If we know you (and we think we do), your idea of class isn't a modest candybar dipped in gold -- no, it's a modest candybar made from hand-cut and polished solid gold. But just in case you feel like slummin' it, the Nokia 6700 Classic Gold Edition is, as the name suggests, a 6700 Classic handset with a limited edition 18-carat finish, some special wallpaper (to compliment the phone's Fort Knox-esque new look), and a €370 (roughly $550) price tag. Tempted? You have until Q1 2010 to come to your senses.
After so much speculation and rumor, it's hard to believe that Dell's first modern cellphone is ready to launch. And while we've already seen the official press release announcing the Mini 3 for Brazil and China, today we get a followup release with a bit more detail. As expected, the Chinese Mini 3i variant is quadband GSM/EDGE only (no 3G) and packs a 3.5-inch nHD, 640x360 touchscreen display just like that found on Nokia's N97. The 58.35 x 122 x 11.7-mm OPhone will ship in "Red Passion" and "Oiled Bronze" colors packing Bluetooth, a 3 megapixel auto-focus camera with flash and video capture mode, microSD slot, and GPS with pre-loaded maps. And in case you're wondering why China first, that's easy: Dell's going after China Mobile's 500 million subscriber base when its first handset hits authorized stores later this week.
The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 was, and still is, a lovely little phone, QUERTYfied, pocketable, and rocking that little milky trackball that gave it its name. There's finally a true successor coming down the pipeline (the flippy 8230 not really counting) though it ditches the iconic pearl for a now-standard (and hopefully more reliable) touchpad. QWERTY is also out, replaced by a swoopy SureType keyboard, but the overall dimensions look very much the same, meaning this should fill the tiny BlackBerry void once again -- whenever it ships.
Nokia's 5230 isn't apt to blow any minds with the likes of the HD2, Droid and XPERIA X3 on the horizon, but for those perfectly content with a touchscreen-based Symbian S60 5th Edition handset, this one sure looks purty. After dipping its toes in the FCC's expansive database just last month, a crop of new in the wild shots have surfaced to show off its 3.2-inch display (640 x 360), 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR module and variety of colorful backs. Hit the read link for more pixels if you're so inclined, and feel free to take the "January 2010" release date in with a dose of NaCl.
Calling LG's New Chocolate BL20 half of the BL40 would probably be classified as logorrhea, but there's no doubt that this slider is handsome. So handsome, in fact, that LG has seen fit to showcase it over in the company's new building in Amstelveen, Holland. GSMArena was able to snap a few pics of the installation while also gathering that it'll boast a non-touch edition of the S-Class UI.Hit the read link for a few more looks -- it ought to make waiting for LG to actually announce this thing a lot easier.
There's nothing typical about Sony Ericsson's Pureness handset so why should details about its launch differ? Brand Republic, a magazine focused on advertising, quotes Sony Ericsson's director of marketing, Cathy Davies, saying that the low-spec'd (said to lack GPS, camera, WiFi, and gasp, a touchscreen) candybar with translucent display will go on sale in November for £530 at Selfridges and "design museum shops." And if it wasn't already clear (get it?), SE says that it's positioning the device as "an iconic niche product, not mass-market." In other words, Harrods shoppers need not apply.
Since seeing the promo videos for the LG BL40 candybar, I've had a hankering to play around with it. The software is impressive, the 21:9 touchscreen display lickable, and it'll be out over the next few months.
According to an LG press release, the lucky folks in Europe will see the BL40 mid-September while other markets will be covered in the month after.
This means that I'll definitely be looking forward to October for reasons other than Halloween this year, but until then I'll be content drooling over the BL40's tasty official shots. [LGE via Boy Genius Report]
All I can think about when watching this hands-on video with LG's super-long BL40 Chocolate touchscreen phone is that we've been using the phrase "candybar phone" way too loosely for the last few years.
Here's the thing: It's been clear since the earliest teases that the BL40 is a streeeeeetched phone, to the point that LG had to design a few special interface elements to take advantage of—or to work around—the screen's odd proportions. But in promo videos, the BL40 just looked a little, I don't know, bigger. Here, cradled in a young Englishman's hands, this 21:9 chunk of hardware looks more like a compact remote than a cellphone.
That said, the software still looks impressive and runs very smoothly, aside from a little choppiness during multitouch zooming. It's hard to judge such an unexpectedly different device without laying hands on one—it may look a mite silly, but usability is still a total wildcard. [Mobiles.co.uk—Thanks, Daniel!]
If you absolutely, positively must be able to see the back of your hand while dialing, you might think that LG's lovely GD900 is the only game in town -- but you'd be very, very wrong. In fact, for the price of a single GD900, you could have a whole army of these $70 N68s delivered to your door, each bearing a pirate's booty of knicked branding and design. From the Nokia Nseries-esque model name, to the nav button layout vaguely reminiscent of the N95, to the thick slab of Lexan masquerading as a keypad, this one's a keeper -- and if that's all not enough to convince you, the "8.0 pixels" camera around back just might seal the deal. Still not sold? See some sample output after the break.
Nokia's not exactly known for its beefy, ultra-survivable gear, but unless the human race plans on getting a whole lot less clumsy, rugged phones will always be a good idea -- and Espoo's 3720 certainly seems to fill the bill. The Series 40-based candybar features a 2 megapixel cam with LED flash, triband EDGE (sorry, North Americans), FM radio, microSD expansion, and the latest and greatest Bluetooth 2.1, but the real news here is that the phone is built to meet IP54 standards. A quick check with our handy-dandy IP code reference tells us that means that "ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact" -- in other words, your phone might get nasty dirty, but it'll keep chugging -- and it can withstand "splashing" water. Scuba divers, the search for your perfect phone probably continues. Refreshingly, the 3720 will run just €125 (about $175) unlocked when it ships later this summer.
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Since seeing the promo videos for the LG BL40 candybar, I've had a hankering to play around with it. The software is impressive, the 21:9 touchscreen display lickable, and it'll be out over the next few months.
