New: LG To Release New Triple-SIM Handset AG290

by admin on February 2, 2012

Dual-Sim Handsets certainly have had a good market following, particularly in the developing markets where there is good business sense to have two SIM cards, especially if a phone is designed for sharing. In more Western markets where it is just more common to own two mobiles, the Dual-SIM functionality hasn’t really taken off, or more correctly, consumers haven’t seen this as that great of a selling point. LG have been first to market on many concepts and at a push, we can also argue that this is a first, with the triple SIM being integrated, as opposed to being contained via adapter:

Whilst it’s our belief that it’s nothing new – after all, with SIM cards being the size they are, it would be possible for a theoretical limitless amount of SIM cards in one phone, LG should be congratulated as this iteration of mobile phone is quite far away from the basic look of entry-level handsets with the brushed metal back offering something different.

However, if you’re expecting a higher-end phone, you’re likely to be in for a disappointment. The phone is strictly entry-level spec, and even is beaten by some of the higher-end Nokia entry-level dual sims that we have seen. The camera is a measly 1.3MP, and the phone has a resolution on it’s screen of 176 x 220, which renders photographs functionally at best. Perhaps the best part of the phone is the whopping 1,500mAH battery which should give a fair amount of talktime.

Also, as it common with these handsets, expect the proprietary OS – no Android here. As with the lower end of the market, you’ll be able to expect something modeled on the classic Series 40 by Nokia. Not really a bad thing, especially when it comes to working with a strict technological limitation.

It remains to be seen if you’ll be able to get a Triple-Sim phone in Europe, but the LG AG290 will be hitting developing markets such as Russia and Brazil, priced at a decent premium of $75. Keep checking a site such as Amazon, as they may pop-up there.

Buy AG290 on Amazon – Click Here! 

{ 0 comments }

Not Quite Tablet, Not Quite Mobile Phone: Samsung Galaxy Note

by admin on November 24, 2011

This is certainly something that interests us and we’ve been postulating it for a while – can there be a safe medium between a mobile phone and a tablet computer? As we all know, the size of mobile phones has been increasing steadily, and the size of computers in general has been shrinking with the advance of netbooks and the like. Therefore it does seem pretty sensible that there should be some medium which encompasses both.

The real problems for mobile phone manufacturers is the usability of such a device. We’ve postulated what size things may get too big at, we’d reckon around the 5-inch mark, things may not become pocket-sized (for everyone). And for tablets, it’s likely that anything below the 6 inch mark may lead to the tablet not being large enough to compensate (and then, you might as well carry out the work on the mobile phone. Samsung therefore have been pretty brave when introducing the Samsung Galaxy Note:

Well, the design here is more phone than tablet. But let’s go into more detail about what this holds:

Galaxy branding: Probably the most successful phone brand outside the iPhone – it makes sense for Samsung to continue producing all it’s premium offerings of mobile phones underneath this vein. While we’ve seen some departures from the core product (such as the Galaxy Ace), the versatile platform it has made for itself means that the Note sub-brand certainly has some future proofing involved.

5.3 Inch Screen: One of the major selling points – and this is the largest Super AMOLED screen – for our money delivery slightly better colour rendering than Retina Display. The size of this product makes it just about pocket sized still, although you’d probably be loath to take it in and out of the pockets.

Return of the Pen: The Note sees the return of the stylus – of sorts. And this could be groundbreaking as far as tablets are concerned. Many thought that the advance of multi-touch would see the end of this. Styluses were useful on resistive touchscreens (virtually all older models) as the touch interface was bulky, slow and inaccurate. The new multi-touch screens were faster, more fluid, and easier to use, which negated the use of the stylus. But what Samsung have brought back the stylus here is for other uses – writing notes, dragging and dropping – more a device to be used in conjunction with and not instead of the multi-touch.

The potential for this alone is pretty enormous. For ad-hoc note taking, a pen and paper is infinitely faster than typing in text on the phone keypad, whichever phone it is. Therefore we would be seeing a rise to e-paper – after Amazon’s Kindle has shown, people are willing to integrate to new technology.

Battery Life: Still one of the bug-bears. One of the main differences between products such as the iPad is the longer battery life. A tablet may withstand 10 hours of use, and as this use is mainly casual, this may stretch to several days. With a phone such as this, however, there is no such option, as you’ll have to use it every single day. A 2,500mAH battery is large by phone standards, but don’t expect this to extend the battery life much beyond that of current smartphones, which have smaller displays.

Phone Specs: Largely, this is in line with the Samsung Galaxy S2: you get 16GB on-board storage, nice 8MB camera, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and the only differences being software related, with apps optimized for the pen and business enterprise solutions.

Price: As you can imagine, the Note comes at a big premium to phones such as the Galaxy S2 (which has gone below £400 now, SIM-Free). Reflecting the fact that the phone is slightly niche, it retails at £569.99 SIM-Free. If you’ve already got a decent phone, it may be worth considering a tablet outright as they retail for much less than this.

Buy Samsung Galaxy Note N700 for £569.99 SIM-Free – Click Here!

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries