Sennheiser sparkles

CrystalRoc blings up headphones, taste police called in.

Probably best known for its customisation of musical instruments and microphones – think Kylie’s sparkling Fifties mic from her Showgirl Homecoming tour – UK company CrystalRoc has bestowed its unique take on taste to a set of Sennheiser headphones and earphones.

With enough Swarovski themed bling to have footballers dribbling like they never could on the pitch, the Sennheiser HD25 headphones and CX300 earphones keep the sonic quality but lose the subtle styling.

Each is described as a “fully functioning handcrafted work of art, developed with a technique which has been honed to absolute perfection and a quality of workmanship which ensures that every crystal is precisely positioned and in its own perfect space”. Hmm.

Don’t worry though; that lady-pink – sorry, Light Rose – isn’t the only finish available. There’s a more manly Crystal AB (white, we assume) and Light Sapphire (probably blue) available to.

And the cost of such unmistakable craftsmanship? £299 for the HD25 headphones and £99 for the CX300 earphones. Money well spent, we’re sure you’ll agree.

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New Nokia’s just the ticket

Three-in-one technology trials on mobile phones kick off.

The theory has been around forever (okay, a couple of years) and has in turn been described as “unworkable” and “Orwellian” by sceptics, but later this week an RFID data tag will be trialled on handsets including Nokia’s 6131 NFC.

Raised eyebrows and quizzical looks? Thought so. Both Oyster and credit cards use tiny RFID tags easily small enough to fit in the average mobile phone to store data, which makes it a logical convergence.

It means your mobile will become Oyster Card, cash card, loyalty card and phone in one pocket-friendly form thanks to a collaboration between Nokia, O2 and London Underground and the implementation of near field communication (NFC) technology.

Already very successful in Japan and South Korea, users load credit to their phone (rather than access their entire savings account) in shops or online and use it to buy treats like a nice cup o’ tea securely, quickly and without having to fumble past your hanky for a fistful of pocket change.

You’ll need a subscription and installation of an appropriate application on your phone to get started, but then that’s it. And if it’s successful, expect to see it roll out across the land – before long we’ll all be shopping with a swipe of a phone.

We're off for a top secret powwow with Nokia tomorrow, so stay tuned for full, hands on, details.

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Rise of the USB mobile?

Concept design shows what our phones could be packing in the not too distant future.

The fellas over at Yanko Design know a thing or two about future gazing. And this slick Sony Ericsson look alike is something that we really might not have to wait too long for.

Designed by a chap named Vincent Palacki, not only does it look the part, it's also packing some seriously cool tech that could revolutionise the way we use mobiles.

See, that thing poking out the side is a full USB port. It won't always be hanging out like that though, natch. In fact, it'll slide in like an SD card, but you'll be able to whip it out and transfer files direct from your cell to your PC.

With potential extras including a 5-meg camera, HSDPA, a meaty screen for watching movies and a slim bod', we reckon this could be an absolute winner. Naturally though, it needs Sony Ericsson to actually get behind the project first.

Come on then SE, make it happen, we're always after yet another high tech mobile to flout in meetings and down the pub.

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PSP phone "definitely plausible"

Top brass at Sony say a handheld packing a blower is on the cards.

It's been a good while since we've heard any chatter about a PSP phone, but now Sony's top brass are openly discussing the idea.

Jim Ryan from Sony Computer Entertainment has told the India Times that such a mighty gadget is "definitely plausible."

He goes on to say that a tie-up with Sony Ericsson wouldn't be a problem. " The PlayStation is a proven success and so is Sony Ericsson…It is hugely intellectually seductive to have a console oriented phone," he said.

Any plans though would have to involve the blower being incorporated into the handheld rather than the games being an add-on, he says. So no Nokia N-Gage style action here.

Of course, we've heard this kind of talk before, but at least it’s in the minds of the Big S's men in suits.

With a PSP2 proper still in the offing, what are the chances that they'll slap in a SIM and call functionality next year?

Stay tuned for any updates as soon as get our gadget-hungry mits on them.

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SMS Mac: Send SMS

So I was listening to episode 66 of MacBreak Weekly and towards the end of the show Alex Lindsay brought up a neat SMS application for the Macintosh called SMS Mac - this was his pick of the week. What it is really is an app that allows you to easily send SMS blasts to everyone in your address book. What makes SMS Mac shine is its ability to take many shapes and forms incorporating itself into your Mac addy book, Yahoo! contacts, a sidebar gadget and the like. Some configuration needs to be done as the SMS Mac app needs international numbers to send text. Still, this is a great application to have for SMS group blasts.

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Verzio Duplii and Twinn: Dual SIMs make it to Asia

Nice things happening in Asia. Singapore manufacturer Verzio, a new player in the digital market, has come up with the first batch of dual SIM phones. Called the Verzio Twinn and Verzio Duplii, these two phones come with two SIM card slots.

I have nothing bad to say about the phones’ design. What I do wonder though would be how battery life would perform given that the phone is emitting two signals at once. Nonetheless, the engineers and designers put in a lot of work in the user interface:

So how does it work? I managed to try the user interface and worked my way through the nicely skinned menu system resembling Nokia and Sony Ericsson design. What happens basically is that your SIM cards are assigned “1″ and “2″ accordingly and you can make calls and reply using SIM “1″ or “2.” In the same way, messages are labeled as coming from either phone number. I must stress — both SIMs are active simultaneously.

Duplii SRP USD $300


3G Tri-Band Dual SIM Phone

Candybar design

Simultaneous dual SIM standby

Bluetooth 2.0

Data transfer via USB

3G video conference and calls

FM Radio

2.0MP camera

microSD expandable memory


Available in metal black

Twinn SRP USD 200

Triband EDGE Dual SIM Phone

EDGE connectivity

Slider design

Bluetooth

Touch screen with stylus

microSD expandable memory


1.3MP camera

Available in Racer Black

Check out my coverage of the Verzio line here. Verzio makes more than just phones. They are into the development of laptops, digital still cameras, phones and PDAs.

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Have yourself a mobile Christmas

With more and more products being released each week, it can be hard to keep up with ever-changing offers on the High Street and online. T3.co.uk is here to help. We’ll round up the best deals on the week’s hottest new gadgets – and that doesn’t always mean the lowest prices – as well as hunting out bargains on cool kit already out there.


What’s the deal? Nokia 6500 with free iPod Touch 8Gb
How much? Free with O2 £35/month contract
Where can I get one? Digital Direct
Valid till? While stocks last
If you want the cool of an iPhone without putting all your mobile eggs in one digital basket, take a look at this offer. You get a spanking new Nokia 6500 Classic (that's the candybar version) complete with 2MP cam, a gig of memory and – an Apple-beating extra – 3G connectivity. Plus, if you sign on the line for a decent £35/month, they'll chuck in a brand new, ever-so-strokable iPod Touch for nowt. Lovely.

What’s the deal? Motorla F3 for under a tenner
How much? £7.95 when bought with £10 Virgin airtime
Where can I get one? Carphone Warehouse
Valid till? While stocks last
Hey, it's just a phone. But not a bad one. The electric blue F3 has a cool, stripped down RAZR vibe, but nevertheless comes with polyphonic ringtones (remember them?), vibrating alerts and over eight hours talk time. Our favourite feature is its cutting edge Electrophoretic Display (EPD) – a monochrome screen that's almost as bright and clear to read as paper, even in sunlight.

What’s the deal? Unlocked 8Gb Phone with no contract
How much? £339
Where can I get one? GC PCs
Valid till? While confidence lasts
How brave do you feel? Buying an unlocked iPhone online usually means picking a US handset that's been modded to run on any GSM network. Such devices could theoretically lock themselves again if you attempt to update the software, with the possibility that you could end up with a beautifully designed, touch-sensitive brick. We haven't used this website before, but it seems legit. Proceed with caution.

What’s the deal? Sony Ericsson W880i for a shade over £200
How much? £204
Where can I get one? Pixmania
Valid till? While stock lasts
A superb handset now starting to be available at a realistic price, the W880i is tough and packs lots of useful (rather than esoteric, geeky) features into a sub-10mm shell. It's 3G, has a great 2MP camera, excellent MP3 playback and a 1Gb memory card included in the price. The screen is simply sublime, too.

What’s the deal? LG Chocolate Silver with two thirds off
How much? £49.95 when bought with £10 T-Mobile airtime
Where can I get one? Phones 4 U
Valid till? While stock lasts
Sure it's little 2006, but LG's sultry Chocolate phone still belts out digital tunes like a miniature robotic Justin Timberlake. This silver version has the same heat-sensitive touch-pad of previous handsets, a functional 1.3MP camera and a bright, cartoony 256,000-colour display. Well worth wolfing down before LG decides to upgrade its confectionary range again.

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WPhone Admin: Wordpress admin on your iPhone

WPhone Admin has won the recent contest for best application to control your Wordpress administration via the iPhone. The winner version was mentioned at the Weblog Tools blog:

There was a plugin competition of sorts held mostly on the wp-hackers mailing list on coming up with a plugin that would allow WordPress administration through the iPhone. WPhone has won WordPress iPhone Plugin Competition. Wphone Admin Plugin has its own page and forums and was put together by a collaborative venture between Stephane Daury, Doug Stewart and Viper007Bond. WPhone is available through the WordPress extend pages. Thanks Montreal Tech Watch. [Weblog Tools]

Currently, a Google Android version is in development.

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Nokia N82 hands on

I had the chance to play around with the new Nokia N82. Now I know where the hype is headed towards. Here are my tidbits in bullets:

• The N82 comes with an ultra strong flash that makes it a versatile camera phone at night. It comes with a 5MP Carl Zeiss lens but what seems to be overlooked is the very powerful Xenon flash. The lens has an opening that ranges from f 2.8 / 5.6.


• To the right of the joystick is a protruding button that, when pressed, gives you access to the second menu option that was highlighted during Nokia’s Go Play event. The new user interface subdivides the menu functions to your contacts, multimedia, N-Gage, GPS and maps, and connectivity. This brings forth a new way of presenting all the features of the new line of Nokia phones. I assume that this UI will be a standard that is going to be adopted pretty soon, doing away with the old grid / list UI.


• The phone has a built in gyroscope that tilts the screen from portrait to landscape mode depending on how you hold it. The phone can only tilt in two directions though - where landscape mode is limited in the direction where the keypad is on the right side and the screen on the left.


• Video recording is decent. It is not N90, but the recording quality is good enough to make fluid home movies
  


• The microSD card slot is located on the long part of the phone. The card can be a bit hard to remove.

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JCB goes mobile

Hefty blower from the makers of hardcore machinery won't ever breakdown.

Say JCB and the first thing that springs to mind is massive diggers and real men doing real work. Not, you know, farting around on the web and playing with top end phones.

But for those of us who prefer playing with top notch gadgetry, JCB has got a cheeky surprise: their very own mobile.

Dubbed, wait for it, the Toughphone, and made with cell manufacturer Sonim, it lays claim to the title of the planet's hardest blower.

It's shock resistant, dust resistant, water resistant and drop resistant. You can use it in temperatures ranging from a bone-chilling -20C to a wilting heat of 60C. Surely more doughty than some of the military grade kit we've seen recently.

It even comes with a three year guarantee, so confident are they that it won't get crocked. Say that about your current 5-meg camera toting phone.

Tech wise, there's Bluetooth and built-in speakers, so perfect for when you're using your actual JCB and want some tunes.

But our favourite? The ringtone that sounds like a JCB starting up. Nice touch guys, nice touch.

You can grab it from Phones4U and Plumb Centres across the land. Surely one to take on extreme expeditions as well as bragging trips down your local

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Avoid c-charge fines automatically

GPS-toting KenBuster pays your congestion charge straight away - so you won't fall foul of fines.
Absent-minded London motorists should definitely give the KenBuster a look. This newly-launched gizmo sits in your car and uses GPS tracking to determine when you've entered the congestion charge zone.

If you've done so at a chargeable time and day, an automatical payment is made to Transport for London - meaning that you don't have to remember to make the payment yourself later on. So forgetting to pay the charge - like 6% of motorists do every day - won't result in you getting slapped with a fine.

Every day the KenBuster sends you a text message informing you of any payments made, and you can also track transactions on the website.

The device is available to preorder now, and will be out before Christmas. It can be bought for £50 then £8 a month for 12 months, or for a one-off £200 for unlimited use forever (and "tired" KenBusters will be upgraded for free).

Sounds like a pretty smart idea, but Transport for London might not like it - according to KenBuster they make an astonishing £65m a year (31% of their income) through congestion charge fines.

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More thoughts on the Nokia E90

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Nokia E90 Communicator. I’ve been switching between my BlackBerry Pearl and the E90 Communicator to see which one was the better enterprise device. Hands down, the E90 provided better overall support for web browsing and


BlackBerry support. BlackBerry email support is downloaded through the Nokia Business Catalogue.

I guess the only two things that my Pearl has to its advantage are the extremely good battery life and the small form factor. However, considering that the E90’s design managed to fit a full QWERTY keyboard into such a small pocketable device, size is thus relative.

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Nokia N95 8GB first impressions

The Nokia N95 8GB was announced during the Nokia Go Play event held in Singapore. The upgrade features the same phone with a much bigger screen, 2.8 inches to be exact. The screen is fantastic, allowing you a more comfortable view of your S60 operating system. The bigger screen is meant to pave the way for the N Gage platform which Nokia plans to roll out soon.

What’s shocking about the 8GB version of the N95 is that it doesn’t support the Nokia iSync plugin for the N95. Absurd. You’d think that it would be the same thing. Detecting from Bluetooth, the phone seems to support Address Book sync for the Macintosh, but it doesn’t seem to support iSync, which is, again, a big bummer. I’d appreciate information if you’ve managed to sync this device. Other sites report similar cases but have found a workaround detecting the phone as a “Nokia 00.”

The N95 8GB comes with a 3.5 mm jack located on the long side of the device. Why this was placed here instead of the top or bottom of the phone leaves me clueless. It is hard to pocket the device while listening to music because the cable gets in the way.

What’s great about this phone is that it is one of the few mobile devices that comes bundled with a RCA cable for the television. Yes, the N95 8GB comes with TV out support. Above is a quick set up photo using the N95 with a EPSON 1815 multimedia projector in my cramped room.

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Palm OS now available on your Nokia tablet

Yes, Palm OS Garnet will now work on your Nokia tablet, namely the N810, N800 and the N770. If you’re thinking that this is merely emulation software, you’re mistaken. Apparently, the move to position the Palm OS on other devices is actually a new strategy to revive the Palm operating system, as The Register reports:

We recently portrayed Palm OS development as dead, only to be lambasted by StyleTap, creators of the Palm OS emulator for Windows Mobile. According to StyleTap their emulator isn’t just used for running legacy applications, but is enabling the development of new apps as well as improvements to old ones, by companies and programmers who like the platform.

StyleTap showed us a Symbian version of their emulator at the recent Symbian Show, apparently developed in response to customer demand, so it would seem that Palm OS is the platform that just won’t die. It must have hurt Symbian that every visitor to the show was scanned with a Palm-OS-based handheld; demonstrating just how pervasive the platform remains.

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Hands on with the N82

T3 video exclusive: We get friendly with the latest addition to the Nseries family.

Nokia has just gifted us our very own N82. And we have to say we're absolutely smitten.

The latest addition to their high end Nseries finally got official yesterday. It's packed to the gills with top notch features that will have you gagging for one when it launches in the New Year.

There's a 5-meg, N95 matching snapper, with Carl Zeiss lens, along with DVD quality video and the chance to play it all back courtesy of TV out.

AGPS will get you from A to B, with Nokia Maps and a free trial of voice navigation software as standard. Shove your hand in your pocket and you'll get specific city guides to boot.

Then there's Wi-Fi access for zipping about in the already speedy browser, tarted up Symbian S60 OS and access to the all new Nokia Music Store via 3G.

Nokia has also confirmed it'll support the revamped N-Gage service, due to hit at the beginning of next month.

For a proper close up peek, take a look at our hands on video and massive image gallery.

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8-meg camera phones Samsung in the offing

Samsung's all new sensors clock in at the same size of their three-meg versions but pack more than twice the goodness.
Megapixel collectors rejoice: Samsung has announced an all new CMOS sensor that packs in eight of the buggers into the same size as their current three-meg versions.

The potential implications are massive. We could soon be taking snaps on our mobile with a sensor that outstrips a slew of low-end point and shoot peepers, while maintaining the slim bod' we've come to expect from our cellular gizmos. The dream of full on camera cell convergence could soon be a reality.

The truth, however, is somewhat short. If these sensors do find their way into a phone near you anytime soon, don't expect the pictures to be any good.

For a start, images would be insanely grainy and you're going to need a decent lens to boot. Forget finding one of these an Ultra Edition.

Still, don't be surprised if in the next twelve months the race towards 8-meg mobiles gathers pace. Like blades on a razor, the public just can't get enough of more megapixels.

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N82 gets official

Nokia lifts the lid on their 5-meg toting, AGPS packing new Nseries blower.

We knew that it was coming, but Nokia has just officially unveiled their all new Nseries phone, the N82.

To call it feature-laden would be a gross understatement: this phone has got it all.

There's an N95 matching 5-megapixel camera, with Carl Zeiss optics and a slick xenon flash, so you can leave your knackered old point and shoot at home for good.

You can also record DVD-quality flicks, all of which can be saved on the supplied 2GB microSD card.

There's space there for 900 high-res snaps and 84 minutes of top notch video. Plenty for a weekend farting about on the continent or just hanging out with your pals down the local.

Then there's the speedy AGPS, fast becoming standard on Nok's high-end cells. Nokia Maps come preinstalled and with a massive 15 million points of interest.

There's also trial voice navigation software so it'll tell you where to go too. And if all that floats your boat, you can buy city guides on the move.

Webwise you'll find WiFi connectivity, with one touch uploading for videos and snaps, so you can carry on with texts or calls while the net does its thing.

Slap it onto the TV or your PC monitor and you can get multimedia slideshows going and crank out all those presentation skills at home as well as in the office.

Oh, and as if that wasn't enough, there's also an accelerometer for switching between portrait and landscape. Now that's the kind of nifty idea we're getting used to and love to see.

There's support for the all new Nokia Music Store, as well as plans for N-Gage when it launches later this year.

It'll hit you for £317, but keep your eyes peeled for any deals in the run up to Christmas.

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Nokia 7500 Prism with Nokia Sensor

I had the chance to review the Nokia 7500 Prism. As a follower of the nomenclature Nokia commonly employs, the “7″ series is now dedicated to the fashionista line of phones which are slightly more expensive yet seem to claim similar features with the classic series. The 7500 is no exception, boasting a very unique real estate design. The Prism’s body is designed to look jagged and geometric, thus resembling a precious stone. The middle button is actually not a joystick, but a button designed to move with the thumb presses.

The 7500 runs on the Series 40 platform. One of the newest features highlighted in the Prism is the new Nokia Sensor app which serves as a social networking tool for Nokia phone owners:

Nokia Sensor is designed to promote spontaneous communication between users in sociable settings such as bars, nightclubs and railway platforms, business functions etc. Bluetooth wireless technology is used to detect the presence of other suitably enabled mobile phones located within a radius of 10 meters.

As such, this makes the Prism an added attraction in bars and parties as it becomes an interesting conversation piece for other phone owners who want to meet up within Bluetooth radius.

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More thoughts on the Nokia E90

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Nokia E90 Communicator. I’ve been switching between my BlackBerry Pearl and the E90 Communicator to see which one was the better enterprise device. Hands down, the E90 provided better overall support for web browsing and BlackBerry support. BlackBerry email support is downloaded through the Nokia Business Catalogue.

I guess the only two things that my Pearl has to its advantage are the extremely good battery life and the small form factor. However, considering that the E90’s design managed to fit a full QWERTY keyboard into such a small pocketable device, size is thus relative.

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Google's ready to rock your pocket

Android is definitely not the Gphone, but it's still a step up from your current blower. See why here.
Android will be coming to Europe courtesy of T Mobile in 2008. [more images]

Google's about to change the world. Again. But this time they're not aiming at your desktop, but the mobile in your pocket. Alas, it's not the Gphone we've all been waiting for, but then the big G doesn't do hardware.

Nope, this is all about software. It's called Android, and it's an open source platform built in partnership with 31 other companies. The end result is a widely accepted and standardised OS, just itching to jump onto a phone near you.

Because it's the work of a group, rather than single firm, it's incredibly open. Any developer will be able to build their own fast, flexible apps for mobiles, and they'll all make use of the latest technologies.

The finer details are still pretty scarce, but we expect Android will conform to all web standards, so things like AJAX and Flash will be packed in from day one, as well as more common Java.

Motorola, HTC and Qualcomm are all involved, with the system built on Linux. Moto already has a Linux based-blower out in the wild in the shape of the Z8, so it's a natural progression for them.

Qualcomm's involvement is more interesting. They're mobile video specialists, and Google says "services" like video and location will be built into Android from day one. It can't be a coincidence that Google owns YouTube now, can it?

We'd expect Google Maps to pop up on Android too. But now for the bad news. It looks like we'll have to wait until next year to see the first phones packing the new tech.

T-Mobile say they'll be bringing the first Android handset to Europe in 2008. As for an actual Gphone, it looks like our mock-up above remains a pipe dream. For now.

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