The Nokia N85 just dropped with a crazy price. At $556 this is one expensive phone, but Amazon is claiming that’s already been steeply discounted from an out of this world $1,200 “list price.” The phone is available to “buy” right now at Amazon.com, but there’s a 3 to 5 week ship time quoted, so we’re not sure yet if this is the first place where you’ll actually get the hotly-anticipated handset in the States, but if you like, you can give them your money right now. They don’t mind.
Nokia N96, the smartphone that might be the best thing from the Nseries family (for the moment, at least), is now on sale in the US, via Best Buy’s website.
The handset is available unlocked, for a price that won’t please too many of you: $899.99 – that’s with $240 more than the Best Buy price of RIM’s BlackBerry Bold.
Although announced by Nokia quite a long time ago, in February 2008, the Nseries flagship handset is only now available in North America. Even so, and even with this hefty price tag, the N96 is still bound for success.
When it comes to design, Nokia N96 is by no means a “spectacular phone”, but that’s somehow compensated by the smartphone’s features.
These include:
Quad band GSM and dual band HSDPA connectivity
2.8 inch TFT QVGA display, 16 million colors
Symbian 9.3, S60 3.2 Edition
Accelerometer
GPS
Wi-Fi
5 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, flash and video
16GB of internal memory
DVB-H receiver
Media player
3.5mm headset jack
According to Boy Genius Report, the N96 might also be found in Best Buy’s stores, hence not only online, for a lower price: $799.99.
Well, we wish you luck in case you’re going out to buy it. Just don’t forget those 800 or 900 bucks!
No more waiting for the iPhone 3G unlock tool as Apple is officially selling unlocked iPhone 3G units in Hong Kong. Apple is quietly selling them on Hong Kong’s online Apple Store. The 8GB model is currently selling at HK$5400 ($695) and 16GB for HK$6200 ($798) with free shipping.
The reason for such a move can be the plummeted sales in Hong Kong or the more optimistic reason can be that Apple must be testing the unlock model before expanding it more countries.
Smartphones are great for many users, especially those in the business world who can use them for tracking appointments and keeping connected with the office or that boss who likes to know where you are at all times. The catch is that many smartphones require you to be tied to one service provider for years and some people don’t like making that sort of commitment.
For the folks that eschew the contracts associated with your typical smartphone, Palm has announced that the Treo Pro unlocked smartphone is now available to purchase. Palm says that the unlocked smartphone allows users to take advantage of any network they want and even use local SIM cards when traveling abroad.
We have talked about the Treo Pro back in August when it was first announced. The device runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and is compatible with System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008. Features of the Treo Pro include Wi-Fi, GPS, UMTS/HSDPA, and a full QWERTY keyboard. The phone is available right now from the Palm store for $549.
Without any fanfare, at all, Apple has apparently made the iPhone 3G available in Hong Kong fully unlocked, directly from its online store.
As you can imagine, the selling price of these fully unlocked units are higher than those of locked, carrier subsidized units, with the 8GB models selling for $5,400 HK ($692) and the 16GB models for $6,200 ($794).
These iPhones can be activated with any wireless carrier in HK, as long as the user inserts a SIM card in it before performing a sync with iTunes 8.
The carrier 3 in Hong Kong is already known to be selling carrier-locked versions of the iPhone 3G. The new unlocked versions should prove to be a boon for those who don’t want to be tied to local carrier service.
As a side note, there’s a rumor brewing up about a stripped-down iPhone that lacks Wi-Fi and 3G to be in the works for China, according to the South China Morning Post. This is how strict China’s mobile environment is. Let’s see how Apple goes through this.
The moment we have all been waiting for has arrived. No, Elvis Presley has not come back from the dead, the iPhone Dev Team has just released PwnageTool 2.0 for the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch. It also works for the first-gen iPhone, and in fact, it is only for that device that it works all the way through.
With regards to activating, jailbreaking, and unlocking, that is. The iPhone/iPod Touch PwnageTool 2.0 only works fully with the old, first-gen iPhone, ably activating, jailbreaking and unlocking it, while for the iPhone 3G it can only do activation and jailbreaking (no unlock yet). Of course there’s no point in unlocking the iPod Touch, so…
The iPhone/iPod Touch PwnageTool 2.0 can now be had from the iPhone Dev Team’s blog, or from mirrors provided by Hackint0sh and BigBoss. The file’s been zipped and only comes up to a few MBs, so there shouldn’t be a problem when it comes to downloading.
If you look closely at the iPhone 3G here on the photo you’ll notice that the name of the carrier does not spell AT&T. Nope, that’s three letters, and it looks more like TIM to me. What do you think?
This is a picture of the iPhone 3G unlocked using a SIM card. A SIM card adapter to be precise. The method for unlocking the iPhone 3G with the SIM is exactly like that with the original, first-gen iPhone, which is, fooling the phone into thinking that it’s running under the official carrier’s network.
A brief statement from one of the Brazilian guys who successfully made the unlock goes:
Our procedure consist in using one SIM adapter to simulate a fake IMSI test card. Instead of the AT&T IMSI like in the universals.
So it’s time to thank God he invented the “International Mobile Subscriber Identity”, for if not then you wouldn’t be watching the video of the unlocked iPhone below. Have a look see.
Still not happy with the huge discount Palm’s given you for the Centro? Well, if you’re looking for when it will be available unlocked, look no further, for that day is now.
So it’s only available in a white color with grey accents, and will be getting a Google Maps for mobile with My Location feature. The Palm Centro may still find its way into your heart, but only if you let it step inside in the first place.
What you’ll be getting with the new My Location feature with Google Maps is:
Comprehensive information on traffic conditions in more than 30 U.S. major metropolitan areas, and partial information in many others;
Detailed driving directions with traffic estimates to avoid congestions;
One-touch recall of favorite locations and routes;
Integrated search results for business locations, including directions and contact information;
Ability to scan and drag maps using Centro’s touch screen for a PC-like experience; and
Satellite and aerial views.
Now scoot on over to Palm’s site for the $299 unlocked Palm Centro.
The Nokia N85 just dropped with a crazy price. At $556 this is one expensive phone, but Amazon is claiming that’s already been steeply discounted from an out of this world $1,200 “list price.” The phone is available to “buy” right now at Amazon.com, but there’s a 3 to 5 week ship time quoted, so we’re not sure yet if this is the first place where you’ll actually get the hotly-anticipated handset in the States, but if you like, you can give them your money right now. They don’t mind.
Smartphones are great for many users, especially those in the business world who can use them for tracking appointments and keeping connected with the office or that boss who likes to know where you are at all times. The catch is that many smartphones require you to be tied to one service provider for years and some people don’t like making that sort of commitment.
