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Motorola i1 Review – Ruggedized Android Phone

July 19, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

For those who’ve been waiting for an Android powered smartphone a little sturdier than the likes of the EVO 4G or Droid X, Motorola has released the Motorola i1 for the Sprint network.

While most of the features and specs are rather pedestrian at this point (for example, it sadly only has Android 1.5), the major selling point here is that it features Nextel Direct Connect (push to talk) and it meets Military 810F Standards for ruggedness.  That means it’s built to take some abuse so if your job requires you to be out in the field all day on construction sites or the like, this thing is built to take it.

It’s also the first Android powered smartphone to support iDEN.

The price – $149.99 with 2yr contract or $399 if you’d rather not sign a contract.

Specs:

  • Android 1.5
  • 600 MHz Processor  (Freescale ARM11)
  • 3.5 hrs talk time / 96 hrs standby  (1400mAh battery)
  • 230MB internal memory for user storage (for apps, contacts, etc)
  • 3.1″ Screen – 480 x 320 Resolution (TFT Display)
  • Ruggedized – Mil-Spec 810F for dust, shock, vibration, blowing rain
  • 2GB microSD storage (included) – support for up to 32GB
  • 5MP Camera with LED flash
  • Push To Talk (iDEN)
  • 4.63 oz (131 grams)
  • 4.65″ x 2.28″ x .5″ (118 x 58 x 12.8 mm)

Motorola i1 - Ruggedized Android Phone - iDEN

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: 810f, Android, iden, motorola i1, nextel direct connect, rugged, ruggedized, Smartphone, sprint

Samsung Galaxy Beam Review – I8520 – An Android Smartphone With Projector

July 17, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

If you thought that the title for best smartphone was between Apple, HTC, and Motorola (sorry RIM), Samsung would like you to hold off on crowning a king.

And with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Beam I8520 (currently only available in Singapore -- U.S. and U.K. release date unknown), they’ve certainly caught our attention.

In many ways it’s a pretty standard Android powered smartphone.  It currently runs Android 2.1 with a 2.2 Froyo update expected, its a slightly underpowered with a 800MHZ TI OMAP processor, and has what has become the new standard size camera (8MP and 720p video camera) and 16GB of storage space and of course has an AGPS chip

Samsung Galaxy Beam With Built in Projector.

However, Samsung didn’t stop adding features there and in fact if they could have made it fit, they probably would have included a kitchen sink.

It sports a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 800 x 480 (a very worth competitor to Apple’s retina display, some would say it’s even better), an FM tuner, Bluetooth 3.0, and an 802.11 B/G/N antenna.  Yes, 802.11 N!

However, the real kicker is that this camera is the first smartphone to feature a built in 50″ projector.  Now you can do impromptu Powerpoint presentations to your heart’s content.   As a business owner who has to do a lot of on location presentations, I can tell you I’m chomping at the bit and crossing my fingers to get one of these puppies.

Again, no U.S. carrier has been announced for this phone and we don’t know when or even if it will be available here, but it’s another worthy contender for title of best smartphone.

You can see the projector in action in this video:

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: Android, android 2.1, built in projector, droid, galaxy beam review, i8520, pico projector, samsung galaxy beam, Smartphone

Nokia Ovi Maps Review – Nokia’s Free Navigation Software For Smartphones

February 22, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

Nokia Ovi Maps Review – Nokia’s Free Navigation Software For Smartphones

Taking a play out of the Google playbook and likely looking to get some kind of foothold in the U.S. smartphone market, Nokia has stepped up and is now offering their Ovi Maps navigation software completely free.    It’s like Google Maps Navigation, but for Nokia Smartphones.

It has some nifty features, and the price is hard to beat, but it’s still not as good as paid apps for the iPhone or standalone PND devices.

WIN!

Just like all the best navigation software, your maps are stored locally. That means more accurate routing and (Google, are you listening?) if you lose your data signal, you still have navigation because everything you need is stored locally.

It also has many of the other features you’ve come to expect from PND devices.  It displays your current speed, the distance to next turn, and the upcoming street name.   Voice directions are also clear and easy to understand.

It also works anywhere in the world (Google Maps Navigation only works in the U.S. ) which means that if you live somewhere other than the United States, you now have a free navigation option.

FAIL!

Just like with Google Maps Navigation, there are some bizarre and glaring omissions (and just because the software free doesn’t give it a free pass – cell phone data plans and smartphones both cost plenty of money so it’s hardly “free”).  There is no on screen qwerty keyboard for entering in addresses.  It only offers a handwriting recognition system and a texting style numeric keyboard.    And while the built in keyboard works just fine, guess what?  When you have the unit in the windshield mount, you can’t open up the keyboard.

Just like it’s Google  brethren, it has no idea what the speed limit is anywhere and doesn’t offer lane assistance for complicated interchanges (Navigon does an amazing job with this and I’ll admit spoiled me a bit, but I’m okay with being demanding from my GPS software).

Expect it to be on every GPS enabled smartphone from here on out.   I made a list below for the phones it’s available on now.   Just head to maps.nokia.com to download it.

Available on the following Nokia handsets:

  • X6
  • N97
  • N97 mini
  • E72
  • E55
  • E52
  • 6730 classic
  • 6710 Navigator
  • 5800 XpressMusic
  • 5800 Navigation Edition
  • 5230

Conclusion

Overall, Ovi Maps is a capable navigation program.  With free map updates, no up front cost, no monthly fees, and more importantly, efficient routing; Ovi Maps can take you where you want to go.  It’s not MobileNavigator or TomTom for iPhone yet, but if you have  a Nokia phone, you definitely wan this.

Filed Under: Smartphones Tagged With: Free Gps Software, free navigation, gps enabled smartphones, nokia, ovi maps, review, Smartphone