Multimedia Phones were once almost exclusively the tools of high powered business users and road warriors. The original Apple iPhone, and more significantly, the iPhone 3G, were the single greatest catalysts in expanding multimedia phones appeal to the general consumer audience. The Apple iPhone 3GS (‘S’ for Speed) continues the trend of improvements we enjoyed with the 3G. Certainly more evolutionary than revolutionary, the folks at Apple listened to the criticisms that were leveled at the wildly popular iPhone 3G and actually took action on most of the issues. While competitors have made major strides in closing the gap between the iPhone and everyone else, this is still the phone to beat for most users.
We won’t rehash the well known features of the iPhone 3G. For details of that excellent multimedia phone, you can check out its review. Instead, we’ll highlight the improvements that make the iPhone 3GS a top choice for a wide variety of users.
As with its predecessor, there are two models that are identical except for the memory capacity. The top rated Apple iPhone 3GS boasts a whopping 32GB of onboard memory while the other lesser model still has a very respectable 16GB and costs $100 less. We're still not particularly pleased that there's no option for memory expansion but with that much storage embedded, the argument is irrelevant for most users. (The previous version had 16GB and 8GB options). Both models are available in both black and white.
Standout Features
The Apple iPhone 3GS still has the features that made its predecessors so popular. Most notably, it’s a perfectly good multimedia phone that just happens to have an iPod built-in. Just as the iPod essentially created and continues to dominate the digital music industry, the iPhone invented and rules the world of mobile apps. Despite the launching of competing app stores by several other multimedia phone makers, they all pale compared to the tens of thousands, and rapidly expanding, of apps available for the iPhone.
Increased speed is the central improvement of the iPhone 3GS. Apps load faster and just about everything runs more smoothly. Network speeds also tend to be improved. Still, if multitasking is an important feature for you, this device will be a disappointment. You might want to consider the Palm Pre or a top rated BlackBerry.
Among the chief complaints about previous editions of the iPhone was the absence of a user replaceable battery. That hasn’t changed but at least Apple has equipped the new device with a battery that seems to be providing markedly improved performance. We like the AppBox Pro app that, among other things, estimates how much battery life is available for various phone functions. We’ve found that it does a good job of predicting actual battery life. If you’re a heavy user who likes to have a backup battery, you’re out of luck.
iPhone’s rather weak 2.0-megapixel camera has been updated to a 3.0-megapixel shooter which is better than its predecessor but is still not among the best available. Nonetheless, Apple has made great strides with the Tap to Focus system that give the user a lot more control over pictures to be taken. Oddly, there still isn’t a flash. The new iPhone does satisfy users who bemoaned the lack of video capture capability. That’s a feature that is rapidly gaining importance with meteoric rise in popularity of posting videos online. It also includes a great video editing tool that should help users improve the often dubious quality of those online posts.
The iPhone 3GS catches up with some of the top competitors by finally offering document editing features. Cut, copy and paste are available and work particularly well with the new landscape mode virtual keyboard.
Stereo Bluetooth capability is finally available on the iPhone 3GS, an omission from previous versions that we failed to comprehend on a device that has multimedia as a focal point. Less noteworthy but welcome additions include a voice recorder, tethering capability and turn-by-turn directions for the GPS functionality. As of this writing, tethering has still not been activated by AT&T and the turn-by-turn directions feature will require an as yet unavailable third party application. In the event that the iPhone 3GS is lost or stolen, individual users now have the ability of wiping data from the phone remotely. That was a feature previously available only to enterprise users.
When considering the remarkable abilities of the Apple iPhone 3GS, it’s easy to think that things just can’t get any better. On the other hand, when considering its shortfalls, one can see that, despite Apple’s noteworthy efforts, there remain many lost opportunities. Reality lies somewhere in between. It likely is the most capable, user friendly smartphone on the market for the widest range of users. For those with different sets of criteria, the good news is that there are a number of worthy alternatives.
Specification:
Handphone Samsung:
Jetset Samsung SCH R 550:
Network:
Type CDMA (800/1700/1900 MHz)
Data:
CDMA2000 1xRTT/1xEV-DO rev.0
3G Capable Yes
Size:
Dimensions 3.6 x 1.9 x 0.7 inches (92 x 47 x 18 mm)
Weight 3.3 oz (94 g)
Battery Type Li – Ion, 800 mAh
Talk 3.5 hours (210 mins) of Talk time
Standby 250 hours (10 days) of Stand-by time
Main Display Resolution 240 x 320 pixels
Type 262 144 colors, TFT
Additional Display Resolution 96 x 96 pixels
Type Color, TFT
Colors 65 536
Camera Resolution 2.0 megapixels Resolution
Video Yes
Features:
Digital zoom, Night mode, White balance, Effects, Self-timer
Multimedia Video Playback Video player
Music Player MP3
Memory:
Memory Slot microSD
Built-in 50 MB
Connectivity USB Yes
Bluetooth 2.0, Stereo Bluetooth
Connectors HeadSet Jack (2.5mm), Proprietary
Other Features PhoneBook Caller groups supported, 500 -names capacity, Multiple Numbers
Per Contact, Picture ID, Ring ID
PIM Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, Stopwatch, World Clock, Notepad, Converter, Currency
Converter:
Voice Dialing, Commands, Recording, Speaker Phone
GPS Yes
FCC Approved Yes
REVIEWS:
Design
The Samsung JetSet doesn't offer any design elements that we haven't seen before. Its black color scheme, compact dimensions (3.64 inches by 1.85 inches by 0.69 inch; 3.32 ounces) and simple lines are standard Samsung. The phone has a plastic casing, but it feels comfortable in the hand and the hinge is sturdy. It also travels well.
The postage stamp external display supports 65,000 colors (96x96 pixels). It shows all important information including the date, time, battery life, signal strength, and numeric caller ID. It also shows photo caller ID and you can use it as a viewfinder for the camera lens. You also can add wallpaper and adjust the contrast. Below the display are touch controls for activating the music player and playing your tunes without opening the phone.
The 2.1-inch internal display supports 262,000 colors (32x240 pixels). It's pretty appealing for a phone of this caliber--colors are bright and vibrant, and graphics and photos are sharp. The menu interface is easy to use in either the list or icon style. You can change the backlighting of the display and you can adjust the dialing font color and size.
The navigation array is quite spacious. You'll find a circular toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, a clear button, and the Talk and End/power controls. The controls are flush and somewhat slippery, but we didn't have many problems because the array is so big. The toggle has a very slight ridge surrounding it, but you barely feel it; it doubles as a shortcut to four features.
The keypad buttons have a similar story: they're flat and slippery, but their large size made up for the deficiencies. We could dial and text quickly, and the backlighting helps in dim situations. Dialing by feel takes practice, but you should get the hang of it. Our only concern is over the long-term durability of the keys. They're made of plastic so we'd be interested to see how they hold up after a year of heavy use.
A few features complete the exterior of the JetSet. On the left spine are a volume rocker and the microSD card slot. The rocker is easy to find when you're on a call and we appreciate that Samsung didn't stash the card slot behind the battery. On the left spine you'll find a camera shutter/handset locking key, a headset jack, and a charger port. Unfortunately, the charger port is proprietary and the charger jack is 2.5-millimeter.
Features
The JetSet has a 500-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers and two e-mail addresses. You can save callers to groups and pair them with a photo and one of five polyphonic ringtones (that's a pretty lean selection). Other essentials include a vibrate mode, a speakerphone, and text and multimedia messaging.
one things for sure, the SGH L700 is a great phone, to does who did not like this, because of the message alert cannot be change, stupid, the message alert can be changed, and the volume can be changed to, maybe you are not checking your phone that much. to those who say it has bad camera, well maybe you bought the wrong thing, you should have bought a digital camera instead, for those saying you can't install games? maybe you should have bought a psp or a nintendo ds, it is a cellphone, and the main function of it is to help you communicate with other people... peace people!
Samsung E1210:
SPECIFICATIONS:
General:
2G Network GSM 900 / 1800
Announced 2009, April
Status Coming soon
Size:
Dimensions 108 x 43.5 x 14.3 mm
Weight 72.5 g
Display Type CSTN, 65K colors
Size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.77 inches
Sound:
Alert types Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone Yes
Memory:
Phonebook Yes, up to 500 entries
Call records 30 dialed, 30 received, 30 missed calls
Internal 500 KB
Card slot No
Data:
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
HSCSD Yes
EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G No
WLAN No
Bluetooth No
Infrared port No
USB Yes
Camera No
Features:
Messaging SMS
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML
Radio Yes
Games Yes
Colors Black
GPS No
Java Yes
- Organizer
- Voice memo
- T9
- Mobile Tracker
Battery:
Standard battery, Li-Ion 800 mAh
Stand-by Up to 440 h
Talk time Up to 12 h
REVIEWS:
The Guru 1210 boast of a candy bar shape. The more Features of these phones include 65K Colour CSTN display, advanced Mobile tracker 40 polyphonic ringtones, a Hinglish database which allows users to communicate in a combination of Hindi and English and the Call Time Limit attribute that enables users to set a talk time limit per month. The 1125 offers a talk stereo FM support of around 17 hours and 1120 offers a talk time of around 12 hours and stereo FM of around 20 hours.
| General 2G Network GSM 900 / 1800 Announced 2008, December Status Available. Released 2009, 1Q Size Dimensions 108 x 46 x 15.3 mm Weight Display Type CSTN, 65K colors Size 128 x 128 pixels, 1.63 inches Sound Alert types Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones Speakerphone Yes, with stereo speakers Memory Phonebook Yes, up to 1000 entries Call records 30 dialed, 30 received, 30 missed calls Internal 4 MB Card slot microSD, up to 2GB, buy memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps HSCSD No EDGE No 3G No WLAN No Bluetooth Yes Infrared port Yes USB Yes, v2.0 Camera No Features Messaging SMS Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML Radio FM radio; broadcast recording Games Cricket, Sudoky, Bobby carrot + downloadable Colors Black/Grey GPS No Java Yes, MIDP 2.0 - MP3 player - Organizer - Voice memo - Stopwatch - Worldtime - T9 Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 1000 mAh Stand-by Up to 546 h Talk time Up to 11 h 30 min | ||
| Reviews: |