Tech Services

The feature phone is not dead. Nokia is bringing new life to these guys from "back in the day" with their announcement of the Nokia 206 today. So long live the alphanumeric keyboard. This classic design has a 2.4-inch display and comes in single and dual-SIM versions. The camera is nothing to brag about at 1.3 megapixels and it also has video capture. But the camera is optimized for sharing pictures - let's say on Facebook - at around 700KB. The downsizing is done automatically. But here is something to brag about. Nokia is claiming 20 hours of talk time in battery life for the single-SIM version, with a 47-day standby mode. That's over month without recharging. The dual-SIM model has a lower 25-day standby time. As for memory, there is 10 megabytes of user memory, along with a slot that accept a 32-gigabyte SD card. Nokia did manage to incorporate some nifty technology into the feature phone platform. Their "Slam" technology allows the sharing of...

I have been in smartphone wonderland for the past few weeks. C Spire Wireless took me there with the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Motorola Photon Q. Both of these devices are on C Spire's 4G LTE network. I could stop right here and say these smartphones are what dreams are made of, but you need to know the details. With one in each pocket , I found myself reaching for either the Galaxy S III or the Photon Q, depending on what I was doing. Galaxy S III close to perfect To keep it simple, the Galaxy S III is just plain nice. The spacious 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display makes other devices seem small, including my iPhone 5, which did grow in height from the previous iPhone models. This fine example of a smartphone runs Android 4.0.4, also know as Ice Cream Sandwich. It has been working out and shaping up since the Galaxy S II appeared about a year ago. The Galaxy S III can be packed with 32 gigabytes of memory, compared with 16GB for the S II, and has beefed up to a d...

The BlackBerry 10 interface will include a new feature that will divide the screen into a "Personal" and "Work" display of apps and data. The BlackBerry 10 launch is scheduled for Jan. 30, where Research in Motion, the smartphone's maker, will unveil the first two BlackBerry 10 Smartphones that will run on the new platform. This is what a lot of BlackBerry fans have been patiently waiting for, as the iPhone, Android devices and now Windows Phone 8 devices, chip away at the loyalty of RIM’s customers. The two devices expected to be announced have been rumored to be a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard model. The latter will soothe the fears of a lot of diehard BlackBerry fans, since the famous BlackBerry keyboards have been one of the reason for the device's popularity over the years. According to RIM, the BlackBerry 10 will “create a truly unique mobile computing experience that constantly adapts to your needs” using an approach called BlackBerry Flow ...

Finally, I can say that I was able to access the Internet at the grandparents house, a low-tech enclave best known as a weekend getaway, along with a dose of tranquility. As relaxing as it is, there is no available Wi-Fi signal within range of the comfortable couches in the family room. So the lack of being connected to the world was bothering us until I discovered the Franklin Wireless USB Modem from C Spire Wireless. Let’s bump it up a bit and make that a “4G LTE Smart” modem available on what C Spire calls the first “personalizing wireless services” experience. This device is about the size of a pack of gum and comes with a round USB charger, which plugs into any electrical outlet. The wireless modem plugs into the charger. The entire setup is as simple as a doughnut. In less than a minute, at least two of the three indicator lights will indicate a Wi-Fi signal with a red glow and, in my case, a 4G signal as a blue glow. Any 3G signal will show as a green glow. Surrounded by a ...