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Nokia N97 Hot review, price and full specification

Like the HTC Touch Pro2, the Nokia N97
has a slider design with a tilting screen.


The Nokia N97 features a touch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, and 32GB of internal flash memory. The smartphone also offers 3G support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS and comes equipped with a 5-megapixel camera.

While the Nokia N97 is packed with features and offers the freedom of an unlocked phone, its clunky touch interface, sky-high price tag, and outdated operating system make it hard to recommend when there are better touch-screen smartphones on the market.

The summer of 2009 has definitely been a sizzler for the world of smartphones. It's only June and we've already seen the launch of some of the hottest devices, including the Palm Pre, the iPhone 3GS, the Google Ion/HTC Magic, and now we can add the Nokia N97 NAM to the mix. As soon as it was announced in December 2008, the comparisons to the iPhone started given all its advanced features and the addition of a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard.

However, that was almost a year and a half ago and the N97 is just coming to market. In that time, a lot has changed: new players have entered the field (hello, Pre) and others device manufacturers and mobile operating systems continued to push forward but, unfortunately, Nokia didn't come along for the ride. Don't get us wrong; the Nokia N97 is absolutely filled to the brim with functionality. However, it's not enough to match a competitor feature for feature anymore. You have to provide quality hardware and a good user experience, and sadly, the N97 falls a bit short in those departments with an inferior resistive touch screen and clunky user interface. The steep $700 price tag doesn't help either. While the Nokia N97 might appeal to Symbian and N series loyalists, it faces a steep uphill battle against the aforementioned touch-screen smartphones.

Design
From a design standpoint, the Nokia N97 isn't exactly a showstopper. It doesn't quite have the wow factor of the distinctive Palm Pre and like the T-Mobile G1 and HTC Touch Pro2, the N97 is a bit of a handful at 4.6 inches tall by 2.1 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick and 5.29 ounces. It doesn't quite have the high-quality build of the Nokia E series and we're a bit weary of the flimsy battery cover, but overall, the smartphone has a solid construction and is a nice departure from the Nokia N95 and N96, especially with the addition of a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard.

Similar to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the Nokia N97 has a resistive touch screen that measures 3.5 inches diagonally and shows off 16.7 million colors at a 640x360-pixel resolution. While clear and bright, it's not quite as sharp as the competitors, such as the HTC Touch Diamond2, and the built-in accelerometer has just a bit of a lag when switching from portrait to landscape mode or vice versa. The handset also features a proximity sensor so it will automatically turn off the display when you lift the smartphone to your ear for a phone call.

It's great to finally have a touch screen that can play up on all the capabilities of the N series, but we feel like Nokia didn't quite take full advantage of the situation. For one thing, the N97 could have benefited from a capacitive touch screen, like the iPhone, Pre, and G1, instead of a resistive display since the latter requires more pressure and precision. During our review period, we found ourselves missing the ease of use and sensitivity of the three aforementioned smartphones, not to mention the multitouch capabilities of the iPhone and Pre. When using just our fingertip, the N97 didn't always read our touches accurately so we had to correct numerous mistakes or use a stylus.

The scrolling experience was also less smooth on the N97 since flicking your finger to go through long lists or pages results in jerky and short movements. In addition, like the Nokia 5800, we found that some menu items respond to a single tap, while others require double-taps. We would prefer a uniform system since this often led to confusion and was just annoying.

All that said, we do appreciate the new widget-based home screen on the Nokia N97. Similar to the Samsung TouchWiz interface found on the Omnia, this feature gives you the freedom to customize the N97's home screen and lets you see more information at a glance as well as have one-touch access to your apps.

You can have a maximum of eight widgets on the screen at one time, and it's easy to remove or rearrange them. By default, our review unit's home screen featured widgets for Facebook, AccuWeather, contacts, a shortcut bar to messages, the Web, maps, the media player, and more. There is a task manager that lets you see all your open apps and switch between them, but the multitasking capabilities are nowhere near as sophisticated as the Palm Pre's. However, we do prefer Nokia's interface over TouchWiz since it had better organization and didn't limit you to certain widgets. You can also personalize your phone with various themes, wallpaper, and more.

For a full menu of apps and phone settings, just press the small button below the display that sits to the left of the touch-sensitive Talk and End keys. The simple grid menu system is easy enough to understand, but again, it's a bit frustrating to navigate because of the aforementioned touch-screen frustrations. It may not seem like a big deal but these minor annoyances add up and make a difference when comparing to the other touch-screen devices--iPhone, Pre, T-Mobile G1, Google Ion--on the market.
One nice thing about the display is that it can be opened and viewed at a slight angle by simply pushing the screen to the right, much like the AT&T Tilt and the HTC Touch Pro2. Nokia really did a nice job with the slider design, as the gliding motion is very smooth and doesn't have the harsh, abrupt feel the other two devices have. While the slider phone feels sturdy enough to endure multiple opening and closings, we'd still be careful as we're just a bit weary of the plastic construction of the hinge.

The angled screen is not only good for viewing videos and apps but also messaging. However, the Nokia N97's QWERTY keyboard has been a hot topic of debate on the Web; most either hate it or love it. We fall somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, the individual buttons are a good size with enough spacing between them that mispresses were few. The keys also have a nonslippery texture and provide good, tactile feedback. However, there are a couple of things that really put a damper on things.
For whatever reason, Nokia placed the space bar and shift key on the far right side of the keyboard. There's a directional keypad on the left side that takes up some room but even so, the space bar could have been placed more in the center like a regular keyboard. Instead, the location of these buttons completely threw us off and interrupted our flow. We got used to it eventually, but we still never felt 100 percent comfortable with the layout, which is too bad since we otherwise thought that the N97's QWERTY keyboard was one of the best ones we've seen on a smartphone.

If you need to enter a short amount of text, there is a soft keyboard that you can use instead of opening up the keyboard. You'll be doing a multitap dance with this option though since it's in alphanumeric format instead of a full QWERTY. While not ideal, we still appreciate the option unlike some touch-screen smartphone that only provide a physical keyboard.

There's a power button and a 3.5mm headphone jack on top of the device. On the left side, you'll a find a Micro-USB port, a lock switch, and the stereo speakers. The right side has a volume rocker that also doubles as zoom in/out buttons and a camera capture key. The camera is located on the back and both the lens and flash are protected by a sliding cover.

The Nokia N97 comes packaged with a travel charger, a Micro-USB cable, a wired headset, a stylus, a cleaning cloth, software CD, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.

Features
There's no denying that the Nokia N97 is one feature-packed smartphone. It comes with a whopping 32GB of internal flash memory, which can be expanded to 48GB via the expansion slot, and Nokia preloads the device with a number of extra apps, including a dedicated YouTube player, Qik (for sharing videos from your phone), Boingo Wi-Fi service, Psiloc World Traveler, AP News, and Guitar Rock Tour. The N97 also supports the recently launched Nokia Ovi Store where users can peruse the large catalog of Symbian apps and download them to the device. This is, of course, on top of S60 platform staples like QuickOffice for viewing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, Adobe PDF, a file manager, and other PIM tools, such as a Zip manager, a calculator, a notepad, a measurement converter, a clock, and a voice recorder

The N97 doesn't come with the new Nokia Messaging app like the Nokia E75, but there's still plenty of e-mail support. The smartphone can synchronize with Microsoft Exchange and it works with Lotus Notes, IMAP4, POP3, and SMTP accounts and comes with a full attachment viewer. Unfortunately, there aren't any instant messaging clients on the phone, which is too bad given the full QWERTY keyboard and all.

As a phone, the N97 offers quad-band world roaming, a speakerphone, speed dial, conference calling, voice-command support, a vibrate mode, and text and multimedia messaging. The phone's address book is only limited by the available memory, and the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts. There's room in each entry for multiple phone numbers, work and home addresses, e-mail addresses, birthday, and more vitals. For caller ID purposes, you can assign each contact a photo, a group ID, or a custom ringtone. Bluetooth 2.0 is also onboard, with support for mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets, hands-free kits, audio/video remote control, object push, dial-up networking, file transfer, and more. To get online, you can use either the phone's integrated Wi-Fi or tri-band HSDPA (850/1900/2100MHz) support over AT&T's network. Nokia's HTML Web browser is quite decent, offering various page views, keyword search, and Flash Lite 3.0 support, but navigation and zooming in/out of pages definitely feels clunkier than the iPhone and Pre, which benefit from a multitouch screen.

For navigating the streets, the Nokia N97 has standalone and assisted GPS, so it uses both satellites and cellular triangulation to find your position. The smartphone also comes preloaded with the Nokia Maps application and has a built-in compass so the map will automatically orient itself to the direction you are heading in. For real-time, turn-by-turn voice-guided directions, you'll have to upgrade the application, but Nokia is now offering a complimentary three-month trial of the walk and drive turn-by-turn service. Afterward, you'll have several purchase options, which you can check out here.

The N97 keeps the same camera and the N96: a 5-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with dual-LED flash, auto focus, and up to 4x digital zoom. There are numerous advanced camera options, such as color tone, light sensitivity, exposure, and geotagging. In addition, the camera can record MPEG-4 videos at a maximum VGA resolution (640x480) at 30fps.

Picture quality was crisp and clear. Objects were sharply defined in the image, and we were happy colors were vibrant and rich instead of washed out. Recorded videos looked better than other smartphones we've tested, though it was still slightly murky. Once done with your photos, you can add tags, save them as a contact image, share them with friends and family via multimedia message or e-mail. In addition, you can view them in a slide show or upload to a service like Flickr or Ovi.

As with Nokia's other N series devices, the N97 is also equipped with a built-in media player that supports MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, and eAAC+ files. The music library categorizes tracks by artists, albums, genres, and composers; you can also create playlists right on the phone and adjust the sound with the built-in equalizer. There's also support for podcasts and the phone offers Internet radio and an FM tuner. (Note that you need to use the included headset for the latter.) If you'd like to watch other videos, you can use RealPlayer to check out 3GPP and MPEG-4 files.

While all these features are great, the biggest downfall of the N97 might be the Symbian operating system. The OS might have been passable when the smartphone was first announced in December 2008, but it feels completely outdated now, especially in light of the progress made with Google Android and the iPhone OS 3.0 and the introduction of Palm WebOS, and it's not optimized for a touch interface. We're not saying Symbian is a lost cause, and we know there are many fans of the OS and the N97 out there, but we just expected more.

Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; tri-band HSDPA 850/1900/2100) in San Francisco using AT&T service and call quality was excellent. We enjoyed clear audio on our end with good volume and very little to no background noise. Our friends were also impressed and said we sounded great (why, thank you!). We also used an airline's voice-automated response system with no problem and didn't experience any dropped calls during our review period. Unfortunately, we didn't have quite the same praises for the speakerphone. Even at the highest level, volume was weak, we had to hold the speaker close to our ear to hear our friends, and our callers said we also sounded soft. In addition, audio would occasionally cut out.

On a more positive note, we successfully and easily paired the smartphone with the Samsung WEP350 Bluetooth headset and the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones. Finally, the smartphone has a M3 hearing aid compatibility rating.

The N97's general performance was decent. The smartphone was mostly responsive with minimal lag or delay. However, there were a couple of occasions where we got a warning that memory was low and that we had to close other application in order to launch another one. Even so, performance was much improved over the Nokia N96, and we had no major system meltdowns during our testing period and never had to reboot the device.

Given that the speakerphone didn't produce the best results, we weren't surprised when songs sounded soft and hollow when played through the speakers. Fortunately, the N97 is equipped with a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack so we were able to plug in our Bose On-Ear Headphones and enjoy better sound quality. We also watched several YouTube and MPEG-4 video clips, and playback was smooth with synchronized audio and picture. However, the aspect ratio was never right despite options to change it.

The smartphone's GPS capabilities were decent. From a cold start, it took the N97 about 10 minutes to find our location; however, subsequent starts were much faster, taking less then 2 minutes. Using Nokia Maps, it was able to track closely our movements and provided accurate directions.

The Nokia N97 comes with a 1500mAh lithium ion battery with a rated talk time of 95 hours (GSM)/6 hours (3G) and up to 17.9 days (GSM)/16.6 days (3G) of standby time. We are still conducting our battery drain tests, but we will update this section as soon as we have results. According to FCC radiation tests, the N97 has a digital SAR rating of 0.74 watt per kilogram.

Specification of Nokia N97:
  • Quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA connectivity
  • Symbian S60 5th edition
  • 3.5 inches TFT touchscreen display with 360 x 640 pixels and 16 million colors
  • Full QWERTY keyboard
  • GPS / A-GPS
  • Wi-Fi
  • Digital compass
  • 5MP autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, LED flash and VGA video recording
  • TV out
  • 32GB of internal memory
  • MicroSDHC card support, up to 16GB
READ MORE - Nokia N97 Hot review, price and full specification

Nokia N97 Mini review, price and specification

Like its older N97 sibling, the Nokia N97 Mini has reliable multimedia features.Nokia N97 Mini

The Nokia N97 Mini is a more compact version of Nokia's flagship smartphone, the N97. The Mini also gets the bonus of kinetic "flick" scrolling, which greatly improves wb and menu navigation.

While the dimensions seem little different, the Nokia N97 Mini feels much more comfortable in the hand than the somewhat bricklike N97. Its high-quality plastic body feels durable. Two touch-sensitive buttons (Talk and End) lie below the display, as does a hardware shortcut key to the menu.

In our review of the N97, we griped that the bottom edge of the tilted display was too close to the top row of keys on the keyboard. We didn't have this issue on the Nokia N97 Mini, though; we're not sure if it was due to the smaller design or if we've grown used to Nokia N-Series keyboards after reviewing so many. The keys are raised and nicely backlit, and despite the reduced real estate, fingers didn't feel cramped while typing long messages on the Mini. The Nokia N97 Mini also loses the four-way directional pad seen on the N97. We don't miss it, though, as we found it difficult to press.

The 3.2-inch display (downsized from the N97's 3.5-inch display) is resistive-touch as opposed to the capacitive-touch technology of the Motorola Droid and the Apple iPhone 3GS. Resistive-touch generally requires a little more pressure on the screen. The display felt more responsive than the original Nokia N97 Mini's.

The Mini also has haptic feedback (a slight vibration when you touch an app), which helps with the navigation.

Scrolling on the original N97 was a bit of a pain, and you really had to push down hard on the display to scroll through a web page or an email. Thankfully, Nokia took note and gave the Mini "flick" scrolling. Like the iPhone's UI, you can literally flick the display to begin scrolling. The result isn't as silky as on the iPhone (you have to "flick" a little harder), but it is definitely a welcome improvement.

The S60 fifth edition operating system still feels unrefined when compared with webOS, iPhone, and Android 2.0, and unfortunately the smaller display (3.2 inches as opposed to 3.5 inches on the Nokia N97 Mini) only makes things worse. The typography and icons are tiny, and they fade into the background of the display. Opening an app requires two clicks - one to select the app and one to open it. Pressing twice gets old fast, especially when you're used to just about every other touchscreen device out there with one-click access to apps.

While the interface might not be the best-looking, the live-feed widgets are useful if you want to quickly check the weather or catch up with your friends on Facebook. The widgets update your personal internet feeds in real time on your home screen so you don't have to open up another app to access them. You can have up to five widgets on your home screen (the clock can't be budged) and arrange them in any order you see fit. The Nokia N97 Mini comes preloaded with a calendar, Facebook, Amazon, a widget that lists your contacts, and many more.

Setting up your web-based email account (such as Gmail or Yahoo) is a cinch. You simply enter in your username and password, and the Nokia N97 Mini does the rest. The Mini also supports multiple accounts.

The Nokia N97 Mini's web browser is okay for casual surfing, but it needs a bit of refinement. To zoom in to a page detail, you have to type on it twice or rely on the zoom bar. Either way, you still end up tapping the screen way more than necessary. One plus: the Mini's browser supports both Flash and Java - something the other smartphone giants don't yet do.

The uninspired, but capable music player supports a wide variety of file types including MP3, WMA, WAV, eAAC+, MP4, and M4V formats. It has no visual effects or album art scrolling (as on the iPhone and the Palm Pre). Nevertheless, it is quite easy to use with the display's large touch controls. Overall, music playback sounded very good. The video player is equally simple, but good nonetheless. However, you don't get DivX or XviD support out of the box.

The 5-megapixel camera has a Carl Zeiss lens (and a cover), a dual LED flash, and a few advanced features and settings. The image quality of indoor shots disappointed us. The photos looked grainy and either too dark or too blown-out from the flash. Snapshots taken outdoors fared better, however, with sharper details and better colour balance. You can record VGA video at 30 frames per second; test videos looked decent, but we detected some artifacting in a few clips.
Specifications and features of Nokia N97 mini Nokia N97 mini is as follows:
  • Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
  • Announced 2009, 3Q
  • processor ARM 11 434 MHz processor
  • Nokia N97 mini Dimensions (mm) 113 x 52.5 x 14.2
  • Nokia N97 mini weight (g) 138
  • TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors
  • Nokia N97 mini display size 360 x 640 pixels, 3.2 inc
  • Type Slider
  • Fixed Internal Antenna
  • full touchscreen QWERTY keypad navigation
  • Phonebook Capacity 1000
  • Nokia N97 Internal Memory (MB) 8 GB storage, 128 MB RAM
  • Nokia N97 microSD external memory (TransFlash) up to 16GB
  • Nokia N97 Battery, Li-Ion 1200 mAh
  • The ability of 310 Hours Stand-by
  • Talk time 360 Minutes
  • Polyphonic ringtones
  • multimedia
  • MP3 Player
  • FM Radio
  • Entertainment Games
  • SMS Messaging
  • Total SMS 1000
  • MMS
  • EMS
  • email
  • IM
  • Push-To-Talk
  • Yes Connectivity HSDPA, HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
  • EDGE
  • Bluetooth
  • 3G
  • GPRS Class 10 (4 +1 / 3 +2 slots)
  • USB Port
  • WIFI / WLAN Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11b / g
  • data Cable
  • Software Java (J2ME)
  • WAP Ver 2.0
  • platform OS
Price of Nokia N97 mini: $479.99(317 Euro)
READ MORE - Nokia N97 Mini review, price and specification

Nokia C7 review, price and specification

Smart Phone Nokia C7 ready circulating in the market, Nokia is faster than any other type. Nokia C7 is the second that carries the Nokia Symbian ^ 3 platform.
Nokia C7

Perform this technology comes with a stainless steel casing, and a 3.5-inch AMOLED touch screen is another interesting feature, too, served in the Nokia C7, such as 8 MP camera with HD video recording capability, 8 GB of internal memory and microSD card slot. Nokia C7 has supported connectivity 850/900/1700/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and 2G 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. Its 3G connection speed is claimed to provide access to 10.2 Mbps download and 2.0 Mbps upload. There are also features 802.11n WiFi, GPS and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Appropriate information C7 Nokia smart phones will be sold with a tag will vary, depending on region and operator markets. Only, the price range predicted for Nokia C7 around 335 Euros or $484.

Features and Specifications of Nokia C7:

Camera & Display
  • Camera – 8 Mega Pixel, Resolution 3264×2448 pixels, Auto focus, Video, Dual LED flash
  • Secondary Camera for video call
  • Screen Display – 3.5 inches 360×640 pixels
  • Color – TFT resistive touchscreen with 16M color
Message Support
  • SMS, MMS, Email, push Email
  • Instant Messaging
  • T9 InputMethod
Connectivity
  • Connectivity Options – Bluetooth v2.0, Micro USB v2.0
  • Data Modes – 3G, GPRS, EDGE, WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feed Internet Browsing
Memory
  • Internal Memory – No
  • Expandable Memory- Micro SD/card slot
  • Phone Book – Unlimited Contacts, Photo Call.
  • Call Records – 30 days
Battery Power
  • Standard Li-Ion Battery
  • Battery Life – N/A
  • Battery Talk Time – N/A
Mobile Size and Looks
  • Size – N/A
  • Weight – N/A
  • Body Colors – Black, White
Nokia C7 Features
  • QWERTY Keyboard
  • Accelerometer sensor (Auto-rotate)
  • Proximity sensor (Auto turn-off)
  • Voice Command, Document viewer
  • Flash Lite v3.1
  • Audio, Video Recorder & Playback
  • MP3, MP4 player
  • MP3, WAV Ring tones, Vibration
  • 3.5 mm Headphone jack
  • Speaker phone, Downloadable Games
READ MORE - Nokia C7 review, price and specification

BlackBerry Gemini Curve 3G 9300 Review, Price and Detail Specification

Introduced a new member of the BlackBerry Curve. This product has a series of 9300, and became a member of the family Curve 3G.

In the display, the BlackBerry Curve 9300 3G glimpse not bring major changes compared to the previous Curve series. New things happen only in the addition of several features, namely the 3G technology buried. Where the previous Curve series 8520 series, 8320 and 8310 connectivity is still limited to EDGE.

BlackBerry Gemini
3G 9300, seen from the design that was carried, this product does not seem much different from the series or Javelin BlackBerry Gemini. Even the keypad 3G BlackBerry Curve 9300 looks similar with the two preceding it. Fortunately, the presence of leather on the back, making it look more premium.

BlackBerry Curve 9300 3G capabilities were also added from the side of his brain, and brought the powerful 624 MHz processor or equivalent processor that used the BlackBerry 9700. Other features of this 3G Curve among others: full qwerty keypad, optical trackpad, built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, 2 megapixel camera, and supports memory cards up to 32 GB.

Detail specifications and features of BlackBerry Gemini 3G Curve 9300:

Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11b/g enabled
  • Cisco CCX certification
  • Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry® Enterprise Server
  • Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry® Internet Server
  • Direct IP web browsing over Wi-Fi
  • Support for UMA
  • Wi-Fi Alliance Certifications: WPA/WPA2 Personal and Enterprise, WMM, WMM Power Save, Wi-Fi Protected Setup
Display:
  • Transmissive TFT LCD
  • 320×240 pixel screen
  • Displays over 65,000 colors
  • Clear, high-resolution display
BlackBerry Maps and GPS:
  • Includes BlackBerry Maps
  • Assisted, autonomous and simultaneous GPS enabled
  • e911 capabilities
Camera & Video Recording:
  • 2.0 MP camera
  • Fixed Focus
  • No Flash
  • 5X digital zoom
  • Video Camera Recording:
  • Normal Mode (320×240 pixel), MMS Mode (176×144 pixel)

Bluetooth:
  • BlackBerry Curve 8520: Bluetooth® v2.0
  • BlackBerry Curve 8530: Bluetooth® v2.1
  • Headset Profile (HSP), Handset Profile (HFP)
  • Address Book Integration using AT commands and using OBEX (Object Push)
  • Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP), Dial-Up Networking (DUN)
  • Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP / AVRCP), Serial Port Profile (SPP)
  • Secure Simple Pairing (SSP)
Features:
  • Supports BlackBerry App World™
  • BlackBerry® Maps
  • 2.0MP Digital Camera
  • Video Camera Capabilities
  • 256MB Flash Memory
  • Wi-Fi® enabled
  • Built-in GPS capabilities
  • 3G network access
  • Bluetooth® enabled
  • Multimedia Player
  • Wireless Email
  • Organizer
  • Browser
  • Phone
  • SMS/MMS
Price:$399
READ MORE - BlackBerry Gemini Curve 3G 9300 Review, Price and Detail Specification

Blackberry Gemini 8520 Review , Price and Full Specification


BlackBerry Gemini, phones that have the original name of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is the first BlackBerry to use the trackpad soft as navigation buttons to access music, video, games, email, messaging, and social networking sites. For typing, the phone is still use full-QWERTY keyboard.

Besides the standard features of the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) to access 10 email accounts and also the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) for security and IT administration features of the company, the phone offers new features for multimedia.

To support multimedia functions, RIM buried 2 MP digital camera with zoom function and video recording. In the system of operation is also provided the latest media player for music, pictures and videos with the dedicated media keys and a 3.5mm stereo headset jack.

In his explanation was also mentioned, phones that use 256 MB of flash memory and latest-generation 512 MHz processor, it offers premium features such as voice activated dialing and Bluetooth 2.0 support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth accessories.

Although the supplied 2 GB memory card in it, the BlackBerry Gemini memory can also be added by using a memory card slot hot swapable microSD / SDHC up to 32 GB capacity.

To speed access, this phone is believed to still have a high speed connection though does not have 3G/HSDPA. This phone operates on the network EGDE / GPRS / GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz). For alternative connections, RIM also provides built-in Wi-Fi in Gemini.


Full Specification of Blackberry Gemini 8520:
Size and Weight
Height : 4.29 inches (109 mm)
Width : 2.36 inches (60 mm)
Depth : 0.54 inches (13.9 mm)
Weight : 3.73 ounces (106 grams)

Battery & Battery Life
* Battery: 1150 mAHr removable/rechargeable cryptographic Lithium cell
* Talk Time: 4.5 hours
* Standby Time: 17 days

Display
* Clear, high-resolution display
* Transmisive TFT MCD
* 320×240 pixel screen
* Displays over 65,000 colors
* 2.46″ (diagonally measured)

Camera & Video Recording
* 2.0 MP camera
* 5X digital zoom
* Video Camera Recording : Normal Mode (320×240 pixel),MMS Mode (176×144 pixel)

Data Input & Navigation
* 35 key backlit QWERTY keyboard
* Dedicated Keys: Send, End, VAD/PTT (User customizable), Camera (User customizable), 2 x volume
* Media Keys: Play/Pause/Mute, Back, Forward
* Trackpad – Located on the front face of device, ESC key to the right, Menu to the left.
* Intuitive icons and menus

Media Player
* Video format support : MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV3
* Audio format support : AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, WMA9 (.wma/.asf), WMA9 PRO/WMA 10, AAC-LC
* Picture Format Support : bmp, jpg, png, tif, wbmp

Ringtones & Notifications
* Tone, vibrate, on-screen or LED indicator
* User configurable notification options
* 32 Polyphonic Ringtones – MIDI, MP3

Bluetooth
* Bluetooth® v2.0 + EDR
* Headset (HSP), 3.5mm Headset Capable
* Handsfree (HSF)
* Serial Port Profile
* SIM Access Profile
* Dial Up Networking (DUN)
* Stereo Profile (A2DP)
* A/V Remote Control Target (AVRCP)

Security
* Password protection
* Screen lock
* Sleep mode

Wi-Fi
* 802.11b/g enabled
* Wi-Fi Alliance Certifications: WPA/WPA2 Personal and Enterprise, WMM
* WMM Power Save planned
* Cisco CCX Certification planned
* Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry® Enterprise Server
* Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry® Internet Service
* Direct IP web browsing over Wi-Fi
* Support for UMA/GMA

Wireless Networks
* Quad-Band: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
* Quad-Band: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz EDGE networks

Price: $299.99
READ MORE - Blackberry Gemini 8520 Review , Price and Full Specification

Blackberry Touchscreen 1.0 and Pearl 2.0 coming soon!

So this report from Research GMP Securities adds a lot of weight to this rumor, but its been around for so long that I am keeping it on rumor status until I see the damn thing. Nonetheless the people at GMP are reporting that they were shown exhibits from a couple different patent applications, the first a touchscreen Blackberry, the second a new Pearl.

The Touchscreen Blackberry, or BlackBerry Touchscreen, has several other new features, obviously the large tough-screen is the biggest one since it’s the first device RIM will have ever made with a touchscreen. On top of that though, there is a slide out keyboard, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G and a 3.5-inch 320×480 display. Also, they are talking about an entirely new OS that would both utilize the touch-screen and offer up multithreading capabilities so you can do more than one thing at once.

The second, and noticeably more boring, device is the Pearl 2.0 sans the SureType keypad. Instead, they are going to have a rotating keyboard, QWERTY on one side, numbers on the other which would make it easier to dial a number, and easier to type without getting the two mixed up.
READ MORE - Blackberry Touchscreen 1.0 and Pearl 2.0 coming soon!

BlackBerry Tour 9630 Review, Price and Detai Specification

As a successor in the ranks of World Edition smartphone is Research In Motion is a product that supports both CDMA and GSM at the same time (dual standby). Prior to this, RIM itself has been present in the form of CDMA specific BlackBerry BlackBerry 8703e, which circulated September 2006.

Interestingly, in both modes supported network, RIM buried support high-speed data connectivity. For GSM, this smartphone supports HSDPA 7.2 Mbit / s, while on the CDMA, EVDO-Rev A capable of presenting data speeds up to 3.1 Mbit / s.

Features
BlackBerry Tour 9630 has a screen measuring 2.4 inches diagonally and is able to bring 65,536 colors at a resolution of 480x360 pixels. The interface on the smartphone is clear and easy to use. Users can also change the order of icons and group them into folders. And as usual, view images and themes can be modified as desired.

For email, the BlackBerry Tour can synchronize with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and supports Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise to deliver corporate email to the handset.

With BlackBerry Internet Service, up to 10 email accounts that support POP3 or IMAP4 can be integrated here. If the email contains an attachment, the Tour is available attachment viewer for Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Corel WordPerfect, PDF, JPG, GIF, and others.

As a complement, the application DataViz Documents To Go Standard Edition allows users of this handset can do editing of Word documents, Excel, and PowerPoint. If you want to be able to create new documents, please upgrade to Premium Edition application.

For those who like to chat, in addition to BlackBerry Messenger, on the handset is already included instant messenger application for Windows Live, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, and AIM. Users no longer need to install it manually. Similarly, applications for Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr.

To download applications, available BlackBerry App World. Various applications that may be required users available there. Unfortunately, such applications should only be downloaded to the BlackBerry main memory capacity is only 256MB. Unable to micro SD cards are available up to 8GB capacity.

Design
BlackBerry Tour 9630 appears as a combination between the Javelin with the Bold. With 112 x 62 x 14.2 millimeters, the size of the Tour was in the middle between the Javelin with the Bold, although Tour 0.2 millimeter thicker than the Bold 9000. The weight of the Tour is also in the middle of the two with 130 grams.

For input, the Tour includes a Qwerty keyboard with 35 keys. Although more compact, the buttons are similar to the buttons found on the BlackBerry Bold. White backlight make the letters and numbers easy viewing in dark conditions.

Also the same as the Bold 9000, the Tour 9630, for navigation, RIM provides a trackball. Unfortunately, when we tested, the trackball is impressed fragile because it directly goes to the touch. This course is very detrimental because of dust and other dirt can very easily get into the casing. Nevertheless, the trackball itself is quite responsive when used.

Detail specification of BlackBerry Tour 9630:
  • Size (L x W x D): 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm
  • Weight: 130 grams
  • Memory: 256 MB internal Flash memory
  • Expandable Memory: microSD located under the battery door cover
  • Battery: 1400 mAh removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell
  • Battery Life: TBD
  • USB Port: Enables charging and high-spead data synchronization via USB “A” to micro USB “B” cable
  • Network Support:
  • Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900MHz
  • GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks
  • CDMA/EVDO Rev A networks
  • Single-band: 2100 MHz
  • UMTS/HSPA networks
  • Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz
  • Keyboard: 35 key backlit QWERTY
  • Display: High resolution HVGA 480×360 pixel
  • Camera: 3.2 MP camera, flash auto focus
  • GPS: Assisted, autonomous and simultaneous GPS enabled with preloaded BlackBerry Application for e911 capabilities
  • Media Player: Video format support MPEG4; Audio format support MP3, AAC AAC+ etc
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth V2.0; mono/stereo headset, hands-free, PBAP
  • Headset: 3.5mm stereo headset capable
Price: $566.67
READ MORE - BlackBerry Tour 9630 Review, Price and Detai Specification

BlackBerry Storm review

The BlackBerry Storm this is a sleek-looking phone with lots of impressive features, like its sharp display and clickable touch screen. RIM designed this phone as a direct competitor to Apple's iPhone, but the BlackBerry Storm falls a little short.

The BlackBerry Storm will be available from Verizon Wireless on November 21, and will cost $250 when you sign a new two-year service agreement. You'll also be eligible for a $50 mail-in rebate, but that rebate comes in the form of a debit card, not cash.

Design
The Storm is beautiful. It's slightly shorter than an iPhone, but a tad wider and thicker. Like the iPhone, the Storm is shiny black with silver edging, and its face is dominated by its 3.2-inch touch screen. Beneath the screen, you get four buttons: a send key, an end key, a BlackBerry menu key, and a back key.

PROS: The clickable touch screen is the Storm's headline grabbing feature, and I like it. The screen glows blue when you touch an item (such as a key on the on-screen keyboard or an on-screen button); you then press down on the touch screen just as if you were typing. The screen will click and it actually does feel like you're really typing, and you know that your touch has registered. Like the iPhone, the Storm has an accelerometer, which changes the orientation of the screen's contents when you rotate the phone.

CONS: The blue glow that lets you know you're about to hit the right key is very helpful, because some of the menu buttons and keys feel small and scrunched together. I also found the Storm's menu system a bit cluttered and confusing: It's organized into folders and icons that are easy to browse, but some of them seem to duplicate one another. For example, you get a folder called "Applications" and an icon labeled "Application Center." You also get a folder called "Downloads." It's not always clear what you'll find in each folder. The iPhone forgoes a folder system for simple icons: Each of the phone's functions gets its own button, which makes it easy to find what you're looking for.

Making Calls
PROS: Accessing the phone features is a breeze, and--for the most part--voice quality was very good on the Storm. I found the phone comfortable to hold during calls.

CONS: The volume was bit low; I had to set the Storm's volume to its highest level to hear callers clearly when there was any background noise. I also found the clickable touch screen to be slightly problematic when I held the Storm to my ear: It's actually quite easy to accidentally press it with your cheek. I did this a couple of times, and it ended up muting my calls.

Browsing the Web
PROS: Web pages look great on the Storm's crisp, clear screen, and it's a breeze to zoom in and out on pages using the handy buttons at the bottom of your browser window. You get support for Verizon's 3G EVDO network, which delivered speedy surfing in my tests.

CONS: The Storm lacks support for Wi-Fi networks, so you have to rely on the availability of the 3G network to speed up your Web access. And while the browser offers handy buttons for zooming in and out on Web pages, it lacks dedicated forward and back buttons. You can use the hardware back button below the screen to move to previously-viewed Web pages, but none of the buttons seemed to work as a forward button.
Messaging

PROS: BlackBerry phones are messaging champs, and the Storm is no exception. It will access 10 personal and business e-mail accounts, and virtually all types are supported. Another bonus: The Storm lets you view and compose e-mail messages with the phone held horizontally--unlike the iPhone, whose e-mail app only works when the phone is held vertically.

CONS: It's a good thing you can rotate the phone, because when it's held vertically, the onscreen keyboard uses the SureType format, which puts two letters on each key. I've never been fond of the SureType format--I find that it dramatically slows down my typing--and I found it even more cumbersome on the touch-screen keyboard. I also found the Storm's on-screen keyboard a bit confusing when I was trying to send a text message: Rather than present you with a numeric keypad when you're typing in the "to:" field, the Storm gives you a letter keyboard. You can press a button to access the numeric keypad, but after each number, it defaults back to the letter screen. So entering a 10-digit phone number is painstaking.
Software

PROS: The Storm comes with Verizon's VZNavigator, Visual Voicemail, and the Standard Edition of DataViz Documents To Go, which allows you to view and edit (but not create) Microsoft Office documents. You also get access to the Application Center, which will evolve into a store that allows you to browse through and download software to your phone.

CONS: The Application Center has only a few apps available right now, including Flickr, Facebook, and several instant messaging clients.
Multimedia

PROS: The 3.2-megapixel camera features a flash and autofocus. It also captures video. It took some excellent snapshots and I found it easy to use. It's definitely a step up from the iPhone's 2-megapixel camera. You also get a decent music and video player that support a variety of formats.

CONS: The Storm doesn't seem to support Verizon's VCast Music service just yet. This is a shame, as the VCast Music with Rhapsody service is one of the better cell phone music services I've seen.

The BlackBerry Storm takes the excellent messaging capabilities of the BlackBerry Bold and combines them with the slick touch-screen design of an iPhone. But the Storm doesn't shine as brightly as either of those phones. Still, it's an innovative phone with a lot going for it--especially if you like the Verizon Wireless network.
READ MORE - BlackBerry Storm review

Samsung Galaxy S2(transparent yet sophisticated) review, specs and price

The Samsung Galaxy S II is the phone the Korean firm deems the successor to its best smartphone so far. And with a 1.2GHz processor, super-slim chassis and feather-light innards, it's easy to see why.
The dual-core race is set to heat up massively over the next few months, with the LG Optimus 2X already released, and the Motorola Atrix, HTC Sensation and iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S all set to bring the tech to market too.

Coming in at £35 a month and £519.99 SIM-free, the Galaxy S 2 isn't the cheapest phone out there by a long chalk – so let's see if it can match up to that larger price tag.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is almost impossibly thin when you pick it up – dimensions of 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5mm mean it's one of the thinnest smartphones on the market at the moment, rivalling the likes of the iPhone 4 and Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc for the title.

It's crazy-light too – when we show you what tech is rammed under the hood, you'll be amazed that it all goes in a device that weighs only a shade over 100g (116g, to be precise).

Samsung clearly traded the premium feel an all-metal chassis might have brought to keep the grams off the Galaxy S2 – pop the battery cover off and you'll find you're holding a piece of pretty flimsy plastic.
However, most of the time you won't be removing this and it fits nicely into the contoured chassis – the mesh feel on the rear also helps keep your hand from getting warm during extended holding.

The other thing you'll notice when you first pick up the Galaxy S2 is the screen – at 4.3 inches it's hard to miss, and when you turn it on the Super AMOLED plus technology hits you square in the eyeballs (once it's got through the toughened Gorilla Glass).
We called the Samsung Galaxy S "the best phone on the market for media" when we reviewed it, thanks to its first-gen Super AMOLED screen. Now the Galaxy S2 has definitely improved on that, with a superbly crisp and vibrant screen.
The only problem is a slightly schizophrenic auto-brightness - if you try and save battery by having the sensor monitor ambient light levels, then the screen decides to bounce about with light levels even in same conditions.

UPDATE: Samsung has released a fix to solve this problem already, so forget about it. Un-read what you just read. We could delete it, but that would be lying to you.

In the hand, the Samsung Galaxy S2 sits much better than we'd have expected, given the whopping screen on offer, and that's mostly down to its slim depth.The front of the phone is pretty sparse, with the home key the only piece of furniture on offer. This rectangular button flanks two touch-sensitive buttons – Menu and Back – so there's no room for contextual search here.

The volume keys are located on the left-hand side, and the power/lock key is on the opposite flank; both are easy enough to hit without error, and crucially the travel on the power key is softer so that it's much easier to hit when you're juggling it in the palm – compare that to its predecessor, where you could accidentally drop it trying to shut off the screen.

The 3.5mm headphone jack lives on the top of the phone, bucking the lower placement on other 4.3-inch screen phones, and the microUSB slot (which also doubles as an HDMI out port) lives on the bottom.

The only other element of note is the 8.1MP camera with single LED flash on the rear – it's slightly raised, but not so much that it disrupts the Galaxy S2 when you're placing it on a table, thanks to a rear lip to help you hold the phone.

Samsung S2 Galaxy Specifications:
  • Samsung Fire
  • Model-Galaxy S2
  • Mobile Product
  • GPS
  • 1080p Full HD video recording
  • 32GB internal memory
  • 1GB RAM
  • 32 GB flash storage
  • 4.3? Display
  • 3.5mm audio jack
  • 4GB ROM
  • WiFi
  • super slim
  • microSD card slot
  • light sensors
  • Android 3.0
  • Wi-Fi
  • 8 megapixel camera
  • Bluetooth
The Samsung Galaxy S2 Smartphone is Priced $ 650,00 - $ 750,00
READ MORE - Samsung Galaxy S2(transparent yet sophisticated) review, specs and price