Smartphones & Gear

Reviews June 4, 2008

Nokia N82 Review

Over 6 months ago I reviewed Nokia’s flagship phone, the N95 8GB, which I thought was fantastic. It was essentially a refresh of the N95 (which I wasn’t enamoured with), fixing the built quality, battery life, and a few other niggly little things that turned me off. Since then the N95 8GB has been my main phone. I was surprised to find myself switching back to it after less than a month of owning the BlackJack II, that’s how much I liked it. Over the last week I’ve been using the N82, which is basically an N95 inside a candy-bars…

Reviews June 2, 2008

HTC Advantage X7510 Review

When I first began my adventure into mobile technology, it started with Handheld PCs. H/PCs, as they are known, were made from the late 90s to 2003 by a variety of manufacturers, most notably NEC and Hewlett Packard. The devices were more-often-than-not a clamshell form factor, with a built-in keyboard and VGA or HVGA screens. They were powerful and business friendly, especially in light of the fact that at that time, Pocket PCs (as they were known) did not have built in keyboards. Through a variety of market changes and marketing blunders, the H/PC soon became a non-factor in the…

Reviews June 2, 2008

The i-mate Ultimate 8502 Unboxed and Discussed

This is one i-mate model which I think a lot of people have been eager to explore, the Ultimate 8502 which features a full QWERTY thumbboard on its lower half. Those who prefer the Treo or BlackJack form factor will appreciate the 8502’s candy bar style as well as the fact that using the keyboard does not require rotating the device 90? to the left and then sliding it open. In other words, this is the type device people who text and drive generally prefer; not that I would ever do such a thing… All pictures are thumbnails, you can…

Reviews May 31, 2008

The i-mate Ultimate 6150 Unboxed and Discussed

Meet the Ultimate 6150. As you may recall, this was the device that I felt was the most “old-school PDA-like” back in January when I first saw it, because it didn’t have a built-in keyboard or an extended numeric pad. Instead, the 6150 has a relatively clean front panel. But as usual, I am getting ahead of myself; let’s start with the unboxing… All pictures are thumbnails, you can click on them to enlarge; a gallery with even more photos is at the end.

Reviews May 26, 2008

Final Thoughts on the BlackJack II

In March I bought a BlackJack II off eBay US, since I wanted a cheap smartphone with a keyboard. It was very cheap, had HSDPA (important) and ran Windows Mobile 6, so I was pretty happy. But not long after I got it I realised it just wasn’t quite right, especially after having used the Nokia N95 8GB for several months. I found the BlackJack II too have a rather poor radio, it’s signal strength was always pathetic. Worse than that, often when it would lose signal it would not reconnect to the network properly, therefore calls, messages and emails…

Reviews May 22, 2008

The MWg Zinc II Unboxed and Discussed

It was almost a year ago that Clinton posted his review of the O2 Zinc, and since then a lot has changed. As I mentioned in my MWg Mobius posting, O2 was purchased by eXpansys, and as part of the purchase eXpansys acquired everything and has now rebranded the company as MWg. Today I’m going to share my early thoughts regarding the MWg Zinc II which I was given at the Mobius event; the second part of this review will come in a few weeks and will cover the software and overall user experience. But first, the unboxing… Anyone who…

Gear Bits May 20, 2008

Nikon to Nokia – a photographer’s journey

Despite an occasional straying here and there, I have been shooting with Nikon camera gear just about my entire career as a photojournalist. In this millennium many of my duties have been restructured, with tasks added as well as getting a new title – editor. But all along I have been shooting Nikon. Until this week. My first digital Nikon camera was the Coolpix 950, then on to the D1 digital SLR (which I hear is being called the “classic”). A host of other D-SLRs have come and gone and with this most recent Christmas, the Nikon D300 (which I…

Editorials, Gear Bits May 19, 2008

Goodbye Blackberry, It’s Not Me – It’s You – Here Are 10 Reasons I Left

On Friday I transferred my Blackberry phone number from T-Mobile over to my Apple iPhone, effectively terminating my contract with T-Mobile and ending a 15+ year practice of taking a Blackberry with me everywhere I went. In January I’d purchased an iPhone (“just to try it out”). Like many iPhone owners, I’d been hauling two phones with me. The Blackberry was my main email phone. The iPhone the web browser, Twitter client, music/video player, and picture taker phone. During the past week I was out at the Sage Software Insights Reseller Conference where they’d asked me to speak about Social…

Reviews May 18, 2008

NewTech Accessories for the iPhone Review

If you like saving money, or in the case of Apple iPhone replacement accessories hate paying full retail prices, there’s a company that will keep some change in your pocket. Newer Technology has been around since the 1980’s selling Macintosh memory products. Today they have a line of five accessory products for the iPhone and iPod. • Bass Response Earbuds – with noise reduction and sound quality enhancer. • Hands-Free Mic & Earbud – provides hands-free communication while driving. • iPhone Mic Extender Cable – mic extender for hands-free use. • iPhone Headphone Jack Adapter – links to headphone connectors….

Reviews May 18, 2008

HTC Shift Review Part 3: The Finale

About a week ago I sent the Shift review unit back, so I figured it’s time to tie up my thoughts on this controversial device. Prior to receiving the Shift, I read several reviews of the device, and they all seemed to sing the same tune: it was too slow and too expensive. In my experience only one of these was the case. In the current market, with competition from low-cost ultra-portables like the ASUS Eee and the HP Mini Note 2133, the Shift is too expensive. Sure it has features that the other two don’t have, like a convertible…

Gear Bits May 15, 2008

Unboxing the HTC Advantage 7510

This is going to be a much quicker unboxing than I usually like to do, mainly because it is almost 3am Texas time, and I have to be up in 5 hours to get ready for the next Mobius session. Anyway! After our dinner tonight, Matt Miller, Ed Hardy, Joel Evans and I met up in Matt’s suite to geek out with our new HTC Advantage 7510s. I managed to capture the unboxing photos, which I wanted to take and post before I really started using the device tomorrow… This picture of Matt is specifically for Mike Cane. 😉

Reviews May 15, 2008

Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte Review

When I asked Nokia if I could review their 8800 Arte handset, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Some dumb phone that just looked a bit pretty, form and no function, a celebrity only famous for being rich? I’m certainly not the target of a phone like this. I like my mobile devices to be able to do everything. Surf the web, get emails, keep my calendar, mind my address book, and keep everything in sync with everything else. These are things that typically flumix a Series 40 phone. I was all set to be disappointed with the 8800…

Reviews May 8, 2008

The Maximo Products iMetal iPhone Headsets Review

As anyone who owns an iPhone can tell you, a slight problem becomes apparent when you want to replace the stock stereo headset, namely that the iPhone’s headphone jack is deeply recessed, and the average 3.5mm plug simply can’t fit inside without trimming the rubber shielding the plug. When you are considering dropping some serious coin on a headset, the idea of butchering it simply doesn’t appeal; that’s when a model made specifically for the iPhone is the only “right” choice.

Reviews April 26, 2008

E-TEN X800 Windows Mobile Device Review

One of the things that I like the best about this job is the chance to look at and use some of the latest, greatest gadgets on the market today. I like writing for Gear Diary the best because of the diverse amount of products we get to look at. Recently, as many of you know, I’ve had the opportunity to take a look at a couple of new devices from E-TEN. The E-TEN X800 is the top of the line model of the X series devices. Let’s take a quick look and see how the X800 stacks up. Please…

Reviews April 17, 2008

HTC Shift First Impressions

I have been very lucky to get hold of a Shift for a couple of weeks, and figured I’d start with a first impressions article, written entirely on the Shift. I was very impressed by the packaging, very nicely presented like the Touch Cruise. The Shift came wrapped in its beautiful leather case, a really nice addition. Removing it from the case, I was immediately taken by it. It feels really solid in the hand, and looks like a quality product. The display is very bright, but unfortunately it’s only 800×480. Honestly that’s pretty pathetic for a second gen, and…

Reviews April 15, 2008

Astraware Bejeweled 2 is a Gem

I like handheld games. I spend a good bit of time playing games on my Windows Mobile handheld and on my Nintendo DS. There have never been, for me, enough good games written for the Windows mobile platform. For all the potential there, the selections have too frequently been knockoffs of each other. A while back, I bought and played the original Bejeweled, and although I enjoyed it, it didn’t exactly “wow” me. It’s gameplay was basically that of match 3-or-more to remove objects. The variation, however, is that more pieces fall into place, and there are special objects that…

Reviews April 13, 2008

The Samsung SGH-i620 Windows Mobile Smartphone Review, Part Two

It’s been a month since I unboxed and posted my first impressions of the Samsung SGH-i620. If you haven’t already peeked at that portion of this review, then go ahead…I’ll wait. In that month, I have to admit that there have been a few times when I have wanted to toss the phone through my office window. Those of you who haven’t had the (dubious) pleasure of being around me as I trudge through a new product’s testing might not know that this is the phrase I use when I am repeatedly frustrated by a product that I really want…

Reviews April 6, 2008

PDAir Aluminum Metal Case for Sprint Mogul (PPC-6800) Review

As many of you know, I have been desperately searching for a case for my Sprint Mogul. I have tested cases by a variety of manufacturers, but never found the “perfect” case. Who knows, maybe it is simply not out there, but I am not ready to give up yet. Today, I have the fourth of four PDAir cases I was sent to review. While the other three were variations on leather cases (pouch, flip, and book styles) this one is a hard shell aluminum metal case. I like this kind of case because it offers the promise of significantly…

Reviews April 5, 2008

The Vaja ivolution Silver for iPhone Case Review

Those of you who have been following me for years know that I am a sucker for shiny things. After all, I once had my own little PDA stylus company which created custom styli made of sterling silver or gold, with options such as inlaid precious stones. Yeah, I can be a little bit over the top like that. 😉 The product I am writing about today is in the same vein, and it is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for the light of wallet. I’m going to put that statement right out there, right up…

Reviews March 29, 2008

The Solio Solar Charger Review: Kermit Was Wrong!

Sometimes, an item shows up in my mailbox for review that I REALLY want to work well. Maybe the description of the item just sounded so cool that I hope it lives up to the hype. Other times I’m rooting for the product because I believe in their mission and am rooting for the company to succeed. But in the end, the product has to actually work for us here at GearDiary to recommend it to you, oh gentle reader. The Solio Solar Charger from CREDO Mobile is exactly this kind of gadget.

Reviews March 27, 2008

Yada YD-V1 Universal Phone Holder and Headset Review

I’m a talker… Always have been, and will likely be yackin’ my head off the day I die. I… have the gift of gab. We all know its true, so who are we kidding. With the influx of new devices I’ve got, E-TEN X800, E-TEN X650, and BB Curve 8310, I’ve been doing a lot of talking lately. I’ve been using the Palm Bluetooth Headset since Palm gave me one with the Treo Trip kit they gave all of the original 700w reviewers a couple-three years ago. its been a dependable, and half-way decent headset. However, it leaves a bit…

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