hyp4mhz.com

Category: Movie Phones

Mobile Phones used in movies.

  • The state of the smartphone market after the Samsung Galaxy Fold

    2019 is the start of a innovative year for Android OS but more of the same with iOS or the Apple iPhone. Yes it’s still Apple Vs the rest of the world. When will another alternative OS reveals it’s self?

    Android OS is at an amazing state. There are so many models and brands available you could spend months just researching before deciding on a new phone. The operating system is efficient, being able to run with minimal hardware specs. Benchmarks don’t reveal everything about performance so any review relying on them is pointless especially comparing it to the other dominant OS from Apple. The Android One initiative means that you get consistent OS updates regardless of brand.

    On the other hand Apple iOS and the iPhone have truly stagnated in design and features. Mind you they have caught up with a lower grade OLED screen and it’s pricing is not aspirational, more a rip off. Very few people could see the point of replacing their current phones with the latest models unless they had to.

    There is very few changes to the iPhones basics with the most talked about and heavily promoted of ‘dark mode’ a simple software screen mode available on Android OS for at least 8 years due to Android OS phone able to install themes and launchers. It’s laughable how the most popular tech bloggers love this feature and regard it as new.

    The notch is a polarising ‘feature’ as it’s been available on the Essential phone first and copied by Apple then Samsung, Oppo and Huawei released their own versions. Unfortunately it is more annoying than useful and it is not a elegant design. It is clear that  Apple copied the idea but it is clearly where the other manufacturers were heading based on the speed of the model release.

    2019 also sees the earnest efforts by Apple to maintain margins and promote the iPhone as a luxury item. Rose gold is pink no matter how to look at it and it’s a metaphor for it’s users who are biased rather than pragmatic to the whole iPhone vs Android the rest debate. Phones are not luxury items, the iPhone sells in the millions and none of its materials out of the ordinal or luxurious to look at rather the iPhone is looking a little cheap compared to the latest Samsung’s for example.

    The most popular tech bloggers and tech reviewers are so Apple centric it’s so easy to pick their bias and lack of awareness of features on Android phones. Like the whole screen colour settings which Samsung in particular had for the last 9 years that they didn’t even know about. The Apple watch is not an attractive ‘watch’ and certainly not a luxury item no matter what band that have. A Rolex even a ‘cheap’ one has more street cred than $1000 Apple watch. Big watches are a fashion statement and highly popular as when we see a review completing about how big smartwatches are we stop reading or viewing. They seem to be so Apple centric and concerned about preserving their status as the voice of the consumer but really there are quite limited or rather closed minded. They are also repeaters of press releases not generators of new ideas or fashion leaders that’s for sure. After all their clothes are promotional T-shirts given out buy the various brands!

    The voice of the people is where they put their money and they want OLED screens and big ones! The original Galaxy Note was mostly laughed at by these people, like when Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft said there would only be the need for less than the dozen computers in the world! Yet people bought them in high numbers because that’s what they wanted. Tech blogger and you tubers simply report and amplify their limited experience not what the market wants.

    OMG the heavy promotion of iMessage like it’s the only and best messenger on the planet is laughable. Whatsapp is what most of the world uses for their messaging. It’s platform or OS neutral and some governments even acknowledge it as a genuine form of identification. That said bring on a new competitor please.

    The other feature Apple is at least focusing on is their payment system. Using the system is of course dependent on you having an iPhone and to be honest we wouldn’t recommend it. We don’t want Apple knowing what we are buying and paying for using their systems. Their support when something goes wrong is not just replacing the phone when it breaks. This applies to any payment system like Google pay or Samsung pay options that are platform or OS specifications. (Don’t get us started on what Google knows about us!) I also don’t want to subscribe to their clearly bias news option devoid of critical Apple news. It’s like censorship and not pro-consumer holding innovation back.

    This brings us to the 2019 trend of folding phones. The Galaxy Fold is not the first folding phone but the most complete package with everything you could want for it’s high but justified price tag. The specs are amazing 64-bit multi-cores 12 GIG RAM and 512 Gig storage out of the box is literally PC specifications. It also looks and works amazing and will be regarded highly. We think it will be popular as more people replace their dual device tablet and phone setup for an all in one. It’s funny that at the release the Fold’s release tech reviewers and tech blogger can only complain at how big or expensive it will be which reveal their small mindedness. You see you are paying $1500 for the iPhone with limited memory and a 1st generation OLED screen, facts that are conveniently forgotten.

  • Nokia 7230 Review
    Welcome to the Nokia 7230 review. The Nokia 7230 was released in late 2009 to cater for the sweet spot between the standard and mid-range 3G capable mobile phones.  Price wise the 7230 is in a great position at under $180 outright and even less as a pre-paid package. Construction wise the 7230 is built very well.  However it is a slider phone so expect some slack over time but the demo model we tried was still working perfectly despite obvious hard use.  The metal frame and patterned plastic works well and will be attractive to most people. Although one of the cheaper models in the range there is not much to complain about. Conservative and well though out slider. Nokia has been making variations on the same theme for ages and their experience shows in the functionality that the 7230 has.  A decent sized screen, responsive menu system and all you need for voice calls, SMS and emails, Facebook, IM etc.  The keypad is Ok to use but we think the button feel designed to cater for those who love to text message rather than the occasional texter..  We still prefer the bigger buttons on the Nokia C5-00 mind you. The 7230 comes with 2 web browsers, Opera and the Nokia Webkit version.  The latest Opera version is the better one to use on a small screen if you want to see full web sites.  The screen is larger than most in the category but like the others still too small for full websites regardless of browser.  You need to find 'bite size' internet sites to be of real use.  It also lacks fast internet data download and upload capabilities. Call quality was typical Nokia although sounded 'tinner' - it seems to be a trend with the company compared with say the Hi-Fi ish quality of the old 6233.  The network signal was relative good despite being in a marginal area - ie 2 bars. It runs the S40 OS so our software works well with it - just turn bluetooth off if the apps fails to start. This phone is perfect for those who only want a basic 3G capable phone with some ability to add new software.  The large buttons on the surface of the phone will make it easy for those who if the fiddly buttons on other types of phones including touch screens happy.  The slightly large screen will definitely make it easier to view what ever information on the screen.  The menu system is standard Nokia so you will be able to use it without resorting the the manual. Overall we liked the 7230 and quite sure you will be happy with it too.  It is a simple phone with all the functionality for most of your communication needs.  There are also plenty of apps from the OVI store or carrier network store you can download for free or cheaply to keep you happy until the next model arrives. The key selling point is the outright pricing of less than $180 AUD and a pre-paid package of around under $130. Get the outright version so you can use other SIM cards with it. Strangely we prefer the 7230 to the 6700 Slider.  Finally the 7230 is available on most phone carriers except for Telstra at the time of writing. Specifications
    • Nokia 7230
    • Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Dual-band 3G 850/900/1900/2100 (Dependent on country)
    • Design Slider
    • L98 x W48 x D14.75 mm Weight 100 grams
    • Display/s 2.4 inch TFT 240 x 320
    • Camera 3.2MP
    • Video Camera 320 x 240 pixel main video camera 8FPS
    • Connectivity Bluetooth V2.1 Micro-USB
    • CPU xxxMhz
    • Memory Up to 45MB available to user MicroSD up to 16Gig
    • Ring tones MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
    • Features JAVA Apps Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 FM radio Speaker Phone/Hands free 3.5mm AV/headset BP-5CT 3.7V 1050mAh Up to 16 days Standby Up to 5.3 hours Talk Time
    • Price history Under $160 AUS mid-2010 (Outright) Under $130 AUS mid-2010 (Pre-paid)

  • Motorola BACKFLIP Review
    Welcome to the Motorola BACKFLIP MB300/ME600 review. Released early 2010 the BACKFLIP along with the other Android based phones by Motorola.  Using Android as the basis for their mid-range and up phones was probably one of the best moves by the company since the V3.  As a result their phones now have a consistent, stable, fast and customizable and supportable user interface as well as all the latest functionality. To prevent too much repetition from the Motorola DEXT/CLIQ review, the BACKFLIP is the same phone in a different case. The design of the BACKFLIP is different.  The keypad is always on the outside of the phone and to use it just flip it to the correct angle.  It is different but it does work.  The keypad being on the outside will be subject to rough surfaces but from the materials used it should remain scratch-less for some time. In terms of battery life - we do not really know but signal strength appears to very good. (We couldn't test the phone for long!) The screen itself is on par with any other smart phone certainly the same as the benchmark iPhone 3. In terms of functionality the BACKFLIP has the lot, everything you could need in a mobile phone in 2010. It is also a design statement yet works.  You will stand out from the crowd in a good way and worth the questioning looks and comments.  However the only thing that does not attract up to the phone is the chunky design.  Better looking materials would help! There's not much else to say really.  The BACKFLIP has all the stuff you could want in a 3G internet connected phone.  Like all the latest Motorola phones based on the Android OS it works really well. Specifications
    • Motorola DEXT
    • Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Tri-band 3G 900/1700/1900/2100 or  (Dependent on country) HSDPA 7.2 Mbits data speed (download)
    • Design Touch screen QWERTY slider
    • 108 x W53 x D15.3 mm Weight 163 grams
    • Display/s External TFT 320 x 480
    • Camera 5MP
    • Video Camera 640 x 480 pixel main video camera 15FPS 144 x 176 video call 15FPS
    • Connectivity Bluetooth V2 Micro-USB
    • CPU Qualcomm MSM7200A 528Mhz
    • Memory Up to 256MB available to user MicroSD up to 32Gig
    • Ring tones MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
    • Features Android 1.5 OS A-GPS Wi-Fi Motoblur integration Accelerometer Proximity sensor Light Sensor Magnetometer (Compass) Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 Speaker Phone/Hands free 3.5mm AV/headset 3.7V 1420mAh Up to 14 days Standby Up to 6 hours Talk Time
    • Price history From $xxx AUS 2010 (Outright)

  • Nokia 6700 Slide Review

    hyp4mhz
    Welcome to the Nokia 6700 Slide review page.  There are 2 different 6700s out there, the 6700 Classic and the 6700 Slide. They have the similar names but are quite different phones. See the separate review on the 6700 Classic on a different page.  The 6700 Slide was released in mid-2010 with a $349 outright price tag at many stores so it is not over priced BUT not as good value as the 6700 Classic. We've have finally got to sample one in our hands and we can report that the 6700  slide is one of the best designed slider phones encountered to date (May 2010).  The curves and they way it is put together feels more expensive than the price tag.  The mostly metal body is nice to touch and the whole thing noticeably lighter than the older 6500 which the design is based on yet the slide mechanism feels as solid as the 6500. Since it has multiple 3G frequencies it will work on all mobile networks including Telstra's 850Mhz NextG BUT you have to make sure you get the version you get if purchasing outright has the correct ones. The 6700 Slide is one of the first handsets that use the latest styling theme.  It's a cool metal minimalist theme that looks better in real life than pictures.  We think it looks like a bigger version of the iPod Nano. One of the most interesting things about the 6700 Slide is the number of colors you can get the phone in (at least 6 at the time of release). It is also one of the few S60 based sliders that we think is quite stylish. In terms of software the the 6700 runs Symbian S60 so once again if you've used prior mobiles with S60 you will be instantly familiar albeit with a few improvements or additions to the interface.  The screen quality was very good too considering that it is a reasonably-cheap priced phone. It also came with word, excel and powerpoint, viewers and a very decent FLASH compatible browser. The web browser is the same one used on the E-series Nokia phones so it does work very well despite the small screen. Our latest powersaver applications also work perfectly on.  Unfortunately like all S60 based phones active animated wallpapers do not work on them. The phone works in a responsive fashion, we where impressed with the button feel and overall operation because it does feel made for a higher price bracket.  However the operating system is showing its age and the lack of fluid transitions including the not quite in sync open and closed slider event sound can be annoying. The only other issue we already have with the phone is that it does not appear to come with A-GPS chip which indicates that this is going to be a reasonably priced mobile to get. However they claim that it will use the a 600Mhz CPU which means this will be one of the fastest responding phones from Nokia. Based on our sample the 6700 Slide is a very good standard 3G phone and we can recommend it for talk, text, video calls and emails. It will work reliably and most of all keep you happy until you are ready for more or the next model comes out! However the 6700 Classic has more features like inbuilt A-GPS for about the same outright price.  The 6700 Classic is not being sold as a pre-paid yet but it shouldn't be too long now.  Once the happens, dependent on price the 6700 Classic will probably by our recommendation. Specifications
    • Nokia 6700 Slide
    • Network Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Dual-band 3G 850/900/1900/2100 (Dependent on country) HSDPA 7.2 Mbits data speed (download) HSUPA 2 Mbits data speed (upload)
    • Design Slider
    • L95.2 x W46.1 x D15.9 mm Weight 110 grams
    • Display/s External Mono-TFT 240 x 320
    • Camera 5MP
    • Video Camera 640 x 480 pixel @ 15FPS faster if using less 352 x 288 setting Video call camera 176 x 144 pixel
    • Connectivity Bluetooth V2
    • CPU 600Mhz
    • Memory Up to 50MB available to user 16Gig micro-SD card slot
    • Ring tones MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
    • Features Ambient Light Sensor Accelerometer Sensor Music and Media player Organiser/Calender SMS, MMS, IM, Email JAVA MIDP 2.0 FM radio with RDS Speaker Phone/Hands free USB charging BL-4CT 3.7V 860mAh Up to 12 days Standby Up to 4 hours Talk Time
    • Price history Under$229 AUS Mid-2010 (Pre-paid) Under$349 AUS Mid-2010 (Outright)