Do you love your new Apple iPhone 5 but wish that it had a slide-out physical QWERTY keyboard to make text messages and Facebook status updates that much easier? This case could be the perfect fit.

The MiniSuit iPhone 5 Bluetooth QWERTY Keyboard Case has two purposes. First, it can act as a protective case for your iPhone 5. Much more interesting is the second function, though, since it has an integrated slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Even though it’s physically there with your iPhone, it actually connects wirelessly via Bluetooth 2.0.

The net result is an iPhone 5 with a slide-out keyboard, giving you a similar form factor to what we saw with devices like the original Motorola DROID. There’s an on/off switch to conserve power, raised buttons for tactile feel, and even backlit illumination for typing in the dark. Standby time has been rated at 45 days and you can recharge the case/keyboard via the provided USB cable.

The MiniSuit iPhone 5 Keyboard Case is on sale on Amazon for $17.95, which is 48% off the regular price of $34.50. It’s eligible for Amazon’s super saver shipping, but you have to top up your order to $25 to qualify.

The post Daily Deal: Apple iPhone 5 Bluetooth Qwerty Keyboard Case for $18 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

I used to be a stickler for the physical keyboard. That’s why I got the HTC Legend, the Nokia E71, and the Palm Pre 2. They all had physical keyboards, because I didn’t want to wrap my head around a virtual keyboard. That’s changed now, but there are still people out there who like the physical feel of keys. And for those people, there is the QWERTY-packing Spike case for iPhone.

Designed by SoloMatrix, the Spike case is a protective case for the iPhone, except it comes with a clever bonus. The bottom half contains a QWERTY keyboard that can swing out to the front when you need it, and swing around to the back when you don’t. There are two similar designs–the Spike1 and the Spike2–the key difference being that the Spike2 allows the keyboard to flip a full 180-degrees to the back. With the Spike 1, the keyboard only swings out to the side for removal.

What’s great is that neither case requires a Bluetooth connection or external power, so your battery life should be better than the wireless alternatives. The initial run will call for versions in Pitch Black and Ice White. Solomatrix is currently seeking funding by way of a Kickstarter project. If the plan goes ahead, the expected retail will be $35 for the Spike1 and $60 for the Spike2. The current designs are for the iPhone 4/4S, but there are plans for an iPhone 5 version by January.

[Source]

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As I mentioned in my post last week, it’s still a little murky as to whether the team in Waterloo will opt for a Torch-like slider form or a Bold-like bar phone for the keyboard-touting BB10 device, but it’s just as likely that they could go in both directions to give consumers a little more choice. It’s also unclear, though, how long we’ll have to wait before we see the launch of a BlackBerry 10 smartphone with a physical keyboard; we just know that it’s coming eventually.

Either way, RIM is hard at work making what it hopes to be the best virtual keyboard out there, so maybe even BlackBerry purists will finally be able to abandon the array of buttons and opt for a touchscreen-only experience moving forward.

[Source]

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There’s no official model name or number for this device just yet, but we’re hearing that the first BlackBerry 10 device (formerly BBX) will be touch-only, falling in line with Windows Phone, Android, and iOS. It’s not the first tiime that RIM has released a touch-only smartphone, but it did establish itself in the market with one of the best thumb-friendly hardware keyboards out there.

It sounds like RIM isn’t going to focus solely on doing the touchscreen-only thing moving forward. As not to alienate its (shrinking) user base, a BlackBerry 10 device with a physical QWERTY keyboard is being projected for a Q1 2013 launch. It could be a slider, like the Storm, or it could have a smaller display and conventional keyboard, like the Bold.

Now if only RIM can convince more app developers to start working with the platform…

[Source]

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Although touchscreen displays have become hugely popular in recent years, there are still tons of people out there who prefer to have physical keyboards. Sony Ericsson recognizes this and that’s why in addition to the Xperia Neo, they also have the Xperia Pro. This Android smartphone recently launched here in Canada and we’ve taken it out for a test drive.

Specs and Features

Naturally, the Xperia Pro is geared toward a slightly different kind of customer than the Xperia Play. Instead of slide-out gaming controls, it gets a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. That’s easily one of the biggest differentiating factors that makes this smartphone unlike other Xperia devices and increasingly unlike other Android smartphones in general.

As far as the core specs are concerned, you’ll find a Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon 1GHz processor to go along with 1GB of internal memory, 3.7-inch 480×854 pixel LED backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen, 512MB RAM, 8MP camera, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, accelerometer, Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine, microSD expansion, and front-facing VGA videocall camera. It gets the usual smattering of Stereo FM, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, GPS with aGPS, and HSDPA 7.2 along with HSUPA 5.8.

First Impressions

Not unlike the Google Nexus S, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro has a glossy and smooth plastic exterior. Some people may think that such a finish feels cheap, but that’s largely a matter of personal preference.

The sliding mechanism for the keyboard feels robust and the three buttons along the bottom are typical of the Xperia line. I’m personally not a fan of these “slim” buttons, but they’re a relatively minor quibble. Performance appears to be improved over earlier Xperia smartphones and the overall size, while not all that compact, is a touch smaller than some of the larger Android “superphones” that have flooded the market.

Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine

For my money, the Super AMOLED Plus display on the Galaxy S II is still the best in the business in terms of contrast and saturation. The Xperia Pro doesn’t do AMOLED, but its LED-backlit LCD gets some help with what Sony Ericsson calls the Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine.

This helps to bump up the graphics a fair amount. While it’s still not as impressive as AMOLED, this LCD easily beats what we see on most HTC devices and what we see on the Motorola Atrix. The colors don’t feel nearly as muted and this is a definite step forward when it comes to gaming, videos, and so on.

Typing on the Keyboard

With the exception of only a handful of handsets, the majority of Android smartphones these days do not have physical keyboards. This will easily be a draw for fans of tactile feedback. The good news is that the QWERTY keyboard on the Xperia pro is quite good.

I still wouldn’t really want to use it to type out an extensive academic paper or anything like that, but it’s fantastic for e-mail messages, text messages, and even short blog posts. The keys offer a soft surface and they are slightly domed. Coupled with the decent spacing, it’s really easy to type based on feel. It should be noted that the keys are not arranged in a slightly staggered fashion, like how you’d find on a computer keyboard; they’re in a perfect grid. So, this may take some getting used to for some folks, but I thought it was pretty great.

Timescape and Other UI Tweaks

My first experience with the Timescape UI from Sony Ericsson was with the Xperia X10 last year. At the time, it was a sluggish experience that seemed to completely bog down the overall performance of the phone.

This time around, the UI still has much the same look, but performance doesn’t feel nearly as much like you’re trudging through a sea of molasses. I’m still not the type to use the aggregating social media service, but I can recognize its value. The rest of the UI isn’t the same as stock Android either — the app tray is arranged in pages rather than being an infinite scrolling list — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. No real complaints, but no huge praises either.

Performance and Benchmarks

To get a sense of the performance of this phone, I ran it through the Quadrant Standard Edition benchmark. The first run through only rendered a score of 1400, but subsequent trials earned scores of 1654 and 1685. That’s a definite step above the Nexus One (1300), but easily below dual-core alternatives like the Atrix (2281).

As far as the network speeds on the Fido network, I used the Speedtest Mobile app. The ping was anywhere from 107ms to 128ms. Download speeds ranged from 5881kbps to 6891kbps, putting it close to the theoretical 7.2Mbps cap on HSDPA. The upload speeds were decent too, ranging from 1089kbps to 1193kbps.

Conclusion

Sony Ericsson is a big company, to be sure, but it’s still not among the top-tier when it comes to Android smartphones. That upper level is probably still held by HTC and Samsung, possibly with an honorable mention to Motorola.

The Xperia pro continues with that kind of tradition. It’s not going to win any awards and it’s not going to floor you with its performance. What it is going to provide you is a more than adequate Android experience at a reasonable price. The 1GHz processor feels dated compared to its current dual core (and soon to be quad core) competition, but it gets the job done. The keyboard is a plus, for people who like keyboards, and the camera (here are a couple of sample photos) is very good too.

Considering that you can get the Xperia pro for $30 on contract or $350 outright, you’re getting a pretty decent deal. This phone is forgettable, but it’s not bad either.

[Sony Xperia Pro Page]

The post REVIEW: Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro Android Smartphone appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

I guess the idea is that not everyone wants the full functionality (and full price tag) of a real smartphone. Maybe they find Android too complex or the iPhone too expensive. Whatever the case, the Sony Ericsson txt pro handles most of the basic smartphone-like usage needs, like social networking by way of the unique Friends application. Your five favorite friends populate your homescreen, pulling in their tweets, Facebook updates, and text messages.

Other specs include the Wi-Fi and full QWERTY keyboard, as mentioned, as well as the multiple IM app, 3.2MP camera, media player, and FM radio. By far the biggest appeal of this device is the price. With no term, the txt pro sells for a paltry $125. That’s right around (or less than) the contract price you’d get with most smartphones these days.

The post Sony Ericsson txt pro offers smartphone-ish experience to Chatr customers appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

It’s not the first Android phone with two screens — we’ve already seen the LG Genesis and Kyocera Echo — but this yet-unnamed handset also has a full hardware QWERTY keyboard. As you can quite plainly see from the photo, you get a regular touchscreen, plus a smaller one that fits in between the two halves of the keyboard.

This is quite the interesting form factor, I’d have to say. It’s probably a little on the fatter side of things, thanks to the two-layered slider, but it could prove to be quite functional. The “split” keyboard could be better for thumb typing too. I’d imagine the secondary display isn’t quite as useful as a full-sized screen, but it could still be good for shortcuts, macros, options, wasting battery, those types of things.

We’ll keep our ears to the ground for this, but we’re hearing that the dual-screen Android from LG is going to make its way to T-Mobile UK. No word on a US release just yet.

The post LG Dual-screen Android phone leaked appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Even though a lot of people have made the transition from using regular mobile phones to using fully-featured smartphones, there still appears to be a market for those in-between devices. Some people call them feature phones, others call them quick messaging devices (QMDs), some even call them dumbphones. Whatever you want to call them, they’re still here.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is a little different. Even though it is largely sold as a “feature phone” rather than a smartphone, it has real smartphone brains under the hood with its Symbian S60 5th edition operating system. Does this make it a really good value for people who want web connectivity and smartphone-like functionality at a “dumbphone”-like price point? You’ll soon find out.

Features at a Glance

The “Pro” part of the Vivaz Pro’s name comes by way of the hardware QWERTY keyboard that slides out the side. In essence, you get a phone that is very similar to the original Sony Ericsson Vivaz, but with a keyboard. The trade off is that the camera is downgraded to “just” a five-megapixel shooter. It retains its 720p HD video recording capability though, making this a reasonably suitable cameraphone.

Runing through the rest of the specs, we find tri-band HSDPA to go with the quad-band GSM, as well as a scratch resistant surface, handwriting recognition, 3.2-inch TFT resistive touchscreen, microSD expansion, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 720MHz processor.

First Impressions

If you’re expecting the premium build quality that you would get with a device like the Nokia N8. (which is only $50 on contract with Rogers now), you’re going to be sorely disappointed with the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro. It feels very “plasticky” in hand, but on the plus side, it’s quite light at just 117 grams.

It’s also quite interesting that they went with such a curvature for the back cover. I guess this is supposed to give it a sleek and unique profile, but it just ends up making for a somewhat strange experience. This is exacerbated by the fact that the power button is towards the top of the back panel, partially recessed into the battery cover. From what I can tell, the keyguard can only be activated by tapping the power button, then choosing to lock the keys from the touchscreen interface. This is less than ideal.

Resistive Touchscreen without Kinetic Scrolling

I wouldn’t say that I’m terribly disappointed with having “just” a 3.2-inch display, but it is a shame that they went with a resistive screen on this device. Everyone is doing capacitive screens these days and going back to a resistive display felt archaic, as if I jumped into a time machine and went back to the days of Windows Mobile 5.

While there appears to be some kinetic scrolling in certain situations, this is not the case with the web browser. I’ve grown so accustomed to “flicking” my way around a webpage that it was quite jarring to see the page just stop deck on my movements. It also felt strange going back to using my fingernail rather than my finger.

The Web Browser

Bearing in mind that this is being marketed as a feature phone and not a smartphone (even though, strictly speaking, it may be closer to the latter), I was disappointed with the performance of the web browser on the Vivaz Pro. Web pages rendered, but there would always be a couple of issues.

When I tried to visit Mobile Magazine on the phone, for example, the entire header portion came muddled with a strange effect happening on our site logo which uses a transparency. It works, I suppose, but don’t expect to get the “almost desktop” experience that you would get with iOS or Android. It’s just not there.

The Hardware QWERTY Keyboard

I think it was a good move including the slide-out keyboard on this device, because I’d imagine typing on the resistive touchscreen to be quite a pain. The keys have a nice “squishy” or “rubbery” feel to them and there is a suitable “bump” to each key so that they don’t sit too flush with the phone. That’s a good thing. Key travel was pretty good too.

It might take you a little while to get used to the key layout, since it’s a on perfect grid rather than the staggered rows you find on a “real” keyboard, but it gets the job done for mobile e-mails, text messages, and whatever else you want to type on this phone.

Conclusion

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro currently sells for $75 on a two-year contract with Fido or $50 on a three-year contract with Rogers Wireless. Under both instances, you’re not bound to a true data plan. It’s not technically classified as a smartphone, so you can get away with the $10 unlimited browsing option on either carrier. If you opt for Rogers, they’ll toss in a free Bluetooth headset too.

If you really are hesitant about tackling a real smartphone with a real data plan, I suppose the Vivaz Pro can mostly get the job done. You can use the somewhat broken web browser to do what you need to do, but after you’ve used a smartphone, you can’t possibly go back to “half” a device like this. It’s like it’s trying to do the smartphone thing, but consistently coming up short.

When I think about the Vivaz Pro strictly as a “feature” phone, it’s adequate but nothing special. I’d give it a 6/10 or 7/10 with that mindset. If I were to consider the Vivaz Pro as a smartphone, though, it’d barely be passable for a 4/10 or 5/10. It just becomes an exercise in frustration. The only reason why I would want it is for the $10 mobile browsing option. I guess it’s better than something like the LG Neon, but not by much.

The post Review: Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Maybe you’re digging the higher speeds afforded by Sprint’s WiMAX network. Maybe you want to get ino on the action with a QWERTY-equipped smartphone and the Samsung Epic 4G isn’t exactly your cup of tea. If that’s the case, it looks like you’ll soon be in luck with the HTC EVO Shift 4G.

Despite its name, this isn’t really a slightly modified version of the existing HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. Instead, it gets a slightly smaller 3.7-inch display. As a trade, you gain a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, which will satisfy folks like me who prefer hardware keyboards over virtual touchscreen ones. The rest of the specs are similar to the T-Mobile G2, including the 800MHz processor under the hood.

According to the early rumors, the HTC EVO Shift 4G for Sprint will come preloaded with Google Android 2.2, but since the Nexus S has been outted with the new 2.3 Gingerbread action, it’s possible that the newer OS will find its way onto the EVO Shift 4G before launch. Chalk this up to an unconfirmed leak for now, but it’s looking pretty promising.

[Gizmodo, Android Central via Sprint Users]

The post HTC EVO Shift 4G for Sprint gets slide-out QWERTY keyboard appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Research in Motion is really starting to dabble into other “unconventional” form factors for the BlackBerry line. The Storm was the first touchscreen. The Torch the first slider. And the Style could be the first QWERTY flip phone.

You may have already seen the BlackBerry 9670, mostly as rumor and hearsay, but it seems that the model number is no longer enough. That’s why we hear about Pearls, Curves, Bolds, and so on. We fully expected a “name” to go with the BlackBerry 9670, but Style? Well, that’s the word that’s currently making its way around the Internet today. This isn’t the first time that RIM has had a flip phone — you might remember the Pearl Flip — but the BlackBerry Style will be the first flip with full QWERTY. Maybe Curve Flip may have been more appropriate.

In any case, the BlackBerry 9670 Style will be a CDMA device and it appears to be running BB OS 6 right out of the box.

BlackBerry 9670 clamshell to be branded the BlackBerry Style [Crackberry]

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