It’s been close to two years since I had a new HP iPAQ smartphone in my hands. The last one was the hw6945. Their latest device is the iPAQ 910. This QUAD band GSM phone has a nice collection of features including a QWERTY thumb keyboard, a camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc. But will this loaner unit be one that I will want to buy for myself? Let’s find out…
HP iPAQ 910 Business Messenger Review Read More
The Palm Treo 800w smartphone is Sprint’s latest Treo with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. It’s been designed for business users and operates on the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network, with support for EvDO Rev. A data speeds. It’s also the first Treo with built in WiFi.
Palm Treo 800w Smartphone Review Read More
Landline phones seem to be slowly going the way of the dinosaur now that people are using their mobile phones and VOIP in their place. Companies that manufacture and sell analog phones are adding new features to make their products more enticing and to bridge the analog to digital gap. The ip8300 infoPhone from Vtech is just such a product. It’s an analog phone with a twist. It connects to your Yahoo! account for instant messaging and more…
Vtech ip8300 infoPhone Review Read More
The Sony Ericsson Z520a is a rather simple phone by today’s standards. It doesn’t have a media player, it doesn’t have a good camera, and it doesn’t even come with any games. What it does come with is a fairly easy to use interface, a nice compact size and good battery life. About the only frill you do get is Bluetooth, which is really standard equipment on all but the absolute cheapest phones nowadays. More about all this later.
Sony Ericsson Z520a Mobile Phone Review Read More
Most people that read this site probably know that I’m a big fan of Palm OS and have been using a Treo for what seems like forever. A couple years ago I went through a whole
nightmare ordeal buying a SprintPCS Treo 650 that was hacked to run on the Verizon network. Then I moved to Cingular / AT&T,
got GSM Treo 650 and later a
Treo 680. As for the new
Centro, I haven’t purchased one yet and am not sure that I will. Why? Well, I seem to have found
my way back into the Windows Mobile camp by way of the
Pantech Duo smartphone from AT&T.
Pantech Duo (C810) Windows Mobile 6.0 Smartphone Read More
Every time I decide to buy a new mobile phone, I get excited that it might become my new favorite. I’m really anxious for a new favorite. A phone that has all the features of my current favorite (Treo 680), but with enough new features that takes me to my gadgeteer happy place. If the Treo works for me, why do I want to chuck it for something new? Because I get bored easily and am never satisfied. :o) Will the Nokia E61i transport me to mobile phone nirvana? Let’s see…
Fans of Palm smartphones and PDAs continue to wait as days, weeks, months and years drift by without a major update to their favorite mobile operating system. It’s not far from the truth when I say that the Palm operating system hasn’t changed all THAT much since it’s introduction back in the late 1990’s. It still has the same look and feel, which is both comforting and let’s face it, kinda boring. While the OS side of Palm remains the same, they have offered hardware updates on a semi-regular basis. The latest one in the stores is the Palm Centro. This is a CDMA EvDO smartphone running on the Sprint network. How does Palm’s most affordable (when purchased with a 2yr contract) smartphone stack up? Let’s find out…
Palm Centro Smartphone Review Read More
The HTC TyTn II is the successor to the powerful and popular TyTn Windows Mobile PDA phone (which Julie and I reviewed here last year). While it retains the original’s features, including 3G mobile broadband, WiFi, and a sliding keyboard, it adds new features such as a tiltable display and internal GPS. A customized version of it, called the “Tilt”, has recently been released in the USA by AT&T. Is the TyTn II a worthy successor to the original TyTn? Read on to find out.
HTC TyTn II Windows Mobile 6 Professional Smartphone Read More
I’m sure you’ve all heard of 900MHz and 2.4GHz cordless phone systems. Maybe you’ve even heard of 5.8GHz phones, but have you heard of DECT 6.0 phones? I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of them until VTech asked if I might like to review their model 6042 two handset cordless phone system. I then came to learn that DECT 6.0 is a newly available frequency band (WiFi-friendly 1.9GHz) that provides improved range without needing to boost the power. It also has better protection against eavesdropping, that the older frequency models do not.
VTech 6042 Two Handset Cordless Phone System Read More
I’ve been a fan of Apple products since I purchased my first iPod back in 2003. Yes, I waited until the 3rd generation of the world’s most popular audio player was on the market before I drank the kool-aid. Two years later, I took another gulp of that kool-aid and ditched my Windows PC, for an iMac and haven’t looked back. It did take me 3 tries before I finally made that switch though, as I always found some reason why the Mac OS didn’t quite do it for me. And now, I find myself standing at yet another Apple crossroads in my gadget life. This time, it’s with the world’s most hyped mobile phone: the
Apple iPhone.
It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve not reviewed a
BlackBerry device in over 6 years. The
last device that I reviewed was the
950,
which was an email only device shaped like a pager. Back in 2001, BlackBerry
products did not have telephony capabilities. These devices were for one purpose and one
purpose only: email. Wow, times sure have changed, haven’t they? That’s especially evident with the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 series smartphone. This little beauty sports a quad band GSM radio, a wonderful display and an innovative trackball pointer. Will this phone cause me to put my
Treo 680
and 750
in my
drawer o’ phones, or will it end up there itself? You will have to keep reading
to find the answer.
BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Smartphone Read More
I am simply amazed at how cell phones have evolved from the “portable” bag phone to today’s vast selection of featured laden mobile phones. Built in cameras, music players, text messaging and voice dialing are just some of the options available in mix and match feature laden phones. Add to the mix WiFi and Bluetooth, push email, robust calendar and contact management with Internet access plus a large catalog of third party software makes today’s smartphone a compelling reason to leave the laptop at home.
Samsung SGH-i320 Windows Mobile Smartphone Read More
Are you the type of person that wants a great PDA that happens to also have a good phone built into it? Or would you rather have a great phone that just happens to also function as a good PDA? That’s almost always the question you have to ask yourself when you’re in the market for a smartphone. It seems that no matter which brand of phone/PDA that you look at, you can’t find a device that is both an excellent PDA and an excellent phone. Trade offs, gotta luv em…
HTC TyTN Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Read More
Trying to find my perfect smartphone has been causing me the same frustration as trying to find my perfect gear bag. The quest just never ends because I’ve come to realize that there isn’t any one perfect phone (or gear bag) out there for me. The whole trick is to find one that comes as close as possible. This review is for the Hewlett Packard iPAQ hw6945 Mobile Messenger; a Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC phone. The question is, will it become my new “perfect” smartphone?
HP iPAQ hw6945 Mobile Messenger Read More
As The Gadgeteer, I feel like I am not doing my job if I don’t have the latest and greatest mobile phones in my pocket, but when it comes to my landline phone, it is a 2yr old 2.4GHz boring Panasonic answering machine / handset. Whee… You know me though, I’m always up for trying something new, so when the folks representing Vtech asked if I would like to test some of their phones, I said sure!
VTech mi6879 Expandable Cordless Phone System Read More
Updated with software info…
I’ve been a Palm Treo junkie since March of 2005 when I began my odyssey into the world of smartphones. It was a strange journey that began with a Sprint Treo 650 that had been hacked to work on the Verizon network. Then I switched carriers from Verizon to Cingular and purchased an unlocked 650, which I’ve been using as my main device ever since. In the past year, I have seen Palm release the 700p and 700w for non-GSM carriers.
Palm Treo 750v Windows Mobile Smartphone Read More
The first time I saw pictures of the Nokia N80 back when it was
announced, I was thrilled. As soon as I saw the laundry list of
features, I knew I had to have it! I already had a Treo 650 with
Sprint, but the software was sometimes buggy and Sprint worked
poorly at my house. In the middle of July, I got a chance to leave
my Sprint contract without the termination fee, so I immediately
opened an account with T-Mobile and ordered a new N80 from
eBay.
Nokia N80 Smartphone Read More
Over a year and a half ago in December 2004, the much anticipated Treo 650 smartphone arrived on the market. This first model was a CDMA version from Sprint, but several months later a GSM version and then a version from Verizon also became available. Since its release, the 650 has become the most popular smartphone (combination PDA / mobile phone) device on the market. Time has not stood still for Palm. Their latest smartphone is the 700p. Should 650 owners pony up to buy this upgraded model, or should they keep their cash and wait for something with more revolutionary features, instead of evolutionary?
Palm Treo 700p Smartphone Read More
Early last year, when the first rumors began to swirl that HTC would be introducing a Pocket PC Phone Edition made with the mini-laptop form factor of the CLIÉ UX50 and Zaurus SL-C3100, my interest was immediately piqued. After all, I had long been bemoaning the fact that as of yet there were no similarly
HTC Universal Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Read More
The smartphone designers at HTC recently introduced their fourth-generation product, code-named “Tornado” and running the latest Windows Mobile operating system. Like previous generations, the Tornado is (or at least will be) available under many different brand names including those of major wireless carriers; i-mate is among the first to offer it for consumer purchase. i-mate