This may not be good news for Microsoft for their cell phone as initial reports that we have got from agencies say that this phone may be a waste of time and is not worth the price people plan to pay for it. This after our sources got to lay their hands on this phone for a demo run of it. Although this phone has been mostly criticized, we here have been somewhat cautious in putting this phone to the side and going against it. In fact we think that the phone has the potential to be pretty good because of the good hardware it carries.

In fact some of the reviewers have totally lambasted the phone and the software giant for having ever thought of coming into the smartphone market. It has been widely remarked that this phone is a complete waste of money and time. According to some experts, this phone will not attract any attention from developers nor from any of the major carriers in the market. They believe that Windows would be better off without this phone rather than trying to push it through in the market at their cost.

The major bone of contention for this phone has been the Windows Phone special UI or what is named ‘Metro’. This is a departure from the usual grid and icon interface which is there in the Android phones as well as the unlocked  iPhone4 and has a new hub like interface where the apps can be interlinked. This interface has in several places been called cumbersome and cluttered when multiple apps come into a hub. Furthermore, this device has been attacked for its efficiency in multitasking.

However it is sad that no matter how much we are hopeful about the Microsoft Windows Phone 7, it is indeed a pretty weak phone. It would have been nice however to have this company as an important player in the smartphone market.

Unlocked Smartphones were given a whole new dimension by Apple when it introduced its iPhone. Since then, it has been a steady competition between several companies to outwit the other in the smartphones market. Some have been able to gain prominence while others have lacked quality and have slipped into oblivion. ChangeWave surveys indicate a great demand for smartphones recently with a great number of people looking to buy a smartphone. Demand has never been so much before.

Apple still reigns supreme even though there have been a few minor hiccups recently with the iPhone 4 antenna issue being the most prominent. However, the number of other quality features iPhones offer separate it from the rest and still gives it the edge over others. Other companies are hot on their heels though and Apple should be looking to go one better by adding more features to the already existing brilliant retina display and other features.

IPhone 4 Unlocked handset is particularly being rivaled by Android. This has led to HTC getting a lot of attention and quite a few would rather go for HTC EVO  4Gor HTC droid incredible than iPhone 4. This is huge concern for Apple. HTC is constantly running out of supplies because of the great demand lately. Apple needs to be aware of the fact that the rivalry is strong and they need to address the fact fast.

RIM and Motorola are seriously out of the competition if they can’t come up with innovative features. The blackberry unlocked phones have been sorely disappointing lately. Even ardent Blackberry lovers believe that although the phones have undergone refreshing updates, it is still no match for Apple. Motorola is more or less in the same situation and needs to upgrade very soon. Maybe the competition will reach new heights in the recent future.

Queen Elizabeth II, while she was visiting Canada on the 1^st, the country’s national holiday, she decided to visit Waterloo. Now, Waterloo is the residence of the country’s best rated company, RIM (Research in Motion). While she was on a visit there, she was gifted with a Unlocked white BlackBerry Bold 9700. She even stayed in the RIM assembling facilities, albeit for less than an hour.

Someone from the Royal family getting a blackberry is not unprecedented. Prince Charles picked up a Blackberry unlocked  Storm( 9520 ) handset, back in January, and Prince Andrew, apparently, is a huge fan of BlackBerry. The Queen said that she has been a great fan of the BlackBerry, ever since her son Prince Andrew introduced her to them some years ago. The BlackBerry was handed to the Queen by the company’s co-founder Mike Lazaridis. The phone gifted to her, the BlackBerry Bold 9700, is the latest model in the BlackBerry line up, and is the unit given to her was white in color. The wallpaper on the presented handset had a picture of a group of children, belonging to an area school, and they were giving the Queen flowers, in the picture.

People would think that now that the Queen has a Blackberry unlocked 9700 white phone, she has more power in her hands to know what is going on around her, however, she must first actually figure out how exactly her BlackBerry works. But then, Queen Elizabeth does not need to personally check her e-mails. She has more than enough help to know what’s in her mail every day. There is already a Twitter account for the British Monarchy, but don’t get your hopes high, because the Queen will not using Twitter anytime soon. A spokesperson from the Monarchy has made it clear that the Royal family will refrain from tweeting although the Queen has been notified about it.

In a disappointing turn of events, the First Else mobile phone got canned as they could not find partners for launching their manufacturing process. Their brand of LiMo phones which they were supposed to be coming out with was being eagerly looked forward to. However sadly, all our hopes of this cell-phone coming out have been dashed. This, we can confirm.

In spite of several discussions which manufacturers Emblaze had with their probable partners, no effective deal could be struck and hence due to severe delays in deadlines and cost issues, the company has officially decided to shelve this project and just come out with the licensing of their ELSE Intuition platform and hence capitalize on whatever profits that they can be making.

This will grant the Emblaze more space to maneuver and hence give them the capability of dealing directly with the phone manufacturers and the carriers. The greatest plus about their First Else platform was its daring plan to break out of the icon grid mark up which is so common place in today’s smart phones.

One encouraging thing for the Intuition platform is the probable help that it will be getting from Android in marketing the platform which will mean that they will be able to better sell this new product which other wise might have yet again failed. In a bit of very interesting news, we can tell you that the Access Linux Platform on which the Intuition is based will be made available as a choice for the UI on Palm’s Unlocked Pre Plus new phone which they will be coming out in association with HP. This is significant as ALP had earlier broken ties with Palm after the Palm OS failure.

However what is most worrying is that the financial problems which plague Emblaze just refuse to die down and in fact the company is running a huge risk of losing out on the platform all together.

It has been recently announced that the Ascent lineup of Vertu luxury phones is about to be updated.  The Ascent which is unusually rich in features is ready to pack GPS, 32GB storage and a 5 megapixel camera.  The Vertu Ascent X 5 megapixel camera will sport a LED flash and continuous autofocus.  The only part of the phone that has not been updated to more modern standards is the 2 inch 16M color TFT display.  The specs on this device certainly sound a lot like the Nokia 6700 classic which recently got a huge makeover of its own.

As for the connectivity of the Ascent X this new device will support quad band 3G with HSDPA, Bluetooth v2.0 and should come with a built in GPS receiver.  However it is still unknown about what types of materials the Ascent X will be made of and as we all know that it was makes Vertu phones special.  The price and launch date are also unknown but are expected to be released very soon.  The Ascent X is just another phone in the ever growing line of luxury phones designed by Vertu.

With their recent announcement of new phones Vertu was greatly lacking in the updated features department.  It looks like they got their act together though with the new Ascent X as this phone appears to have some nice additions.  The GPS is a great addition to any new unlocked smartphone and a feature that many user find quite handy.  The 32GB of storage will allow users to utilize the new 5 megapixel camera to its fullest potential.  No longer will people need to carry around a digital camera they will just be able to use their new Vertu Ascent X to capture all of the moments in their lives.

It looks as if AT&T is getting ready to release the Pre Plus sooner rather than later. In a memo to their employees AT&T is set to deliver SKU-less “practice devices” of the Unlocked Pre Plus that are to be used only for training exercises. When these training exercises are complete then the devices can be moved to a live store display where us consumers can finally get our hands on one and test it out for ourselves.

While it was originally thought that these new mobile devices were not going to be available until sometime in the middle of the summer this announcement that AT&T stores are set to start training their employees on the Pre Plus makes us think that this device will be on store shelves much earlier than anticipated. Depending on how long the training sessions last this device could be released well before the summer months even arrive.

Since there were no release dates or time frames for these training sessions in the memo sent out by AT&T there are no guarantees when this device will be available for purchase. We can only assume that since AT&T is set to send some test devices around to stores that a release of the Pre Plus is imminent and likely to happen much sooner than many people thought.

This is great news for those of us who have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Pre Plus Unlocked phone . Instead of having to wait until the middle of the summer I am hoping that these devices will released to the market place sometime in the early summer months.

The Motorola Backflip was in introduced in February as the first Google android device to be carried by AT&T.  It actually has a full QWERTY keyboard as well as a trackpad, which is located behind the display.  AT&T began making it available to their customers on March 7, 2010.  The candy bar style phone is rectangular in shape and has the rounded edges.  Instead of being a slider phone is actually a flip phone.  When the mobile devices close the keyboard is on the back of the phone.  When you open it, the keyboard swings right underneath the display.  The keyboard is sturdy enough to handle the continual exposure.  However, you may want to purchase some kind of screen protector to prevent scratches and damages, especially if you keep it in your pocket.

The keyboard itself has square buttons and they are easy to use.  There is a bright light so that you will be able to see in rooms that are not well lit.  It has a 3.1 HVGA capacitive touchscreen with 320×480 resolution.  You are also able to use the phone in the landscape mode for a variety of applications.  The phone also utilizes Motoblur that allows all of your social networking, e-mails, pictures, contacts and messages to be sent directly back to your phone.  It also has the backtrack navigation that allows you to easily navigate between different screens.

The Motorola Backflip unlocked will give you up to six hours and talk time with another 315 hours of standby time.  It comes with a five megapixel camera and supports Bluetooth v2.1.  It uses Wi-Fi and edge and the 3G phone will be able to work with most carriers.  Does have a memory card slot, and ample internal memory.  It also has certain shortcut keys are located at the bottom of the screen that will help to make using the phone easier.  The phone even allows you to use it as a digital photo frame when you open it to its 90° angle.  Or you can always set it up as a desktop clock without having to worry about a docking station.

This is a tough question for anybody to answer, but an organization, Telecom Trends International has seen into the future and predicted that smartphones will takeover regular phones by 2015.

Smartphones, which were not even thought of a few decades ago are now dominating people’s lives. Right from your vehicle to calendar, everything is available in it.

Could a common man then had imagined the developments that have taken place in technology in last few years. Though an organization with its expert panel can make a study, yet we believe the definition of smartphones is bound to change with time. Such predictions look a kind of shot in the dark as the change in technology will change the definitions of gadgets with time.

But Telecom Trends International’s recently released report says that in 2016, total mobile handset sales will have a 2/3rd share of smartphones, the rest would regular phones. It remains to be explored that what would be the definition of smart phones by 2015, looking at the rapid development in technology and its adaptation in people’s lives, it looks a wild guess.

Whatever the case, smartphones have definitely grown in popularity because of their utility and integration with user’s lifestyle. A large number of auto companies are trying to bring the vehicles’ controls into smartphones, and so are other companies. So the chances of smartphones overtaking regular phones definitely increase.

At present, the number of smartphones is just handful while the market is clearly and triumphantly dominated by regular phones, which have the basic features. Smartphones are the in-thing and gaining popularity especially the youngsters are adapting very fast.

Let us keep our fingers crossed, since the way the technology is growing, only time will be a better proof of what is to come.

So Bell recently released the Palm Pre and with it a commercial.  One of the first things said in the commercial was “Unlike our neighbors to the south, Canadians are an active people.”  No one is really sure why they included it or if they were doing it on purpose.  The thing is that it has started people talking online.  So if Bell was trying to get people talking then they have succeeded.

If you are interesting the commercial is below.

Touch screen cell phones are stylish and convenient and serves as a great alternative to conventional phones that come with buttons. These phones do away with the buttons in a traditional keypad and have hi- tech touch screen buttons. Most of these phones operate with the help of stylus and even hand depending upon the brand and the model you choose. You can easily navigate through e-mails, web pages, messages, or images, using finger gestures or stylus. Below listed are some of the best selling touch screen phones from top brands.  

Motorola A1600: This is one of the most affordable, fully featured touch screen phone available in the market. The phone comes with an improved functionality and performance than its predecessor A1200. This phone is packaged with a stylish transparent cover design, crystal talk technology, GPS navigation system, 3.15 MP Camera and features up to 4GB micro SD card. Some other features included are LED flash, OCR for handwriting, support for GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth technologies and v2.0 microUSB.

LG Mobile VU CU920:  Show your true style with this highly chic, sleek and stylish phone. The phone features a 3” touch screen that allows you to access crystal clear TV, web, pictures, or videos with a touch of your finger tips. This phone is also equipped with a powerful music player that can provide you with a non stop entertainment as an iphone. Some other features incorporated in this phone include 2.0 megapixel camera, 120MB Internal memory  2GB external memory, support for Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS, GSM, HSDPA 3G,and Push to Talk facility.

i-mate 9502: This a very popular smartphone from i-mate that features a large and superb 2.8-inch touchscreen interface. Its amazing touchscreen offers extremely good resolution (640X480) for a better multimedia experience. Access your music, videos, games and photos with ease with the help of this powerful handset. Other additional features incorporated in this phone include a long battery life, 3.15 MP cameras, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth and USB.

Samsung i900: This popular phone also named as Omnia is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Operating System based phone launched by Samsung. The phone comprises of a superb 3.2″ touchscreen that allows you to easily view all the applications over its wide screen. You can access your applications as well as can scroll through messages, email and music with its touch screen. Other great features in this phone include 8 GB internal memory, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM, 5 MP Camera GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi , Bluetooth and USB, Photocall.

HTC Touch Diamond: This is a popular Microsoft Windows mobile-based 3G cell phone from HTC. The phone comprises of 2.5’’ TouchFLO 3D touch screen which allows you to quickly navigate through e-mails, messages, music and other important information with ease. This amazing phone also sport some other excellent features like 3.15 MP camera, 4 GB internal memory, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, miniUSB and support for technologies like GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi.

With the introduction of the Apple iPhone nearly two years ago every company has put out a touch screen phone.  From Blackberry’s Storm to the Motorola A1600 you can’t help but notice all of them on the market.  Some like the above are good, while others need polishing.  For all touch screen phones check out puremobile.ca