HANDSETS

Future gazing...

Palm Pre

Palm unveiled its new Palm webOS mobile platform at CES in early January, and along with it, the first phone made available on the platform, the Palm Pre.

Palm webOS is a brand spanking new kind of platform, invented exclusively for mobile use. Palm Pre and webOS are designed to be so in sync with the user’s needs that it feels like Pre is psychic. Spooky.

At its core, webOS uses several industry standard technologies, including web technologies such as CSS, XHTML and JavaScript. On top of that, Palm has included creative and innovative advancements to enhance the overall user experience and provide a deep integration of all elements within the platform.

Pre features a smooth, rounded ergonomic design and a physical keyboard that slides out only when needed. It is engineered to feel natural in the hand and small in the pocket, unlike some smartphone lumps of plastic and metal. With its curved slider and gesturecontrolled touch interface, Pre looks like a pretty useful handset.

Palm Pre will be available in the US from Sprint in the first half of 2009, and will be followed by a UMTS version for other regions at a later date.

Sony Ericsson W715

Slim, shiny, silver and pretty darn sophisticated, is the Sony Ericsson W715. Building on an array of launches in 2008, Sony Ericsson has announced that Vodafone users in the UK will at some point this year be playing with this sleek slider, a new GPS-enabled product in the Sony Ericsson mobile music range.

The main feature of this handset is its quick access to navigation services through a dedicated key. Aside from turn by turn pedestrian or driving navigation available using Vodafone Find&Go, customers will be able to find their nearest restaurants, hotels or shopping centres all within a few clicks on their new mobile phone.

The W715 Walkman phone features the same superior sound quality as the W980 Walkman phone. On the top of premium music experience with crystal clear sound, the W715 includes popular Walkman features such as the music recognition application TrackID, SensMe for matching your mood to the music, and Shake Control to change tracks with the flick of a wrist.

Country availability will be announced in due course. We are waiting…

Sony Ericsson W508

This is the chameleon of mobile phones. The customisable W508 Walkman phone is set to be a hit with people who like to express their style and individuality through their mobile phone, and there is no greater market of wannabe individuals than those under 21. For that group (although they would never allow themselves to be referred to as something as tedious and collective as a group), this phone is heaven.

The W508 comes with one changeable cover, but owners can collect all eight Style- Up covers to give their handset a daily facelift.

The handsets also has SensMe, for matching your mood to the music and Shake and Gesture control that allows those happy users to raise the volume or set the shuffle function by giving the phone a quick shake. Is that alarm getting to you? Switch it to snooze or mute the volume with a sweep of your palm without having to fumble for the off button.

Sony Ericsson C510 Cyber-shot

Sony Ericsson has unveiled the ‘affordable’ C510 Cyber-shot and introduced Smile Shutter technology to the mobile world, which clicks a pic as soon as it detects a big grin.

The C510 Cyber-shot will allow more consumers to enjoy the Cyber-shot experience, says Sony Ericsson, without compromising on quality. The device is packed with the highest quality imaging technology and encased in a stylish handset design.

It includes a 3.2 megapixel camera, face detection which is focusing technology of up to three faces at a time, and Snapfish by HP, a pre-installed application that allows users to send print orders from the phone to Snapfish and have quality photo prints delivered to their homes.

Smile Shutter technology will also be added to the 8.1 megapixel camera phone C905 Cyber-shot, launched in November 2008. Consumers that already own a C905 Cyber-shot can download the new application from mid-February.

Nokia 5800

The Tube is here! Nokia’s 5800 Xpress Music went on sale on 23 January amid a flurry of excitement. It’s big enough to have a useful sized screen without being brick-like and unfashionable, and is fun and simple to use.

The Nokia 5800 offers choice, with fingertip touch, stylus touch or exclusive plectrum touch. Texting is through alphanumeric keypad, full QWERTY keyboard or in-built hand writing recognition for really instant messaging. Whatever input method used, there is tactile feedback, or a buzztouch each time contact is made with the huge 3.2 inch screen.

With the Nokia 5800, favourite music, images and videos are just one tap away using the corner media bar, which also includes maps and Ovi share. It also has surround sound built-in speakers with up to 35 hours of music play back. Perfect for those picnics in the park that we are already dreaming of…