Cameraphone Focus

Yet the gadget's celebrity chic was not the core reason, according to Grossman's story, which appears in Friday's issue. The iPhone's design and beauty contribute to its appeal, but its functionality and features are what gets people talking. The features themselves may not be groundbreaking, but the way in which Apple presents them is. Take the iPhone's touch screen. Apple neither invented nor reinvented the technology, Grossman contends, but "Apple knew what to do with it."

The wide-ranging impact of the iPhone - on the cell phone industry and how it will evolve into an ever more useful handheld computer - is only beginning, he concludes.

First came the trim, consumer-friendly BlackBerry Curve 8300. Then came the Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry 8820. Now there's the BlackBerry Curve 8320, an impressive PDA phone that combines the best of the previous two models and has an added bonus: While the 8820 supports Wi-Fi for data only, the 8320 lets you make voice calls over wireless 802.11b/g networks too.

Physically, the 8320 is the same as the original BlackBerry Curve, though it comes in two different colors, titanium gray or gold. (Unlike the original Curve, which is available from AT&T, the 8320 is available from T-Mobile for $300 with a two-year contract.) It features the same thin and light design, a small but very usable QWERTY keyboard, a 2-megapixel camera, and a gorgeous 320-by-240 display.

The biggest news is under the hood: In addition to support for GSM voice and EDGE data networks, the 8320 adds Wi-Fi with UMA--a technology that allows you to make voice calls over Wi-Fi. The phone works with T-Mobile's $20-per-month (on top of your voice and data plan) HotSpot@Home service, which permits unlimited calls over Wi-Fi networks. While the service is a bit pricey, it could potentially lower your costs by saving your cellular voice minutes.

Revealed by roving Czech site Mobil Idnes, the Samsung 'i450' is a dual slider with a difference: one way does indeed reveal the keypad, but the other unveils a large external speaker for some truly impressive annoying in public places. Actually, Samsung hasn't revealed the speaker specs to tell us just how annoying the i450 will be, but be warned. Elsewhere the i450 appears pretty straightforward. It offers quad band GSM and HSDPA (3.6Mbps) international travel friendliness, a 2MP camera with a VGAer for video calls, a large 2.3in 262k colour QVGA screen, Bluetooth 2.0 and USB2.0 and a gig of integrated memory which can be expanded via a microSD slot.

While the look is similar, the Sanyo Katana DLX is thicker and heavier than its brethren. The trade-off to this is the presence of a microSD memory card slot for memory expansion up to 4GB and a 1.3MP camera, which is a significant improvement over the VGA unit seen in the Katana II. High-speed EV-DO data is also present on the Katana DLX, meaning compatibility with Sprint's Power Vision services such as the Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV, and Sprint Navigation when it appears on the network in the coming weeks.

The Q9m is an excellent smartphone up against excellent competition—namely, the BlackBerry 8830, an even smoother messaging device. The 8830's speed and responsiveness, along with BlackBerry's new music and video players, cause me to continue to recommend it to folks looking for a no-nonsense messaging device. On the other hand, the Q9m integrates with Windows Media Player and can edit Microsoft Office documents, which the 8830 can't do, making the Q a more flexible mobile office.

Two of the N95's buttons take you to a top menu. But each button takes you to a different top menu. The menus navigate differently. The first doesn't have all the options of the other, the second has all the options but hides some of them. How am I supposed to remember which menu has which option?

This wouldn't have bugged me before using the iPhone. But the iPhone has a way of opening one's eyes. After using its beautiful, logical touch-screen interface, I get the feeling that if an Apple designer had said "Hey, let's give it two top menus! Give the user more choice," Chief Executive Steve Jobs would have demanded not just his resignation but his left pinky finger. Just as a lesson.

The Motorola RAZR2 V9 is Moto’s flagship product for the midyear. It’s got the perky improvements from the V8 including external music keys, video calling via HSDPA: the primary camera is utilized for video calls by closing the clamshell and the external display turns into the video feed.

So, how does it compare to the others I’ve used? Well, I can tell you right now that I’m not wowed by it, but I am impressed. The comfort level could have been better as well as the button placement. Volume is very good but not great. Sound quality is wonderful but not superb. Battery life seems very impressive and without a doubt pairing is the best in the industry when doing so with the iPhone.

The Vodafone Sat Nav application is powered by Telmap satnav technology . It provides detailed route planning and GPS navigation, with live traffic updates, traffic jam alerts and extensive points of interest information, such as restaurant reviews. The over-the-air updated mapping information uses Vodafone's network to refresh maps stored on the BlackBerry as you need it.

The iPhone was able to take non-AT&T SIM cards (the one demonstrated here is the Hong Kong CSL network), you can dial out and pick up calls without a problem (video here, dialing 1083 for local weather report). EDGE is also supported, so are the messaging services. However we don’t know if the SIM and voicemail services are supported properly.

Some obvious hardware changes include a modified back section, taking away the camera lens cover to make allowance for a larger battery. The media keys have also been raised slightly, while the smartphone itself comes in the color of Ford's original Model T - black.

After a few days with the E65 we grew to like its feel in the hand and general use, the slider mechanism is strong and great to use for answering and ending calls. The screen which is a QVGA 240 x 320 pixel unit is not the largest but it is bright and colourful and easily read but a little small for email which is supported by the 65. The data services are spot on and easy to configure, we soon had the Nokia E65 hooked up to our WLAN using both WEP and also the more secure WPA security settings. The inbuilt browser works well but again the small screen means while its fine for checking a train timetable you wouldn't want to read the Times on it.