Most mobile phones released this year will have GPS embedded within, but AT&T’s Samsung Propel Pro is the first GPS-enabled handset I’ve seen to also have an embedded joystick.
Headed for AT&T in April, the Samsung Propel Pro combines a non-touchscreen 2.55-inch display with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard and an integrated joystick that “maneuvers 360 degrees”. This differentiating “optical mouse” is a feature we’re seeing more often with Windows Mobile phones though this is the first I believe with a joystick.
The 3.9 x 2.5 x 0.6 inch mobile device includes tri-band (800/1900/2100MHz) HSDPA and quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) EDGE data speeds, GPS, the Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard operating system, and Xpress Mail software which features email access to Microsoft Exchange Server and Lotus Notes enterprise servers, as well as POP3 access to Hotmail, Yahoo and other online personal email platforms.
Another interesting Propel Pro feature is DioOCR character recognition software which allows users to take a photo of, for example, a business card with the phone’s 3 megapixel autofocus camera and save the information in a text file. Other features include Bluetooth, a 528 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM and 256 MB of flash storage, expandable via an included SD card slot.
When it launches with AT&T next month, the Samsung Propel Pro will cost $150 after a $50 mail-in rebate in addition to fees related to a 2-year contract agreement.
Related Points Of Interest
Microsoft may release a smartphone based on Nvidia’s ARM-based Tegra chip, according to Broadpoint AmTech analyst Doug Freedman.
From the research note via GigaOM:
“we have been able to identify NVDA’s second handset design win for the Tegra Applications Processor (our Jan. 12th note identified HTC). We believe that Tegra is also designed into an upcoming Microsoft smartphone (with a Qualcomm baseband solution). We believe that MSFT may announce one of the new phones at 3GSM.”
Freedman further goes on to say that an HTC release would be more likely given Microsoft’s “lack of prior carrier relationships/handset qualification history” but “they’ve entered new markets (and) they clearly have a hardware business. Earlier today we reported that HTC handsets would ship in the second quarter running on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon chip, similar to Tegra in that all of its components fit on one piece of silicon. Intel’s Atom, on the other hand, splits the processor and chipset into two separate components.
The analyst believes that the Microsoft smartphone could be released within the next 6 months and the company may announce something at the Mobile World Congress beginning February 16 in Barcelona.
With recent speculation that Microsoft could be launching an application store and mobile cloud-computing initiative, it would follow that a smartphone should materialize despite repeated denials by the company. Of further interest is the executive change-up that was announced yesterday. Former Zune exec Joe Belfiore and Windows Home Server general manager Charlie Kindel were both reassigned to the Windows Mobile Division. It’s long been assumed that if Microsoft were to release a standalone smartphone, it would integrate the Zune’s functionality in some form.
There’s plenty of evidence, as you can see, that a Microsoft smartphone is not fantastical thinking. And if it did run on Nvidia’s Tegra, the Windows Mobile operating system would likely get an impressive visual overhaul. Nvidia has only moved into the mobile industry in the past year or so after dominating the PC graphics industry for years. Its GeForce graphics processor is capable of amazing iPhone-like multitouch UI interaction, and according to CNET, “accelerometer-based reorienting 720p video,” among other things.
As a sidenote, Freedman also believes Nvidia’s Tegra could be used in a future iPhone. If that’s the case, look for it in a June release. I think any iPhone produced after 2009 will be Apple-made-and-manufactured inside and out.
(Image Credit: Nvidia)
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Related Points Of Interest
Inrix – the masters of real traffic updates – just released a free iPhone App. What does it do?
- Real-time traffic flow maps on over 160,000 miles of roadways
- Predictive traffic shows how traffic will change over the next hour
- Details on traffic incidents, construction, road closures & events
Inrix iPhone app is already available today and works in the U.S. or Canada. Here is the iTunes link.
Brought to you by your GPS navigation
If you’ve been waiting for a GPS navigation application for the Android platform (other than TeleNav, and CoPilot) your wait is now over. Trimble just released an application called Trimble Outdoors that turns TMo’s G1 into a full-featured GPS navigator and geotagging tool for hiking, backpacking, fishing and other outdoor activities.
The application is best used with the site www.trimbleoutdoors.com which lets users review and plan trips online, send routes, maps and waypoints wirelessly to the G1, use the phone as a GPS navigation system to guide outdoor adventures, and tag pictures with geolocation, text, and audio and share them online.
The application will let you get maps of your location, track a certain route using breadcrumbs, and mark and edit waypoints along the way. And of course Trimble Outdoors features a digital compass showing coordinates, speed and heading.
You can pick up Trimble Outdoors from Android Market for $20 but apparently that’s the introductory price.
Brought to you by your GPS navigation site News Gadgets.
O2 today announced that the ground-breaking O2 Joggler is now available to buy from O2 stores. Designed to help family life run more smoothly, the O2 Joggler is the digital evolution of the traditional family wall calendar. It is priced at £149.99 or free if taken instead of a handset at upgrade*.
O2 also announced today that its “Your Family Bolt-on†will cost £7.50 per month and be available to all O2 customers from May 12th. The O2 Your Family Bolt-on will not only save families money, but also ensure that they are always connected to each other. One family member pays £7.50 per month and nominates four other O2 people to join their calling circle. All calls, text and picture messages within this calling circle are at no extra cost in the UK. Parents with children on Pay & Go O2 mobiles can have reassurance that their children can always reach them, regardless of how much credit is left; while children can save their credit for speaking to their friends.
“The O2 Joggler and Your Family Bolt On are based on the insights that families want us to help save them money and create more time for them to spend together,†said Alistair Johnston, O2’s Marketing Director. “The Bolt On represents one of the best value packages in the market and the O2 Joggler will help families better manage their busy lives.â€
The O2 Joggler is a sleek 7†touch screen device for the household that keeps the whole family connected. It has been built on the insight that family life is hectic and can be difficult to manage. Appointments, birthdays, school runs, work deadlines and more can all be stored on the O2 Joggler’s calendar, which will text handy reminders to family members’ O2 mobile phones. Other features include weather updates, the latest news & sports headlines, and a photo, video and music player.
The O2 Calendar is also now available as a free stand-alone online service. Visit http://www.o2.co.uk/family for more information.
For a full list of features and to find out more about the O2 Joggler, the O2 Calendar and Your Family Bolt On visit www.o2.co.uk/family.
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Natural Resource Canada’s (NRCan) Geodetic Survey Division (GSD) has reduced the user-wait period for CSRS-PPP post-processing from more than 17 hours to approximately two to two and a half hours.
Do you ever feel the pressing need to take your office and move it into the desert or possibly a nearby forest? Yeah, me too. That’s the premise behind Trimble’s Yuma tablet computer. Designed for mobile workers, the Yuma sports a 7-inch WVGA touchscreen, Wi-Fi, GPS and a pair of geotag-enabled cameras, and a 34 pin ExpressCard slot comboed with a SDIO slot. It doesn’t provide innate internet connectivity, but via one of the expansion ports workers should be able to connect a modem to obtain outside access not over Wi-Fi.
The Yuma tablet meets MIL-STD-810F military standards for resistance to outdoor beatings and its IP67 rating protects it from dust, water, and temperature extremes of -30 to 60 degrees Celsius. The 2.6-pound tablet also stuffs a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor and 32 GB solid state drive inside its 5.5 inch x 9 inch x 2 inch rugged casing.
Trimble hasn’t released any pricing information yet, but expect the Yuma tablet to be available in April 2009.
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