Posts Tagged ‘Smartphone’

  • 04 Jul

    Posted by
    joesonic


    Category

    First Sony Ericsson Android Phone – XPERIA Codename: Rachael

    0

    Currently rumors of the first Android based handset of Sony Ericsson can be found on several Internet news portals. The danish phone site Mobile invoke on internal documents of Sony Ericsson, which describe an upcoming XPERIA handset codenamed Rachael. Fist details of the specifications include:

    • 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
    • HSPA
    • 8 megapixel camera
    • 3.5mm headphone jack
    • big touchscreen (somewhere between 3.75″ and 4″)

    Until now there are no official facts of the smart-phone available. It is unclear if the phone will have a capacitive touch screen or if Sony will have its own special UI on top of Android like HTC is doing. There are no information about the measurements and size of the phone. Furthermore it doesn’t seem to include a slide-out keyboard (because of the thin chassis).

    xperia-rachael-android-1(copyright: mobile)

    The phone also includes few buttons on the front which is unusual for Android phones. Current HTC Android phones have at least a home button, back button, pick up, end call, and some sort of navigation input like a dpad or trackball.

    It can be assumed that the phone will not available very soon (maybe during 2010). Previously SonyEricsson stated that they would skip Android 1.5 and wait for version 2.0 before releasing their first handset. One of the features that are supposedly added to Android 2.0 is WVGA (800×480 or 854×480) support. So this phone could be the first with WVGA resolution.

    [via Engadget]

  • 01 Mar

    Posted by
    joesonic


    Category

    First real Navigation Software for the iPhone

    0

    One of the most requested applications in Apples AppStore is an navigation software, like TomTom or Garmin for Apples Smartphone. Even-though the iPhone 3G has integrated A-GPS no such navigation software is available, due to the restricting policy of Apple. In the early days of the iPhone TomTom has announced to develop an navigation software for the iPhone, but until now it has not found its way to the user. In the area of Maps and GPS Apple has a strong Partnership with Google and provides spatial information via Google Maps.

    Meanwhile there are several applications which are close to a real Navigationsoftware by displaying a route and visualising maneovers. The first language driven turn-by-turn navigation software is xGPS and will be available at 02.03.2009. This software is a freeware and won`t be distributed over the AppStore but via Cydia for jailbroken iPhones 3g and iPhones 2G or iPod with external GPS module.

    In this version maps can be downloaded directly on the phone but need an huge amount of memory, because they are Google maps raster data. In version 2 it is announced to use vector data, which will reduce the needed memory dramatically. As alternative map material can be loaded dynamically via the network.

    Software: xGPS

    xGPS Roadmap

    [via Computerbase]

  • 04 Feb

    Posted by
    joesonic


    Category

    Toshiba’s TG01 touchscreen smartphone with 1 Ghz CPU

    0

    Toshiba has launched a new Windows Mobile smartphone, called TG01. The computer company is the fist one using a 1GHz processor in a smartphone, and represents a new performance leap for smartphones. The phone uses the Snapdragon processor by Qualcomm. That is an ARM-based CPU working with 1 GHz.

    1233761074

    The size of the touchscreen is 4,1 inch with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixel. Also the screen is an improvement in comparison with the iPhone which has a 3,5 inch display and a resolution of 480 x 320 and an ARM-processor with 620 Mhz.

    For the communication the TG01 supports WLAN, UMTS (3G), HSDPA and Bluetooth. The phone has an integrated camera with 3,2 Megapixel and a build-in GPS-receiver. The capacity of the internal memory is 512 Megabyte and can be expanded via a MicroSD card up to 32 Gigabyte. The phone is 9,9 Millimeter thin.

    Toshiba uses Windows Mobile 6.1 as operating system which was customized with in user interface called “Strike Menu”. The phone will be available in markets in Summer. The price will be announced.

  • 02 Dec

    Posted by
    joesonic


    Category

    Nokia N97 a new LBS phone…

    1

    The new Nokia N97 Symbian smartphone combines a touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, GPS and 32 GByte memory. It connects to the internet with HSDPA or WiFi. With Nokia Maps it is possible to find your contacts near your actual location and the GUI can be customized using widgets.

    The touch screen in the N97 has a 3.5 inch screen diagonal and displays up to 16 million colors at a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. If you touch the screen, there is feedback through vibration, which should simplify the operations. According to the position of the phone the visualisation is in landscape or portrait mode. A sliding QWERTY keyboard allows easy text entry, although the display is slanted so that it is good to see.

    The N97 is the first device from Nokia, which offeres the function of “social site”. For this function the integrated GPS receiver is used. The function “social location” is connected with the software Nokia Maps and displays the location of friends and acquaintances on the map in real time. Of course friends have to activate this feature first. The data arrives over a cellular connection on the device, so that a matching data plan should be posted. It is also possible to share photos or videos, with this new feature.

    As you already know from other Nokia smartphones, the newcomer is equipped with Nokia Maps and there is a compass function to orient yourself. As a further innovation in Nokia Maps there is an electronic guide containing information about known buildings. This requires that the user photograph the object. The image is then detected by a server that provides buidling caracteristics. A photo of a movie poster for example, brings a trailer of the film and shows how the film runs movie theaters. The map software can be used free of charge, the full navigation functions can be used additional by paying a fee.

    The 5-megapixel camera in 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm measured N97 has a Carl Zeiss lens. For a darker environment a dual LED light will be activated. The camera can record videos with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels at up to 30 frames per second. The integrated media player plays music in formats like MP3, WMA, AAC, eAAC and eAAC and video files of type MPEG4, WMV, Real Video and Flash. The N97 includes 32 GByte of internal memory and provides a slot for Micro SD cards as well.

    The UMTS mobile phone operates in GSM networks 850, 900, 1,800 and 1,900 MHz and supports GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA. Wireless technologies like WLAN 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 are on board. The smartphone is equipped Symbian S60′5th Edition, which is designed  for touch-screen interactions.

    Battery time: 5 hours UMTS/talk, 6.5 hours GSM/talk, 1 week standby and 37 hours of music playback. The Nokia N97 will be available in the first half of 2009 at a price of approximately 660 euros.

    [via golem.de]

  • 23 Jun

    Posted by
    joesonic


    Category

    Best Phones for Location Based Services

    2

    What are the best mobiles for LBS? To answer this questions I have taken four phones from different manufactures and compared them. In my opinion following issues are important if you want to use a mobile for LBS applications:

    • buid-in GPS
    • large screen size and resolution
    • fast internet connection
    • good usability and operating system which allows to design own applciation easily
    • battery life
    • prize

    Maybe there are some more criteria to rate phones for their LBS suitability.

    Phones

    HTC P3700

    Nokia N96

    Iphone 3G

    SE Xpedia
    buid-in GPS A-GPS

    		 A-GPS

    		 A-GPS

    		 A-GPS
    Screen Size 2.8″, 640×480

    		 2.8″, 240×320

    		 3.5″, 480×320

    		 3.0″, 800×480
    Internet. Conn. GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA/HSUDA

    		 GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA

    		 EDGE/HSDPA

    		 GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA/HSUDA
    Prize (EUR) 485

    		 TBA TBA TBA
    Size 102×51x11.5

    		 103×55x20

    		 115×62x12.3

    		 110×53x17
    Batery (sp/by) 270min/385h

    		 150min/200h

    		 300min/300h

    		 TBA
    OS / HCI
    		 Windows Mobile 6.1

    		 Symbian S60

    		 MacOS X

    		 Windows Mobile 6.1
    Ranking

    2

    4

    1

    2

    I know this is a very limited evaluation. But for this four phones my winner is the iPhone 3G because of the great suitability and the mobile MacOS X SDK.

    Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.

  • 09 Jun

    Posted by
    joesonic


    Category

    New iPhone with GPS is here

    0

    Steve Jobs is currently talking about the new iPhone at WWDC 2008 in San Francisco. It will have 3G and built in GPS.

    Written and submitted from Home, using my 802.11g WiFi network.