Mobile Handset DesignLine Blog | 2.5, 3G, 4G and WiMAX Options/Analysis

June 29, 2009
Customization is everywhere
By Gregory Quirk

With no new shows on TV until the fall I have had a bit more time on my hands lately, and was looking for a project to keep me occupied. I was surfing the web for some BlackBerry Curve 8900 themes for my phone and came across some really interesting ones. And while they are great, I wanted to create my own theme... I just didn't realize that it was going to be harder than I expected.

One that I really liked was a Spiderman theme, for which the OTA link can be found here. While I am a huge Spiderman fan the images alone would not have been enough to convince me that it would be worth keeping. What I like most about the theme is that when you scroll over an icon you get a Spiderman mask behind it, which I thought looked really neat. And second, when you scroll over an icon, like mail, new messages show up on the screen. I previously had the Zen Today theme, which was okay, but id not give me the level of detail that I find I can get with this new theme.

I found some forum information on creating a theme here and downloaded all of the software needed to try it out for myself. I took a sample theme and started playing around with it, but did not get too far into the process, although it is something that I will be going back to again to try to understand more and actually finish creating my very own theme.

What this did raise in my mind, however, was the amount of customization that is available in all of the consumer product I have. I just never really sat down and thought about how much almost everything I own is customized just for me. In gaming I have avatars that I spend far too much time creating. My cell phone has themes to make it the way I want. It is no longer just going out and picking a certain color to match your style, making it your own is part of the experience.

What is the device that you have spent the most time customizing, or have had the most fun customizing? Shout it out in the forum!

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June 22, 2009
iPhone 3G S teardown
By Gregory Quirk

The big thing happening right now is the release of the iPhone 3G S. Or I should say, the biggest thing happening, which isn't saying too much. I've read some reports of long lines and outsold stores from a few locations, but on Friday morning in Ottawa... not so much. A collegue went to the "flagship" Rogers store at 5:30AM just in case. That store was scheduled to open at 10AM, so I was to go to a smaller store as that store opened at 9AM and we figured the line up would be smaller as it was out of the way. We didn't need to worry. At 5:30AM there was one person in line. They decided to open the store a little after 8, at which point there was only 3 people in line, including my colleague. At the store I was at there was no one, and on the drive back to the office I passed a few more stores without anyone waiting in front.

We were not the first people to get a teardown done, but we were able to get into more detail than some of the initial teardowns, thanks to some decapping and collaboration with Semiconductor Insights and Portelligent. We were also able to get a few parts correctly identified, as many places were labelling the Nymonyx NOR flash as being from Infineon. Our full findings can be seen here (including a humerous, yet educational, video of the teardown).

I only got a few minutes to play with the iPhone 3G S before we had to take it apart. It seemed decent, but nothing revolutionary over the iPhone 3G. A few nice features, and maybe the faster processor could be useful (didn't have enough time to really do solid comparisons), but nothing that made me decide I needed to go out and get one. Anyone out there pick one up and have impressions on it?
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June 15, 2009
Weighing Protection of the OtterBox Defender Case for the Curve 8900
By Gregory Quirk

A little while ago I wrote a blog post about the OtterBox Defender case for the iPod Touch. The issue I had with that case was that the protective screen created air bubbles that caused a few issues with watching the screen. Otherwise I found that the feel of the case and the protection it provided was excellent. At the time there was no case available for my actual phone, which is a BlackBerry Curve 8900. That has changed and an OtterBox Curve 8900 Defender case showed up on my desk this morning.

The big difference between the Touch case and the Curve case is that, while there is a protective screen on the Defender 8900 case, the phone is not a touch screen, so the material seems to be different and does not stick to the screen. This helps to provide dirt and dust protection without compromising the viewing. The case includes a clear PVC covering for the keyboard with a cut out for the track ball. You have to line up the keyboard cover before putting the phone is the encasement, which can take a few attempts to get everything aligned, but nothing too difficult. Then you put the phone in a hard polycarbonate shell and snap it together to get some protection. Further you surround it in a soft silicone casing for additional protection from drops and to provide a more comfortable feeling when holding the phone.

There are cut outs in the silicone casing for all of the necessary inputs, like the microUSB slot and the headphones. The buttons are covered over but respond easily to slight pushes as if they were not covered at all. Additionally, the phone snaps into the holster and feels relatively secure (granted I've only been using it for about an hour now). There are magnets positioned properly so the screen turns off when in the holster to conserve the battery life. I have a friend who bought a case that does not have the magnets and he has to recharge his phone much more often than I do as the screen is constantly on.

While the case feels comfortable it does add a bit of weight to the phone. The Curve 8900 only weighs 3.87oz on its own, but the case adds another 2.61oz giving it a total wright of 6.48oz, which feels a bit heavy in comparison to just using the phone by itself. This might just take a bit of getting used to and the added protection could be well worth it as I have dropped my BlackBerry a few times already and had the battery cover fly off... maybe I'm just clutzy.

I've spent a bit of time looking for a good case for my Curve 8900 since I bought it a few months ago, and until now have not found one that I would leave on for long. But I think I'll try this one out for a bit to see if the weight is going to be a deal breaker for me. I have an hour long call this afternoon so that will be a good test to see if it gets uncomfortable to hold for that long. Either that or I need to really start looking for a hands free set :-)

More information about the OtterBox Defender case for the BlackBerry Curve 8900 can be found here.
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June 15, 2009
Is summer the new Christmas for phone releases?
By Gregory Quirk

Now is an interesting time in the cell phone industry. It is interesting that June has turned into the new Christmas for phones. Instead of new products coming out in late November or early December for the buying rush, the high profile phones have started coming out in the summer months. Maybe this is a way to get some early sales and then be able to do bundles and discounts in during the holidays to increase sales.

Two weeks ago the Palm Pre was released. There was an interesting teardown performed looking at the chips inside, which includes board shots and a video.

This Friday the iPhone 3G S is released, and we are going to be doing a teardown on that as soon as we can get our hands on one. I think someone is actually going to be standing in line at about 2AM to make sure we will be able to get one to show you what is inside the phone. Although I'm not sure if this one is going to be as in demand as when the iPhone 3G was released. That one was the first time an iPhone was available in Canada and the line ups were pretty lengthy.

As well, Research In Motion has their earnings announcement on Thursday and many people are expecting them to comment on their second version of the Storm, which did not take the market by "storm" as they had thought (although my parents are down this week and my dad has a Storm and seems to like it, but the iPhone is not available where he lives).

All in all, there are a lot of interesting phones coming out... but they are getting to the point where they are all playing in such a same space that they might be flooding the market a bit with their releases. Anyone out there desparate to trade in their current phone for one of the new ones, or is what you have going to keep you going for a while longer?
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