Cell Phone Covers

After yesterday's dribble of info, Nokia's upcoming N79 and N85 are official now, and do indeed carry WCDMA support for US 3G goodness. The N79 has a 2.4-inch screen, 5-megapixel camera and comes with a 4GB microSD card in the box for storage, while the N85 has a 2.6-inch OLED screen, 5-megapixel cam and 8GB of microSD card storage shipped with it. Both also come preloaded with "10 made-for-mobile N-Gage" games and have FM transmitters aboard, for streaming your music over a nearby radio. Full specs below. Update: the N79 is due to cost around $515 and the N85 will be around $660, both expecting to ship in October.

Nokia N79

• Personalise your device with 3 Xpress-on™ smart covers
included inbox, with automatically matching wallpaper
themes
• Automatically change from portrait to landscape with
orientation sensor
• Easily navigate using the NaviWheel™
• Geotagging of pictures captured, and view them on a map
• Organize photos by albums and tags, and
synchronize with PC
• Upload and share pictures and videos directly toOvi and the web
• Enjoy great audio through standard 3.5 mm jack
headphones, built-in 3D stereo speakers or Bluetooth
technology
• Digital music player with support for playlist editing,
equalizer and categorized access to your music collection
• Synchronize and manage music with Nokia Music client
• Integrated FM transmitter and FM receiver
• Search, browse and purchase songs online inNokia Music Store
• Built-in GPS with A-GPS support and integrated 3-month
navigation license
• Multimedia city guides and navigation services available
for purchase. Drive: voice guided car navigation,
or Walk: pedestrian guidance for walking routes
Connectivity & Data Services
• GPS receiver with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS)
Full-screen video playback to view downloaded,
streamed or recorded video clips
• Access internet video feeds through Nokia Video Center
• Transfer videos from compatible PC,
using Hi-Speed USB 2.0
Games:
• N-Gage™ experience and one free game activation
voucher
• Try and buy from a broad catalog of innovative, made-for-
mobile titles that feature connectivity and stunning
graphics
• Titles developed by leading publishers

Technical Profile
System: WCDMA900/2100 (HSDPA), EGSM900,
GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS)
User Interface: S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2
Dimensions: 110 x 49 x 15 mm (L x W x H)
Weight: 97 g
Display: 2.4 inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) with up to
16 million colors
Battery: Nokia Battery BL-6F, 1200 mAh

Media
Memory: Up to 50 MB internal user memory,
4GB in-box micro SD memory card
Video playback: MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, H.263/3GPP,
RealVideo 8/9/10, WMV
Up to 30 fps, up to VGA resolution
Music playback: MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA orientation sensor

Main Camera
Lens: Carl Zeiss Tessar™
Image capture: Up to 5 megapixels (2584 x 1938)
JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)
Video capture: MPEG-4 VGA (640 x 480) at up to 30 fps
Aperture: F2.8
Focal length: 5.2 mm
Flash: LED camera flash and video light• Enjoy great audio through standard 3.5 mm jack
headphones, built-in 3D stereo speakers or Bluetooth technology

Operating Times
Talk time: Up to 210 min (3G), 330 min (GSM)
Standby time: Up to 400 hrs (3G), 370 hrs (GSM)
Video playback: Up to 5 hours (offline mode)
Music playback: Up to 24 hours (offline mode) • Built-in GPS with A-GPS support and integrated 3-month
navigation license

Connectivity & Data Services
• WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g with UPnP support
• Micro-USB connector, Hi-Speed USB 2.0
• 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and
TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
• Bluetooth wireless technology 2.0 and
enhanced data rates (EDR)
• GPS receiver with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS) • Access internet video feeds through Nokia Video Center

Nokia N85

• Watch high-quality video on the 2.6 inch OLED display
• Full-screen video playback to view downloaded, streamed
or recorded video clips
• Access internet video feeds through
Nokia Video Center
• Transfer videos from a compatible PC,
using Hi-Speed USB 2.0
• Enjoy great audio through standard 3.5 mm jack
headphones, built-in 3D stereo speakers or Bluetooth
technology
• Easily control playback with the dedicated media keys
• Integrated FM transmitter and FM receiver
• Search, browse and purchase songs online in Nokia Music
Store
• Assisted GPS (A-GPS) provides fast and accurate location
information
• Multimedia city guides and navigation services available
for purchase.
• Drive: voice guided car navigation, or Walk: pedestrian-
optimized turn-by-turn guidance. Integrated 3-month
navigation license inbox
• More than 15 million points of interest with Nokia Maps 2.0
• Geotagging of captured pictures, and online sharing
• Organize photos by albums and tags, and synchronize
with PC
• Upload and share pictures and videos directly to Share on
Ovi or 3rd party services directly to the web
• N-Gage™ experience.
• Try and buy from a broad catalog of innovative, made-for-
mobile titles that feature connectivity and stunning
graphics
• Titles developed by leading publishers
• At least 10 games preloaded and one free game activation
voucher

Technical Profile
System: WCDMA 2100/1900/900+GSM
850/900/1800/1900
WCDMA 2100/1900/850+GSM
850/900/1800/1900
User Interface: S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2
Multimedia Menu
Dimensions: 103 x 50 x 16 mm (L x W x H)
Weight: 128 g
Display: AM OLED 2.6 inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels)
with up to 16 million colors
Battery: Nokia Battery BL-5K, 1200 mAh

Media
Memory: Up to 74 MB internal dynamic memory,
up to 78 MB internal NAND flash memory,
8 GB in-box micro SD memory card
Video playback: MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, H.263/3GPP,
RealVideo 8/9/10, WMV
30 fps, VGA resolution
Music playback: MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA

Main Camera
Optics: Carl Zeiss Tessar™
Image capture: 5 Megapixels (2584 x 1938)
JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)
Video capture: MPEG-4 VGA (640 x 480) at up to 30 fps
Aperture: F2.8
Focal length: 5.45 mm
Flash: Dual LED camera flash and video lightMaps and Navigation:

Operating Times
Talk time: Up to 270 min (3G), 410 min (GSM)
Standby time: Up to 360 hrs (3G), 360 hrs (GSM)
Video call: Up to 160 min
Video playback: Up to 7 hours (QVGA, 15fps)
Music playback: Up to 30 hours (offline mode) Photos:

Connectivity & Data Services
• WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g with UPnP support
• Micro-USB connector, Hi-Speed USB 2.0
• 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and
TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
• Bluetooth Specification 2.0 and
Bluetooth stereo audio support
• GPS receiver with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS)

We were able to spend a few moments with Nokia's new N Series phones, the N85 and N79. Read our first impressions.
(follow link to read)

We've had eyes on both of these for a while, but Nokia today has dropped a couple new N-Series phones into the official UK chute, and they are expected to follow stateside soon. The N85 slider (left) appears to be replacing the N81, and the N79 candybar does the same for the N78 (even though it only dropped in the US a few months ago). Gaming and music seems to be the focus of the N85, which adds N-Gage support and ditches the built-in storage in favor of an 8GB micro SD card. An AMOLED screen reduces power consumption for up to 28 hours of music playback. The N79 bumps the N78's camera up to 5MP and adds an LED flash and swappable faceplates. All feature Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G across the board, but the rumored US 3G support we're still waiting to hear for sure on. [Pocket Lint via Electronista]

We've seen pictures from the factory coming loaded on new iPhones before, but this is the first time we've seen what appear to be intentional snapshots loaded on a new iPhone. Surprise: the person who put your iPhone together is a cute girl!

The photos were found on a new iPhone shipped to the UK, and one of the pictures was even set as the home screen. Aaaaaaadorable! [MacRumors Forums]

Sprint has lowered the cost of its phone-as-a-modem service from $50 per month to $15 per month. The cost cut requires that the user have an EVDO-equipped phone that can be connected to a PC, and the user must ...
(follow link to read)

This morning Nokia officially announced the N85 and N79 handsets, which are targeted at the North American market. Both run S60 3rd Edition with Feature Pack 2 and house tri-band HSDPA 3G and quad-band GSM/EDGE radios for world-wide roaming. ...
(follow link to read)

A few months ago a rumor floated around that LG was planning a second coming of the Prada phone with features like a 3-inch touchscreen, 5MP camera, a front mounted camera for video calling, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, a full HTML browser, microSDHC, and a slide-out QWERTY. Obviously, we can't confirm any of that information by this grainy photo—but it does back up the QWERTY keyboard, which keeps the rumors on track at least. It also doesn't do anything to discredit a possible 4Q release date. [BGR]

We've seen the BlackBerry Bold and iPhone head-to-head before, as well as the Bold's greatly improved browsing powers over past BlackBerrys, but not side-by-side in a web browser race. It actually gets pretty ugly, uglier than we thought it would. Update: So it looks like in Mobile Computer's test the Bold was either dropping off of Wi-Fi or wasn't on it at all. Update 2: Mobile Computer's editor got back to us to explain the test.

He says that both were connected to the same Wi-Fi network, but the possibility didn't occur to him that he might have to manually configure the web browser to use the already established Wi-Fi connection, which is a poor design choice, if true. He also says he didn't disable cellular data to be absolutely sure, because turning that off apparently also turns off Wi-Fi.

In his later test of the two phones, iPhone's EDGE to Bold's 3G, the iPhone still comes out on top, "albeit by a reduced margin," which definitely points to some rendering slowness on the Bold's part. He's going to re-run the Wi-Fi tests to be absolutely sure they were performed correctly. Takeaway: The Bold does render pages more slowly than the iPhone, but it's not draggy enough to go get a snack while you're waiting or anything.

With both running on Wi-Fi and a cleared cache, in a test using Slashdot, the iPhone is actually able to open an entirely new page before the Bold finishes with the first one. The Bold renders everything correctly, it just takes a looooong time to do it. The Bold's got some fairly heavy duty hardware though, so an update from RIM could always give the browser a jolt. [Mobile Computer Mag via jkOntheRun]

Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile have teamed up for the first time in four years to offer the 3G-equipped TM506. Was it worth the wait?
(follow link to read)

Nortel has successfully handed off a call made using its Long Term Evolution technology at speeds near 100 kilometers per hour. The test was conducted using prototype network gear from Nortel and prototype handset gear from LG. During the ...
(follow link to read)