Tag Archives: T-Mobile - Page 2

Nokia N900

Posted by on Wednesday, 14 October, 2009 No comments

nokia n900 Nokia N900The Nokia N900 will be the first in a new series of devices from this company. Its design isn’t radically new, but this will be the smartphone running Maemo, an open source operating system based on Linux.

First Impressions
I was a long-time user of an earlier Maemo-based device, the Nokia N810, and I was surprised by how different the N900 will be from its predecessor. Fortunately, most of these changes seem to be improvements.

There’s no doubt what the biggest change will be: the N900 will be the first in this series to be a phone. The earlier models – N810, N800, etc. — were handheld computers without cellular-wireless capabilities. This one change leads to many of the others.

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BlackBerry Curve 8520

Posted by on Thursday, 3 September, 2009 No comments

BlackBerry Curve 8520 BlackBerry Curve 8520The BlackBerry Curve 8520 shows that the future of the BlackBerry is here… kind of.

By far the stand-out feature of the Curve 8520 is its new optical trackpad, which replaces the trackball for navigation – and it rocks.

In a confusing move though, the 8520 is the third Curve available on T-Mobile, in addition to the original and the 8900, which was released early this year.

The 8250 has several elements that depart from traditional BlackBerrys, beyond just the trackpad. Features such as dedicated media keys across the top of the device, a smaller LED indicator, updated look for the call and end-call keys, and new ‘hidden’ convenience keys on the side of the phone all work together to position the 8250 to expand its reach to younger market segments that other BlackBerrys have failed to capture.

Other areas such as the screen and lack of 3G (though it does have Wi-Fi) indicate that RIM and T-Mobile weren’t willing to pull out all the stops for this one.

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HTC Magic

Posted by on Wednesday, 6 May, 2009 No comments

HTC Magic 235x300 HTC MagicThe HTC Magic will be the second smartphone running Google’s Android to be released by a major carrier. This model will strongly resemble its predecessor, but lack the T-Mobile G1′s hardware keyboard.

First Impressions
I’ll confess, the Magic surprised me with how slim it is. It looks so much like the T-Mobile G1 (AKA HTC Dream) that I subconsciously expected it to be thicker. As soon as I picked it up I turned it sideways to see where the missing quarter of an inch had gone.

I’m pleased with the new design, but I hope HTC left room for a big enough battery. The G1 can barely get me through a day without a recharge, and I’m hoping the Dream will be an improvement in this area.

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T-Mobile Shadow II

Posted by on Wednesday, 15 April, 2009 No comments

T Mobile Shadow II 130x300 T Mobile Shadow IIThe T-Mobile Shadow II is a Windows Mobile smartphone with a tablet shape featuring a portrait-oriented, sliding keyboard. Naturally, it has a great deal in common with the original Shadow, but adds support for T-Mobile’s VoIP service, HotSpot@Home.

It’s been designed for consumers who are looking to make texting easier, but its support for making phone calls over a Wi-Fi connection that sets it apart from its competitors.

Build and Design
Overall, I like the design of the Shadow II. It’s light and pocketable, but packs in plenty of features.

The slider is there to let you hide the keyboard when you’re not using it, but it also offers one of my favorite feature of this device: the sliding screen also can do double duty as the On/Off switch. Naturally, you’re going to want your phone’s screen to be off and the keys locked when it’s in your pocket. When you pull the Shadow out and slide up the screen, it immediately wakes up and is ready to go. When you’re done with it, sliding the screen back down turns the screen off and locks the keys. You can do the same thing with button presses, but it’s not as easy.

The Shadow II rides well in your pocket, but a carrying case is included so you can clip it to your belt if you want to.

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