Thomas: DXG was kind enough to send JAMM a couple of their ultra-portable HD camcorders free of charge for Doug and I to check out – so without further ado, let’s get to the review!

Doug: Thomas is such a poet, and he didn’t even know it.

Read More …

One of the most anticipated phones coming out this summer is the Nokia N97,  It is only the second Nokia device to offer the Symbian S60 series 5 operating system and a touch screen.  And, it is the only series 5 device to feature a full QWERTY keyboard.

Matthew Miller over at Nokia Experts recently got his hands on one of these fantastic looking devices.  While he may not have been the first person in the United States to post his thoughts, he does offer quite an extensive and detailed look, going over the hardware, software, touchscreen, keyboard, and plenty more.

In his review, Matthew looks at both the pros and the cons of this latest device, noting:

I like the hardware of the device more than I thought I would so far and plan to test out the camera (still and video) a lot more this weekend at our soccer tourney. I need to spend more time with the keyboard since I currently do not find it to be that great, but I am adaptable. $650 to $700 is a hefty price to pay and I think Nokia could have done more to make the device better (RAM, keyboard, several apps and widgets). That said, Nokia stated there will be some big updates coming to the N97 in the future so I am curious to see how much these add to the device. I like my E71x and 5800 and think most users may be happy with these lower cost alternatives that meet just about all their needs. As a power user who enjoys the S60 platform the N97 may be just the ticket.

Check out Matthew’s full review, here,  And if you have tried the N97 or the new Symbian S60 series 5, let us know what you think.  Do you agree with Matt’s concerns?  Write in and let us know.

Now this is a pretty slick looking device.  It is a Windows Mobile Standard device (non-touchscreen) with a great looking keyboard.  And it is due to hit Sprint June 21, with a relatively reasonable price tag of $149.99 (after contract and rebates).  Or you can shell out $520 to get one without that pesky contract.  So, if you are like me, and tied at the hip to Sprint, then you are going to want to check out the HTC Snap.

Other specs include:

• 2 megapixel camera
• 2.4-inch QVGA screen
• GPS
• WiFi
• 3G  connection
• Bluetooth
• microSD memory card slot
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard edition

[via Engadget Mobile and IntoMobile.]

We have already shown you a bit about the Pantech Matrix Pro, primarily in this Quick Look video posted by Brandon earlier this year.  Well, since then, he sent the Pantech Matrix Pro over my way, and I have been spending my own fare share of time with it.  I figure rather than just giving you a straight review, it might be more interesting to look a little deeper over a series of posts.  So, sit back and relax.  Today, we’ll take a quick look at the hardware.  We’ll get more into the software, phone calls, Internet, and other features later and finish up with how it all ties together.

All right, well, we can start at the beginning, which is the face.  That seems like a very good place to start.  I really liked the look of this phone.  it was slightly curved across the face, which gave it a sleek feel.  Almost reminiscent of a rocket ship.

The bulk of the face is taken up by a nice 2.4 inch QVGA screen.  Like I said, this is a nice screen…but hardly a great screen.  I would have preferred a VGA screen, which is a feature that has been grossly underutilized by many smartphone manufacturers.  Additionally, and more upsetting, is the enormous bezel on top of the screen.  That is an awful lot of space for a logo and earpiece.  Pantech could have used that space for a bigger, better screen.

Beneath the screen are your standard smartphone buttons: soft button controls, phone controls, D-pad, the usual.  There are also two very small buttons hidden in the middle of this layout,Home and Back.  While I liked this layout, and felt it worked well, I did not like this tiny middle buttons, which I found extremely difficult to push without hitting the wrong button by mistake.  Overall, I found that this layout turned out to be a lot more form than function.

Now, here is where things get interesting.  The double slider.  Slide the face up to reveal a T9 dialing pad.  I love this.  I really like having a hardware option for dialing the phone, and the ability to slide it out of the way when not in use is fantastic.

Slide the face the other way to reveal the QWERTY keyboard.  I found the keyboard to be a bit cramped.  I did prefer the 5-row keyboard on the HTC Touch Pro, or even the 4-row keyboard on the HTC S-740, to the 3-row layout on the Pantech.

I thought Pantech did a great job with this double slider layout.  It gave me access to both a T9 dialer and a keyboard, but let me move them out of the way when not in use.  This goes a long way toward avoiding accidental button taps.

There are only a few other buttons around the device.  On the left hand side is the record button and volume buttons.  I would have preferred a scroll wheel to these volume buttons, but that is just me.  This volume button layout seems to have won the day, as it is included on many of the most popular phones.

On the right hand side, you will find the camera button.  I love having a hardware button to access the camera.  My HTC Touch Pro does not have such a button, requiring you to access the camera from the touch screen menus, and it is considerably less convenient.  Anyway, we will look at the 2 megapixel camera a bit later.

Above the camera button, there is a small door, with access to the sync/charge port.  I have to admit that I hate these doors.  They get in the way, they generally have flimsy connections, and they do not really provide all that much protection.  On top of that, this is a proprietary connection, which means you have to use Pantech’s cable.  In my mind, there is really no good excuse for not incorporating the now standard mini USB connection.  And now, it is three strikes and your out.  This connection also serves as your headphone jack (which requires an additional adaptor).  Yikes!  That is not good news at all.

On the bottom of the phone is a microSD slot.  What is nice here is that you can use a microSDHC card, meaning you can add a considerable amount of storage memory to this phone.  Again, though, there is another one of those flimsy plastic doors covering the micro SD slot.

Turn the phone over, and we can take a quick look at the back of the device.  On top, you will find the 2 megapixel camera, along with the speakerphone speaker.  Slide off the back to reveal the battery.  We’ll take a closer look at the 1320 mAh battery later.  Underneath the battery is the SIM card slot.

I have not had much of a chance to do a lot more than simply explore the hardware so far.  But I can already tell you that I am completely enamored with the double slider design.  Stay tuned, though, we’ll see how this phone is going to work when subjected to the rigors of everyday use.  We’ll take a look at phone calls, data connections, battery life, and anything else you want to ask about.  So, go ahead and leave your questions in the comments.  We’ll take a look and try our best to answer them.

Sometimes, when it rains, it pours, and the mailman has had quite a few deliveries for me lately.  Two in particular, though, struck me as being of interest to all of you.

First is the Cowon S9 media player.  I’ve heard some great things about this one, including rumors of incredible sound quality,  We’ll be putting all of that to the test and bringing you the results in the next couple of weeks.

Additionally, take a look at the Motorola Renew.  This T-Mobile branded phone was made with the environmentalists in mind.  The renew is a completely carbon neutral phone, whose plastic parts are made from recycled water bottles.  We’ll find out exactly how well you can hear a conversation made from a water bottle!

So, stay tuned, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  We have plenty more coming up.  This should be a very exciting summer here at JAMM, and you are not going to want to miss a second.