LG BL40

I have heard rumors of a “long” touchscreen phone, but always felt that in order for that concept to fly, it had to be done with elegance and an equaled sense of functionality.  If any company could achieve that, it would be LG.  In comes the LG BL40.  It is the forth phone in the Black Label line and if this phone functions anything like the above video, it will be a hit.  It has a massive 4” (800x345) screen that promises to have a Dual Screen UI, which will show two different types of content at one time.  It may be a 3G/WiFi phone, but LG is sketchy with the details.  I’ll keep you guys up to date.

 

Hong Kong Does Maps Right!

I use Google Maps/Earth quite often to map out my routes (I am a school bus driver for those that didn’t know).  One thing that I always thought was cool was the 3D rendering offering in Google Earth.  Well, I came across this 2D pixel-art map of Hong Kong and I just HAD to post it.  The detail is awesome, while still being useful at the same time.  I would love to see a project started on all the major U.S. cities for Google Maps.  Below is the link to the actual map - - ENJOY!!

 

Hong Kong 2D Pixel-Art Map

Samsung Omnia II…Solid & Advanced

With my business taking off, my phone needs have changed and my beloved HTC S620 isn’t cutting it anymore.  I have been doing research and had decided to purchase the HTC Touch Pro 2 UNTIL I saw the gem known as the Samsung Omnia II (i8000).  This the second rendition of the wildly popular Samsung Omnia (i900), which is an incredibly solid phone in it’s own right.  First off is the beautiful 3.7”, 480x800 pixels AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode).  This type of screen tech offers a very crisp, clean and bright display that is thinner than most due to the omission of the usual backlight.  It offers a whopping 5MP camera with dual-power LED flash for wonderful “static” photos.  The camera software allows for panoramic, mosaic and continuous photo capture.  The video can be taken in a maximum resolution of 720x480 pixels at 30 fps.  This is the native resolution for DVDs, so movies watched on this device will be crystal clear.  Having said that, the reported battery life is a whopping 10 hours of talk time and 450 hours of stand-by.  This has been somewhat verified by the many video reviews floating around the web.  The OS is Windows Mobile 6.1 (upgradable to Windows Mobile 6.5), but it is very well hidden by Samsung’s Touchwiz UI 2.0.  It offers three different internal memory sizes, 2GB, 8GB, 16GB, plus it supports microSD cards up to 32GB.  The music/video player hosts a bunch of different file formats, such as MP3, AAC, MP4 and DivX.  Some of the other offerings include 3G, GPS, A2DP (Stereo Bluetooth), WiFi, FM radio and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.  All and all, this phone is a force to be reckoned with!

 

T-Mobile Touch Pro 2

I was recently in the mall and breezed into a T-Mobile store.  I wanted to play around with the MyTouch 3G (which didn’t wow me too much).  As I was leaving, I spied a new full touchscreen phone.  To my surprise, it was the HTC Touch Pro 2!  I have written a post on this phone before, but was surprised to see it in a T-Mobile store.  The casing was different (see pics below), but the most important thing (the screen) was the same size.  The touchscreen was pretty responsive, but seemed dim to me.  This may be due to my new love, the Samsung Omnia II (post coming soon).  The price point for the phone was $350.00 with a two year agreement (not bad).  Other carriers are expecting their versions of the phone, but this is a shot in the arm to        T-Mobiles smartphone lineup.

 

 

iPhone 3GS is ON FIRE!!

Sorry for the NBA Jams throwback, but I couldn’t resist.  We wrote before about the overheating issues the new iPhone 3GS was having, but this is a little extreme!  Pictured below is what an overheating iPhone 3GS did to some dudes car.  The dude in question is named Pieter and he lives in the Netherlands.  He left his iPhone 3GS (which was in a Belkin case) on the passenger seat of his car.  When he returned, his car was filled with black smoke and his phone was on fire.  The weird thing is that it wasn’t on the charger, but was in StandBy mode.  Both Apple and T-Mobile (the exclusive mobile carrier of the iPhone in the Netherlands) refuse to take responsibility for the incident.  Sucks to be Pieter!

 

BIG features in a small package

Pictured above is the Asus EEE Keyboard PC.  This is what happens when a keyboard eats a PC.  All the usual suspects are here, but the 5 inch, 800x480 pixel touchscreen is what blows me away.  This keyboard was made to work with your TV being the main screen.  It runs Windows XP and has 1GB of RAM.  It is equipped with either a 16GB or 32GB solid state (no moving parts) hard drive.  You would think that this would be thick in order to pack those features.  Think again.  The hardware that’s used is very similar to those of Asus’ EEE notebook (the $200 laptop).  It has WiFi, Bluetooth, VGA/HDMI-Out and a couple of USB ports.  Imagine watching Hulu.com shows in HD (yes, it wirelessly sends that signal to your TV) on your TV while surfing for more content on the touchscreen.  Price point is between $400 and $600.