Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) might be king of the hill when it comes to designing minimalist retail packages that exude sexiness, but Apple’s iPhone box isn’t exactly useful. T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)’s myTouch3G retail box, on the other hand, is pure genius. The myTouch3G (aka HTC Magic) is a great Android phone in its own right, but for this unboxing video we’re concentrating on the awesomeness of the box.
On the surface, the paper box cover looks stylish enough. It sports the artsy look you’d expect for an Android smartphone aimed at the younger-and-hipper demographic – the cover art might even do well as a wallpaper. But, remove the box cover and you’ll find a textured semi-hard case that doubles as a retail box!
The T-Mobile myTouch3G comes packaged in the zipppered hard-case that should protect the Android smartphone from all physical assault. Open the case and you’ll find the myTouch3G, documentation, charger, USB data cable and wired stereo headset snug-fit in foam and elastic netting. In short, the myTouch3G retail packaging is just about the coolest, most innovative we’ve seen yet!
Enjoy the T-Mobile myTouch3G unboxing video below.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s always on the cutting edge of mobile technology. They may not have the most usable or eye-catching user interfaces in the mobile space, but Nokia’s usually good for having some really high-technology packed into their handsets. The latest high-tech wizardry is Nokia’s Braille Reader that helps vision-impaired users read SMS text messages. Braille Reader is still in beta, and is only compatible with certain Nokia handsets that provide vibration feedback.
Vibration feedback is critical because current touchscreen technology isn’t yet capable of generating tactile surfaces for “finger reading.” Instead, Nokia’s Braille Reader allows users to detect Braille “bumps” through vibrations. The video below explain how it works in detail.
Since the Nokia Braille Reader requires touch inputs, only Nokia handsets powered by the S60 5th Edition operating system will support the beta software – phones like, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia N97, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5530, Nokia 5230 and Nokia X6.
We’ve barely gotten used to the possibility that Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE)’s upcoming XPERIA X2 will command a whopping $850+ dollars at retail, and now we’re hearing that the X2’s sequential successor, the XPERIA X3, will be going live in January of 2010. Mobile Crunch is reporting on an as-yet unconfirmed rumor that Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X3 will make its debut as the company’s first Android smartphone in time to usher in the new year.
The XPERIA X3 packs a 4-inch 800 x 400 touchscreen, 8.0-megapixel camera, 3G data, WiFi, GPS and a whole bunch of Androidy-goodness. If previous leaks pan out, the XPERIA X3 Rachel will also sport a slick, custom Android UI (custom user interfaces are coming left and right these days).
There’s talk that Sony Ericsson is thinking of ditching Windows Mobile altogether, which just might have something to do with SE’s expedited X3 launch window. But, keep in mind, this is all speculation. We’ll know more about the X3 in due time. In the meantime, drool over this X3 Rachel UI video:
What happens when you combine the iPhone 3GS with a gratuitous dose of x-rays? You get an intriguing look at the inside of an iPhone 3GS.
We’ve seen the iPhone 3GS’s innards splayed across the internets for all to see, but the x-ray video below gives us a look at the iPhone 3GS internals as they would look to Superman. There’s really not much we can learn from the x-ray video, but it sure is cool to look at. Enjoy!
Those delicious morsels of HTC Leo eye candy should have you sufficiently primed you for this bit of video goodness, showing just how smoothly its 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen operates. As you can see, pinching gestures work flawlessly in both still images and video playback, and swiping from one gallery object to the next is highly responsive. We’re all looking forward to an official announcement sometime soon – October 6th. seems to be the big day for a lot of new Windows Mobile 6.5 phones…
If you’re familiar with the HTC Hero and it’s absolutely lovely Sense UI… you’ll no doubt know how great it looks, but you may be a bit peeved with speed/performance issues. Many have reported slow-downs and even complete freeze-ups, especially from the home screen. Thankfully, HTC has been busy working on this, and as we can see in the preview video above (thanks to Paul @ Modaco), a new update is on the way to fix the problem. While no details on when this update may be released, it certainly seems like it addresses all major performance issues. Navigation is fast, and everything seems to be just, um, Rosie?
While the Sprint version of the Hero hasn’t shipped yet… I think we can expect this new build to come standard on it. Which means, no laggy OS problems for new American Hero users. Yay!
If you have a Hero in-tow and want this latest build, check out XDA Developers for everything you’ll need.
Motorola (NYSE: MOT) today announced its first Android phone at Mobilize 2009 as the interestingly named Motorola CLIQ. The unveiling finally brought the Motorola Morrison out of the shadows and into the mainstream. Thankfully, the CLIQ looks more impressive in person than it ever did in the leaked Morrison images we’ve been seeing for the past couple months. And, because customized homescreens are the hot-ticket these days, Motorola CLIQ’s hardware is complemented by Motorola’s custom Android UI, dubbed the MOTOBLUR. Motorola will have you know that MOTOBLUR isn’t just an Android skin, but an integrated service that pushes updates from all your social networks straight to your homescreen. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Let’s take a look at the Motorola CLIQ.
The CLIQ will hit T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) USA’s network later this year as an exclusive. Other parts of the world will get the Motorola Morrison as the Motorola DEXT, which just proves that Motorola loves them some CAPS! Pricing and launch information isn’t yet known.
What we do know is that the Motorola CLIQ features all the high-end smartphone goods you’d expect from a new Android handset. The CLIQ packs a 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen (320×480), 5.0-megapixel camera (autofocus), GPS, WiFi, 3G data, digital compass, accelerometers, ambient light sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot. And, with its slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the CLIQ makes quick work of lengthy text messages and emails.
From our limited hands-on time with the CLIQ, it’s clear that Motorola took some seriously fine-toothed combs to the hardware details. The keyboard keys are tactile enough to touch type. The slider mechanism slides out with a smooth “snick” that makes us giggle a little every time. There’s a nifty backlit Motorola logo on the backside of the slider – a nice touch to be sure. The camera is good – not sure if it’s “really good,” but it’s at least “good.” To top it all off, the touchscreen is nice and slick (capacitance!)
But, like the HTC Hero, it’s the CLIQ’s UI that makes it stand out from an increasingly crowding Android market.
The CLIQ is skinned with a new homescreen that Motorola calls the MOTOBLUR service. Motorola has been calling MOTOBLUR everything from a “service” to a “solution” to “social networking that just works.” We call it cool. The idea behind MOTOBLUR is to give the CLIQ a unique Android homescreen that not only makes for a finger-friendly experience, but also makes for a new kind of social networking experience. MOTOBLUR automatically trawls all your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace) for contact information, contact pictures and status messages and pushes all that information into the CLIQ’s widget-based user interface – contact information is automatically updated with status messages, for example. MOTOBLUR also pushes emails, text messages and news feeds straight to your CLIQ’s homescreen. Palm (NSDQ: PALM) had the same idea with the WebOS’s Synergy feature, but Motorola had the foresight to center their UI around the MOTOBLUR UI.
We’ll have more for you once we get a Motorola CLIQ of our own.
For now, enjoy the hands-on video and photo gallery!
[Update]
Post updated so that it actually has a photo gallery. Wired posted up some unpublished photos here.
Alejandro Salomon, the guy behind a lot of recent videos of the Storm 2, is now walking us through the upcoming BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) 9700. A quick comparison with the original Bold shows some significant changes in size, a few tweaks to the operating system, and of course the difference between the trackball and trackpad. There’s still no sign of the new BlackBerry Messenger with OS 5.0, but the browser is apparently very speedy, and we’ll be seeing it in separate video soon. If you haven’t seen the Onyx before, the new Bold will have a leg-up on the new one in terms of an upgraded camera (3.2 megapixels) and expanded application memory (256 MB) on top of the obvious stylistic differences. Rumours place a launch sometime in November on T-Mobile (NYSE: DT), Rogers (NYSE: RCI), and likely AT&T (NYSE: T).
The #1 Soccer, er, ‘Football’ game on the App Store is getting ready to go live with a new version… Yeppers, Real Soccer 2010 screenshots have arrived, along with a trailer video (above) for us to take in. I’ve got the 2009 edition of the game installed on my iPhone, and I’ve got to say… it’s solid. I find myself popping it open from time to time. It’s also the favorite game of my nephew… Whenever I see him he asks for my phone and begins playing the game… and I’m sure he wouldn’t stop unless I made him.
At any rate, stay tuned for more on Real Soccer 2010 from the good folks at Gameloft. Me thinks they’re just getting the promo machine primed… will be more to come soon.
In the latest Palm Pixi hands-on video, FoneFrenzy takes quite a good look at the little sibling of the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre. Not too much else to say here, this makes for some interesting Friday morning viewing
The Palm Pixi of course will be coming to Sprint (NYSE: S) sometime in Q4 of this year… so we’ll be hearing much more on this one before the year is out.
Here’s a few key specs on the Pixi in case you’ve missed ‘em:
Runs Palm webOS (duh)
2.63″ touch screen (18-bit color and 320×240 Sub-HVGA)
Nokia (
We’ve barely gotten used to the possibility that Sony Ericsson (
the hot-ticket these days, Motorola CLIQ’s hardware is complemented by Motorola’s custom Android UI, dubbed the MOTOBLUR. Motorola will have you know that MOTOBLUR isn’t just an Android skin, but an integrated service that pushes updates from all your social networks straight to your homescreen. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
What we do know is that the Motorola CLIQ features all the high-end smartphone goods you’d expect from a new Android handset. The CLIQ packs a 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen (320×480), 5.0-megapixel camera (autofocus), GPS, WiFi, 3G data, digital compass, accelerometers, ambient light sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot. And, with its slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the CLIQ makes quick work of lengthy text messages and emails.
