Review of Mwg Atom V

Date of Review – 24h July 2008

Available from expansys.

Price - £299.95 with currently a £50 cash back offer

Pros – FM Radio, GPS, Auto Focus Camera with Flash                    
          
Cons – 64mb ram, Grainy Screen, Competition

Expansys recently sent me the Atom V to review. I have had this a week now, and have mixed opinions on this handset. It is a fairly straight forward affair. The specifications are reasonable except the 64mb of program memory. Whilst this caused no issues, I am sure it will have some impact if multitasking extensively.

• Operating System: Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 6 Professional, World Wide English
• Memory: - 256MB Flash ROM, - 64MB RAM, - MicroSD expandable memory 
• Display: - 2.8” TFT QVGA LCD touch screen, - 240 x 320 pixel resolution
- 65K effective resolution
- Video support: MPEG4, 3GP, WMV , - Image support: BMP, WBMP, GIF, PNG
• Network Frequency: - Quad-band GSM: 850/ 900/1800/1900 Mhz
- WCDMA: 2100 Mhz, - HSDPA 7.2 Mbps (Network Dependant) , - EDGE
• Connectivity: - SiRF III GPS, - Built-in Wireless LAN 802.11b+g
- Bluetooth® version 2.0 + EDR , - Mini-USB port , - Audio jack (2.5mm)
• Audio:- Speakerphone Stereo speaker , - Playback support: MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC
- FM Radio with RDS function
• GPS: Integrated highly sensitive SiFRstarIII GPS chip, reliable in urban and densely covered outdoor environments.
• Camera:  - 2.0 Megapixels CMOS Auto-focus White LED strobe flash
- Support still image and video capture , - GPS image tagging
- Macro Mode
• Operating Time: - Standby up to 150 hours (GSM), - Talktime up to 3.5 hours
• Dimensions: 116 x 59 x 14.95mm; 140g

It feels good in the hand, and is easy to use as it includes on the front buttons for the windows start menu and ok.

These really help shifting in and out of the applications. However, unlike the Mwg Zinc II it doesn’t have any nifty today plugin similar to HTC Home, so using the stylus becomes a necessity. There are 4 icons added to the bottom tray in the today screen, which add some extra functionality.

The stylus is nothing special, in fact a little light. It is also worth noting that to remove the battery cover, you must take the stylus out first. On one side of the device, are buttons for the camera, a wheel for the volume, and micro sd slot. The other side has a 2.5m headphone socket.  The other gripe I had with this device is the screen appeared a little grainy. If I compared the screen to the Zinc II, the Zinc II was crystal clear. Apart from that, the Atom V is a well specified device but also rather plain and simple.

The call quality was good and the speaker volume loud, so no chance missing any alarms! As the device uses mini-usb, it is compatible with a wide range of accessories.

Mwg have re-organised the application menu and filed various options into sub menu. See below :-

In addition they have added a few tweaks to the settings menu.

 
Mwg have added a utility to use the camera flash as a torch light as the press of a button. Potentially a useful feature. The other odd setting was within the settings menu, whereby you can control the shutdown animation. Different.

After using the phone for the last week, whilst it has decent specifications, it doesn’t set the world alight. Thanks again for www.expansys.com again for sending the unit for review.

Review by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

My quest for a phone that has a few slightly advanced features, yet one that still does the basics well, is proving quite troublesome. There are many mobile phones on the market in 2008 and the majority are aiming at portability above any other feature and slimness is particularly in vogue. My current partner is the Sony Ericsson W910i which is a superb piece of kit boasting almost every feature you could need- fast connectivity, exchange server support, excellent music playback and a large bright screen which works well in all conditions. There is one problem, however, in that the loudspeaker is absolutely dreadful and is barely audible in almost all conditions.

The Sony Ericsson W890i also suffers from this problem, as do many of the competitors in this section of the market. The Sony Ericsson K800i has a brilliant speaker phone, as are some of the other larger phones yet the majority of smartphones struggle in this area. The Nokia E71 manages well, but the Samsung i780 was not good and neither was the HTC TyTN II.

I presume that a larger width is required to produce a good quality speakerphone, but if that is the case why has the Nokia E71 got a good one? It is a minor feature to most people, but a loudspeaker should be a given for ‘any’ phone and is a manufacturer is going to bother to include one at least make it a good one.

Bonus QOTD: What’s the loudspeaker like on your phone?

CNET has posted Mobile platform tug-of-war which sums up the Mobile Web Wars Roudtable from TechCrunch quite nicely- "If you weren't aware, a war--more like a tug-of-war--is happening in the mobile space. The iPhone is quickly rising as the development platform to beat, despite its paltry share of market versus Nokia (Symbian), Java BREW, Blackberry and Microsoft Mobile. In addition, Google's fledgling open-source Android platform is also a challenger to the incumbents.

At a Mobile Web Wars Roundtable held by TechCrunch more than 20 mobile wonks discussed that state of mobile platforms (see the list of participants below). The purpose of the roundtable was to determine which mobile platform is best for developers. The iPhone has set a new standard for smartphones and most importantly developers are fawning over it, and iPhone users appear to be far more active users than those on other phone platforms. In the first few weeks of iPhone 3G more than 30 million applications have been downloaded.

Another iPhone advantage is that it takes the iterative model of Web development and extends it to the mobile client, said Jed Stremel, director of mobile at Facebook.

But the iPhone is not the universal answer from a business perspective. Loopt CEO Sam Altman said his strategy is choose a single platform (the iPhone) and if a feature becomes popular bring it to other platforms..."

iambic is now developing Agendus for Blackberry- We are happy to announce the availability in beta of Agendus for BlackBerry, the newest entry in our Agendus family of personal information management solutions.

Agendus for BlackBerry brings to BlackBerry phones the pragmatic features and functions that have made Agendus our flagship title on the Palm OS based Treo/Centro, as well as Windows Mobile and Symbian UIQ phones:  It tightly integrates the built-in calendar, tasks, and contacts, and is intuitive to use.  

Our goal is for Agendus for BlackBerry to deliver a one-stop solution for helping folks efficiently manage their busy schedule and everything else surrounding it.

We welcome and truly appreciate your feedback during this public beta period, which is a crucial time for us as we continuously refine and enhance Agendus to ensure that it fulfills (and and hopefully exceeds) expectations.  We follow a close loop feedback process and will post updated beta versions as often as necessary during this period.

Now, this is a very funny piece from Ewan over at AAS: Real World Testing For Geeks - the Nokia N95 takes on the iPhone 3G and AT&T Tilt (again) - in the Geek Smackdown of the Week.

I don't know about you, but Steve's recent head to head challenge of real world tasks left me rather cold. I don't buy my gadgets to do practical things like make calendar appointments, send photos by email, or even talk to other people. I want my phone to be the ultimate gadget, doing all the things important in my life. So I asked Rafe if I could do a comparison article as well, with categories relevant to people who 'really' use these phones. Luckily for me Rafe wasn't really paying attention when I mentioned the metrics I was going to use...

So, what devices are going to be head to head? Well, as in Steve's test, the Nokia N95 (in my case the 8GB version) is going to be the old wizened contender, taking on the Rocky Balboa of the iPhone 3G. A plucky third place will be made up not by the HTC Diamond, but the AT&T Tilt, the branded version of Windows Mobile 6 with a keyboard that I just happen to have lying around the office.

Points are available as 20-15-10 in placement judged categories, with other categories having their score based on the specific task in hand.

PDair has released a new leather case for the Acer Aspire One-

Contains 2 credit card slot and 4 memory card slots.
Opens and closes with magnetic ,for ease of use.
White stitch finishing,making this case look more beautiful.

We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of PenCommander 2.1 for Windows XP and Vista-based Tablet and Ultra Mobile PCs. The new version features an improved user interface for Visual PenCommander, a tool which provides an Integrated Development Environment (IDE)-like environment for creating and testing PenCommander scripts; significantly reduced memory footprint; and improved support for Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

PenCommander enables a pen to be used to call up commands that can control Tablet PCs and UMPCs in almost limitless ways, such as editing documents, inserting often-repeated text into documents and launching applications. Scripts are executed by writing a PenCommand name on the application's input panel. PenCommander is recognized as the best tool for entering repetitive data, accessing frequently used applications and documents, inserting time, date and signature, and overall extending Tablet PC functionality and user's productivity.

PenCommander 2.1 is now available at reduced price of $24.95. Registered users of previous versions of PenCommander can upgrade at no cost. The registration code for PenCommander 1.5 or later will work for PenCommander 2.1.

For more information about PenCommander 2.1, to download a 30-day free trial, or to purchase a copy, visit http://www.phatware.com/pencommander.

The Carphone Warehouse is offering the chance to have your thoughts published in it's next magazine. Not a 'real' prize, but the ideas that comes forward could be interesting.

Phones are sprouting new features every day, from GPS tagging to mobile TV. But what's missing? What new feature could make you fall in love with your phone all over again? Check out our wishlist, from the practical to the bizarre - then tell us about your dream phone of the future.

Anywhere and everywhere

Okay, mobile coverage isn't bad these days. But you're still bereft of your signal on the London Underground, in tunnels, caves and underwater - think scuba diving. It's just not good enough! Let's have a phone that really works everywhere.

The big-screen experience

TV and films on your mobile - a great idea, but you're still squinting at a screen just a few inches square. When can we expect those promised fold-out screens? You'd whip out your phone, unfold it to the size of an Ordnance Survey map, then sit back and enjoy the latest blockbuster.

Silence is golden

If you're in a busy street or (dare we say it?) on the train, even the best noise-cancelling headphones sometimes can't cope. We want perfection - headphones that block everything else out, meaning all you hear is your own conversation or your music...

Hurricane Song: A Novel of New Orleans is listed as a children's eBook. Such a shame most parents won't let their children within five feet of their PDAs:)

Hurricane Katrina is raging and you are inside the Superdome! Miles has only lived in New Orleans with his dad, a musician, for a few months when Hurricane Katrina hits. Father and son haven' exactly been getting along. Miles is obsessed with football; his dad's passion is jazz. But when the storm strikes, they're forced to work through their differences to survive a torturous few days in the Superdome. Paul Volponi, known for writing books that capture the pulse of urban life in New York City, creates a gripping hour-by-hour portrayal of what life was like for those left behind once the floodwaters began to rise.