Posts in Handhelds
Padded lampposts for texting walkers
John Chan | Mar 06, 2008
After reading this story, I checked my calendar to make sure it wasn't April Fools' Day. Apparently, lampposts are being padded as a trial in London to protect pedestrians when they are looking at their mobile phone while walking. The trial is being started at Brick Lane, which has the highest number of "walking and texting" injuries in the UK.
This is a prime example of using taxpayers' money to protect the stupid. If someone is dumb enough to walk into a lamppost because he's looking at a phone display instead of where he's going, he deserves that knock on the head. On the bright side, at least the hobos there will have something easy to steal so they can get a better night's rest.
News and image courtesy of Yahoo! (Via Engadget)
i-mate Ultimate series to debut at IT Show 2008
John Chan | Mar 05, 2008
Finally, after months of anticipation and delays, i-mate will begin to sell its Ultimate range of Windows Mobile handhelds. The Dubai-based company will offer them for sale at retail, with all four of them available from tomorrow at the IT Show 2008 in Singapore.
It doesn't seem like i-mate will be tying up with the operators for this, so those hoping to get an operator discount may have to wait-and-see. The company did get a deal done with Australian operator Telstra Down Under--that was announced last month at the Mobile World Congress. We currently don't have information about where else in Asia it will be launched for now, so look out for an update when we do find out.
In any case, the important thing is that you can now get your hands on these PDA-phones. Prices will range from S$998 to S$1,348 for the flagship Ultimate 9502. Check out our IT Show 2008 special for details on the prices and bundles.
GPS-flavored BlackBerry Pearl
John Chan | Mar 04, 2008
RIM launched its BlackBerry Curve 8300 with no Wi-Fi or GPS and then followed up with the 8310 (GPS-enabled) and 8320 (Wi-Fi) devices. The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 also had its 8120 Wi-Fi version. So it doesn't take a genius to figure out how the GPS version of the Pearl will be numbered.
Announced in Singapore exclusively with local operator SingTel, the 8110 has all the features of the Pearl email devices including the company's legendary user-friendly pushmail service, a 3.5mm audio jack for multimedia purposes and a microSD slot. The default application for use with its built-in GPS is BlackBerry Maps, but there are other third-party ones out there for its use as a navigator.
The BlackBerry Pearl 8110 is available now in Singapore at S$538 with a two-year operator contract. It has also been launched in India and Hong Kong. Check with your local operator to find out when it will come to your country. For those disappointed that about not getting BOTH Wi-Fi and GPS in a Curve or Pearl, well, it has to come eventually. For us, we'd rather have 3G first.
bPhone gives BlackBerry the iPhone feel
Jessica Dolcourt | Mar 04, 2008
You'll most appreciate the iPhone-like essence of one of Rogers' three theme layouts in the start screen, though the theme does also extend into the style of the context menu. "Icon" is the most typical theme, and the one that Rogers most prefers. "Zen" drops icons into a side bar, and "Today" makes a day planner of the home screen. You can install any or all of the themes, and activate them from BlackBerry's Advanced Options menu.
bPhone's default aquatic background (you can change the wallpaper) is overlain with rounded-corner box icons reminiscent of the iPhone. Rogers confided he built all the icons from scratch, though he borrowed from iPhone's looks, and had to compromise some style (a partially transparent BlackBerry menu) with functionality (it crashed Google Maps) while implementing the Plazmic Content Developer's Kit.
Third-party apps don't have icons, so if you're not into a dual-themed display, bPhone may not be for you.
bPhone is free, as are Rogers' other themes, though he'll gladly accept US$1, US$2, US$5, and US$10 donations.
Via Crave CNET
XPERIA X1 launch to delay till 2009? 
Reuben Lee | Mar 03, 2008
It looks like fans eager to get their hands on the much-anticipated Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 handheld may have to wait a while longer, if the release date published on the company's own corporate site is to be believed.
According to the table of release dates, the X1 is expected to roll out only on February 10, 2009. That's exactly one year from the day it was first announced at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and a couple of months off its earlier estimate of a second-half 2008 release.
While we are not sure if the release date is meant for the US/Europe market only, or if this is simply a typo error, a one-year gap between announcement and shipping really doesn't bode well for the PDA-phone. Hopefully, it doesn't end up like its Symbian predecessor, the P990i, which was delayed so many months, it lost its wow factor by the time it finally launched. More importantly, the launch delay may give its competitors enough time to come up with a respective response to the X1.
Sony Ericsson has yet to get back to us on an official word.
The XPERIA X1 is the company's first PDA-phone running on Windows Mobile OS. It features a 3-inch WVGA touchscreen display, slide-out QWERTY keypad, HSDPA/HSUPA, wireless LAN and GPS. You can get our early impressions here.
Update: Sony Ericsson has clarified that the XPERIA X1 is slated for a second-half 2008 launch, not the Feburary 10, 2009 release date as rumored earlier.
Crave is...
The name says it all. Crave is our new blog about cool gadgets and other crushworthy stuff.
Drop us an email if you have tips or suggestions.
Crave for...
» Mobile Phones (744)
» Digital Cameras (406)
» Notebooks (466)
» PC & Peripherals (482)
» Handhelds (254)
» Printers (44)
» Home AV (496)
» Music & Play (428)
» Gadgets (953)
» Future Tech (161)
Copyright © 2008 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.
