MWg Zinc II Review

Date of Review – 18th July 2008

Available from expansys.

Price - £399.95 with currently a £50 cash back offer

Pros – Zinc II menu useful, Retractable Stylus, Loud Speaker (never miss a tone), Mini-usb

Cons – No flash on camera, Competition

Expansys recently sent me the Zinc II to review. I have had this a week now, and have actually enjoyed the handset. It is a fairly straight forward affair and the specifications are :-

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional, World Wide English
• Processor: Samsung 520MHz
• Memory:
- 256MB Flash ROM
- 64MB RAM
- MicroSD expandable memory
• Display: 2.8” TFT QVGA, Flat Panel (Touch Screen)
• Keyboard: QWERTY keypad with semi-automatic sliding mechanism
• Network Frequency:
- Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
- Tri-band UMTS 2100/1900/850 MHz
- HSDPA 3.6Mbps
• Connectivity:
- Wireless LAN 802.11b/g
- Bluetooth® version 2.0
• Audio:
- Speakerphone
• GPS: Integrated highly sensitive SiFRstarIII GPS chip, reliable in urban and densely covered outdoor environments.
• Camera:
- 2 Megapixels CMOS camera
- Supports still image and video capture
• Operating Time:
- Standby up to 260 hours (GSM)
- Talktime up to 6 hours
• Dimensions: 109.5 x 59 x 18 mm; 185g

The key point to note is the 64mb of RAM. Whilst this did not cause me any problems, most WM6 devices now have 128mb of RAM. I am sure if the device was loaded and running several intensive applications, there is a possibility to overload it. The keyboard is very sensitive, and at first I held the key too long and duplicated letters. However, with a bit of practise I started to get used to the keyboard and actually started to like not having to press the keys so hard as I do on my Samsung i780.

MWg have followed HTC’s today plugin concept and provided a today plugin called Zinc II menu. Unlike the HTC option, it allows multiple contact shortcuts and application shortcuts. See screenshots below.

In use the call quality was as good as most WM6 devices I have used, but the loudspeaker volume was loud, so no chance missing any alarms!

As the device uses mini-usb, it is compatible with a wide range of accessories. The stylus is a retractable one, and a bit lightweight for my liking.

Mwg has also tweaked some of the settings – see screenshots –

All the features of the device work as described and the only one concern I have is with the 64mb of program memory, and the lack of buttons on the front of the device. A start menu and ok button would have been helpful, but MWg have gone for the cleaner look.

After using the phone for the last week, it has been a pleasant experience. Thanks to www.expansys.com again for sending the unit for review.

Review by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

My iPhone 3G was returned on Monday, never to be seen again and it was a bit of a sad moment for me. It seemed almost criminal to be returning a device that so many people still want, but alas it had to go. Some of my problems turned out to be a fault with the network, rather than the iPhone, but the iPhone still had some issues.

I am going to respond to Murray's comments over at Palm-Mac to describe my issues when comparing this phone to others. Here's his article, which is well written and full of insightful commentary (there's a $20 prize today if you can spot the sarcasm on 247:))

Murray wrote- "You can sense Shaun's frustration but to an extent it may be self inflicted because of his useage needs which are well beyond the capabilities of the iPhone. I think using a device can be about making sacrifices. I knew before I got the 3g version that leaving on 3g all day, coupled with push email whether it be from mobile.me or even worse, that battery sucker Exchange, would result in mucho shorto battery life. I'd like to leave on 3g all day but to be frank, I don't need to. During the day, when I'm at work and don't need fast downloading speeds I just change the settings to switch 3g off and that makes a big difference."

Shaun- "My Nokia E71 lasts for 3 days with push email and 3G enabled 24/7. That is an exception though because most smartphones are poor in this area and the iPhone 3G is still far better than the majority of them.

Murray wrote- "On normal GPRS or Edge setting I get far better signal reception that on the 2g version and again, having tried it with 3g, I know that the 3g signal is spotty therefore I don't use 3g...another sacrifice but one that makes perfect sense."

Shaun- "Nokia E71 with an O2 SIM card= 2 bars on 3G and 4 bars on GPRS. iPhone 3G with an O2 SIM card= 0.5 bar (if I am lucky) on 3G and 1 bar on GPRS. O2 is patchy where I live, but there was a definate difference between the two phones.

Murray wrote- "I'm a casual user though whereas I get the impression Shaun is more of a power user. My own view is that the iPhone is not a device for power-users, there's too much missing for them to be able to get enough out of it. I'm not going to have a pop at Shaun because he is a good guy and he is perfectly entitled to his views, particularly if he is having justified problems with battery and signal strength, that cannot be fun."

Shaun- "I agree with this, but in this case maybe 'power user' is the wrong phrase. Business users will not get on with the iPhone at this time because of the data entry, no copy/paste and some other missing bits but a power user can still benefit from the iPhone. As Murray wrote, sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get on with a new device, and not being prepared to change your usage pattern will stop you being happy with any new phone.

The iPhone 3G is a beautiful phone, but at this point in time and at my place in the world (near a large airport which O2 should cover well?) it is just not for me. Anyway, my iPhone first generation works fine on Vodafone:)

Smart in the Real World - the Nokia N95 takes on all-comers in a dozen common tasks has been posted at AAS, where the N95 takes on the iPhone 3G and Touch Diamond. Guess what? The Symbian device won:)

Regular readers may know that, in the interests of knowing what to recommend, I'm fond of device advocacy, i.e. comparing the pros and cons of different phones to try and come up with some kind of ranking. Usually these pieces are centred around specification or feature lists, not unnaturally, but here I'm going to take a dozen real world tasks, things that you or I do (or would like to do) every single day, and then assess how easy and/or quick these tasks are to perform.

For the purposes of this comparison, I'm going to take the six month old Nokia N95 8GB, typical of the current S60 range, the brand new Apple iPhone 3G and the also-new HTC Touch Diamond. If Apple (and HTC's) marketing is to be believed, the iPhone should be an easy winner in a usability test, but the extra maturity and featurettes in S60 3rd Edition also make it a hard act to follow.

MetrO 5.6.9 has been released and now includes a Blackberry Beta version! Thanks to Gavin for the details.

We are happy to announce our new MetrO release (5.6.9)

What's new :

* New networks: Zaragoza (Spain)

* Major city changes: Arcachon, Brussels, Chicago, Frankfurt,
Los Angeles, Madrid, Osnabrück, Paris, Strasbourg

* Other changes: Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brest,
Dresden, Landerneau, Mexico, Mumbai, New York,
Washington-Baltimore

* PALM, Windows Mobile (PocketPC), Windows Mobile (Smartphone)- Minor improvements

* Blackberry- BETA VERSION RELEASED!!!

* Symbian UIQ (SonyEricsson P800/P900/P910...)- Bug fix

* Symbian UIQ 3 (SonyEricsson M600, P990, W950)- Not yet available, in progress...

* Symbian S60 (Nokia 36xx, 66xx, Exx, Nxx, ...)- Bug fix

* Symbian S80 (Nokia 9300, 9500)- Bug fix

* Symbian S90 (Nokia 7710)- Bug fix

Navigation solutions provider TomTom, Monday reported a 24% fall in second-quarter net profit as year-on-year prices for its devices fell. The company reiterated its full-year outlook.

Sales rose 19%, with the number of devices sold up 70% on the year, and an average price increase of 12% quarter-on-quarter.

Chief Executive Officer Harold Goddijn said in a statement Monday: "Consumer demand for our products and services proved resilient in the face of difficult macro economic conditions."

"During the quarter we renewed our entire product range. The new products have been well received, which gives us a strong starting point for the second half of the year," he added. More at cellular-news.

You have been warned. Use one of respectable advertisers instead:) Unsafe chargers 'flooding' the UK: Hundreds of thousands of unsafe chargers for mobile phones, games consoles and music devices could have made their way into the UK.

Trading standards officers studying dangerous chargers being imported from China say vast numbers are available on the internet and in shops.

Their tests show one brand can overheat or cause electrocution.

One of the chargers concerned has the code marking DE62347066. Others have no code and are called Travel Charger. More at the BBC.

From Philippe- "The Tor website has just been launched: http://tor.com. There are already 2 stories downloadable in various formats:

After the Coup by John Scalzi and Down on the Farm by charles stross

And for a limited time, all the stories available in their Watch the Sky program can be downloaded again- Until Sunday, July 27, you can download all the novels and wallpapers that were given away in our recent "Watch the Skies" program--for free. Don't delay!