Giving machine souls isn’t a very good idea- just look at all the hoo-ha with replicants in Blade Runner. Nobody wants a toaster with depression or a TV that’s afraid of horror. Thankfully, Samsung’s latest ultra edition handset isn’t capable of self awareness.

The HSDPA-packing, 5MP- camera-toting slider is only 12.9mm thin and keeps its soulfness confined to its touch-sensitive Magic Touch panel, which changes the keypad icons and functions depending on what you’re up to. It also has Bluetooth 2.0, takes microSD cards and has the usual built-in media player- might we suggest playing some James Brown?

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The Sony Ericsson W890i has finally toppled by…..its younger brother, the W890i. It’s every bit as slim line as its predecessor but opts for a far usable keypad than the minute Lozenge buttons of the W890i. There’s HSDPA for snappy downloading and a 3.2 MP camera.

Photos are bright, if a little shabby on close inspection, but it’s the super-slick and sweet-sounding third generation Walkman player that earns it the top spot. Those clever designers have also managed to stuff an FM radio into the package for good measures. Read the rest of this entry »

When the E51came out we were very impressed. Strong on paper specifications and a rugged phone that was sleek and stylish.

The build quality of this phone is great, and the phone itself has been well designed.

This thin, stainless steel E51 has a 2-inch display (240 x 320 pixels) with a good depth of 16.7 million colors. It also has an ambient light sensor with a  LED light indicator which can be customized so that you know you have  missed calls or even incoming emails and text messages. It has a standard numeric keypad and several One Touch keys that provide direct access to functions, which also includes email, Blue tooth, and the Home screen!

It’s got a clear, crisp screen that does seem tiny in comparison to others.

It’s rich in terms of connectivity options although its light on multimedia features.

It targets the business who wants something basic.

It still makes a decent buy for someone looking for a good, feature rich phone at reasonable price.

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The first to utilize the touch Flo concept that Apple used for the iPhone and the iPod Touch and quite frankly it wasn’t as well implemented as we’d liked. Imitation is the best form of flattery, but only if it’s well executed. Needless to say without any sort of keypad, and Touch Flo not working the same magic as it did for Apple, the HTC Touch is a flawed business device. It’s well built however, and attractive as the silver menu button is the only relief from the matte black finish across the body.

Based around WM 6.0 Pro the device is also slow, which doesn’t help. Although voice clarity in-call isn’t bad, the multimedia frills are just that-frills-mostly for show and hardly any go.

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Nokia’s E61 and E62 belong to a family of phones spawned by Nokia’s obsession with sumo wrestler or some other monolithic object. The E61 suffixed with an “i” for a camera, is a bulky device that’s quite well built, and features a well laid out, and spacious QWERTY keypad, that was slightly improved ergonomically over the keypads of the E61. The screen itself is beautiful at 2.8 inches, and features 16 million colours. Sadly there’s no touch functionality which would have been a productive and nifty add on. The beauty of the  E61lies in the simplicity however, and as a business phone to type out mails, or for long hours on call it makes perfect sense.

However video playback is fun due to the screen.The camera itself is no great shakes, and the audio qualities are limited.It is quite expensive for it features it offers- which will satisfy neither the die hard multimedia junkie.

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The LG KS20 borrows deeply from LG’s desire to make hot devices for the young, urban crowd. Unfortunately, too much of a good things kill as the proverb goes, and the chrome down the sides of a shiny black exterior may be viewed as garish or tasteful- depending of course on your aesthetic sense. While the device fits the hand well, it also has a couple of glaring ergonomic issues. For one, the joy-stick’s a total pain to use, and navigation is irritating. Although based on Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro means application support will be very good , the LG KS20 seems to be more of a lifestyle device than a serious PDA as both number and QWERTY keypads are absent.This is also means that the device is quite compact and lightweight, despite retaining a screen size of 2.8 inches.

The camera and music performance was about par, although it takes more to impress. Once again a nifty add-on by LG is the ability for this phone to play Divx videos like KU990. It is also one of the new PDA phones to support FM radio. The LG KS20 is a stylish device to be sure, but there are better cellphones available at the same price point, which leaves KS20 out in the cold.

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HTCs P3470 is a PDA phone based around a Windows Mobile (WM) 6.0 Pro OS. It’s rather plain to look at and will garner no beauty accolades. Although built quality is good, nothing is inspiring. The lack of a QWERTY and any form of number pad will ensure that serious PDA users will look elsewhere. Due to this glaring omission the P3470 has ergonomic issues. Its camera and multimedia properties aren’t too fancy either, although the features are available. More importantly the phone lags slightly-this indicates a slower processor. Call clarity is about par with what is acceptable, nothing more.

Although the HTC P3470 is reasonably compact it’s nowhere as attractive as other phones.We can’t recommend it to anyone.

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The K850i targets users desiring a good camera phone-exactly what their K850i achieved some three years back. This is a device that will strike you with  its sheer build quality-its like a little rock, and feels exceptionally solid in hand. The color scheme is cool-shiny black with dark green stripes down the sides and on the joy-pad-and is an attention grabber.The other things that will attract you immediately is the compact dimension of this phone. The only minus a result of this is the very small number keys on the phone, thanks to which the edges of your fingers will get sore after a lot of SMS typing-a saving grace is that the keypads well spaced out, else this device would be a spectacular failure.

Sony Ericsson provides good PMP capabilities, a good music and video player menu system, and good stereo sound. The camera that the “K”series are famous for is the pinnacle of SE’s cameras-5 mega pixel coupled with a Xenon flash. Although its not as feature-rich as the N95, it’s a very different device. focused more on the user who wants something compact, and more handy to pull off a couple of quick shots. For those wanting a huge feature list look elsewhere.This one focuses on being a king of a few trades, and not a jack of many.

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Samsung makes excellent sliders, Definitely true, if the U900 is any indication. Besides being very well built , slim and featuring a brushed metal body, the U900 has a lovely screen. It’s compact too, and very much for the college goer looking for something powerful and chic. The call accept/reject button are large, you could find them with your eyes closed. The keypad seems reminiscent of Motorola phones, some sort of a membrane based keypad that nonetheless works fine. The most innovative feature is incorporated into the menu button- there is none.

Samsung 5 megapixel camera is easy to use with good menus and option, although its camera isn’t as good as N95 or the N82. The only trick which Samsung missed is the presence of GPS and WLAN. The U900 is a good phone for something cute, hardly, yet functional. It hasn’t got the powerful convergence of features like N95 and N82, but it looks radically different and is flashy too, like the Viewty. Choose it over two Nokia’s above only if you don’t need the extra features they have!

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For those who don’t have the money to buy the N95 8GB, or want something more compact the N82 will appeal. For one it’s solidly built, although the keypad is very cramped and will take some getting used to, even if you happen to have long nails. Features wise it’s identical to its costlier sibling, but loses out on the slick double slider and adds a much needed powerful Xenon flash. Although the screen isn’t as good as the N95, what is appreciated is the compactness of this device, and the fact that Nokia managed to fit everything into a shell that is 25 percent smaller in volume.

Although the N82 may have the same hardware but it looks and feels different enough to have unique personality. For one, its music quality isn’t as good as the N95 -which it will be inevitable be compared to. Secondly, and more importantly, signal and voice quality isn’t as good as its costlier siblings. It’s a very good feature-rich, and hot looking phone-but it’s not as usable as the Nokia N95 8GB

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