Nokia N85 review: Nseries revved up

N85 is the latest Nseries signing and a bulletproof spec sheet sets it right in the thick of all-in-one action. Full-house connectivity and multimedia prowess topped with a massive OLED screen to die for, Nokia N85 gives the lineup a great edge and comes out as the definitive brand-loyal upgrade. No, it will never rule the Nseries but sure has what it takes to make them tick. With the echo of the not so glorious N96 entry still lingering, we are about to see what Nokia N85 can do for the Nseries morale.

Key features:

• 2.6" 16M-color OLED display of QVGA resolution
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and AF assist light
• Camera lens cover
• Symbian OS 9.3 with S60 3.2 UI
• ARM 11 369 MHz CPU
• 3G with HSDPA support
• Quad-band GSM support
• Wi-Fi with UPnP technology
• Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality and 3 months of free voice-guided navigation
• FM transmitter
• Dual slide design with dedicated gaming/audio keys
• microSD card slot with microSDHC support
• 8GB memory card included in the retail package
• Built-in accelerometer for UI auto-rotation
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• TV out
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• Navi wheel navigation
• VGA video recording at 30fps
• USB and Bluetooth v2.0
• One free N-gage game
• Keylock switch

Main disadvantages:

• No office document editing out of the box
• Not the best sunlight legibility
• Unconvincing camera performance
• Poor Navi wheel performance
• Zooming in on a picture takes bloody ages

Blackberry 9500 Storm gets its own promo video, looks good

The upcoming Blackberry 9500 Storm seems to be riding the wave lately as new information leaks by the day. This time we have a nice promo video to show you - made by Vodafone.
We already presented you the upcoming Blackberry Storm and its fancy full touch user interface - it really looks good and it's a first from Blackberry too.
The Blackberry 9500 Storm also available as CDMA Blackberry 9530 has a 3.25-inch display with a resolution of 360 x 480 pixels, quad-band GSM support, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, and a 3 megapixel auto focus camera. Plus a fluid interface ready to take on the iPhone. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Sony Ericsson Kate leaks again - this time with better pics

A new Sony Ericsson cameraphone codenamed Kate has been the main subject of info leaks recently, but we finally see better images of the device. Armed with 5 megapixel camera, this yet unannounced Cyber-shot looks like a mix between the Sony Ericsson K770 and Sony Ericsson C902.
Currently, not much is known about the Sony Ericsson Kate, but as rumors go, it should sport a xenon flash, camera mode switch, and Smile shutter feature. It will also have UMTS support.

The Sony Ericsson Kate is definitely thicker than the Sony Ericsson C902, but still looks good, although a bit too conservative on the front and a bit too flamboyant on the back with this large shiny lens cover.

Samsung S3600 gets announced, while Samsung i7110 leaks

The Samsung i7110 is the next Symbian smartphone with a 5 megapixel camera and enhanced multimedia capabilities - at least as far as rumors go. In the same time Samsung released a lower midrange handset - the Samsung S3600, which borrows its looks from the Soul clamshell Samsung G400, but offers entry-level specs and no external display.
This is not the first time the Samsung i7110 leaks - we've reported it back in August. This time a new image of the device leaked and it seems some redesigning has taken place. Plus we now know more about its high-end specs.
Powered by the latest Symbian S60 UI with FP2, the Samsung i7110 sports quad-band GSM, 3G with HSDPA, optical joystick navigation, a 2.6-inch 16M color display, accelerometer for auto screen rotation, a 5 megapixel video camera with dual LED flash, VGA@30fps video recording, slow motion and high-speed QVGA recording, Wi-Fi with DLNA, DivX and XviD video support, GPS receiver with A-GPS, FM radio and FM transmitter.
We are eagerly waiting for the official announcement of the Samsung i7110, which seems to be this month.
The Samsung S3600 however is the handset that saw its announcement today. Banking on the well-received Soul-design the Samsung S3600 brings a bit of style to the masses.

The clamshell sports a metallic body with no external display. The main display of the S3600 is a large 2.2-inch 65K color TFT display, which however has a rather low resolution of 176 x 220 pixels.
The Samsung S3600 has quad-band GSM/EDGE support, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, and FM radio with RDS and broadcast recording. The 30MB of available memory can be expanded up to 2GB thanks to the built-in microSD card slot.

Unfortunately, we don't have information on the planned availability of the Samsung S3600, but it seems Samsung will try to push as many units as possible so worldwide market availability sounds reasonable. The expected price of the device before subsidies or taxes is 80 euro (or 110 US dollars).

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic hits it off

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is no longer lurking behind corners as the curtains lifted today in London and Singapore on the first S60 full-touch device by Nokia. While most of the specs were given away well in advance, it's exciting to take a closer look at the touch OS. We had a taste of it back at the WMC in Barcelona and it tasted sweet.

Two homescreen add-ons do sound intriguing. With the Media Bar music, media and online content are a fingertip away. The Contacts Bar provide enhanced touch-based handling of contacts, including setting favorites, logging calls, texts and recent communication.
The touch-optimized handset comes complete with a stylus too, and for all who are about to frown at that, there's a plectrum-shaped alternative. The other controls are kept to the bare minimum. Below the massive touchscreen there's three-key combo along the lines of Pixon and Renoir, to name a few recent headliners. The home key (so long, Symbian key) is flanked by the Call and End knobs.

For those who migh have missed the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic leaks, the first S60 touchscreen handset packs a 3.2" screen of the exciting widescreen resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. A 3.2 megapixel autofocus shooter and VGA video at 30 fps are the imaging assets. There's quad-band GSM support and 3G with HSDPA. Some of the other extras include: GPS, 3.5mm standard audio jack, TV-out and a microSD card slot. An ambitious music offering, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will come with 8GB microSD card in the retail package and stereo surround speakers.

To give you an idea of what the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic feels and looks like, we can also share several videos. This first one previews the device in short

SanDisk introduces 16 GB microSD and M2 memory cards

If you were just running out of space on your memory card - here come some good news for you. SanDisk is going to start shipping 16GB microSD and M2 memory cards as early as next month.
The 16GB of capacity will give the M2 and microSDHC-compatible phones a chance to match the iPhone and the likes' memory capacity. While there is no official information yet which phone models will be compatible with the new standard we can bet any handset supporting the 8GB cards will manage to handle that too. And best of all, the availability of the new 16GB cards will most probably make the 8GB models more affordable.
The 16GB microSD cards are expected to hit the shelves at a price of 70 euro (100 US dollars), while the 16GB M2 cards will sell for about 90 euro (130 US dollars).

Samsung M8800 Pixon finally makes it in its full 8MP shine

The second 8 megapixel full touchscreen device on the market - Samsung M8800 Pixon finally saw its official announcement. After several reviews of the handset appeared yesterday, today Samsung finally held an event to publicly unveil it. We still don't have the full official specs list however, we have a pretty good idea what the Samsung Pixon is all about.
Samsung M8800 Pixon is the second 8 megapixel handset to be released by Samsung after the Samsung i8510 INNOV8. The Samsung INNOV8 is already available on some markets and the Samsung Pixon will follow soon with a release date set in early October.

To promote the M8800 Pixon, Samsung have started a website to showcase what a professional street photographer can do with a capable cameraphone. The web site will be fully operational as of October 2nd. Check it out at http://www.thephotographicadventuresofnickturpin.com/.
Sporting quad-band GSM support and tri-band 3G with HSDPA the Samsung Pixon is fully capable of global roaming. It stands at 107.9 x 54.6 x 13.8mm and weighs mere 109 grams. Featuring a 3.2-inch display with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels the Samsung M8800 Pixon comes as a direct rival of LG KC910 Renoir.
Some of the other highlights of the Samsung M8800 Pixon include a GPS receiver, built-in accelerometer, FM radio with RDS and microSD memory card slot. In addition to taking exiting 8 megapixel photos its camera is capable of recording WVGA(740 x 480 pixels) videos at 30fps, which is the best that we know of among mobile phones. The Pixon will even have DivX playback and SRS (surround sound system) Virtual 5.1 Ch.
The thing that's obviously missing on the Samsung M8800 Pixon specs sheet is the Wi-Fi connectivity.
Expected to start shipping in mid-October, Samsung M8800 Pixon will retail at 550 euro (880 US dollars) a piece.
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