phones

Samsung's 18k Olympic phone

Samsung has been holding out on us. The company did say last month that it would be issuing limited-edition phones in honor of the Beijing Olympics, following the likes of Lenovo and its "Cloud of Promise" laptops. But they didn't tell us the handsets would be made of gold.

Crave has a special relationship with all things gold, as some readers may have gleaned, so this phone naturally caught our eye--and it's not so ugly that we had to poke it out. True, some might find the P318+ a bit garish in its 18-carat gold casing, … Read more

Best Buy Canada touts iPhone, but lacks sales contract

Even companies that aren't selling the iPhone have taken to promoting its virtues.

AppleInsider spotted a Web page hosted by Best Buy's Canadian operation where customers can sign up to receive more information on the "revolutionary new device from Apple." That's a rather forward way of hawking a product you're not selling, eh? Neither Best Buy Canada nor its U.S. counterpart have plans to sell the iPhone any time soon, a corporate representative in Best Buy's U.S. offices confirmed.

As we all know, AT&T was the launch partner for … Read more

iPhone is picky when it comes to Bluetooth device pairing

I've come to the conclusion that the iPhone is a very picky Bluetooth dater. It doesn't like its own kind. It doesn't like MacBooks. And it gives mixed signals toward my car. Maybe it's just not into it. I'm not sure; time will tell.

I came to these conclusions playing matchmaker while testing out the iPhone's Bluetooth capabilities with various Bluetooth-enabled devices. First my car, then my friend Max's iPhone and my friend Max's new MacBook.

Date No. 1: My Bimmer

I admit I'm a yuppie type who just has to … Read more

Creating Web apps at iPhone Developer Camp

SAN FRANCISCO--iPhone Developer Camp kicked off here Friday night with about 300 developers, testers, designers and people with or without an iPhone working on new Web applications.

Missing Web apps on your new iPhone? You might find what you're looking for here. Adobe Systems' open office space has turned into hubs of tech geeks frenetically tapping on their keyboards to create new and improved Web applications and games for the iPhone. And there are some serious code writing, documenting and hacking going here at the iPhoneDevCamp, and it's all voluntary work.

Early Saturday afternoon, people were still … Read more

iPhone app: TipCalc

Tip calculators are pretty common in most cell phones, but unfortunately the iPhone only has a regular ol' calculator (Which you can also use to calculate tip, but that's beside the point). Danny Goodman has developed this neat little tip calculator for the iPhone--enter in the number of diners, the total, tax, and it'll calculate the tip for you, plus the total amount of money each diner needs to pay up. I really liked that with each tap of an empty field, a large number keypad pops up, making it easy to enter in the numbers.

iPhone link: … Read more

BlackBerry can has Wi-Fi? FCC says yes

Well, well, well...what do we have here? According to the kids over at Phone Scoop, the FCC has approved a Wi-Fi-enabled (802.11 a/b/g) BlackBerry device, which is a great sign since Research in Motion has been talking about adding this feature for more than a year now. A few other details about the device: it's said to be a GSM/EDGE smart phone with Bluetooth, a microSD slot, and it resembles the RIM BlackBerry 8800 and BlackBerry 8830 in the design department. No word on carrier or availability, but RIM CEO Jim Balsillie has said … Read more

Optimize your iPhone storage

Donald Bell has some great tips on how to minimize storage woes on the iPhone. It's a convergence device, yes, but at 4GB and 8GB, you may have to make some tough decisions when it comes to loading it up with songs.

Using a combination of your favorite manual playlists and iTunes' built-in Smart Playlist feature, the tips can help you optimize your iPhone's storage.

Learn how to do it in seven easy steps: Optimize your iPhone using playlists.

For more helpful advice on how to get the most out of your gear, visit CNET Tips and Tricks. … Read more

Slide show roundup: iPhone, Sanyo SCP-3200, General Electric G1, and BMW 335i Convertible

It's already been a week since we eagerly anticipated the clock striking 6 p.m. for the sale of the very hyped iPhone. The speculation of what will happen is over, and by now most people are well over the hype. Some may be envious of others' iPhones, and some may be trying to sell an iPhone for a profit.

In case you haven't seen the iPhone or are interested in learning more about it, we've got a slew of galleries, as well as some pictures of the Sanyo SCP-3200, the General Electric G1 camera, and the … Read more

Beware the dangers of the iPhone's imaginary flash drive capabilities!

InfoWorld's Mario Apicella is the latest entrant in the race to employ the most uneducated invective possible to warn corporate administrators that teh iPhone iz teh ev1L.

iPhone: Proceed With Caution

What stops me from buying one is that it lacks one vital feature in its remarkable bag of tricks: an Internet connection faster than EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment).

Actually, it does have one faster. WiFi.

When you travel, a faster connection such as HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) or EvDO (evolution, data optimized) is a must-have.

Because no hotels or airports or coffee shops have WiFi.

These … Read more