What do we think?

This little Blackberry is most definitely pocket friendly in terms of both physical size and cost. Although BlackBerry has been pumping out impressive touchscreen handsets such as the 9780 and the 9900, they are keen to make sure it doesn’t alienate those who would be drawn in by it’s cheaper – yet cheerful – Curve range.

The 9320 is sleek, with both Black and brushed metal tones and has a curved back, which really fits in the hand well – as if it has been moulded with that in mind.

A little thicker than the Curve 9360 and 4g heavier this handset is clearly aimed at the younger generation, but we still love it!

Post by Nicole Lee

The people Hub is the centre of the Windows Phone experience, the live tiles remain, giving constant changing information on the go, and using the phone you get an idea of future apps using this feature even more. The handset is ideal for the younger smartphone user, giving the apps and functionality that would be expected. Social media is the name of the game here with the Lumia 610 instantly connecting you to Facebook, Xbox Live, Linked In, Twitter and Windows Live through one email address. Through this small gesture the device is potentially ready to go out of the box, pulling users contacts, calendar and even SkyDrive account on the handset instantly.

When looking at the phone as an entry level business handset, it comes into its own. The Lumia Family of handsets come with the exclusive Nokia Apps (Drive, Music and Maps) and access to Microsoft office 365 including Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Lync. This coupled with the 25GB SkyDrive access means the phone is beyond the average business handset, for a very reasonable price.

Previous concerns of the Lumia handset seem to have been corrected, the newest update sorted out previous battery issues, (we found a massive difference when we turned our location services off) and the apps from the Marketplace are slowly catching up to Android and iOS. While the Software is expecting a big update in the next few months, we are excited to see what changes are made.

Nokia have previously pushed the Lumia handsets to the general consumer wanting to use Facebook and remain in constant access of their friends and family. Its only now they are pushing the devices into the business sector with the 610 being the entry level handset and the most accessible. While most will still view the Lumia 800 and 900 and the ‘showcase’ devices, the Nokia Lumia 610 has really suprised us. It reminds us of the first time we used a BlackBerry 8520. It’s a full business solution, and seems to us to be the beginning of the next generation of business handsets.

If you take an iPhone 4S and ask Siri, “What is the best smartphone ever” the answer you get is……………

SMART!

Main specifications:

-         3.2 Touch screen

-         Water proof

-         Dust proof

-         Android 2.3 operating system (Ginger bread)

-         5.0 Megapixel camera and front facing camera (with auto focus)

-         SD card compatible

-         Wi-Fi

-         Bluetooth

-         3G

-         Battery 72 hours usage time (calls, texts, android market and email updates).

The phone comes with some apps to get you started in both personal and business life. With emails apps that lets you have multiple accounts to music players to navigation to the JCB tool box to help you throughout your day. You can also download new gizmos and gadgets from the android market place and using the latest 2.3 processor making the android experience even faster.

The email apps that come already installed with the phone are standard Gmail and Hotmail. You can download other app such as MOXIER MAIL which supports email clients such as the likes of Microsoft Outlook, which also syncs your calendar, contacts, reminders and tasks, so you know where to go who to meet.

Microsoft 365 and Lync communicator are available to download so you can keep in touch via instant messaging with all of your friends and colleagues and also keep up to date with any work documents that needs to be done (At additional an cost).

JCB have got their own tool box built into the phone with apps like a spirit level, material and tools supplier search and a direct link to the JCB website.

The camera has a brightness adjuster for when taking pictures in the darker environment, a switch to change from camera to video recorder and various picture settings. The video recorder has the same settings as the camera apart from it does not have zoom or brightness adjust.

What I think:

I think phone is perfect for foremen, builders, plumbers, electricians, warehouse operatives, and many more occupations alike, being able to check emails, search the internet for supplies and most importantly be able to do this without fear of dropping it into water, dropping it off of scaffolding, running it over, and much more, even run it over with a JCB digger. The phone is just like any other android phone in the market but heavy duty, dust and water proof.

I wouldn’t suggest this as a business phone if you are spending the majority of the time in an office or away from a work site, as there are faster more stylish phones for the email apps and business apps such as Microsoft 365, for example the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows phones, but as I have said before this is perfect for the daily labourer.

Review by Sam Bird at CCS Mobile
samb@ccsmobile.co.uk

The invitations were sent out hinting at the much rumoured Samsung Galaxy S 3. We’re looking forward to see what Samsung will bring to the table with this one, it has a lot to live up to. Check back after the event for all the info.

The regulator has launched a consultation to investigate the possibility of using the 700MHz band after 2018. The band is currently being used for digital and terrestrial television. The regulator said operators will need help in their attempts to satisfy soaring demand, whether it is through them upgrading services for 4G, offloading mobile data onto wi-fi or femtocell or building more mobile sites.

By using the 700MHz band, Ofcom said it will provide a better quality service to reach both indoor and outdoor locations. It will also reduce the number of new mobile sites that will need to be built to meet the growing demands. If the spectrum is used for mobile broadband, it will bring the UK in line with the US, which is using 700MHz for mobile broadband LTE. Australia and New Zealand are planning to use the same frequency for LTE.

Ofcom said mobile data demands are soaring, with mid-level estimates predicting an 80-fold growth between 2012 and 2030, and a 300-fold increase under a high growth scenario.

Ofcom will close the consultation on 7 June. Last month, the deadline passed for the regulator’s separate consultation into the forthcoming 4G auction.

HTC is informing users of HTCSense.com that the site will soon be undergoing renovation. However, shockingly, HTC will not be retaining user data and after April 30, 2012 all the user uploaded data will be deleted. To prevent loss of data, HTC has provided instructions on its site on how you can download it while there is still time.

For those who are not aware, HTCSense.com is a cloud-sync service specially for HTC devices, that backed up your contacts, messages, call history, etc. on its servers. It’s similar to iCloud, except it’s not as comprehensive.

It’s a bit appalling that HTC is deleting user data just for renovation purposes; it would have been understandable if the service was shutting down for good. The whole point of syncing your data to the cloud is so that you don’t have to worry about it ever getting accidentally deleted. The users should not have to worry about things like HTC renovating the service; these things should happen in the background without affecting user uploaded content.

Source GSM Arena.

If you’ve pored over the specs of Nokia’s Lumia 710 and 800 handsets during the last few months, you’ve likely noticed the duo’s lack of mobile hotspot functionally. Of course, the Finnish phone maker didn’t completely abandoned the feature in Windows Phone, as the ability to turn your device into a portable access point will ship with its flagship Lumia 900 and the recently announced 610 at launch. Nokia admitted that the feature would be coming to the 800 months ago, and now Elop & Company have announced that the 710 is also on the shortlist. A recent Q&A post on its Connects blog explained that software updates will be “coming soon” — by way of Zune update — to remedy the discrepancy between the old and new. No word on what Nokia’s definition of “soon” is, but you can find all the available details at the source link below.

Source Engadget

MWC 2012: Microsoft makes Windows 8 beta available to consumers

Microsoft has used the Mobile World Congress to launch the mobile  version of its Windows 8 software.

Steven Sinofsky has  launched the beta version of Windows 8 (Getty)

Many believe the launch is Microsoft’s make or break attempt to keep pace  with Apple and Google in terms of the next generation of computers.

The beta version of Windows 8 can from today be populated by dozens of  applications, which will remain free until the commercial launch, and include  updated versions of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader, games such as Cut the Rope,  and the Vimeo video sharing site.

Windows boss Steven Sinofsky chose the congress in Barcelona to launch the  new product, describing the release as Microsoft’s most radical redesign since  Windows 95.

Read more here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview

The Nokia Asha 202 is a compact handset that packs in both a touchscreen and an alphanumeric keypad.

The 202 will be priced at around €60 (£50) according to Nokia, making it a smidge more expensive than the £45 Asha 201 — but cheaper than the €95 toll being levied on the Asha 302.

I got hands-on with the device, which is the sibling of the Nokia Asha 203, at Mobile World Congress. Read on for my first impressions.

Dual SIM support

The Asha 202 has two SIM slots — one under the removable battery, and one on the side of the device. Switching between SIMs can be done without turning the phone off, which makes it easier to manage if you’ve got a different SIM on the go. The phone will also prompt you to specify which SIM to use for certain operations.

Nokia says the 202 can store settings for up to five SIMs using the SIM Manager menu.

There’s a second SIM slot on the side and you don’t have to turn the phone off to switch between SIMs.

Design

The 202 has a standard candybar form, with a shiny black plastic face. It’s reasonably stylish, especially at this budget price. There’s a choice of four basic handset colours — red, white, dark grey and black — with most choices edged in silver.

Despite its metal trimmings, the 202 feels very light. It’s also small enough to easily slip into all but the most miserly of pockets. Being so lightweight, it could feel cheap, but its unfussy looks help it to stay on the right side of classy.

The keypad on the 202 is alphanumeric, which means it’s probably not as fast to type on as a full Qwerty, unless you’ve developed your multi-press reflexes to ninja levels.

The keys are generously proportioned though, so you shouldn’t have to worry about mashing the wrong one too often.

You can choose between red, white, dark grey and black trim.

Screen

The 2.4-inch display is a touchscreen but it’s the resistive type, rather than the capacitive variety found on most smart phones such as Nokia’s high-end Lumia range.

It seemed reasonably responsive during my brief hands-on, but we’ll be sure to poke and prod a lot more when we get the device in for a full review.

Software

Like all of its fellow Ashas, the 202 runs Nokia’s Series 40 OS so it sits squarely in the budget blower category.

Nokia has tweaked the S4 interface to fit the 202′s particularly diminutive screen dimensions, so it looks slightly different to the Asha 201, which has a squarer screen. On the 202, there’s an emphasis on getting to stuff quickly and easily, with minimal presses — such as via the contacts shortcuts that can be added to the home screen and by swiping left or right to get to favourite contacts, games and apps.

As with the other Ashas in the range, the 202 can be tied up to your Facebook account so you can post and view updates from the home screen with only a few key presses.

Nokia is making a gift of 40 EA games that can be downloaded to the 202 for free in the first two months of use. You’re not going to be able to cram all 40 games on the internal 10MB of memory but there’s a microSD card slot that supports expansion of up to 32GB.

Camera

On the back is a 2-megapixel snapper — I didn’t get a chance to assess image quality but don’t expect to be writing home about how great your pictures are. Still, at this price, it’s a bonus there’s a lens at all.

Outlook

The Asha 202 looks like it’s going to be a niche device — most suited to a budget-conscious student with lots of overseas relatives to call, or possibly as a basic phone for kids, that can be preloaded with games.

Nokia reckons the 202 will be hitting shops in around six weeks’ time, so check back soon for a full review.