Overview

Samsung have recently announced the launch of the Omnia (meaning ‘everything’ in Latin and ‘wish’ in Arabic, do you see where they’re going with this?), i900. Samsung describe this as a handset that “brings together style, multimedia and business performance.” and has designed it to ‘ensure consumers are always connected both at home and at work’, and I have to say if the phone is as good as the specs makes out then I would be inclined to agree.

Preview

To start off with, there is a 5 mega pixel camera, with auto focus, image stabilizer, with face and smile detection. It also has business card recognition – this is where you can take a photo and the information is automatically saved as a contact.

The phone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional allowing the use of power point, excel, word and outlook. You can also switch seamlessly between applications with a stroke of your finger. As it runs windows mobile you can have LOADS of 3rd party software (unlike the iPhone!), I even had Age of Empires running on my old Tytn (Which had windows mobile 5)

This touch sensitive phone also benefits from an on screen qwerty keyboard. The i900 comes with the same full touch screen interface as the f840 (Samsung’s patented TouchWiz user interface) . There’s also a stylus, for those of you who prefer to use one rather than your fingers. Staying connected is also made easier with Wi-Fi.

The phone will be available in 8 GB versions and 16 GB versions. The memory can also be extended by a further 16 GB in the form of a microSD memory card. This extra memory may come in handy as the inbuilt GPS would allow for Sat-Nav software to be installed. It also includes geo-tagging capabilities (ability to let you put markers on your photos based on location) much like the Nokia N95.

We Say

This is not only a practical and useful phone but very stylish as it is 12.5mm thick and comes with a smooth platinum finish. All in all I can’t wait to get my hands on one! Word is that I’ll have to wait until August before I can get my grubby little mitts on it though.

Technical Details (warning theres ALOT of them :D )
• Dimensions:
- 113 x 49 x 15.1 mm
• Display:
- 240 x 400 pixels/3.5 inch
• Network:
- GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band)
- WCDMA: 900/2100 (Dual-Band)
• Camera:
- 5 mega-pixels (auto-focus)
- Digital Zoom
- LED Flash
- Face Detection
- Landscape Mode
• Music:
- Supported formats: MP3, AAC, eAAC+ & WMA
- FM Stereo Radio (RDS)
• Video:
- Video Recording
- Supported formats: MP4, 3GPP & H.264
- Video Streaming
• Ringtones:
- Monophonic
- Polyphonic (64)
- MP3
• Messaging:
- SMS
- MMS (with video)
- E-mail (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4 & Exchange)
- Instant Messaging (MSN)
• Memory:
- Phone Book (unlimited)
- Dialled Calls
- Missed Calls
- Received Calls
- 8GB (internal)
- microSDHC (external)
• Connectivity:
- Bluetooth (2.2)
- Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g)
- GPRS Class 32
- HSDPA (7.2 Mbits)
- DLNA Support
• Navigation:
- AGPS
• Features:
- TV Out
- Office Document Editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- PDF Document Viewer
- Opera Mobile Web Browser
- SweepUI Interface

Preview: Samsung i900 ‘Omnia’ – The Best of Both Worlds? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

In 2007, if you were looking for a super smart phone, then I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Nokia N95 was one of the top ones on your list. So when news broke from Nokia that the Nokia N96 was being released next month, I just couldn’t wait to see whether this was a worthy contender to be added to our short list for the must-have smart phones for 2008. Face value, this slider smart phone has all the latest mobile technologies which you’d expect from a smartphone. With 16GB of internal memory, GPS for geo tagging your pics, 3G HSDPA technology for a fast highly efficient mobile device you’d be hard pressed to find many faults in this phone. And for those of you who like your phone to look good, it even has a new stylish glossy black finish.

Review

One thing I love about smart phones is their ability to include so many different stand- alone devices and the Nokia N96 definitely exceeds my expectations on this front. In addition to the camera, video camera, music player, GPS device and unlike it predecessor the N95, its biggest improvement, has to be its capacity. With a 16GB of internal flash memory and a microSD memory card slot with support for cards up to 8GB (so you could have 24GB of storage space just on your phone!!), this will mean that you’ll never run out of space for photos, music, and games.

Talking of photos, Nokia has updated the Share Online function which enables the N96 to automatically ‘geo tag’ your photos (ability to let you put markers on your photos based on location) and upload them to Flickr. Also, the built-in GPS receiver works with the new Nokia Maps 2.0, which comes preloaded on the N96. The camera is pretty much the same as the N95, however with a few more tweaking from the Nokia it now has a more more powerful flash.

Included also under its exterior is a digital TV tuner (a DVB-H) live broadcasting, however this won’t really be that useful in the UK until the digital switch over. It also comes with a little kick stand in the back so you can set it on a table top for your TV viewing pleasure and the speakers of the phone are cleverly designed in such a way that they are intended for landscape-oriented use. Nokia promises that you’ll be able to watch 40 hours of video using the internal storage alone, and of course, you’ll need to charge the battery.

It also has the dual-sliding function again just like the N95, as well as sporting a pair of gaming keys on an extra slide panel that can be used for N-Gage games. The Nokia N96 supports video recording, playback & streaming which can be displayed & viewed perfectly in the large high colour display. You can record footage which can be stored, edited, shared and deleted, or simply played back on the 2.8” QVGA screen for your viewing pleasure.

You can check out the Nokia N96 Demonstration Site here

The Gaj-It Verdict

All-in-all, the Nokia N96 is a great, feature packed mobile handset, that’s a BIG step forward from the old n95! with such things as mobile social networking (geo-tagging pics and uploading straight to Flickr) and high-speed full-function Internet browsing that few phones currently on the market are capable of competing with today. The things I’m concerned about, is the battery life and the flaky Symbian software on other NSeries Nokia’s. The 950 mAh battery in the Nokia N96 is the same as in N95, and we all remember the troubles the N95 had with battery life also the software problems have apparently also been fixed. However, that aside it certainly gets my vote as being on the shortlist for the must have smartphone of 2008, but whether I think it can go head to head with the likes of apples iphone 2.0 and the blackberry bold 9000 is another story. I’ll have to wait for it’s release next month to see…

Sources:

Nokia N96 Review at Mobile Express

Nokia N96 Review at Dial a phone

Full specs of Nokia N96 include:

* WCDMA2100/900 (HSDPA) / EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS) connectivity
* DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz
* S60 3rd edition, FP2 UI
* 2.8” QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) LCD TFT display with up to 16 million colours
* 5 mega pixel camera with auto-focus and auto-exposure and a Carl Zeiss lens (which are amazing).
* Dual-LED camera flash, video light, recording indicator, auto-focus assist light
* Secondary VGA (640 x 480 pixels) camera for video calls
* Video capture in MPEG-4 up to VGA at 30 fps
* Digital Video Stabilization
* Built-in GPS/A-GPS
* WLAN – IEEE802.11 g/b
* Stereo FM radio (87.5-108MHz, 76-90MHz) with RDS
* Hi-Speed USB 2.0 with Micro USB type B interface
* 3.5mm stereo headset plug , TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
* Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP stereo/EDR
* 950 mAh battery with up to 220 min talk, 220 hrs standby time, 5 hrs video, 14 hrs music or 4 hrs TV playback
* Dimensions: 103×55×18 mm
* Weight: 125 g

What do you think? leave a comment below :)

Nokia’s N96: An all Grown Up N95? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Move over Second Life, Google has launched a new 3D virtual world called Google Lively (in Beta), in which users create avatars for themselves and interact virtually much like Sony’s planned ‘Home’ service for PlayStation 3. Lively users can make a room for them selves then invite their friends and anyone else into their virtual realities, where they can chat, hug, cry, laugh and interact (even kick them in the nuts! not that you would ever do that to your friends) as if they were characters in a video game.

Sadly Google Lively only runs on Windows Vista or Windows XP browsers, using a plugin thats automatically installed. Check it out yourself at Lively.com, you’ll need either a Google or Facebook account and Internet Explorer or Firefox.

you can check out my Lively page by clicking here

Just a Hint: you can Move about with a variety of double clicks and mouse drags on your name :)

Google’s looking Lively is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The Blackberry Bold 9000 will be hitting our shelves very soon and has been causing a definite frenzy within the Blackberry world.

With its stylish black exterior, stain chrome frame and leather-like back plate, this Blackberry has oozes of good looks and with super intelligent features to match, it is no wonder that this is a must have gadget amongst any Blackberry loving fan.

Under its exterior, this quad-band phone comes complete with an impressive 624 Mhz processor and is the first blackberry that supports tri-band HSDPA high speed networks around the world. With integrated GPS (check out our forum on Mobile Navigation Software), to show off its navigation skills and WI-FI(802.11a/b/g), giving you fast download speeds and quick emailing, the Blackberry Bold is definitely an all rounder. To top it off, it comes with a 128mb flash memory, 1GB on-board storage memory and a micro SD memory card slot capable of being expanded to 4GB, allowing you to download all of word, excel and power point files and edit them on the handset using the preloaded Data Viz Documents to-go suite.

And just when you thought the Blackberry Bold was all about ‘work and no play’, by adding a 2 megapixel camera, with built in flash and 5x digital zoom, which can also record videos as well as MP3 player, this smart little thing just got fun as well!

If you want to sway away from the Apple iPhone 2.0 rush then I think this is definitely one phone which you should cast your eyes onto. But beware, with this phone there is no shying away from doing work or replying to emails even when you’re out of the office.

you can check out the official Blackberry Bold website here

So talking contracts, on the Vodafone network you would be looking to pay £5 a month on an 18th month contract for unlimited emails but if you were to get it on Pay as Talk then emailing and the internet would be out of the question.

Blackberry Bold 9000 Preview: Smartphone for the Masses is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Overview
The Samsung Soul, code named as the U900, is the latest mobile phone released by Samsung. It is more specifically aimed at any devilish soul who is looking for a mobile phone with oodles of style and charisma. With touch screen control, a slim slider design, HSDPA mobile broadband, a 5 mega-pixel camera, at face value you could definitely see it’s worth its hefty price tag. So enough said, let’s have a little closer look at this irresistible phone and find out whether it is really worth selling our souls to the devil to get one!

The Soul follows suit from its ‘Ultra’ series of size zero handsets, to create a slick slider in a metallic case that gives a classy but not ‘in your face’ look. It also looks as though the Soul has also considered practicality when designing this phone, with rubberised black plastic on the sides to ensure that if anyone get their greasy mitts on your phone then there is no harm in it slipping out of their hands.

So let’s talk features. Well, with a 5 mega pixel camera, which includes auto focus, flash, image stabilisation, latest face detection technology and the benefits from optical Zoom to offer better quality images, this is a great phone to take with you on your memorable nights outs…just remember to make them memorable enough to take the phone out to actually take some pics!

With a ‘Bang and Olufsen’ in-built ICE sound amplifier, I think the name says it all as the sound quality is excellent. Featuring HSDPA, this is also a great phone for surfing, with maximum speeds of 7.2Mbps, that’s if you’re a Vodafone customer in central London or at major airports.

There is 100mb of in-built memory which isn’t bad, though I thought it was a shame it didn’t come with a memory card. However, if you do want to shell out for a memory card it does take micro SD cards.
I also like the options to personalise the phone. You can change the colour of the touch pad, the menu colours, the writing colour etc., which is simple and fun to use and if your best friend is know to be a bit of a copy cat and loves to get the same phones as you then you needn’t worry as you’ll be able to incorporate completely different styles.

This popular slide phone has a touch sensitive control pad that changes depending on what menu you are on. For example, when you are on the home page, the keys are short cuts for texting and contacts etc, however when you go to the main menu they are directional keys, up down left right, and when you are on the camera they are camera settings. Personally I found using these buttons tricky and found myself sending a few blank texts – oops! I also found that the call volume was quite low and I kept having to ask the caller to repeat themselves. On the upsides there were some improvements from the days of the E900 as the cancel button is no longer touch sensitive and there is vibration feedback so you know when you have pressed a button.

One thing that I was disappointed with the Samsung Soul was its lack of quirky features, which is absolutely crucial to survive in a world, where if a new mobile phone doesn’t cut it then it is thrown into the ‘unwanted pile’. For example, Samsung Souls main competitor the LG Secret, offers unique features, such as its tempered glass screen, which is able to withstand a good old battering without hardly a scratch (trust me our Gaj-it team have tested it!).

The Secret also adds a little fun to mobile phone usage through their Wii style games which sadly the Soul does not offer. Fancy a game of darts? With a flick of the wrist you could be throwing darts or shaking the magic ball or even fishing. The accelerometer that makes playing these hands on games possible also means the phone will adjust the screen in certain areas, to make sure it’s the right way round. For example, in the photo viewer it will make sure that the pictures are always the right way round. What I personally like is that you can set the maze game as the back ground, so whilst waiting for your bus you can have a quick play without the faff of opening up your games. For a more indepth review of the LG Secret check out Gaj’s review on it here.

The Gaj-It verdict

Design: 9/10
Usability: 8/10
Features: 8/10
Value: 9/10

We Say

Now the Pope may have words with us if we said that you should sell your soul to the devil to get one, but if you’re always on the look-out for a classy but understated mobile phone, with bags of features (maybe not all the quirky ones you could find in the LG Secret), to keep you occupied with, then I think it might be time for you to dig deep into them pockets and bag one before your conscious really starts playing up.

you can check out the Samsung Soul page here

Review: Samsung Soul U900 Review: Would you Sell Your Own Soul to Get One? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Review

The Wind will ship with a 3-cell battery as standard, which will offer between 3 and 4 hours of life, although this can be upgraded to a 6-cell model (which is slightly bulkier) for a battery life of around 5.5 hours.

Measuring 10.2 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches and weighing just under 3 pounds (2.6 without the AC adapter / 3.4 pounds with adapter), its slightly larger and heavier than an Eee PC 900, but the fact it’s slightly bigger means MSI has incorporate a very usable keyboard. Sadly it’s let down by the trackpad Measuring 2.0 x 1.7 inches, the trackpad on the Wind is disappointingly small, requiring more movement than you would like.

The MSI Wind comes in a selection of colours, black, white and pink and Like the Eee pc, it will be available with a choice of screen sizes. MSI plans to ship an 8.9-inch version of the Wind later in the year.

Again here comes the ‘Geeky’ bit:
• 10″ LCD (1024×600) LED Display
• 1GB of RAM (that you can upgrade to 2GB),
• A 1.3MP webcam built into the lid above the screen,
• Atom 1.6GHz processor (slightly less powerful than the 900MHz in the Eee pc but a lot more power efficient (makes the battery last longer))
• 80G hard drive – huge space but at the expense of ‘ultra’ portability (ssd’s have no moving parts so you can ‘shake it like a Polaroid’ and it wont get damaged!)
• A VGA (normal monitor output) D-SUB port (up to 1600×1280),
• 802.11b/g WiFi, and a wired Ethernet port
• 4-in-1 memory card reader
• Bluetooth (which is sadly missing with the Eee pc)
• 3 USB ports
• MSI Wind is also the first mini notebook / UMPC with an over-clock button!

Again just like the Eee pc you can tell from the specs you’re not going to be able to play games like ‘Age of Conan’ or do Hi-Def video editing, but it is powerful enough to play ‘World of Warcraft’ (FTW!) and play back Hi-Def movies.

Gaj-it Verdict

Design: 8.5/10
Usability: 10/10
Features: 8/10
Value: 7/10

We Say

Ultimately, this is a worthy alternative to the Eee pc. The MSI Wind offers the complete package, including an adult-size keyboard, a larger 10-inch screen, a very capable Atom processor and Good battery life, makes it an all-around good mini-notebook / UMPC to date, you just need to ask yourself is it small enough (its an extra 1.1″ more than the Eee pc – now please no jokes but does size really matter?) plus the whole hard drive issue…

Shop for it
Find the cheapest price on Kelkoo*

Heres the MSI Wind advert (yes, I know its uber cheesy)

Review of the MSI Wind, an Eee Contender? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Ubisoft has revealed the next instalment in the Rayman Raving Rabbids series, which will be “the first ever game you can play with your ass”.

Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party, as it’s titled, was shown at the UbiDays conference. The commentator began by playing a snowboarding game. This involved sitting down on a Wii Balance Board with a remote and nunchuk in each hand…and before you say anything there is no Joystick!

His demonstration was quite amusing because to play he had to shift his weight left and right to steer. “The Wii balance board is exceptionally sensitive towards his bottom,” observed the gentleman commentating. A Rabbid followed his movements on-screen, zooming down a ski course while riding an upside-down wildebeast (A Hairy Cow).

As the mini-game progressed he started waving the remote and nunchuk about to perform jumps and pull off different moves. This allows you to earn points accordingly and share your high scores online. “The moves look fairly easy,” said the commentator, “But I challenge you to hit them all the first time.”

You can watch the trailer here:

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Find the cheapest price Rayman Raving Rabbids on Kelkoo*

Play Rabbids with your…ass? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Overview

Taking your laptop to work can be massive a chore especially if it feels like you are carrying a ton of bricks on your shoulders. Whilst you day dream in the midst about finding a laptop which is light and functional and won’t stretch the company budget then let me introduce to you the Asus Eee PC – An ultra portable laptop that costs as little as £169 (Asus Eee PC 700) or it’s updated brother the Asus Eee PC 900 (costing around £329.00 Inc VAT).

Review
For anyone who hasn’t heard of the Eee PC before, all I can say is where have you been! So in case you missed out here’s the low-down…The Eee PC is a very small and light weight machine, measuring 225 x 165 x 35mm (WxDxH) and weighing around 1kg (0.99 kg / 2.2 lbs), with the weight and size of this machine it is clear that it’s built to be used on the move, especially since it has a solid state storage drive and has no moving parts (no more throwing out broken hard drives!)

Although the case that houses the Eee PC 900 is almost identical to the 700 (just a few millimetres extra), once you open the lid you see the first major difference between the two. The screen on the 900 is a huge improvement (8.9” diagonal, full screen resolution is 1,024 x 600) from its predecessor (7” diagonal, 800 x 480), making this new Eee PC much more attractive.

The 900 comes in either Pearl White or Galaxy Black colours, Wireless (Wi-Fi), 3 USB 2.0 ports (2 more than the Mac Book Air – and for quarter of the price!) and like the Mac Book Air, the Eee PC 900 has multi-touch gesture-based input where you can resize, zoom in and out and scroll using the Touch pad.

Now for the ‘Geeker’ bit:

• It has a 900 MHz Intel Celeron Mobile processor (that’s nice and nippy),
• 1GB of RAM (that you can upgrade to 2GB),
• A 1.3MP webcam built into the lid above the screen,
• A VGA (normal monitor output) D-SUB port (up to 1600×1280),
• 802.11b/g WiFi, and a wired Ethernet port
• MMC / SDHC memory card reader
• And depending which version you get (900 – Linux or XP) you get either a 20GB Solid State Drive(Linux), or a 16GB Solid State Drive (Windows)

The difference in Solid State Drives is because Asus wanted to keep the price between the Linux and Windows XP versions the same. Also none of the Eee PC range comes with a CD/DVD Rom Drive.

As you can tell from the specs, you’re not going to be able to run graphically intense games like ‘Age of Conan’ or Processor hungry applications like 3D software or Hi-Def video editing, but it is powerful enough to play ‘World of Warcraft’ (FTW!) and play back Hi-Def movies.

Gaj-it Verdict

Design: 9/10
Usability: 10/10
Features: 7/10
Value: 8/10

We Say

Asus have done an amazing job, the 8.9” wide screen makes the Eee PC 900 a joy to use, the Eee PC a real alternative to a normal notebook, especially since it’s so small and light (I’m refusing to say ‘cute’, I just cant do it). Ultimately, if you want a notebook that’s small, light but still very affordable, the Eee PC 900 should be at the top of your list.

Shop for it.

Compare on Kelkoo

Review of the Asus Eee PC 700/900: To Eee or not to Eee? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

AMD’s next-generation of Turion Ultra’s will include a new processor called the ‘Griffin’ (Pea . tear . Griffin ?) the Griffin will have two cores and is specifically designed for mobility, unlike existing Turion chips, Griffin was designed for laptops and so features extra, mobile-friendly circuitry for better power management. Such as the integrated graphics (DirectX 10 graphics built in) will work in conjunction with a discrete graphics card to help lower power consumption by allowing it to power down until it is needed, thus saving more power!

In short AMD have made a good, fast, mobile processor and it looks like AMD isn’t out of the race, yet (although Intel may be gearing up to release a new Centrino 2 chip). I wouldn’t mind seeing one of these babies in my next notebook, plus you got to love an underdog.

Official Press Release

THE AMD VS INTEL CHIP WAR

AMD’S NEW PROCESSOR LAUNCH CAPITALISES ON INTEL’S DELAY

AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) launches its next-generation mobile processor – the AMD Turion Ultra notebook platform. The new processor is the first real opportunity to capitalize on their controversial US$5.4 billion acquisition of graphics company ATI in July 2006. A successful launch of the new AMD platform is seen by some as a turning point for AMD to take advantage of ATI’s graphics expertise and Intel’s failure to deliver its new laptop system. Intel were forced to postpone their release due to experiencing problems with their integrated graphics chip set – and a chip delay means that laptop manufacturers that have been planning on using it either will have to wait, or go with another platform.

By AMD’s own admission, it’s been a challenging time for the company as it attempts to go head to head with Intel and increase its market share which grew to 18% in 2007. Despite the current financial climate, the mobile computer market has become a key battlefield for chip makers. AMD sees mobile success as critical to its future growth; in 2007, AMD notebook sales grew by 53% compared to Intel’s growth of 33%. Overall laptop sales grew 37% worldwide from 2006 to 2007, particularly in emerging markets such as Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa, which has experienced 67% and 45% growth in sales respectively.

But it is the home entertainment market that could be key for AMD and also signal the death of the home desktop PC, as laptop power and graphics become increasingly sophisticated. Personal laptops now outsell home desktops, with 83% of people in Europe stating they use their notebooks for entertainment alone, such as HD gaming, HD DVD, streaming live TV and accessing the internet. AMD have tapped into this entertainment-driven market with specific features that enable the user to experience high quality graphics without draining the battery life of the notebook – enabling a mobility not previously seen before.

AMD’s next-generation Turion Ultra Processor – The Griffin is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com