Posts Tagged computing
Gibson iPhone App Bundles Useful Tools For Novices And More
Aspiring guitar players can now get a new free Gibson app on their iPhone. No, it won’t turn your handset into a Les Paul as other apps are inclined to do. Instead, it just bundles a number of free tools that six-string instrumentalists of all levels may find of value.
It comes with five different sections – tuner, metronome, chords, lessons and Gibson.com. The tuner is a chromatic software that can track whatever note you’re currently playing (which it receives via your iPhone’s mic) and indicates whether you’re flat, sharp or in tune. It starts in “All Notes” mode, but gives options to allow for alternate tunings. Very useful, especially if you’ve got a bad ear for sound.
The metronome is just a regular metronome app, which allows you to choose a specific BPM rate. Tapping the screen three times will adjust the tempo according to your speed. The chord area, on the other hand, gives you access to 30 chord charts, a great resource if you need help figuring out which finger goes where on the fretboard.
Need guitar lessons? The app comes with very useful ones, drawn off the award-winning Learn and Master series from Legacy Learning Systems. It comes with a variety of instructions for new licks, riffs and sequences – a definite value for new and struggling players. Gibson also promises plenty of updates for this section, with more video lessons slated to come. Finally, Gibson.com is the app’s news area, where they list Gibson-related products and special events.
Overall, the free Gibson app is a definite download if you’re at all planning to learn the guitar. Even intermediate and slightly more advanced players might find it of value, too.
Nokia 5230 Nuron Announced For T-Mobile USA
Nokia has announced a new phone for T-Mobile USA, the first carrier-supported handset from the manufacturer to come with free voice-guided navigation (via Ovi Maps 3.0) in the States. Called the Nokia 5230 Nuron, the device will be a full-fledged touchscreen smartphone running Symbian S60.
With the GPS feature as its biggest selling point, the handset will come preloaded with maps of the US, Canada and Mexico, along with easy download access to 180 other maps via the Ovi service and the Lonely Planet guides. It will also come preinstalled with the Ovi Store app, which gives users access to Nokia’s application and content storefront.
The Nokia 5230 Nuron doesn’t veer away from its European version, featuring a 3.2-inch touchscreen (with 360 x 640 resolution), a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 3.5mm audio jack, stereo Bluetooth and microSD card expansion. It boasts fast HTML browsing via 3G and full messaging support (including IM and corporate mail), apart from the usual niceties offered by Symbian S60.
No official pricing has been given, with availability vaguely stated for “the coming weeks.” According to rumors, though, T-Mobile might be offering the Nuron for as low as $69.99 on contract, which is a huge value, especially with free GPS software and a full smartphone OS in tow.
Nokia 5230 Nuron Announced For T-Mobile USA
Nokia has announced a new phone for T-Mobile USA, the first carrier-supported handset from the manufacturer to come with free voice-guided navigation (via Ovi Maps 3.0) in the States. Called the Nokia 5230 Nuron, the device will be a full-fledged touchscreen smartphone running Symbian S60.
With the GPS feature as its biggest selling point, the handset will come preloaded with maps of the US, Canada and Mexico, along with easy download access to 180 other maps via the Ovi service and the Lonely Planet guides. It will also come preinstalled with the Ovi Store app, which gives users access to Nokia’s application and content storefront.
The Nokia 5230 Nuron doesn’t veer away from its European version, featuring a 3.2-inch touchscreen (with 360 x 640 resolution), a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 3.5mm audio jack, stereo Bluetooth and microSD card expansion. It boasts fast HTML browsing via 3G and full messaging support (including IM and corporate mail), apart from the usual niceties offered by Symbian S60.
No official pricing has been given, with availability vaguely stated for “the coming weeks.” According to rumors, though, T-Mobile might be offering the Nuron for as low as $69.99 on contract, which is a huge value, especially with free GPS software and a full smartphone OS in tow.
Nokia C5 Announced, Puts Smartphone On A Candybar Frame
Nokia just put an official stamp on the new Cseries, with the first phone rolling out of the gate being the Nokia C5. Unlike most new smartphones, there’s no touchscreen and no QWERTY keypad here – just a regular candybar with a T9 keyboard layout.
At first glance, it looks nothing more than one of the Finnish manufacturer’s seemingly-endless inventory of basic feature phones. Begin using it, though, and you’ll be surprised to find that it’s running Symbian S60 3rd Edition. Yep, it’s a full-fledged smartphone for people who prefer a more traditional aesthetic.
Details of the C5 include a 2.2-inch LCD with QVGA resolution, a 3.2 megapixel camera module (with autofocus), aGPS (with Ovi Maps 3.0), a 3.5 mm audio jack, microSD card expansion (up to 16GB), stereo speakers and an FM radio. It comes with HSDPA connectivity, but drops WiFi.
Since it keeps the hardware simple, the device has managed to remain both slim at 12.3mm and light at only 89 grams. It’s looks like one sturdy piece of work, too, with a body built out of mostly steel parts. Battery life is very generous, as well, with a rated talk time of 12 hours. Other features include Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and a new phonebook with Facebook integration.
Along with the release, Nokia has announced a new naming convention for their phone models – one letter and one number. The letter will indicate the type of phone (music-centric, camera-centric, etc.) while the number will refer to the market class it’s aimed at. Sounds like a long overdue change.
Intended as an entry-level smartphone, the Nokia C5 will be available for €135 (minus tax and subsidies). Release is slated for the second quarter of the year.
Motorola Backflip Offers Unique Design, Great Music And Performance Issues
Sometimes, a unique design may be all you need to sell a new handset. That could be what they’re banking on with the Motorola Backflip, a smartphone with various physical innovations that you might find enticing (or retarded, whichever the case may be).
Physically, the unique flip design definitely makes it a noteworthy device. While it looks like the Motorola Cliq at first glance, look closer and you’ll see the huge differences. When closed, the keyboard sits in the back of the phone, such that it flips open to the bottom of the horizontal 3.1-inch display. Sure, it’s a novel way to implement a clamshell for a touchscreen device, but the fact that your keys are exposed 100% of the time definitely doesn’t inspire confidence. They also added trackpads behind the display, which are supposed to allow you to navigate the UI without your hands getting in the way. It works well, although, it’s hard to see a real need for it.
As a phone, the Backflip manages average call quality. It was good on our end, although callers sometimes reported issues on theirs. We’re not sure if it was their phone or ours causing it, however. The speakerphone was excellent, definitely better than average. Battery is rated at 6 hours, which should be good for at least two days of normal use.
Positioned as more of an entry-level smartphone, it’s equipped with a rather underpowered 528MHz Qualcomm processor. It only runs Android 1.5 too and performance wasn’t the best – there were definite lags even with simpler tasks, such as opening your inbox and scrolling through lists. As such, it might be a good idea to forget ever upgrading the OS here to a newer version.
It comes with Motoblur and you can read our reviews of other similarly-equipped Motorola phones (Cliq, Devour) to get the skinny on that. Features are around what you’d expect. You get the usual Android fare (Google’s software suite and read-only QuickOffice), Webkit-based HTML browser (very fast page loads over 3G, by the way), aGPS, WiFi and Bluetooth.
While it continues to use Android’s lackluster music player, the Backflip comes with excellent sound quality. The onboard speakers manage gorgeous sounds, definitely a notch above what you normally get from a phone. Camera appeared great at 5 megapixels of resolution, but the quality of shots left plenty to be desired.
Overall, the Motorola Backflip is a decent choice for an entry-level Android smartphone. There are definite performance issues, but it covers the range of features well and it’s an excellent music phone. Price sounds good too – $99 with a two-year contract from AT&T (not sure how much for unlocked versions elsewhere).
