The good: Slide-out QWERTY keyboard; solid feel; wide range of connectivity options including A2DP; faster Intel processor compared with the 838 Pro.
The bad: Soft keys hinder typing; 2.5mm audio jack; no HSDPA; average battery life.
The bottom line: With a faster processor, the Xda Zinc has a slight performance edge over the Dopod 838 Pro but falls short by a slight margin in terms of aesthetics. Unless you're looking for a QWERTY handheld, there're more options out there.

Labels: 3G, O2, Pocket PC

Outlook:
The Atom Life is without a doubt one of O2's most promising devices in its 2007 product lineup. In a nutshell, O2 is back with a vengeance, and it'll be interesting to see just how the market, and especially close rival Dopod, will react to the competition when the Atom Life launches in the next couple of months.

Labels: 3G, O2, Pocket PC, smartphone

Phone type : Triband
Networks : GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
Connectivity options : 3G, GPRS, Bluetooth, Infrared, USB, WLAN
Weight w/battery 105 g
Battery type(s) supported : Rechargeable removable 1,100mAh Lithium-ion battery
Max. talktime (in hours) : 4 hours
Max. standby time (in hours) : 200 hours

Labels: 3G, O2, smartphone

One of the key improvements made on the Atom Exec is the upgraded 520MHz Intel processor and 192MB of ROM. Hopefully, the faster speed and larger ROM address some of the complaints about sluggish operating speeds experienced by some users of the current Atom. The original Atom PDA-phone came with a 416MHz Intel processor and 128MB of ROM.

The Atom Exec is expected to sport similar dimensions (102 x 58 x 18.5mm; 140g) as the Atom, which should be a handy size for most mobile users. However, in place of the glossy casing will be a matte exterior--a move likely to go down well with many users since matte surfaces are usually more smudge-resistant than glossy finishes.

Other features expected on the Atom Exec include a 2-megapixel camera (with flash), FM radio, wireless LAN and Bluetooth connectivity.

Labels: O2, Pocket PC

O2's clearly not done yet for the year. Having surprised us with the delectable Xda Atom and Xda Mini Pro PDA-phones, it has unveiled the Orion. This smart phone, however, bears an almost uncanny similarity to the Dopod 577W, from the design right down to the dimensions. Features-wise, it almost apes the Dopod, offering quadband network support, onboard Wi-Fi connectivity and Windows Mobile 5.0. So what's different? Unfortunately, at this early stage of the announcement, it's hard to tell. ...

Labels: Mobilephone, O2

It's not the first PDA-phone with a number keypad, but the design of the O2 Xda Stealth (particularly the slide-out numeric buttons) does share an uncanny resemblance to Samsung's earlier slider handsets. Feature-wise, the Stealth, however, takes after its predecessor, the Atom. There's a QVGA (320 x 240-pixel) display, Intel Xscale 416MHz processor, 2-megapixel camera and triband GSM support.

Upside:
The Stealth is possibly O2's first PDA-phone with a number keypad. Like the Asus P525, the decision to include a number keypad, instead of a QWERTY keypad, seems to be catching on among handheld makers. While it may add a slight bulk to the overall size of the device, the inclusion of a number keypad simply beats having to dial or SMS on the touchscreen display.

O2's new slider
In the case of the Stealth, it is 8mm longer, 5mm narrower and 4mm thicker than the original Atom. Compared with the Dopod 838 Pro with QWERTY keypad, the Stealth has a smaller footprint and weighs just 140g. That's the same weight as the Atom and almost 36g less than the 838 Pro.

We like how O2 has designed the Stealth to look like a slider-phone, which may just be enough to convince those still procrastinating over the traditional PDA form factor to finally switch over to a PDA-phone.

O2 has made several improvements to the hardware on the Stealth. While the display, processor and camera have remained pretty much the same as the Atom, the new handheld now comes with a larger (192MB) ROM memory and wireless 802.11b/g Wi-Fi support. Other noteworthy features include a stereo speaker, speakerphone function, Bluetooth v1.2 with A2DP profile and miniSD card slot.

As with most of the recently introduced handhelds, the O2 will also be bundled with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0, which adds functions such as push email on the device.

Downside:
With the addition of a keypad, but only a marginal increase in size, something has to give. The most prominent tradeoff is the smaller 65K-color 2.4-inch touch screen. In comparison, the Atom sports a 2.7-inch display with 262K-color support. The Stealth also comes with a smaller capacity Lithium-ion battery (1,300mAh versus the Atom's 1,530mAh.)

We were slightly disappointed to find a USB 1.1 port which doubles as a charging port. According to the specs sheet given, the Stealth will also not be equipped with onboard FM radio.

Labels: O2, Pocket PC

The good: Superb display; excellent keys; intuitive user interface; feature-rich; strong multimedia functionality; miniSD expansion slot.
The bad: Small joystick, no significant upgrades; no equalizer support; VGA-only camera; expansion not hot-swappable.
The bottom line: If you already own an Xphone II, don’t bother. However, if you’re in the market for a smart phone, they don’t come much better than this one.

Labels: O2, smartphone