iPhone gets cool slideshows, Keynote Remote app

Feeling let down about the keynote address at MacWorld? Yeah, me too. Phil Schiller did a decent job, but he's not the showman that Steve Jobs is. And the biggest phone-related news had to do with DRM-free tunes and 3G music downloads. (While a step in the right direction, it's certainly not game-changing — after all, Amazon has had DRM-less tunes for ages). Through all this, however, it may be easy to overlook that there were a couple of kinda cool little tricks delivered by Apple (at least for iPhoners with Macs).

iPhoto 09 directly exports slide shows into iTunes for viewing on iPod Touches and iPhones. What's neat here is using the beautiful new templates and transitional effects in slideshows to share on the go. Now, to your delight—and your friends' dismay—you can chronicle the trade-in of your old, but beloved klunker for that lip-smacking new car (backed by Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"). iPhoto also maps geo-tagged images if you shoot with a GPS-enabled camera (i.e., your iPhone, for example) and sports some seriously cool facial-recognition features.
iPhoto and the whole iLife package ships later this month for free on new Macs. Or you can purchase it for $79 (single user) or $99 (family pack). It's definitely affordable and includes a kickin' edition of iMovie 09 (which blows the sad, sorry iMovie 08 to bits).

Schiller also revealed a Keynote Remote App for the iPhone. If you're a business user, this might be more your speed. Connect the phone via Wifi, and the app lets you view a slide and notes (portrait mode) or the current slide with the next one beside each other (landscape). To move from one slide to the next, you just swipe. It's not available in the App Store yet, but when it does, it'll cost 99 cents.I know, I know — not quite what you were lookin' for. But from the looks of things, with Noah covering the exhibit hall like a kid in a candy store, I have a feeling that's where the excitement is. He's already gotten started with awesome coverage of a few exhibitors (like this).One last consideration: Why would Apple go out with such a whimper at its last MacWorld? Me thinks maybe something's on tap that the company wants to unveil at its own media event later on (at least this is what the pundits are guessing). I sure hope so. Any more disappointments, and I don't know if my heart can go on.

Samsung Memoir Phone

Maybe one of our ninjas was feeling inspired by that crazy new Dick Tracy watch LG has in the pipes because he decided to go super-sleuth and dig up the goods on T-Mobile’s upcoming release schedule for January and February, 2009. This screenshot of T-Mobile’s internal release schedule reveals upcoming lineup for the first two months of 2009 and T-Mobile well, February is most definitely your month T-Mobile people! You’ve got two major handsets dropping in Feb: the 8 megapixel Samsung Memoir and yes, that’s right, the highly anticipated BlackBerry Curve 8900. Can you hold out another month and a half?

Our sources revealed that Samsung Memoir will be released on 25th Feb and will be priced $299 after $50 MIR (retail 2 year contract). We hope as release day approaches non blurrycam shots turn up so we can get a better look at the highest megapixel camera phone to enter the states. Apart from the 8MP camera, Samsung Memoir is said to also feature a wide touchscreen display, HSDPA connectivity, GPS and stereo Bluetooth. Now let’s hope that, when finally released, it will meet T-Mobile customers’ high expectations.

Samsung Memoir Phone

The device, called Blue Earth, was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress technology event in Barcelona, and Samsung said it underlined the Korean company’s commitment to environmental stability.

The phone is designed to resemble the shape of a shiny pebble, and uses a small solar panel to provide power.

“This phone demonstrates our small but meaningful commitments for the future and our environment,” said JK Shin, an executive vice president at Samsung.

Blue Earth is made from recycled plastic and features a special “Eco Mode” that users can access with a single click to wring the maximum energy use from the device.

A full solar charge of around 10 to 14 hours will provide enough power for around four hours of talk time. The handset can still be charged normally using a conventional plug, with the solar panels used to top up the battery during use.

It also has a built-in pedometer to help users to measure how much smaller their carbon footprint is when walking rather than driving.

Blue Earth goes on sale in the UK later this year and Samsung did not give any details about price or network partners. However, sources hinted that the handset was likely to be priced at the upper end of the market.

Motorola Evoke

One of the most awaited phones from Motorola: Motorola Evoke is all set to be released soon and has already created a lot of buzz around. The mobile is remarkably known for the size and unique design along with the features included in it. Let us look closely into the features and design of this mobile and predict whether the mobile will be a hit or a miss.

To begin with, let us start with the design. The official announcement claims that Motorola Evoke QA4 is small in size and the dimensions of the mobile are 108 x 50.5 x 17.5 mm. It is a slider based mobile but with a difference. The difference is that the sliding part does not have keyboard but normal numbered buttons. Needless to say, it also offers QWERTY but in software mode. The mobile weighs around 128 grams with the battery. The 2.8-inch WQVGA touch screen looks promising from the pictures. Overall, compared to different smart phones available across the globe, the design of this mobile disappointed me to be honest. Motorola Evoke QA4 has a good old classic design but not up to the level of the mobile phones that are coming up nowadays. Speaking of the screen resolution, it is believed to be 240 x 400 pixels, which should give high quality display with vibrant colors.

Keeping design apart, let us have a sneak peek into the features this mobile will offer. Motorola Evoke QA4 will have a 256 MB internal memory with room to expand as well. It has in built GPS and a stereo Bluetooth as well. It has a good mp3 player; there is also room for voice recognition techniques as well. Keeping in mind some of the unique features, it also has accelerometer inside which is very useful and makes browsing and image viewing extremely pleasant to our eyes. The news is that Motorola Evoke QA4 would be in sync with Google contacts and even with Youtube for better experience of multimedia.

The camera of this mobile would be disappointing. Motorola Evoke QA4 would come in 2 mega pixels camera which won’t be giving any extra ordinary pictures. The pictures and the video resolution is expected to be hazy sometimes in absence of light and this will surely be one of the turn downs of this mobile. But in spite of this, it can be branded one of the better smart phones brought out by Motorola which might have a tendency to surprise anyone after its release. The final verdict from my side is that the mobile will do well and keeping in mind the features, the design and the quality of this mobile, Motorola Evoke QA4 would get 7 out of 10 from my side. It would not be a competition killer by any means, but may give out good sales if the price of the mobile is made competitive.

LG Renoir KC910 Review

LG Renoir KC910 is the newest, most technologically advanced phone yet. The LG Renoir KC910 is part of a new smart phone revolution - the super camera phone movement. You see, this LG doesn’t just have any camera. You can see how it juts out from the body of the phone by several millimeters, which is the first clue as to the power that is held inside. The picture resolution is 8 megapixels. When comparing that to regular, full-sized cameras, that is the same range as many professional SLRs. Some of Nikon’s midrange SLR cameras are 8 megapixels in output. This is the same as that, and this is a cell phone!

Now, megapixels are a great way to market any camera - but a true photographer (and more customers every single day) is aware that megapixels aren’t everything. There are many other factors to take into account when it comes to determining the overall output quality of your camera. The optical zoom capabilities, digital detectors, sensors, and photo processing systems make a huge difference - and LG has caught onto this with this phone. The finished product produces crisp pictures that rival many lower-end and midrange digital cameras.

At first glance, the LG Renoir KC910 looks like most of the newer phones that have come out in the past few years. The color scheme is black and silver, just like most of the new phones. It is rectangular in shape, and besides the camera unit that juts out, it is shaped just like most smart phones. Really, it doesn’t stick out from the crowd in the sense of design - but unless that’s specifically what you’re looking for, is that such a bad thing? If it’s worked so far, there’s no sense in changing things up, unless you are just after a phone with an individual style to it.

Of course, the LG Renoir KC910 is a touchscreen unit. It has a relatively large screen that takes up most of the front of the phone, and the picture resolution offers plenty of space for you to work or play on. The wide resolution of 400 pixels helps to make websites a breeze to read. The entire interface is through the touchscreen - there are 3 buttons on the front of the phone, but they are only used for very basic functions such as hanging up calls.

Samsung Mondi Review

The Samsung Mondi was definitely the standout of the CTIA Wireless 2009 show, thanks to impressive specs such as a 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen, 4GB of on-board memory, a hardware QWERTY keyboard, and (most important) support for WiMax. The Mondi runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and comes preloaded with Opera 9.5 and Route66 for turn-by-turn GPS. It will also be bundled with a mounting kit for car use.

The Mondi will feature Samsung's second-generation version of the TouchWiz overlay, which runs over Windows Mobile 6.1. TouchWiz gives users one-touch access to certain apps via movable and customizable widgets on the home screen of their phone (see this YouTube video from PhoneScoop for a look at TouchWiz in action). The next generation of TouchWiz will support not only native applications, but Internet applications as well. The Mondi will be available in the second quarter of 2009, but Samsung has yet to determine price and carrier.

HTC Magic Vodafone

Everything you love about the internet, exactly how you want it. The HTC Magic will keep you entertained and up to date wherever you are.

Sleek, stylish and exclusive to Vodafone, the Magic is powered by cutting edge technology. So web essentials like Google Maps and Google Search work brilliantly. You can create shortcuts to your favourite sites and download fun games, news feeds and widgets. Then decide where everything goes - so you can get to it all easily.

Love putting friends in the picture? The HTC Magic's 3.2 megapixel camera shoots photos in sharp focus. You can admire the results on its extra large high-resolution screen. Or upload your photos for your friends to see - with superfast internet, they'll upload in a flash.