Mobile – Page 7 – rgbFilter

LG Windows Phone 7 – Optimus 7 and Quantum Hands On Video

October 12, 2010October 15, 2010 Doug Groves Bell, hands-on, LAYAR, LG, Microsoft, Optimus 8, Optimus Quantum, Panorama Shot, Scan Search, ScanSearch, slider, sneak peek, Telus, video, Windows Phone 7, WP7, Xbox Live7 Comments

At a recent LG event, we got some hands on time with LG’s two Windows Phone 7 devices headed towards the Canadian market, the LG Optimus 7 slate style phone on Telus, and the LG Optimus Quantum QWERTY slider on Bell. Both phones sport 16GB of RAM and 1GHz processors, with the real differentiator between the two being the choice of keyboard or not. The Optimus 7 has a 3.8″ screen, while the keyboard packing Optimus Quantum has a slightly smaller 3.5″ screen. During our demonstration, Frank Lee of LG…

Windows Phone 7 in Canada: What We Know So Far

October 11, 2010October 15, 2010 drsquid Bell, canada, event, HTC, LG, Microsoft, Omnia 7, Optimus Quantum, Rogers, Samsung, smartphone, superphone, Telus, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7, WP73 Comments

Today marked the big reveal of Microsoft’s reboot of it’s mobile strategy with Windows Phone 7. At 9.30 AM EST Microsoft finally pulled the covers off for the world to see the initial phones that will be available at launch (November 8th in North America), though much of the OS has already been shown in great detail prior to today. My first reaction was that the handset selection is a little slim, and there is not much innovation beyond the base ‘chassis 1’ specifications. However this is a launch of…

Rogers testing LTE wireless in Ottawa

October 7, 2010October 9, 2010 Doug Groves LTE, Ottawa, press release, Rogers, trial, WiMax1 Comment

Rogers has started running a ‘comprehensive’ trial of it’s LTE wireless network in the nations capital, which could bring download speeds of up to 150 Mbps to mobile devices. LTE is a 4G technology meant to replace existing 3G networks. Both LTE and WiMax, which around for a quite some time now, are just starting to see adoption as standards. At one point there was speculation that LTE would be in Vancouver by the 2010 Olympics, but that never really panned out.

Telus launching Samsung Galaxy Apollo

September 30, 2010October 1, 2010 Doug Groves Android, Android 2.1, Eclair, Galaxy Apollo, google, Samsung, Telus1 Comment

There’s no shortage of Android devices pouring out the Samsung factories these days, with the latest to land on Canadian shores being the Galaxy Apollo, courtesy of Telus. Unlike other Samsung Galaxy models, the Apollo is targeting those looking for something a little more compact in an Android phone. With a slightly smaller screen (and lower resolution of 400 x 240 as opposed to 800 x 480), this is definitely for people looking for something easier to slip into their front pocket.

Fido goes Android with the Acer Liquid E

September 29, 2010September 30, 2010 Doug Groves Acer, Android, Android 2.1, Doubletwist, Fido, google, Liquid E, Rogers, smartphone, Spinlets, superphone0 comment

Fido has added the Acer Liquid e to their smartphone line up. When we took a look at the phone on Rogers in the bygone era of earlier this summer, we were suitably impressed with the performance, for a relatively low cost. On Fido, the phone is even cheaper, at only $30 with a 3 year contract. For that price you’re getting a fairly clean Android 2.1 install on a 3.5 inch 800 x 400 resolution screen. When we reviewed it, we summed it up thusly: The Acer Liquid E…

RIM announces the BlackBerry PlayBook – BBM tablet style

September 27, 2010September 29, 2010 Doug Groves Blackberry, BlackBerry PlayBook, BlackBerry Tablet, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Flash, press release, QNX, Research In Motion, RIM, tablet2 Comments

Research In Motion’s developer event’ is still underway, but they’ve kicked it off with a bang, or so co-founder Mike Lazaridis is hoping. The PlayBook is RIM’s push into the tablet space, sporting a 7 inch display, a 1GHz dual core Cortex A9 CPU and sport a ‘flash-loving’, ‘app-rocking’ platform designed by QNX, called the BlackBerry Tablet OS. When the PlayBook was still expected to be called the BlackPad, it was rumoured that one of the big differentiators for the device would be it’s pairing capabilities. Sure enough, the preview…

Sharp Galapagos tablets to run Android, not called tablets

September 27, 2010September 28, 2010 Doug Groves Android, e-reader, Galapagos, media tablet, Sharp, tablet4 Comments

It looks like Sharp is the latest to enter the tablet game, announcing their new Galapagos 5.5 inch and 10.8 inch tablets e-book readers running Android. Galapagos is also the name of the e-book/newspaper service that will come with the devices, which will delivers over 30,000 newspapers, books and magazines when the service launches in December (Japan only for now). Sharp’s decisions to not mention the Android operating system in it’s press release, as well as marketing these as e-book readers, and not tablets, are both curious to say the…

A Long and Winding Road – Rogers Samsung Galaxy S Captivate pre-order live

September 24, 2010September 29, 2010 drsquid Android, Android 2.1, Android 2.2, canada, Captivate, Galaxy S, google, launch, pre-order, Rogers, Samsung, smartphone, superphone7 Comments

After many weeks of no new information Rogers has finally announced their pre-order program for the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate. When you pre-order you get a free Bluetooth headset, and there is a contest to win a Samsung 55” TV, Blu-ray player and Camera. The pre-order promotion ends on October 20th, meaning that the release of the phone should be the 21st. Originally announced by Rogers to be coming ‘soon’ at the beginning of August by, the Captivate’s release date has been unknown until now. As the weeks passed by…

Wind Mobile launches it’s first high end Android Phone

September 24, 2010September 27, 2010 Doug Groves Android, Android 2.1, Eclair, google, Motorola, unlocked, Wind Mobile, XT7202 Comments

Wind Mobile has finally launched its first ‘high end’ Android based phone, in the form of the Motorola XT720. Priced at $450, with an instant rebate bringing it down to $430 until the end of September, the XT720 runs Android 2.1 on top of a Cortex A8 processor, and sports an 8 Mpixel camera (auto focus and flash), with a 3.7 inch capacitve screen. In many ways, the XT720 is comparable to other high end Motorola Android devices, such as the Milestone, but with a better camera and no physical…

Sony Ericsson X-10 Mini unboxing and short review

September 22, 2010September 29, 2010 drsquid Android, Android 1.6, canada, google, review, Rogers, smartphone, Sony, Sony Ericsson, unboxing, video, X10 Mini, Xperia1 Comment

A couple of weeks ago, before the craziness of Fan Expo and TIFF, Sony Ericsson was kind enough to send us the new Xperia X10 Mini for us to review. In the video above you can see our un-boxing of the phone, and a short review, where I go over the main features of what they claim is the ‘The worlds smallest Android phone’. The X10 Mini was also recently awarded ‘European Mobile Phone 2010-2011’ by the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA). Please note that while shooting the video…

Microsoft expanding Zune Services internationally

September 21, 2010September 24, 2010 Doug Groves Microsoft, MP3, press release, Windows Phone 7, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune, Zune Pass7 Comments

With Windows Phone 7 just around the corner, it’s no surprise that Microsoft finally announced their first round of international expansion of the Zune service, providing digital entertainment services to more than 20 countries. Not all countries are created equal however. The much vaunted Zune Pass will be available in the UK, France, Italy and Spain, for 9.99 euros. The Zune pass allows users to have unlimited access to the Zune music library from Windows PCs, Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Live. Unlike the US version, which costs $14.99 US,…

Samsung Galaxy Tab coming without voice to Rogers and Bell

September 17, 2010September 24, 2010 Doug Groves 3G, Apple, Bell, data plan, Galaxy Tab, google, iPad, Rogers, Samsung, smartphone, tablet, Touch Wiz, voice, WiFi2 Comments

Since it was first announced, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7 inch Android based tablet has been getting a lot of positive press, and many who’ve had hands on experience are saying that it could be the first tablet to rival Apple’s iPad. Despite being only about half the size of the iPad, the 7 inch screen’s more 16:9 friendly aspect ratio provides what appears to be a good balance between portability and viewability. In the US, the Galaxy Tab will be launching on all the major carriers with various 3G data…