Philippine Cell Phones

Manila / December 17, 2009 - LG Electronics (LG), a global leader and technology innovator in mobile communications, announced the market introduction of the new LG Chocolate phone (LG BL40), offering customers in the Philippines a closer look at the eagerly-awaited widescreen device. The new LG Chocolate is the fourth handset in LG’s Black Label Series and successor to the highly-acclaimed LG Chocolate.

Chocolate Phone

With the introduction of this bold new shape, the new Chocolate is essentially reinventing the way consumers view and use mobile phones. Designed with sleek sophistication, the strikingly unconventional 4-inchwide screen opens up an enlarged and more optimal space for “on-the-go” computing, allowing for an entirely new mobile experience that raises the bar of innovation.
Users will see things differently with the widened 21:9 panoramic display that establishes a new level of visual comfort for the reading of web pages and e-mail and dramatically brings videos and games to life with cinema-like screen. Going wide also allows for the dual screen era to finally be brought to handsets for enhanced usability, which when combined with LG’s upgraded and intuitive S-Class UI brings a whole new meaning to the words “user friendly”.

“Minimalistic and sleek, the new LG Chocolate will dramatically change the way we interact with our phones,” said Mr. Raymond Hernandez, Corporate Marketing Head of LG Electronics Philippines. “The new Chocolate reflects the originality and sophistication of the Black Label Series and like its predecessor; we are confident thatthe new Chocolate will create its own legacy and further enhance our standing in the market.”

Mobile web browsing is now a breeze with the new Chocolate’s 4-inch, 21:9 HD LCD that eliminates unnecessary side-scrolling; 7.2 HSDPA provides speedier internet and e-mail

Enjoy a panoramic multimedia experience featuring a theatre-like movie player and enriched image and document viewer through thewide screen

Utilize the extra space with Dual Screen UI that can intelligently display two different types of content simultaneously

Touch Things Differently

Enjoy simplified touch screen navigation with LG’s upgraded S-Class UI, which offers the best in finger-friendly 3D graphics, intuitive responsiveness, and easier accessibility to applications
with one-touch copy and paste, transfer content even more quickly and effortlessly

Thanks to the wider screen, discover a refreshingly new hands-on experience for a multitude of tasks ranging from texting to gaming

Style Things Differently

Irresistibly slim shape, glossy black finish and iconic red highlights create a sense of subtle, chic luxury that preserves the new Chocolate’s design identity

Curved scratch-resistant glass that seamlessly encases the phone and provides a smooth, elegant surface that will always look flawlessly clean and alluring

The 4-inch HD LCD opens up a wider space to showcase and accentuate your personal style; enhanced customization features allow you to express yourself through wallpapers, themes and ringtones created from your own multimedia content

[courtesy of LG Electronics Philippines and GreenBulbPR]

Here are the specs:

345 x 800 pixels, 4.01 inches TFT capacitive touchscreen
5 MP camera with LED flash, 2560 x 1920 pixels :
Schneider-Kreuznach optics, autofocus - supports geo-tagging, face, smile and blink detection, image stabilization and manual focus
Bluetooth 2.1
Wifi 802.11 b/g, DLNA
3G - HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
GPRS Class 10
EDGE Class 10
1.1 GB storage and microSD up to 32GB
Stereo FM radio
Battery on 2G: Standby time - 400 hours, Talk time - 6 hours

The LG BL40 is now being displayed in LG Concept Store in Megamall and has a reported retail price of Php26,000.

The latest addition to Nokia´s music device portfolio is ideal for people who like to express themselves through their music and their communities.

The Nokia X3 is a sleek and stylish slide phone with dedicated music and volume keys to control your sounds. It also has a combined send/end key and camera-shutter key for quick and easy operation. The design also features lighting effects around the dedicated ‘Navi’ key.

Priced for mass-market appeal, it is the first S40 device - the classic Nokia interface loved by millions - to offer direct access to Ovi Store. Using the store’s catalogue of applications no two X3’s need ever be the same.

As one of Nokia’s ‘Comes With Music’ devices the X3 enables users to discover, download and keep any and every track they want from the millions available in the Nokia Music Store*. The Nokia X3 also supports side-loading from PC - and comes pre-loaded with sample audio tracks and music videos from leading artists.

On top of a great music experience, the Nokia X3 offers a full set of features including a 3.2 megapixel camera, video recording and editing, email and instant messaging, web-browsing, and navigation with Nokia Maps. It even comes pre-loaded with the Guitar Rock Tour mobile game from Gameloft.

Key Features

*  Excellent music experience - high quality music player, FM radio with RDS and stereo speakers. Control and listen to music over Bluetooth or use the standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Switch to Flight-mode to listen without interruption. Customize the media player and radio skin with a theme to suit your style.
* Massive memory for music - supports up to 16GB of memory with a removable MicroSD card (not supplied).
* 3.2 megapixel camera takes good quality photos and video clips. Shoot, edit and share video clips with the on-board software, geo-tag and upload to sharing sites like Ovi Share and Flickr.
* Active home screen - lets you see your contacts, friends or the track you are playing. There are also animated wallpapers to show signal and battery strength.
* Great for social messaging - supports Nokia Chat, Windows Live! Messenger, Yahoo Go! and other popular instant messaging clients.
* Mobile email made easy - it is easy to set-up your email and, with Nokia Messaging, users can combine all their inboxes into one, including support for Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail, AOL Mail and most other POP3/IMAP email clients.
* Brilliant web browsing - built-in Flash player and auto-landscape orientation means you really get the best out of online video and movies.
* Great games on-board - comes preloaded with Guitar Rock Tour by Gameloft, plus a range of Java games including City Bloxx and Snake III.
* Nokia Maps - integrated A-GPS navigation and Nokia Maps provides turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation driving or walking.
* Ovi Store makes it easy to download games, videos, podcasts, applications and much more for your mobile. It has never been so easy to find something to suit whatever you want to do on the go.

Product Specification

* Size: 96 x 49.3 x 14.1 mm
* Display: 2.2 inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) with up to 262K colors
* Camera: 3.2 megapixels with full focus and 4x zoom
* Video recording at QVGA quality 30 frames-per-second
* Memory: Up to 46 Mb user memory and supports up to 16GB MicroSD
* Data Connectivity: GPRS/EGPRS, 3GPP Rel 4, GSM Quadband
* Talk time: Up to 7.5 hours
* Stand-by time: Up to 380 hours
* Music playback: Up to 26 hours

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Rachael

What is even more exciting is that along with the official shots that have obviously popped up a little prematurely, we also received a short video-demo of the Sony Ericsson Rachael UI.

The original resolution of the video is 852 x 480 pixels, which suggests that this will also be the resolution of the Rachael display. Coming with the sweet 16:9 aspect ratio this is the highest resolution screen we have seen so far on a mobile phone.

It seems that Sony Ericsson have put some extra hard work in customizing the Android UI, adding some nice touches of their own. Messaging and social-network integration is pretty duly covered, as suits a full QWERTY-enabled handset.

In case you need a quick memory refresh of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Rachael features known so far, here it goes. The phone is based on the Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon platform that provides a 1GHz CPU and dedicated graphics acceleration. The connectivity options of the chipset are also top-notch with Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G with HSDPA all onboard.

The fully-touch operated phone comes complete with an 8-megapixel autofocus camera, a 3.5 mm jack and a standard miniUSB jack. Probably the best part of the Sony Ericsson Rachael is its 4″ touchscreen.

The touch screen responds very well to the fingers though the stylus does not work properly in most cases. The front panel of the S5603 has earpiece just above the screen as in most of the mobile phones and the light sensor and the secondary video call camera on the right. The calling keys, the back button and the power buttons are properly placed below the screen. The back button looks like a D-pad and can be mistaken as navigation key. Since the S5603 does not has a navigation key so the users need to manually browse through the menu with their fingers.

There is an all in one jack for the USB connection, charging and the hands free which is a big disadvantage since nothing else can be used while the phone is getting charged. The left side of the phone has got the volume rocker which doubles up as zooming rocker for the text and the camera. On the right side of the phone is placed the screen-lock key and below that the camera key. The back has got a 3.0 megapixel camera with LED flash and speakers at the bottom left. The S5603 has got a slot for the MicroSD card (expandable upto 16 GB) behind the battery. In addition to that there is an Internal storage of 80 MB.

The menu is simple and user friendly and quite easy to recognise which menu clubs with other sub-menus. The quick menu on the right of the screen gives users quick access to the common menus. The quick menu can be dragged and dropped to the main screen/home screen. The photo gallery is a lot of fun as the phone recognises which side it is tilted when viewing in landscape mode. The absense of QWERTY Keyboard is a little disappointing.

Specification: A GPS Navigation3 Megapixel Camera with LED FlashVideo Player (MPEG4, WMV, H263 & H264)2.8 Inch 16 Million Colour Touch Screen (240 x 320 Pixels)Stereo FM Radio RDS3G HSDPA Technology3G Video CallingBluetooth® with A2DPUSB, GPRS, EDGEQuad Band (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900)WAP 2.0XHTML, HTML80 Mbytes Memory Plus MicroSD™ Memory Card Support Up To 16

3.0 Megapixel Camera with Smile Detection
3G/ EDGE/ GPRS/ HSDPA
2.8 inch Touch Screen
TouchWiz User Interface

S5603 Camera Performance
The 3.0 megapixel camera is pretty standard, though the viewfinder quality is quite nice and clear. It can shoot 9 consecutive shots with a single click. The Paranorma feature can stitch upto 6 frames. The Smile Detection feature also comes in handy. There are 6 scene modes including text mode, where users can capture pictures of mewspapers and magazines for a clearer view of the text. The max resolution can be set to 2048×1536. Videos can be shot at 15 frames per second with a 320×240 resolution. Pictures can be added to the phonebook for photo contacts.

Overall, the camera’s performance is one the best among all the 3.0 megapixel camera phones. Sometimes though the LED flash spoils the image due to over exposure, but it also comes less battery as compared to the Xenon Flash.

Entertainment Features
The Samsung Star 3G S5603 is a full fledged media box with enough storage due to the expandable MicroSD card. Its FM reception is pretty good, though at higher frequencies sometimes there is are a lot of disturbances. The voice recording is also quite good.

For the game lovers, the phone is loaded with games like Tumbling Dice, Party Bubble Popper, Crazy Penguine, Pyramidbloxx and Monopoly World. These games are entirely based on motion and touch detection. Though most of the games are only trial versions. I really think big mobile manufacturing companies should load their phone with full version games.

Making Connections
The Samsung S5603 has nice connectivity features. Its Bluetooth pairing with other devices is exceptionally fast. The GPRS, HSDPA and EDGE features give the device an advantage over many other phones in the same range. The FM receiver as we mentioned is very good at lower frequencies and quite good at higher. The 3G enabled tag is an added advantage, however, the absense of Wi-Fi is a big drawback. One other thing which we checked was how the Google Maps work on it, and it was just about perfect.

Overall we can say that the Samsung Star 3G S5603 is a feature packed phone alongwith with sleek  looks and performance. The talktime backup battery time might be a disadvantage but at around Rs. 14000 ($290) its a good buy. It would get good competition from the likes of HTC Touch Viva and the LG’s Cookie.

The Viewty KU-990 is a 5.0 megapixel candybar camera phone from LG which is feature-filled and has full touchscreen capability, HSDPA 3.5G and a flurry of features.

Design
The Viewty is covered in two-tone material with black plastic material and silver etchings. The form factor is a candybar design, and despite all we have heard about big phones, the Viewty is ergonomical and lightweight.

The faceplate is a 262K TFT colour 3-inch display covering the front of the phone. The three buttons on the front of the phone are the call and end buttons. Meanwhile the cancel button is between the two. The faceplate is the typical easily soiled/smudged material but LG decided to give a complimentary screen cover to counter this problem.

On the right spine of the phone, the KU 990 has digital camera functions, where there is a dial to push between photo, video and gallery options. The camera shutter button is here too, as well as the hardware lock/unlock key, which doubles as the camera’s image stabilizer.

Interface
The Viewty KU 990 user interface is based on Flash technology, and while not a smartphone- the proprietary OS has some neat functions and features. The home screen has battery status, main menu and the ringtone profiles on top.

The bottom of the homescreen has four shortcut keys to access the main menu, the dial function, messaging and phonebook. The homescreen can also display either clock or calendar or both at the same time, or you can tweak it to show a clean screen.

If you look closely at the homescreen, there will be arrows pointing to both ends of the screen like a neon sign pointing towards a burger, flicking either of them brought us to a quick menu for the Viewty. It has a 3×3 grid to frequently used programs. When you are done with the quick menu, with another flick the grid slides neatly and quickly back in.

Messaging
The Viewty messaging department gets a nifty feature, namely handwriting recognition. You can use the stylus to input text or you can even edit text that has already been typed.

There are several text input methods - keypad, QWERTY keyboard, handwriting on the screen, and handwriting in box.

Unfortunately, the handwriting recognition doesn’t score as high as it suppose to. It is slightly unresponsive and needs little getting used to when writing quickly, which we don’t recommend. The handwriting in box is another feature we don’t understand- the box doesn’t serve any purpose either than to box up our letters.

The QWERTY keyboard is perhaps the most functional for messaging, as you switch the phone into landscape mode and type into it using your thumbs. The keyboard is slightly reminiscent of the iPhone but we won’t knock something that works. It’s easy to get the hang of and especially if you are familiar with the PC’s keyboard.

The final one is the keypad function which is basically a virtual version of a keypad. SMS junkies will find the virtual keypad with less tactile feel compared to a physical one.

Specifications
2G Network             GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network             YES
HSDPA                 YES
Video Call             YES
Dimensions             103.5 x 54.4 x 14.8 mm
Weight                 112
GPRS                 YES
Bluetooth             Yes, v1.2 with A2DP
USB                 YES
Internal Memory         100 MB shared memory
External Memory         microSD (TransFlash), up to 2GB
Camera     DUAL
Camera Resolution         5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps, QVGA up to 120fps), strobe flash;secondary VGA videocall camera
Camera Resolution Search     5M
Flash                 LED
Display Type             TFT touchscreen, 256K colors
Display Size             240 x 400 pixels, 3.0 inches
Type                 BAR
Touch Screen             YES
OS                 LG
Messaging             SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
Browser             WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
Battery Type             Standard battery, Li-Ion 1000 mAh
Stand-by             Up to 430 h
Talk time             Up to 4 h
MP3                 YES
Video Support             YES
Speaker             MONO
Games                 Yes

Camera/Video Performance
The Viewty’s 5.0 megapixel Schneider-KREUZNACH camera is the main highlight of the phone. It comes with ISO technology and an Image Stabiliser to assist with taking photos. The camera is able to snap up to 2592×1944 pixels of resolution with a 10 second self-timer. As mentioned, the Viewty has a hardware jog-dial at the camera lens, which works manual zoom in/out for the camera.

The gallery application launched by this switch is really wonderful - all your images and videos are shown as a shuffled deck of pictures. A touch on any of the images brings it to the front; a second touch on the image corner displays image info.

The camera interface has wide-ranging settings. You can use several preset scene modes (landscape, beach, party, portrait, night, sport, high sensitive), plus there are some special shooting modes (continuous shot, panorama and frames).

The Continuous shot mode shoots several pictures at the same time, while the Panorama mode makes panorama images out of several consequent shots. Meanwhile, frames mode is for comedic purposes. You can fit your best friend’s face in a pirate wardrobe.

The photos really impressed us, as pictures came out with much of the colour intact. At maximum settings, the quality was pretty close to a digital camera quality.

The Viewty’s video recording is compressed with the DivX 5.0 encoding, to ensure a balance between video quality and video size. The Viewty’s also records up to 120fps, which is extremely high framerate compared the usual 24fps.

At 120fps, the recording switches to slow-motion recording, LG calls the mode QVGA QVS and while the capture occurs at 120 fps, the resulting AVI file is stored at 15 fps slowing down the recorded action 8 times.

Multimedia
The LG KU990 comes with a good 100MB of internal memory and a microSD memory card slot. It’s really mind-boggling why the memory card slot is not available to the user without removing the battery as this represents a serious hit on user-friendliness. The file manager appears as a My stuff item in the menu. It includes separate factory-preset folders for different multimedia content. You can copy or move files to the external memory or send them via Bluetooth, and for all of those options you can rely on multiple selection. However, we did notice a huge lag in folder browsing, once the memory card started to fill up. The LG plays DivX videos, but not Xvid though. The Viewty 3-inch screen is prefect for videos. Thought the internal memory does scream for an upgrade for movie files, which the average size mostly stands at 700 MB.

The Muvee studio is also a fun little program, which automatically sync pictures you have taken to preloaded MP3s. It is extremely easy to use, just click the pictures you want to put in, choose your music and the program will churn out a video.

Connectivity
As far as network connectivity is concerned, the phone features tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz), GPRS, EDGE plus HSDPA 3.6 Mbps. There is also Bluetooth 1.2 with A2DP stereo support.

Via mobile88

The Samsung i8000 Omnia II with Windows Mobile 6.1 architecture and TouchWiz 2.0 UI -  A mobile smartphone encased in a 3.7 inch Display packing a 64K-color AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) WQVGA touchscreen at 480 x 800 pixels. On top of that the Omnia II also sports 3G, HSDPA/HSUPA 7.2/5.76 Mbps, WiFi and a 5 megapixel camera with video capture and comes in 2GB, 8GB and 16GB Internal storage versions.

From initial feedback obtained thus far, its been suggested the Samsung has not only improved features and technology, moreover it appears that the manufacturer has gone one step further by redeveloping many of the original Omnia features that made the handset so appealing to commence with. The usual smorgasbord of connectivity options have been included such as WiFI, HSDPA/HSUPA, Bluetooth with A2DP, microUSB and a GPS reciever with A-GPS support, but the real winner and surprise lays within the WinMO operating system that doesn’t even feel like such.

Samsung I8000 Omnia II Specifications:
General
2G Network     GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network     HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
Announced     2009, June
Status             Coming soon. Exp. release 2009, Q3

Size
Dimensions     118 x 59.6 x 11.9 mm
Weight           117 g

Display
Type     AMOLED resistive touchscreen, 16M colors (65K effective)
Size      480 x 800 pixels, 3.7 inches
- TouchWiz 2.0 UI
- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate and Motion UI
- Handwriting recognition

Sound
Alert types        Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Speakerphone   Yes
- 3.5 mm audio jack

Memory
Phonebook      Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records    Practically unlimited
Internal           2/8/16 GB storage
Card slot         microSD (TransFlash), up to 32 GB

Data
GPRS     Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
HSCSD   Yes
EDGE     Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G          HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
WLAN    Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth   Yes, v2.0
Infrared port    No
USB     Yes,
microUSB   v2.0

Camera
Primary     5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, Dual Power LED flash
Features    Geo-tagging, face and smile detection, mobile blogging
Video         Yes, 720×480@30fps
Secondary  VGA videocall camera

Features
OS     Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
CPU   800MHz
Messaging   SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, IM
Browser     HTML, Opera Browser v9.5
Radio     No
Games   Yes, 3D interactive games
Colors    Black
GPS        Yes, with A-GPS support, 3D map
Java       Yes, MIDP 2.0
- Photo editor, video editor
- DixX / XviD / MPEG4/ H.263/ H.264/ WMV player
- MP3/ e-AAC+/ WMA / WMDRM / OMA DRM 2.1 player
- Find Music service
- Media Gate 3D

Gadget geeks and tech enthusiasts alike will love all the little new and existing goodies that come with the Omnia 2. For example, take the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS (upgradeable to 6.5 when released) and new TouchWiz 2.0 interface. The UI includes a 3D Cube multimedia feature which allows for auto rotation and motion via the accelerometer sensor.

The Samsung i8000 Omnia II is obviously equipped with a lot more features than we can cover today, but one things for sure, on the surface it’s got the making of a PocketPC that we’re dying to get our hands on!

Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and other leading providers have expressed their interest to stock the WinMO smartphone. At this stage there is no indication of a release date except to say that it’s expected in Q3 2009 at some stage.

Introduction:
When the LG Voyager was introduced for the 2007 Holiday Season, it was the “must have” device from Verizon, as it was the first non-smartphone to incorporate a full touch-sensitive display with internal QWERTY keyboard.  Since then, there have been other phones introduced with touchscreen displays, such as the Dare, Versa, and Krave.  Then the beginning of this year, rumors started that a “Voyager 2” was coming to Verizon, but the Voyager name was retired, and the device was dubbed the LG enV Touch VX11000.  The most notable improvements include two large 3” WVGA displays, better user interface, call quality, and a 3MP autofocus camera.

Quick Glance Specs:

Data                EVDO,1xEVDO
Keyboard/Buttons        Standard 12 button,Full QWERTY
Phone Type            Messaging
Talk Time            4.3 hours (260 minutes)
Touch Screen            Yes
Features            Video capture, auto focus, image editor, panorama, smile detection,
self-timer, white balance functions
Bluetooth            Yes v2.1 + EDR, supports FTP-client, OPP for vCal and vCard only.
Supported Profiles: HSP, HFP 1.5, DUN, OPP, FTP, PBA, A2DP, AVRC, HID, BPP 1.2, BIP

Design:

When looking at the enV Touch for the first time, you can easily tell it is an upgrade from the Voyager, since both share many design characteristics.  The clamshell form-factor remains intact with the familiar 2-stop hinge.  Most of the front real estate is taken up by the display, with pewter chrome accents surrounding it.  We like this choice since it’s not as shiny and reflective as the mirror chrome used on the Voyager.  The back still uses the soft-touch coating, but has geometric indentions to it, which is also found on the enV3.  The device’s overall height and depth is now slightly less, but it is also a little wider (due to the size of the display).  Because of this, it less “brick like” than the Voyager, but it is still not as compact as the Alias 2, enV3, or Versa, and is noticeable while in your pant’s pocket.  The overall construction feels solid for the most part, but we did notice some plastic creaking sounds when pressing on the chrome edging around the display.  The Voyager and enV3 also exhibit this, but to a lesser extent.

As previously mentioned, the external 3” resistive touchscreen display is quite impressive, as it features WVGA 800×480 pixel resolution and supports up to 1.6 million colors.  The internal display is the exact same size and specifications, except that it is not touch-sensitive.  When looking at the displays on the LG enV Touch VX11000 next to the Voyager, you can easily see the difference it’s size and quality of images it produces.  The enV Touch also has a light sensor, which automatically adjusts the brightness of the external display based on surround light levels, as well as a proximity sensor that turns off the display when the phone is next to your face and you’re on a call.  Our only complaint here is that there is no way to manually adjust the brightness of the displays.

Since the touchscreen is resistive (pressure) sensitive, you can use your finger or a stylus for input, but we found a stylus really isn’t necessary.  It provides a haptic (vibration) feedback when pressed, but you can change level of the vibration or even turn it off.  The overall responsiveness of the touchscreen is good, but it does require a slightly more pressure than the Versa to get a response; about the same amount as the Dare.

Just like with the other LG touchscreen phones, the only physical buttons located on the front are for Send, Clear/VoiceCommand, and End/Power.  They have a metallic look to them, but are in fact plastic.  Along the left side is the camera button, volume rocker and lock button, with the 3.5mm headset jack and microSD card slot on the right side, microUSB data port on the bottom, and 3MP camera with flash on the back.  We are glad to see the proprietary data port and 2.5mm headset jack used on the Voyager was replaced with the more standardized microUSB and 3.5mm formats.

When opening the phone up, you have the familiar 2-stop hinge that is found on the Voyager and other enV models.  Below the internal display is the QWERTY keyboard, which has undergone some changes.  The buttons are still about the same size, but have more rounded edges to them.  There is now a single space key in the center, instead having two on either side, which to us feels easier to use.  The d-pad is larger, and there are buttons for Favorites and New Text Message located on the left side.  We found typing messages on the QWERTY keyboard to be slightly quicker than the Voyager, due to the center space key.  When compared to the Versa (with keyboard attachment) the backlit buttons on the enV Touch were easier to see and are not a cramped together as on the Samsung Alias 2.  Big hands will also like the larger keyboard on the LG enV Touch VX11000 than the enV3.

Via phonearena

The Samsung SCH-u750 Alias 2 from Verizon is a dual-mode clamshell cell phone, built of sturdy plastic with a professional-looking grey and silver exterior. The phone feels solid in your hand, though unfortunately the hinge has quite a bit of give, and does not inspire much confidence in its ability to last through excessive use. The Alias 2 is quite a large handset, measuring a full 102mm x 51mm x 18mm (4in x 2in x 0.7in), but weighs only 122g (4.3 ounces). The phone can be opened top to bottom in portrait mode, like a normal clamshell phone, or side to side in landscape mode, more like a miniature laptop.
vibrant media

On the outer panel of the Samsung SCH-u750 Alias 2, there is a 2 megapixel camera for taking snapshots or video clips. Below this is the external display, a small square 1.3-inch unit with 128 x 128 pixel resolution. Immediately below this display are three touch-sensitive music playback buttons that are also used to navigate through the crude menu that’s available on the external display. On the left hinge of the phone you’ll find a 2.5mm audio port that is protected by an attached door to keep debris out. Further down along the left edge of the phone you’ll find the proprietary Samsung power port, also protected by a door, as well as the volume rocker and a dedicated voice control button. A covered microSD card slot is on the right edge, as is a Hold button for the music player and a dedicated power button below. Noticeably missing is a dedicated camera button.

Features
The Alias 2 has a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, two e-mail addresses, a street address, and notes. You also can save a dedicated emergency number. For further personalization, you can save callers to groups, pair them with a photo and assign one of 20 polyphonic ringtones.

Other essentials include a vibrate mode, a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a world clock, a unit and currency converter, and a tip calculator. Though the Alias 2 isn’t a true smartphone, you’ll find a few higher-end options, as well. It offers stereo Bluetooth, speaker independent voice dialing and commands, USB mass storage, and a file manager. Wi-Fi, which would be useful on a messaging phone, is not an option.

As an EV-DO phone, the Alias 2 supports the full range of Verizon’s 3G services, including V Cast streaming video content, and the V Cast Music with Rhapsody. Both the V Cast menu and music store interface are pretty much unchanged from other Verizon phones. Player options include the usual limited shuffle and repeat modes, but V Cast Music also will recommend other songs based on your playlist. The Alias 2 includes an airplane mode for listening to your tunes while aloft.

The Alias 2 has a 2-megapixel camera. You can take pictures in five resolutions from 1,600×1,200 pixels down to 160×120, and you can choose from three quality settings. Other options are plentiful and include a self-timer, a multishot mode, five color tones, four white-balance effects, an adjustable ISO, spot metering, a brightness control, and three shutter sounds (plus a silent option). There’s also a 10x digital zoom, though it’s unusable at the highest resolution. The Alias 2 doesn’t offer a flash, which we expect on a 2-megapixel phone. Camera quality was quite good, however, with bright colors and little image noise.

Specifications:
* The 2.6-inch display features a 240 x 320 pixel resolution with 262k colors.
* External: 1.3-inch 128 x 128 pixel LCD display.
* Measures 102 x 52 x 17mm and weighs 123g.
* 2 megapixel camera with 15fps QCIF video.
* Internal memory of 80MB and expandable via microSD card slot.
* Battery life: Up to 5 hours talk time and 336 hours stand-by.
* Bluetooth: version 2.0.

Performance
As mentioned, the Alias 2 also supports EV-DO, though it is not a Rev. A device. Call quality was quite good on the whole. Conversations were clear, the volume was loud, and the consistently strong signal didn’t suffer from interference or static. What’s more, we were able to talk in most environments without any problems. On the downside, the sound tended to be somewhat harsh and even robotic at times. It was a minor issue, though, and it didn’t distract from our experience.

On their end, callers were mostly positive. In fact, a few couldn’t tell that we were using a cell phone. We made calls in noisy environments and in a quiet room. Callers noticed few changes between the two areas. However, some reported that background noise increased when we were outside; it wasn’t significant, they said, and it’s hardly an unusual occurrence on a cell phone. Automated calling systems could understand us, but it was best if we were in a quiet room. Speakerphone calls were fine for the most part. The sound quality diminished somewhat, but the volume was loud. Also, we could speak a few feet away from the phone and still be heard.

Streaming video quality was fine, though we’ve seen better on other Verizon phones. Videos downloaded quickly thanks to the strong EV-DO connection and only one clip paused to buffer midway through playing. There was some visible pixelation, but most onscreen action was pretty smooth. Also, the sound was in sync with the action on the display. It’s most comfortable to watch the videos in landscape mode, even though the frame takes up only half of the screen.

Its music quality was satisfying. The audio isn’t especially rich, and like many music phones there was an audible tinny effect, but it is fine for short stints of listening. Headphones will provide a better experience, though we wouldn’t use the Alias 2 as our sole music device. Songs downloaded quickly from V Cast Music, and we added a 3.7MB song in about a minute. The Alias 2 has a rated battery life of 5 hours talk time and 16 days standby time. According to the FCC, the Alias 2 has a digital SAR of 0.541 watts per kilogram.

LG has been producing beautiful devices such as the Chocolate, Shine, and Prada for quite some time now. But they’ve never really create a true smart phone that can handle all the needs of a business professional.  AT&T is lucky to be the first U.S. carrier to offer their Windows Mobile powered phone. The LG INCITE incorporates a ton of features that we’ve been accustomed to seeing in a design that has been the norm.  Primarily focused to business users, the incorporation of various Microsoft applications will aid the mobile user to work on the go. But the biggest question left to answer is if LG can provide a worthy device that is functional and intuitive when going against the current offerings.

Design
Measuring 4.21 inches long by 2.2 inches wide by 0.55 inch thick, the LG Incite is one of the shiniest handsets we’ve ever seen; its display is reflective when idle, similar to the one on the LG Shine, and the Incite’s entire chassis has a mirror finish. You will definitely have a tough time trying to get fingerprint smudges off the phone, and there’s no need for a self-portrait mirror next to the camera, as the handset’s surface itself can act as a mirror. Like most touch-screen handsets, the Incite has a minimalist appeal: it is sleek and slim, with few external controls. It’s also quite lightweight at 4.23 ounces, so it won’t weigh you down, either.

Following the lead of other touch-screen smartphones like the Samsung Omnia and the HTC Touch, the LG Incite’s design is dominated by the large touch screen on the front. The 3-inch diagonal screen is a 240×400-pixel resolution QVGA display with support for 262,000 colors, which makes for vibrant colors and sharp images. It doesn’t have the screen real estate of other handsets like the Samsung Instinct or the Apple iPhone 3G, but that’s only really an issue when it comes to the Web browser (which we’ll get to later). You can adjust the screen’s backlight time plus the font size. Because the display is so reflective, we have to say it can be a little tough to read the screen under direct sunlight.

Specs:

Display: 262K color touch screen LCD with haptic feedback and accelerometer. Screen size diagonally: 3.0″. Resolution: 240 x 400, supports both portrait and landscape modes.

Battery: Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. 1300 mA.

Performance: 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A CPU. 128 MB built-in RAM. 256 MB Flash ROM with ~70 megs available.

Size: 4.21 x 2.2 x 0.55 inches. Weight: 4.23 ounces.

Phone: GSM quad band 850/900/1900/2100MHz with EDGE. Triband 3G HSDPA 850/1900/2100MHz.

Camera: 3.0 MP with autofocus lens.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. Voice Recorder and Windows Pocket Media Player 10 included for your MP3 pleasure.

Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR. Profiles include headset, handsfree, DUN/PAN and A2DP.

Software: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system.

Expansion: 1 SDHC microSD card slot.

The touch screen on the Incite has haptic tactile feedback, which lets you know, using vibrations, that your touch has registered. You can adjust the sensitivity of the touch response as well as the length and strength of the vibrations. Since the touch screen is resistive, you can use either your finger or the provided stylus to navigate through the screen. We found the touch screen to be mostly responsive, but we did notice some problems with lag; sometimes it takes about half a second for a touch to register, which is a little longer than we would like. We also found that we needed to be very precise in selecting something with the finger, lest we tap the wrong thing. The Incite does come with the aforementioned stylus for more accurate tapping, but we’re not fans of having the stylus dangling off the corner of the phone. (You attach the stylus like you would a cell phone charm via a small lanyard.)

The LG Incite also has a built-in accelerometer, and the screen will change from portrait to landscape mode when you rotate the phone 90 degrees to either the left or the right. Here again we noticed some lag issues. It occasionally takes about a second for the screen to fully rotate, which can be quite annoying. The Incite also has a proximity sensor, which shuts off the screen when you bring it to the side of your face, so as to prevent accidental taps. We also like that the Incite automatically adjusts the screen’s luminance depending on the surrounding light.

Features
As we mentioned, the LG Incite is LG’s first U.S. smartphone, and with that comes a whole host of features you won’t find in a regular phone. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1, so you get all the typical Windows Mobile features like Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, and support for Microsoft ActiveSync and Microsoft Direct Push technology that lets you sync with your Outlook calendar and e-mail via your office’s Exchange server. Other e-mail options include POP3, IMAP, and Web e-mail accounts, all of which can be accessed via Xpress Mail, Windows Mobile’s e-mail program. Of course there are plenty of PIM tools as well, like a task manager, a calculator, a stopwatch, a notepad, and more.

We also like that the LG Incite comes with both Wi-Fi and HSDPA support. This lets us have the option to surf within a Wi-Fi network when there isn’t a strong cellular signal. The Incite comes with Internet Explorer Mobile, of course, but you also have the option of AT&T’s own NetFront browser. There doesn’t seem to be too many differences between the two, but we personally prefer Internet Explorer Mobile just because we’re more familiar with it; your mileage may vary with this. You won’t get Flash support here, but we weren’t expecting that anyway. When compared with the Apple iPhone, the browser experience left us wanting, mostly because of the inability to do multitouch gestures like pinching to zoom in and out of a page.

The Incite comes with a 3-megapixel camera that can take pictures in five resolutions (2,048×1,536, 1,600×1,200, 1,024×768, 640×480, and 320×240). It has three image-quality settings, five white balance presets, and four color effects plus a no effect option; other camera options include a self-timer, the choice of three shutter sounds plus a silent option, zoom, four shot modes (Normal, Continuous, Panorama, and Frame shot), and brightness. There is no flash or autofocus, however. There’s also a built-in camcorder, which can record in four resolutions (400×240, 320×240, 176×144, and 128×96) in three different modes (No Limit for however much memory is available, MMS for short video clips, and Video Share Call for live video calls). Other camcorder settings are similar to the ones on the still camera.

The phones feature the Samsung’s TouchWiz User Interface along with Mobile Widgets which lets users enjoy their mobile content easily and intuitively. In addition to this, these phones incorporate a unique Gesture Control feature which will allow users to give gesture commands in order to run an application or unlock the touch screen.

Specifications:

General
Dimensions (W x D x H)
104 x 53 x 11.9 mm

Built-in memory
50 MB

Expansion slot(s)
microSDHC, TransFlash / microSD

Available colours
Noble Black, Sweet Pink
Connectivity
GSM frequency bands
Quadband

Network type(s)
GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900

Connectivity options
EDGE, Bluetooth, USB
Display and Text Input
LCD display size
3-inch

Color LCD?
Yes

Secondary display resolution
x pixels
Pending delete
Input method(s)
Touch screen
Multimedia
Built-in digital camera?
Yes

Maximum camera resolution
3.2 megapixels

The Samsung Star phone sports a 7.63cm WQVGA full touchscreen display and a 3.2 megapixel camera. The Photo Contact feature enables a user to call a contact by simply touching an appointed image. Additionally, the Samsung Star packs in various other features such as Shazam’s Find Music service, accelerometer, Google search, Google Maps, Gmail, online widgets, virtual QWERTY keyboard, 50MB internal memory and expansion supported upto 8GB.

It’s gonna be very affordable touchscreen phone. Expecting it to be around Php10k to Php15k, but thats only my expectations. Lets just see how its gonna entise our Samsung phone fanatics.