Handheld Reviews

You would never believe it but our ancestors way back then made use of extreme and risky navigating measures just to keep from getting lost. They used monumental landmarks and ingeniously created maps as their navigating tools. It's a good thing that those kinds of navigation practices are no longer applied and practiced today. Today's navigating task is easier compared to the exhausting and funny methods applied in the older times.

Today, there are numerous Global Positioning System devices produced and made available by handheld product manufacturers. With the emergence of GPS devices in the global market, everybody can easily acquire a pocket-sized device for navigating. Being lost is no longer a problem if one has a reliable GPS device in his pocket. Among the known and reliable GPS device manufacturers, Garmin GPS gadgets and products are my preferred tools for navigation.

As I have said, Garmin is among the most reliable GPS models available in the market today. One of its best models is the GPSMAP 76CSx, that stores a microSD technology in its system. It is a superb GPS model for me, because it acquires faster satellite connection, even in locations that have hoards of tall buildings and trees. Another thing I like about the Garmin GPS devise is its beautiful and excellent color display feature. With its packed pixels, I am able to see the visuals clearly even under direct sunlight.

The integration of digital communications on digital information technology caused digital information to be integrated on digital communications equipment. Sounds confusing now, don't you think? Read on, and perhaps what I have in store for you would shed light on this confusing concept.

You see, digital technology paved the way for digital telephony. With the advent of mobile phones capable of digital communications, access to the internet of mobile devices was then made available. Through this, mobile internet browsing is now reaching booming proportions, especially now that P2P technology has finally reached digital communications equipment, specifically the Nokia 6600 mobile phone!

Yes, the PeerBox Mobile is a P2P client application for the Nokia 6600 cellphone. It provides the capability of Nokia 6600 mobile phone users the ability to share and download the digital files they have and need, respectively, from the PeerBox network. It is freeware, which means that it is available as a free download from the internet, and fully functional upon installation without any charges. Well, I have installed it on my Nokia 6600, and it works well with my phone, not to mention my mobile phone's screen reader. I don't know if it would work well with other internet browsing capable phones, but the documentation that comes with the installation package notes that it is compatible with most series 60 mobile phones.

Digital communications equipment provides users the benefits of both communications and information technology in one package. With mobile phones, not only do we have a portable and mobile means for telephony, but we also have an entertainment system well within the palms of our hands! But since mobile phone manufacturers have not yet devised an all-around player for its mobile phones, third-party developers of Symbian applications are getting most of the attention of mobile phone users.

Attention is just one thing but with it comes profits. Yes, for the developers of mobile phone applications, developing and subsequently marketing their application is a very lucrative business venture. But the market of media players for series 60 mobile phones just had a taste of open source development. That's right, open source! You see, most media players for Series 60 mobile phones aren't all-around, which means that it can't play files that are encoded in the most widely used digital compression formats. But with the Helix player, a Series 60 mobile phone multimedia player, this feature is what it was designed for! Plus, guess what folks: it's absolutely free! Yes, free, as in no charge, no restrictions, no time limitations, totally free to download, and has no restrictions whatsoever in modifying and revising its features and functions. That is, as long as the program is distributed as an open source program which should also contain its original documentation and source code.

There is now a thin line between digital information technology and digital communications. I don't know about you, but I kinda hold a concept of difference between those two technologies. You see, I understand digital information to be of use to computers and the internet for purposes other than communications. On the other hand, I perceive digital communications as the system behind mobile phones, VoIP, and messaging protocols on the internet. By now, I should have also confused you on the matter more than the confusion you already have on those two technologies. But let us refocus and start on the convergence of both technologies for the purpose of audio entertainment.

Series 60 mobile phones and iPods are now used for audio entertainment in a mobile manner. These mobile phones can store a limited number of audio files in the most popularly used compression formats, but the iPod can store more audio files than mobile phones. Also, some would even say that the advantage of iPods over mobile phones is that it has access to audio streamcasts from the internet. Well, I feel a little bit sorry for these misinformed people. You see, Series 60 mobile phones have access to the internet, thus access to internet radio and websites that provide either video streams or audio streams! Plus, mobile phones could also store a high number of audio files that are even playable on it, too. But, this requires the user to first convert the audio files in the most widely used audio compression formats to the AMR format. This is fairly easy to do, specially if you have a separate computer and the necessary software to do such a thing. Finally, a Series 60 mobile phone has the capabilities of telephony, phone call recording, voice recording, and can even connect your computer to cyberspace. That is, if it is a Bluetooth-enabled phone. So you figure out what you need, and let me know what you think about which is better between these two audio entertainment consoles.

I'm sure you noticed how digital communication technologies have affected the lifestyles of the people in the modern world. Yes, we have gone from analog to digital, mechanical to electronic, stationary to mobile, tied up to wireless, etc. You name it, we've been there, done that, and now find ourselves where we are.

We now entertain ourselves in ways even the creative mind of Jules Verne could not have imagined! With the internet came free access to almost unlimited information. Thus, through the internet, audio and video streaming was born. Some sites, or service providers, provide these media dissemination systems free, while others either charge a large sum or equivocal cash for such services. Again, being mobile has revolutionized video entertainment. At the very least, the compression formats of videos have gone from impossibly large file sizes to shockingly small packets!

Because modern mobile phones are not yet equipped with large capacities for data storage, video viewing and access to internet video streaming became more of a problem than a competent means of video entertainment. But something just turned up which would change the way we view videos and access internet video streaming sites. With the birth of the 3GPP video compression format, even a full-scale DVD movie would fit in a 128Mb memory card. The quality was also reduced in the process, but I am very confident more developments on this video compression format would result in a more defined and high-quality video format. Maybe certain adjustment to the 3GPP compression format would even give birth to both mobile video streaming and conventional video streaming that doesn't require a superfast internet connection!

Ever wondered how wireless technology and fast information technologies can help you acquire wireless entertainment and internet browsing capabilities? Then go get one Nokia 6630 and I'll let yourself answer that question. Yes, the Nokia 6630 can be used to browse the internet as a standalone device, but did you know it can also be used to connect your laptop PC or desktop PC to cyberspace as well? Plus, it can be equipped with a compatible Bluetooth headset so as to provide you with audio media entertainment without the fuss of wires, cords, etc.

With the Nokia 6630, connecting your laptop or desktop PC to the internet without any wireless internet connectivity is now a reality. More so, it's as easy as using your non-mobile phone line for a dial-up connection. This is exactly what the Nokia 6630 does. It acts as your phone connection between your computer and either your dial-up service provider or broadband internet service provider. You would just be needing a Bluetooth port so as for your computer to detect your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. But, having a separate internet service provider from your mobile service provider would cost you. Thus, I highly suggest you acquire internet services from your mobile service provider so as to cut the costs not just a bit, but a lot!

Plus, go get a Bluetooth headset for your internet radio listening. Yes, the Nokia 6630 can browse the internet. What I mean is if you navigate through the internet in search for a website with audio stream content, then a Bluetooth headset would come in real handy. This is because a Bluetooth headset partnered with the Nokia 6630 would provide you not only a wire-free experience, but the flexibility to answer and make phone calls with your Nokia 6630 while listening to internet radio as well!

Mobile phone craze has reached extensive hiatus and would probably revolutionize online entertainment in the years to follow suit based on the rapid developments of this mobile communications technology. With this, it would even rival the use of handheld gaming consoles and handheld PCs both for mobile gaming and mobile internet browsing. Why? If I were you and don't know how an affordable gizmo could revolutionize the way online gaming works, I'd kill myself! Of course, we are talking about the gadget being the size of your palm, which can be used for telephony, various messaging systems, digital entertainment, and internet browsing.

I particularly see online text-based strategy games as the first to consider when trying out your mobile phone on the online mobile gaming platform. This is because online Flash sites which have free embedded online Flash games are not yet modified for mobile viewing and navigation. But, I assure you that developments for mobile gaming that is interactive, on the internet, and has multiplayer support would be very fast and efficient.

Why? Plainly because of the fundamental nature of humankind and the subsequent effects of human demands on any type of development. After all, man works for what he needs. When working for what he needs, these needs then turn into wants. After this, such wants turn into demands, and when the demands are met, it turns into experiences. With this process, the never-ending cycle of needs rooted from experiences and turned into new experiences would remain intact and fully functional. I don't have time to elaborate further, so I'll just have to leave you confused, then!

Do you have a mobile phone that is not quite a handheld PC but have the necessary features such as Bluetooth capabilities and a high-capacity memory card? Are you thinking that you shouldn't be left out in the digital communications development, specifically in the field of internet connectivity? Then if your mobile phone has the features I have stated above, but does not have HTML viewing capabilities, then, my friend, I'm afraid you'll be needing a laptop to suit your mobile internet browsing demands with your mobile phone!

Yes, you don't need wireless internet connectivity to connect you to the world wide web. You will just be needing a laptop and a Bluetooth phone. Not to mention a dial-up or broadband modem on your laptop, and either a prepaid or postpaid dial-up internet connection service. But, you could as well have such prepaid or postpaid internet service from either your mobile service provider or a third-party service provider. Better yet, you could acquire a prepaid or postpaid broadband internet service from any of the providers I have stated. Though an internet connection service from your mobile service provider would prove to be more beneficial than from a third-party provider for both you and your pockets, this would not be a problem as long as you require mobile internet browsing less frequently than you require actual internet browsing. What I mean is that for mobile internet browsing, using your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone as a connection port for your dial-up or broadband modem would incur additional charges for the air time other than the charges from the internet service provider. With this, I highly suggest acquiring such internet connectivity directly from your mobile service provider.

Don't you just hate it when you're either browsing the internet with your handheld PC or sending e-mails with your mobile phone? You must certainly hate doing those things with those gadgets due to those damn keys! Yes, digital communications equipment have minimized size thus making such gadgets portable. But can't they be usable as well as portable?

Portability promotes convenience. But can't it promote usability as well? Usability is an integral part of making any process convenient now, isn't it? Thus, I firmly suggest you go and get a Bluetooth keyboard to answer those small key problems.

Bluetooth keyboards for PDAs and handheld devices such as mobile phones and miniature PCs provide you with faster handheld navigation prowess that is faster and more convenient. Not only that, for Bluetooth technology doesn't leave out the issue of portability and flexibility. With friends, you can share your Bluetooth keyboard for use with their Bluetooth enabled mobile phones and PDAs, apart, of course, from their handheld PCs. So, a Bluetooth keyboard would definitely end your small key frustrations while maintaining portability and adding a little convenience to your mobile computing ventures. After all, small things can very much turn into big problems now, can't it?

Yes, we are now in the age wherein the Watergate scandal is but a display of medieval technology. Due to the advent of high-tech electronic equipment, we now have digitized every possible information so as to catalog such data on a structured database so as to navigate through the information just to find what we want and need. Plus, we now have the power to digitize such information in the palms of our hands, in this case, mobile phones to record phone conversations and live verbal discussions so as to either protect or embellish, depending on our purposes.

In addition, the capability to record phone conversations and live verbal communications is far easier than how it was back then - we have now compressed audio data to about a tenth of data storage size back in the glory days of analog. Mp3 compression has reduced file size and maintained quality, thus making this format the top choice for audio recording compression. With mobile phones with built-in mp3 recorders, we have made recordings more accurate and stealthier because of the size of these gadgets, plus the flexibility that these mobile phones give us of clearly recording conversations even from long distances.

Most series 60 mobile phones have built-in mp3 recording features, not to mention upgradable data storage capacity due to memory card slots found in these cellphones. In case a series 60 cellphone does not come with a built-in mp3 recorder, all it needs is an application in order for it to function as an mp3 recorder. Mp3 recorder applications for mobile phones are usually freeware, if not shareware, so if you want to try your hand on the PI game, then go get a series 60 cellphone and install an mp3 recorder application on it so as to record those scandalous conversations you and your friends, or their friends, usually get into.

Handheld PCs, mobile phones, PDAs, handheld TVs, portable mp3 players, handheld gaming consoles, etc. - these gadgets all have one thing in common, and that's portable entertainment! So why don't these handheld manufacturers converge the features each handheld gizmo has into a single handheld device, and thus emerge as the handheld gadget of choice by the majority of handheld afficionados? I bet this concept has long since been developed, but is not yet made known to the general public.

Yes, this concept handheld device IS available on the market, but is not advertised as being a device that has all the features of most handheld entertainment equipment. Come to think of it, current mobile phone models have all these in one package, but one should use different resources in making the mobile phone they've got a fully packaged entertainment showcase. If you love those streaming internet radio broadcasts on your mobile phone, then I think you know exactly what I mean.

Now, for your mobile phone to be a formidable gaming console, all you need to do is find any gaming console emulator that could run on your mobile phone, such as the GBA emulator for Symbian-operated series 60 phones, and download the games you want! Most of these phones have built-in digital still cameras, while some even have digital video recording capabilities. All you need is a program to play either videos and audios in the most popular formats so as for it to be both a portable audio and video player, and a handheld video and audio recorder as well!

There are tons of mobile phone applications that are compatible with Symbian-operated series 60 phones, such as internet messaging clients, PS2 and XBox emulators, DVD players, audio media players, free internet radio applications, podcasting programs, video conferencing applications, internet browsing programs, document editors, mobile word processors, etc., so you just need time to choose which applications are compatible with your mobile phone, which are those you really want, how much would it cost you, and which of it you need, apart from a high-capacity memory card.

Yes, virtually unbelievable yet true - an image to sound platform with a built-in color identifier in the palms of your hands, and with this, the blind can navigate through their dark and unseen paths easier and faster, plus, this time, with flying colors! How can this be possible, you may ask, and I try not to remind you of talking computers, mobile phones, virtual reality, various premonitions of the matrix, apart from cloning, artificial vision, plus soon-to-be possible cell and nerve regeneration through the stem cell developmental research. Amazing feats, on the stage of functional development, some of these innovations may be, but I believe we've definitely had our way with life, don't you think?

With series 60 mobile camera phones plus an application called The VOICe Learning Edition for mobile phones, seeing with sound is now an option for totally blind and visually-impaired persons all over the world - it is an affordable means of accessibility and thus, independence. The application is freely downloadable from their website as a full version for either educational or personal purposes, which should be the case for all those high-tech electronic equipment and adaptive applications which help assist disabled persons in their day-to-day routine. Images as sounds, colors as audio signals, object-identification through audio frequencies - what's the world coming to, yes, same question here, but at least its for the equalization of most opportunities in which everyone on this planet should be entitled to.

The Garmin iQue 3000 is a handheld gadget the you'll love or hate. It is very useful if you want a calendar, an address book, and a navigation tool to assist you find your way wherever you are. The maps contained in the system of the iQue 3000 are precise and because of its efficient routing capability you won't get lost. The directions are spoken and I'm sure you will easily understand it. However, it lacks certain features that are considered a standard in most handhelds in the market.

The iQue 3000 is handy if you are running your own business or if you want to organize your personal life. This model has the most comprehensive mapping system compared to its competitors. The map comes with over 6 million POI (points of interest) for the important places such as gas stations, restaurants, and hotels so it can be your best friend when traveling to places you've never been before. Aside from providing detailed information on your location, the screen also displays your speed, the distance of the next road and the time until you reach the next turn. You can plan your trips on the iQuee 3000 and it won't be a disappointment.

However, this gadget lacks certain features such as WiFi capability and Bluetooth technology. It is also heavier and bulkier than its competitors. The lifespan of iQue 3000's battery is also rather short. It lasted for only four hours, compared to some handhelds that can keep going for more than 8 hours. Bottomline: if you want a simple and basic, yet comprehensive, travel buddy then go for the iQue 3000.

Remember those unusually large mobile phones, green-tinted monitors, dot-matrix printers, manual typewriters, board games, and phonographs, wherein SMS, MMS, HDTVs, HPPPs, WWWs, and MP3s were unintelligible acronyms? Not to mention the glory days of beta, VHS, vinyl, cassette tapes, and rotary phones? Yes, we've all gone digital these days (rather in leaps and bounds than in steps), and with it, we have all the information we need in the palms of our hands and its succeeding transference with just the push of a button.

The information age - now that's both scary and interesting, and we have particularly gone through stages (case in point: from the electronic to the mobile, and from the mobile to the ubiquitous). No, the latter is not something you get from greasy fastfood chains - it's a stage in life, much like midlife, which would evidently wash out the analog and come up with the digital. This is the point wherein every tiny bit of information on everything is consistently monitored and used either against it, for it, or for other parties.

We're presently in the verge of an ubiquitous society - just look around and you won't miss anything that supports my argument here, you know. You go around with your handheld PC, which has a built-in mobile phone, a built-in gaming console, a built-in calculator, a built-in entertainment showcase, a built-in virtual office, and thus a built-in life. Don't you think that either your IP address or your mobile number acts more of your personal identification number rather than your social security number? What would prevent, then, the management and monitoring of the information you input in your handheld device so as to be used either for you, against you, for a specific group of people, or for everybody else other than yourself?

The Nokia series 60 phones just came up with a winner in its line. The Nokia 6600 has features that would give people with close-but-not-quite mobile phones a good run for their money. It's run by the Symbian Operating System, and thus promises to provide its users with as much available applications there are in the free world, the not-so-free one, and the market in between those worlds (figure it out yourselves).

The Nokia 6600 is more of a handheld PDA than a mobile phone, and it has a built-in camera, a built-in speaker, and a built-in phone. It has both Bluetooth and Infrared connectivity features, as well as a memory card slot for, of course, compatible memory cards. Above everything else found in this super mobile phone, it has the function of in-the-box installation, which means that you would not need the specific version of Nokia PC Suite for the Nokia 6600 to install, uninstall, upload, and download the files on your PC.

Apart from this, the Talks software, which is a screen reading application for mobile phones that are run by the Symbian operating system, works well with the Nokia 6600. Because of its fully extendable memory, it promises its blind users smooth navigation. Plus, it's relatively inexpensive, and it as well provides its users easy installation of numerous applications such as media players, video recorders, sound recorders, anti-viral software, games, etc.

Handhelds, palmtops, portable devices, and tablet PCs. All of these things relate to mobility. We cannot blame ourselves but on our ever-growing complex lifestyle. That is why there is always a handheld that perfectly suits every kind of lifestyle.

For beginners and tech-novices there is one perfect handheld for you. The Palm Z22 Handheld PDA designed by the makers of the original palm pilot. This handheld organizer is a very simple gadget that gives you everything with just a touch of a button. You can store your important business meeting, friend birthdays, your colleagues’ addresses and a lot more. And what's more those who are using an organizer for the first time will; surely be amazed of its versatility. It has sufficient memory space which is just right for novices. This small and lightweight organizer has a long battery life so you need not worry about running out in the middle of an important presentation.

On the other side, the good features may have outweighed the not so good ones, it's fair to still list down its weaknesses. Although the price is very reasonable, I think the screen is relatively small compared to other PDAs. And it’s not a Bluetooth capable device, although it has an infrared port.

The introduction of a portable MP3 player gathered a wide audience of music lovers. This is because many people desire to have an entertainment wherever they go. Compared to the portable CD player, the MP3 plays music longer because the length of play is determined by the capacity of its memory that can be upgraded if desired.

Among the newly introduced portable MP3 player, is the Proporta mp3 SD player. This player is small, expandable and has a very light weight. This portable device is capable of accepting MMC and SD memory cards that provides wider music collection.

Loading music to this device is very simple because it only needs to be connected with the computer using the USB cable. It also has no hard drives and uses the usual AAA battery which is available anywhere. Further, since it has no built-in hard drive, the battery lasts longer. The user can carry this player, in sports activities and it will not skip. Therefore, the sound quality is not interrupted regardless of the activity of the person using it. Once a person has this player, he can carry his own choice of music everywhere.