Gadzooki

The Next Big Thing: Flip Phones?

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Though the current generation may not remember, it was less than ten years ago that the fancy new phones on the market looked very different from the sleek smartphones of today: they were all flip phones. These days almost everyone carries an iPhone or Android phone with a large touch screen and high-quality camera. Smartphones have practically driven all other phones out of the market and the previous generation of phones have been left to the old and technologically un-savvy. But even as smartphones reach a zenith of popularity, there’s been a shift away from the phones of the future and towards an unlikely replacement: flip phones.

flip-phones

Why The Flip Phone?

Many people would rather lose a limb than give up their smartphone. That said, there are a number of qualities that once made flip phones charming that still hold some appeal. Flip phones are thin, lightweight, and very durable. Hanging up on someone on an iPhone just doesn’t have the same oomph as it does on an old Motorola Razr: there’s something to be said for the tactile satisfaction of slapping the phone closed. In addition, technology has given people a way to stay connected 24/7, but it’s also made staying connected all but a necessity, and people are starting to look for ways to break free of that cycle. Flip phones’ technological limitations—most of them can’t access Wi-Fi or browse the internet, and very few modern-day apps are supported on flip phones—could provide some relief. [Read more…]

The High Cost of Using Smartphones Today

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Around the world today, electronic devices are some of the most popular personal items people own. Whether it’s a personal computer or smartphone, you can be sure that one own such an item. There are even people who would immediately buy the latest gadget just to keep up with the trend or simply for personal fulfillment.

Unfortunately, some of these folks are not able to control their urges and their use of these gadgets particularly the smartphone that they end up going into debt. They often sign up for unnecessary add-ons and purchase various applications out of curiosity.

smartphone cost of ownership

So how costly is owning these famous electronic devices these days? PC World.com said the total cost of ownership these days is estimated at $3,800 although this applies to the high-end smartphone units. This cost covers two years of the standard wireless service contract as well as the monthly cost. [Read more…]

Five must-have home management apps

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Trying to take care of yourself is hard enough. But it’s even more difficult when you’re also trying to keep track of the innumerable tasks, appointments and other needs of your family members.

Thankfully, mobile technology is catching up with modern home management needs and is unveiling new tools to share some of the workload. A number of cheap or low-cost applications can be installed onto your mobile phones and tablet PCs to make many daily routines easier and more efficient. Here are five home management apps that can help you manage your home better while freeing up more of your time. [Read more…]

A GPS Device That sends SMS From Anywhere

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GPS devices are very hot items right now. I myself was quite enamored with them when I first saw it in action years ago. Now, GPS devices can be found everywhere and for good reason, they’re really quite useful. For the longest time GPS could only be found within the domain of dedicated GPS devices. But with the technology getting more accessible and affordable, GPS technology is now being introduced to other devices, most notably in smartphones. In fact, GPS-equipped smartphones are beginning to dominate the market and eating into the share of dedicated GPS devices. The main reason for this being that GPS-enabled smartphones allow you to just carry one device that does a lot of things instead of bringing a number of dedicated devices. [Read more…]

Give us a 4-inch smartphone with multiple OS support

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Finally, Nokia’s Design by Community project is almost finished. If you don’t remember what the project is about, it is Nokia’s push to create the “ultimate concept device,” and they utilized Nokia fans so they’d know what people want.

Now they have a mock-up of the winning phone, and if Nokia manages to create this, I am going to be excited for this. You see, Nokia fans have dictated that the winning phone should have a 10mm thin Monoblock form factor. Also, it should have a 4-inch capacitive screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio, open source operating system, unlimited multitasking, Wi-Fi 802.11 n/b/g, USB 3.0, HDMI, Dolby surround sound, and an 8MP camera with 4X optical zoom, dual LED and Xenon flash, and HD video recording. Users also want the concept phone to be able to run multiple operating systems, which means if Nokia is able to create this phone, we should be able to switch between Symbian and MeeGo.

Now I’m actually suprised by the feature requests. Everything seems so… modest and realistic, and they are all on phones everywhere. I just haven’t seen all these features combined on one phone before. Well, except from multiple OS support. Now if Nokia comes out with a phone that lets me switch between operating systems as much as I please, we’d have a winner in our hands.

Now here is a mockup of the concept phone, created by Unwired View:

The operating system on the phone is an early version of Symbian^4, by the way.

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Video: Creative Zii TRINITY concept phone

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trinity_250x358CNET Asia was able to get ahold of Creative ‘s attempt to enter the smartphone market, the Zii TRINITY, and it’s looking good. The Zii Trinity is a smartphone development platform based on its ZMS-05 and ZMS-08 processors. Sadly though, this isn’t a consumer product but a reference device meant for developers and manufacturers. Just like Creative’s Zii Egg device.

Basically, it’s not that much different from the Zii Egg (the Trinity is capable of video output up to HD resolutions). What makes it different is added cellular connectivity supporting GSM and WCDMA networks. So this is the iPhone to Apple’s iPod touch.

From the videos below, you’d see that the TRINITY 001 is still in an unfinished. Of course you can expect the occasional glitch but the fact that it is run by a powerful ZMS-05 SoC more than make up for it. Manufacturers interested in rolling out a Zii-powered phone can do so in 3 months, according to Creative.

Check out the videos after the jump: [Read more…]