Nokia N97

The Nokia N97 is the tip of the spear in Nokia's smartphone lineup. It is the most powerful, smartest and fully featured phone of the company. It is also the first Nokia phone to make use of a large touch-display and that alone has raised the expectations from die hard Nokia fans that have refused to switch over to the iPhone. And Nokia has put quite a lot of work and thought in the N97. I had a first look when Nokia was still developing the N97 and I was looking forward to get my hands on the final product. In this review, I will tell you how I used it, and how well it did. Does the Nokia N97 live up to the hype?

The design of the N97 may be relatively sober, but build-quality is very high; the matte-finish plastics are tough but surprisingly light, and the hinge is sturdy and reassuring. Anybody who regularly switches devices or wants to use their own peripherals won’t be disappointed: the standardized connectors like mini-USB, 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD mean you won’t be carrying a bundle of proprietary leads and accessories. Nokia haven’t forgotten that a smartphone is, at its core, a phone, either; call performance is as good as we’ve come to expect from the company, with the full-bodied earpiece and well balanced microphone meaning that those on each end of the call have a decent audio experience. The speakerphone isn’t, perhaps, the loudest we’ve heard, but it does rate highly as one of the clearest.

Nokia X6

The Nokia X6 is a music phone that aims to join the touchscreen device area of phones that Apple, HTC and only a few others have managed to make happen well.

The phone it's self looks to be a slider phone from when you first take it out of the box, but it's actually not and just a touchscreen device with no stylus or physical keyboard. Reasons for believing it's a slider is due to it being quite thick (13.8mm) which is a fair bit for a phone without a keyboard. Looks wise it looks quite sleek still even though a little fatter than most phones.

On the front of the device is a touchscreen that measures 3.2 inches. It is capacitive and has a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels which Nokia call nHD although of course, it's no where near a HD screen in terms of pixels on the screen although it does look very clear when using the screen. Above that is a front facing camera that allows you to make video calls. Below the screen are three buttons which are send call, end call and menu.

You will not find anything coming out of left field in the box – the handset comes boxed with a pair of headphones, USB cable, software CD, user guide and a booklet that contains your own “Comes with Music” registration code. It would have been great if the manufacturer had thrown a phone cover designed to protect the device against scratches into the deal, but apparently Nokia has opted toremain true to its newly established corporate policy of cutting corners. You just won´t fail to notice that last year´s top music-oriented handset of the manufacturer, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic came with quite richer accessory pack that included things like, say, TV cable… Well, the financial meltdown seems to have made everyone stingier, tighten their belt and batten down the hatches.

Nokia X3

The Nokia X3 is a slim, budget offering from the Finns. With no touchscreen and modest memory, it still has pretensions of being an attractive music device with a low cost to boot.

While the recent Nokia X6 touchscreen topped the rebranded X-series music phone bill with smartphone functionality and a heavyweight 32GB of onboard memory, the Nokia X3 is a much more modest affair.

It works the signature Nokia XpressMusic design look again, sporting bright red or blue music player controls down the side of the display, and comes with a 2GB MicroSD memory card in-box, a standard 3.5mm headphone socket, in-ear earphones and an FM radio.

However, there's no high-speed 3G connectivity, let alone Wi-Fi or GPS functionality, and its onboard camera is an average 3.2MP shooter.

BlackBerry Pearl 3G

Mobile phones Review
BlackBerry Pearl 3G review
Will a QWERTY-free, slimline BlackBerry make merry in the mass market?


If we were playing a game of word association, we're guessing the word BlackBerry would be quickly followed by QWERTY and business.

It's been like that since the RIM entered the market, rarely erring from the 'QWERTY keyboard, functional design' mode - apart from the Storm range, which hasn't really changed the game.

It's a stereotype RIM hopes to finally break with its latest consumer-friendly smartphone, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G.

Small package means fewer features? Not a bit of it. The Pearl almost creaks with features, including Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, GPS, a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and video recording, a well-featured media player and an optical trackpad.

It also sports multitasking, social networking for the likes of Facebook and Twitter as standard and, of course, the power of BlackBerry email and messaging. Just without the QWERTY, which is replaced by RIM's SureType technology for inputting your text.

BlackBerry Pearl Flip

I'm torn on this phone. The most consumer-oriented phone of RIM's lineup, straightforwardly speaking it's also the weakest. So, while we don't know the pricing of the upcoming Curve replacement (likely $199 or $249), users looking to step up to their first real smartphone might want to wait to check it out before stampeding to the store for the Pearl Flip, since it's not cheap at $150 with a two-year contract. Also, QWERTY > SureType, even as good as RIM's predictive text is.

But it's not a bad phone, at all—compared to the wealth of dumb feature phones out there, it's exceptional. It's a full-fledged BlackBerry that delivers great email, solid multimedia, usable web browsing and all of the other trappings of a smartphone, like apps. And it definitely has a quirky kind of personality to it. So, if you're looking for a smartphone in a tight form factor—or maybe for your teen—this might be what you're looking for, since the BlackBerry experience remains one of the best.

BlackBerry Curve 8900

Dubbed as the thinnest and lightest QWERTY BlackBerry, the Curve 8900 will feature built-in GPS with support of location-based services, WiFi with voice and data support, a 3.2 megapixel camera with digital zoom, image stabilization and flash, video recording and playback, a music player, a 3.5mm stereo headset jack and a microSD/SDHC memory card slot with a 256MB card included in the box. All this running on 512MHz processor.

T-Mobile is expected to launch the BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone in mid-February. Price has not been revealed.

A sleek new twist on a classic style. You can keep your finger on the pulse of what’s important to you with the BlackBerry® Curve™ 8900 smartphone.

The striking 480x360-pixel screen offers up crisp on-the-go video, images, text, maps and more. With a refined design, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone is an easy-to-use device that delivers expanded functionality and reliable results.

BlackBerry Bold

That's because the BlackBerry Bold is RIM's most powerful, polished handset ever. With 3G, a glossy new UI, a real web browser, serious hardware and an almost beautiful body, the Bold doesn't redefine the BlackBerry experience, but it does elevate to the highest point its ever been.

Let's be clear: If you hate BlackBerry phones, you will still intensely dislike the Bold. As many coats of polish as RIM has thickly layered on the Bold, it is still a BlackBerry, with all of its suit-and-tie DNA fully intact. Fundamentally, it works and plays just like every other BlackBerry, but with a load of small-to-medium improvements, updates and tweaks that add up to a richer, more refined phone that also looks far better than the rest while doing its thing.

Remember all that talk about overheating and battery drain? It definitely wasn’t crap — we’ll tell you that! Even still, the device gets a little warm, but nothing to get too concerned about. RIM has made strides in regards to updated software builds for the Bold. Let’s bring you back to when we first got the device, ok? We thanked our very friendly FedEx Sameday delivery man (or delivery person since there’s this cute female that sometimes brings us goodies… anyway) and proceeded immediately to remove the SIM card and microSD card from our BGR edition BlackBerry Curve 8310. After that, we took a bat to it, Office Space style. Once the battery was installed in the Bold, we patiently waited for the unit to turn on.

BlackBerry Tour 9630

A replacement to the popular BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, the BlackBerry Tour will with time roll out to CDMA carriers including Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, Bell, Telus and likely everywhere the 8830 was sold. We first reviewed the BlackBerry Tour three months ago in March, and while our device was pre-release our in-depth BlackBerry Tour review will give you a great hands-on look of what you can expect when it becomes available.

No matter what you call it -- Niagara, Tour, 9630 -- there's no denying that this is the BlackBerry that CDMA users have been waiting for and lusting over. Ever since the very first whispers and early photos emerged, the main question on everyone's mind has been a frantic "When?!" Now that it's finally set to hit the market next week -- on a variety of carriers no less -- we can really dig deeper and give it a thorough look.

We've got to admit that in our opinion, this is one of the most attractive BlackBerry devices ever made. Whereas the Bold can seem a tad gaudy and overdone -- what with the leather back cover and visually heavy chrome bezel -- the Tour has a more subtle dull chrome bezel and a battery cover than looks sleek and attractive. That said, this is still primarily targeted as a professional device, and it comes along not a moment too soon as a replacement to the aging 8830, which has historically been the global-ready BlackBerry of choice for CDMA customers.

BlackBerry Onyx (Bold 9700)

First, the "onyx" became branded with a 9020 device model, which recently changed again to become the BlackBerry 9700 and now for sure will be labeled as the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Hardware-wise, compared to unit featured in this review, a few other things have changed, namely the device will feature a touch sensitive trackpad (as seen on the Curve 8520) instead of the trackball, and the BlackBerry Bold 9700 will also feature a leather back on it. And above the battery door, engraved into the rubber will be the word "Bold". Keep in mind the BlackBerry Bold 9700 will come in two versions - one for AT&T/Rogers/Europe and another version specificially built for T-Mobile in the USA, which features T-Mobiles 1700Mhz HSPA bands.

Unlike the Magnum, Blackberry Onyx does not have a touch screen, although some remains of an interesting Blackberry, because its technological specifications include the same optical trackpad for the first time used on BlackBerry Gemini.

BlackBerry Underground appeared on, the picture shows exactly BlackBerry Onyx 9020 and the Gemini in comparison. For all we know so far, the BlackBerry Onyx will be issued by AT & T from T-Mobile later this year. The smartphone will integrate 3G connectivity, GPS, Wi-Fi and a screen resolution of 480×360 pixels.

The first rumors about the BlackBerry Onyx dated over a month and a half ago. This weekend, the boys of Crack Berry a prototype of the aircraft maintenance.

Ipod Touch 2G

The iPod Touch uses the same operating system as the iPhone, which is a (massively) slimmed-down version of the "OS X" operating system used for Apple's Macintosh computers. The Mobile Safari browser is based on Apple's desktop Safari browser (though it doesn't support Flash content), but the user interface is completely different. The iPhone/iPod Touch UI is designed from the ground-up for fingers and small screens rather than the mice and relatively large screens of desktop and laptop computers, and every other phone vendor has been scrambling to catch up with it.

The iPod Touch is no longer just a media player, as the "iPod" name suggests; it's a prime representative of Apple's handheld computing platform, supported by a huge (and growing) third-party community. Yet it's controlled entirely by Apple, with Apple deriving revenue from every component — from the initial sale to third-party applications, accessories, licensing and distribution.

Apple's business bonanza aside, buyers get a mobile, networked computer with a revolutionary user interface and a thriving ecosystem of add-ons and software that dramatically increases its value after initial purchase. We've come a long way from the original iPod Touch and its "OS X 1.0" software, which served as an advance scout for something much bigger (like the original Macintosh 128K did).

iPhone OS 2.0, included on every iPod Touch now sold, has really changed the platform, making the original iPod Touch, too, much more useful than it was when purchased. This stands in marked contrast to all other "iPod" models, which are rarely upgraded by Apple and bear no real similarity to the iPhone/iTouch platform.

With OS 3.0 coming in a few months, this platform clearly has a future ahead of it. Like a traditional Mac or PC, it will be useful for more tomorrow than today. That's a huge value (though this may be offset by the need to replace incompatible old accessories).

If you already have the original iPod Touch, the second generation offers a few upgrades — speaker, volume controls, faster CPU, more storage, microphone capability — which may not be enough to justify buying a new iTouch and dealing with the compatibility issues it has with previous accessories. But if you don't own the first generation iPod Touch, and you don't have, or plan to get, an iPhone, this is a great entry into a major platform that is already very useful with a great future ahead.