Monday, October 18th, 2010
As the summer draws to a close, we’re all feeling a little nostalgic, so let’s revisit some of our favourite handsets from this year.
July’s Nokia C3 is a sturdy little phone, which together with a range of cool colours (grey, gold and bright pink) and an aluminium cover on the back, gives it a reassuring robustness as well as being pleasingly chunky.
Nokia C3 with Silicone Cover CC-1004, Lime
Visually it’s immediately reminiscent of the BlackBerry, sporting as it does a full QWERTY keyboard and a landscape screen, which it’s probably a good idea to grab a Nokia C3 screen protector for. The C3 can’t be classed as a full smartphone, however, unlike the BlackBerry, but does have internet access via 2G or WiFi. The main focus of the phone is social networking, and Twitter and Facebook feeds can be delivered directly to the home-screen.
It’s one of the most low cost handsets from Nokia, and that along with the choice of colours and easy social media access make it a great choice for teenagers. They’ll enjoy choosing a Nokia C3 cover to give their phone a dash of that old teen spirit and originality, and there are a good selection of bright and beautiful cases to choose from over at our Nokia C3 accessories page.
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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
I have used a few Bluetooth Visor Car Kits in the past only to find sooner or later (more sooner), I retire them to the Bluetooth graveyard located in a dark corner in the spare room at home. It always begins on a high with a promise to provide a ‘Hands-free’ but safe, convenient , compact, foolproof and law abiding way to receive and make calls while sitting in the comfort of a stationary or moving vehicle… However, eventually the honeymoon gloss fades and cracks appear to what first seemed a win, win situation.
Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Speakerphone
So when presented with the opportunity to try yet another Handsfree Bluetooth in-car visor product I did not climb over the office furniture or rugby tackle fellow colleagues to be first in the queue. However on this occasion a particular feature of the Jabra SP700 caught my imagination – it claimed to offer both voice and stereo music streaming direct from my Bluetooth enabled mobile phone to my in-car entertainment unit.
In the Box
The compact and stylish Bluetooth speakerphone also comes supplied with a visor clip that is already fitted, a USB charger cable, USB car charger and ‘plain English’ and compact user guide.
Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Speakerphone Box Contents
Getting Started
Just connect the USB charger cable to a spare USB port on your computer and up pops an illuminated red battery icon to indicated that it is charging. When fully charged this icon then changes to green. If you do not have easy or regular access to a computer then think about purchasing a USB Mains Charger and use the USB charger cable provided in the box when not in the car. On the front of the unit are a range of icons that illuminate to indicate what status the speakerphone is in. I will discuss these in detail later.
There is no dedicated off/on button, and although not immediately obvious, this function is activated by pressing and holding the front of the speakerphone; 2 seconds to switch it on and 4 seconds to switch it off. If like me, you tend to exit your vehicle and forget to switch the speakerphone off then do not worry, the SP700 has an auto-power off when the phone is out of its Bluetooth range.
Pairing the SP700 to your mobile phone couldn’t be easier; when you switch it on for the first time it automatically enters its pairing mode which is clearly indicated by an illuminated Bluetooth Status icon appearing. Next, just activate the Bluetooth function on your phone and set the phone to “discover” the SP700, enter the pin code (0000), mount it to your car visor and you’re good to go!
The Jabra SP700 clips neatly to your sun visor in the car
Controls
Now the SP700 is not big on controls, I have already mentioned the lack of an on/off button and it does not have any audio adjustment controls aside of a volume up & down button on one side of the unit, and there is also a FM transmitter button located on the opposite side.
Features
Now the SP700 provides the basic functions like any other like handsfree kit, as well as supporting extended features of some phone models like voice dialling – which as you may have already experienced is a potential Olympic Linguistic event in its own right. Also the SP700 features advanced noise reduction and echo cancellation that insures excellent sound quality on both sides of the call.
When using the SP700 the current status is clarified by a clear voice announcement – available in 10 languages – a treat no doubt for those multi lingual potential users out there or those wanting to practice some basic phrases before arriving at their international holiday destination this summer!
The voice announcer switches from a female to a male voice for different status alerts. However the announcement that caught me by surprise was the one that announced the caller ID of an incoming call – brilliant – and by pressing the front of the speakerphone I could answer or end the call. The announcer also confirms when the speakerphone is switched off and also when it has made connection with your mobile phone.
I found the clarity of the incoming call to be excellent by comparison to other Bluetooth visor speaker phones that I have used in the past, and I can confidently say that my voice was clearly received by my caller. I must admit that my vehicle suffers from very little cabin noise generally – however I also tested it in my wife’s 1.4 about town vehicle which isn’t a tractor by any means – but with mischievous and noisy kids in tow I still found the SP700’s speakerphone to be equally as impressive.
The Jabra SP700 has a classic, slim line design
The best feature is the FM transmission - A simple press of the FM transmission button illuminates the FM transmission icon and speakerphone mute icon, then kicks the voice announcer into action as she clearly tells you the FM frequency to tune your car radio to. If this frequency is congested by existing radio stations then you can make adjustments by 0.1MHz at a time using the volume keys, the announcer will recite the new frequency selected each time you make a change. My radios’ RDS function displayed the word JABRA to indicate that I had sourced the correct frequency and I promptly saved it to a spare preset number. This remains the fixed FM frequency unless you make a change as previously mentioned or reset the unit to factory settings. The only thing I did not have time to test was how the selected FM frequency would stand up to long journeys whereby you may drift into localised radio stations sharing the same frequency; however, the ease I found in changing frequencies leaves me quite confident that such an event occurring would not be a major problem to resolve.
The Nokia E71 phone was used to test the SP700 for streaming music to my car stereo, on hitting the play button on the phone, music came belting out almost immediately through the car speakers. The quality was fairly good, however I found that the SP700’s lack of audio controls came to haunt it as the volume controls previous used to adjust the FM frequency remain set to this function while in FM transmission mode, so you have to rely on your in-car audio controls to equalize the sound and adjust the volume. This sometimes is a problem when you switch back to the radio or CD mode as the volume can sometimes be far too high for those built in sources.
Taking calls using the FM transmission mode was a delight, however be aware that your calls may be picked up by a stranger who is tuned to the same FM frequency and in close proximity to your vehicle, so keep this feature just for music or calls that are not of a private or sensitive nature. On a final point if you turn off your radio or forget to change the status of the SP700 back to its own speakers, then the SP700 automatically disconnects from its FM transmission status following a period of non-use.
The SP700 boasts up to14 hours talk time & up to 255 hours standby however after a week of testing I am yet to re-charge.
Conclusion
I must admit the SP700 has not changed my preference which is to avoid taking calls while driving if I can, however when circumstances dictate that this is unavoidable or for those of you or where this is a day to day necessity then the SP700 does not disappoint, mainly because of its ease of use, functionality, portability and quality. The Ace up its sleeve however is the FM transmission that adds a more practical and up to date feature for all music lovers who have migrated their favourite playlists into the fashionable multi-media Bluetooth mobile phones that are currently available – a smart move by Jabra.
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Tags: Bluetooth, bluetooth headset, car charger, car handsfree, car kit, car visor, fm transmitter, handsfree, Jabra, jabra sp700 speakerphone, mini usb charger, Nokia, nokia bluetooth, nokia e71, sp700, stereo bluetooth,
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Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Nokia have the largest handset range of all the mobile phone manufacturers, and with most of their handsets looking pretty similar, getting the right accessories for your Nokia phone can be quite tricky – especially if you don’t know the model number of your phone.
Nokia have tried to keep it relatively simple over the years by dividing their handsets up in to ‘series’ or ranges. Probably the most well known range is the more recent N-Series, but every one of their handsets belong to a series of handsets whether it be 1000 series, 2000 series etc, where the series is determined by the first digit of the model number.
This short guide will show you a few quick and easy ways to work out which Nokia phone you have.
Check your phone
Some phones have the model number printed above the screen
This might seem like a really obvious thing to suggest, but some Nokia handsets will have their model number printed on the housing somewhere. If you have bought your Nokia direct from your network, you may find that the model number has been replaced with the networks logo. If this is the case – try the next step: (more…)
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Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Since the launch of the iPhone App Store by Apple last year, we’ve seen an explosion in the amount of applications, games and ringtones for mobile phones. Phones are now getting smarter than ever before and many now allow us to install extra applications and add functionality to our phones. Over the next few weeks I’m going to be compiling a list of the top applications for each of the different mobile phone operating systems; Symbian S60 3rd edition, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone & Java.
Symbian S60 V3 Handsets From Nokia
I’m starting off with Symbian 60 3rd Edition (also known as S60 V3). If this doesn’t mean much to you, don’t worry, S60 V3 is probably the most common operating system and is found in most Nokia N-Series (N95, N96) and Nokia E-Series (E71, E66) handsets. Over the last few months there have also been a few handsets from Samsung that run S60 such as the Samsung INNOV8. The latest touch screen phones from Nokia – the N97 and the 5800 XpressMusic run on Symbian software, but as they are touchscreen, they run on S60 V5 so the applications listed here won’t work on them. I’ll be compiling a list of Symbian 60 5th edition applications shortly.
(more…)
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Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Over the course of the next 12 months, all the big names in mobile phones will be moving over to just one type of charger – a Micro USB connection. The main reason behind the change is to reduce the amount of chargers that are being thrown away. Long term, I can see mobile phones not coming with a mains charger as manufacturers will assume you’ve already got one. Great if you live in a house where everyone has a different phone – you can now share chargers, and if you go on holiday and forget your charger, finding someone with a charger for your phone will be a whole lot easier!
There are already a lot of phones available that use a Micro USB charger; Both the BlackBerry Storm & Black Berry 8900 Curve, Nokia have the 6500 Classic and the recently released Nokia N97, and Samsung use Micro USB charging on the Samsung Omnia HD and the Samsung Jet.
Fed up of tangled cables?
This is of course great news, but you’re still going to need seperate chargers for any other accessories that you might have, your Bluetooth Headset for example. You’re still going to need a different charger for each device, and there is still a risk of leaving one behind when you pack for your travels.
Fortunately, there is a solution on its way. Micro USB chargers are also being adopted by accessory manufacturers, so you’ll be able to use the same charger on your headset as you use on your mobile phone.
Jabra, Nokia and Plantronics are all starting to introduce Micro USB charging to their range of Bluetooth Headsets and Stereo Bluetooth Headsets so I’ve put together a list of our top micro USB Bluetooth Headsets
(more…)
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Tags: Jabra, jabra bt2050, jabra bt4010, jabra jx20 pura, micro usb, micro usb bluetooth headset, micro usb bluetooth headsets, micro usb charger, Multipoint, Nokia, nokia bh-703, nokia bh-803, nokia bh-804, plantronics, plantronics discovery 925, plantronics voyager 510 pro, plantronics voyager 835,
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