Navigon Offers Money Saving GPS Application

I recently wrote a blog review about the iPhone 3g S and I mentioned many of the pros and cons. In todays economy it is important to do your homework with technology to make sure that you are not only getting a good deal and are aware of the services attatched; for example the GPS application on the iPhone 3g and 3gs. AT&T offers it’s own navigation software subscription at 9.99 a month but until Aug 15th Navigon is offering their new GPS application for $69.99.

Navigon taking advantage of the waiting time for TomTom to keep their promise to deliver a GPS application for the new iPhones Navigon beat them to the punch with a 1.29GB. Mobile navigator program contains comprehensive NAVTEQ maps of North America and it loads from the phone and not online, and even though it does take up a chunk of your phone’s storage it is a money saver because there are no reoccurring charges.

Navigon's app includes Reality View Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant and Day & Night Mode. You can establish a Home address, setup favorite addresses, access nearby POIs and get from point A to point B via voice guided, turn-by-turn directions. The app can also utilize the iPhone's accelerometer, switching from horizontal to vertical mode as soon as you flip the phone. Multitouch zooming also works.

Navicon’s app works really well but every new technology has its pros and cons so we have mentioned the good… now its time for the bad. I would have to say the biggest con would have to be there are no real-time traffic updates. Other things to mention are you do need to have your car charger because the program does run the battery down rather quickly. Also, without the support of some background applications every phone call you receive will take your nav offline and exits you from your route.

Top 8 Business Smartphones for Under $100

It has recently become surprisingly easy to find an incredibly helpful and functional smartphone that will cater to all your business needs for a very reasonable price. You no longer have to pan out anymore than $100 to have an amazing phone with every feature you could possibly imagine. Here's a quick rundown of the smartphones, sorted by provider, that are considered the best possible options available for under $100.

Sprint

BlackBerry Curve 8330
$49.99 (with two-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate)
Yeah this BlackBerry isn't RIM's newest smartphone, with the release of the Curve 8900, but that doesn't take away from all the great features of the Curve 8330. With the built-in GPS, push e-mail, and fantastic voice quality this BlackBerry just can't be beat for the price tag.

T-Mobile

BlackBerry Curve 8320
$74.99 (with two-year contract)
This smartphone has a wonderful mixture of features and power, and the newly lowered price just tops it all off. Another appealing aspect to consider with this phone is T-Mobile's unlimited Wi-Fi calling capabilities that they offer for a mere $9.99/month.

T-Mobile Dash
$49.99 (with two-year contract)
Now the Dash is certainly considered old and compared to a lot of other smartphones it can thought slow at times, but to posses a phone with the ability to run Windows Mobile 6 and offers all normal Microsoft-related features for such a low price gives reason to look past the sluggishness.

AT&T

Nokia E71x
$99.99 (with two-year contract and $50 mail-in rebate)
The E71x is an awesome looking phone. The design is perfect. Add to its attractiveness a powerful Web browser, built-in Office document editing, and Microsoft Exchange support and you have one heck of a phone.

Apple iPhone 3G
$99.99 (with two-year contract)
This smartphone features fantastic Microsoft Exchange connectivity that allows you to sync calendars, contacts, and e-mails with your corporate server. Also with all the amazing applications offered with the iPhone 3G this certainly is hard phone to pass up.

Samsung Jack SGH-i637
$99.99 (with two-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate)
The Jack is a slick chic phone that instantly catches your eye. Beyond looks, it also features an impressive mix of 3G and Wi-Fi radio, great voice quality, and Windows Mobile messaging. The Jack is a great smartphone for consumers who don't like the iPhone to look into.

Verizon Wireless

Blackberry Curve 8330
$49.99 (with two year contract)
This BlackBerry is also offered by Sprint as I mentioned above. With Verizon however, this smartphone does not include an IM client or mobile TV support, but you also don't have to deal with the $100 mail-in rebate that you would have if you went with Sprint as your provider. So really it just depends on what application you want for your phone.

HTC Ozone
$49.99 (with two-year contract)
The Ozone has plenty of attractive application and features. The highlights would include its CDMA and GSM compatibility and its Windows Mobile abilities. Package it with Verizon's dependable network and your business needs are sure to be met.

The Blackberry Bold 9000

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 is one of Research in Motion's latest 3G smartphones to hit the market. The Bold sports a sleek design, very sharp display, and high speed connectivity but is lacking other areas such as call quality and its camera's image quality. Although the phone presents a very enticing offer it's drawbacks may prevent you from justifying the high price tag. Here's what we have to say about the Blackberry Bold 9000.

The BlackBerry Bold is easily one of the most stylish BlackBerries yet and comes with a removable black leather cover which gives the phone a sophisticated look and is very comfortable to hold. The cover can also be customized with an optional blue, brown, green, gray or red to give it a more personalized feel. The Bold is also roughly the same size as the BlackBerry Curve 8300 with dimensions of 4.5 inches by 2.6 inches by .55 inches and weighs about equal to an iPhone at 4.8 ounces. The phone has curved corners and a glossy face but unfortunately lacks a touch screen that have become so ingrained in the world of smart phones.

The bold does come with a full QWERTY keyboard and various corporate e-mail and infrastructure characteristics that BlackBerry is known for. The keyboard itself is has been revamped in the Bold model with sculpted keys to minimize finger slippage and enhance usability. The Bold also has a superior battery life and provides over 7 hours and 50 minutes of talk time, which is longer than any other 3G phone I've seen. The BlackBerry operating system was revamped as well giving the interface in version 4.6 a looking cleaner and more attractive look. The new OS features background wallpapers and a customizable application view known as the Ribbon.

The phone itself also has an excellent display. Images and video look absolutely spectacular on the Bold's 480 X 320 VGA display which supports over 65,000 colors, twice as many as the BlackBerry Curve. In terms of performance, the BlackBerry Bold's display matches that of the iPhone's resolution and has great video playback with little to no pixelation or blurring. However the camera on the phone has much to be desired. The 2 megapixel camera has some advanced features including digital zoom and flash but many users report the flash being to bright causing indoor pictures to look grainy or overexposed. The camera also has very few megapixels for such an expensive phone and seems to be lacking on some features such as a self timer, which is non-existant.

The BlackBerry Bold has also had some reports on poor call quality. On several occasions calls made to other mobile devices consistently suffered from a background hiss and many times the voices on the other line sounded far away, as if they were talking to their phone from 5 feet away. People who have received calls from the BlackBerry Bold also reported hearing a lot of background noise and somewhat of a distortion in the voice.

The BlackBerry Bold undoubtedly delivers high-speed browsing and strong messaging capabilities and a definite step up in functionality and form from existing BlackBerry models, but some faults hinder its potential to compete with other well-known smartphones such as the iPhone and the T-mobile G1. With such a high price tag it will be hard to grab a consumers attention.

Verizon's Waterproof Flip Phone

How many more incredible features can be engineered for a cell phone? I’m not sure, but Verizon Wireless’ newest development has most certainly caught my eye. They have just recently released what has to be their best new camera phone, and it just happens to be waterproof. How absolutely awesome is that? For a person that texts even when they’re in the shower or at the pool, the release of the Verizon’s Casio Exilim C721 was fantastic news!

The Exilim is pretty good-looking for a flip phone. It’s a little big, measuring 4 x 2 x .08 inches and weighing 4.5 ounces, but the features make up for the slight bulk. When flipped open, you can examine the 2.3-inch screen that features 320 x 240-pixel display and swivels a full 180 degrees.

The Exilim is truly water resistant and meets all required military standards for shock and vibration. The phone can be dropped three feet deep into water and can be dropped safely from a height of about four feet above the water. Although with the swivel screen it is not a super tough phone, the Exilim really is completely water proof.

Verizon’s Exilim is the only U.S. carrier-model phone to feature a camera with optical zoom. The optical zoom works flawlessly and can even be utilized in video mode. The phone also has a LED flash that is considerably brighter than most other camera phones. So the fact that this phone can also take pictures underwater is just the icing on the cake.

The Exilim also features the ability to sync music with Rhapsody and connect to Verizon’s V Cast Video provider. It supports Verizon’s VZ Navigator GPS program and can be used as a modem on Verizon’s EV-DO Rev A network.

This phone starts a $279.99 with a Verizon contract. Although this fact makes the Exilim Verizon’s most expensive non-smartphone, with all the cool features it definitely makes it worth it. The amazing camera and the incredible fact that the phone is impervious to water makes the higher price tag seem justified to me.

Overheating iPhones

In response to the reports of iPhones overheating, whether these reports are true or not, Apple has disclosed that the iPhone 3G and 3G S have been equipped with a temperature warning screen.

Although these reports are most likely small in number, Apple still wishes to appease their consumers. It has been reported that some iPhones were so overheated that they changed from their original white color to a pinkish tone.

As a precaution, Apple has issued a warning that to most average iPhone customers should be pretty obvious. Users are advised to make sure there iPhone is not in an environment that exceeds 113 degrees Fahrenheit, including their car. Apple also warns consumers that applications such as playing music or utilizing the GPS systems feature in direct sunlight could increase the possibilities of overheating.

Using the iPhone in an environment where the temperature is over 95 degrees Fahrenheit can trigger the phone’s temperature warning. Apple warns that in this condition of high or low temperature problems, the iPhone’s battery life may be temporarily shortened or the device could possibly temporarily quit functioning properly.

On the flip side, Apple also stated that the iPhone 3G or 3G S should not be kept anywhere where the temperature could drop below -4 degrees Fahrenheit and should not be utilized in a temperature below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

If the iPhone is exposed to either of these extreme conditions, the temperature warning screen will most likely appear and the iPhone could experience a variety of problems. The phone could stop charging, the display may be dim, or you could experience problems with a weak signal.

With extreme heat this summer in various areas of the country, iPhone owners should take precautions so that nothing happens to their phone. Apple says that if you do experience an overheating problem, you should let your iPhone cool down before utilizing it again. So the moral of the story is to simply be smart. Don’t abandon your iPhone in any extreme temperature situations and you and your phone will be just fine.

Samsung's New Jack SGH-i637

The BlackJack II has been changed and perfected to produce Samsung’s new Jack SGH-i637. With the many useful updates and the reasonable price, the Jack certainly looks like an interesting new phone to consider.

The Jack has a very similar look to the Blackberry Bold or the Blackberry Curve 8900. It features a metallic charcoal gray paint and thick chrome band around the edges. The Jack measures 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches (HWD) and weighs only 3.6 ounces.

It includes a roomy, four-rowed QWERTY keyboard with the perfect amount of click and resistance. The Jack also has a 2.4-inch , 320 x 240 pixel LCD screen. Although the it does not have a touch-screen, the five-way control pad is touch-sensitive.

The Jack has a 528-Mhz processor, 256MB ROM, 175MB RAM, and 141MB RAM free for programs. It also features a built-in GPS chip that is capable of supporting AT&T’s TeleNav-powered Navigator. The music player on the Jack supports WMA, MP3, and AAC files, and the smartphone includes a 3.2-megapixel camera.

For just $99.99 (plus a two-year service contract), the Samsung Jack can be yours. It’s a great value for the fantastic features it includes. No, its not the iPhone3G S or Nokia E71x, but those phones will cost you a lot more. The Jack is a smart, practical, reasonable smartphone that can take care of most average people’s needs.

T-Mobile's Soon to Be Released Smartphone

T-Mobile will announce their latest smartphone, the Google Android device called the myTouch, on Monday. This will be the second T-Mobile smartphone to utilize Android, Google’s open-source mobile operating system. T-Mobile introduced the G1, which was the world’s first Google Android phone, last fall, but believes that the new myTouch will appeal to a wider variety of consumers.

This summer there has already been a flood of new and improved smartphones. Sprint Nextel’s network released Palm’s long awaited Pre, Nokia introduced their new touch-screen N97, and Apple presented their faster, superior iPhone 3G S. So how does T-Mobile plan on making the myTouch stand out among all the other smartphones? The answer is the personalization of the myTouch.

It is said that there will be no two myTouch phones that are alike. Consumers will be given the opportunity to completely customize their myTouch device with a variety of Android applications. T-Mobile representatives will even be available to assist customers with the set up of their new smartphones before they leave the store.

An example of how the different Android application will make the myTouch more personal can be found in an application called Sherpa. Sherpa uses GPS to assist smartphone users in finding restaurants, movie theaters, and other points of interest wherever they are. What is so cool about this application is that it will remember where you have been previously and will make recommendations based on your past searches. Sherpa will also give you a list of special events currently going on in the area and tell you how far away you are from them. This application will only be available through T-Mobile. The myTouch also includes unique Google applications such as easy upload to Picasa and YouTube. Other areas where consumers will be able to personalize their myTouch include the ability to add music, a personalized calendar, widgets, photos, and shortcuts to Web links.

The myTouch is produced by HTC and basically has the same hardware design as the Google Ion (HTC Magic). The Google Ion is thinner than the G1 and smaller than the iPhone. It has a 3.2-inch touch screen that offers 320 x 480 pixels of resolution. There is no physical keyboard on the Google Ion, and it features 3G and WiFi network support.

The myTouch will come in a variety of new assorted colors. It will come standard with 512 Megabytes of internal memory and allow support of microSD for external storage. The myTouch will come with a 4GB microSD card, but consumers will be able to add more storage if they want to.

T-Mobile is calling the myTouch their premier Android smartphone. T-Mobile customers will be able to get the new phone starting July 8, while non-customers will not be able to purchase the phone until early August. The phone is set to run around $199 with a two-year T-Mobile service contract.

T-Mobile is expecting great things with the Google Android myTouch, and considering all the facts, I can see why. The myTouch sounds like a chic new smartphone with about everything possible to offer. The price is certainly reasonable for what you are getting, and if you don’t mind having T-Mobile as your service provider, then you’re set. I think this will certainly be an interesting phone to watch. We’ll see if the myTouch can truly stand out from among the abundance of new smartphones on the market today.