The Palm Treo 800w...now that's more like it!!

Attention all you Sprintheads [and I mean that in the most respectful way possible ;)]:

Yesterday Sprint announced the release of a new phone: The Palm Treo 800w.

As far as looks go, I don't see how it looks much different from the Palm Centro, which was released late last year.

But it seems to be pretty cool in functionality, boasting the ability to process at broadband speed, or the same speed you would see if using a computer. It has a touchscreen (of course), QWERTY keypad, A2DP Bluetooth technology, GPS, and Windows Mobile, to name a few. The camera is 2.0 megapixels with flash and a video recorder. It also offers Voicemail controls.

People are speculating that this is yet ANOTHER substitute for the iPhone. And with a price tag of $249 after discounts and rebates with a two-year contract, I think maybe this phone may be worth the plunge (after all, Treos are rather dependable and let's face it, they've been out for a while so they know what they're doing by now).

A New Type of Blackberry?

As if you didn't have enough of the iPhone substitutes...

2 months ago, Blackberry first advertised their new phone which promises to be...touchscreen?

Yes, you read right. A touchscreen Blackberry.

I've never been much of a fan of the Blackberry because I always thought they were too boxy and, well, they were never touchscreen!

Actually a rather pretty phone

A screen shot of the Blackberry Thunder in landscape mode. It offers a rather simple keyboard and a not very attractive interface. *Sigh*

Not quite sure about this condensed keyboard they've got here in portrait view, but I guess it's worth a try for those who want to try it.

According to Crackberry.com, the keyboard is supposed to be even easier to manipulate than the iPhone 3G's keyboard, with all sorts of other Internet connectivity perks that I suppose you would expect from a Blackberry.

The Blackberry Thunder is expected to come out in September, released on the coattails of the Blackberry Bold. The Thunder is expected to cost $400 with a two year contract with...are you ready...Verizon Wireless or Vodafone.

Never fear, those who don't like Verizon or Vodafone: if Verizon doesn't meet its quota, the exclusiveness ends and the phone becomes fair game. Boycott early sales of the Thunder! Make it available to other services!!

We'll see how this turns out.

HTC Touch Diamond...the next iPhone??

Up until recently with the Cingular 8125, HTC was the name of a phone maker that was not in my vocabulary. They have been leading the pack lately, however, in touch screen smart phones.

Now HTC is coming out with a family of beautiful touch screen phones, with the much anticipated Touch Diamond as the most talked about cell phone next to the iPhone.

The HTC Touch Family

The Touch Diamond (left) and Touch Pro (right)

Does this phone look like a super phone? Absolutely. Is it a superphone? You bet your next week's paycheck it is.

The Touch Diamond features a 2.8 inch touch screen, with four times the megapixels as regular phone screens. For those of you Internet buffs who can't imagine a phone without Internet connectivity, the TD allows for a broadband-like Internet connection allowing you to watch streaming Youtube videos, Google, and Wikipedia just like you would if you were on an actual computer. All about the pictures? The camera offers a whopping 3.2 megapixel rate, allowing for gorgeous pictures and video. And for those like me who like to carry their life around in pictures and music, the phone allows for 4GB of hard drive space!! WOW!!

The Touch Diamond is set to release in September, tentatively the 2nd, according to The Boy Genius Report.

Unfortunately, it's being released by Sprint, leaving those of us who prefer good service and sim cards out of the loop.

But you may be able to order your very own version of the phone online directly from the HTC website when the phone is finally released.

As always, I'll post as events develop.

Tony Hawk's Limited Edition SKLX... and a Sidekick 2008??

Don't you just HATE it when you buy the newest phone a service releases just to find out a week after buying it that a newer version of the phone you just bought is on its way?

That's how I felt when I first bought my Sidekick LX in midnight blue, only to realize that T-Mobile rolled out a Tony Hawk Limited Edition Sidekick LX on July 9th to existing T-Mobile customers and will be offering it to new customers on July 16th.




The new Sidekick LX will be equipped with video playback and recording, A2DP Bluetooth (don't ask me what that is, I have no idea), and enhanced Internet browsing. Never fear, fellow Sidekick LX users who were pissed that the new Tony Hawk LX has all these goodies and we don't...T-Mobile is rolling out an OTA (Over The Air) Update over the next few weeks so that we can enjoy these services too.

Honestly, this new LX looks cool and all but for those who already own an LX, there's no point in upgrading to the Tony Hawk LX. Once you receive the update, it won't be any different.

The Sidekick Gecco, Gekko...One of those things

Word on the street is that T-Mobile is launching an even NEWER Sidekick that has been referred to in cellular circles as the "Gecco" but may be known as the Sidekick 2008.

Interesting.

The Sidekick Gecco/Gekko/Gecko/2008 (!!) seems to be a step up from the LX in customization options with it's myriad interchangeable skins. It will also have video recording and enhanced Bluetooth. No word yet on mp3 ringtone capability, which I'm sure phone geeks everywhere are STILL trying to hack for the LX. I'll be waiting for that new development.

The SK2008 (as I'll refer to it from now on) has a price tag of $299, which is cheaper than $399 for the LX.

I'll be following the progress of this highly anticipated Sidekick and will update as events warrant.

Special thanks to hiptop3.com and BreathTMobile for the article and pictures used to write most of this post.

Sidekick LX - The Un-Technical Review

There are many reviews of the Sidekick LX out there, with their technical specs and all of that nonsense. I'm presenting this phone through words, not numbers and measurements. Enjoy!

Sleek and Stylish

If you were wondering, the image on the phone screen is just a reflection of my computer screen.

Older models of Sidekicks tend to be large and bulky, and I expected no different from the LX. However, not only is the LX slim and relatively lightweight, it is also sleek and much more professional looking than I would have expected for a phone targeting a young audience.

The menu buttons were easy to understand after a few moments of playing around with it, and the trackball is easy to use. The swivel screen snaps quickly into place but it isn't idiot-proof so watch those fingers (I pinched my fingers twice yesterday). The phone also features a directional pad to the left which helps you quickly scroll down a screen.

C U L8er, LOL

Don't try one handed texting at home. You'll be disappointed.

I am a texting fiend. It's convenient because you can say one or two short lines without having to worry about awkward silences over the phone. If you don't want to have a conversation and you just want to make one statement, text messaging enables that. The LX is every texter's dream. The rubber keyboard is no slip and there is ample space between keys, reducing the number of typing mistakes. Girls with acrylic nail tips: have no fear! As you can see, I have acrylics and I thought texting would be a nightmare (it always was when I used my Treo and I had acrylics). The textured grip on the back of the phone adds texting comfort.

The texting interface is nice, although so far I'm having trouble going straight to a new message from the home screen (I imagine I should read the owner's manual for that).

But If You Do Wish To Talk...

Rest assured: you don't have to look at the phone while having a conversation!

I was concerned that talking on the Sidekick would be, at best, uncomfortable and at worst downright exasperating. It is surprisingly easy to hold or even cradle on your shoulder and has a really nice speaker (although the first time I used it I held it upside down. It took a few seconds to realize my mistake :P). The speakerphone does leave a little to be desired, however; the sound quality was a little distorted but I'm guessing it sounds fine on the other end because my friend didn't realize I had put her on speakerphone.


Yeah, Yeah, The Basics Are Great, But What About the Fun?

Completely engrossed in...whatever it was I was doing.

The LX offers many fun applications such as games and a word search (which has already proven invaluable) and also organizational features such as a place to write notes, an alarm clock, and a calendar. Because I'm still in the middle of a billing cycle, however, I can't try out the web browser yet although it looks promising. It also features a camera with flash (the picture of me and Amardo in my last post came from the camera) and an MP3 player.

My Conclusion

The Sidekick LX is by far one of the most exciting phones I've ever owned and certainly the most exciting that I've ever purchased. It is the perfect mix of multimedia and business applications. If you're looking for something sleek and stylish with tons of fun features and an awesome screen resolution, the Sidekick LX is the way to go!

Note: Don't pop the battery out of the phone without shutting it off first. It's like yanking your iPod out of the computer when it says "Do Not Disconnect". It's just not a good idea.

Celebrating 5 Years of Cell Phone Bliss - Amendment

I was sitting here, scrolling through my post on cell phones and just realized I'd done something very bad...I left one out!!



The HTC 8525 is the newest phone I've gotten, so it belongs between the slate gray Razr and the blue Sidekick on my list. I forgot about this phone because it was given to me but because it's a Cingular phone and I have T-Mobile, I wasn't able to use it. Normally you can put in certain codes to unlock a locked phone but unfortunately mine just wasn't working. But had I been able to use it, this phone would have put my allegiance to my Treo to the test. With a touchscreen, slide out QWERTY keyboard, and Windows Mobile, I have the feeling this phone would have made it to the top of my favorites list VERY quickly. I still have this one at home, too, trying to figure out if I should just use it as an organizer, alongside my Sidekick, or just sell it.

This brings my total up to 9 owned phones, soon to be 10. I think this is it.

Celebrating 5 Years of Cell Phone Bliss

Here is a picture list of all of the phones I've owned since 2o03. It's long but hey, it was fun to make!

This beauty, the Nokia 6800, was the first phone I ever had. I got it just a week and a half after it was first advertised. It has a full QWERTY keyboard. I was starting freshman year of high school... needless to say, my phone generated all the right publicity. It didn't have a camera, but back then most phones didn't so that was nothing special. I still miss my Nokia 6800.

The V551 was next in line. It was my first camera phone, and I asked for it because my uncle had one and I thought it was cool. I actually had two of these; I lost the first in an unfortunate coffee spilling accident, and I actually still have the second one at home. It was the first phone I downloaded polyphonic ringtones onto (they were still the little ghetto adaptations of songs, but they weren't that bad).

I thought I was the cat's bananas when I got this beautiful Motorola Razr. At the time, Razrs were still ridiculously popular and they had just come out with this black one. Everybody else had the yucky silver Razrs, while mine was sleek and professional. I had my first real ringtones on this phone. 

Ahh, the Palm Treo 650. It made it difficult to go back to regular phones without touchscreens and QWERTY keyboards. This phone managed my life, with its calendar and alarms and reminders and EVERYTHING! The only thing was that it didn't have the ringtones I was accustomed to, but I convinced myself that a business-like phone had no place for silly ringtones. I felt even more accomplished because I had jobs that required me to dress professionally and this phone was always a great accessory. I had it for a long time and it had suffered a broken antenna (fixed with superglue), a lost stylus, and just about anything else I could throw at it. Until I lost it. *Sigh*

Most people in the US don't know about this gem of a phone because it's imported and I don't think I was really supposed to get my hands on it. It's the Motorola v80 and it is one of the most awesome phones EVER, with its blinking lights and swivel screen. This phone was the very first phone I had bought with my own money... my uncle, who also paid my bill, had bought all the others. But I wanted a change from what I had, so I sprang for this one. Unfortunately, it stopped working a few weeks after I bought it :(. The picture resolution was amazing, though. This is another one of those attention-getting phones, this time because nobody had ever seen anything like it.

Discouraged by the failure of my Motorola, and wanting to compensate for the myriad features on my Treo, I decided to purchase this LG F7900. As far as phones go, it caters heavily to those who don't need anything but to receive calls and send texts. It was pretty, though, and the slider action was nice. It didn't have a camera but hey, that's what my Treo was for.

The Nokia 7870: another gem of a phone you won't see much of around here. I LOVED this phone because absolutely NOBODY has it. The texting interface is amazing, and the picture caller ID makes the Razr's caller ID look archaic. I even miss the factory ring tones that came with this phone. The camera was different because it was the first phone I'd ever seen where you actually held the phone like a camera to take a picture (months later, many phones have that feature). The swivel motion was cool because unlike my other swivel phone, it could move either way (left or right) and even could lock in the middle, making a right angle for picture taking. I still have this phone, I just need to purchase a charger for it.

 

This Razr V3 in slate gray is the phone I'm using currently. I bought it when I finally took my phone bill out from under my uncle's name and purchased my own plan with T-Mobile (switching from AT&T/Cingular). It's a fine phone, but the screen is cracked from being in my back pocket so I desperately need a new phone. It gets me my text messages, though, and helps me make calls, and I'll always hold this phone dear because it symbolizes my own freedom and assumption of responsibility.

And this beautiful Sidekick LX in blue, folks, is my new phone. Technically, it's not mine yet because it isn't in my hands yet. But within 2 days it will be and I can say goodbye to my cracked phone woes. 

8 phones (soon to be 9), 5 years (on July 9th), countless memories.