Nokia 5250 budget music phone launches

The original Motorola DROID has been a significant hit in the US, and it showed that Motorola could actually compete head-on with the Apple iPhone and other high-end rivals.

There have been quite a few variants of this design such as the supersized DROID X, and the GSM MILESTONE and the Korean MOTOROI and European XT720 variants, but now Motorola have revisited the original handset in the series with some useful improvements with the Motorola DROID 2, exclusive to the Verizon CDMA network in the US.

Cosmetically the DROID 2 and DROID look pretty similar at first, although the DROID 2 looks a little more sleek and the front buttons are in a different order. But slide open the QWERTY keyboard and you can see that this is one area where there has already been a significant improvement. The keyboard on the original DROID was not very good, so Motorola have made each key larger and more responsive, partly by removing the rather pointless navigation pad and replacing it with a set of cursor keys instead.

The DROID 2 runs Android 2.2 (“Froyo”) out of the box which brings improved performance and full support for Adobe Flash and corporate email systems. Although Android 2.2 is very new, it builds on the popular Android 2.1 operating system which has thousands of applications available for it, and it probably needs no introduction.

One unusual feature with the DROID 2 is the optional “3G Mobile Hotspot” that allows you to turn your smartphone into a hotspot that you can connect up to five devices to, which makes it very easy to use a laptop via the DROID 2′s 3G connection when travelling.

GPS is included of course, and you can either use Google Maps Navigation or a third party satellite navigation application. There’s also an optional car mount and multimedia docking kit to go with the DROID 2.

It’s quite a heavy phone at 169 grams, and measuring 116 x 61 x 14mm. The large 1400 mAh battery gives up to 9.5 hours talktime and 13 days standby time.

The DROID 2 is available to pre-order from Verizon Wireless this week, with delivery expected sometime in Q3. There will also be a special “R2D2″ themed DROID 2 available online only during September.

The DROID 2 is a highly useful upgrade to the original with a highly competitive package including a very useful looking QWERTY keyboard which sets it aside from most of the competition. Because it’s a CDMA device, the DROID 2 won’t run on European networks.. but we bet that Motorola will announce the GSM version very soon.

The Sim free Blackberry curve is a fine cell phone that is sure to please. This impressive smartphone is equipped with a powerful 2.0 megapixel digital camera, along with all the latest multimedia applications, allowing for stunning videos, images, and MP3s. Ideal for various home and even demanding company requirements, all programs run at a very energy efficient rate, providing a much longer charge to your battery for extended “unplugged” usage.

The compact, attractive design is sure to please, and the 320×240 pixel resolution on the 2.5″ display will enable you to easily read everything from the news to your emails. Additionally, you get a normal 3.5mm headphone jack, a push-to-talk button on the side, and a USB port. The buttons and switches are all in the places that you would expect them to be, and after an hour of using it you will easily be able to operate it one-handed.

Blackberry definitely stepped up its game in terms of designing the Curve’s multimedia ability. The smartphone will play back various audio formats, including MP3, WMA, and AAC, along with various video formats, like WMV, MPEG-4, and H.263. The Curve processes the multimedia information very smoothly, very rarely experiencing any hiccups. The two megapixel camera will deliver high quality 4″ x 6″ prints – impressive for a camera phone. However, the Blackberry’s ultimate media strength lies in its email application. The Curve can sync up to ten separate email accounts with ease and finesse.

You will love the capacity for web browsing that with from the Blackberry Curve. Webpages show up fast enough and you are not left with that annoying few second wait for them to render. The call quality is good, though it would have been even better if it was possible to be able to get more volume out of it. If you are not constantly making calls or watching videos, the battery will last up around four days. When talking on the phone, it will last for about four hours, which puts it on a par with other high end smartphones.

The Blackberry Curve is arguably the best smartphone for its price tier, even though it might not have all the bells and whistles of other smartphones. The iPhone 4 and HTC Desire, though superior phones, are also much more expensive than the Curve. Comparable products would be the Samsung Wave or the LG Optimus. However, Blackberry soars pasts the competition in terms of battery life, e-mail capabilities, and camera quality with its newly released Curve.