Skype for the iPhone Now Available

As if the iPhone doesn't have enough awesome features, Skype added to its roster.

Recently Skype announced that its app for the iPhone is ready and available for public download. The free application will allow users to make Skype-to-Skype calls using WiFi, make cheap landline calls, and send and receive instant messages. On top of that Skype for the iPhone functions like a regular Skype. It can use Wi-Fi, 3G or EDGE.

Rogers Now Offering ZTE Rock and Samsung Rugby

Two of my favorite rugged-type phones can now be had through Roger Wireless. The ZTE Rock F165 (right) and Samsung Rugby A836 (left) are just my type of phones: built to last!

ZTE Rock F165 Features:

• Durable and awesome design
• Comes with bad-ass antenna
• 2MP camera
• 2GB expandable memory
• With MusicStore, radio and mobile TV services

Samsung Rugby A836 Features:

• Rain, humidity, drop, shock, vibration, dust and unicorn resistant
• Will still function in extreme temperatures
• External speakerphone button
• 1.3MP camera
• 8GB expandable memory

Check out ZTE Rock here and Samsung Rugby here.

Nokia 5730 XpressMusic Partially Reviewed

"Blue" is probably the first word that came into your mind when you first saw the image above. "Odd" or "weird" is a close second, I bet. Well, those were my first thoughts when I laid my eyes on the new Nokia 5730 XpressMusic.

The guys over at mobile-reviews got their hands on a Nokia 5730 and promptly made a partial review of the phone. The QWERTY slide-out keyboard is a nice touch, especially with its dot matrix font, but seems a bit out-of-place in my opinion. The phone comes with 128MB of RAM and a microSD card slot, a good 4.5 hours of talk-time, EDGE, and built-in GPS. The 5730 also comes with the standard music player that comes with the N Series of phones.

The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic will be out this April in Europe and would sell for about $289. No word yet if it will be available anywhere else.

N73 + Swollen Batteries = ??

I checked my Nokia N73 Music Edition as soon as I read this news.

Apparently, Nokia admitted that some BP-6M batteries they used in N73 have swollen up. This is a normal occurrence for lithium-ion batteries, but are supposed to happen after it has aged several years. It's good to mention that there's no risk involved, aside from having an enlarged battery that may prove hard to fit into the charger or mobile phone.

No worries though. Head over the nearest Nokia Service Center and they'll give a free replacement after verifying your claims.

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US Cellular Bags Samsung's SCH-r470 TwoStep

The ultra cool Samsung SCH-r470 flip phone is now officially on US Cellular. The SCH-r470, or the TwoStep, boasts several standard features such as a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo speakers, microSD slot, Bluetooth, and of course, a music player complete with external controls.

The TwoStep comes on red, purple, and orange colors. It supports upto 8 GB microSD with a Talk Time of upto three hours.

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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic European Release Date

Both the UK and North American cellphone consumers can't wait to get their hands on Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The only difference is UK's going to get their wishes earlier than us.

On January 23, the 5800 Xpress Music will be available in the UK. The first S60 5th Edition device will have a price tag of £249, or roughly $380.

Nokia Comes With Music Service Doing "Okay"

Nokia's recent music service, Comes With Music, is doing just fine according to reports. "Initial sales had been okay, but not earth shattering." according to an unnamed source.

Some would say its because of the economy, while some blame pirating pirates getting their music off the web. The refusal of major UK carriers to Comes With Music-handsets are not helping either.

Do you have a CwM-equipped phone? Do you use the service at all? Me, I get my mp3's for free.

Nokia N96 Firmware Update Now Available

An update to Nokia N96's firmware in now available for the North American public. The said update includes Switch 4.0, improved Bluetooth, and fixed alarm among other things.

What concerns us mp3 phone enthusiasts is that the N96 Music Player no longer hangs when refreshing the libarary if the General Settings Date separator is set to ":". I'm pretty sure that's a big chip off of some people's shoulder. There's nothing I hate more than my phone freezing.

The N96 firmware update can now be had through Nokia Software Updater.

Rentobile: Rent Cellphones

Rentobile offers a pretty straightforward service: rent a cellphone. For a monthly fee ($20 to $50), you can rent a cellphone and use it as long as you want. When you get tired of it, then return it and get another one.

After an hour of doing the math, I find this service pricey. There's a bit of a discount if you opt to be a member, though. I would maybe give it a go if say I would like to try out a phone before buying it.

Philips Xenium 9@9q Dragon and Phoenix Looks Awesome!

One deciding factor I always look into when purchasing a new phone is: Will this make me look cooler? After examining Philips Xenium 9@9q Dragon / Phoenix, my answer was a double YES!

Both Xenium 9@9q has engravings of their namesake on the outside of its clamshell body. There's also a small yet functional external display where you can see if you have a new message or missed a call among other stuff.

Another thing that drew me in on Philips Xenium 9@9q is its battery life. It has a month of standby time and about eight hours of talk time. Now that's how all batteries should be made!

Philips Xenium 9@9q Dragon and Phoenix is available for roughly $172 USD.

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MP3 Phones is on a Holiday Break

I'll keep this short because I wasn't really planning on going online today...

Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you all get your wishes..

I'll be back on Monday for more posts.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Hi-Fi Music Edition Comes with Shure

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is proving to be a powerhouse not only as an mp3 phone, but in everything it does as well. So what does an awesome mp3 phone needs to improve itself? A kick-ass earphones that's what.

Nokia teamed up with Shure, a well-known brand of professional earphones and microphones, to bring to Hong Kong consumers a special edition Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. It comes with a Shure SE210 earphones that will sure bring 5300's mp3 playback quality to another level.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Hi-Fi Music Edition will be available in Hong Kong on December 18 for the price of HKD 4798. That's HKD 810 more than the special-editionless 5800!

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Motorola AURA Available at Motorola Store

Though not an MP3 phone, the Motorola AURA looks like it has a competent music player. For $2000, it better be.

That's right. This baby will cost you $2000. I can't imagine why in the world this phone could cost that much, until I saw its "luxury" features. It has a cool circular display capable of showing off 16 million colors, it's protected by a 62-carat sapphire crystal, it's stainless steel, and it's textures and patterns are chemically etched.

If you happen to have $2000 lying around, please buy an AURA and drop us a comment and tell us how it fares.

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Pandora for Windows Mobile Devices

One of my favorite internet-based radio services, Pandora, announced recently that it will be available to users of Windows Mobile devices. As of this writing, the only devices supported are HTC XV6900 / Touch and Motorola Q9C.

Pandora is dubbed as a personalized radio station. Type in the name of the artist, title of the song, or just the genre and it will play music that matched you interest. Members can create and save stations for future use.

To get Pandora for your Windows Mobile device, open www.pandora.com on your phone's browser.

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Car Key Cell Phone Jammer

Worried about your kids (or parents?) driving and using their cell phone at the same time? It is very dangerous, as you should know. Well, worry no more as Key2SafeDriving is on its way.

Yup, that's what they're calling it. Key2SafeDriving. Don't sweat it though, as this device may very well save thousands of lives in the future. Key2SafeDriving works by fusing a cellphone jammer into a key fob, thus blocking signals.

Key2SafeDriving is being develpoped by researchers at the University of Utah and is hoping to have it on sale in six months time.

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Skype Lite Made Available to More Phones

I'm a fan of anything that is free, especially if it is something that I can use. That's why I fell in love with Skype the day I discovered it. Recently Skype Lite was made to work on more cell phones including several of my favorites.

Simply visit the Skype website and download Skype Lite onto your phone. Alternative, mobile browsers can visit skype.com/m for the download.

Here's a list of the new devices that can run the latest Skype Lite:

LG

• KE770
• CU515
• CU575 Trax
• CU720 Shine

Nokia

• N96
• N75
• E71
• E62
• 6555
• 6085

Samsung

• A717
• T639
• A737

SonyEricsson

• T700
• T650
• G502
• W902
• W380
• W350
• TM506
• G700
• G900
• K770
• Z750a
• Z525a
• Z310a
• S500

02 Cocoon Review & Info

02 Cocoon Specs

Launched: August 2007
Screen Display: 320x240 pixels, 18 bits
Size: 49 x 94 x 21 mm
Weight: 114 g
Memory: 2 MB Internal, 2 GB via microSD
Music Player: AAC, AAC+, WMA, MP3 and WAV
Camera: 2.0 MP

02 Cocoon Review

If retro is your style, then the 02 Cocoon is the right mp3 phone for you. This is what cellular phones would've looked like in the 60's and 70's.

The 02 Cocoon is a clamshell phone that reeks of retro in its curves and colors. The inside of it is another story though. It looks to "old" for me, and I believe they should've spent a little more time improving it. Also, the phone is a little on the bulky side, but not many people would be turned off by it.

What impressed me the most is the Cocoon's LED lights. Seen on the phone's front cover, the blue LED lights has several functions. It brights up whenever there's a call coming in and shows you the name of the caller. The same goes with text messages. When you're using its music player, it will also display the track's artist and title. A very nice touch indeed.

The 02 Cocoon has dedicated music keys on the side, and has quite loud speakers. It only has 2 MB of internal memory, though, so expect to buy a microSD card. One thing I have to note is that the 02 has a custom headphone socket. Sure, the phone comes with a headset, but you'll need to use an adaptor if you want to use your own.

All in all, the 02 Cocoon is a very good mp3 phone. It has style and has the features to back it up.

02 Cocoon Video

EM35: Another ROKR from Motorola

Just when I thought Motorola is done with their vowel-dropping phones, out comes ROKR EM35.

The EM35 is a slider phone and an mp3 phone, just like its Moto ROKR cousins. It features listening to music while browsing the music store. The FastScroll navigation wheel allows users to easily scroll through menus and music tracks. One thing I like about the RORK EM35 is that it can hold upto 32GB of memory via MicroSD card, which is a whole lotta songs if you ask me. The colors are not too bad either.

The EM35 will be on sale by the end of 2008.

Motorola RAZR3/Ruby Axed

Oh Motorola, you and your silly-named phones! RAZR. KRZR. ROKR. The first few were fun, and quite impressive, but recently it was just all branding. I say more innovation and less letter-dropping. That's why I'm not surprised to hear that Motorola RAZR3 aka Ruby was canceled.

The RAZR2 successor didn't make the cut, apparently. But this might mean good news for Moto fans. Motorola may have finally decided to move on and make better phones rather than rehashing old ones.

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Nokia 5800 Xpress Music Video Review

Can't wait for the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music? Here, here. Despite all the flak the Nokia Tube has been getting around the Internet, I still want one, and too bad I can't get it this coming Holiday season.

The 5800 is Nokia's first touch-screen phone, and an MP3 phone at that. To get us all riled up again, here's a featured video review of the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music.