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.

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.