In December 2011, in publishing the news of Sony taking over Sony Ericsson, I made a brief mention of the Ericsson R380 as the very first Symbian smartphone.

In this feature article, I am going down memory lane to talk about that elegant device. Being my very first smartphone, the Ericsson R380 holds a special place in my mind.

The very first time that I saw it, it was love at first sight. Gadget lust waxed strong within me and I told myself that I was getting one.

But it wasn’t just my first smartphone, it was the first smartphone ever!

Meet The Great Grandfather Smartphone

Released in 2000AD, two years after Psion became Symbian, I didn’t get my hands on one until December 2002.

The R380 was the first device to be marketed as a smartphone – PDA and phone wrapped into one, and in a nice form. As such, sentiments aside, this guy is the grand-daddy of every smartphone circulating around today. Even the first of my beloved Communicators didn’t show up until 2001 in the form of the Nokia 9210.

The R380 looked and worked like any other mobile phone of its day when closed up. But you can open the front flip to reveal the large landscape display. It weighed only 164g.

The R380′s main specs:

• WAP 1.1 browser (an improved version later shipped with WAP 1.2.1)
• Large 3.5-inch backlit monochrome STN touchscreen display (120 x 360 pixels)
• Flip cover with regular alpha-numeric keyboard for use as a regular phone
• Stylus for use with the resistive touchscreen
• POP3/IMAP Email
• Calendar & notes
• Synchronization with Microsoft® Outlook and Lotus® Notes and Organizer
• Symbian OS version 5
• Infrared port
• GSM 900/1800 dual band phone
• 2MB RAM
• 1.2 MB user-accessible storage
• Handwriting recognition
• Voice notes
• Speakerphone functionality
• Dial-up (CSD) internet connectivity
• 1 -chord (monophonic) ringtones
• Built-in Games:
• Built-in modem
• RS-232 cable for PC connectivity

Though running Symbian, the OS was “closed” at the time, as no 3rd party apps could be installed on it. But it came with pretty much what everyone used then.

Here are some screenshots:

The R380 was a delight to use back then. I subscribed to CSD (circuit Switched Data AKA dial-up internet) with MTN back then, with which I browsed and managed my emails. At that time, this was magic to almost everyone I met here in Nigeria then. Very few of us used mobile internet on mobile back then.

There were no expansion slots yet, and Bluetooth wasn’t on the table either. But infrared was king of the day for wireless connectivity.

I wish I had details of the processor (if someone can help me out with that, I’d be delighted), but the R380 performed admirably. It wasn’t a perfect smartphone. I also remember some occasional freezing up, especially when using internet connectivity (which in retrospect may have been network issues).

It is such a privilege to have been around early enough to use the very first smartphone on the planet as my first smartphone. Ladies and gentlemen, a hat tip to the stately Ericsson R380.

Behold the new BlackBerry Bold 9790, the latest addition to the Bold series of smartphones from RIM. It is an upgrade to BlackBerry Bold 9780, only more so. Today I will concentrate on the areas where the new 9790 really gets the upper hand compared to 9780.

First of all, the 9790 has a new design for its buttons alongside the trackpad. Instead of being all of them in the same surface, the buttons are raised a little. The whole phone is also a lot easier to fit inside your pocket thanks to its thinner, lighter and smaller dimensions.

The touchscreen is a real boost for the new 9790 while the 9780 only supported QWERTY. The increase in internal memory is also noticeable as it is upgraded to 8GB from 256MB. Even though the camera is still 5MP on the new one, it offers a lot more functionality such as Geotagging, Face Detection and stabilization.

The most important upgrades which really makes the Bold 9790 a better phone is the BlackBerry OS 7 support with 1GHz processor. Compared to Bold 9780 which had 624 MHz processor and operated on BlackBerry OS 6, the 9790 is a breath of fresh air. The rest of the features regarding connectivity and other business tools such as Document editing software, both phones are well equipped.

The new Bold 9790 is definitely better than it’s predecessor Bold 9780. The new phone will hit the stores in Indonesia first on November 26th and then it’ll eventually be available in the rest of the world. I think BlackBerry Bold 9790 will be a great choice for someone who is on a budget but also likes to be “Bold”.

I am looking at the all-touch Curve 9380 and thinking of why I believe it can be better than the previous touchscreen BlackBerry smartphones such as the BlackBerry Storm series.

The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is the first touchscreen Curve in the market. Over the years I’ve seen that people have a tendency to believe that BlackBerry Bold and Curve are the best products from RIM. People have not been very satisfied with the BlackBerry Storm series as the Touchscreen experience was sub-par to that from the competition.

However, of late, RIM has come up with huge improvements to the touch screen experience on their devices. That’s why I believe that the BlackBerry 9380 has advantages over past all-touch BlackBerry devices and thus promises to be a great smartphone.

Some of the key features of the 9380 are -

- 360 x 480 pixels, 3.2 inches display

- 806 MHZ processor

- NFC support

- BlackBerry OS 7

We’ve already learnt that BlackBerry has enhanced the NFC experience by introducing BlackBerry Tag. As 9380 will not be as expensive as the BlackBerry Torch or the recent BlackBerry phones, it will be a great buy for someone who wants to stay up to date with media and social networking experience.

I really hope that BlackBerry can provide better touchscreen performance in their latest phones which will be a key improvement in order to impress consumers.

We’ll find out how the BlackBerry Curve 9380 performs once it hits the stores in the up coming weeks.

•  Folders: You can now create folders just by dragging app icons on top of each other.
• Screenshot: Holding down power and volume down button takes a screen shot.
• Bottom Favourites Tray: This enables you “drop four app links or even folders” for quick launch.
• Improved Notification Bar: The New Notification Bar now comes with icon or image display. For apps, the icon of the app will be displayed while the photo of your contact will be displayed for missed call or related contact notification. Another major improvement to the Notification Bar is that you can now remove unwanted individual notifications (without dismissing others) by swipping them away.
• Keyboard: Error correction has been improved on the ICS. Not only this, it has an in-line spell checker. Google “Improved copy and paste and made it consistent across the operating system.” So, “You can now simply drag-and-drop chunks of text”.
• Instant Talk-to-text
• Face Unlock: ”ICS literally knows your face.” So, Google is asking “Why should you have to remember a password or pin, your phone really should just recognize you” It automatically reverts to passcode or pattern unlock if the Face unlock fails.
• New UI in Browser: On the ICS, you can have up to 16 tabs and switch easily between them just like multi-tasking. Sites that have mobile optimized versions will be rendered in the “mobile mode” by default. Sequel to this, the ICS drop-down menu now includes a “request desktop version” item. Bookmarks are now automatically synced with Chrome on your desktop / laptop. ICS also lets you save entire pages for offline reading. Also, the drop-down menu has an option to save a screenshot of the page.
• Data Usage Tracking: You can track your data usage on ICS without downloading any third party app. “The first thing you see is a chart tracking your usage for your current billing period and an estimation for where you’ll be at the end of the month based on your current usage.” You can also set alerts and data cutoff points. “You can select just a section of your tracking period, then drill in and see the breakdown of which apps have been using during that time, including a split between foreground and background data usage.” Hmm, I am not sure if the ICS will not gulp data just like the previous Android versions. However, from the screenshot provided during at the launch, 219MB was consumed between Oct 12 – 19 by the ICS.

There are many more new features on ICS. Here’s a list from Brief Mobile

Brand new camera application

• Image stabilization
• Continuous focus in video
• Zoom while recording
• Tap-to-focus
• Facial recognition auto-focus
• Panorama stitching and guiding
• Sharing options built-in
• Live effects transform facial features, backgrounds, and more during video recording and video chat

Gallery application

• Large thumbnail grid style
• Organization by people tagged, date, location, etc.

On-screen buttons capabilities

• Hide, rotate, and place properly on the device

Android Beam NFC Sharing

• Share pretty much any content
• Secure and intuitive
• Simply bump NFC devices and information beamed instantaneously
• Zooms out of information or application, click to beam
• Share applications: simply bump and the Market page for the application will come up
• Open API

Dialer

• High-resolution profile photos
• Swipe right for favorites
• Visual voicemail directly in call log

• Tap-to-play
• Speed up voicemail playback
• Pause, volume, and details
• Decline calls with a quick “Quick Response” canned text message

People application

• Evolution of “Contacts” application
• Profile for phone’s user
• Magazine-style people cards
• Contact details built-in through Twitter, G+, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more
• Favorites tab
• Social networking updates built-in with open API’s
• Quick contacts open to developers, popup centered and translucent
• Place people on your home screen in shortcuts and folders

The Nokia 500 features a 3.2 inch capacitive TFT touchscreen at 640x 360 pixels resolution, a 5 megapixel full-focus camera, 2GB mass memory, Nokia Maps, among others, and lets you change the back covers.

I took the following shots with the Nokia E7 (which I found to be not so good at taking close-up shots). This is one of the things I do not like about my Nokia E7. The E7 does every other thing well except close-up shots. I love taking good pictures.

Do enjoy the unboxing photographs. I will return with the full review when ready.

For years now, the smartphone was the champion of convergence. But that concept does not look like it will see mass adoption anymore unless and until certain factors on ground change.

Let’s face it, power users are pushing their smartphones too hard these days. Take my situation – my Nokia N8 has an always-on 3G connection, busy synchronising my mail, contacts and calendar via Microsoft Exchange.

My Twitter account also stays connected all the time. There’s yahoo Messenger when I need it, and the ocassional web browsing. I also enjoy music on my device. Lastly, there’s voice calls and SMS.

Put all these together on a touchscreen slab, and with current battery technology on mobiles, you know it is insanity for me to expect the N8 to last through a full day.

This is why I am becoming increasingly convinced that we are soon going to witness the end of convergence. With a tablet, I would be able to move certain tasks off my smartphone, thus improving its battery life by stretches.

This was my experience while I had the Apple iPad. Music, appointments, email, social networking and web browsing were moved completely to the iPad, and my phone had less to do.

On the phone front, I had a very capable phone, SMS, and a superb camera. This resulted in longer-lasting batteries on the phone. And less worries.

This is my perfect combination. I am likely to adopt this combination. This means that when picking a primary smartphone, I will always be on the lookout for the following features:

1. Excellent call quality
2. Good SMS functionality
3. Top-notch camera

As for my choice of a tablet, I do not know for sure yet. I want a tablet with 3G radio built-in. I would also need hotspot functionality, so i can share its internet access with my netbook when I do need to use that.

The iPad 2 springs to mind immediately, especially also considering its superb battery performance. However, I do not like the lack of a phone and SMS interface on the iPad range (for loading airtime and subscribing to data plans) – and please don’t mention jailbreaking to me. Not interested.

But even some of the Android alternatives lack these features too. Its a jungle out there, and choosing a tablet is becoming a daunting task.

Still, I am only in the conceptual stage of this plan. I will cross that bridge when I get there. Or perhaps some new, great development in mobile phone batteries will arrive and make this article obsolete.

In the meantime, let’s hear from you: if you were to adopt a phone-and-tablet strategy, what would inform your choices? Comments please.

I love touchscreen devices. But that is an understatement. In reality, it probably even borders on an obsession. I have 3 touchscreen devices.

But one problem I have with all my touchscreen devices is that when you combine a touchscreen device with someone as ‘clumsy’ as I am, you get a cracked screen over and over again.

In the real world, I have cracked my iphone screen 4 times. I’ve dropped my iphone dangerously many times though. That eventually got me thinking… What’s the best way to protect your touch’SCREEN’?

1.  Own a NOKIA touchscreen device.
I’m an Apple fanboy, and it probably hurts to admit this, but all NOKIA phones have something in common and that is – RESILIENCE.

Drop it, and all you do is reassemble it.

Hit it, and all you get are scratches.

Blow up the battery, and you’ll buy another just around the corner (not true for some of the non-removable battery Symbian3 devices).

I give those guys at Nokia 5/5 on that.

2.  Get a case for your device.
The problem here is whether you want to sacrifice safety for coolness. Also on a lighter note, there are some cases that probably put your touchscreen device in more danger.

One case I’ve seen for iPhones that does a good job of protecting your screen is the OTTERBOX defender, although it turns your iPhone more or less into one of those ‘old-age walkie talkies’. It’s ‘ginormous’.

3. Get a screen protector.
This nifty little transparent “sheet” really does protect your screen from scratches and some cracks. It comes in three varieties:

• Mirror
  Most of my friends that use these are either girls or guys who are overly conscious of how they look most of the time.Your screen appears like a mirror and it can be very frustrating trying to read while you’re in the sunlight.
• Privacy
  This dims up your screen thereby allowing vision only when you look directly into the screen. The screen appears blurry when you view at an angle.
• Plain
  This just does it for me. It gives u the benefit of using a screen protector without altering how your screen appears.

4. Be more careful
Perhaps this should have been number one. What’s the point of buying a $500 phone when you’re going to drop it at the slightest chance?

I understand the need to carry the phone everywhere you go but I feel safety should be the watch word. Of all the methods I’ve tried, this last one has so far been my most reliable method.

I’m always open to new ideas. I still have some moments that remind me of how delicate my touchscreen device is. So tell me, how do you protect your touchscreen?

It is a smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard. She loves and enjoys the keyboard. She told me that she was getting bored already and would love to get a new smartphone. She was looking at Android. And Samsung. I thought it was a good move.

Then she dropped the spoiler: she didn’t want a touchscreen smartphone. She finds touchscreen devices difficult to use, she said. They require too much attention and concentration to use, she said. Simply put, she wants a non-touchscreen smartphone.

An Extinct Specie
It may not have dawned on you yet, but I do not know of any smartphone that was released this year 2011 that does not sport a touchscreen. Not one.

The last non-touchscreen device on any smartphone platform was launched last year, 2010.

You read that right. My facts may be a bit off, but if I am right, that would be the Blackberry 9780 in November 2010.

The E6 launched with a QWERTY keyboard this year has a touchscreen display. I mentioned that to her. She declined. If it had touchscreen, she didn’t want to hear of it, so I didn’t bother with any of the new BlackBerry or Android QWERTY devices.

The New Age
But the reality is, she will have to adjust if she wants to use a smartphone. I had to adjust, though my preference lies with non-touch QWERTY too. Many others have had to adjust.

Let’s call it the evolution of the smartphone and the adaptation of humanity. Adapt or go extinct.

My first pure touchscreen device was the Samsung S8003 Jet back in January 2010. It was a non-smartphone marketed as “smarter than a smartphone”. The touchscreen experience wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Today, I use another pure touchscreen device as my primary smartphone, the Nokia N8. It is not terrible, but I miss my QWERTY keyboard.

One thing is for sure, whether it is with or without a hardware QWERTY keyboard, we are in the age of the touchscreen.

According to an all-new report by The New York Times, production of the iPhone 4S and a completely redesigned iPhone 5 with 8MP camera is ramping up, all in preparation of an October 7th release date.

We’re just weeks away from the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 5, according to an Apple employee who asked not to be named because he was not allowed to speak publicly for the company.

An engineer familiar with the new iPhone said it would be fairly different from the iPhone 4 — including on the inside.

The new iPhone will come with an 8 megapixel camera, an upgrade from the 5 megapixel camera in the iPhone 4. Do not be deceived though, as Apple’s condensation algorithm for ‘ipictures’ easily makes the pictures taken on the iPhone 5 even better than on a 20 megapixel camera. (I have uploaded a picture of a sushi plate taken with the new iPhone 5 just as a teaser).

Another report from a reliable source claims that there are going to be two different iPhones launched next month. There will be an “iPhone 4 look-alike” but a much cheaper model. This low-end iPhone is in full production and Apple is reportedly going to launch it on October 7th with over 10 million units in hand. It will be aggressively priced and “be everywhere”.

The iPhone 5, according to sources, is a sight to behold. It is impossibly light, yet much firmer than Samsung Galaxy phones which are backed in plastic. The camera rivals point and shoot cameras and will be a major marketing point for this device.

So there you have it. I personally can’t wait to get my hands on the iPhone 5. Are you going to purchase the iPhone 5?

1. It will be a 7” tablet with ‘two-finger’ multi-touch capacitive screen (not 10 finger like the iPad).
2. The Amazon kindle will have no camera.
3. It will not show case Google’s Android Market; neither will any Google app come with it. Amazon’s Android Market replaced the regular Google Android Market.
4. There will be no physical button on the surface of the device.
5. The device is primarily centered on Amazon’s services (I think).  Amazon’s content store is pre-installed and “just one click away”. The music player will be Amazon’s Cloud Player and the Movie player will be Amazon’s Instant Video player.
6. One major feature which I think might attract users (especially Amazon’s customers) to this device is that it comes with a free subscription to Amazon Prime.
7. 6GB Internal Memory.
8. It will look much like the playbook.

Amazon Prime is a membership program that gives you and your family unlimited fast shipping, such as FREE Two-Day shipping and One-day shipping for $3.99 per item on all eligible purchases for an annual membership fee of $79. Amazon Prime members can enjoy instant videos: unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows through Amazon Instant Video at no additional cost.

The question I have for Amazon about the free “prime subscription” is that what if a buyer is already has a Prime subscription? Will they refund the money or what?

According to reliable sources, the Amazon Kindle will cost $250.

MG Siegler describes what he saw:

The interface is all Amazon and Kindle. It’s black, dark blue, and a bunch of orange. The main screen is a carousel that looks like Cover Flow in iTunes which displays all the content you have on the device. This includes books, apps, movies, etc. Below the main carousel is a dock to pin your favorite items in one easy-to-access place. When you turn the device horizontally, the dock disappears below the fold.

Above the dock is the status bar (time, battery, etc) and this doubles as a notification tray. When apps have updates, or when new subscriptions are ready for you to view, they appear here. The top bar shows “YOUR NAME’s Kindle” and then the number of notifications you have in bright orange. It looks quite nice.

However, from what I have read and heard so far, Amazon does not intend to compete with Apple with the introduction of this particular Kindle (may be the 10″ version might). The Amazon Kindle will compete strongly against Barnes and Nobles’ Nook Color.

No pictures of this device has leaked out yet. It is expected to hit the market by November.

So, what do you all think about this device? Is it worth your wish-list?