Who is Ewan? | About | Advertise | Contact | Services | Newsletter | Feeds | Shop | All Categories

Posts Tagged ‘QWERTY’

INQ1 phone to leave the 3 network

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

inq-logo

Hutchinson Whampoa’s Facebook mobile is set to spread its wings and fly the coup, according to a report on the news website Mobile Today.

They sat down of late with the supreme emperor of INQ, namely one Frank Meehan. He passed along the details they’re in talks with at least two major operators to carry the phone.

Frank also added more INQ phones are expected in the second half of this year, with a QWERTY offering being on the table too. Hurrah!

The INQ 1 comes along with free unlimited Facebook, Skype2Skype calls, no holds barred IMs, all you can eat text messaging, plus all the emails you can send and calls-delight to 3 network users. All this for only £15 a month, with 75 minutes too.

Mobile Today noted the INQ phone is expected to be on another network by the time the years out, just showing there’s a bigger opportunity for the mobile elsewhere.

Just after the launch event in London, Frank told us he was flying to the states that weekend to have some talks with networks and carriers over there.

It looks like those meetings paid off for the INQ. Well done!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Feature, Mobile | Comments

RumourMill: New Palm phone

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

3142231559_1cb1db680c

News of a new Palm mobile has been doing the rounds, with CrunchGear apparently having the exclusive lowdown on what’s what.

The site has it from a trusted source the latest Palm Smartphone will be of a slider phone design, with a full QWERTY keyboard in a portrait formatted touchscreen. To our knowledge the case is the very first type in a new venture for them and only the second display of that ilk, in their current line up.

This is supposedly what Palm is bringing along to CES in Las Vegas this week, with the announcement to be unveiled to the muggles this Thursday.

According to the site’s insider source, this will also feature a new OS with the accompanying standard office type functionality we’ve all come to expect from Palm and their Smartphones.

Also being touted around is that the phone’s maker is now known. It’s been rumoured by other sources too that the handset will be made by the same builders of the Palm Pro, namely one HTC.

There have been troubled times of late for the former 3Com spinoff company, perhaps a break away from the formats of yesteryear could be a good move for them. As we’d hate for a company of this history and worth to fall along the roadside, just like Psion have.

Let’s hope we hear more on this model and that it’s not some pie in the sky concept, as it does sound rather intriguing.

For one, it isn’t modelled after one of their full frontal QWERTY keyboard phones, which do come off sometimes feeling distinctly like a budget version of a BlackBerry of long ago.

And for another, it’s a new format for them in a slider phone. This could add more weight behind them within a new avenue on a route that they haven’t previously ventured down before. It could open up more or just another market for them along the way.

With RIM said to be producing their first ever slider model Smartphone later this year, perhaps Palm could get their first and grab the attention of those who don’t want to wait around or even go for a BlackBerry.

Lest not forget, that if the mock-up image is anything to go by and the information on hand is accurate, it’s both a full touchscreen display and has a physical keyboard. All of which means it sits on the fence between three types of phones, touch screen, one with a full QWERTY keyboard and also a slider handset.

This could very well hit more demographics that anyone cares to wish for; let’s just hope it has WIFI and all will be great with us.

Note: The image above is just a fictitious possibility, from Palmdoc_Flood on Flickr – seen here.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Mobile | Comments

BlackBerry Pearl gets a fold out keyboard

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

Proving that even the US Patent office works throughout Christmas was a design filed with them on the 25th of December, by RIM over a fold out keyboard for their phones.

Picked up by those natty guys at Cellpassion and brought to our attention via Engadget Mobile, was Patent Application number 20080318617.

As you can see from the image above it looks as if the keyboard pops out from the existing keypad on the handset. It appears to be activated by pressing a button on the phone itself, all very James 007 Bond. Although we’re sure this is only a preliminary design at the moment, as things do tend to change a lot from a R&D concept to fruition.

Also you may have noticed this design is drawn on a blueprint very similar to the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 series of mobiles. Even if slightly accurate this will go some way to offering up a full QWERTY keyboard, on this candy bar format of phones.

Reading the patent application in more detail, it also appears they’re aiming this quirky invention at a much wider international audience. Referenced as a part of the overall design and layout are other keyboard formats besides just QWERTY.

They’ve gone on to cover all possible bases with the inclusion of a QWERTZ layout for the German market, an AZERTY template for the French parts of the world and even a Dvorak overlay. The latter hasn’t really been seen much on handset designs, but it’s surely going to appeal to some out there. Perhaps those who already have this as their main computer keyboard layout?

How easy will it be to type with, or how welcomed it will be as a feature has yet to be all determined. We’re almost sure it will be ‘focussed grouped’ to death though, before it even sees the light of day.

Either way it could very well be an interesting addition to their arsenal, and perhaps a break away from the two key Suretype format on the current 8100 series.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Mobile | Comments

Say hello to the Nokia E63 (again…) [updated]

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

After a false start yesterday, the Nokia E63 device that Womworld sent me can finally see proper light of day.  Launched today Mobile Industry Review are one of the lucky few to receive the handset for a first hands-on.

Full photo set here

The initial temptation is to dismiss this handset as ‘just a plastic E71′ – it certainly shares much of the E71’s design and is intended to be sold at a lower price point, but I’m not convinced that’s fair:

E71_10MIR-E63-7

The main differences appear to be:

  • The E63 has a coloured plastic shell versus the E71’s metal one.  The front is a metallic-finish, whilst the back cover is a soft-touch finish – both attract far few fingerprints than the E71’s.
  • The E63 is nearly identical in dimensions to the E71 except for the depth – the E63 is around 1.5 times the depth of the E71.
  • The E63 has a 3.5mm jack on top versus the E71’s 2.5mm jack on the side.  This appears to be the first E-series to have a standard headphone socket – something normally saved for N-series.
  • The E63 has no side buttons for volume or voice recording.  It’s also missing the E71’s IR window.
  • The E63 has a revised keyboard layout, adding a ‘/’ button on the lower row, shortening the space bar.
  • The E63 appears to have a slightly smaller dimension screen although it is the same 320 by 240 pixels as the E71.
  • The E63 lacks internal GPS.
  • The E63 does not support HSDPA data.
  • The E63 has the same 110 meg internal memory, but is shipped without an additional memory card (although a slot to add one is present).
  • The E63 has a 2MP camera versus the E71’s 3.2MP and has a fixed focus.
  • The E63 adds a flashlight function that allows the camera’s LED flash to be used as a torch.
  • The E63 lacks the E71’s faux-leather slip case.

And whilst it is clearly a cut-down model – I don’t find any of these differences make the E63 a bad device.  The camera particularly is little sacrifice as the E71’s unit, regardless of resolution, was dire and the E63’s one appears no worse for its lower res.  I’d even take the slight size increase and plastic case without too many complaints – in use a smudged and smeary E71 doesn’t look that much better than the E63.

But lets be clear – consumers aren’t the target market here – businesses are… and the key business features are all still here:

  • WiFi
  • 3G (there had been some rumours this was 2G only)
  • Microsoft Exchange sync via MailForExchange
  • Expandable memory
  • Fast operation and stable S60 3rd Edition FP1 OS
  • Pre-installed QuickOffice
  • E-series security and encryption functions
  • Huge 1500mAh battery

…and now all of these things can be obtained from Nokia without also incurring the cost of high-end cases and GPS.  The executives may still have the E71s but the rest of us will get the E63s… Looking at the popularity of the lower-spec Blackberry devices around the large corporates I know (where they’re deployed in the hundreds or thousands) this is a smart move.

What Nokia have to do now is price this correctly relative to the E71 – nothing’s been announced so far… Watch this space, but I’d guess (and it is just a guess) at pricing around 60% of the E71. (see below for update)

Nokia-E63_05_lowresI’ll be testing the device out over the next few days and we’ll have it on the show early next week.

As ever – post your questions below and I’ll do my best to answer them.

–

Update: It will be available in blue as well as the red pictured above for €199 pre-tax SIM-free (which will typically equate to £199 in the UK once taxes are included).  Full press release here.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Ben Smith, Devices, Feature | Comments

Mobile Shop staff… You amuse me!

Friday, August 29th, 2008

No seriously! Despite how rubbish you can be (note, not all are that rubbish), you have this ability to make me laugh, even when it’s not funny!

You see, on Wednesday I took a trip down to my local high street, a busy one at that; in all I would hazard a guess that there are at least eight different phone shops – Carphone, Phones4U, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone all of that. With so many shops about you would have thought that the big retailers, mainly Carphone and Phones4U would at least hire staff who own basic knowledge on computers and mobiles, right?

Wrong!

I popped along to the O2 store to grab a SIM card for the iPhone, and the lady in there was helpful; I didn’t require much out of her, just a SIM, which she got. She couldn’t use the till though, so that took a little longer than I anticipated, but I got what I needed, and she was polite.

I then popped into the Carphone Warehouse. After my post about wanting a new phone I got quite a few responses, and e-mails. I got a particularly useful one from a chap called Mike (thanks), and he listed a few phones, namely the LG KS360. I was pretty interested in it – although not a fan of LG, it looked interesting.

A man approached me in the Carphone and he asked me if I needed any help, I replied I was looking for a phone, an LG, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. He pointed out one on display, and I said it had a QWERTY keyboard. The response I got…

“Huh, a WERTY keyboard? Oh look this one here has a keypad!”

Oh deary me.

I was surprised to say the least, seeing as I was standing next to a display of Laptops, and if my Mum and Grandma know what a QWERTY keyboard is (bearing in mind, my Mum is hardly the most technological-aware or apt person), I was left just a tad dumbstruck.

I proceeded to ask if he could check to see when the phone may be in. I was hoping he would go to the computer, and do a basic search or something.

Wrong.

He picked up the “Buyers Guide” and started flicking through that.

Maybe I was wrong to think this, but isn’t that produced for the benefit of the consumer?
I don’t know… At that point I asked for the guide myself and walked out.

I didn’t give up there though, all I really wanted to know was when this phone was going to be released, or if at all. Seeing as I’ve read quite a few reports that it’s due out around now in the UK, I wanted to see if this was true.

So I popped into Phones4U situated next door to the Carphone. There I was greeted by a lady this time, and I asked her if she knew if an LG phone with a QWERTY keyboard was out. I could tell by the “What-the-hell” face she had, she didn’t have a clue what I was on about, but she at least didn’t make up a word to repeat next to me. I did a gesture of “Air-Typing”, and she finally got what I meant, and took me over to the business mobile section. She pointed out some Blackberry’s (forgetting I asked for an LG).

I asked her again if she knew of any LG phone that fitted what I was asking for, and she pointed to an LG in front of me (not what I wanted), and then said no. No looking on the computer, nothing.

I said thanks, and left.

I’ve spoken to some very nice and helpful people in these shops before, but it just seems that on Wednesday they weren’t about. And yes, I had forgotten the name of the model, but wouldn’t it make sense to have a look on the computer?

What is more horrifying is the general lack of knowledge; the Carphone and Phones4U staff are not only just selling mobiles, but Laptops now too… Yet they don’t even understand basic terminology.

I’ll pop back soon and see if I can speak to someone who knows what they are talking about!

Also, I should praise Orange, I was speaking to a man in there, and he was very polite, and helpful. Thanks!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Mobile Marketing, Opinion, People | Comments

Powered by Interactive Energy | Sign up to The Application Review newsletter