Mobile Evolution

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Nokia N900 is now available

Following the official announcement that Nokia N900 starts shipping in Europe last week, Nokia today went ahead and confirmed Nokia N900 availability in the USA starting from today. The N900 is not getting a subsidized deal with some of the major carriers but it will instead be sold independently SIM-free.
As our specs testify, the Nokia N900 comes with full quad-band GSM support and 1700/2100/900 UMTS/HSDPA support no matter what region it's targeted at. So, you should be getting 3G connection with T-Mobile USA, but only EDGE with AT&T.
The Nokia N900 is already shipping to users who pre-ordered the popular device. For the rest of you, Nokia N900 should be available quite soon in New York and Chicago Nokia Flagship stores, nokiausa.com and various independent retailers and e-tailers including Amazon.com for a price around 649 US dollars.

Is Nokia really dropping Symbian

The Maemo marketing team shared with fellow tech journalists that Nokia plans for their N-series smartphones heavily relay on the Maemo OS. After finishing up the handsets that are currently in the works, they will make Maemo their primary OS of choice for these high-end multimedia devices.

At a Maemo event held in London yesterday, the marketing team behind the mobile OS revealed that Nokia plans to drop the use of Symbian in their N-series lineup.

Based on the excitement surrounding the Nokia N900 announcement, Nokia top brass has decided that by 2012 Maemo OS will be the official face of the Nokia high-end family. All Symbian N-series devices currently under development will be launched as planned.

There are still no plans of bringing Maemo OS to the E or X series, but Nokia are surprised by the wide interest in N900 and its operating system, so getting Maemo there is not completely ruled out as well.

Nokia promise to continue supporting both Symbian and Maemo, and will expand their official app stores - Maemo Select and Ovi Store with more and more applications. By 2012 there should be enough apps to allow the OS to become a mainstream hit.

LG GW620 goes on sale as LG Eve

It seems that the LG GW620 just got outed (exclusively in Canada for the time being) as the LG Eve. We guess Eve will just be a regional naming obviously inspired by the fact that the GW620 is the first Android-powered phone by LG.

The American version of the LG GW620 a.k.a LG Eve will have tri-band HSPA support 7.2 Mbps as opposed to the single band variety prepared for Europe. That (and the name, of course) is the only difference between the European and American versions of LG GW620.

Rogers Wireless have prepped several pricing options for the LG Eve:

50CAD (46USD) on a 3-year plan

300CAD (280USD) for a 2-year plan

350CAD (330USD) for a 1-year plan

400CAD (375USD) with no strings attached

Today we also got word that LG are developing another Android OS-based phone that will run on the top notching Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor. The device is supposed to see daylight in mid-2010.

HTC HD2 now shipping in Europe

HTC HD2 has already started making its way out the HTC doors, so you should be seeing it on your local shop window some time really soon. That is if you live in in Europe and Asia. The USA will get the HD2 through a "major US carrier" sometime in the early 2010.

HTC HD2 was announced on the day of the official Windows Mobile 6.5 launch with heart shivering specifications. A smartphone thin only 11mm packing a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen with multi-touch, 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 448MB RAM and running the new WinMo 6.5 customized with the HTC Sense UI is surely not something you read about every day.

HTC, Microsoft and Taiwan Mobile announced that the HD2 is already on the shelves across Europe and Asia at a price of 550 euro, while the US release will come in early 2010 through a major US carrier.

Nokia 1616, 1800, 2220 slide

Today Nokia reinforced the low-end part of their portfolio with four new handsets. Nokia 1616, Nokia 1800, Nokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 are all entry-level handsets with basic functionality and a really low price tag.

Nokia 2690

The S40-running Nokia 2690 comes with VGA camera, built-in stereo FM radio with RDS and a 3.5mm standard audio jack. Local connectivity options include Bluetooth and microUSB.

The quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support make Nokia 2690 capable of global roaming and the built-in microSD card slot allows expanding the internal memory to 8GB. The handset comes with a 1.8" 262K-colors TFT LCD display with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels.

Nokia 2690 will be available in Graphite, White silver, Hot pink and Blue color version starting from Q1 of 2010. Its estimated retail price is 54 euro before taxes or subsidies.

Nokia 2220 slide

The other S40 handset, Nokia 2220 slide, comes next. It's the only one in the bunch that doesn't come in the bar form factor and has a FM radio, VGA camera and EDGE support as its key features. The dual-band handset will have two version supporting 900/1800 MHz and 850/1900 MHz GSM.

The display on Nokia 2220 slide is capable of showing up to 65K colors and has a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels. There will be six color options for the handset body - Hot Pink, Graphite, Turquoise, Warm Silver, Purple and Blue.

Nokia 2220 slide will hit the shelves before the end of the year, costing 45 euro before taxes and subsides.

Nokia 1616 and 1800

A couple of S30-running ultra low-end handsets complete the tally. Nokia 1800 and Nokia 1616 both have 65K color LCD displays with 128 x 160 pixels resolution. The two handsets offer LED flashlights and easy design customization thanks to the exchangeable color covers.

Nokia 1616 also has a 3.5mm standard audio jack, while the Nokia 1800 sports FM radio thanks to the headset included in the retail package. The eco-friendly box of the Nokia 1800 is fully recyclable, and the materials used for the phone's surface are nickel-free.

With Nokia 1616 you get to pick between Black, Dark Blue, Dark Gray and Dark Red colors. The handset's target availability is Q1 of next year with the estimated retail price being the measly 24 euro before taxes.

Nokia 1800 will come to the market in the second quarter of 2010, with a price tag of 26 euro before taxes. The color choices it offers are Silver Grey, Black, Orchid Red and Ash blue.

Along with the new devices Nokia announced the launch of its Nokia Life Tools service (integrated on all handsets) for Indonesia. The service will be available from early December, providing online agriculture information, education services plus a pinch of entertainment to supplement the whole thing. Started back when the Nokia 2323 classic and 2330 classic were announced is attempts to help overcome the information constraints and enabling people to make informed decisions.

Orange UK launch iPhone 3G/3GS

Orange officially announced that the launch of the iPhone 3G and 3GS will be on 10 November. Their future iPhone plans are absolutely identical to those of O2 ones and you can have the 3GS free for 44 GBP on a 24-month contract.

Much like recently suggested the iPhone 3GS will see daylight in the Orange networks in about a week on 10 November. Back then Orange officials denied that there will be an iPhone price war in the UK with pricing projected to be the same as that of O2 UK.

Well, looking at the new Orange iPhone plans we noticed that they are absolutely identical to the O2 ones - both in bonuses and prices. You can have the iPhone 3G free for 30 pounds on 24 months contract, while the 3GS is free for the 44 pounds plan.

The Orange iPhone will be available through 402 Orange shops in UK, the Orange online shop, Orange HMV concessions, Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U and more. For more information on the price plans you can visit Orange iPhone page .

GSM-fueled Motorola MILESTONE

That didn't take long - the GSM version of the Motorola DROID is official and is headed for Europe. It's going to be called MILESTONE and Germany and Italy will be the first to get it, but the bad news is that it won't have the same perks as the US version.

On the Motorola site, there's a page for the Motorola MILESTONE with specs and a list of accessories - the Multimedia Station and the Phone Holder car kit. Don't get too excited though, there's no Google Maps Navigation for Europe, all you get is a 60-day trial of MOTONAV. Google has Street View for many European cities, so keep your fingers crossed they make Google Maps Navigation available for Europe soon.

And while lack of free navigation is a bummer, the MILESTONE gets pinch zooming, something the US version - the Motorola DROID - lacks. Here's a video from mobile-review.com, which gives a quick tour of the phone and Android 2.0 (commentary is in Russian):

O2 Germany has the MILESTONE site up and running - they offer it on a 24-month contract for 20 euro a month and it's not SIM-locked. Vodafone Germany are getting it too, but they haven't added it to their site, or you can buy it from PhoneHouse.de (not added yet either). Here, this page on the Motorola website has the links you need for buying the MILESTONE in Germany.

Things are still at a preorder stage and it doesn't say when it will be available.

The Motorola MILESTONE is coming to Italy too, but there's no info on which carriers are getting it or when. The rest of Europe will have to wait even more - not even UK or France are mentioned at this stage.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10

Another day, another Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 leak. This time we've got another video of the sweet-looking UI plus another host of official photos for you. The announcement of the mouth-watering Android handset should come any moment now so stay tuned.

We came upon some more official photos of the two color versions of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10. Here they go for you to enjoy.

The black and white dresses both look really sleek on the feature-packed body and we still can't make up our minds which one suits it better.

The second video that popped up a little prematurely confirms the XPERIA X10 screen resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, which is just as the one of Motorola MILESTONE (or Droid if you prefer) . Sony Ericsson went really deep with the UI customization, achieving seemingly extreme finger-friendliness. We are yet to see about the performance, but frankly we doubt there will be anything the Snapdragon CPU cannot handle.

So with the official announcement coming tomorrow you better keep an eye on our homepage for more updates. Not that there's too much that is still unknown about the handset itself, but some important bits like availability date and pricing are still missing.

N-Gage is dead, long live the Ovi Store

Nokia plans to shut down the N-Gage platform. It's all going down in September 2010 but the publishing of new games has stopped as we speak. The gaming on Nokia phones will continue evolving under the Ovi Store umbrella.

The website of N-Gage along with the N-Gage Arena community will be left running throughout the whole 2010, while the N-Gage store will continue selling games until September 2010. After that the only place to buy S40 or Symbian S60 games will be the Ovi Store, which will come preinstalled on all upcoming Nokia devices. Nokia also promises to bring similar community options for the apps in the Ovi Store.

Of course, all the N-Gage games you've purchased so far will continue to work long after that.

Well, the N-gage platform delivered some of the best mobile games we've seen for Symbian smartphones and we're quite surprised that Nokia is ditching all the development losing a strong differentiating factor. We'll see how it goes, let's hope it is all for the better.

iPhone 3G and 3GS closing in on Orange UK

As you probably know already O2 UK no longer claims the iPhone exclusivity and Orange is the second UK carrier to offer the device in its UK network. The latest piece of intel however has 10 November as the most probable release date.

In a quite tight-lipped manner Orange UK recently announced their agreement with Apple to offer iPhone 3G and 3GS. Plans and release date were kept a secret until today when Guardian UK made the release date public.

You may remember that in a 24-hour timeframe both Orange and Vodafone announced their agreements with Apple to offer iPhone 3G and 3GS through their networks.

So as Guardian UK puts it, Orange UK will start offering iPhone 3G and 3GS on 10 November, the exact day when the two-year O2 exclusive deal with Apple expires. Don't get too excited just yet as there won't be an iPhone price war with pricing projected to be the same as that of O2 UK. Still Orange will offer it with an "added value plan" giving users the additional benefits of some bonus accessories or pre-loaded applications.

At this point more than 200 000 users have registered their interest in getting the iPhone from Orange even though the carrier plans are not even announced yet. The Orange iPhones will be sold through Orange stores, Phones4U and Carphone Warehouse in only two weeks time.

Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica

Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica, or Galaxy Lite, if you prefer, is official as it gets. Not only is the I5700 the fastest gun in the Android crowd with its 800MHz CPU, but it's also cheaper than the original Samsung Galaxy.

But let's start from the basics - the Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica has been sitting in our rumor mill section for a while now and it seemed to be the baby brother of I7500 Galaxy , which we reviewed just recently. The "Galaxy Lite" certainly seemed to suggest it.

The CPU is interesting because the original Galaxy ran the 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A processor. But with 800MHz the Spica beats even the Acer Liquid, which until now held the crown for speediest CPU in the Android world - a 768MHz Snapdragon. Liquid still has a lead in RAM - 256MB - versus the 128 of both Galaxy phones.

The rest of the features are very close to those of I7500 Galaxy, save for the lack of internal memory and the camera. Galaxy Spica comes with a 3.2MP camera and support for microSD cards up to 32GB instead. The display is the same size at 3.2" (though the press release is mum about whether it's AMOLED and capacitive or not) as is the battery of 1,500mAh. The I5700 is a "Google experience" phone, so it's connected to Google's services.

The Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica will be available in Russia in November for 1,4000 rubles (320 euro or 480 dollars). There's no word on availability in other locations but it shouldn't be long now.

Sony Ericsson tease the crowds

Heating up the expectations for the XPERIA X10 announcement next Tuesday (3 November), Sony Ericsson have just published a teaser video of their upcoming Android uber smartphone.

We recently reported on the new Sony Ericsson landing promo page that mysteriously appeared to arouse the interest of the general public about an upcoming announcement on 3 November. We know for sure that this is when Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 will get its official unveiling after so many leaks such as this .

If you've lived on a foreign planet the last several months, we'll remind you that the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 (previously rumored as Rachael and XPERIA X3) is Sony Ericsson's first Android smartphone.

The XPERIA X10 is based on a blazing fast Snapdragon CPU and has a 4-inch display and an 8 megapixel camera.

Motorola posts Q3 earnings

It now came turn for Motorola to announce their financial results for Q3 of the year. While the company as a whole looks healthy enough, given the tough market conditions, the mobile division is still lagging behind, recording a loss of 183 million US dollars.
The mobile phone sales of Motorola totaled 1.7 billion US dollars, down 46 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. The loss of 183 million US dollars though surely sounds better than the 840 million loss for the same period last year or the 253 million loss in the previous quarter but is still bothersome.
The total number of shipped handsets is 13.6 million (half a million short of Sony Ericsson result), which gives Motorola a market share of 4.7 percent. The company hopes that the release of DEXT and Droid handsets will help them get better results in the last quarter of the year.
Luckily for Motorola the other divisions performed much better bringing a consolidated profit of 12 million US dollars to the company. Tiny as this might be for a company like Moto, it is way better than the 397 million loss for the same period last year.
There's even more bad news for the Motorola mobile phones division. Apparently the company is pretty keen about the idea of separation into two independent public companies. We can easily see that as the end of what used to be the world's largest manufacturer.

LG announced 3 Windows phones in next few weeks

KARACHI :LG Electronics (LG), on Monday announced the launch of three new Windows phones in the next few weeks, delivering on LG's commitment to further grow its share of the global smartphone market. The three devices will kick off LG's most aggressive smartphone strategy to date, which will ultimately result in a total of 13 new LG-branded Windows phones launched globally before the end of 2010.PR

ZONG, Alcatel-Lucent, RIM launch BlackBerry solution

KARACHI: ZONG, the first international brand of China Mobile, Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) on Wednesday announced the launch of the BlackBerry(r) solution in Pakistan. Using BlackBerry(r) smartphones, ZONG customers will be able to wirelessly send and receive emails, make phone calls, browse the Internet, send text messages and access a wide range of corporate and lifestyle applications while on the move.

Initially, ZONG is offering the BlackBerry(r) Curve(tm) 8900 and BlackBerry(r) Bold(tm) smartphones and a choice of BlackBerry(r) Internet Service or BlackBerry(r) Enterprise Server. The BlackBerry solution will be available immediately with ZONG's post-paid packages, providing a range of monthly packages tailored to meet customers' needs.

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PTCL introduces three LAHOREE Packages

PTCL now Offering unlimited free local calls till 31 March 2010, along with FREE phone set and Value Added Services
Lahore call package have cost-effective call plans with unique inbuilt features with following details:

PACKAGE 1 LAHOREE MAUJ MASTI – Pay Rs. 599/= per Month and get:
• FREE unlimited Local Calls up to March 31, 2010
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• CLI
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• FREE TELEPHONE SET on Installation
• Installation Charges at Rs. 500 i.e. discount of Rs. 250/-

PACKAGE 2 LAHOREE TIP TOP – Pay Rs. 1599/= per Month and get:
• FREE 500 Nationwide minutes
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PACKAGE LAHOREE LUSH PUSH – Pay Rs. 2499/= per Month and get:
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• Installation Charges at Rs. 500 i.e. discount of Rs. 250/-
Ordering Details: Services can be ordered/availed from OSS, , CSC or by calling sales line 0800 8 0800.

New smartphone platform “bada” to the world unveils by Samsung

Samsung bada offers a powerful opportunity for developers, mobile operators, and consumers with a wider range of smartphone experiences
Lahore: December 11, 2009 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today unveils its new smartphone platform, Samsung bada. At this unveiling, Samsung showcases the bada SDK (Software Development Kit) for partners and presents the unique benefits and unprecedented opportunities that the bada platform will bring to developers, mobile operators and consumers.

Mr. Steve Han, Managing Director-Samsung Pakistan stated that “Samsung bada is a driving force in accomplishing Samsung’s vision of a ‘smartphone for everyone.’ To achieve this vision, Samsung bada offers a feature-rich platform for enhanced mobile experiences for consumers, and a complete mobile ecosystem through a developer support program that both the application store and consumers will benefit from. Based on Samsung’s accumulated expertise in developing advanced mobile phones, the company will allow its users to enjoy ultimate mobile experience through superb features.

Samsung bada, meaning Ocean in Korean, enables developers to take full advantage of mobile device capabilities to create compelling applications with ease. Applications can use device functions to make phone calls, send messages, or access the contact list. Also, various service applications can share information such as personal profiles, social relations, schedules, or contents with a simple user confirmation in order to provide services with greater personal relevance and cooperative service extension. The flexibility of the bada platform makes it applicable to a wide range of devices than any other mobile operating system.

Mr. Zeshan Qureshi, Head of Mobile phones-Pakistan and Afghanistan at Samsung Electronics said, “In providing Samsung bada, I believe that Samsung will become a true leader in the mobile industry; offering a wider range of smartphone choices for consumers.” He added, “At the same time, Samsung bada presents a powerful opportunity for developers to get their applications onto an unprecedented number of Samsung devices across the world“

Based on Samsung’s signature TouchWiz User Interface, Samsung bada platform provides an easy, simple, and intuitive UI without compromising efficiency. It provides creativity and user interactivity through flash control, web control, motion sensing, fine-tuned vibration control, and face detection. Samsung bada differentiates its position by supporting various service-centric features such as social networking, device synchronization, content management, location-based services, and commerce services - all supported by back-end bada servers. These ground-breaking developer-friendly features support developers to implement various services without additional effort.

LG GW520 review

Introduction

QWERTY is how the Cookie crumbles and LG are quite keen to build on a winning concept. And they sure didn’t work themselves to the bone. When you’ve got a Best Handset Award nominee (LG KS360) and a midrange bestseller (LG KP500), all you need to do is add two and two together. Simple math for a simple gadget: the LG GW520 is a basic touchscreen with a distinct Cookie feel, full QWERTY keyboard and social networking on its mind. Sounds right for keeping the younger crowd interested.

Some of you might know it as the LG Calisto. Never mind the name, it’s the same cute little fella we’re about to review in a sec. What makes it so interesting is not only the competitive price and decent feature set. We’re also curious to find how the blend of KS360 and Cookie works. It’s not about which one gets credit as the real predecessor, it’s what the offspring can do for you.

The LG GW520 is pretty much a Cookie with a real friendly QWERTY keyboard and fast data. The touchscreen size is the only downgrade so to say, but the full keyboard, 7.2 mbps HSDPA, push email and notifications and enhanced Widget UI are well worth the trade-off. Well, Cookie seems to rhyme quite well with QWERTY so far, now let’s see how long it’ll go.

Key features:

2.8" 256K-color TFT touchscreen (240 x 400 pixels)
Friendly four-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard
Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G (with HSDPA) support
3 megapixel fixed focus camera
Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
40MB internal memory
Hot-swappable microSD card slot (supporting card with capacity of up to 16GB)
Standard microUSB port and Mass Storage mode
Accelerometer for auto screen rotate
FM radio with RDS
Pepped-up Widget interface with Live Square
Push email and Facebook applications and widgets
Multi-tasking with a real task manager
Excellent touch optimized image gallery
Smart dialing
Office document viewer
Affordable and easy to use touchscreen phone

Main disadvantages:

No Wi-Fi
Video recording no good at QVGA@12fps
Camera has no auto focus or flash
No DivX/Xvid video support
No standard 3.5mm audio jack
Facebook is the only social networking app and it lacks Push

Wi-Fi support would have gained the GW520 lots of extra points against the competition. But then, that would’ve involved so much smartphone pressure, which the GW520 is definitely not prepared to handle. In a way, the handset can be construed as a Cookie upgrade and a response to Samsung’s deployment in the touchscreen midrange. Affordability is key after all, and the LG GW520 is well-geared to run against the likes of Samsung Preston and Star.

The other things sacrificed to keep the price within acceptable limits are the camera autofocus and GPS. The latter isn’t such a big deal for a feature phone, but autofocus should be a must for a contemporary mobile phone in this class. It seems to us DivX/XviD support isn’t too much to ask either: it’s absolutely relevant to the target audience and LG have the technology anyway.

It may look like you pretty much know what to expect from the LG GW520 (or the QWERTY-enabled Cookie, which we’re so keen to call it). But it won’t be fair to judge the phone before we’ve seen it in action. Join us after this very small jump as we explore the looks and feel of this neat QWERTY slider.

Samsung S3650 Corby review

Introduction

Like every maker out there, Samsung are keen to keep users coming back for more. But serving, inspiring and entertaining today's crowd is not enough it seems. So the next step is raising future Samsung users. The S3650 Corby is tech-savvy and fresh - just like its target audience. And this entry level touchscreen seems to quite nicely suit both the user's liking and bill-payer's budget.

The S3650 Corby is for youngsters that are keen on technology, for active social networkers, for those who like to personalize and customize. The budget price implies no fancy stuff but the wide range of features is absolutely relevant to the target audience.

Samsung S3650 Corby is a very fresh looking handset too - distinct shape and bold paintjobs. It won't really make much sense in adult hands but the Fashion Jackets - bright-colored interchangeable rear covers - are perhaps as strong a selling point as the capacitive touchscreen. There're two extra Jackets in the retail box to make the time spent with the S3650 Corby even more personal experience.

On the social side, the Samsung S3650 Corby offers Facebook, MySpace and Twitter integration, while photo and video sharing are taken care of with direct uploads to YouTube, Flickr, Picasa and Photobucket. You can update your status on the various social networking sites and receive updates from your friends via a neat pop-up notification feature. All that is a tap away on the 2.8" capacitive touchscreen.

Key features

Quad-band GSM/EDGE
2.8" capacitive TFT touchscreen of QVGA resolution
90 MB onboard storage, microSD card slot (up to 8GB)
2 megapixel fixed-focus camera with smile detection, QVGA@15fps video recording
FM radio with RDS
Find Music recognition service
TouchWiz and Cartoon UI
Social networking integration with direct file uploads
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB v.2.0
Office document viewer
Smart unlock
Interchangeable rear covers (Fashion Jackets), ships with two extra panels
Relatively low price for a full touch phone (around 150 euro)

Main disadvantages

No 3G
The camera has no autofocus or flash
No accelerometer for screen auto rotation
No on-screen QWERTY keyboard
Proprietary connectivity port
No smart dialing
microSD slot under the battery cover

Budget and low end can be easily mixed up with the Corby. But along with the features mentioned above, the basic handset has a lot of the technology used in the more expensive Samsung Jet. The S3650 Corby supports the same finger zoom feature, it has smart unlock and runs the widget-based TouchWiz user interface - not to mention the nice Samsung's home-brew web browser.

The S3650 Corby is by no means different than the latest crop of low and midrange Samsung touchscreens but its distinct styling and targeting sure make it worth a peek. Hit the jump for more cool photos and a 3D spin. We then proceed with handling and ergonomics.

Samsung S7550 Blue Earth review

Introduction

A blue earth it is. We mean there's no need to tell you our home planet is not quite in the pink. So, before you go on reading, you might want to turn off the lights and the telly, and go pick up a wind turbine and a bunch of solar panels at the local DIY. Forget where you put the car keys? Good, get the bike. Samsung says thanks.

OK, now seriously. Maybe it's good to know you're not the only one using recycled paper, composting your garbage and flushing the toilet responsibly. Samsung are perhaps really trying to encourage the effort. The S7550 Blue Earth is a gadget that gives much credence to the likely growth of eco-friendly products and technology.

The Samsung Blue Earth is a solar powered, eco-friendly phone that promotes green thinking. It's made of recycled water bottles, has an ultra low standby power DC charger and comes in a reusable box made of recycled paper. The first solar-powered touchscreen has a special "eco mode" to use the display in an energy efficient manner. The accelerometer-based step counter has a new spin to it too. It calculates how much CO2 would have been released if you drove instead of walked.

Another quite appropriate feature is the Eco Day list in the calendar, which gives you all the environment-related dates celebrated around the world. Without the Samsung Blue Earth we'd still be ignorant enough not to know what day is today. OK, not in that sense, but we honestly had no idea that September 16th is the World Ozone Day. So, take a deep breath, congratulate us on our timing and get ready for the Samsung S7550 Blue Earth.

Key features

Solar panel for battery charging
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS/EDGE class 10, UMTS 2100
Commendable build quality
3" capacitive TFT touchscreen, WQVGA resolution (240 x 400 pixels)
180MB onboard storage, microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS support
3 megapixel fixed focus camera with geo-tagging and QVGA @ 30fps video recording
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB v.2.0
Document viewer
Exchange ActiveSync support
Smart unlock
Accelerometer sensor
FM radio with RDS
Music recognition service
1080 mAh battery

Main disadvantages

No HSDPA
Could've been slightly thinner
The screen is poorly visible in the sun
3 MP fixed focus camera is outdated
Grip and handling compromised by the solar panel

The solar panel is enough of a rarity in mobile phones. The Blue Earth is only the second mass production handset to have it, next to another Samsung phone - the entry level E1107 Crest Solar. Samsung E200 ECO in turn, was the company's first device made of environmentally-friendly materials. Eco-friendly telephony is not exclusive Samsung territory though. The Sony Ericsson GreenHeart program, as well as phones like Motorola W233 Renew and Nokia 3110 Evolve, show that major manufacturers are willing to at least explore this market niche.

Yet, the Samsung Blue Earth does look like the most complete and focused product to date. The eco-friendly concept was so far tested on rather marginal handsets - a straight-up remake like the Sony Ericsson C901 GreenHeart or downright basic phones. The Samsung Blue Earth tries to be different and we don't mean the relevant applications and the solar panel only. It's a fully featured phone and a touchscreen at that. That it was made with care for the environment doesn't mean they didn't care about the specs. The S7550 is a midrange phone which has more to offer than some of the recent Samsung bestsellers in the touchscreen category (take the S5230 Star for example). On top of the capacitive screen and TouchWiz, you get 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and rich media.

Not the least, the Samsung S7550 Blue Earth is committed to its cause and you know that before you even take it out of the box. The retail package is enough of a green statement itself.

Ufone Quiz Whiz

Ufone Quiz Whiz

Never had a chance to play reward based quizzes??? Here is your chance to participate in an SMS quiz where rewards will be given on answering correctly. So what are you waiting for…Simply SMS ‘Game’ to 404 & challenge your IQ!!

You will have to answer a total of 15 questions, after every 5 questions, you will be rewarded.
Each question will have 3 answers from which you will have to choose one correct answer.
To help you through the game, you will also be given 3 life lines to help answer the questions.
When a question is received, you will have 5 minutes to answer it. After 5 minutes the session will expire and you will have to start over again.

How to Play - Instructions:

To start playing, simply SMS ‘Game’ to 404
Answers 5 questions correctly and win Daily SMS Buckets
Answers 10 questions correctly and win SMS Buckets fortnightly
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Cheif Justice of Pakistan suo motu notice of Govt. plan to sell PTCL assets

ISLAMABAD : Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Thursday took

suo motu notice of government's plan to sell valuable assets of PTCL to Etisalat at "throw-away" prices. Chaudhry Muhammad Rashid, a resident of Rawalpindi, has filed an application, stating that Privatisation Commission has issued a declaration in which it is said that agreements were expected between Etisalat, Punjab and Sindh governments for the transfer of PTCL land in the name of Etisalat.

It has been argued that the PTCL has Satellite Earth Station, Telephone Exchange and Staff Colonies at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and machinery the value of which should have been assessed first. The Chief Justice has asked Privatisation Commission of Pakistan to file comments on the application for his perusal and further orders.

The CJ also took suo motu notice of an application filed by a Chowkidar in Education Department of District Sanghar. The petitioner has stated that his duty hours from 01:00 pm to 08:00 am (nineteen hours) but he is receiving a monthly salary of Rs 3643/ only, and also not availing the holidays and days-off on Sundays.

Muhammad Ramzan, a resident of District Sanghar, has prayed that his salary may be increased minimum to Rs 9000 per month. The Chief Justice has directed the Secretary Education Sindh to explain within two weeks as to why minimum salary is not being paid to the applicant.

9.151 billion net profit earned by PTCL

Staff Report KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) earned Rs 9.151 billion net profit for the year

ended June 30, 2009 against Rs 2.824 billion in the last year.

The financial results of the company announced at Karachi Stock Exchange on Tuesday showed that earnings per share also jumped to Rs 1.79 in the year under review against Rs 0.55 in the last year.

Although company posted phenomenal profit compared to previous year, it was majorly due to diluted impact of Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) compared to previous year when it was at a cost of Rs 23.937 billion to the company. In the year under review, the amount on account of VSS amounted to just Rs 92 million.

If the impact of VSS is excluded from the previous year earnings, the net profit would show negative growth this year compared to last one because of fall in the total revenue which dropped to Rs 59.239 billion over Rs 66.336 billion recorded in the last year. The loss in revenue was caused by slowdown in retail segment of fixed line.

The cost of services remained almost flat whereas the financing cost increased during the year.

Telenor Pakistan has become the country's first telco to have completed a Universal Service Fund (USF) project

ISLAMABAD: 28th September 2009. Telenor Pakistan has become the country's first telco to have completed a Universal Service Fund project -- and that too before time. To celebrate the achievement, Chief Technical Officer Telenor Pakistan Khalid Shehzad and CEO Universal Service Fund Company Parvez Iftikhar jointly inaugurated a BTS (Base Transceiver Station) cell site in district Bahawalpur's Cholistan desert last week. This cell site is one of the total 39 sites of USF Bahawalpur project that have been set up for this communication deprived area. USF promotes the development of telecom services in un-served and under-served areas throughout the length and breadth of the country. The fund consists of contributions (1.5% of adjusted revenues) by the Telecom Operators with no government funding involved.

The Bahawalpur Cholistan District BTS cell sites set up by Telenor Pakistan will bring coverage to the remotest areas of Cholistan desert and a previously un-served population of 242,000, over an area of 20,000 sq kms. The Bahawalpur Lot covers 22% of the area and 11% of the total estimated population of Punjab Province and includes Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan Districts.

Commenting on the timely completion of the USF project, Chief Technical Officer Khalid Shehzad said, “It is our pleasure to provide deep and wide reach to un-served and under-served areas such as the Cholistan desert. We are pleased with our progress and are hoping to complete all our future projects with the same levels of effectiveness. We believe that such projects are significant in terms of increasing service penetration in the rural areas.”

Universal Services Fund’s CEO, Parvez Iftikhar, while congratulating Telenor Pakistan on the successful completion of the project, said, “USF is going to continue bringing significant advances towards enhancement of telecom services, both in rural as well as urban areas of the country. The completion of the Bahawalpur project is an important step towards the fair and effective utilization of the fund. We are also encouraging our contractors to go for Alternative Energy Solutions and are pleased to know that Telenor Pakistan is taking the initiative in this regard.”
This is the first time a cellular operator has delivered a USF project even before the assigned period of twelve months. Universal Service Fund and Telenor Pakistan entered in the contract to provide basic telephony and data services in un-served areas of Bahawalpur on September 22, 2008. Telenor further plans to energize 19 sites in this Project with solar energy hence pioneering Green Energies in telecommunication sector on mass scale.