Day: June 16, 2006

“HTC StarTrek available for middle east.With its super slim clamshell exterior, full colour dual screens, etched metallic look flat keypad and luminescent backlight for easy navigation, the i-mate Smartflip is a chic and elegant smartphone. However, packed into its feather-light 99g packaging is a multitude of functionalities that mark it as a highly functional device worthy of the imate brand.The EDGE-enabled i-mate Smartflip runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 with all the familiar applications similar to those on your desktop. This includes Microsoft Direct Push technology which provides up to the minute access to your Outlook email, calendar, contacts, and tasks. The addition of a range of ClearVue document viewers including Word, Excel, PDF & Powerpoint makes this stylish device a complete package for those doing business on the run. Bluetooth compatible, the i-mate Smartflip also features Hotmail, MSN Messenger, Internet Explorer Mobile and Windows Media Player Mobile, while an in-built 1.3 Megapixel camera, camcorder, MP3 player and interactive gaming add to its attractions as a mobile source of entertainment. The new i-mate Smartflip is available now across the Middle East at a recommended retail price of AED 1899. The technology at a glance:
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 including Microsoft Direct Push email
GPRS/EDGE
Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900
Memory 64MB ROM/ 64MB RAM
Bluetooth Compatible
microSD Memory Expansion
64k Colour Transflective LCD
1.3 Megapixel Built in Camera” via slashphone.com

“The appearance of the phone isn’t something very original, as it features candy-bar curves and edges, with the keypad occupying nearly a half of the front panel. The buttons themselves are flat and bulky in size, so that you won’t experience difficulties with speedy typing of SMS or dialing a number. On top of that all keys are separated out with 0.5 mm wide slits and stick out from the casing by 0.5 mm, thus you can work with them blindfolded, basing on your tactile feelings only.Despite this model adopting the same thin keypad pate as LG P7200, click reaction speed here is much better. The navigation pad is a rectangle-shaped button with concentric circles, retaining Accept button which doubles as dedicated main menu button. The pad itself feels nicely, although the OK key is far away from being convenient to use – sometimes I was forced to press it with my fingernail. All keys are lit in white; the backlighting level provides required level for working in a dark room and, what is more, matches the black trim of the casing.” Find out more at mobile-review.com

“Four large mobile phone vendors, together with two major wireless operators, will create an open Linux implementation for mobile phones. Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone say their Linux implementation will provide a global standard, and prevent the “fragmentation” of mobile phone Linux. Most of the companies involved already have considerable experience implementing Linux for mobile phones. NEC and Panasonic have long collaborated on a Linux implementation for 3G Linux phones sold by NTT DoCoMo. DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile phone company, adopted Linux for 3G phones in late 2003. Motorola, meanwhile, was among the first phone vendors to add Linux to its strategic roadmap, and it has since shipped about a dozen Linux-based phone models.The companies plan to create an “independent foundation,” as yet unnamed. The foundation will develop and market an open Linux implementation, including an API specification, architecture, and source code-based reference implementations of components and tools. It will also publish specifications for referenced third party software, along with test suites aimed at helping adopters assess and demonstrate product conformance to the platform specification.” Read more at linuxdevices.com