Motorola Droid Review

This is a review initially posted by www.pcworld.com,with pictures from engadget.com that I found to be informitive, so I thought I would re-post it on my blog.....enjoy!!

The first Android 2.0 phone impresses with a strong suite of Web features and a stunning 3.7-inch display, but some users might have trouble with the shallow keyboard.
The first time you pick up the Motorola Droid ($200 with a two-year contract from Verizon; price as of 10/28/09), you'll notice its solid feel and heft--there's a lot going on behind the crisp, 3.7-inch touchscreen. Making good use of Android 2.0's new features, the Droid is a powerful Web surfing and communications tool that has a chance of living up to its hype. The Droid's biggest flaw, however, is in its hardware design: The keyboard is shallow and flat, which can make typing uncomfortable.

At 0.54 inch thick, the Droid is slightly beefier than the 0.48-inch-thick iPhone 3GS, but it still has room for a 40-key, slide-out QWERTY keypad. At just under 6 ounces, it's about an ounce heftier than the iPhone 3GS. When closed, the 4.56-by-2.36-inch Droid is almost the same size as the 4.5-by-2.4-inch iPhone 3GS.

Motorola is quick to point out that the Droid's 480-by-854-pixel display offers 409,920 pixels, more than double the 153,600 pixels that the 480-by-320-pixel, 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone 3GS offers. The Droid's resolution also compares well against that of Android 1.6-based phones such as T-Mobile's myTouch 3G, which has a 3.2-inch, 480-by-320-pixel display.

The Droid's keyboard doesn't occupy the full length of the phone; a four-way directional pad with a select button sits on the right side. The keys are backlit, but since they're mostly flat, you'll need to keep an eye on what you're typing until you get a feel for the phone. A small lower lip protrudes from the bottom when the phone is closed, revealing only the Verizon logo and the microphone. Like other Android phones, the Droid has an accelerometer and reorients quickly when you hold the display sideways.

Unfortunately, the handset has a few hardware-design quirks. The keyboard is so shallow--and the keys themselves are so flat--that our testers (with various hand sizes) had trouble using it. In addition, the top keys are very close to the ledge of the display, so your fingers are constantly knocking against it. The Droid is also missing physical Talk and End keys, which are pretty much standard on every other cell phone ever made. You must access these controls from the call application.

The Droid, which supports the 1900MHz and 800MHz CDMA EvDO bands on the Verizon Wireless network, comes with a 1,400-mAh battery rated at 270 hours of standby time and 385 minutes of talk time. It also has a preinstalled 16GB memory card and offers Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 support, which includes the use of stereo headsets and a Wi-Fi adapter.

The phone provided excellent call quality, even in a New York hotel lobby full of noisy Phillies fans headed to Yankee Stadium for the World Series. Parties on the other end of my calls reported no problems.

Especially snappy is the Droid's Web browser, which loads images quickly thanks to the powerful 550MHz processor and speedy hardware-accelerated graphics. Though you are at the mercy of your 3G high-speed data network coverage, once you're in it, Web surfing is breezy and smooth. Video from sites such as YouTube looks equally impressive; the playback of a high-definition YouTube cartoon ("Sita Sings the Blues") was excellent, with no stalling or audio dropouts. Audio also sounded great piped through a pair of high-quality headphones. The straightforward music player supports playlist building, album art, and shuffle and loop playback modes. You can purchase DRM-free music at the Amazon MP3 store via the preloaded app on the device.

Preinstalled on one of the three home screens are icons labeled Messaging, Phone, Contacts, Browser, Maps, and Market. Notably absent on the Droid are Verizon's V Cast services, which include live streaming videos and other entertainment offerings. A new Power Control widget allows one-touch control over power-hungry features such as the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters, the GPS receiver, and the backlight. You can turn off data synchronization to save additional power, too.

As in Android 1.6, in 2.0 a universal search from the phone's home page delves into the contact list, browser history, and other content in the phone, as well as on the Internet. And as with all Android devices, you'll need a free Google account to take advantage of the phone's key features, including the contact list and the calendar, which are synchronized with your Web-based account.

You'll also find the familiar notification bar at the top; you can expand it by touching it and dragging it downward. At the bottom (or the side, in landscape mode) is a slide-open launch window with icons for all of the installed applications and links to the settings menu and other phone features.

Android 2.0 builds on the Google Maps features introduced in Android 1.6 by adding a Layers option that lets you place extra location-enabled features on top of the map you're viewing. A Wikipedia layer, for example, generates icons for locations on your map that have Wikipedia entries.

Since Google Maps navigation is voice-enabled, you can say the name of your destination to get turn-by-turn directions. One nice aspect of the new navigation features is the nifty use of Google's Street View: As you approach your destination, an interactive photo of the actual location pops up with an arrow to point you in the right direction. Instead of having to look for a building number, for example, the Street View provides visual confirmation that you're in the correct place--or at least mighty close to it.

The dedicated camera button provides quick access to snapshot and video taking. The Droid's 5-megapixel camera includes a dual-LED flash and supports DVD-quality video recording and playback at 720 by 480 pixels. As in Android 1.6, in 2.0 you handle the camera and video capabilities in a single window. The camera has a respectable amount of advanced features, such as scene modes, color effects, and white balance controls. Snapshots that I took outdoors looked great, especially on the Droid's stunning display. Indoor shots, however, suffered from a significant amount of graininess. The dual-LED flash tended to blow out colors and details for indoor shots, as well.

Another nice touch is how the Droid interacts with its accessories. When you place it in its car-window mount (sold separately; price not yet announced), the Droid automatically enters "Car Home" mode, in which it looks more like a stand-alone GPS device. Large icons labeled View Map, Navigation, Voice Search, Contacts, Search, and Home fill the screen, and the display rotates as needed.

When you insert the Droid into an optional tabletop dock (sold separately; price not yet announced), it sits at a good angle for watching videos or just poking through e-mail. It immediately switches to a sort of alarm-clock mode and displays the time in large figures while providing other information, such as the temperature, in smaller type below.

The challenge for Android app developers is to take advantage of 2.0's new features, including its ability to link apps more closely to the contact list. As you view a contact, you will see a floating set of icons for the services the person is connected to, such as Facebook. Note that while most existing apps should run fine on Android 2.0, some that were optimized for Android 1.5 and 1.6 may have to be tweaked for the new version.

The Motorola Droid certainly stands out among the growing Android army due to its superior hardware and enhanced 2.0 software. But will the Android Marketplace catch up to the iPhone's App Store? Therein lies the key to success for the Droid. The Droid certainly lives up to its promises and does a lot of things the iPhone doesn't. The iPhone will probably keep its smartphone throne for now, but it will have to deal with a powerful new competitor.

cnet review - iPhone 3G S First Take

iPhone fans got what they were waiting for June 8 when the third-generation model of Apple's popular handset made its debut during the WWDC 2009 keynote. The iPhone 3G S, which will hit stores June 19, promises a faster iPhone with an extended battery life, more memory, and improved features. It looks exactly the same as the previous model, but both the 16GB ($199) and new 32GB ($299) models will come in white and black versions.

Though the jump from the iPhone 3G to the 3G S isn't quite as big as the jump from the first- to second-generation models, this latest handset still adds enough new features to make it a compelling upgrade for some users. And when you add in all the new features that will come with the iPhone OS 3.0 (available June 17), we finally get an iPhone that can run thousands of snazzy applications and do something as basic as send a multimedia message.

Yet, we still have some concerns. A faster AT&T 3G network isn't going to happen overnight, and some features, like tethering and the aforementioned multimedia messaging, won't happen right away. We also came away from the keynote without any mention of call quality, which, as any iPhone owner can tell you, remains far from perfect. But most importantly, the iPhone 3G S's price will vary widely depending on your eligibility. If you can get it at the lowest prices, it's worth your while. But if you're not yet eligible for a discounted upgrade, we suggest that you wait.

iPhone 3G S
(Credit: Apple)

Speed
Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, promised that iPhone 3G S (the "S" stand for speed) will be faster in a number of ways. Not only will a new processor enable it to load apps faster, but it will also utilize an upgraded AT&T 3G network for speedier Web browsing. We expected both of these improvements, so we're not surprised that they are the new model's prime selling points. I'll start with the processor.

Schiller didn't provide any hard metrics on the new processor, but he said that the 3G S would open applications two times faster than the previous two iPhones. Honestly, this isn't something that we've been pining for--we would much prefer to get Palm Pre-style multitasking--but we'll welcome it just the same. We'll have to wait for a review model to see how much faster the 3G S is.

On the other hand, we've eagerly been awaiting zippier 3G speeds, so we're glad to hear that they're on their way. Here, too, Schiller was short on specifics outside of mentioning AT&T's forthcoming HSPA network upgrade to 7.2Mbps. That is an important qualifier considering that AT&T won't start rolling out the faster network until later this year. What's more, full deployment is scheduled for 2011. Though we expect that urban areas will be first, coverage will vary widely for the next year, at least. As such, we don't predict any miracles soon.

You can trim video clips right on the iPhone.
(Credit: Apple)

Battery life
Though battery life on the first iPhone was mostly satisfactory, the iPhone 3G sucks up juice rapidly. Indeed, you're lucky if your handset lasts longer than a day of heavy use. Luckily, the iPhone 3G S offers some hope. Schiller rattled off statistics that certainly sound promising. It should offer 9 hours of Wi-Fi battery life, 10 hours on video playback, 30 hours on audio playback, 12 hours 2G talk time, and 5 hours 3G talk time. Like with the processor, we'll have to wait for our review unit to see if these ratings hold up, but we like what we're hearing so far.

Camera
Up until now, the iPhone's camera has been good, but far from great. Though picture quality is decent, camera editing features on the first two iPhones are nonexistent. The minimalist shooters bothered us so much that we began to worry if Apple was leading a new trend of "dumbing down" cell phone cameras.

The iPhone 3G S, however, has helped put some of those fears to rest. Apple boosted the camera's resolution to 3 megapixels and it added an autofocus feature. In the future, you'll also get settings for white balance, exposure, low-light sensitivity, and a macro mode for close-up photos. The autofocus feature appeared to work well during the keynote so we're looking forward to testing it ourselves.

Use voice vontrol to make calls and play songs.
(Credit: Apple)

Video recording
When we last asked about video recording at the OS 3.0 announcementin March, Apple wouldn't comment on whether it would come to the iPhone. So we have to admit that we weren't expecting it to happen anytime soon. But thanks to its improved camera, the iPhone 3G S will offer the ability to record VGA clips at 30 frames per second. It also promises a nifty editing feature that will let you trim clips to your liking. And once you're done, you can upload them to YouTube with just a couple of clicks. Again, it looked good onstage so we're excited to check it out.

Voice Control
We've long berated Apple for not including voice dialing on the iPhone. So when we heard that it would be on the iPhone 3G S, our initial reaction was a cynical "it's about time." Yet, our hearts softened just the slightest bit when we saw that the new Voice Control feature will go far beyond just voice dialing and commands.

Sure, you'll be able to dial a contact using your voice, but you'll also be able to activate the iPod player by asking for a particular music track or artist. What's more, you can use Voice Control to identify a song by name and you can ask to play related tracks (as they're associated in the iTunes Genius feature). Seeing those additional features almost makes us forgive Apple for taking so long to add something as basic as voice dialing, but not quite.

Find your way with the digital compass.
(Credit: Apple)

Compass
We were a little skeptical when we heard that the new iPhone might offer a digital compass. Yet, Schiller confirmed that the rumors were true. Like any other compass it will automatically point to north, but it also will integrate with Google Maps to point you in the right direction. A nice touch, to be sure.

What didn't we get?
Fortunately, this list is getting shorter with each incarnation of the iPhone. Though OS 3.0 adds many notable missing features like multimedia messaging, turn-by-turn directions and stereo Bluetooth, there are a few capabilities still lacking. Flash support for the Safari browser, app folders for the home screen and USB mass storage are just a few. And hey, though we know that we'll never get it, we'll throw in a user-replaceable battery too.

So should you buy it?
Like we said earlier, the iPhone 3G S offers some notable feature improvements, but it doesn't offer quite the same leap that the iPhone 3G offered over the first-generation model. If you don't own an iPhone yet, and you've been waiting around to see what happens, now is the time to go for it. The same goes for iPhone Classic owners who never made the jump to the iPhone 3G.

But, if you're a current iPhone 3G owner, the answer isn't so clear. If you're eligible to upgrade at the cheaper prices ($199 or $299), then we suggest doing so, as long as you remember that a new two-year contract is required. If you own an iPhone 3G, but are not eligible for the upgrade yet, then we recommend waiting. As much as the iPhone 3G S brings, it's not worth the extra $200 that both the 16GB and 32GB models will cost you. In the meantime, you will get the new OS 3.0 features when they're released for the iPhone 3G on June 17. But not only that, you'll have extra money to spend on apps.

Moto Q Smartphone Review - As posted by Exploding Robot.

Moto Q Smartphone

Phones are for function, not fashion. That's fact, not opinion—ask any serious stylist. Yet still we see thousands of impeccably dressed businessmen wearing their Blackberries on their belts like some sort of off-kilter techno Batman belt buckle.

While the function-not-fashion rule still applies to the Moto Q, it's so slim and pretty that one could almost forgive an executive for choosing to holster it on his waist. Almost, but not quite. Especially since, at just 11.5mm thick, it perfectly fits in the breast pocket of a jacket, or, if need be, one's trousers. And, of course, that's saying nothing of how easily it would slide into one of the many lined pockets of a woman's purse. But go ahead and wear it, showboat.

But form factor is just one of many reasons to get excited about the Q, the first smartphone to pose a serious challenge to RIM's dominating Blackberry when it comes to mobile email.

Simply put, the Q's email functionality is terrific. It runs on Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition, using Outlook Mobile for an email client, which means anyone familiar with the desktop version of Outlook will be right at home. It's simple, intuitive, and—most importantly—quick. Checking and composing email is fast and easy, even if you work with multiple accounts.

Another key factor in judging a device's mobile email capabilities is means of text input, and the Q's QWERTY keyboard is one of the best on the market. The buttons are backlit, slightly raised, and tacky to the touch (providing good grip for fingertips). We suffered very few typos in our tests.

While the email functionality is attractive, hardcore business users may be turned off by the Q's lack of office productivity applications. But Motorola left out these apps on purpose. The company isn't positioning the Q as a replacement for Blackberries, which are targeted squarely at the corporate world, but rather as a hipper platform geared for consumer and light business use. And it meets the needs of that market perfectly.

Indeed, its consumer applications are almost limitless. The Q sports terrific photo and video capabilities with its 6x digital zoom camera. The massive, bright, colorful screen makes the Q a great mobile platform for capturing images (not coincidentally, the Q was used by amateur filmmakers at this year's Toronto International Film Festival in a workshop for the creation of mobile movies). It lacks the still and video editing capabilities of a phone like the Nokia 6682, but the WMA and JPG files it outputs are easy to work with using a PC-based application.

It does a nice job with music as well. The Q uses Windows Media Player Mobile as a player, and its interface will feel intuitive to anyone with experience with the desktop version. The Q's small stereo speakers are surprisingly powerful, though predictably tinny. It's best with headphones, obviously-which, to service provider and handset vendor Telus' shame, don't appear to be included in the off-the-shelf package.

One final note regarding multimedia capabilities: the Q has less than 100MB of accessible onboard memory for all applications, which means if you plan on receiving a lot of email, taking plenty of photos or videos, or using the Q as a music player, you'll need to invest in a Mini-SD card to increase storage capacity. That's right; the MotoQ has extendable memory capability, unlike many other smartphones. Nice touch.

Turning to performance, calls were clear and loud, and data transfers were fast and reliable (the Moto Q comes EV-DO ready). We didn't conduct any formal battery tests, but Motorola rates the Q for 200 minutes of Talk Time and 200 hours on standby. We used the Q extensively, making calls, sending and downloading data, and testing the photo and video functions, before it petered out, and were left with the feeling that battery life was perfectly acceptable.

It seems as though a critical review should have a few more criticisms, but, simply put, there's not much to dis'. It might not meet power business users' needs for document authoring and editing, but that's a design choice, not a flaw. The only other downside is price of use: smartphone service plans are more expensive than they should be, but, again, that's not the Q's fault. People in the market for a smart phone will have a tough time finding a more compelling alternative, however. Telus offers the Q for $600 without a plan, or $250 with a three-year contract (plans range from about $30 to $170 per month, plus additional bandwidth/minute fees, in some cases).

Storm II, cheap Curves coming to Blackberry

Storm II, cheap Curves coming to Blackberry

As reported by IT News, Research in Motion is working on a new version of the Blackberry Bold that combines a touch screen with a QWERTY keyboard, a low-cost version of the Curve and a successor to the Storm featuring a tactile touch screen, according to sources.

There were officially no new handhelds announced officially at RIM's Wireless Enterprise Symposium this year, but behind closed doors RIM has been briefing some of its closest partners on a slew of new devices that are in the works.

Sources present at these meetings told iTnews that RIM plans to abandon the trackball in all future models of the Blackberry, which will be replaced on all models by a laptop-like sensor pad.

Within six months RIM will also announce a new device that combines Blackberry's signature QWERTY keyboard with a touch screen.

The device will be the successor to the Blackberry Bold but no decision has yet been made on what this device will be named when it comes to market.

RIM is shortly expected to also announce a second version of the consumer Blackberry Storm device. Storm's successor will be far more enhanced than its predecessor, which has not been the most practical or ergonomically friendly device RIM has ever released.

The new Storm will feature tactile touch - users will not only be able to navigate via touch but also push their fingers against the screen to "click" on content.

Finally, while RIM founder and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis told iTnews the visionary handset manufacturer had no plans to release cheaper devices to accommodate tough economic times, sources told iTnews RIM is planning a cheaper model of the popular Blackberry Curve, expected to be priced at under US$300 and released before the end of the year.

RIM declined an invitation to comment.

"The Boy Genius Report" - Review of Nokia E71

Nokia E71 review
Posted by The Boy Genius on May 25, 2008 12:09 pm


So there’s this phone called the Nokia E71. It magically showed up on our doorstep yesterday (shout out to FedEx Sameday!) and was begging for us to review it. Well, we’re not going to disappoint you. In fact, there will be no disappointment at all as you’ll see in our review. The Nokia E71 has officially entered the ring, and it’s coming out fighting. Spoiler Alert: we love this phone. Full review is after the break!

Design:

Obviously this is subjective, but this could really be one of the sexiest damn phones we’ve seen in a very long time. We could do without the tacky pattern on the back battery cover, but we’ll let it slide this time. The entire phone is chrome and while it’s definitely a fingerprint magnet (just have your assistant wipe it down for you) it looks really sharp in person. Everything is proportionate and sort of just works well together. The middle select key actually serves as the notification light, too. So when you have a missed event, the border around the middle key will glow white until you cleared the event, or until the expiration time you set for the notification light expires. It’s a nice touch and a creative way to get rid of the annoying older-fashioned status light. Oh yeah…did we mention this thing is thin? Seriously, we don’t know how they did it. Especially with everything that’s packed in here…man, that BlackBerry Bold is just huge compared to this. Everyone is going to have to step it up after this because as of now, we can’t find one single thing Nokia sacrificed to make the device this thin and compact.

Screen:

There’s a 320×240 screen on the E71 and it looks very sharp. It’s not as bright as the N95, but it’s very clear and easy on the eyes. Screen real estate isn’t a problem at all as we find it more pleasurable to use than an N95. Pictures and video look very detailed and clean. There’s a decent amount of contrast when looking at media, and you’ll especially appreciate the screen during some heavy web browsing.

Connectivity:

The world must be changing. Remember when Nokia would hold every single feature above your head and never give you the perfect phone? Well, we’re finally getting past that. We’re not positive if there’s support for the 2100MHz band here, so for now, we’ll assume it doesn’t have it and there will be a US NAM model, and European model. In terms of the hard connectivity specs, you’ve got a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone with 850MHz/1900MHz UMTS/HSDPA support, Wi-Fi 802.11 a,b,g, Bluetooth 2.0, and GPS. Like most recent Nokia’s, the GPS is assisted by the network, but fret not because there still is a physical GPS chip in here.

Sound:

Like the E61 and E61i before it, the E71 houses a single speaker in the upper left of the phone. It seems louder than the E61 and it’s pretty clear for ringtones and alert sounds. Music sounds fine on it, but it’s not perfect. Bass is seriously lacking and you do get a “tinny” sort of sound. It is very, very loud, though, so you can be sure that alarm is going to get your ass out of bed in the morning.

Email:

What good would an E-Series device be without email? Besides the normal POP3/IMAP supported protocols, Nokia’s Mail For Exchange comes with the device out of the box and is incredibly easy to setup. The handset supports BlackBerry Connect (though we didn’t actually try it) and we’d imagine Goodlink as well. The messaging application had a little bit of a visual makeover, and it’s for the better. Text is extremely readable and emails look great. We’d have loved to see support for HTML email, but oh well.

Keyboard:

If there had to be one negative to the E71 (relax, it’s not the end of the world) it’s going to be the keyboard. Again, not a huge deal, but if we had to pick one thing to single out it’s the keyboard and it quite possibly won’t bother you. It did annoy us, though. Think of the physical keys on the E71 the same as the E61, just a lot smaller. They’re also not as squishy which is nice, and they’re pretty easy to press once you get it down. Our issue is, again, Nokia has not learned the basic keyboard layout and we personally can’t stand it. On a normal QWERTY keyboard the letter “z” is not directly under the letter “a”. It’s either under the letter “s” or somewhere in between the two. This makes typing a royal bitch if you’re not looking directly at the keyboard and is totally unnecessary. All they had to do is stick the damn period key in front of the “z” key and all would be well. Again, this might not be a big deal to you if you’re coming from a QWERTY E-Series already, but for us hardcore freaks who bang away constantly on the keyboard, we’d like the normal layout that’s used on basically every other QWERTY phone on the planet. Fix it please, Nokia. The keys have a nice white backlighting which makes them very easy to read. Just like the other models, the actual keys don’t light up, just the letters and symbols which makes for a very clean and sexy look.

Something also interesting is the inclusion of predictive text on here. You might be thinking why you’d ever need predictive text when you’ve got a QWERTY keyboard, but it actually helps more than it gets in the way. It sort of works like how the iPhone does. If you’re typing fast and accidentally misspell a word but keep typing and hit the space bar, it will auto correct and suggest that word for you. It can also save you a good amount of typing time as it will suggest words for you when you are halfway through them and a simple press of the space bar selects the suggested word and keeps you moving.

Expandability:

There’s a microSD card slot right above the microUSB port on the handset, so you should be able to expand the memory of the phone to the largest microSD card you can find. We haven’t checked data transfer speeds to the memory card over USB yet, but we’re assuming it’s on par with the rest of the Nokias.

Call quality:

Nokia and call quality go together like ham and burger. Kool-Aid and sugar. The E71 doesn’t disappoint. We’ve had such a pleasurable experience with it that we’ve been calling people randomly just to talk on the phone. In all seriousness, it meets or exceeds what we’ve come to expect and love from Nokia. A phone that excels as a phone, as it should. It actually went toe-to-toe with our BlackBerry Curve in terms of holding onto a signal in low coverage areas. And all you BlackBerry lovers out there know that RIM makes one hell of a cell radio in those things.

Battery:

There’s a 1500mAh battery in the E71, and with a full day of heavy use like constant email, phone calls, web browsing, and all around messing with the phone, we’ve still got around 2 bars left. There should be no concern with the battery life here.

Conclusion:

We’re at the end of the review, but by now, you’ve seen how impressed we are with the phone. It takes a lot to get us excited but the E71 has done it. This thing, in our opinion, is the best phone Nokia has made to date. That’s a very bold statement, we know. But this really is going to be the phone to beat by a lot of manufacturers. From the design, to the specs, to the size, the feel — it has the entire package. It’s not for everyone, though. Some people prefer a straight up phone like a flip phone, but in terms of a smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard, this takes the cake. It is just striking compared to the shit device the E61 was. It’s ok, we still love y’all that carry the E61, but this puts it to shame. One thing I personally can’t get over is the awesome dimensions of the device. It’s so perfectly thin, yet incredibly comfortable to hold and use. We just hope Nokia doesn’t wait too long to bring this to market as they need to strike now. Like right now. This second. After seeing all of the detailed shots and our impressions, how do you guys feel about the phone? Are you foaming at the mouth waiting for it or ice-grillin’ us?

Blackberry 8330 (Curve)

The Blackberry 8330 (Curve)is less business like compared to the version of their Blackberry 8830 smart phone. It has a "pearl" track ball, and has a 2MP (1600 x 1200) camera for still photographs and video. It also a media player to view pictures and videos, and play music.

This version of the Curve also has a built-in GPS . However, using GPS, you have to download maps online, which in turn uses up data. The 8330 also works on the EVDO network which is faster than EDGE. Unfortunately there is no wi-fi capabilities on this phone, so everything you do online will require the use of a data plan. You can however, insert a microSD(HC) card for extra memory. The fact is you will need a microSD card to record video. The built-in memory is very minimal.

As for the other features, it has the same old regular Blackberry features.

The Blackberry Curve has the smallest of the full-QWERTY keyboard that they've made. The unit is thinner, smaller, and lighter than the other models. It also feels cheaper, because of how light it feels in your hand. The previous models had a heavy-hard plastic feel to it. Making it rugged & reliable.

The Blackberry interface was well thought. First time users may find there's a learning curve. Guaranteed though,you'll end up a Crackberry addict.

There are new features on this phone compared to previous generation Blackberry. You are able to customize your home screen. You can set it up to have only a few main icons, or more. If you prefer to access everything, you can change the layout to display all. Every item on the menu can be swapped out and moved, or hidden to suite your desires. With the menu button it's easier to customize the front. You can also customize almost every application.

The software applications are basically the same. All Media is accessed through the Media application. You can listen to mp3s, view videos, view pictures, and listen to your voice notes. The Music Player allows you to view your mp3s by artist, albums, genres, and you can create playlists. The music can also be played through the speaker phone.

With the Voice Notes Recorder you can save notes as an mp3, and then access it from your computer.

With the Video Camera you can record small videos. It tends to be a bit laggy at times, as the screen fails to refresh quickly, especially if items are moving a lot. which causes heavy pixelation. One good thing is that this camera has a light which is used for flash, and also for video.

The Curve has a 2 megapixel camera which produces 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution images. It is sufficient, and the norm for most cameras. You can adjust the digital zoom to 3x and 5x.

So over all, the Blackberry 8330 (Curve), is a solid, well rounded phone, that will support the needs of most.

Cheers for now,

dokken2007

The Acer Aspire one, Notebook PC, is it right for you?

Hey All,

I purchased an Acer Aspire One notebook last fall, as I was traveling to Northern Alberta to work in the Oil Patch, and needed a small compact laptop. The Acer Aspire One fit just that bill.

It is relatively small, with a screen dimension of just 8.9", and an overall dimension of 2.79cm Height x 24.89cm Width x 17.02cm Depth, and weighing just 2.4 pounds, it makes it an ideal travel laptop.

It runs on an Intel Atom Processor, with a 1.6GHz processor speed. Making it more than fast enough for all of my needs. It boasts a 160GB Hard Drive, and 1GB of memory.

It does how ever lack a DVD Drive, so the Acer Aspire One is well equipped with ports; three USB, plus VGA, Ethernet, headphone, and microphone jacks surround the system. Acer includes a 5-in-1 card reader (for transferring photos, music, and other files) on the right side of the unit, and an additional SD Card slot on the left.

Physically, the Aspire One is very similar to the slightly larger, pricier 10-inch MSI Wind, with a reasonably large keyboard that's much easier to use than the tiny almost smartphone-like keys found on the Asus Eee PC 901 or the Sylvania G Netbook. This is because the Aspire is wider than the Asus, and is a few ounces lighter. This is due to only having a small 3-cell battery. It includes a dedicated page-up and page-down keys, which are especially useful on devices with smaller screens that require lots of scrolling to get through long Web pages.

The touch pad is wide, but not very deep, similar to the one found on the HP 2133 Mini-Note. It's reasonably easy to use, at least as far as the small touch pads on Netbooks go. The mouse buttons are positioned to the left and right of the touch pad--not below it--which I personally do not care for, and find it somewhat difficult to get used to due to its small size.

The 8.9-inch wide-screen LCD offers a 1,024x600-pixel resolution, similar to other 9- and 10-inch Netbooks, such as the MSI Wind. It is wide enough to display most Web pages correctly.

Software includes Windows XP Home (with Service Pack 3),including several Windows staples such as McAfee Internet Security Suite, Microsoft Office 2007 (60-day trial), Windows Media Player, and Outlook Express 6.

Overall the Acer Aspire One is a well rounded, user friendly netbook. It is definately not a replacement for a full sized computer system, but is rather a compliment, or shall we say " a little brother" to.

Cheers for now,

dokken2007

BlackBerry Unleashes a World of Apps - For a Pretty Penny

Here's an article I came across regarding Blackberry's Apps, that I thought I would post.

This was Reported by, and is found at http://www.technewsworld.com

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"BlackBerry Unleashes a World of Apps - For a Pretty Penny"

Apple's iPhone App Store set the standard for success in mobile application markets, and the latest to try duplicating that success is Research In Motion, which rebranded its BlackBerry App Center with the new moniker, "BlackBerry App World."


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Research In Motion's (Nasdaq: RIMM) More about Research In Motion BlackBerry App Center is now called "BlackBerry App World." However, as mobile phone industry players know, when it comes to smartphone applications and how to sell them to customers, it's really Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) More about Apple world and we're all living in it.

That's why analysts who followed RIM's Wednesday announcement about the new name and details for its applications destination immediately began assessing its chances against the runaway success of Apple's App Store.

BlackBerry App World, which is expected to open for business later this spring for BlackBerry owners who live in the U.S., Canada and the UK, offers two distinct differences from Apple's store: Other than free apps, the minimum price has been set at US$2.99, and customers must set up accounts with PayPal for purchases. A large number of Apple apps can be found for 99 cents and $1.99, and you can use a Visa or MasterCard to buy them directly from Apple.
Pleasing BlackBerry's Core Audience

"The strategy here is to duplicate Apple's success," independent mobile phone/telecom analyst Jeff Kagan told the E-Commerce Times. "A number of carriers and other companies are going to try to make lightning strike twice. That said, these are tight economic times, and that can skew the results, so it might sound like a funny time to set that kind of pricing."

RIM's core audience for BlackBerry smartphones -- enterprise/business users, more affluent road warriors -- may not care about a $3 minimum for apps, Kagan said. "But there are plenty of my children's friends in high school who carry BlackBerries. They use it for email but don't synchronize for business. They might have a tough time looking at the dollars," and that might impact RIM's plans to expand the BlackBerry's business model.

The proof will be in the quality of the apps, said Gartner (NYSE: IT) More about Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney. "If you are a RIM device holder, there isn't much choice. You will buy what you can get. You aren't going to throw away the device," Dulaney told the E-Commerce Times. "So I think it will be moderately successful. But the real key is whether users and especially consumer users come to RIM because of their app store.

"The price will be a bit of a damper, but they will have to have the kinds of compelling applications that cause people to buy into the Apple store. And that will be a challenge. After all, how can you compete against 'Bubblewrap?'"
Potential Problems/the Developer's Cut

BlackBerry's financial agreements with developers give them a larger share of revenues than Apple and the major network carriers do for those who are writing their applications, "which gives developers more room to experiment and stir some things up and keep going. It's not quite as thin on the margin side, which spurs more innovation and experimentation," said IDC analyst/research manager Lewis Ward.

However, the fact that customers will have to set up an account with PayPal could be a hurdle to success, Ward told the E-Commerce Times. "That could be a very tough sell and could limit at least out-of-the-gate uptake of these premium apps. Maybe there's some way to get your enterprise to sign off on select apps in certain situations."

Ward also sees potential difficulties in getting more of the world to sign up for App World. Launching in only three countries may be a result of different regulatory issues in different countries, and it's unclear whether RIM has the capabilities to create enough excitement for each market. "I'm not sure that RIM is necessarily going to be in the best position to be able to deal with all that. You could have a vast amount of resources put into launching this thing in 50 different countries," Ward said.

**********************************************************************************

Cheers for now,

dokken2007

Canadian Cell Phone Provider Reviews

Hi All,

Here is a quick review of the Canadian Mobile Service Providers.

There are 3 companies who own and operate all of the networks in Canada.

These companies are:

Rogers Wireless: a division of the much larger Rogers Empire that own and operate cable TV service, TV stations, radio stations, and magazines

Bell Mobility: This is a division of Bell Canada, and is owned by Bell Canada Enterprises. Bell Canada Enterprises owns the CTV television network as well as most of the landline systems in Ontario and Quebec.

Telus Mobility: who is a conglomerate of western telephone and technology companies.

There are 4 types of networks:

1) A GSM system owned by Rogers

2) CDMA system owned by Bell Mobility

3) CDMA system owned by Telus Mobility

4) iDEN system (like Nextel) also owned by Telus Mobility.

There are numerous virtual network providers. The largest of these virtual providers are:

Fido: Owned by Rogers, and was once a distinct GSM network. The Fido network no longer exists, but Fido lives on as a defacto virtual operator that LOOKS LIKE a full network, just like they were before they were bought.

Virgin Mobile: The same company as in the US, but not totally owned by billionaire Richard Branson. They are in part owned by Bell Mobility and operates on the CDMA network.

President’s Choice: Which is owned by the very large food store chain called Loblaw’s. They use the President’s Choice name (most of them food items, but they also offer financial services and insurance under that name as well), and have extend the name to pre-paid wireless, which operates on the Bell Mobility CDMA network. This is a fast growing alternative in pre-paid cellular service.

*All Canadian cellular service providers are subject to federal tax (GST) and provincial tax (PST). The federal government also mandates a .50 cent service charge for 911 services.

All Canadian Service Providers that charge you a monthly services fee, also charge you a “System Access Fee”. This has absolutely nothing to do with “system access”, and is nothing more than a means of generating additional revenue *(I will follow-up with a later blog on this topic).

Currently Bell Mobility charges $8.95 per month, Rogers Charges $6.95 per month, as well as Telus at $6.95 per month. Prepaid Services do not charge this fee, but are subject to federal and provincial tax, and 911 fee.

Canadian Service Providers do prefer 3-year contracts, but these contracts are not mandatory. Customers have the choice of month-to-month (no contract) or shorter contracts of 1 or 2 years. Contracts rarely affect the monthly cost of whatever plan you choose, but instead they offer a varying degree of discount on the price of a new phone. The advantage of a 3yr contract is that of the discount given towards the Hardware purchased.

In-depth discussions on Canadian Service Providers can be found on Howard Forums; with discussions about whether or not Canadian prices are higher or lower than those of the US (I will post a future blog on this comparison). Canadian providers seem to offer better value for low-end users on prepaid and monthly plans, while US providers offer better deals to heavy users and data access.

Canadian Service Providers do honour grandfathered plans indefinitely. As long as subscribers stick with whatever price plan they started with, and don’t change it. Telus Mobility have plans dating back almost 10 years that include per-second billing that is no longer offered on current plans. An example of that would be “Telus Talk Halifax”, which allows unlimited calling within the Halifax Nova Scotia area, and often sell in $500-$1000 range as the plan is transferable.

Wireless number portability is also available, and is a nice option when obtaining Service Providers.

In closing, the 3 main Service Providers here in Canada offer a wide gamut of options, and will compete fiercely for your business. Shop around before deciding on a Service Provider. Determine what your needs and wants are, and what you are prepared to settle for. Ask questions, especially to those who are already dealing with these Service Providers to see if they have had any issues or concerns with them. I personally prefer Rogers, as I like the portability of having a SIM Card. I often change phones, and doing so with the other Providers requires a call to them in order to change phones, but in return have an inferior data package. There are trade offs for everything.

So look, touch, try and most of all enjoy the variety that Canadian Mobile Service Providers have to offer.

Cheers for now,

Dokken2007

Twitters Beware !!

As Seen Posted on CNET News !!

Expert: Twitter accounts hijacked in new attack

by Elinor Mills

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This is the malicious tweet that links people to a dubious Web site, Trend Micro says.

(Credit: Trend Micro)

Twitter users looking for a little entertainment on a boring Friday may want to go elsewhere to get their fix.

A new attack was hijacking Twitter users Friday, with at least 700 accounts being compromised in two hours beginning at about 11 a.m. PST (7 p.m. GMT), security researcher Rik Ferguson wrote on the Trend Micro blog.

Victims are clicking on a link in a tweet that lures them with the promise of chatting with a 23-year-old woman on a Webcam.

"It appears that there is a rash of Twitter account hijacking going on this evening," Ferguson wrote.

"Obviously we recommend against clicking on this link, it leads to a porn Webcam portal which looks to have been designed with credit card harvesting in mind," he wrote. "Affected users should change their password to a secure one as soon as possible."

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone confirmed the attack and said the company had reset the passwords of the compromised accounts and removed the "spammy updates." "Today we discovered about 750 Twitter accounts were broken into and had a link to a webcam site posted on the accounts," he wrote on his blog. It appears other sites and services have been affected by a similar attack.

Stone urged people to use strong passwords for their Twitter accounts and not to share passwords with anyone.

Twitter fended off a series of clickjacking attempts last month in which users were tricked into sending out spam tweets.

8 Reasons Why the Palm Pre Could Be the iPhone Killer

Hey All,

I found this article posted on "wireless and mobile news" to be rather interesting, so I thought I would share it with you.

Be Sure to follow the links provided !!

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So Will the Palm Pre be the iPhone Killer? StuffTV made this video with reasons why it might overtake Apple's iPhone. In fact, they have the most viewed video of the Palm Pre on YouTube.

Here are the reason they give:

1. Multi-touch magic, the iPhone would die for, such as the shortcuts bar.
   
2. The Palm Pre is built for multii-tasking with Linux for multiple programs.
   
3. Proper QWERTY keypad.
4. Decent 3 megapixel camera with flash that can upload directly to web.
5. Synergy of all email.
   
6. Synergy of calendars.
   
7. Amazom MP3 store directly available.
8. You don't need to open a browser to search, you can search directly from the built-in search app.

We'll have to wait until later this year to find out if the Palm Pre will in fact be the iPhone Killer.

Check out the Video located HERE !!


If you find this blog interesting, please post reply, and pass it on !!

Cheers for now,

dokken2007

Free Push Email for iPhone !!

Hey All,

Since obtaining my iPhone 3G upon its Canadian release, I have been using an alternate "Push Email" client called Mail2web.

Mail2web uses the Microsoft Exchange settings located under add email accounts on your iPhone.

"One of the coolest features available in the new iPhone 2.0 software update is the ability to get new email messages, contacts, and calendar events pushed to your device automatically. The catch: If you don't want to shell out $100 for MobileMe and you don't have a Microsoft Exchange server lying around, you're stuck pulling data or manually syncing it to your computer. But, if you're willing to roll up your sleeves, you can set up push email and wireless contact and calendar syncing using the free Microsoft Exchange service Mail2Web."

The first thing you need to do in order to have free push email on the iPhone is to set up a "FREE" Mail2web account, which you can find at http://mail2web.com/

Once your account is set up, you are now ready to set up your iPhone to receive push email through Mail2web.

This is done by doing the following:(As Shown at www.mail2web.com)

1. Tap Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Add Account...
2. You'll be presented with several options, but you want to pick the one at the top: Microsoft Exchange.
3. Now it's time to enter in your Mail2Web login credentials and Exchange details. Here's what it all should look like:

   Email: youremail@mail2web.com
   Username: youremail@mail2web.com
   Password: yourpassword
   Description: Mail2Web (Or whatever you want to call it.)
   Use SSL: ON

   Hit Next again.
4. When you've entered all your credentials, hit Next. Your iPhone will try to verify your Exchange server. The first time through, however, it won't be using the correct server information so you'll see an "Unable to Verify Certificate" message. Tap Accept and you'll see a new field to enter your own server information. Enter:

   Server: mobile.exchange.mail2web.com

5. This time your account will be verified and you'll be prompted to choose what you want to sync. Turn on whichever services you plan on using Mail2Web for (don't worry, you can always change these settings later) and tap Save to finish.

Once these steps are completed, you are now ready to receive "Push Email" through mail2web.

If you have multiple email accounts such as I do, you can set these up to forward your mail to your new mail2web email address, which will then be pushed directly to your iPhone.

Easy as Pie !!

If you find this information useful, please Comment and forward this blog to your friends.

Cheers for now,

dokken2007

Nova Scotia MVI - As Seen in "The Chronicle Herald" News Paper

Here is the story on changes to Nova Scotia's Motor Vehicle Inspection process as reported in "The Chronicle Herald" News Paper". Will the changes be a positive change, or will there now be more junk on the roads waiting to fall apart and possibly cause accidents? What is your thoughts on this ? *******************************************************************************

MVIs kicked into reverse Province introduces major car inspections overhaul after Chronicle Herald investigation exposes flaws in system Fri. Feb 27 " border="0"> Mechanic Darren Pelley replaces a ball joint on a customer’s vehicle after performing a motor vehicle inspection at Darrell Hebb’s Auto Repair in Halifax on Thursday. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff) The MacDonald government, under public pressure to switch gears on annual motor vehicle inspections, is redesigning the system. The government has completed its first review of the controversial MVI program since it started 40 years ago, and Service Nova Scotia officials announced key changes Thursday at a news conference in Halifax. Among them: less frequent inspections, second opinions after a failed inspection, the removal of "low-risk" items from the checkup list and more roadside spot checks where a vehicle is examined by government mechanics. The program’s redesign, to be introduced in two stages, on April 1 and June 1, will bring it more into line with national and international standards, the government said. Inspections will still be required when ownership changes and when a vehicle is transferred into the province. The revised regulations don’t just affect consumers. Service stations will lose revenue due to less frequent mandatory inspections. Also, the province is amending its inspection manual and will hold training sessions in April and May for workers staffing about 1,400 inspection stations in Nova Scotia. The Chronicle Herald ran a series of articles over the past couple of years drawing attention to the MVI program’s flaws. The Service Nova Scotia minister said Thursday that the changes to the inspection system were motivated by the public. "The government has heard the concerns of Nova Scotians . . . and the industry, which prompted the redesign," Richard Hurlburt told reporters. He said the revisions were made with public safety in mind. Starting April 1, new passenger vehicles that have had a dealer pre-delivery inspection won’t need an MVI for three years, and then only every two years after that. Large trucks will still require annual inspections. Beginning June 1, the number of low-risk items needing examination by a mechanic will be reduced. These include such things as horns, lights, mirrors and windshield wipers. As well, there will be more roadside checks where police will pull a vehicle — usually an obvious clunker — off the road and mechanics will hoist it up on the spot. The government wants to double the roughly 300 roadside inspections a year that are done now. Also, anyone whose vehicle has previously passed an inspection but now fails can get a second opinion from another mechanic. Mechanic Darrell Hebb, a veteran car repair shop owner in Halifax, said he disagrees strongly with the province’s move to less frequent inspections. "I believe there should be safety inspections every year, including new cars," he said. "If these cars aren’t going to be inspected every year, no one’s going to bring their vehicle in. If they have a noise, they’re just going to hope it goes away." The province announced in December it would re-evaluate mandatory annual safety checks. Drivers and mechanics had complained the MVI system was arbitrary and unfair because many aspects involved judgment calls that varied among service stations. Mechanics also said some outlets were taking advantage of customers by inventing problems that weren’t violations. Two years ago, Nova Scotia beefed up the requirements for its inspections and the price jumped to $25 from $15.50. The government said that during its review of the inspection system, no research could be found linking check-up programs to road safety. But Mr. Hurlburt said vehicle inspections will help keep people’s family members safe and are an important element of the province’s transportation system. Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil applauded the MacDonald Tories for essentially borrowing a Grit policy plank to revise the inspection program. New Democrat MLA Becky Kent said she was disappointed there wasn’t more public consultation before the changes were unveiled.

Tip: Saving & Burning Youtube Videos

Hey There,

Ever want to save that "Youtube" Video and burn it to disc?

Well now you can.... All you have to do is to copy the URL of the "YouTube" Video that you want to save, and paste it into the"Online FLV Converter" Box located at http://www.vixy.net
You then have the option to save the "YouTube" Video in different formats such as AVI, MOV, MP3, MP4, or 3GP.
http://www.Vixy.net will then convert the "YouTube" Video into the format you chose, and will save it to your Hard Drive.
You will then be able to burn it Via Nero, or Burning Software of your choice, onto DVD Disc.

Pretty Cool eh....

Cheers for now,

dokken2007

Windows 7 Review

Hey All,

Well I've been using Windows 7 for about 3 weeks now, and I must say I'm impressed so far.

Windows 7 could be one of Microsoft's greatest operating systems, and a vast improvement over Vista.
Microsoft appeared to have done this by building on Vista's strengths and weaknesses.
The installation process was very easy and seamless, with Windows 7 finding all drivers required for my system.

Boot up times are now greatly reduced, and the desktop performance is smooth and strong.
The "gadgets" provided are useful, with additional gadgets of your choice obtained easily.

Upon installation, Windows 7 will recommend appropriate Anti-Virus Software. I chose however to install Nod32, as I am most familiar with its operation.

Windows 7 also offer a Feed Back Button for the times that you might come across conflict issue with software you install.
I did find issues with using Nero 6 & 7, and found I needed to upgrade to a higher version of Nero.

The Control Panel is Vast, and sometimes difficult to navigate to what you are looking for in a hurry. An example would be the Add/Remove Programs which was labeled as such in Windows XP, but now is found under Programs and Features in Windows 7.

It uses less memory than when I had Vista installed on my machine, and also feels more responsive.
The Task Bar is very customizable and now you have the ability to organize as you can move around the Items easily.

I am overall impressed thus far, and look forward to seeing what the final release will bring.

Cheers,

dokken2007

What is the Best On-Line Business !!

Hey All,

I've been pondering for some time now about looking at starting an on-line business for myself.

Seeing how there are many, many Internet related businesses out there, I am looking for your input as to what is the best Internet Business to get into, in your opinion.

Please if you could, provide to me in this blog, with as much information as possible, including start-up costs, the type of business, the products it supports, the internal support systems in place, and how successful you have found it so far.

Please note, I am not interested in businesses with high start up costs, and am primarily interested in a product based businesses.

Thanks so much for your help and input on this, and I look forward to seeing what your business has to offer.

Cheers,

dokken

Review of Apple Safari 4 beta

Hey all,

Seeing how Apple released the latest Safari 4 beta browser, I thought I would provide a little rant on it.

The Apple Safari browser located at http://www.apple.com/safari/ has always proven to be a stable, smooth platform, and is the cornerstone of the Apple iPhone.

The browser is available for download at "http://www.apple.com/" for both the Mac OS, as well as the Windows OS, and supports Vista. Installing Safari 4 was also easy and pain-free, and actually asks you for confirmation on the installation of "Bonjour" (This is nice to see).

The Safari 4 browser appears to be far faster and smoother than other browsers such as Firefox and Google’s Chrome browser. I won't even mention Internet Explorer in the same breath (Oops I just did....Sorry !! ).

Safari 4 now features a private browsing switch, as well as full search history option that can show users web sites they have navigated to in the past in Cover Flow.

Two great new features of Safari 4 is “Top Sites,” which is similar in feel to iTunes in that it shows up to the top 24 navigated sites in a pictorial view. This allows one to choose at a glance what site he/she chooses to navigates to.

The other is called “Developer Tools,” which according to Apple is the “best suite of development tools ever included in a browser.”

Please note, that I tested Safari 4 on Windows based laptop, running Windows 7 on it, and it ran very smoothly.

Please check back later for more on the Safari 4 beta Browser Review.

If you have had the opportunity to use this browser, please drop us a note with your thoughts on this browser.

Cheers for now !!

dokken

Rogers Wireless - iPhone Replacement

Hey all.....welcome to Dokken Rants !!
My first rant involves my journey to obtaining a replacement iPhone 3G through Rogers Wireless.
I have gone through 3 iPhone 3G's so far, due to cracking and connectivity issues. All of which have been replaced by Rogers Wireless, fairly painlessly.
I contacted Rogers once again, as my 4th and current iPhone 3G is having over heating issues. After going through the 7 step process that they require, it was determined that yes I do need a replacement. They promptly took my information, and said that it would be 3 to 5 bussiness days.
After waiting a day or so, I called them to check on the status of the delivery, only to find that the person who took the information apparently failed to press the save button, thus the order does not exist.
They once again took my information, and assured me that the phone would be there in 3 to 5 bussiness day once again.
I call them back a few days later to once again check on the order, only to be told that it was not in stock....OMG....can this be happening.
They still once again placed another order fo me, and said once again that it would be 3 to 5 bussiness days.
This leads me up to yesterday, where I called to check on the status of the delivery. It has now been 3 days since it was ordered. They said that yes they had the information, and a tracking number to UPS.
Well this is great....finally I'm getting somewhere....I call UPS with the tracking number that Rogers gave me, only to find out that it was not a tracking number after all, but rather a reference number, and was useless to UPS.
So......today I called Rogers yet oce again, spoke to their iPhone support, to have them tell me that the iPhone is not in stock !!
OMG I lost it....I told them that this was unacceptable, ad that it appears that one hand is not talking to the other, and that I wanted to speak to someone who knew if this was so.....they then put me through to their tracking department, to which a gentleman told me that yes they are in stock, and that my order has been processed, but has not been picked up by UPS as of yet, and that he expects that they will pick it up tonight.
It will then be 3 to 5 business days before I receive it, and that I should call back tomorrow evening to obtain the UPS tracking number, as it is not generated until UPS picks it up.
I said thank you for helping, and that yes I will call back tomorrow evening to get the tracking number.
So lets wait and see if I will actually will get my iPhone number 5, and what else will happen in the journey to iPhone Replacement.

**Don't get me wrong....I am not bashing Rogers Wireless....they are a great Company, and provides great services...this is just my personal experience and thoughts.

I'll keep you posted.

Question....have any of you experienced problem such as this?
I would be interested in hearing your story.

Cheers

Dokken2007

********** Update **********

The replacement iPhone 3G arrived safely today at lunch time. Not bad, considering in speaking to Rogers Wireless Tracking Department, the phone was due for pickup by UPS sometime last evening...Kudos to UPS for GREAT service !!
The iPhone synced and updated with all my Applications, Contacts and such very quickly, and was good to go within 15 minutes.

Lets hope now that this one does not have any gremlins like the others.

Cheers,

dokken