Mobile Phones

The V640i is a stylish 3G mobile phone which comes in a user friendly handset. The Sony Ericsson V640i is a Vodafone exclusive mobile phone. The handset is available in two colours which include a stylish quick black coloured casing or a havana gold coloured casing which is extremely distinctive & eye catching colour. The phone comes with a colourful TFT screen which has a screen resolution of 176 x 220 pixels & displays up to 262k colours. The V640i comes with a neat & well spaced keypad complete with easy to use navigation key. The Sony Ericsson V640i is from the same family as the Sony Ericsson V630i which is also a Vodafone exclusive handset. The V640i is easy to carry which measures 103mm by 47mm by 15.5mm & weighs a total of 97 grams.

The built in music player comes with easy to use music features which allow the user to manage & play their music easily. The phone comes with a media management CD included in the start up kit which will assist the user when managing their music, video or even photos. The phone supports Bluetooth^TM Stereo A2DP which allows the user to enjoy a wireless connection between their V640i & their Bluetooth compatible headset.

The Nokia 6212 Classic is classic bar designed 3G capable mobile phone which comes in a solid casing which has smooth curved edges. The casing is black in colour & comes with well indicated blue coloured keypad complete with well sized keys for ease of use. The 6212 Classic has a large high colour screen which displays up to 16 million colours on a high resolution screen with a screen resolution of 240 pixels by 320 pixels. The screen is 2 Inch in size which is ideal for viewing the built in features on this stunning little handset. The Nokia 6212 Classic is from the same Classic range as the Nokia 6220 Classic but their capabilities & features vary.

This stylish phone is the first mobile phone to incorporate a new feature known as NFC technology which stands for Near Field Communication. The way the NFC technology works is to provide a short distance connection between two compatible devices which allows payments & identification information to be exchange between the two devices. The NFC technology can communicate with other devices which are up to ten centimetres apart which is a much short distance when compared to Wi-Fi technology & Bluetooth® technology but the NFC technology is used as a swiping method of data transfer which is ideal for payment & identification usage.

A simple yet functional Bluetooth speaker phone, Jabra's SP5050 features a slim-line design and offers easy operation thanks to minimal controls.

The SP5050 has been designed for in-car use, but it can also be used at home or in the office. An attached sun visor clip conveniently doubles as a small desk stand. The unit itself is sleek and slim and the silver surround adds a nice touch to an otherwise plain device.

Pairing is a simple process; simply turn the SP5050 on by holding down the larger power button on the front and the unit automatically enters pairing mode. Once connected, operation is simple as the unit only has three buttons. Tapping the large answer/end call button answers and ends incoming and outgoing calls, while two volume buttons on either side handle in-call volume.

The SP5050 also supports voice dialling (provided this is a feature of your phone) and last number redialling, accessed by holding and double tapping the answer/end button, respectively. You can also mute the microphone and transfer a call from the speaker phone to your handset or vice versa.

A small display sits at the top of the unit and features different coloured LEDs to inform you of power, Bluetooth connection, call status and battery life. Conveniently, pressing the volume buttons together will turn the lights off for night-time driving, which is an attempt at avoiding potential distractions by the bright lights.

Back in April of 2007 at the CTIA Wireless show in Orlando, Samsung unveiled what it at that time called the UbiCell, a small white femtocell for CDMA networks on the 850 and 1900MHz frequency bands, such as those used by Verizon, Alltel, and Sprint. It promised strong, localized coverage for users that otherwise had trouble connecting to their carrier's network. Fast forward more than a year, and the UbiCell is finally available for purchase as the Samsung AIRAVE for Sprint.

Features and Cost

In short, what the AIRAVE does is it acts as a small cell tower in your home or office, through which Sprint phones can make voice calls or establish data connections. This isn't the same as a signal booster, instead the AIRAVE connects directly to Sprint's network through the customer's broadband internet connection. The net result is that AIRAVE users get a strong, fast signal, and Sprint gets to conserve some of the capacity in its existing towers.

This sounds like a win for everybody, right? Well it is, but the twist is that Sprint charges $99.99 for the AIRAVE itself as well as for the service it provides. For $4.99 per month a home or office can use the AIRAVE to boost signals inside the building. The AIRAVE supports up to 3 simultaneous active connections at a time - be they voice or data. So if your building has poor Sprint coverage, you can pay Sprint to fix the problem. That might prove perhaps a bit difficult to swallow for some people, especially when one considers that T-Mobile's @Home service, which uses WiFi based UMA and specific handset models, provides that improved coverage for free. Any UMA capable T-Mobile phone can connect via WiFi to T-Mobile's network to get improved coverage.

Looking like a regular, if slightly large and chunky slider phone, the O2 Xda Stealth is actually a fully fledged smart phone running Windows Mobile 5. Also offering Wi-Fi connectivity, a 2 megapixel camera and expandable memory thanks to a mini-SD card slot, the Stealth is ultimately let down by a poor slider design and dull finish.

Design

O2 has obviously tried to design the Stealth to match its name, but they haven't done a very good job. Measuring 110mm x 53mm x 22.5 mm and weighing 140g, the Stealth is a fairly standard shape for a smart phone running Windows Mobile 5 and is finished entirely in a matte black plastic. The handset feels flimsy and in particular the sliding mechanism is very clunky. Instead of smoothly sliding up and gliding into place, the Stealth rocks slightly from side to side when slid open or closed.

The Stealth uses regular smart phone controls; there is a five-way navigational pad, answer and end call keys, as well as a Start button and OK key. These buttons are fairly flat and blend into the unit's design, but despite this they are fairly comfortable to press and are large enough to ensure even those with big fingers are catered for. Unfortunately, the included keypad is a let down; the keys are very spongy and do require a firmer than usual press to activate. They aren't distinctly separated with gaps in between the keys either, so it is easy to press the wrong key when typing an email or message.