Nokia N97 hands-on and impressions

by **Darren Murph**, posted Jun 3rd 2009 @ 4:41PM

We're not quite sure what levers they pulled, but our compadres over at Engadget Spanish have managed to wrangle a retail N97 out of Nokia's tightly-clasped hands, and naturally, they've done us the honors of photographing it. We're hoping to snag a unit of our own soon, but 'til then, tap the read link for lots more shots and even a video. Yes, a video. Welcome to the internet.

by **Darren Murph**, posted May 30th 2009 @ 6:28PM

With only days to go before at least four or five Sprint stores begin selling Palm's Pre, we're already seeing at least one employee with some time on his hands give the smartphone a go. Moral of the story? Right about now would be an awesome time to know somebody who can get behind a Sprint counter without using an unlawful amount of force.

by **Darren Murph**, posted May 25th 2009 @ 8:33AM

It may be a Japan exclusive for now, but Hitachi's Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo has folks drooling from sea to shining sea. The cats over at Akihabara News were able to take a glimpse while KDDI unveiled its summer lineup, and they seemed to be quite impressed with the video quality and ease of use. Check the read link for a video of the flip phone in action, but remember, don't get too attached unless you call Japan home.

by **Ross Miller**, posted May 24th 2009 @ 3:01PM

Not that it wasn't without warning, but we've now got some pretty definitive picture proof that HTC 's Touch Pro2 is set to bask in Verizon's CDMA goodness -- we guess your Sprint friends won't be having all the fun, after all. Also caught on camera here is the HTC Cedar, a CDMA version of the HTC Maple / Snap. It's got a slightly different button layout just under the screen than the Sprint version we recently saw, which itself is different from its initial unveiling. According to 474RPR, who leaked these pics, this one's bound for Alltel's network, which while we don't see any proof from the image, we could totally buy that. Of course, none of these pics give a release date of any sort, so hang tight while we all anxiously wait in unison.

[Via wmpoweruser]

by **Darren Murph**, posted May 22nd 2009 @ 6:58AM

While it won't be the first handset to capture 720p video (hello, OmniaHD!), Hitachi's Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Woo is still apt to garner quite a bit of attention. As the leaked images hosted down below show, this clever flip phone packs 1,280 x 720 video recording, a 5 megapixel sensor, HDMI interface and a microSDHC slot for good measure. A generous tipster has informed us that said phone is slated to launch this coming Monday on KDDI, though we fully expect that envious North Americans won't ever get to toy with one on their home turf. For shame.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Gallery: Hitachi's Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo cellphone does 720p video recording

by **Darren Murph**, posted May 5th 2009 @ 8:48AM

After being officially unveiled (twice) for the European market last month, LG's GC900 Viewty Smart has finally arrived into the loving hands of those at GSMArena. The unit you see above is actually a pre-production unit, but it was baked enough to warrant a full-scale preview until review units start to ship. One of the biggest reveals was this line: "It's not a smartphone or anything, no matter how much we would have liked that; instead, it's a regular full touch feature phone, but one with a really polished UI and top-notch imaging capabilities." Critics spent a good bit of time checking out the still-novel 8MP camera, and while they were generally pleased with image quality and color, they weren't so stoked about the phone's ability to capture video. Overall though, they couldn't help but gush about the "gorgeous display" and "best-of-class user interface," which definitely leaves us even hungrier to wrap our own digits around a finalized unit.

by **Darren Murph**, posted Apr 28th 2009 @ 2:30PM

Once assumed to be a physically smaller version of the original Instinct (affectionately referred to as the Instinct Mini), the Instinct s30 is actually not an Instinct Nano. Sure, it's trimmed up and a bit more curvaceous, but those accustomed to the original won't notice a great deal of weight loss here. Unlike the original, Sprint's (smartly) not pushing this handset as an iPhone killer; instead, it's letting it be exactly what is it, which is a decent featurephone with a few unique niceties and nothing whatsoever that's mind-blowing. So, is the second iteration of the Instinct worth your time (and by extension, money)? Follow us past the break to find out.

Gallery: Samsung Instinct s30

by **Darren Murph**, posted Apr 27th 2009 @ 10:17AM

Frankly, if we were forced to choose between smudgy and blurry, we'd take the former each day of the week. Russia's own Mobile-Review has somehow already managed to wrap its paws around one of the newly released Android-based I7500s, and while it's not really a drastic departure from Sammy's other smartphones of late, it's still worth a peek if you're suddenly in the market for one. Check the read link for the goods.

[Via ForoAndroid]

by **Darren Murph**, posted Apr 20th 2009 @ 1:52PM

Plantronics isn't planning to share intimate details about its Voyager PRO Bluetooth headset until April 23rd, but evidently its supply chain executives didn't exactly touch base with marketing before sending out stock to Best Buy. Jeff and John both managed to procure the $119.99 Bluetooth headset over the weekend, and we've got the shots to prove it. Based on the teaser site down in the read link, this here headset should be it's most advanced yet, but for a buck twenty, it better answer and respond to our calls without us having to intervene.

Update: Plantronics pinged us to say the price point here should be $99. Interesting.

[Thanks, Jeff and John]

Gallery: Plantronics Voyager PRO gets purchased, unboxed early

by **Darren Murph**, posted Mar 28th 2009 @ 11:25PM

Ah, the natural progression of a handset. Rumor? Check. Official launch? Check. In the wild spottings? As of now, check! Sony Ericsson's recently outed T707 flip phone has already been acquired and photographed over at DailyMobile, and while there's nothing here out of the ordinary, it's still a must-see for any SE enthusiast. Check the gallery in the read link below.

[Thanks, Daniel]

by **Darren Murph**, posted Mar 26th 2009 @ 11:07AM

It's hard to say if this elusive new touchscreen handset will indeed be slotted between a few of Samsung's other UltraTouch phones, but either way, we're digging it. We get the feeling this so-called S8000 was already shown to us in that now-famous slide of Sammy's upcoming lineup, but the whole "blur factor" kept us from really keying in on it. At any rate, we're really feeling the style presented here, and despite the fact that we know absolutely nothing about its specifications (save for the flash-equipped 5MP camera), we definitely want to hold one. Check the read link for a few more (amazingly clear) looks.

by **Darren Murph**, posted Mar 23rd 2009 @ 9:12AM

Just days after Samsung's SCH-U490 received a rebrand for use on Verizon Wireless, in flies a couple of leaked slides that give us a few more tasty tidbits to chew on. Said slides confirm that the phone will be a slider and include a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, a microSDHC card slot and a Mobile Web 2.0 browser. Outside of that, details are scant, but you can rest assured that we'll probably hear more at CTIA.

by **Darren Murph**, posted Mar 12th 2009 @ 4:31PM

We've already investigated every single nook and crannie involved in Sony Ericsson's 12 megapixel Idou, but here's something we haven't seen: an associated stylus. It's difficult to tell at the moment if SE plans to toss this in with the Idou (or whatever it ends being called) like Nokia did when it threw in a guitar pick with the 5800 XpressMusic, but either way, you can consider our interest piqued. Not that we're fans of using a stylus over our own digits, mind you, but we are fond of random, if not unnecessary accessories. Save the lecture, we realize that's odd.

[Thanks, Jesper]

by **Darren Murph**, posted Mar 9th 2009 @ 4:41AM

Low light, candles in the corner -- seriously folks, these shots are downright sultry. Optus' HTC G1, er, Dream has been spotted and photographed in some random corner of the world, and while it basically looks like every other G1 you've ever seen in this hue, we're absolutely certain that Australians in attendance are more than happy to have a look. You know where to head for the rest.

[Thanks, Tom]

by **Darren Murph**, posted Feb 20th 2009 @ 6:23AM

It's not unheard of for a phone to look better in press shots than in real life, and unless our eyes are badly deceived, we'd say that's exactly the case with Motorola's ZN300. Russia's own Mobile-Review has somehow come across a smattering of images for the not-yet-released slider, and while the UI isn't really doing anything for us, we're curiously intrigued by its faintly futuristic design. Hit the read link and see what we mean, won'tcha?

[Via UnwiredView, thanks to everyone who sent this in]