Omio

What’s Happening On Omio!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

So whilst you lot have been off chasing butterflies, eating ice cream and dreaming about mobile phones this summer, Omio has been indoors revising hard to better itself. Behind the scenes, we’ve been beavering away on new features and content, and we are so excited to finally let you all loose on it!

First off, the Omio homepage has undergone a bit of a redesign, and now has a feed full of fresh updates! Forum posts, reviews, ratings and handset reveals will all mentioned on our dynamic page, so you can get your daily intake of Omio in one convenient capsule! Check it out…here!

We think that Omio is as much about the users as anything, so we’ve also furnished it with a range of stuff for you guys to use! Our new section allows you to have a personalised page on which to add a phone history, chat in the forums about topics that tickle your fancy, or even pick our brains about the world of mobiles! Register here, and become part of the Omio community!

We appreciate your opinion so be sure to let us know about what you like, what we can improve on, and most importantly which old handsets we should add to our database! Just stick it in the forums, and it will be dealt with swiftly…

So thanks for coming, and do stick around as we have a lot of new things in the pipeline to make Omio your favourite mobile phone resource. This is just the beginning!

Nokia Pay As You Go Bonanza!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

Good news if you’re looking for a Pay As You Go bargain, as this weekend there are amazing offers doing the rounds!

Starting from right now until midnight on the 7th of September, Dial-A-Phone and Mobile Express are offering a 25% discount on any Nokia phone!

All you have to do is use the special offer code ‘Nokia25‘ when at the checkout of either store.

So go to Dial-A-Phone here, or the Mobile Express site here to grab a Nokia 6300 for only £37.46, and choose from a range of other great mobiles on the cheap including the 5310 XpressMusic!

Dell Mini 9 Launched, Vodafone Announced As Exclusive Carrier

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

It’s difficult to avoid the influx of these tiny sub-notebook computers at the moment, with all the networks attempting to raise interest in broadband contracts by bundling them with these new industry darlings.

Whilst this market was blown open in the UK by relative unknowns Asus and Acer, American manufacturer Dell has thrown their oversized hat into the ring with the Inspiron Mini 9.

The angle to make this an Omio story is that Vodafone has been announced as the exclusive network to sell it…

So in addition to buying it from Dell’s own site, the Mini 9 will become available with a nice little package of wireless internet courtesy of Vodafone. The internal HSDPA modem allows for superfast web access on the go, which is welcome news to Vodafone’s ears and pockets once the deals start flowing. How much the entire bundle will cost has not been finalised, but the Mini 9 is far too well endowed to be considered a freebie a la Carphone Warehouse’s Webbook.

The £299 model has a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 16GB solid state hard drive. A pricey little number, but this is currently their only setup announced for the UK. That cost will certainly be subsidised when Vodafone contracts are factored into the equation, but by how much is uncertain.

With a touted launch of late September, we have plenty of time to see just how lucrative this new market for mini-laptops has become once a known brand becomes involved.

Source: The Register

iPhone/AT&T Lawsuit Claims Users Affected By Overselling

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

That is one good thing about US law. If there are enough of you mad about something, a class action lawsuit means that lots of little guys have a chance against the huge multinationals.

This time one little guy by the name of William J. Gillis Jr. has filed a class action lawsuit claiming that Apple and AT&T oversubscribed new iPhone 3G owners to the network, resulting in a general drop in performance across the entire service.

The beauty of the class action suit is that Gillis claims all 3G users have felt the detrimental effects, and as a result every single AT&T subscriber in his home state of California would be eligible to receive compensation, were he to win.

He is seeking punitive damages, an injunction forcing Apple and AT&T to divulge exactly how the iPhone tick, and obviously get some big fat compensation.

Sounds like he may actually have a vaild case, but with iPhone 3G connectivity issues being more far reaching than just California it looks like a fault that is soon to be fixed, rather than the one to make Gillis a zillionaire. Worth a try though…

Source: MobileBurn

Japanese Get Mobile Content Via Movie Posters

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

Whilst Britain makes tentative steps towards getting paperless purchasing up and running on phones, Japanese mobile network SoftBank has started a trial of the Smart Poster System, whereby handsets can receive data over the air from movie posters.

The technology behind it is fairly similar to those powering the Oyster service on the London Underground. Near Field Communications (NFC) are used to transmit signals, meaning consumers just have to be in close proximity of these smart posters (with a digital credit card app installed) to get free content, including trailers and wallpapers.

Japanese consumers are already familiar with those little EZ barcodes which are snapped to get free content, but this is the first time content can be directly fired off to interested parties without actually doing anything.

Imagine the joy of walking around the supermarket, getting constant messages from tins of beans and deoderant on your phone…it’s the advertising future!

Source: CrunchGear

Nokia N96 Unboxing, Literally In The Wild

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

In a nice change of pace, the Nokia N96 gets an outdoorsy unboxing video, with every single item getting some real screentime.

The video is apparently filmed using another N96, making it an impressive advert for the phone’s DVD-spec recording quality. Man, that installation disc looks good. And that charger? Be still my beating heart!

Great phone though, set to released any time from now…

Source: Slashphone

LG KC910: Unofficial Viewty 2 Becomes Official!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

The new 8 megapixel handset from LG has finally been officially announced, and the Korean manufacturer seems to have followed the Samsung i8510’s concept of shoving everything in there, with this  one sporting some very impressive specs.

The KC910 is a phone of firsts for LG, as it sports an 8 megapixel camera with Schneider Kreuznach optics and a xenon flash, it’s their first handset to take advantage of Dolby Mobile technology and Wi-Fi, and is puported to be the thinnest super cameraphone on the market at a sliver under 14mm thick.

Celluloid junkies will love DivX video playback out of the box on that huge 3 inch screen, and budding movie makers will enjoy the ability to record in any frame rate from 5 to 120 per second which means my low budget Matrix remake is back in production!

GPS and a genuine Jogging Buddy (as opposed to that Nike+ iPhone fakery) round out an excellent setup from the unofficial Viewty 2. A quick name change and LG could have another massive seller this October…

Spore Origins To Be Released For iPhone

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

The latest brainchild of Sims creator Will Wright is said to be making it’s way onto mobile gaming’s new home on Sunday, according to a Pocket Gamer report.

Simulating the evolution of an entire universe seems like a slightly…broad topic for a video game, but the critically acclaimed designer has managed to condense it all into a title for home computers as well as the iPhone. Unfortunately, the civilisation building and interplanetary warfare aspects will be restricted to the PC and Mac versions, whilst the iPhone version concentrates upon the initial ‘cellular growth’ phase of the game. Hence the name, ‘Spore Origins’.

The game is still very impressive for a mobile phone title, and speaking at a London launch event Wright urged fans to focus on the positive points of this title: “It’s got beautiful graphics, good music and it uses the tilting controls. But we may take other aspects of Spore and bring them to the iPhone later.”

Sweet words to placate fans of mobile gaming, or an admission of more Spore content on its way to the iPhone? Well, it’s far more likely to be success in terms of sales more than anything else which determines sequels, so we’ll enjoy the first one for now…

Samsung Gives It Up To Nokia For $410m (Symbian, That Is)

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

Nokia’s goal of turning Symbian into an open source solution for all handset manufacturers seems set to become a reality, as Reuters reports that Samsung has sold up their shares for $410 million.

Being the last Symbian shareholder to have…held shares, Samsung was the only hindrance to Nokia turning the operating system into an platform free of costs and royalties, in a hope to lure makers away from Windows Mobile and Linux. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to build a conglomerate to stave of the new onslaughts of Apple as well as Google’s forthcoming Android software.

“They (Samsung) have accepted it,” said a Nokia spokesman in possibly the shortest press conference of all time.

As they had initially stated as their intention, Nokia will donate the entire stock to the Symbian Foundation to aid their efforts in developing an open, robust format to run mobile phones as well as allow the community to shape them.

Source: Reuters

Nokia N96 Shipping Today (And You Can’t Afford It)!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (267)

Great news for Little Lord Fauntleroy and anyone who recently had a bank error in their favour, the Nokia N96 is shipping to stores early!

So put down that quail sandwich, and ask your driver to bring the carriage around and get going to your local purveyor of portable telephony equipment!

Yes, you might have guessed by my subtle turn of phrase that this phone is not cheap. Due to arrive on European shores a tad earlier than expected, the official party line is a price tag of €550 before tax, or £449 in real money.

Funny how the usual suspects have the phone on preorder for the princely sum of £579 (€708, a lot in dollars and cents), heck even Nokia’s own shop has it for the knockdown price of £535 ($940, exchange rate fans!)…

Granted, you do get an excellently kitted-out handset for your money including live digital TV through DVB-H technology, 16GB memory of expandable internal memory, a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera and Wi-Fi support.

It’s a no-brainer to wait for more palatable contract deals, where you would look at paying around £150 or so for the handset in a 600 minutes/unlimited texts deal at the most. Educated speculation on our part, but much like the N95’s success story, the popularity of this new model will push prices into the realm of the pauper (like us) in no time.

So sit back, take a sip of Earl Grey, and wait for the deals to flow in the coming weeks!

Sources: Gizmodo/Dial-A-Phone/Nokia