gadgets & Phones

TOUCH GALORE :--
Like it or not, touch screen phones are the latest fad right now. The killer combo of stylus and the touch screen is heaven-sent for all the geek heads. Before, only traditional PDAs used to have touch screen for data input, but nowadays every phone manufacturer has a flagship touch screen device. Here are the best of them. You probably don’t need one, but we know you want one.

HTC Touch Diamond:--
HTC’s Touch Diamond is a touch-optimized version of Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition. It has a beautiful 2.8 inch VGA display that is accompanied by a 3D user interface which HTC calls Touch FLO 3D. Apart from the regular WiFi, 4 GB of internal memory, a 3 Megapixel camera and a built in GPS receiver; it also has a touch sensitive scroll wheel which allows you to zoom into photos and webpages. There is a dedicated video RAM of 64 MB in the phone, for all those swanky 3D menu effects. Features like the built-in YouTube client add that extra appeal to this already tempting device. The design of the device is also worth a special mention. It has a magnetic stylus that attaches itself to the body, so all you forgetful heads can take a breather. The phone is available in Nepal through D&D International.

Apple iPhone 3G:--
Successor of the already able iPhone, this second iteration includes all those hullabaloos lacking in the first gen model. Namely a GPS receiver in case you ever get lost, a faster 3G chip for zippier data transfers and ‘dramatically improved audio’ for your listening pleasure, while retaining the same gorgeous 3.5 multitouch display, an ‘iPod’ grade media player, a desktop class web browser with in-built WiFi and 8/16 GB of flash memory for your tunes and flicks while running on the world’s most advanced mobile OS, Mobile Mac OS X. The second gen also adds a white version to its portfolio. While half of the world is already poking their greasy finger on its shiny, scratch resistant glass display, we Nepali are still waiting for an official Apple release. You can’t find it from an authorized Apple reseller but it is available through illegal gray market imports. Exact price is unknown, but be ready to burn a hole in your pocket if you want a taste of this pricey fruit.

Samsung i900 Omnia:--
Seems like everybody is learning from the success of a ‘certain’ fruity gadget. It has the almost same, albeit smaller 3.2 touchscreen with all touch interface, 8/16 GB of memory and an accelerometer in a similarly designed body. But there is where the similarities end. It has a more able 5 MP autofocus camera with face and smile recognition just like in the higher end Cybershot cameras. It also has a secondary camera for video call and a DivX/XviD player for those illegally downloaded flicks. The phone despite having exceptional multimedia capabilities, also doubles up as a feature rich Pocket PC as it runs on the latest Windows Mobile Pro OS. It has just hit the shelves in the international market.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1:--
This is the first all touchscreen device coming from the makers of the successful Walkman phones. It boasts a 3 inch touch display with a whopping resolution of 800x480 pixels that will make your Nokia phones run for its momma. In spite of having an all-touch interface, the phone ingeniously hides a full QWERTY keyboard under its body. It runs on the Pocket PC edition of Windows Mobile 6.1 and is powered by a Qualcomm Processor. The regular includes WiFi, GPS, 3 MP camera and an accelerometer among others. The phone is expected to hit the stores later this year.

LG Viewty KU990:--
Boasting an all touch Flash user interface, this sexy phone from LG has a 5 MP camera that makes other phone look primitive. Stretching across its front is a sparkling 3 inch touchscreen, that allows you to edit, add effects and post your videos directly to YouTube for that 60 seconds of fame. And why not, after all it captures your videos at near DVD quality. It is a great multimedia phone with an excellent camera, but few quirks like the omission of WiFi, limitation of storage dampens its overall appeal.