November will bring us a lot of new handset launches: T-Mobile G1, Blackberry Storm, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 to name a few.
Now we have another new affordable touchscreen phone, LG KP 500 launching on Carphone Warehouse. This mid range touchscreen device which I have blogged about here, will be available on £25 per month contracts and on prepay for around £159.95.
Mobile market in UK before Christmas becomes very crowded. If you are looking for a new handset this season, it is worth going to shops this weekend and try all of those new handsets yourself!
March of new touch screen phones continues with latest addition from RIM – first Blackberry smartphone driven by touch screen: Storm. A lot information about this handset has been leaked on internet, but now Vodafone UK has it on it’s website as coming soon.
You can also enter a competition to win this handset, simply enter your details here, and you will be entered into prize draw. Vodafone will give 20 of this handsets away, so waste no time and register your name!
Storm has impressive list of features and capabilities:
* 7.2 mbps HSDPA/UMTS (2100/1900/850 MHz)
* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
* 1GB of memory, 192MB RAM
* 1400 mAhr battery. Standby time: 528 hours
* MicroUSB port
* MicroSD and MicroSDHC expandable up to 8GB
* 3.2 megapixel camera with flash
* Video capture. Normal mode (480×320) and MMS mode (176×144)
* Assisted GPS
Device lacks Wi-Fi, which is a little dissappointment, but should be compensated if you get it with unlimited data tariff and have strong signal where you live.
Nokia announced first touchscreen phone, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. See video demonstration below, this phone is promised to be available for sale before Christmas 2008.
Here are Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Specifications:
Size
* Form: Classic with full touch user interface
* Dimensions: 111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm
* Weight: 109 g
* Volume: 83 cc
* Touch user interface optimised for one-hand use with tactile feedback
Display and 3D
* Main display
- Size: 3.2″
- Resolution: 640 x 360 pixels (nHD)
- Up to 16 million colours
- aspect ratio 16:9
- automatic orientation sensor (Accelerometer) for display rotation
* 3D image engine
Keys and input method
* Stylus, plectrum and finger touch support for text input and user interface control (alphanumeric keypad, full and mini qwerty keyboard, handwriting recognition, full screen handwriting for Chinese language)
* Dedicated Media Bar touch key for access to music, gallery, share on-line, Video Centre and web browser
* Voice commands
* Physical keys for application launch key (menu key), send & end, power, camera, lock, volume up & down
Connectors
* Micro-USB connector, USB 2.0 High Speed
* 3.5 mm Nokia AV connector
* MicroSD card slot, small DC jack, Micro USB cable interface to PC (CA-101), TV out interface (CA-75U)
Power
* BL-5J 1320 mAh Li-Ion battery
* Talk time (maximum):
- GSM 8.8 h
- WCDMA 5 h
* Standby time (maximum):
- GSM 406.2 h
- WCDMA 400 h
* Browsing time with packet data (maximum): 3.4 h
* Video playback time (maximum): 5.2 h, Video playback time (maximum, nHD/Mpeg4) 3.4 h, VGA video playback using TV-Out with Stereo BT Headset 3.8 h
* Video recording time (maximum): 3.6 h
* Video call time (maximum): 3 h
* Music playback time (maximum): Up to 35 h
* Gaming time (maximum): 5.6 h
Memory
* MicroSD memory card slot, hot swappable, max. 16 GB
* 81 MB internal memory
* 8GB microSD memory card in-box, expandable up to 16GB
Communication and navigation Operating frequency
* WCDMA 900/2100
* GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
* WCDMA 850/1900 (Latin America and Brazil variant only)
* Automatic switching between GSM bands
* Flight mode
Data network
* CSD
* HSCSD
* GPRS/EDGE class B, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296/177 kbps (DL/UL)
* WCDMA 2100/900 with simultanous voice and packet data, maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (UL/DL), CS maximum speed 64 kbps
* HSDPA cat 6, maximum speed 3.6 Mbps (DL)
* WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g (3G version only)
* TCP/IP support
Local connectivity and synchronisation
* Bluetooth version 2.0
- Bluetooth profiles: A2DP & AVRCP
* MTP (Mobile Transfer Protocol) support
* TV out with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U, in-box)
* Support for PC synchronisation with Nokia OVI Suite
GPS and navigation
* Integrated GPS for pedestrian and car navigation
* Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch application Photography
* 3.2 megapixel camera (2048 x 1536 pixels)
* Image formats: JPEG
* Carl Zeiss optics
* 3x digital zoom
* Autofocus
* Dual LED flash
* Flash modes: On, off, automatic, red-eye reduction
* White balance modes: automatic, sunny, cloudy, incandescent, fluorescent
* Centre weighted auto exposure; exposure compensation: +2 ~ -2EV at 0.5 step
* Normal, Sepia, Black & White, Vivid, Negative
* Dedicated camera key
* Landscape (horizontal) orientation
* Photo editor on device
* Direct printing to compatible picture printers
Video
* Main camera
Video recording at up to 640 x 480 pixels and up to 30 fps (TV high quality), up to 640 x 352 pixels and up to 30 fps (widescreen quality), up to 320 x 240 pixels and up to 30 fps/15 fps (email high/normal quality), up to 176 x 144 and up to 15 fps (sharing quality)
- Up to 4x digital video zoom
* Front camera for video calling
* Video recording file formats: .mp4, .3gp
* Audio recording formats: WAV (normal), AMR (MMS), AAC/MP4 (high quality)
* Video white balance modes: automatic, sunny, cloudy, incandescent, fluorescent
* Scene modes: automatic, night
* Colour tone modes: normal, sepia, black & white, vivid, negative
* Clip length (maximum): 1 h 30 min (high or normal quality). Dependable on available memory.
* RealPlayer
* Video playback file formats: MPEG4-SP playback 30fps VGA, MPEG4-AVC playback 30fps QVGA, WMV9 playback 30fps QVGA, MPEG4-SP playback 30 fps nHD
* Video streaming: 3GPP and CIF
* Landscape mode video playback
* Video editor on device
* Video Centre service supported: download and stream video content, WMV support, video feeds Music and audio playback
* Nokia Nseries digital music player
- Playlists
- 8-band graphical equaliser
- selection by artist, composers, album and genre
album graphics display and audio visualisations
bass booster, stereo widening, loudness
* Music playback file formats: .mp3, SpMidi, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA
* Dedicated volume keys & immediate access to Music Player from Media Bar, dedicated music keys in the headset control unit AD-54
* Stereo FM radio
* 3.5 mm Nokia AV connector
* Music Player
* Nokia Music Manager
* Nokia Music Store support
* Nokia Podcasting support
* Ring tones: 3D stereo ring tones, 64-tone polyphonic, mp3 & video ring tones (3 videos and 9 mp3 songs built-in)
* Integrated stereo speakers with surround sound (crystal clear hi-fi sound quality with dedicated audio chip)
Software platform and user interface
* S60 5th edition
* Symbian OS version 9.4
* Active standby
* Media Bar
* Contacts bar
Sales package contents
* 5800 XpressMusic with pen stylus
* Battery (BL-5J)
* High Efficiency Charger (AC-8)
* Music Headset (HS-45, AD-54)
* Video-out Cable (CA-75U)
* Connectivity Cable (CA-101)
* 8 GB microSDHC card (MU-43)
* Carrying Case (CP-305)
* Stand (DT-29)
* Stylus plectrum in wrist strap (CP-306)
* Extra pen stylus
* User guide and Quick guide
* Mini DVD
I would say this is a decent competitor to existing touch screen phones. Things I liked in the list of specs is built in GPS with Nokia Maps, WiFi and large 3.2″ screen with 3D image engine. I wonder how much is this device going to be…
LG is trying to bring touch screen phones to the masses. This new full touch screen handset is promised to be “attractively” priced, packing latest touch screen technology that is found in current high-end touch screen phones and 3″ screen.
LG planning to reach out to people who wanted a touch screen handset but could not afford it. So far full touch screen handsets are not affordable by everyone and generally are very costly. If you want one of those, you will need to sign up for expensive price plan or come up with decent amount of cash. But that’s all about to change, LG will bring KP500 to european markets end of October 2008, just in time for Christmas sales.
LG is not a newcomer in touch screen market, it’s Viewty handset was extremely successful and sold over a million pieces worldwide. LG KP500 will be available in 4 colors: black, Vandyke brown, Anodizing silver, and Elegant gold.
From LG’s press release:
“As a slim and stylish handset, the LG KP500 is a GSM phone which can operate in four frequency bands, giving it a far-reaching reception range, and upon its global release, the LG KP500 can be used in 39 languages. But no matter what language one speaks, the vivid and intuitive user interface of the LG KP500 is simple for anyone to understand with vivid icons on the wide 3 inch screen.
Keeping in touch with friends has never been easier as the LG KP500 has the latest UI that allows the user to attach a friend’s photo for the speed dial feature and then page through the portraits and touch the friend to be called. “We optimized the user interface to keep the tactile operations smooth and simple which is necessary when you’re opening up a new technology to a wide group of people,” said Skott Ahn. With such ease of use, LG expects to broaden the base of touch screen handset consumers around the world.
The LG KP500 has an embedded stylus pen concealed in the base that can be easily removed for the advanced handwriting recognition program that allows the user to write memos and text messages, and also edit photo images by touching the screen with the pen tip. The QWERTY onscreen keyboard slides into view when the LG-KP500 is held horizontally, and the auto rotating display always shifts images or documents for proper viewing no matter which way the handset is turned.
Also packed into the LG KP500 are motion sensor games that are played by turning, flipping, and shifting the handset for a more active and fun gaming experience.”
You can now order this handset on T-Mobile’s website and it will be delivered on 1st October!
To get it free you will need to sign up for 18 months contract, at least on £40.50 per month (Flext 50). Since this is a multimedia handset, you would want to get a tariff which has unlimited Web’n'Walk included, which is Flext Web’n'Walk 50, which will cost you £45 per month.
If you go for lower tariffs, you can pay as much as £250 for this handset on 18 months contract or £309.99 on 12 months contract.
