Nokia N9

The Nokia N9 was hottly anticipated and yet, sadly, this illusive handset won't be widely available to the majority of you readers. Simply put, when we hold the Nokia N9 in our hands, we're holding a piece of history. MeeGo, the culmination of decades of Nokia mobile software development, is now offically canceled So why are we reviewing the Nokia N9?

The hardware, both an evolution of the critically acclaimed Nokia N8 and an insight into what we might expect with the next chapter of Nokias. With its edgy plastic build, 1GHz processor, 3.9" AMOLED screen, 8MP camera and not least of all, MeeGo, the enigmatic Nokia N9 is both a proud tribute to yesterday and an optimistic insight into Nokia's tomorrow.

 

Design:

Undoubtedly, Nokia has churned out some fantastic hardware in recent years. Take the N8 and E7, respectively at the top of their game when it comes to product design with beautiful annodised alluminum chasis' and confident, bold shapes that just work in the hand, in the pocket and to the eye. We therefore have high expectations from the Nokia N9's AMOLED bevelled glass display,high-grade coloured plastic encasing,not to mention the slab's abundance of personality.

Beginning with the display, even before you set a finger upon the Gorilla Glass, as the light bounces off the beveled edges, the Nokia N9 begins to come into its own. With the phone locked, the convex beveling accentuates the natural curves of the device, while the deep, AMOLED black screen gives way to a light, typographic time display.

Double tap the screen to reveal the wallpaper, our chosen being a beautiful bokehing of light against a dark backdrop. At WVGA resolution, this 3.9" Clear Black AMOLED display delivers a crisp, vibrant image, and accurate colour with the wallpaper looking every bit as evocative as you might hope.

 Interacting with the curved glass is a sensory treat, slick, smooth and contoured for an edge to edge recess with every swipe. All in all, a definite highpoint of the Nokia N9. The one criticism we would have relates to viewing angles.Tilt the device a few degrees and a blue hue takes hold, so while detail retains its integrity, color unfortunately doesn't.

 The Nokia N9 can be rested flat or stood up in portrait thanks to its dramatic flat top and bottom sides. Pick up the handset and there's no cold, steely reception. Instead, the Nokia N9 greets with a nostalgic, reassuring room temperature warmth. In the face of the plastic casing, the phone feels thoroughly modern and solid. Maserfully crafted, curvaceous, laden with flush elements and a minimalistic, buttonless fascia, the Nokia N9's design comes together harmoniously and with intent.

 Hidden on bezel below the screen: the front facing camera (strange, isn't it). On the right side is the volume rocker and lock/power button, at the base, the loudspeaker and on the top-side, the microSIM card slot, the hinged micro USB cover and 3.5mm headphone jack. On the back of the Nokia N9 lies the 8MP camera with dual LED flash. There is no removable battery or expandable memory which is unfortunate, though given the strong design, we can see why Nokia made this decision.

Simple, engaging and playful.Nokia have played to their strengths with their N9's design. Available in three colors, black, cyan and magenta, all finished to the highest degree, if you care about how what you pull out of your pocket looks, then you'll revel in revealing your Nokia N9. From an ergonomic point of view, the handset also feels rich, and sits well in the hand. The bottom right hand corner may be a tad edgy forprolongedcomfort against a palm, however for standard use, this handset is at the top of its game.

HTC Radar 4G for T-Mobile

The HTC Radar 4G for T-Mobile has just arrived for me as the FedEx guy furiously hit my buzzer and decided to play Morse code with it, but that’s another story. The HTC Radar 4G was just announced with full pricing details this morning, and I’m excited to review this phone because it’s a departure from the usual, somewhat boring Android business I’ve been swamped in recently. I think I’ve reviewed like fifty Android devices alone this year. So, I’m glad to have this Windows Phone 7 device in my hand. (Click on the thumbnails for a bigger image, and click again for an even bigger photo.)

Why’d I do an unboxing and a photo gallery? Well, because I am excited. There isn’t much in the box, and there isn’t a whole lot to see right now. After all, I’d just gotten the phone. But anyone who knows me I also knows that I love the white smartphones, and I’m fond of HTC’s build quality and design, so I thought I’d throw some pictures up on here as a teaser. It’s pretty lightweight and almost the same size as the iPhone 4/4S, and its thickness feels about the same, too. The hardware is solid.

BlackBerry Curve 9360

 BlackBerry Curve 9360 has been spotted on the BlackBerry software download section for MTS Mobility carrier, by the folks over at MobileSyrup, which confirms that its upcoming availability.
Although no details about the phone's release date and price options emerged yet, it is expected to go live in the following weeks with a low price tag attached to it.
In this regard, MTS offers the old BlackBerry Curve 9300 with BlackBerry 6 operating system on board for only $29.99 (22 EUR) with a three-year agreement and a minimum $44.99 (32 EUR) voice and data plan.
Aimed at customers who cannot afford one of the high-end BlackBerry 7 smartphones, such as the Bold 9900, Torch 9810 or Torch 9860, BlackBerry Curve 9360 promises to deliver the same level of user experience.
The newest RIM smartphone offered by MTS is the Torch 9810, which is now available for purchase for as low as $149.99 (108 EUR) with a new three-year agreement and a minimum $44.99 (32 EUR) voice and data plan.
Given these prices, we can safely assume that the Curve 9360 will be priced at around $100 (72 EUR) with a new three-year agreement.
The smartphone runs RIM's latest BlackBerry 7 operating system and offers the same traditional full portrait QWERTY keyboard along with touch-sensitive optical trackpad.

In addition, the Curve 9360 is equipped with a single core 800 MHz processor and packs 512 MB of internal memory, 512 MB or RAM and microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).
Unlike BlackBerry Bold 9900 that features a touchscreen display, the Curve 9360 comes with a standard 2.44-inch display with 480 x 360 pixels resolution.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the latest collaboration between Samsung and Google, and is the first smartphone to ship with the new Google Android 4.0 ("Ice Cream Sandwich") operating system.
Android 4.0 combines elements from the Android 3.0 OS that runs on tablets and Android 2.3 from smartphones to create a unified operating system that can be used on either type of device. On immediately obvious change is that the Galaxy Nexus no longer has any physical buttons on the front as these have been replaced with on-screen virtual keys instead.

      Nexus handsets have always been a bit special. The original HTC-built Google Nexus One was initially a bit of a sales disaster, but Google re-focussed it as a handset aimed at developers and Android enthusiasts where it would always be the first handset to have the latest version of Android made available.. and this turned it into a niche success. This was followed up by the first Android 2.3 device, the Samsung Nexus S, and now we have the third generation Nexus device which opens a new chapter in the Android story.

      

Apart from several cosmetic changes, Android 4.0 offers better task management, advanced NFC support (including file sharing), voice typing (although probably not a patch on Siri on the iPhone 4S), Google+ integration and an unlock feature that uses facial recognition. We don't know if any manufacturers intend to offer an upgrade path to Android 4.0 for existing handsets, and as we said yesterday the OS is a key differentiator between the Galaxy Nexus and something like the new Motorola RAZR.
Samsung have a good reputation for producing powerful handsets at the moment, and the Galaxy Nexus is certainly an impressive beast when it comes to hardware. Perhaps the screen is the most impressive component - a large 4.65" 1280 x 720 pixel Super AMOLED panel that is both larger and with a higher resolution than almost every other smartphone announced to date, apart from the Samsung Galaxy Note.
Inside is a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor with 1GB of RAM. Internal flash memory is either 16GB or 32GB depending on model, but there is no mention of a memory slot. One the back is a 5 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording plus a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for video calls. Although 5 megapixels doesn't sound like a lot, Samsung have added their own magic to it including a continuous shot panorama mode and all sorts of clever effects.

   

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is available in two sort-of-4G versions, an LTE version and an HSPA+ version. For GSM/HSPA users the maximum download speed will be 21Mbps, if your carrier supports it. 802.11b, g and n WiFi is supported, as is NFC technology. Inside is a large 1750mAh battery, and the whole handset measures 136 x 68 x 9mm and weighs 135 grams.

All the usual Android feature are here too, including GPS, DLNA support and a wealth of applications. And because this is a Nexus phone you can expect to be among the first for new releases of the operating system as well.
This is quite an expensive device, Samsung's recommended retail price is around €600 when it starts to ship in November. Carphone Warehouse will be offering it in the UK for about the same price at the Apple iPhone 4S when taken with a new contract.
For that sort of money we would expect the Galaxy Nexus to be a bit more of a looker - it's a fairly typical Samsung design and it's nowhere near as attractive as some rivals. Still, most people interested in owning a Nexus handset will be more interested in the operating system and brilliant display.. looks are not everything, after all.

HTC Sensation XL

The bigger brother to the new Sensation XE, the HTC Sensation XL is just what the name suggests - an extra large version of the already powerful Sensation smartphone.

The key feature here is the 4.7" 480 x 800 pixel Gorilla Glass touchscreen display, coupled with a 1.5 GHz single-core processor and 768MB of RAM and 16GB of non-expandable flash memory. On the back is an 8 megapixel camera with a large 28mm lens and dual LED flash, capable of 720p HD video recording. On the front is a 1.3 megapixel camera to make video calls with.
In many ways, the HTC Sensation XL can be regarded as the Android version of the forthcoming Windows-based HTC TITAN, another powerful big-screen smartphone.
This is an Android 2.3 smartphone with all the usual features that you'd expect to see from an HTC Android device. The Sensation XL includes Beats Audio for improved sound quality.. sound quality so good that HTC spent $300m securing the rights to use it.
Despite the large display and fast processor, the HTC Sensation XL isn't quite the monster that the Samsung Galaxy Note is when it comes to size and performance, but the HTC is certainly a nicer looking handset with significantly better audio capabilities.

 

All the usual Android features are here such as GPS, WiFi, 3.5G connectivity, Bluetooth, USB support, a 3.5mm audio socket and a massive library of applications available from the Android Market. With the fast processor and large amount of RAM, you can be sure that the Sensation XL will cope with everything that you can throw at it.

 At 162 grams and 133 x 71 x 10mm, the Sensation XL is a little on the large and heavy side, but that's the price you pay for a big display. Inside is a large 1600 mAh battery which HTC say can provide up to 6.8 hours talktime and 15 days of standby time on 3G, but you may get substantially less depending on what you use your phone for.
It's a shame that the Sensation XL doesn't have expandable memory. Although there's 16GB of internal flash, after the OS has taken some of it there is less than 13GB available for the user. That is quite a lot, but recently Apple raised the stakes with a massive 64GB of memory in the new iPhone 4S.

 

This is a powerful and very desirable device, but it has the misfortune of being the first major product announcement after the iPhone 4S. Although the Sensation XL's big screen is something the new iPhone can't manage, we feel that Apple's new iOS 5 makes Android 2.3 look a bit old-fashioned. Also, next week we may be seeing the first Android 4.0 launch with a new Nexus handset from Samsung, and the rumours are that the end of the month may see the first official announcement of Nokia's new Windows Phone line. So, impressive though the XL is, the competition has become more intense.

Samsung Champ Duos E2652

Samsung Champ Duos E2652 is a dual-SIM touchscreen phone with GPRS support. It has 1.3MP camera with video recording, dual speakers for better sound output, and Sound Alive feature for producing 3D sound effects. Other features include email support, multiple IMs including Windows Live, Palringo, Bluetooth messenger, access to Facebook & Twitter, and 16GB expandable memory.

Nokia N8

Nokia's reputation as a leader in the smartphone market has been under increasing pressure in recent years, as a string of 'high end' handsets have failed to capture the minds and wallets of the phone-buying public.
So to fix that, Nokia's gone back to the drawing board to bring out the Nokia N8, featuring a new OS and a huge amount of high end tech packed under the hood.

If you're in the market for a new smartphone, you can check out our quick video guide to what to look out for:

Having announced the phone back in April, Nokia has been holding off on release to make sure the user experience is as good as possible.

But it needs to be very good indeed seeing as most other brands announce a phone then release it within weeks – we've been waiting nearly half a year for this one.

The underlying software has been improved and Symbian^3 builds on the previous iterations of the OS seen on the likes of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia X6, but adds in multiple home screens, widgets and an improved UI.
Hardware-wise, Nokia has pushed the boat out too with the new N8, offering a full metal chassis with anodised scratch-proof paint to give the phone a really high end feel.
It really is scratch-proof - rubbing keys on it produced no ill-effects, although the slider switch on the side can get its paint rubbed off over time.

However, with a 12MP camera with Xenon flash bolted on the back, it's not a super-slim device - it fits in the hand well enough but the dimensions 113.5 x 59 x 12.9 mm aren't going to rival the likes of the iPhone 4 and the Samsung Galaxy S, especially when being forced into more tightly fitting trousers.

The Nokia N8 also doesn't have a removable battery either - the full metal chassis is completely enclosed so unless you've got a very particular screwdriver, you're not getting in to replace any innards.

To that end, Nokia has put two hinged gates on the side of the N8, giving access to the microSD card slot and the SIM card port - both are quite hard to pull open (which isn't a bad thing as you're probably not going to be opening them very often) and clicking cards in can be tricky too without long fingernails.

The rest of the Nokia N8 continues the higher-end feel: the 3.5-inch capacitive OLED screen really pops with colour (although doesn't quite match the impressive sharpness of Samsung's Super AMOLED) and the minimalistic design sees only one rather functional-looking button on the front, eschewing the extra soft keys Nokia has implemented for so many years.

The top of the N8 is where it mostly happens though - there's a mini HD port, the 3.5mm headphone jack and the power switch, which is also used to quickly change profiles when buzzing through the N8's interface.
The bottom houses the charger port - and it's a standard 2mm 'new Nokia charger' port, which initially seems like an odd choice when you can also charge through the microUSB port too, like all other phones, even when connected to a PC.
We can only assume that Nokia has done this so that when you're streaming over USB on the go (more on that later) you can keep charging the phone too.