Mobile Phone
LG BL40 “Chocolate” shows up in the Allphones catalogue
Feb 9th
LG’s newest addition to the “Black Label” line of handsets, the BL40, has shown up in Allphones Buyer’s Guide. Sporting that extra long 4″ HD screen and 21:9 aspect ratio, this has to be one of the strangest forms made by a mainstream company. With pricing and availability still to be confirmed, let’s hope it’s not another shocker for LG, much in the same vain as there other Chocolate handsets…. yes i’m talking to you KG800.
Apple’s Tablet to finally see the light of day? Or iPhone 4.0 to take centre stage?
Jan 19th
Invite to Apple’s rumoured Jan 27th event were sent out this morning, confirming the event and also sparking massive speculation that this is going to be the date that Apple reveal it’s much hyped Tablet. There have been reports by Clayton Morris that the event will showcase the much anticipated Tablet, iPhone OS 4.0 and iLife. In all of this the only thing I’m really interested to see is the iPhone OS 4.0, I’m excited to see what news features or tweaks Apple are looking at adding to the iPhone platform. Dont get me wrong, I’m extremely interested to see what Apple have done with this Tablet of theirs, but knowing the price range its going to be in I’m extremely confident I wont be getting one any time soon, plus I already have a iPhone 3GS so, the announment that seems most relevant to me of course is the iPhone OS update. I’ll be up at 2am my time ready and waiting for all to be revealed.
The 5800’s little brother – 5530 XpressMusic touches down in Australia, along with the E72
Nov 30th
The little brother to Nokia’s 5800 has finally landed in Australia. This nice little handset has already got the “kinetic scrolling” software on it, like what the N97 got in an update not long ago, and the same update the 5800 is yet to get. The update in question, changes the scrolling to be more iPhone-esque and in turn more accurate and easier to use. The 5530 XpressMusic on first glance is quite a nice handset, it has a great finish which shows good quality, something the 5800 lacked. Sporting a 3.2 megapixel camera + video, WiFi, 2.9″ resistive touch, built-in Facebook app and 4GB MicroSD included, it comes in 2 colour variants, White with Blue and Black with Red. The only downside of this handset is, it’s only 2G. Look for these to be south of the $250 mark. Definitely a good handset for a Christmas present.
Next is the E72, successor to the popular and well received E71. The handset is coming in 2 colours, Gold and Black, with the Gold colour being exclusive to Allphones for release. Packing a 5 megapixel camera, GPS with compass, 3.5mm stereo jack, WiFi, HSDPA 10.2Mbps, 4GB MicroSD included, optical track button instead of standard D-Pad (works exceptionally well BTW) and the standard S60 suite of apps, it also has a redesigned QWERTY keypad, borrowing heavily from the E63 which means, bigger keys. Virgin are really headlining this handset, bringing it out for $0 on the $49 Rollover Cap, this is cheaper then any of the major networks in Australia, all charging extra for the handset.
Nokia’s “Booklet” netbook and N900 not coming Down Under
Nov 28th
It has been heard that Nokia’s netbook, the “Booklet” and its Maemo touch handset, the N900 will not be making their way to Australian stores due to lukewarm support from networks. The major factor for the Booklet would have to have been lacklustre sales and poor public reception of the netbooks deals currently offered by carriers now, including Optus’ Samsung NC10 and Vodafone’s Dell Inspiron mini 9. If the networks could get the Booklet down to free, which at the moment is a big ask, considering Optus charge you extra for their premium modem which doubles your accessible speed from 3.6Mbps to 7.2Mbps with 2Mbps HSUPA, I certainly can’t see them providing a netbook at a free price. But this is what the market needs for these things to be viable. They can subsidise a $500 handset and give it away for free on a $30 plan, but can’t get a netbook for less than $20 on top of existing wireless broadband plans that start at $40. Crazy!
The N900 on the other hand, I have no clue as to why Australian networks don’t want it. This just seems absurd, it would run on both Vodafone’s and Optus’ dual band 3G networks without an issue, it’s a full touch handset with sliding keyboard in the same vain as the Motorola Droid, it runs Maemo 5 – Nokia’s platform of the future, 32GB internal memory with support for up to 16GB via MicroSD, 5 mega pixel camera with video. This thing is a beast, a far better handset then the current flagship, the N97. Maybe cost was an issue, maybe it had to be subsidised too heavily to appeal to the masses, either way, I’m still holding out for this to all be a dream and to hopefully wake up and be able to get one of these and the Booklet in Australia, guess we will have to wait and see.
Nokia N97 mini & 6760 Surge hitting Aussie shores…
Nov 26th
Nokia N97 mini is due to hit our shores in February of 2010. It has been approved for use by Australian networks and pricing as well as availibility should come closer to that date. I have had a play with a “mini” and the build quality is very nice, it seems to be a much more refined and robust product then its bigger brother. Size wise there isn’t a great deal of difference but the “mini” will seem to appeal to those who want a full featured handset like the N97 but without the price tag or the extra bulkiness. Sporting the same hardware as the N97 except for it having 8GB of internal memory rather then 32GB, it also has a smaller screen and no FM transmitter. With 3G operating frequencies of 850/900/1900/2100mHz, this handset will work on all networks in Australia including Telstra’s Next G. Whether that means it will be a different variant of the ”mini” we will just have to wait and see.
The Nokia 6760 Surge on the other hand is now starting to hit Australian shops, starting out on $29 Caps across a few carriers and for $399 AUD outright. This handset is quite pleasing to operate, although at first glance not the most pleasing to look at. The slide is of excellent quality with a nice fluent gentle motion unpon first use, running S60 and shipping with the standard range of Ovi apps such as Maps, Store and Email along with Facebook. Packing HSDPA 900/2100mHz which makes the handset suitable for Optus and Vodafone’s Dual Band 3G Network, 3.2 Megapixel camera with video, expandable memory upto 8GB and FM Radio.
Samsung announces "bada" and gives Symbian the boot
Nov 11th
In a every increasing world of smartphone manufactures and software developers, there is the best and then there is the rest. Nokia’s own Symbian OS (S60), along with RIM’s Blackberry OS and Apple’s iPhone OS hold the top three spots in market share for smartphone OS’s, with everyone thing else making up the rest. The main reason for Symbian’s success has been it’s licensing. More smartphones around the world are sold with symbian due to two things, Nokia making it, it’s number 1 smartphone OS and also other manufactuers also using it in a range of handsets, Samsung being one of these. Samsung, which holds the umber 2 spot for global mobile sales currently uses a mix of Windows Mobile and Symbian for it’s smartphones with about a 80/20 split. This is all about to change.
iPhone 3G S shipping to Australian stores as we speak.
Jun 23rd
UPDATE: Vodafone just released pricing, check out both Optus and Vodafone’s below.
With Friday only a matter of days away, the biggest fear i had was a repeat of last year, where only flagship stores carried iPhones on launch day and others had to wait via raincheck processes. This year a different story is emerging, stores have already started to recieve stock and for stores that haven’t, they should have stock for Friday’s launch. This is good news for customers, as no pre-order was available to customers this time around in Oz. Optus have released pricing already, with the 32gb version avaiable free on their Timeless plans. Vodafone and Virgin are still yet to finalise pricing but it is expected today or tomorrow.
New iPhone 3G S to hit Australia on the 26th of June
Jun 10th
It’s been a while since i last posted but i thought this was well worth it. The new iPhone 3G S, announced on Monday will be hitting Australia on the 26th of June. At this stage both Optus and Vodafone have taken the handset, but in usual Apple style nothing in regards to pricing or availability has been released. Vodafone has also now released visual voicemail for the iPhone, which correct me if I’m wrong is the first carrier in Australia to do so. Stay tuned, we will get more word on pricing and stock as i find out.
Nokia's E75 and LG's Arena show up in Allphones catalogue
Mar 4th
In my previous post, I showed the Nokia 5800 with Virgin pricing in the Allphones Buyer’s Guide. Now it also seems that the Nokia E75 and the LG Arena, both showcased at MWC only a few weeks ago, have also popped up in the catalogue, although without pricing, Both handsets are listed as coming soon and have a spec list as well as images of LG’s 3D S-Class UI and the side-sliding action of the E75. I will try to get any sort of information i can in regards to these handsets, particularly release dates and pricing. Hit the read more link to get the full pics.
