Archive October-December 2006
An Elegant Solution to an Old Problem of Saving Contact Information on a Phone
28 December 2006
Finally, there's a simple solution for a problem that has troubled phone owners for the last 10 years. You save valuable contact information on your phone, but it is very difficult to move it to another phone. A new service, Zyb, lets you back up the information from your phone, edit it on a web page, and sync it with any phone you want. You can use Zyb for backups, for keeping exactly the same information on two phones, and for sharing your calendar or contacts with friends and family >
Nokia N93: Review
20 December 2006
The Nokia N93 is a camera phone with so many connectivity options that it makes a modern home PC feel like yesterday's technology. The connectivity capabilities include 3G (WCDMA), GSM, Wi-Fi, UPnP, Bluetooth, and TV connectivity. You can snap 3-megapixel photos and capture video through Carl Zeiss optics that can auto-focus on an object or bring it closer with a 3x optical zoom. Despite the features, think twice before investing in the Nokia N93 if all you need is a good phone. Instead, if you need an advanced media player that's also a phone, pay attention to this product >
The Suunto X9i GPS Watch Positions Tracks on Google Earth
18 December 2006
You might recognize Suunto from outdoors watches and diving electronics. Google, on the other hand, provides many popular services on the Internet, such as Google Earth that allows you to view the world from the space. Now, if you have a Suunto X9i and install Suunto Trek Exporter software on the same PC where you are running Google Earth, you can transfer information from your Suunto to Google Earth to view your adventures from a new angle.
Share Videos and Play Music through Your Home Network from Your Phone
13 December 2006
We are amazed. We have a camera phone that can communicate with a TV, DVD player, stereo set, and home PC. This particular smartphone can share pictures, videos, and music with our home entertainment devices and control what they are playing. Because it is a phone, the communication is wireless. The magic technology is called UPnP. Despite its cryptic name, this technology lets you create a wireless home entertainment system for sharing music and videos across devices >
New How-to Book about Camera Phones, Music Phones and Smartphones Now Available
11 December 2006
Did you know that you don’t have to pay for ringtones? It's easy to download or create your own tunes on a phone or on a PC. Uploading videos directly to YouTube or other video sharing sites from a camera phone doesn't have to be difficult either. How about copying the latest MP3 hits from your computer to your phone? Or using a memory card to save photos from your camera phone to your PC? Not to mention watching your home TV anywhere you can connect to a network. All these and many other projects ranging from easy to advanced are covered in the book CNET Do-It-Yourself Camera and Music Phone Projects.
Zune MP3 and Video Player from Microsoft
6 December 2006
Zune is not just another portable media player. First, it is a new product designed and marketed by Microsoft, and second, it comes with wireless connectivity. Zune lets you play MP3 and WMA music, watch videos and view photos on its large color screen, and store your portable entertainment on the unit's 30GB hard disk. Its price is competitive. It is available in a unique color (brown), but is it a better MP3 player than the other well-known products >
Windows Live Search Provides Maps and Directions for Smartphones
4 December 2006
These days, it's good to be a smartphone owner. New, exciting and useful services are being introduced one after another. Now, Microsoft has made available a handheld edition of Windows Live Search. The downloadable application is intended to be used for finding places, not as a generic Internet search engine. Its extensive range of features work well in the US, while travelers in other countries can still enjoy its useful maps. >
Nokia N73: Review
28 November 2006
At first glance, the Nokia N73 may look like any other camera phone. On closer inspection, however, its large screen requires attention. It can display photos and maps in such colors and detail that this feature alone made us curious about the whole product. We discovered some exciting things, such as the best search features we have seen on any mobile device, a handy multimedia key, a photo upload to Flickr, and a camera that can capture beautiful 3 megapixel pictures >
Free Internet Telephone Services for Mobile Phones Compared - Part 2
21 November 2006
The irresistible lure of getting something for free convinced us to try out several new Internet telephony services that allow free or low cost phone calls on a mobile phone. We are ready to go a long way to get something for free; but this time, it wasn't always worth it. Find out which services worked, which didn't, and which ones were easy to use >
HTC S620 / T-Mobile Dash smartphone: Review
14 November 2006
The HTC S620, or T-Mobile Dash, is a Windows Mobile smartphone for people who want to access the Internet, email, and multimedia while on the go. Reading and writing email, browsing the Internet, and viewing photos or videos are straightforward tasks. A full qwerty keypad (or thumb pad) and large screen justify the unit's size and form. The device is wider than an average phone, but we are more than willing to pay that price in order to have a multimedia computer like this in our pocket >
Smartphones That Let You Make Phone Calls over Wi-Fi Connection or Mobile Network: Introduction to UMA
7 November 2006
Maybe you are already using wireless communication on your notebook computer to access the Internet via a Wi-Fi access point at home or at the office. Maybe you have also spotted new smartphones that come with Wi-Fi for accessing the Internet. But, wait a minute. It's a smartphone. Why not make phone calls over the Internet using the Wi-Fi connection? The UMA technology lets you do just that: phone calls over Wi-Fi and mobile networks.
The Palm Treo 680 Comes in Beautiful Colors, but Which Treo Is the Best Smartphone?
31 October 2006
Do you still remember the greatest innovation in mobile phone design a few years ago? What a joy it was when the external antenna disappeared from many phones. Life also became more colorful because phones came in colors other than black. Now, Palm has introduced the Treo 680 smartphone that comes in four colorful units, all without the annoying antenna. What else is new in the Treo 680? Let's find out.
Avec Mobile update news
26 October 2006
As you have probably noticed, Avec Mobile web pages have a new look. We have also simplified navigation between sections so that you can jump, for example, directly from news to GPS product reviews. Read more >
Free Internet Telephone Services for Mobile Phones Compared - Part 1
23 October 2006
It is possible to find good deals on low-cost or free phone calls, but it requires some effort. The old and trusty landline desk phone, the new and fancy mobile phone, and the computer let you make phone calls over a telephone network or over the Internet. But there are other options. You can find even better deals on services that are built on a mix of these technologies. We took a close look at how the new phone services work and how much they really cost to use >
An Interchangeable Battery You Can Charge from an USB Port
17 October 2006
How many devices do you have that use batteries? If you are like me, you have a mobile phone, a digital camera, an MP3 player, speakers, a wireless mouse, a TV remote, flashlight, and probably a few more battery-powered devices. That’s a lot of batteries and a lot of adaptors to keep track of, let alone lug around. Wouldn’t it be great if you could recharge your batteries from something that is always around and convenient, like say… a USB port >
Samsung YP-K5 MP3 Player with Built-in Loudspeakers
11 October 2006
Though black and sleek with a futuristic glowing blue interface, appearance isn’t the Samsung YP-K5’s secret weapon – loudspeakers are. The obvious thing most MP3 players are missing is the ability to listen to music without headphones. On a sliding hinge, the K5 hides two speakers that give surprisingly loud and clear sound that can fill up a small-sized room. Imagine you want to share a song with friends or simply have some background music in a room; with the K5 you have that optio >
Pet Sounds in Free Ringtones
3 October 2006
If an imitation of a speeding motorcycle can become a hugely popular ringtone, why not something even more annoying? Nestle Purina has realized the promotional value of ringtones and has made ringtones of cats and dogs available for free. Whether barking or meowing is lovely or annoying depends on your relationship to these pets. We decided to join the choir and give away our version of the ringtone pet sounds >
