The new LG BL20 Chocolate phone is one of LG’s top selling handsets. It comes with attractive design. The handset has got a TFT display supporting up to 256,000 colors, the resolution is now a more acceptable QVGA 320 x 240, measuring inches. Beneath the display there are touch sensitive navigation keys, alongwith some hidden keys located around the edge of the phone. These unnoticeably located controls can be used for things like volume control, and also quickly adjusting the camera zoom, and so on.

Internal memory capacity of the latest phone is less than half that found on its predecessor, but to further enhance the capacity the BL20 has a MicroSD memory card slot, supporting cards up to 16GB in capacity. The New Chocolate also includes 3G data, with HSDPA at up to 3.6Mbps, ably backed up by EDGE, HSCSD and GPRS.

Some wonderful features on the BL20 include Widget Hotkeys and Clear Memo Capture. Widget Hotkeys enable you to personalize the device, offering quick, direct access to favorite features for news updates, weather reports and many more.

Samsung E-251 is a GSM phone. This Slider mobile comes with a great list of features.

The handset measures 99.5 x 49.5 x 14.1 mm and the display type is TFT which is capable of displaying 65K colours. It is operational on 2G networks on GSM 900/1800/1900 bands. The size of the display is 128 x 160 pixels. It comes with several polyphonic and mp3ring tones and supports vibration also. The phone book supports 1000 entries including photocall. The call records can accommodate upto 30 dialled, 30 received, and 30 missed calls in its large internal memory. The card slot supports micro SD (TransFlash).

You can use this wonderful handset to send or receive SMS, MMS, emails and EMS. For internet browsing the device facilitates WAP 2.0/xHTML browser that helps the users to access web pages on their mobile phones. Apart from this the handset also supports playing mobile games on Samsung E-251, or taking beautiful pictures on 0.3 MP in built camera.

You can get a good mobile phone deals if you by a BlackBerry Curve 8520. It is a wonderful cell phone device launched by BlackBerry mobiles.

With QWERTY keyboard and touch-sensitive optical trackpad you can easily type messages. The corporate users are extremely happy using this handset as it allows emailing facility and instant messaging along with sending or receiving SMS, MMS. In real sense, these attributes make the life of people more comfortable and fast.

BlackBerry Curve 8520 is Wi-Fi enabled and it supports Bluetooth connectivity for high speed data transfer. No matter how long you travel outside your office the powerful battery support ensures 4.5 hours of talk time when it is fully charged. There are many multimedia features in this pricey mobile phone. It has got a 2.0MP Digital Camera with video recording facility, games, 32 polyphonic ringtones, comprehensive user interface etc. You can set your mobile on sleep mode to save the battery power as well.

LG’s fantasy with the soft and glossy colors of icecream comes alive in their range of mobile phones meant for the korean market. LG-LU1600 is the fresh one on the block which talks about Ice creams.

LG’s LU1600 is a 15.5 mm thick handset with LED lights. The handset which has DMB support, also boasts of a mobile web and a e-dictionary for the language perfect people. The phone carries nearly 26 emote-icons for the different calls and messages.

The phone is a 3G phone  and is already on the shelves starting today, the 15th of December. The handset is going to cost only 400,000 won and is available in 3 colors the snow white, sky blue and pink.

Team it up with an Ice cream and you are ready to be clicked.

For a quick review of the other Ice cream and winter inspired models from LG.

There was a LH5000 ( ice cream inspired) announced in March which came up right after the Chocolate range. This was a 13.6mm thin clamshell with LED lighting. The 3G connectivity, email support, e-dictionary, 2mp camera  and a 2.2″ color QVGA display was everything it had and was priced between $404 and $505(calculate today’s rate accordingly).

The other one announced a month earlier from today was named LG-SH460 ( winter snow inspiration) which had 2 displays and is available in colors black or white. Mobile banking, roaming features and Bluetooth 2.0, USB 1.1, 2mp camera, e dictionary, a 800mAh battery offering 140mins talk time and 160 hours of standby time was what the SH460 offered for a cost similar to LU1600 – a 400,000 won.

Nokia N97 is the latest and has taken us not slightly ahead but much Ahead of the last one coming out of its factory. The Landscape oriented handset comes with some good features.

The phone with a 5mp Carl Zeiss camera lense has a DVD quality video feature, has a QWERTY keypad, includes HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, and comes with an always open connection to the bookmarked sites on the internet including Facebook. Aptly called as the mobile computer the handset features the virtual touch input and has a 16:9 widescreen display which can be fully personalized with frequent updates of favorite web services and social networking sites.

Nokia 97 has a capacity to hold breath for a long long time. The battery is capable of 1.5 days of continuous playback. The 32GB on board memory can be extended to 48GB via MicroSD cards. Nokia Music Store with the full support of Nokia N97 does some wonders for us. With the battery capable of 1.5 days of continous playback all the musical ear customers are sure going to make a beeline for it.  Support for services like Share on Ovi for immediate sharing over HSDPA and WLAN is available from the N97 camp.
The ’social location’ concept of N97 with integrated A-GPS sensors, an electronic compass, intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 is expected to make it by early 2009 at an estimated retail price of EUR 550(excluding tax and subsidies).

Motorola’s new handset is official and has a vibrant look to it. I wonder if the thought was to build a wallet size look alike. Giving the thougts some rest, Motorola seems to be setting a new trend here with QA30. Of late we have been seeing the QWERTY phones with horizontal sliders and Motorola QA30 might be the first to have a vertical sliding QWERTY keypad.

The set which comes in a shiny black color with a hint of red to it as seen here has a 2.5inch TFT LCD ( 240X320 ) screen, supports a 8GB MicroSD, stereo Bluetooth 2.0 plus integrated 3.5mm headphone jack and a sliding QWERTY keyboard. The QA30 will lend CDMA support, thread messaging support, have a 2 mp camera, HTML browser, Email, USB 2.0 and it is rumoured that it’s microSD/microSDHC card will support up to 32GB. The truth will be known only when the official specs are revealed to us.
The phone is being released in US alone. Reports state that the new ‘Q’ series device will be out in the US with Alltel as the operator. The dates and the pricing has not yet been revealed.

The “Night Effect” 
 

What can you expect when a top mobile brand and a fashion brand come together? Yes, the result is ‘a trendy handset with latest technologies and facilities’. You can expect this with the brand-new handset on the block, called the “Night Effect”. With this handset, Korea’s largest electronic brand Samsung and the Italian fashion brand Emporio Armani have joined hands. Emporio Armani is famous for its youth inspired fashion line, while Samsung electronics is known for the use of latest technologies.  

The “Night Effect” is a hi- fashioned music phone edition. It possesses an elegant design that reminds us of the old candy-phones. This is yet another mobile handset for brand conscious people and for those who are die-hard fans of Samsung or Armani. Being a music edition phone, Night Effect supports a range of music files including WMA, AAC, AAC+ and MP3. Music lovers can listen to FM Radio as well. Unique dedicated buttons offer effortless control over the music player.  

It also features a 3.2 megapixel camera, user memory of 120MB, microSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0. It features a 2.2 inches AMOLED display. However, this is not the first time when Samsung has included this feature. The exterior of Night Effect possesses a huge “GA” logo of Emporio Armani on both the back and front panels. The sparkling LED bar on its edges is impressive.

Samsung SGH i900 Omnia is a touchscreen smartphone, a delight of every user.  Omnia has everything: a 5mp camera, 3G video calling, music player, FM, fast browsing, 8GB memory ever seeen on mobile phone, and connects to any device one can think of via Bluetooth, USB or WiFi. It picks up the loose ends of the iPhone.

The platinum finish and the slim body of Omnia does not miss the gaze of any onlooker. Samsung Omnia enjoys a massive WQVGA 3.2 inch screen with a TouchWiz user interface. You can make use of a variety of intuitive touch controls tap, sweep, drag, drop and use the on-screen qwerty keyboard too.

The smartphone runs on Windows Mobile 6.1, provides interfaces for editing and viewing, has comprehensive personal organiser functions. With some effects come some defects. It shows a tendency to be slow.

The phone has a 5 megapixel camera, face-detection autofocus, smile detection (takes a shot when everyone is smiling), auto-panorama, LED flash and digital zoom. The camera can be used as a business card reader too. It also has an excellent video camera (with image stabilisation), and the video playback capability includes Divx support. A 3G phone with video calling, good music player, FM radio, Web browsing, with fast HSDPA downloads, the large touchscreen, and advanced Opera browser all work together to give an experience in itself. The Omnia also comes with GPS navigation built in.

Massive memory comes in a choice of 8 or 16 Gbytes, has a microSD memory card slot, enabling an additional 8 Gb to be added. You can store around 8,000 songs or 23 DVD-quality films and you can even store up to 120 Mbytes worth of text or MMS messages. Connectivity is unbeatable, with a choice of Bluetooth, GPRS, HSDPA, USB and Wi-Fi. It includes all the messaging features-SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging.

The battery(Standard battery, Li-Ion 1440 mAh) life is very good for a touchscreen phone with so much functionality. It has come out with an official figure of 500 hours standby and a talktime of upto 5hrs 50 mins.

Omnia is a wonder among all the Touchscreen phones and excels in being a good choice above iPhone and LG Viewty. This Touchscreen phone is the hottest and the best product in 2008, and the Omnia is arguably the best so far. It measures 112 x 56.9 x 12.5mm and Weighs 122 g and is available in black color.

Blackberry Curve 8330 in its World Edition was released in India in collaboration with Reliance Communications. 

The Blackberry Curve 8330 is a “feature-rich” handset and because it is released in its World Edition means that Indian users can operate on both the GSM and CDMA technology from anywhere in India.

Blackberry Curve 8330, presented in a silver case, comes with a full QWERTY keyboard, advanced Web and e-mail capabilities. The Curve 8330 comes with a trackball navigation system, Instant messaging and organiser. 

The other features include media player, MMS capabilities, a 2M camera with flash, video recording and digital zoom.  The Curve 8330 comes with a TFT display of 320×240 pixels resolution, Blue tooth 2.0, speaker phone and noise cancellation technology along with a host of other features. The USB and micro-SD card support upto 8GB memory.

The Blackberry Curve 8330 is being retailed in the Indian markets by RIM for 25,990 INR, an equivalent of $610 or 390 Euros.

LG Chocolate 3 will be made available from July 13th that is from today onwards in the States through Verizon Wireless, the only carrier of LG phones in the US.  The Chocolate 3 comes with the most advanced features of the Chocolate series. Also, what makes it different from the others in the series is that it is the only Clam-shell variety while the rest of the series were Sliders.

Chocolate 3 comes with an internal 2.2 inch TFT display with 320×240 pixels and 260k colors.  It has a 1.76 inch external screen with a reduced 176×220 pixels but the same 260k colors.  

Chocolate 3 comes with a built-in memory of 1 GB and also the usual micro-SD card slot. Among its many features it has a 2.0 Mega pixel camera with video recording, FM radio and transmitter, a Flash UI, Music and Video players, a 3.5 mm headset jack, Blue tooth 2.1, Web browser, e mails and multimedia messaging.

The Chocolate 3 comes with a 800mAh battery which can give upto 4.5 hours in talk time mode or upto 350 hours in stand by mode.

Chocolate 3 is at present available in two color versions of black and light blue (baby blue).  So, take your pick.

Samsung Smart Phone “Black Jack III” model SCH-M480 will be released next week in Korea, by SK Telecom, one of the largest telecoms operators there.

SCH-M480 dubbed as “Ultra Messaging 2″ will be running on the latest Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.  The SCH-M480 can work with Microsoft Office, browse the web, read e-mail and also play multimedia files.

The SCH-M480 comes with a 2.55 inch touchscreen display with 320×320 pixel resolution with 65K colors, a stylish keypad and finger mouse.

The SCH-M480 has a 2M camera, MP3/MPEG4, WMV files support and micro SD card slot.  It comes with a 3G connectivity, internal GPS, Wi-Fi, video and music player. 

The SCH-M480 has a 1480mAh battery which can give upto 7 hours in talk-time or upto 400 hours in stand-by mode.

The SCH-M480 measures 115.9 x 61.3 x 12.9 mm and weighs 120 gms.

Motorola has launched its touchscreen smart phone A810 as an entry-level PDA along-with its other PDA series A1600 and A1800.

The full-featured A 810 is based on Linux OS and will be currently available only in China.  The Motorola A810 comes with a 2.2 inch touchscreen display with 240×320 pixels.  It is easy to send and receive e-mails and SMS because of the advanced handwriting recognition feature.  The A810 comes with an interactive interface to access Internet and e mails. It has a 8.5 browser with an expandable memory of upto 2GB.

The fully featured set of tools include an integrated MP3 player, FM radio and video players.  The 2M camera comes with video recording and play-back capabilities. 

The A810 is designed with multi-functional and fully-featured tools in an effort to add “new energy and style to Motorola’s PDA series”.  This is surely going to lure the young Chinese who believe in working hard and partying harder.

Motorola Z8m was launched in white and all-black color versions in South Korea in an effort to attract the young and happening Korean users. These colors are in addition to the already available black/sliver model.  The Z8m slider phone is a more advanced version of the RIZR Z8 model.  The Motorola Z8m was released through the South Korean carriers SK Telecom.

The Z8m comes with a better HSDPA Connectivity than the original Z8 and now offers transfer speeds of upto 7.2Mbps.

Z8m has all the features of a mid-end device, which include a 2.2 inch TFT display with 240×320 pixel resolution and 16 million colors, Blue tooth 2.0 with AZDP, Music and video players,  web browser and e mail.  The Z8m has 77Mb of internal memory which can be expanded upto 4 GB with the support of a micro SD card.

The Z8m comes with a 2M camera with flash and video recording and also a front-facing camera which can be used during video calls.

The battery provided in Z8m can give upto 5 hours in talk time mode and upto 380 hours in stand-by mode.

The Motorola Z8m measures 109×50x15 millimeters and weighs 112 gms.

Samsung SCH W510, the Eco-friendly Corn Phone is the first Korean handset to receive the “green label” from Korea Eco-Products Institute.  It is one of the two Eco-friendly models released by Samsung in Korea, the other being F268.

If you are one of those who wants to do their bit for the environment then here is a chance.  The USP of Samsung SCH W510 is that it has none of the hazardous metals like Lead, Cadmium, or Mercury. The SCH W510 is made up of plastic got from the Corn, hence the name. 

The Samsung SCH W510 is a slider phone and can compete with any of the non-Eco friendly models of the mid-end range. 

The SCH W510 has a QGVA display with 240×320 pixel resolution.  It has a 3Mega pixel camera with flash and video recording and mobile TV capabilities.  The SCH W510 comes with CDMA and HSDPA connectivity for data transfer speeds upto 7.2 Mbps.  It also has among its many features the usual Blue tooth and Music and video players. It comes in the expected all-green colour and also black.

Though Samsung has not yet revealed any release dates in other countries, the SCH W510 is surely one model to look out for.

Samsung’s touchscreen mobile Instinct, Model SPH-M800 is now being released in Canada.  It will be released by the two major CDMA carriers-Telus and Bell this Summer.

The Instinct was released by Sprint in the US markets last month and has received several awards there.  It is being projected by Sprint in the US as its best-selling EV-Do device till date.  With all the hype it gathered in the US, thanks to the Sprint advertisement campaign, the Canadian buyers would be eagerly looking forward to the Mobile’s release in their own markets this Summer.  As the advertisement goes: “Ignore the hype, Trust your Instinct”. To help you make that crucial decision, a look at the features of the Instinct:

Samsung’s Instinct SPH-M800 comes with a 3.1 inch TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 240×432 pixels.  It has a EV-Do connectivity for quick data transfers with speeds upto 3Mbps. It has an expandable memory for upto 8GB.  Among its other features it also includes the usual features of the mobiles of the day -GPS, full HTML browser, e-mail, a virtual full QWERTY key pad, Music and Video players.

The 2M camera comes with a facility to record videos an advantage over the iphone’s 3G camera.  A point sure to work in the Instinct’s favor as it is pitted against the Apple’s new iphone.

The Instinct measures 116×55x12.4mm (4.57×2.17×0.49inches) and weighs 127gms (4.5 ounces).

The exact date of the release of the Instinct in the Canadian markets and its pricing there are not yet known.

Sharp launches its 5.2M camera phone with a swivelling AQUOS LCD display in Japan through Softbank.  The model will be available in the Japanese markets from July 5th as Softbank 923SH.

The new 923SH is being promoted as one of the best mobile TV phones in the market.  It has the same AQUOS LCD display that is the cornerstone of Sharp TVs. The 3.3 inch swivelling AQUOS LCD display comes with a 480×845 pixel resolution and boasts of supporting upto 16.7 million colors.

The 5.2M camera comes with an auto focus, face detection, flash, wide-angle capabilities, video recording and also stabilizes hand-shake blurring.  Most of the needs of the mobile phone photographer are well taken care of.

Among the other features, the 923SH comes with the usual GPS function, Blue tooth connectivity, Global roaming service, HSDPA connectivity, advanced Internet capabilities with 1-Seg support and Music and video players.

The battery of 923SH is capable of providing 4 hours of talk-time or upto 350 hours of stand-by time.

The 923SH measures 113×50x18.6 millimeters and weighs 135 gms.  The 923SH is being presented in white, black, wine red and pink colors.

The price of the 923SH is not yet known.

LG launches its full touchscreen handset ‘Dare’ model LG-VX 9700 through Verizon Wireless Communications in the US.  Dare is being positioned in the US markets to compete head-on with Apple’s new iphone 3G and Samsung’s Instinct.

The best feature of the Dare is its 3.2M photo camera with auto focus, face detection, manual ISO adjustment, flash, panorama shots and video recording in VGA mode.  It also comes with SmartPic technology which makes editing easier.  The  Dare’s camera appears to have better features than that of both the i-phone and Instinct.

Dare comes with a 3 inch TFT touchscreen display with 260k colors and 240/400 pixel resolution. The other features of the Dare include a tactile feedback while typing, handwriting recognition, a dual-band CDMA connectivity with EV-DO for high-speed data transfer and VZ Navigator.

The usual features like GPS, Blue tooth 2.1 with EDR, e-mail, Instant Messaging, Music and Video players and Image Editor are also present.

Dare also comes with a full HTML browser with touch navigation and favorites but an apparent disadvantage is that it is able to display only specially formatted websites. 

Dare measures 4.1×2.2×0.5 inches (104×56x12.7 millimeters) and weighs 3.76 ounces (107 gms).

The 1,100 mAh battery can give 4280 minutes of talk-time and 360 hours in stand-by mode.

Dare handsets are now available in Verizon’s Wireless Communication Stores across the US.

Motorola Motorola released its latest 5M camera phone MotoZine ZN5 in China.  The phone would be available from July onwards in the Chinese markets.  It would be eventually launched in other countries around the world, but at a later date.

MotoZine ZN5 is the first mobile phone to combine the technologies of both Kodak and Motorola.  ZN5 combines the Kodak Imaging Technology, Kodak Perfect Touch and Motorola’s ModeShift Technology to give the “ultimate mobile imaging experience”. 

MotoZine ZN5 comes with a 5 mega pixel camera with auto-focus, Xenon flash, low-light optimization, video recording and a lens cover.  A pre-installed Kodak EasyShare Software will let you easily edit and share photos.

The other features of MotoZine ZN5 include a 2.4 inch TFT display with a resolution of 240×320 pixels.  The usual features are all there too, WI-FI, full HTML browser, e-mail, Instant Messaging, Music and Video player, USB and Blue Tooth.  ZN5 has an expandable memory of upto 4GB.  It comes with a Quad-band, GSM connectivity, GPRS and EDGE.

The price of MotoZine ZN5 has not yet been announced.

Panasonic has released the 3G Tropical 823P a waterproof handset in the Japanese markets on 28th June.  The Tropical 823P was made available through Japan’s third largest mobile carriers, Softbank.  The phone is being presented as the handset that can be carried into “the bathroom and the kitchen”.  It is being promoted as a complete waterproof mobile handset.

The Tropical 823P is  a clamshell design which measures 50×108x17.6mm and weighs 132 gms.  It is available in pure white, lime green, cherry pink, marine blue and black.

The Tropical 823P has a 3 inch QVGA display with a 240×320 pixel resolution.  It has a 2Mega-pixel camera with auto focus and video recording.  Among other features, it also has HSDPA support, 1-Seg for viewing TV programmes, Blue-tooth and GPS functions.

The battery of Tropical 823P is capable of giving up to 220 minutes of talk time and 600 hours of stand-by time.  It can also give upto 5.3 hours in TV viewing mode.

The price of Tropical 823P is currently not known.

Nokia Nseries today announced it will be the exclusive telecom sponsor of the prestigious Young Lions Film Competition aimed at supporting and nurturing young talent in the advertising industry. Each of the creative teams in the film segment will be provided with a Nokia Nseries handset with which to shoot their entry in this famous annual competition. While the teams shoot their stories, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will collect footage to produce regular video blogs highlighting teams in action at http://www.nseries.com/cannes.
In addition, the footage will be used for a “behind the scenes” documentary that will be televised globally later on.
“The Young Lions Competition provides us with an excellent opportunity to showcase our Nokia Nseries range as the mobile devices for content creation and creativity. With their state-of-the art image and video capture and sharing features, Nokia Nseries handsets enable people to take full advantage of their creativity,” said Johan Eidhagen, Marketing Director, Explore category, Nokia.
The Young Lions Competition takes place during the famous Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the “Oscars of advertising”, from June 15-21, 2008. Based on a brief from an organization chosen by the festival, 27 creative teams will use their Nokia Nseries device to shoot and edit a 60-second viral film within 48 hours. The winners will be announced on June 21. Nokia Nseries handsets will also be used for collecting footage of the teams in action that will be shared in video blogs at http://www.nseries.com/cannes.
Open to advertising professionals up to 28 years of age, the Young Lions Competition gathers creative teams from around the world. The participating teams have been selected through a pre-selection process in their own country, with the winners attending Cannes.
Nokia will also create ‘The Cannes Experiment’, a creative hub in the Palais de Festivals that will give those attending the Festival the opportunity to play with some customized Nokia Nseries devices and have their work featured as part of a globally televised program that is being shot with same Nokia Nseries devices. There will also be master classes on how to use the devices as part of the creative process, including using them to shoot images or video in unique ways.
Nokia Nseries handsets are technologically advanced mobile handsets combining the functionalities of many portable single-purpose devices in a multi-purpose converged device that is always connected and enables rich web 2.0 experiences. This range of products offers leading cellular and non-cellular connectivity such as 3G, WLAN and HSDPA, pioneering photo and video capture features including megapixel cameras and Carl Zeiss optics, quick and intuitive sharing features online, and much more. The flagship product of this range is the Nokia N95 that has won numerous industry tests, awards and has been praised by consumers, operators and analysts.
The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is the largest gathering of worldwide advertising professionals and advertisers as well as the most prestigious annual advertising awards. Each year, over 10,000 visitors from the advertising and allied industries attend this event to celebrate the best of creativity across all media, discuss industry issues and network with one another.
For more information, please visit http://www.nseries.com/cannes.