A. Thanks for the message, and for watching the videos.  UpStage is a pretty old model at this point, so you may have trouble finding a new one for sale.  That said, texting is kind of a pain on it - the two-sided design means that you've got a nice big touchscreen on one side, and a small screen with a dialing keypad on the other.  The keypad is much easier to dial/text on than the touchscreen, but the display on the keypad's side is so small that you can't see very much of your message.  I also recall having to flip the phone over quite a bit when using it for messaging -- I haven't used an UpStage in quite some time now, but I do remember it not being very good for much besides calling and audio/video playback.

Rumor, on the other hand, is a great messaging phone.  You'll lose out on the higher-end features like Web browsing and such, but it's solid, comfortable, and has a good QWERTY board.  Rumor's display is small, but it's far better for texting than UpStage.

Cheers,
nk

1. Resetting: Most people out there question what to do after their iPhone or iPod Touch freezes. This is a tip, all you have to do is press and hold the Home and Sleep button until it resets. An apple logo should pop up after you know you have done it.
2. Quick URL's: It's a pain to type on the onscreen keyboard. So when typing out URL's while surfing the web on safari, you need to figure out some tricks to get this baby running better. First things first, no need to waste your time typing http://, just skip that step when browsing the internet! The most important thing when entering a URL is this: Do you see that ".com" button? Use it a lot? Well I do. Well, what happens when you have to go to a University's website to add ".edu"... or go to a website that ends in ".org." Here's the answer: When typing a URL and the domain suffix isn't ".com", press and hold the ".com" button and you'll see it pop open with various other options. You'll see it say ".net", ".edu", and ".org." All you have to do is keep your finger depressed on the screen and scroll to whichever one you want.
3. Typing Characters: Speak Spanish? Can't do the Ñ? Here's how to do it. Same thing as the URL's, all you got to do is tap and hold on the letters N, I, or E.
4. Saving Images from Safari:Do you want that cool image you've found while surfing the web from your new cool iPhone? Here's a tip. All you have to do is tap and hold on the image. A menu will pop up asking if you wish to "Save Image" or "cancel." That's pretty self-explanatory. Click "Save Image" and you can be able to set it as your wallpaper or just save it to your iPhone.
5. Double Tapping the Home Button: Ever listen to music and suddenly you need to pause it? Here's a trick: If your iPhone or iPod Touch is on the "Slide to Lock" screen, all you have to do is double tap the Home button and the iPod controls should pop up. You can push pause and there you go! Pausing the music without unlocking your phone!
6. Print Screen:  Just like a computer, you can take a screenshot of the screen with your iPhone. All you have to do is hold the home button and click the sleep button. The image will automatically be saved to your iPhone.

But ... The point here is I got some hands-on time with Bold.  If you're a BlackBerry fan waiting for this baby to drop, I think you're gonna be happy.  As you might have read already, Bold's display is absolutely gorgeous.  Bright, rich, crisp, clear ... phenomenal.  The new UI looks good, too - it's like RIM decided to join the rest of us in the land of eye candy.  It's not "iPhone's Fisher-Price UI" (as the Bold's owner put it), but I'd say it's slick looking to draw some would-be defecters back to the land of RIM.

The one possible hiccup here?  You guessed it: AT&T.  My new friend and I discussed 3G reception and s/he basically said, "It's been hopping back and forth between 3G and GPRS all day.  And I'm in San Francisco which, you know, is kind of a major tech market."  Um, yeah, there are a few data-hungry customers in these parts ... which could mean that we should have better HSDPA connectivity than anywhere else, or could mean we hammer our network so hard that we shouldn't reasonably expect a good data pipe.  Either way, though, given the recent 3G issues surrounding iPhone, it'll be interesting to see how Bold performs once it's released.

Speaking of which ... We now know that Rogers is looking to deliver Bold to its Canadian customers on August 22.  So what about AT&T here in the US?  "Should be out a few weeks after Rogers," is what I was told.  Sounds like CTIA time to me ... 

Carrier: AT&T and also available through Lets Talk
Contract Price: Free
Hot Feature: Thin flip - Music player

Carrier: AT&T
Contract Price: $149.99
Hot Feature: Streaming TV

In any event, you'll soon be able to get your TouchFLO 3D, Windows Mobile 6.1, 4GB of storage, 3.2 MP camera, Opera browser, EV-DO Rev. A and WiFi groove on, CDMA-style.  Woo-hoo!

Previous Posts in this series:

A. I've only had a little bit of hands-on time with Omnia but it definitely looks great.  Omnia's a Windows Mobile device, so it should be somewhat similar to the HTC Touch Diamond in that you've got Windows Mobile 6 running underneath with a nicer layer of user interface on top.  On the one hand that's too bad because I'm really NOT a fan of WinMo and, as the saying goes, "You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig" (i.e. Adding a pretty interface onto Windows Mobile doesn't change the code base running underneath).  On the other hand, lots of people rely on WinMo to connect to their work Email and Outlook accounts, and there are tons of WinMo apps out there for installation.

Beyond that, the device itself looks really good.  Great specs, good form factor, lots of connectivity options.  Just today Samsung told me I should have a review sample by the end of this week, so look for a longer video and more coverage on PhoneDog.

Cheers,
Noah

Previous Posts in this series:

Thanks.  In the meantime I built a whitebox machine that runs twice as fast as an iMac for about 1/3 the cost.  Only issue is I've wasted way too much time trying to get OS X running on it instead of just diving into Windows.  Maybe I should just install XP (Vista?) on the thing, sell my MacBook, and pick up a Lenovo IdeaPad for the road.  I'd probably wind up with a few hundred bucks to spare, actually.  But I digress ... back to phones ...

I thought MobileMe looked pretty cool when it was announced, but I was quickly schooled by a few friends in the unreliable ways of the .Mac service it was replacing.  Michael Arrington has a worthy spearing of the whole debacle over on TechCrunch that's worth a read if you're interested in such things (or just annoyed that your iPhone 3G drops calls, browses at EDGE-like speeds, and has developed a crack in its shiny plastic backside).

"The point here is that Mac used to be known for rock-solid reliability and that is what kept their loyal users happy when Apple almost went under. Now, with Macs showing up everywhere, Apple is starting to show the problems that inevitably come with a large scale operation (just like Microsoft.)"

Here's how...

1. Register as a Phonedog user, click here
2. Email us a written or video Tip and Trick to phonedog@gmail.com

What you can win?

Submit a tip, and you'll receive one (1) entry into our monthly Tips and Tricks phone giveaway.  The first drawing is on September 15th, 2008 for a brand new Motorola Q9M.  The following drawings (Phones to be determined) will be held the 15th of each month thereafter.  Winners will be announced on the website by the 20th of each month pending winner notification.

If we feature your Tip or Trick on the Phonedog.com homepage as a new blog post you'll then receive...

1. Credit for the Tip and Trick on the Phonedog homepage and in other areas of the site.
2. An eBay giftcard for $25.
3. Five (5) entries into our monthly Tip & Trick phone giveaway.

For more information, visit our Tips and tricks page.

How does it feel to win Cindy...?

"Hi Tom, What exciting news!  Perfect timing for the great news on winning the phone, I've had a very hard and stressful 10 days and just found time to check my email.  Needed that smile....thanks so much!

Carrier: Sprint
Contract Price: $149.99 before rebate
Hot Feature: Upgraded Katana

Carrier: Sprint
Contract Price: $149.99 before rebate
Hot Feature: NFL Mobile Live

I can tell you three things here:

1. The only way Verizon is going to release the current Voyager in a new color and a "New Voyager" is if that new Voyager is very different from the original.  Think EnV2 vs EnV and then some.  While VZW certainly doesn't shy away from loading their lineup with a ton of handsets at any given time, it really wouldn't make sense to confuse consumers by adding a new color to their flagship model only to trump it with a slightly revamped version of the same phone. 
2. Whatever happens, we'll get the new Voyager(s) and tell you all about them pronto.  Promise.
3. Voyager debuted at CTIA Wireless last September.  I'd bet money (if such a thing were legal where I live) that LG and Verizon hit San Francisco next month with something shiny and new in tow to show off at this year's show.
   

For reference, the 800w measures up something like this:

• Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro
• 2.4" 320 x 320 touchscreen
• 333 MHz processor
• 2.0 MP camera
• 3G support

Nobody's got any info on when Treo Pro might be released or who might be picking it up.  So I'm just gonna throw this out there (as I've been doing a lot lately): CTIA Wireless is in three weeks.  Maybe we'll find something out then?

If one thing bothers me more than not having an iPhone, it's the lackluster replies I sometimes receive to my texts. I could type out a message maxing out the SMS limit (160 characters x 7 pages), and still get just an "Oh" for a response. What's with that?! At least punch out a full sentence - throw me a bone here! I realize sometimes people don't have time to provide a real honest reply, but that's certainly not always the case.

Shaky relationships are a prime example of when one might experience texting woes. I've seen people break up, get back together, and do pretty much everything else boys n' girls do, through texting. Usually one person is texting their heart out, while the other lazily lays there and lets the other do all the dirty work. This shouldn't be happening folks, you've got to give an eye for an eye. If your girlfriend types out the story of her life to you, you'd better give her a little more than "That sucks".

An analyst at IBB Consulting who says he's handled Dream personally also mentioned that despite reports of a possible September pre-sale and October launch, we shouldn't expect to be dreaming until Thanksgiving time.  He also had this to say about the presence of Google ads on Dream:

The phone will come with Google's advertising software pre-installed. Customers who opt in to receive mobile ads from Google may be offered to buy the phone for a lower price, and may also pay lower monthly service fees. The Google platform will serve ads based on your interests and location, provided by the phone.

Whenever it launches and whatever it's loaded up with, Dream should cast the spotlight on T-Mobile USA for at least a little while - and just in time for the Holiday shopping rush, too.  Best get to primping, T-Mo ... it's almost time for your closeup.

We could see this before the end of the year.  We could see a full-on Samsung touchscreen explosion, too, given the already launched Instinct and unlocked GSM Omnia that's just begging for a US carrier release.  Samsung aside, though, Q4 '08 could be a great one for T-Mobile ... Tocco ... Dream ... maybe even a Sony Ericsson 3G phone or two in there, as well?  Look out for the little guy, VZW and AT&T ...