The Good: The Palm Treo 680 features a sleeker design; integrated Bluetooth with the ability to use it as a wireless modem; more user-accessible memory; and e-mail capabilities. It also offers a bright touch screen and productivity tools and is easy to use.
The Bad: The smart phone doesn’t have integrated Wi-Fi nor does it support Palm’s Wi-Fi card or voice dialing. What’s more, the VGA camera is disappointing, the QWERTY keyboard is a bit cramped, and the speakerphone quality is a bit scratchy.
The Bottom Line: With a user-friendly interface, decent performance, and an affordable price point, the Palm Treo 680 is a good smart phone for the first-time buyer or for mobile users looking to be more productive on the road; we just wish it had a better camera and Wi-Fi support.
Giving his first significant appearance since the Macworld Expo in San Francisco where the iPhone was unveiled, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was interviewed by Walt Mossberg at the D5 “All Things Digital” executive conference in Carlsbad, California. While keeping tight-lipped about any upcoming product releases or changes, Jobs did drop some hints about where Apple’s entertainment devices are headed. Continue Reading »
The Federal Communications Commission approved Apple Inc.’s iPhone, clearing the way for the combined phone and music player to hit the shelves. Apple expects to begin selling the phones in late June. Some of the FCC documents confirm a few features of the phone, including it will have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and will operate in the 1900MHz and 850MHz frequency bands. The phone uses GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology and the low-speed GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) wireless data standard.
The Good: The RIM BlackBerry Curve boasts a sexy and slim design with an improved full QWERTY keyboard. The smart phone also has a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and a media player. There’s a new spell-checker for e-mail and memos, and audio technology that automatically adjusts call volume in noisy environments.
The Bad: Unfortunately, the BlackBerry Curve doesn’t have integrated Wi-Fi or 3G support. The device’s camera still doesn’t have video-recording capabilities, and call quality sounded a bit hollow.
The Bottom Line: Though it doesn’t bring Wi-Fi or 3G support, the BlackBerry Curve offers a best-of-breed design and a well-rounded set of features to make it an attractive device for consumers and mobile professionals alike.
