Omio

Reevoo’s Top Mobile Phones Of 2008!

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 (491)

Consumer site Reevoo is a treasure trove of interesting information, particularly regarding what people really think of all sorts of electrical items once the honeymoon is over, thanks to some genuniely impartial reviews.

Well, this time they’ve cast their objective eye towards mobile phones, and based on feedback have compiled a list of the top mobile phones for 2008! A lot of the usual suspects turn up, but there are still a couple of big surprises in there…

Here we go, in no particular order (aside from ascending):

5. Sony Ericsson K660i

The Sony Ericsson K660i is an impressive handset, and been a real mainstay on Omio with loads of competitive 3 mobile deals! Even though it was initially released in 2007, the K660i’s has managed to see off a lot more spec-heavy competition to secure the fifth spot in 2008.

Positive comments on this phone from Reevoo include:

“…good storage…”

“A very good looking phone, good display/menus, easy to use, great music player, easy to use browse the web.”

“Great call sound quality (always good for a phone and lacking on my old “high end” mobile) and great battery life.”

A reliable, decent, mid-range handset with a raft of features. No surprise that the K660i sits high atop the tree!

4. Samsung F480 Tocco

Touchscreen glamour at a fraction of the price of the phone that shall not be named? Surprisingly, as our Samsung Tocco Pink review highlighted, it is much more than a cheap iClone. Funky widgets, a bright and breezy interface and responsive touch control has meant the Tocco has sold in droves, and garnered some very positive comments:

“Widgets are real cool, useful and fun way to use the phone, the picture quality from the camera is brilliant, design is fabulous - will always go for touch screen now over traditional buttons.”

“Easy to use,touch screen is fantastic,speed is very good,photo quality is very good.”

“Easy to use, good haptic technology feedback from the touch screen, excellent camera, fair battery life, smart, compact, stylish.”

The only issue people seemed to have was a lack of Wi-Fi connectivity for cheap internet on the go, but all in all the right choice for Samsung fans on a budget!

The podium finishers follow!

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The Mobile Phone Keyboard Olympics

By Robin LandycloseAuthor: Robin Landy Name: Robin Landy
Email: talk@omio.com
Site: http://www.omio.com
About: See Authors Posts (18)

Apparently there’s something going on in London in 2012 that’s costing a whole bunch of money and has got a lot of people all excited.

Alas, the Omio budget doesn’t stretch to Olympic sponsorship, let-alone building our own velodrome. Anyhow, who wants to watch a bunch of men chase each other round-and-round on bicycles, when you could stay in and watch our own Ernest Doku go thumb-to-button with greatest phones on the planet?

We lined up 6 of the best smartphones: the Apple iphone; the Samsung Omnia; the T-Mobile G1; the HTC Touch HD; the HTC Touch Pro (win this in our Touch Pro give-away) and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. We gave Ernest a set text to type - twice on each handset - so that we could take an average time.

Want to see what happened when Ernest got typing? Check out the video…

More details of the contest after the jump

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Samsung Bound: New Beast Announced On 3 Network!

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 (491)

It’s not just gorgeous phones for ladies who lunch coming soon to 3, a rugged phone for manly men is also available!

The Samsung Bound B2700 is a truly heavy duty handset for people who work on oil rigs or fight fires or punch lions for a living.

The Bound is shock, splash and dust resistant, and offers an impressively hard wearing design. It has all the Bear Grylls jungle essentials of a torch, compass, altimeter and pedometer, whilst not scrimping on luxuries like an MP3 player and 2 megapixel camera.

It also has a slot for microSD cards, and did we mention that it was super durable? Check this stress test out, courtesy of GSMArena!

Not extreme enough? Yeah, we didn’t think so either. So they ran over it with a car.

The Samsung Bound will challenge you to an arm wrestle at 3 stores later in November, with prices and contracts yet to be determined.

Source: 3

Samsung Light Edge Pink: New Beauty Announced On 3 Network!

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 (491)

3 UK has recently announced a few new additions to their network before the year’s end, and they are filling out an already impressive roster with something for the ladies!

The Samsung Light Edge Pink is a gorgeous little slider handset, taking a cue from the successful U900 Soul as far as looks are concerned.

The similarities go beyond the cosmetic as the Light Edge also inherits the touch controls of its bigger brother, making it an impressvely specced handset at a mid-range price point.

It has a 3 megapixel camera (as opposed to the Soul’s 5 megapixel snapper), but is equally ultra-slim at only 13mm, managing to also maintain the 3G connectivity and multimedia playback.

Due for launch later in November, and exclusively pretty in pink on 3, the Samsung Light Edge looks to be a handset to pique the interest of those who love form and function in equal measure.

Samsung Omnia Video Review

By Robin LandycloseAuthor: Robin Landy Name: Robin Landy
Email: talk@omio.com
Site: http://www.omio.com
About: See Authors Posts (18)

Everyone seems to be gunning for the iPhone by launching rival touchscreen handsets. So far, they’ve all fallen short of the mark. Can Samsung do any better?

Find out in our in-depth video review of the Samsung Omnia.

LG Prada II Fashionably Late, Now On For A November Release Date!

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 (491)

Electric Pig has managed to coax a little gem of information out of LG regarding the Prada II, a keyboard-packing remix of their highly successful fashion phone.

Originally earmarked to grace catwalks this October, they report that a spokesperson became deliberately vague regarding a release: “It might be this month, it might be Christmas”. They soon cleared it up, however, confirming the Prada II will indeed be out at the tail end of November.

This delay may have been a wise move considering the avalanche of handsets falling upon us at the moment, a brief respite might get the Prada II a few more column inches in the glossies than it would have.

Going up against supermodel snappers du jour like the Samsung Pixon, Sony Ericsson C905 and Nokia N96 at the height of their success would not be wise…

Ericsson: 20 Megapixel And Hi-Def Video Recording Cameraphones By 2012

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 (491)

You think that the battle of the cameraphones is hot right now with the Sony Ericsson C905, LG Renoir, Samsung Pixon and the Samsung i8510 INNOV8 all vying for 8 megapixel supremacy?

In as little as four years we could see 20 megapixel snappers with full HD video capture as the norm, according to Ericsson! Just imagine the quality of YouTube gig uploads…and You’ve Been Framed will never be the same when I see 1080p cameraphone clips of an old lady fall off a trampoline. Can’t wait!

The slide from a recent press conference regarding the future of mobile technology also predicts insanely high XGA screen resolutions of 1024×768 (as opposed to the iPhone’s 480 x 320), and 1Ghz CPUs! That’s more powerful than my computer at home…

We would say that it was all the stuff of fantasy, if Engadget hadn’t rightly noted that there are already phones knocking at the doors of these specifications…in the Far East of course. 10 megapixel camera phones…in 2006? 1024×480 resolution 3 inch touchscreen phones?

The Japanese must find our excitement at phones like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 very quaint, as they order sushi and watch high definition cable TV on theirs…

Samsung Topples Motorola To Become No.1 In U.S. Market, Apple Beats BlackBerry In Smartphone Sector

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 (491)

With all the Q3 2008 numbers finally in, it shows some exciting changes in the mobile phone industry!

Whilst overall phone shipments topped out at almost 40 million units over the third quarter, Samsung managed to overtake the inexplicably successful Motorola in the US, becoming the market leader for the first time. A combination of appealing new devices, cut-throat subsidies and shrewd marketing (off the back of a weak Korean currency allowing cheaper shipments) has managed to wrestle the Motorola RAZR’s death-grip on the US, and not a moment too soon!

Equally groundbreaking is that Apple has snatched second in the extremely competitive smartphone sector, overtaking BlackBerry with 17% of the market covered! It wasn’t all bad news for BlackBerry’s creators RIM though, who themselves have increased their share to 15%, from 10.2 in Q3 of 2007.

The losers? Well, all these market share increases make for sombre reading as far as Nokia is concerned, as other manufacturers chomp Pac-Man style into their huge piece of the smartphone pie. Their market share has declined by a small margin, but it comes as little surprise with their far reaching span of handsets for all regions.

With each of the big four manufacturers pretty much in control of their own operating systems (Nokia have Symbian, Apple and RIM devices run on proprietary software and Motorola uses Linux), it will be interesting to see if Android can muscle its way into what will be an increasingly tough area to penetrate.

Perhaps they have already targeted the unsteady one in the pack, with Motorola recently announcing plans to create an Android-powered device. Either way, 2009 will be a very interesting year in the mobile business, and Omio will keep you abreast of any developments!

Source: Information Week

Samsung i7110 Announced, Is It A Nokia N96 Slayer?

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 (491)

“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.”

Shakespeare put it best, when you’re number one, there is always some whippersnapper at your heels, eager to snatch the glory away from you.

The Nokia N96 has barely gotten comfy in the multimedia smartphone throne when Samsung comes out with a lithe new handset ready to claim dominance!

The i7110 is a sleek little handset (literally, it looks the spitting image of the U800 Sleek!), boasting a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, a massive 2.6″ QVGA screen, and wi-fi connectivity. It also runs those videos you downloaded legitimately purchased from the internet without any trouble, as it runs DivX and XviD format material with ease.

It even has GPS and 3G support, making the i7110 an embarrassment of riches on the specs front! The real question is, will the user experience be a nice enough one to drag the Nokia N96 from clutches of Symbian lovers everywhere?

Probably not, but you have to hand it to Samsung, they are not putting a foot wrong at the moment. With a line up of handsets to suit all pockets this Xmas, it will be interesting to see whether Nokia’s Comes With Music and a promise of the 5800 touchphone in 2009 can stave off the Samsung onslaught of the high end i8510, the higher end M8800 Pixon, and the touchy feely Omnia.

That’s not to mention the barrage of phones on the way from LG, BlackBerry, even T-Mobile’s own puppy.

The crown is certainly slipping…

LG KC780 - 8 Megapixels And Proud Of 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 (491)

Amidst all of the fanfare regarding the new breed of 8 megapixel cameraphones like the Sony Ericsson C905 and the Samsung i8510, comes a great little number under the radar from LG…

The KC780 will be released in the UK at the end of November, and is a powerhouse as far as snapping photos is concerned. A veritable waif at 13.9 mm thick, the KC780 is a slider handset with a 2.4″ QVGA screen, Bluetooth v2.1 and all sorts of PC connectivity that turns it into a wireless webcam!

It may not have 3G connectivity, but it is still certainly a handset for the snap happy crowd to consider this Xmas.