Nokia N97 cloned despite not actually existing!

You have to hand it to the Chinese mobile phone industry. Not content with cloning every phone that's ever made, they've now gone one better and cloned this - the Nokia N97, a phone that only exists in the rough drawings of a few patents Nokia made a while ago!

Despite being given the name N97,Nokia have never said they're planning on releasing this phone. Indeed, rumours about an N97 model have been around for nearly two years, but although Nokia came close with the recently announced N96, no N97 has ever been released...

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Posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 11:57 pm by Mike Evans
Filed under Chinese Phones

Confused QKfone build car around phone

Bonkers mobile phone manufacturer QKFone have done it again! Not content with releasing a mobile phone with a completely unlicensed Mercedes Benz logo glued onto it, they've gone one better - this time, they've glued the whole car onto their new mobile!

What you're seeing here is QKFone's new mobile phone, the QKFone S3. You may think it's a model of a Mercedes Benz SLK, but turn it over, and rather than the usual car-like gubbins you'd expect to see, such as exhaust, axles, etc., you'll find a fully functional mobile phone lurking there instead.

They've still stuck an unlicensed Mercedes Benz logo onto this bonkers carphone (what else can you call it?!), so maybe they thought that if they added the logo onto a car rather than a phone, it would solve all their licensing issues?!

That said, there are some startling details added to this phone that only serve to make the whole thing even more surreal, as you can see after the jump...

Yamaha unveils the Trumpet Phone and 5 other musical instrument phones

If you thought Sony Ericsson had the lead in music phones, think again, as Yamaha have developed several prototype music phones that don't just play MP3s: they let you create your own tunes as well!

Yamaha are well known in the music trade for developing synthesizers and other musical instruments, so it seems only natural that the company,when asked by Japanese carrier KDDI to develop some phone prototypes, should come up with the synthesizer phone.

Come to think of it, it seems such a natural concept that I can't believe no-one's thought of it before! There are all manner of DJ and synth-box units you can use with an iPod, which, as the iPhone has proved, is just a mobile phone without the phone, so why not extend the concept and let your phone help you create music ?

More details of Yamaha's concept music phones after the jump.

T-Mobile hobbling Nokia phones?

A few months ago, my Nokia E90 stopped being able to connect to any Web page that required a secure connection (i.e. SSL). At first, I didn't think all that much about it, but it very quickly started to annoy me. I couldn't access my email, RSS reader, or any of a million different Web sites that I hadn't even realised required SSL!

I updated the firmware to the very latest version, but to no effect. So I checked the mobile forums, where I found that a number of other users had been having the same problem with their Nokia phones - and not just the E90. It was a variety of Nokia phones that were having problems, but the one common theme was that they were all on the UK T-Mobile network, and they all used to work fine.

Then one day, without warning,and without doing anything to their phones, the Nokia's simply stopped being able to establish SSL connections.

Every other network worked just fine - it was only Nokia phones on T-Mobile's network that was the problem.

At the 3G.co.uk forum, one member speculated that this was a deliberate move by T-Mobile because they'd fallen out with Nokia over its Ovi music service.

This can't really be the case, can it? The video above shows the problem. I've now finally got through to a teccie at T-Mobile and will be providing evidence of the problem over the coming days, with an assurance that they will sort it out for me. They'd better, as my contract runs out in November, and I'm not prepared to sign up with a network that only half works!

Stay tuned for more details on this saga.

Video: Nokia N82 Unboxing

I've got my hands on a Nokia N82 for review,and if there's one thing I know about gadget freaks, they do like their unboxings! No idea why a box should cause such excitement, but who am I to buck a trend?!

So here, in true tech blog style, is my video of the Nokia N82 being unboxed.

I'll have a complete review of the N82 early next week,with videos,pictures and more info than you could possibly need,so stay tuned.

More hands-on phone reviews by MobileMentalism

I've finished the last of my four hands-on smartphone reviews, and I'll be posting a comparison test between the four phones (the Nokia E90, Toshiba G910, MWg Atom V, and MWg Zinc II) later tomorrow. Hopefully you've enjoyed these reviews - they've certainly been useful to me, as it doesn't matter how good a phone looks on paper, you really can't tell unless you use the thing.

With that in mind, is that the end of the hands-on reviews? Not if the brand new Nokia N82 that's just been delivered has anything to say about it! That's right, stay tuned, as I'll be posting my comprehensive hands-on N82 review later this week.

Hands-on MWg Zinc II review

Time now for a hands-on review of the MWg Zinc II. Like its sibling, the MWg Atom V (above, left), the Zinc II (above, middle - the phone on the right is a Nokia E90 for comparison) is a Windows Mobile 6.1 machine complete with touchscreen, HSDPA, GPS, WiFi and a 2.0 megapixel camera.

In fact, the only differences between the two devices are that the Zinc II has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard (the Atom V relies solely on its touchscreen); the two models have different CPUs (a Samsung SC32442 running at 520MHz for the Zinc II, and an Intel PXA270 running at 520MHz for the Atom V); and the Zinc II comes with tri-band 3G connectivity, whereas the Atom V's 3G is just the one band (the European UMTS2100).

This does make it rather tricky to review, as I'll pretty much be repeating myself (not for the first time, some would argue!). As such, I'll point you to the MWg Atom V review I did recently for the low-down of both devices' core features, and concentrate here on the differences exhibited by the Zinc II.

Read on after the jump for the complete MWg Zinc II review.

Video: Toshiba Portege G910 review

As well as the extraordinarily long Toshiba G910 review I did the other day, I also recorded a video of the G910 browsing the Web. You can see how it's not the best experience in the world, and also how fiddly the interface is to use. Note: it's a ten minute video, and my camera skills need a little improving (not to mention a tripod!)

The most comprehensive mobile phone site on the Web?

In searching for the exact specifications of the latest MWg smartphone I've been reviewing, I stumbledupon what could be the most comprehensive mobile phone site on the Web. Called PDAdb.net, it seems to contain the technical specifications of every mobile phone, smartphone and PDA ever made!

It even lets you compare phones and list the phones based just on the specs you want.

For the average user, the list of information is completely overwhelming, but for the more techie user, those who really know what they want, or just the mobile phone blogger, its list of information is absolutely amazing. Fair play to you guys, I'm humbled!

Now if only they could add a more user-friendly look to the site, a shop and some reviews, they'd be sorted!

I found the site so useful for mobile phone blogging, I've added it to my Tech Blogger's Toolkit.

Hands-on MWg Atom V smartphone Review

The MWg Atom V is another Windows Mobile-based smartphone. Its features are good, with WiFi, HSDPA and GPS, and it puts in a surprisingly strong performance, particularly with respect to speed and responsiveness, and especially considering its street price of just £300.

To find out what I liked and disliked about this neat touchscreen smartphone, check out my full hands-on MWg Atom V review.