thing, it has a special bootloader that developers will appreciate. Me, I’m not a developer, so I care not. The obvious difference is the color. The dev phone is dark gray, while the T-mobile G1 is available in Black, White and Bronze. There are some software differences that I’ll get to later on in this series.

When you look at the G1, the words sexy, flashy, chic and cool probably do not pop in your head. This phone is about as far from sexy as a phone can be. It looks like it would be right at home in a soldier’s hand given the military-esqe design it seems to ooze.

The case is plastic, with a matte finish. The front has the 3.2 inch touchscreen display, with a panel of buttons below it.

There is a Menu button at the top, a roller ball in the center and two buttons on either side. The menu button will bring up a menu for whatever application / screen that you happen to be on. The roller ball is a slightly springy hard trackball like cursor mechanism. You can roll it continuously and also press it as a select. The buttons on either side of the roller ball are hard flat back lit buttons. Pressing all the buttons except the roller ball will wake up the phone when it is in standby.

The back of the dev phone has a wild design printed on it along with the little Android mascot. This back cover can be removed (takes some practice) to get to the battery and SIM slot. The cover is made of flexible plastic and feels like it has a very thin layer of grippy rubber on it.

Just to give you a idea of the size of the G1, here we have it next to the original iPhone. The G1 is a bit narrower…

But definitely thicker.

The G1 has an interesting shape. It has a ‘chin’ at the bottom edge. On the Left side there is a slightly raised one piece volume control button.

On the opposite side towards the ‘chin’ is a small camera launch / shutter button. This button is a little awkward to press and doesn’t have very good tactile feedback.

If you take a look at the bottom edge of the G1, you’ll see the microphone and the mini USB connector cover.

The cover is tethered to the phone by a short length of plastic. One annoying thing that I need to mention is that the G1 does not have an earphone jack. The included earphones / mic use the USB connector. Bleh! I hate it when devices don’t have standard ports.

The G1′s screen slides sideways to reveal a backlit QWERTY keyboard.

The sliding mechanism feels pretty robust. It slides open and closed with a strong click.

Click thumbnails to see full size images

The keys are hard plastic and have a matte finish that makes it easy to see the silkscreened letters in almost any light. Even though the keys are small and very flat, I haven’t had any problems typing as they have good tactile feedback.

The microSD slot is hidden in the bottom right corner of the ‘chin’. You have to slide the keyboard open in order to open the slot. Included with the phone is a 1GB card.

In hand, the Android G1 feels solid (like a tank). It doesn’t rattle when you shake it and passes the gadgeteer squeeze test if you don’t count the slight sliding of the screen. Holding the phone to make calls feels pretty comfortable.

You can slide the screen sideways to access the keyboard with one hand. But to type and access the other buttons with the keyboard exposed is pretty difficult. The G1 isn’t a good one-handed phone in that respect. In my opinion, some of the best one handed phones are the Palm Treos and the Centro.  I guess that’s why I continue to go back to them.

That’s it for the hardware tour. I’ll be back with my Day 1 and 2 impressions, which will include:

• Moving my calendar and contact info from my Mac to the fluffy Google cloud
• First impressions of the user interface
• Using the keyboard

Filed in categories: Android related

Tagged: Android, G1, Google, GSM

A Week with the Android G1 Smartphone originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 23, 2009 at 9:56 pm.

Ok guys, I need your help! I need (ok, I want…) a new phone, but I don’t know which one to choose. I’m going to list a few that look interesting to me and I’d appreciate some feedback.

My criteria for phone picks are that they are unlocked GSM phones with the 850mhz band, $500 or less and that they aren’t boring

Samsung M8800 Pixon – Touch screen phone with 8MP camera. I’ve not played with a Samsung phone in ages…

Nokia E63 – People have suggested this one to me before and look at all the buttons!

T-mobile / HTC G1 Google Phone – I’ve been curious about this one since it was released. Might be time to take a close look now that I can buy one that’s unlocked.

Sony Ericsson C905 – Not sure why I picked this one… 8MP camera looks nice.

Ok, that’s a few that I’ve been thinking about. Do you guys have others that you think I’d enjoy using and reviewing? Let me know, leave some comments!

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Gear Diary, GSM, Phone

Help me pick my next phone to review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 16, 2009 at 11:28 am.