Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

Yes, you heard that right; Research in Motion will now add emphasis to media playback.

The phone manufacturer has established the BlackBerry brand as a very no-nonsense smart phone that allowed users to type and chat with ease thanks to the impressive physical keyboards that are used on the smart phones. However, the number of users who are keen on having a QWERTY keyboard is lessening as more and more people are typing less and are generally getting used to onscreen virtual keyboards.

While writing long emails are still best on a BlackBerry, updating a Facebook status or sending a tweet only takes a few characters. This is why RIM has decided to take a new approach with the OS –by showing the world that the BlackBerry can do more than just type.

So what is exactly new with the BlackBerry OS 6? The media playback controls and layout. As one would expect, BlackBerry smart phones are able to play music and video files, they always have been able to. However, there has been little emphasis on this feature as not a lot of people who love media would take smart phone with a smaller screen. The BB has always been the device of choice for heavy typists and professionals.

The upgrades have been divided into three main categories: music, videos and images. Each menu will show BlackBerry’s specialized controls for each media format.

The screen is still small (it is a hardware thing after all) but the controls have been completely revamped. Touch controls are now a major focus of the handset as it uses swipe, pinch and other gestures that make navigation and viewing a whole lot easier for users. The OS also incorporates full data access on media content, which means that users will get to see assigned album art to specific files.

According to Steve Jobs, the antenna issue is “a challenge for the whole industry”.

Mobile phone users and many mobile phone makers beg to disagree; after all, this is the first time that a device would actually drop calls if its antenna was held. Even in the early days of 2G/GSM devices, Nokia manufactured plenty of mobile phones with visible antennas that literally jutted out of the phone body. Phones like the old Nokia 5110 would still work properly even if the antenna was being touched by the hand.

And in the many years since then, various phone makers have made countless numbers of mobile devices that have not only made the antenna smaller and non-obtrusive, but also equally, if not more efficient.

Companies like RIM, whose BlackBerry Bold 9700 was named directly by Apple as a device affected by antenna issues. What Jobs might have failed to realize that even if the Bold or any other handset loses a bar of signal from touch, none of these phones would drop a call like the iPhone 4 would.

Jobs also failed to realize that RIM would also speak out.

To sum it up nicely, here is a quick excerpt from RIM’s official statement, “Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation.”

Nokia has also stated they their company emphasizes a lot on testing their products –including the antenna performance, to ensure the usability of their mobile handsets.

The two companies are not the only phone makers to have made their voices heard. Samsung and Motorola have also spoken out as well. Of the three companies that Apple has directly mentioned in the presentation, only HTC (manufacturers of the HTC Wildfire and Desire, among others) has yet to make a comment (and many believe that it will not be long before that).

Research in Motion, the company behind the BlackBerry smart phone just announced that they have entered the beta testing stage for the BlackBerry Protect service.

For those unfamiliar with the new product from RIM, it is an online based security system that users will have in order to gain remote access to their BlackBerry smart phones. Of course, each handset will have to be tied up to a specific account online (though no word has been given as to how the process actually works) and using that specific user account, a BlackBerry handset owner will be able to access several commands and functions for their mobile phones.

The most basic function is the lock down. This will lock up the handset in question until the owner allows it to be unlocked. This helps protect the device from being accessed by other people in the vicinity (should there ever be a need to ever leave the phone in such a situation) or when it is believed that it might have been taken purposely.

Of course, to fully secure data, there is also the memory wipe function. This will completely wipe out everything on the handset and should only be done when retrieval is no longer an option. This helps keep any private and professional data secure and away from the hands of malicious individuals.

The BlackBerry Protect service also offers less severe commands as well. Take the GPS function for example, which would help any user identify which friends house the handset has been left behind in. If a user has misplaced the phone at home or in the office, BB Protect will allow them to have the phone ring or alarm loudly in order to be found.

Of course, a system such as this will certainly be targeted by unscrupulous individuals –which is why RIM s currently putting BlackBerry Protect under a very strict testing period.

New devices are always being reported on the news and with mobile phones; leaks are a very common occurrence. But there are occasions when some bits of rumors and leaks are simply too good to ignore and let pass. Here are a couple of such devices.

The first is the BlackBerry 9670 or the BlackBerry Clamshell. Seriously, we think that the Clamshell nickname has to go. But aside from that, this handset is pretty much good enough as it is. Of course, RIM has yet to give out an official spec list so no one really knows how big the screen is or that the CPU speed is like. But that aside, we already know that this smart phone will be packing the BlackBerry OS 6 and of course, a clamshell form factor.

The portrait keyboard translates well to this form, but some user might feel that the overall design is too feminine, even when the device is all black. It is mostly because the shape, but overall, the design is not bad. The slight elevated ridge below the keyboard might seem like it will get in the way of typing, but with no actual device to test, it is hard to determine if that will really be an issue.

Another impressive phone that we simply cannot get off our minds is the Sony Ericsson Android mini-tablet/phone/netbook. Now that might seem like a mouthful, but the new smart phone sports a big 5.5 inch touch screen, a slide out QWERTY keyboard and a hinge that lets you set it up as a small netbook.

So far, there no other specifications reported about this handset aside from the size of the touch screen display and the fact that it will be an Android OS. But even with just that, this smart phone just made it to the top of our wish lists.