Archive for category Nokia
AT&T Launches Senior-Friendly Pantech Breeze II
The Pantech Breeze from 2008 was pretty swell for its easy-to-use features and design. Old fans should be glad to know they’re keeping all that simplicity with the handset’s successor in 2010, the Pantech Breeze II.
Released in the US market by AT&T, the device features a traditional clamshell design, paired with entry-level phone features. Designed with older mobile users in mind, it comes with EZ One-Touch Quick Call Keys, a set of three shortcut buttons right below the display, meant to store numbers for automatic dial with a single press. Other features aimed at senior users include larger than usual keypad keys and a breEZe mode, which changes the interface to display bigger fonts and simpler menus. The menu can also be configured to use the Advanced mode, which converts it to normal-looking fonts and an icon-based menu.
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Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition
This variation of the popular Nokia 5800 Xpress Music edition makes the most of Nokia”s Ovi Maps that was recently re-vamped into a free “forever” app.
The Ovi Maps app features coverage for over 70 countries and combines with the 5800 to maximize its abilities to give you turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation for both driving and walking. Ovi Maps also features free updates, more than 6,000 3D landmarks, free event guides, and free Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides.
As for the hardware, the bright 360x640TFT touchscreen displays the excellent features of the easy-to-read Ovi Maps and features tactile feedback. The 5800 Navi also features 3.5G (3.6 Mbs); Wi-Fi; 3.2 MP camera with video recording, autofocus, and LED flash; 81MB of internal memory; hot-swappable MicroSD slot that can accommodate cards up to 16GB; very respectable battery life of 8.8 hours talk time and 16 days of standby time; and all the music features of the original 5800 Xpress Music edition including dedicated menu button and even respectable built-in stereo speakers.
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Nokia’s N97 mini gets its shipping papers
Right on cue, the smaller-but-just-barely N97 mini is now ready for public consumption over in Europe. Granted, we’re certainly at the tail end of October, but we can’t say that we caught Nokia in a lie or anything based on what was said last month in Stuttgart. You’ve already committed the specifications to memory and read all about firmware 2.0, so now all that’s left to do is run along, fork out €450 ($667) and wonder forever if this decision will positively or negatively change the course of your life.
Pedestrian-Friendly Android Smartphone, Garmin-Asus A10, Announced
Garmin-Asus introduced a new Android smartphone in their navigation-centric roster of handsets. Called the Garmin-Asus A10, it offers a change of pace for the company, integrating software that’s better optimized for pedestrian navigation, rather than the turn-by-turn driving guidance that’s been the focus of their previous releases.
Of course, it has provisions for automobile use too, so it won’t exactly be useless when driving around the city. We’re not exactly sure what it means to be optimized for pedestrians, since they don’t detail it, but we’re guessing it has something to do with public transport integration (bus, tramway, metro and suburban rail systems) on the cityXplorer maps and some of the bundled apps. There’s really little to go on from the press release.
Details of the Garmin-Asus A10 include a 3.2-inch touchscreen (HVGA resolution), a 5.0 megapixel camera module, aGPS (obviously) and a 1,500mAh battery. It gets all the usual Android niceties, of course, from the Google suite of apps to Exchange support to the Webkit-based HTML browser with multi-touch capabilities.
Like all Garmin-Asus phones, it comes with pre-loaded maps, so you don’t need to get lost when going without a cell signal (as you would with the Google Maps Navigation). While “optimized” for pedestrians, it comes with a dashboard mount in the box too. We’re thinking a belt clip (or a wrist mount) would have been more appropriate, though.
The Garmin-Asus A10 is slated for a mid-2010 availability in both Europe and the Asia-Pacific. No word on pricing has been given.
Affordable Candybar Nokia X2 Announced
Nokia just announced a new phone today under the music-centric Xseries line-up. Called the Nokia X2, it boasts some nice-sounding mid-range features, coupled with an affordable price tag.
Since it’s an Xseries device, it comes with dedicated music keys along both sides to go with the 3.5mm headphone jack and onboard dual speakers. It features a conventional but stylish compact body, complete with a T9-style keypad and slim 13mm lines. Build appears to be heavily plastic, but it’s an attractive design.
Details of the X2 include a 2.2-inch TFT display (320 x 240 resolution), a 5.0 megapixel camera module (with video), Bluetooth 2.1, FM tuner and microSD card expansion (up to 16GB). Other notable features include various useful homescreen widgets (e.g. Facebook) and a full messaging suite.
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