Samsung F490 specs official

Today the South Korean handset manufacturer officially unveiled Samsung F490, a rich multimedia mobile phone with all-over 3.2-inch display, no hardware keypad and 5 megapixel camera running on the award-wining Croix UI.

The tri-band HSDPA/EDGE-enabled Samsung F490, a phone we've recently wrote about, looks like the younger brother of Samsung F700 since it features no hardware keyboard and is completed in bar form factor. No doubt the F490 has its own strengths too, standing at only 11.8mm thickness with rounded corners and glossy surface, loaded with some nice features on board.

The extra large 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen with 240 x 432 pixels resolution occupies almost the entire front panel, leaving only a small space bellow for the call and end keys, which are also touch sensitive.

The haptic feedback further facilitates the phone handling, offering tangible assurance that the touchscreen has accepted your command. The 16:9 widescreen ratio of the display benefits picture, video and internet browsing, too. The video player supports WMV, MPEG4, H.263, H.264 file formats in up to VGA resolution at 30fps.

Other intriguing feature is the 5 megapixel camera with built-in LED flash and yes, autofocus. The camera is also capable of recording MPEG4 clips with QVGA resolution at 15 fps. Storing favorite video files, music and pictures is easy with the 130 MB on-board memory and slot for microSD cards.

Music addicts will appreciate the standard 3.5mm audio jack of Samsung F490. As the Bluetooth supports A2DP profile, users will be able to listen to music on wireless stereo headsets, too.

A nice final touch gives the pre-installed Google Search application and the optimized full HTML web browser (NetFront 3.4).

Samsung F490 will be available in some European countries from February at around 530 Euros.
(Source : www.gsmarena.com)

Nokia N95 8GB gets a speed boost and Flash Lite 3

Seems like the owners of Nokia N95 8GB are up for some happy news. A new version of the firmware of the company's top-of-the-shelf multimedia phone was released today.

The new version is 15.0.015 and as we managed to confirm brings in quite a large number of improvements. The main among them is the added Flash Lite 3 and full flash video support. It gives you the opportunity to watch flash videos on video sharing web sites such as YouTube in their full web glory (yes, we know YouTube has a mobile version).


Nokia N95 8GB's web browser can now handle various flash content - our 360 degree spins, for example

The next addition brought by Nokia N95 8GB's firmware is the Web Run Time, which is used for Nokia's Widget platform. These are web-based applications that look very much like native S60 ones.

Another important feature of the new firmware is that it brings in a certain speed boost to Nokia N95 8GB. The start-up time of the phone has now been further reduced by a few seconds and the USB transfer speeds have also been greatly increased.

There are also some minor bug fixes and stability improvements but none of these deserves any special attention. After all, the phone was stable enough even before the update but there is always room for improvement as they say.(Source : www.gsmarena.com)

LG KF600 with a unique touch UI

The original LG Chocolate was a huge success for LG thanks to the touch sensitive navigation pad that warmed consumer's heart with its touch of glowing red. Obviously set on continuing the "touching" tradition after two successful touchscreen models, LG will offer their next high-end handset - the LG KF600.

We've had a chance to play around with a prototype of the KF600 last year and we were more than happy with its performance. In fact the LG KF600 is the GSM counterpart of the US CDMA-enabled LG Venus VX8800, but with a beefier camera module.

We have also added a hands-on with LG KF600 during the WMC 2008 in Barcelona.

The unique about the LG KF600 does not lie in its form factor, design or size. It is a normal slider with decent dimensions. Its true beauty is in the seamless dual display setup on the front panel.

The display in the lower part of the front panel is a smaller, touch-sensitive one and is used for navigation (think Samsung E950 but much, much sleeker and in full blown color). This so-called InteractPad changes in accordance to the context and provides the user with a pretty adequate navigation solution.


Unlike the navigational touchpad used on Samsung E950, which is more of an annoyance than a hip feature, the InteractPad of the LG KF600 seamlessly integrates with the main user interface in every aspect possible.

The user interface of the LG KF600 offers several distinguishable graphic themes made by the graffiti artists Keith Haring that can totally change the look and feel of the device.


In terms of specs, the scarce information we've seen outlines a 3 megapixel camera, GPRS/EDGE-only connectivity (no UMTS), Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, and an office document viewer and haptic fedback.

The LG KF600 will be initially offered only on emerging markets in China, Mexico, Brazil and Turkey obviously in order to gain some points on markets that have not been fully explored. Then a month later the LG KF600 will become available to the rest of the world. Pricing is yet unknown, but a hefty price tag is expected.(Source : www.gsmarena.com)

Nokia N82 Black version pops up

The Finland giant Nokia silently released the highly expected and speculated Nokia N82 Black version. The phone appeared nowhere else but in the USA Nokia online store with an "Unlocked" status. The sleek Nokia N82 Black version is already available for purchase at a price of $629.00 with free shipping for USA.
Let's refresh your memory with the Nokia N82 main features, starting with the HSDPA with video calls and quad-band GSM support. The 100MB of integrated memory is complemented by the microSD memory slot. The 2.4" 16M color QVGA TFT display is among the other highlights.
Nokia N82, a phone we reviewed in detail, is pretty much identical in hardware to the N95. It has 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, capable of capturing 30fps MPEG4 videos at VGA resolution, and has a TV-out port to watch those on your TV set.
The most significant difference to the Nokia N95 is however the built-in xenon flash which highlights the photo-centric nature of the Nokia N82, as well as the screen auto rotation.
You also have built-in GPS receiver that works with Nokia Maps. Compatibility with third-party software is not confirmed yet.
Meanwhile Nokia released three new titles from the new N-Gage platform. They may not be much but it seems to us as if the official start of the N-gage is just around the corner. After all it was about time as Nokia have been promising it for quite a while now.
The three new titles are: Space Impact: Kappa Base, System Rush: Evolution and Creatures of the deep. However, as we managed to confirm only the first was somewhat amusing. At this stage the games are only compatible with Nokia N81 (it's good that we have one around) but soon the other N-Gage enabled devices owners will be able to enjoy them. (Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/)

Nokia 6650 and Nokia 6124 classic announced

Nokia is obviously running out of numbers. That became clear with the announcement of their spanking new Nokia 6650 at the CeBIT 2008. The thing is that there is already another Nokia 6650 - one of the first 3G phones ever to come to life. The original Nokia 6650 was also presented at CeBIT but way back in 2003. The other Nokia announced at the CeBIT 2008 is the Nokia 6124 classic which will be available exclusively for Vodafone.
The new Nokia 6650 is a stylish clamshell reminiscent of the Nokia 6555. It will be offered exclusively for T-Mobile customers - hence the logo on its front panel.
The Nokia 6650 is HSDPA-enabled and will offer full support for the T-Mobile exclusive services such as the web'n'walk internet service, the My Faves group calls service, and the Mobile Jukebox music service. A premium feature is the integrated GPS receiver, which thanks to the Assisted GPS service support will be able to provide quick positioning.
Armed with a 2.2-inch 16M color TFT display, the Nokia 6650 also offers a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash and 30 MB of internal memory. The list of features comes complete with a microSD card slot, FM radio and Bluetooth.
Design-wise the Nokia 6650 also packs a punch with the brushed stainless-steel finish reminding of the Nokia 6500 slide.
The Nokia 6650 will be available via T-Mobile's networks throughout Europe in Q3 2008 at a heavily subsidized price. In Germany for example, the Nokia 6650 will retail for just EUR 1 with the Relax 100 rate.
The second handset announced by Nokia is the Vodafone-exclusive Nokia 6124 classic.
3G enabled and as smart as Symbian smartphones get, the Nokia 6124 classic has a 2-inch display, a 2 megapixel camera and a microSD memory card slot. The Nokia 6124 classic is a Vodafone version of the original Nokia 6120 classic much the same way the Nokia 6233 has its twin in the face of the Nokia 6234.
But can we just say that the new design breathes life in the otherwise capable and compact Nokia 6120 classic - what a welcome change.
The Nokia 6124 classic will start shipping in Vodafone markets in Q2 2008(Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/)

Nokia 1209 and 2600 classic revealed

Today Nokia unveils two budget handsets that offer a range of handy features for consumers in emerging markets. Nokia 2600 classic and Nokia 1209 are targeted at emerging markets and make the most out of features such as multiple phone books, calls cost tracking, prepaid credit tracking, etc.
Nokia 2600 classic is a dual-band GSM/GPRS phone measuring some 12 mm in thickness and weighting 73 grams. It will be offered in several colors with Xpress-on covers to suit consumer preferences.
The Nokia 2600 classic has a 65K color TFT display with 128x160 pixels resolution. The budget phone is not scarce on functions at all - it sports VGA camera with video recording, FM radio, WAP 2.0 web browser (xHTML), as well as Bluetooth v2.0.
As for messaging, beside the SMS, MMS and Nokia Xpress Audio Messaging, Nokia 2600 classic also has an email client that supports POP3, IMP4 and SMTP protocols.
Nokia 2600 classic has already started shipping in key markets and will be selling for 65 EUR before taxes or subsidies. By the way you can get the same features except for the interchangeable Xpress-on covers in an even thinner body with the Nokia 2630.
The second model introduced today, the Nokia 1209 is a successor to the Nokia 1200 and adds color to it with the new 65K color CSTN display (96 x 68 pixels resolution). The phone interface offers support of up to 80 languages and offers up to five separate phonebooks each with up to 200 individual entries. This allows several people to share the phone as seems to be the trend in emerging markets.
Nokia claims the Nokia 1209 has noise cancellation filters that decrease the background noise for improved sound quality. Another plus is the dust-resistant keypad made with a one-piece key mat, and much like its predecessor, it as also has a flashlight on top of the phone.
All the features we've slowly taken for granted in modern cellphones lack here - there's no WAP browser, no MP3 ringtones, no MMS, no Email, or even Bluetooth.
We generally don't like the color user interface of low end Nokias. Since the color display is nothing special anyway, they should have stuck with the monochromatic ones as they offer better legibility and better power saving. The Nokia 1112 is a great example of that and we even wonder why Nokia went back to using the green backlighting with Nokia 1200.
The Nokia 1209 will cost only 35 EUR before taxes or subsidies and is expected to become available globally during the second quarter of 2008. It will have two dual-band versions - a GSM 900/1800 one and a second GSM 850/1900 one.(Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/)