Author: PhoneDog.com – Latest videos, reviews, articles, news and posts

Noah goes hands on with Kin Two, one of Microsoft’s two new social networking phones. Hits Verizon in May.

PhoneDog just can’t cram every bit of analysis, in-depth coverage, and tip/trick/how-to goodness onto our home page. So we’ve built a few more home pages to hold it all.   Whether it’s Android, BlackBerry, or Apple stuff that makes you tick, we’ve got the goods.

Here’s what’s going on right now on PhoneDog Media’s network sites: Today’s iPhone, BBerryDog and DroidDog.

App Review: iMalts Scotch Whiskey Companion

Windows running on an iPad?

Welcome Spring!  10 gardening apps

BlackBerry Pearl 9100 spotted sporting a T9 keypad

Official OS versions for various devices and carriers

RIM contemplating a BlackBerry Tablet?

App Review: UStream Broadcaster

The Saturday Wrap: 4/10/10

HTC Desire unlocked and in stock

Are you on Verizon and looking for a phone that can do a little extra, but isn’t quite a full-fledged smartphone? According to BGR, it looks like you may have another alternative in a few weeks – the Samsung Reality. While it’s not a smartphone, it is still considered a 3G multimedia phone and carries some fairly significant specs for a phone of its class. The Reality sports a 3.0-inch touchscreen, a full QWERTY slide out keyboard, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and quite a few other features like social networking options and visual voicemail.  Launching in “Piano Black” and “City Red,” expect to see the device in all sales channels on April 22nd.

No word on the pricing just yet, however since the Reality is a 3G multimedia device, the device will require a $9.99 data plan (at minimum). I imagine that it will be less than $100 considering they’re offering quite a few smartphones in the sub-$100 range, but that’s only a guess.

Via: BGR

Jon of Tehkseven rounds up all of the big cellular news PhoneDog highlighted the week of April 4-10, 2010.  Watch his fast-paced exciting video of the week. 

Have $5,555.55 of spare cash that’s burning a hole in your pocket?  Yeah, I don’t either.  At any rate, the HTC EVO 4G “superphone” has arrived in Sprint’s internal systems (note the A9292 model number in the description), and a few months ahead of the Summer launch at that.  Worry not, EVO 4G lovers – the price will drop prior to launch.

If the screenshot doesn’t do it for you, be sure to check out the (rumored) plethora of in-store EVO 4G accessories.  With the retail stores carrying home docks, silicon sleeves, car docks, extended battery cases, and more, it will be a one-stop shop for those purchasing an EVO 4G at launch.  A few more months remaining – who’s excited?

Via Engadget

The launch party for Microsoft’s new Kin phones – two of ’em, set to hit Verizon in the US next month – is wrapping up here at Mighty in San Francisco. I just got some hands-on time with both devices, so look for videos soon.

What I really like about Kin is the extent to which Microsoft is really trying to revamp themselves. The Kin UI continues the much more visual approach that Microsoft is taking towards their new mobile products, as evidenced by Zune and Windows Phone 7. Kin’s UI is kind of like WinPhone 7 with a healthy dash of “youthfulness,” if youthfulness means color, irregularly-sized shapes, and a generally amped-up take on WP7’s bold, panning, and highly typographic look at feel.

Kin will come in two flavors when it launches, both featuring toucshcreens, full QWERTY boards and the same software. Kin One is what was leaked as “Turtle,” a vertical slider looks kind of like a slimmer, wider, shorter Palm Pre with a weird double-chin sort of design that leaves the sliding display flanked by the bottom half of the phone on top and bottom (See photo, it describes the design way better than my words do). The device will pack a five megapixel camera with SD video capture and flash, backed by 4GB of internal memory.

Kin Two is a more traditional-looking horizontal slider that steps up the multimedia specs with an 8MP cam, 720p HD video capture, and 8GB of internal memory. Both phones will feature WiFi in addition to 3G connectivity via Verizon’s EV-DO network. Both devices also are compatible with Zune Pass, as they’re the first phones to feature Microsoft’s Zune Experience.

I got a brief hands-on with both devices and came away both impressed and concerned. I also got a look at Kin Studio, an Web destination that promises to both provide automatic wireless sync of Kin users’ data (photos, videos, feeds, contacts, etc) while also displaying them in a highly graphic, timeline-based format accessible from any Web browser. Think of the Studio as a combination backup service and personal microblog.

Kin One isn’t for me, based solely on the form factor. That’s mainly a personal thing, as I prefer Kin Two’s horizontal slider design, but is also an opinion informed by the experience of trying to navigate Kin’s UI on One’s smaller, square-shaped display. I had an easier time making sense of “The Loop” – Kin’s MotoBlur-esque home screen that’s chock full of status updates and RSS feed headlines – on Two’s widescreen-style screen. I also like the layout of Two’s QWERTY board better, mostly because it fit my hands a bit better. 

Both devices feature multitouch capacitive displays that support pinch-to-zoom photo and Web browsing, and also recognize two-finger taps. I saw the two-finger gesture used to select photos for editing, and was told that it’s pervasive throughout other UI elements on the devices. Very cool – makes me wonder how else the gesture is implemented across the OS. The displays were bright and responsive, and given how visual and gesture oriented the entirety of the Kin experience seems to be, the integration of the touchscreen to UI elements and software performance will likely be pretty key to customer satisfaction when the phones hit store shelves.

My concern lies mainly with the business of the Kin UI. The Loop and features like “The Spot” – a system-wide drag-and-drop system for sharing status updates, Web clippings, photos and virtually anything else you like with contacts and social networks – are timely and look pretty well thought-out, but they rely heavily on Kin’s hyper-caffeinated user interface. I didn’t get enough time to really form a strong opinion, but I wonder if swiping and dragging through a heavily visual UI will prove more fun or more annoying than clicking through conventional text-and-icon menus on a regular basis. I’m not saying they won’t be Awesome, Man!, I’m just saying that a few weeks with a Kin as your daily driver will tell you much more about its daily usefulness than watching a six minute demo can.

Still, the Kin launch was more exciting than I thought it’d be, and not just because I got to hit a nightclub on Monday morning. Microsoft is to be applauded for seriously making over their mobile offerings this year. Once Kin One and Two (and, later this year, the first WP7 devices) arrive, we’ll be able to tell much more about the success of those efforts.

Apparently, Steve Jobs is responding to e-mail.  On a regular basis.  In addition to responses regarding the iPhone Developer Agreement, he responded to a fan’s question about OS 4 compatibility on the original iPhone with a short “sorry, no.”

Though it appears to be an official e-mail from Jobs, the company hasn’t commented just yet, so anything could change between now and then.  On one hand, I understand, as the phone is three years old.  On the other hand, it could be done (perhaps in paid form, like the iPod touch updates).  For those that still own and use your ($400) 2G iPhone on a regular basis, how do you feel?

Via Engadget

Technology: CDMA
Announced Carrier: Verizon Wireless 
Rumored Release Date: First of May 2010

Kin Two is a more traditional-looking horizontal slider that steps up the multimedia specs with an 8MP cam, 720p HD video capture, and 8GB of internal memory.  The Kin One and Kin Two will feature WiFi in addition to 3G connectivity via Verizon’s EV-DO network.  Check out our hands on pic and stay tuned for complete specs.

Technology: CDMA
Announced Carrier: Verizon Wireless 
Rumored Release Date: First of May 2010

Kin One is what was leaked as “Turtle,” a vertical slider looks kind of like a slimmer, wider, shorter Palm Pre with a weird double-chin sort of design that leaves the sliding display flanked by the bottom half of the phone on top and bottom. The device will pack a five megapixel camera with SD video capture and flash, backed by 4GB of internal memory.  The Kin One and Kin Two will feature WiFi in addition to 3G connectivity via Verizon’s EV-DO network.

Check out our hands on pic and stay tuned for complete specs.

 

 

Billed as the phone for people that are “actively navigating their social lives,” Microsoft’s KIN series (formerly “Project Pink”) is official.  First up, the KIN One.  Featuring a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and pebble-like design, the unit sports a 5.0-megapixel camera and 4 GB of built-in storage.  The KIN Two offers a sliding QWERTY keyboard, a larger screen, 8.0-megapixel camera, and 8 GB of of built-in storage.  Both devices offer a media player powered by Zune, and will support Zune Pass.

The Verizon Wireless press release is below.  For more information on the KIN series, click here.  The devices will be available in Verizon Wireless retail stores, online, and through telesales beginning in May.  Who’s planning on purchasing one?

Microsoft Ushers in the Next Generation of the Social Phone With KIN, a New Windows Phone
 
Microsoft, Sharp, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone unveil KIN, a new Windows Phone designed for broadcasting and sharing everyday moments.
 
REDMOND, Wash. — April 12, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. today announced KIN, a new Windows® Phone designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives. Brought to life through partnerships with Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and Sharp Corporation, KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with breakthrough new experiences called the Loop, Spot and Studio. KIN will be exclusively available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. beginning in May and from Vodafone this autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
 
“Working closely with our partners, we saw an opportunity to design a mobile experience just for this social generation — a phone that makes it easy to share your life moment to moment,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.”
 
A New Kind of Social Phone
 
With KIN, social networking is built into the fabric of the phone. KIN has a fun, simple interface, which is designed to help people publish the magazine of their life by making the people and stuff they love the focus rather than menus and icons. The unique hardware design was developed in partnership with Sharp to create a new kind of social phone. There are two models called KIN ONE and KIN TWO. Both phones feature a touch screen and slide-out keyboard. ONE is small and compact, making it a perfect fit for a pocket and to operate with one hand. TWO has a larger screen and keyboard, in addition to more memory, a higher resolution camera, and the ability to record high-definition video. The 5 and 8 megapixel cameras in ONE and TWO, respectively, are designed for use in low light with image stabilization and a bright LumiLED flash.
 
The New Way to Share
 
The home screen of the phone is called the KIN Loop, which is always up to date and always on, showing all the things happening in someone’s social world. KIN automatically brings together feeds from leading Microsoft and third-party services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter all in one place, making it easier to stay connected. Customers can also select their favorite people, and KIN will automatically prioritize their status updates, messages, feeds and photos. Another unique feature, the KIN Spot is a new way for people to share what’s going on in their world. It lets them focus first on the people and stuff they want to share rather than the specific application they want to use. Videos, photos, text messages, Web pages, location and status updates are shared by simply dragging them to a single place on the phone called the Spot. Once all the people and content are in the Spot to share, the consumer can choose how to share, and start broadcasting.
 
Your Phone, on the Web
 
KIN Studio is your phone online. Almost everything created on the phone is available in the cloud from any Web browser. Photos and videos are freed from the confines of the phone and presented in an online visual timeline so they are easy to view and share. The KIN Studio automatically backs up texts, call history, photos, videos and contacts, and populates a personalized digital journal so it’s easy to go back in time to relive a crazy weekend or recent birthday. And the KIN Studio gives customers tons of storage to keep all those photos, videos, contacts and texts so they’ll never run out of space on their phone and lose a memory.
 
Music and More
 
KIN will be the first Windows Phone to feature a Zune experience — including music, video, FM radio and podcast playback. With a Zune Pass subscription, customers using Zune software on their PC can listen to millions of songs from Zune Marketplace on their KIN while on the go, or load their personal collection. KIN also has other features customers want in a phone including a rich browser with the ability to share pieces of the Web, local and Web search by Bing, and an RSS feed reader to pull down information on people and stories from the Web.
More information and a complete fact sheet on KIN are in the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/KIN.
 
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
 

Days after CEO Jon Rubinstein vehemently defended the company’s stability, Palm has officially placed themselves on the market.  According to Bloomberg, Palm has hired Goldman Sachs and Qatalyst Partners to find prospective buyers.  As it stands, HTC, Lenovo, and Dell have expressed interest in the company, though Dell decided not to make an offer.  Rumors circulate around potential offers from Huawei Technologies and ZTE as well, though both declined comment on the matter. Compared to a 60 percent slide since the beginning of the year, Palm shares rose 71 cents, or 14 percent, to $5.87 in trading this morning.  The surge follows a 32 percent rise last week based on speculation of a buyout.

With 11 straight quarterly losses under their belt, it’s understandable that Palm needs to find a buyer as quickly as possible.  Founded in 1992, the company has an incredible history and a strong brand that should be appealing to any potential buyer.  Not only were they a “founding father” in the PDA market, but they offer a well-received operating system (webOS) as well.  Combine Palm with a company that makes fantastic hardware but seeks an edge in the software side (like everyone else, HTC immediately comes to mind), and you have a well-rounded organization.

Time will tell, but I’m sure we’ll hear more as the week goes on.  Who would you like to see purchase the Sunnyvale-based company?  Shout out in the comments section!

Via Bloomberg, Engadget

Noah is live at Mighty SF in San Francisco for the Microsoft / Verizon launch.

The much anticipated Twitter client developed by RIM itself has now been moved from private beta to public beta. Over the past two months there has been quite a bit of hype about this new Twitter client being brought to the game, and now the wait is over. Though the application is not a full release, it is fully functional and is now a contender in the race for the best Twitter client.

Back when the initial version was released into private beta the application was fairly buggy, very slow, and obviously fresh out of the alpha phase. The public beta is the same version that was leaked last week, and In this version a long list of improvements were made due to feedback from the beta users. The list is as follows:

• Notifications of New Tweets and @Replies/Mentions
  • When an @reply/mention is received, the user will be notified with a splat on the BlackBerry home screen ribbon as well as the application icon
  • Users will also be notified of new tweets in the BlackBerry Messages list
• Twitter Lists Functionality
  • Comprehensive option to build a list of Twitter users on any subject
  • Ability to add members to the list and view subscribers of the lists
  • Users can also view other users’ lists
• Profile Editing
  • Users can edit their own Twitter profile from the application
  • Users can also change their profile image from the application
• Personalization Settings
  • Users can customize the look of the application with the ability to:
  • Show/hide the navigation bar and tweetbox
  • Change the font/style to their own preferred choice
  • Users can click on a Twitter profile image and it will be enlarged for better viewing abilities
• Improved in-Application Caching/Polling
  • Increased on-device caching for Timeline; Mentions to improve application performance
  • Enlarged Avatar (Profile Picture) Viewing
  • Push Notifications for Direct Messages
  • Timeline Support
  • Following & Followers
  • Posting, Sending, Deleting, Replying and Re-Tweeting Tweets
  • User/Saved/Keyword/Proximity Search

I’ve been using the Twitter for BlackBerry client fairly regularly and I must say, it is a very nice application. I’m glad to see RIM finally release it to the public, even if it is a beta version. To get your own copy of the Twitter for BlackBerry beta, head over to the Test Center for App World or you can download it OTA (from your BlackBerry Browser) by clicking here.

Tell us what you think about the client in the comments! (Remember, this is still in a beta phase which means RIM is looking for feedback.)

You may remember the Samsung Galaxy S from CTIA last month – the promising phone that was slightly overshadowed by Sprint’s WiMAX beast, the EVO 4G.  But let’s not forget about some of it’s powerful specs like the 1GHz processor, 4.0-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, and Android 2.1, just to name a few. 

Last week, rumors were afloat that the Galaxy S was headed to AT&T (which you may recall from Aaron’s post).  The rumors stemmed from the Samsung I897 receiving bluetooth certification and carrying AT&T’s standard radio frequencies (GSM/EDGE 850/1900 MHz).  And though the specs from the certification were VERY similar to what we know of the Galaxy S, the interesting part is that the model number for the Galaxy S is I9000, not I897 (though I imagine it’s entirely possible for different variants to carry different model numbers).

Fast forward a few days, and the Samsung I9000 has shown itself on the FCC website sporting 3G bands indicative of AT&T.  However, Engadget is quick to point out (and with good reason) that “Samsung could have just filed the testing paperwork to cover devices headed to Canada and Mexico.”  In any case, there’s a strong chance that we’ll be seeing the Samsung Galaxy S showing it’s face over at AT&T (Maybe they’ll call it the iGalaxyS?) this summer.

But don’t despair, there’s still plenty of time for another (T-Mobile perhaps) version to make its way through the FCC too.  Where would you like to see the Galaxy S?  Leave your comments below!

Via Engadget

It would seem the rumor-confirmation gods are favoring us this month.  Not only have we seen a variety of rumors, but many of them have been supported with very convincing evidence.  Continuing the trend, the fine folks over at Engadget have managed to uncover an FCC filing that appears to be showing the second generation of T-Mobile’s MyTouch (or the G1, depending on your opinion), with the addition of a QWERTY slider.

The FCC documents reveal that the device in question is definitely made by HTC, just as the MyTouch and G1, and that it’s supporting WCDMA Band IV, which is T-Mobile’s 3G band.  Last week we reported that the MyTouch Slide had shown itself (by name, not face) on RadioShack’s Direct2U system and that it’s rumored to launch around the 17th of May.

I’d like to say that clearing the FCC means that we should see this phone soon, but, last I checked the VZW Nexus One cleared the FCC mid-March and is still nowhere to be seen.  Anyone care to take a guess when we’ll see the MyTouch Slide?

Via Engadget

Note: As we were about to post this article, David from TmoNews uncovered the first picture of the MyTouch Slide seen in the wild (see above).  He mentioned that from the looks of it, the marketing campaign will be focused around the MyTouch’s personalization features, and that the rumored launch date seems to be May 19.

Technology: CDMA
Rumored Carrier: Verizon Wireless
Rumored Release Date: April 29, 2010

The HTC Incredible comes equipped with Android 2.1 (Eclair) with HTC Sense, 1 Ghz Snapdragon processor, 8GB internal memory, plus 512MB of ROM and 512MB DDR of RAM memory.  Other key features include an 8MP camera with video captures, easy access to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as a 3.5mm headset jack.  The best picture we found of the device is only a render so when the official HTC and Verizon pics become available we will update the site.

Ever read Dante’s Divine Comedy? Yeah, me neither. But you are familiar with the infamous Circles of Hell from Dante’s Inferno (the first section of the Divine Comedy), right? I’m taking some big poetic license here, but bear with me as I destroy Dante’s masterwork by appropriating the concept to describe how I deal with incoming notifications on my mobile: Noah’s Five Circles of Cell Phone Hell.

The nine circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno represent nine types of sin, described in ascending order of wickedness. My circles describe five types of notifications, also listed in ascending order of wickedness (annoyance) – or rather, descending order of importance. Put differently, the notifications in Circle One are things I deal with immediately, while the stuff in Circle Five rarely, if ever, even registers on my radar. 

Your Circles will no doubt be different; I make no bones about the fact that I’m an old, stubborn grump when it comes to who and what I pay attention to. There’s also the fact that my job keeps me tethered to a computer for most of the workday. So bear that in mind as you read the list and wonder to yourself, “How in the world is this guy a cell phone reviewer? Does he even like cell phones?”

1. First Circle: Voice Calls from My Family

There are a small handful of Caller IDs that, when they show up on my phone, prompt me to drop everything and take the call. For the purposes of this post I’ll call these IDs “Family,” but they’re really a mix of a few close family members, a few close workmates, and a few close friends. These represent the people who, if I don’t take their call, have the power to make me sad in one way or another – or, vice-versa, possess the innate ability to cheer me up simply by saying, “Hi.”

Voice calls demand attention, at least for me. Answering a phone requires me to stop what I’m doing, shift my mindset, and focus on what the voice at the other end of the line is saying. And, generally speaking, phone calls don’t cut to the chase: There’s a good deal of Hello, Goodbye, and chit-chat surrounding the real content of the message in a phone call. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that’s the best thing in the world, just chatting on the phone with a friend or family member. But in all honesty I don’t really like talking on the phone that much, especially when I’m trying to do something else. So it’s a small group of people for whom I’ll always pick up the phone.

Everyone else goes to voicemail unless I’m expecting your call, and have decided it’s worth answering. I don’t mean that to sound as arrogant, cocky, and antisocially nutso as it sounds. It’s just the truth. It’s how I stay connected and semi-sane. I’m a busy guy. I’m not really sure what I’m so busy doing, but the time seems to slip away from me on the regular, so I gotta limit those phone calls that have a way of going on and on and on.

Caveat: When I’m not working, I won’t necessarily take those work calls. Unless the boss calls, texts, and calls again. Even I’m not dumb enough to ignore that sequence.

2. Second Circle: Text Messages

Texting rules. Texts are short, they’re easy to reply to and even easier to ignore, and they’re quite often fun. Texts can include emoticons, photos, and audio/video clips, which make them even better. Also, did I mention that texts are short? The combination of what a pain it is to type on a phone keyboard and the 140 character limit on SMSing is brilliant. By and large, if you want something from me, text me. I may not actually respond (at least not right away), but the odds are I’ll at least read your text, whereas I may never actually listen to your voicemail.

3. Third Circle: Unread Email Notifications

Blinking LED, pop-up notification, or ever-growing number in a little circle on the homescreen, I do pay attention to the fact that I have new and unread Emails coming into my phone. That doesn’t help with the fact that it often takes me hours, days, or even weeks to respond to those Emails, but I am aware that they’re there. I have to be – so much of my work and social life is run on Email these days, I would literally risk losing my job and friends if I ignored Email for too long. In other words, I’m addicted to Email and most people who want to get ahold of me know that, whether they know me personally or not. Email me and I’ll get the message, sooner or later.

Of course my Inboxes have their own Circles of Hell governing what gets responded to and in what order, but that article would take way too long to write. And while I do notice when my number of unread Emails increases, the number itself is irrelevant. Between my desktop video editing computer, my laptop, and the various smartphones I’m constantly testing and switching between, the numbers fluctuate wildly and are basically meaningless. Watch some of my phone review videos and you’ll see unread Email numbers ranging from 20something to literally 10,000+. Meaningless.

4. Fourth Circle: Emails from Twitter (i.e. Social Networking Notifications)

This one’s a little odd-sounding, I know. For most people, this circle would entail push notifications from social networks: Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, what have you – pings that automatically show up on your phone letting you know that somebody DM’d, poked, checked in, or otherwise did something you want to know about. Me, I keep all non-Email push notifications off (see #5 below), obsessively check Twitter manually, and currently don’t use any other social networks on a regular basis. So this circle of notifications is basically limited to those Emails from Twitter alerting me to new Direct Messages. 

What’s funny about this is that half the time I’m notified of a new DM via Email I wind up Emailing the person back instead of logging onto Twitter to return the DM. In those cases, confusion and hilarity often ensues.

5. Fifth Circle: Push Notifications

Here’s the one that many of you will probably disagree with, but remember it has more to do with odd lifestyle and odder personality than the global worth of the technologies involved: I hate push notifications on cell phones. Professionally speaking I understand the appeal, understand how valuable they are to many smartphone users, and have strong opinions about good implementations of push notifications (Android, webOS) and bad implementations (iPhone OS). When I have a new smartphone to test I set up my Email, calendars, social networks, and so on and enable push notifications in order to properly test the device.

Personally speaking? I leave them off. All of them except Email. Calendar notifications aren’t really push, since they’re based on locally kept data that’s programmatically synced with server-based data. And besides, the only events that show up on my calendar are the ones I put there (or accept invitations to), anyway. 

But notifications telling me that I’ve got new tweets, new Twitter mentions, am in close proximity to a Facebook or Foursquare buddy, am just a few blocks away from a sale at the Gap or rapidly approaching thunderstorm, or that someone’s waiting for me to take my turn in online Scrabble? Forget it. The last thing I want is that stuff taking up my mental bandwidth or interrupting whatever it is I’m actually doing at a given moment.

Yes I’m old and stubborn, at least compared to that ever popular ‘Tweener demographic that so many early adopters are a part of. But more than my unwillingness to embrace the latest trends or any anti-social tendency against Tweet-Ups and making friends via online networking, it’s that I just need to reserve some mental space for my offline life. The constant flood of notifications offered up by social networks and social gaming platforms and breaking news services … it’s way too much for me. And so I leave it off.

And that is how I maintain some semblance of sanity while still maintaining the overconnectedness that my job – and nerdy propensity to love tech – demands. It may seem counterintuitive that the Phone Guy sets his Pushes to “Off,” but what can I tell you? It’s how I do it.  So if you really want to get in touch with me, don’t send me a Facebook message or rely on an @mention. I might get the @mention, but it might not be right away – it’ll be when I decide to log back into Twitter. The Facebook message I’ll never read. 

What about you? The folks who really want to reach you know how to get to you, right? So what do your personal Circles of Cell Phone Hell look like? What – and Who – are the best ways to reach you?

The Strive has a full QWERTY keyboard and 2.6″ screen, but it’s not a touchscreen. Does it make up for this with other features and achieve all it “strives” to? Sydney does a full review.

We’re a few days away from Microsoft’s official announcement, but a observant individual has already spotted one of Microsoft’s “Project Pink” phones in the wild.  The video is a bit blurry and doesn’t show the phone in great detail, but hey – a video is better than no video. 

Check it out, and stay tuned for Monday’s live coverage of the Microsoft press event!

Via SlashGear

As much as I’d like to believe that the BlackBerry 9300 is a high-end device, it appears that the 9300 series is slated to replace the current Curve 8500 series of devices.  According to a UAProf document, it will sport a 320 x 240 display along with 802.11n Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity.  Processor, memory, OS, and other important details are still unknown, but I doubt it will be secret for much longer. 

All in all, nice improvements to the 8500 series line – and hey, not everyone needs the latest and greatest.  I hope that OS 6.0 and the improved WebKit browser are available by the time this puppy hits the market.  What say you?

Via BGR