Men Free Blog

We’re all quite aware of just how proud Option is of its HSUPA offerings, and while it has raised the bar before in terms of sheer speed, the company is once again kicking out a new way to get your lappie connected to blazing fast internet without a WiFi hotspot in sight. The diminutive GlobeSurfer iCON HSUPA boasts a compact, USB stick design, and even includes a swivel connector as to play nice with just about every USB nook and cranny out there. Aside from touting 7.2Mbps of downstream capacity and 2Mbps on the upbeat, the GlobeSurfer looks to provide web access for those not already sold on the firm’s ExpressCard options. Users can purportedly expect “plug ‘n play” abilities, backwards compatibility with EDGE/GPRS/GSM data connections, tri-band / quad-band support, and a wide range of OS support that includes Windows Vista and OS X. No word just yet on price or availability, but we sincerely hope Option doesn’t keep the USB brethren in the house waiting too awfully long for these high-speed luxuries.

Between Vertu and the 8800, Nokia gives the world plenty of ways to flaunt its surplus cash — but not enough for Japan’s members-only CELUX department store, apparently. The ultra-exclusive “shopping club” will be offering unique versions of the Nokia 7360 — a member of the chic L’Amour Collection — for just a couple weeks this month. The new variants come in pink (a slightly different scheme than the regular version for us common folk) and black. No word on pricing, but c’mon, it’s just a color change… it’d better not be much more than the standard-issue piece.

[Via Hypebeast, thanks Eric]

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Sure, the details vary a little bit from jeweler to jeweler, but the result is always the same: a standard-issue phone that’s been taken to excessively opulent extremes thanks to an excess of gems and rare earth elements. This time around, the phone is Nokia’s already expensive 8800, and the culprit is ISSE of Russia. The handset is naturally covered in gold or silver, while optional heated enamel can add a shade of color to the phone that takes away any resemblance of precious metal. Tack on a few carats of diamonds, rubies, garnets, or whatever, slap it in a box made of “rare timber,” and call it good. In our opinion, any self-respecting individual with too much cash for their own good would seek out the newer Sirocco Edition of the 8800, but that’s just us.

[Via Unwired View]

Remember the twist-a-riffic Nokia XpressMusic 3250 – that S60 baddie with the rotating keypad? Apparently there’s some legitimacy to the odd form factor, because rumors are swirling that a new 5700 model will update the 3250 with some of the 5300’s thoroughly modern elements. The QVGA display, 2 megapixel cam, and UMTS radio are all well and good, but there’s nothing like a little S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 to brighten our day in the land of music-oriented mobiles. Since this is far from official, we’ve got no word on pricing or release date — but given the rather professional-looking stylized graphic here seemingly advertising the aforementioned model, our money is on it being real (just don’t expect it this side of the pond).

[Via Slashphone]

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Usually it’s not all that noteworthy when a popular product drops one of its features, but when that device is the Treo 680, and that feature is the VGA camera, then it’s certainly notable to your security-conscious businessfolk. Even though this is the Treo that’s supposed to draw in the non-techie consumer — and even though this SKU is barely advertised — Brighthand is reporting that a camera-less 680 is indeed available, although you’ll have to make a few phone calls if you want to to secure one. As usual, you’re gonna pay the same amount whether you want the cam or not, so don’t think you’re gonna save any loot by forgoing the crappy shooter. Hit the Read link for more details, or more specifically, for actual proof that this mythical creature exists (hint: peep the small footnotes at the bottom of the page).

[Via Brighthand]

As S40 phones go, the recently-announced 6300 from Nokia sits near the top of the hill — on paper, at least — with a stylish 13.1 millimeter profile and a reasonably well-stacked spec sheet. Does it hold its own in the real world, though? phoneArena put the thin candybar through an extensive battery of tests, coming away with a reasonably positive impression overall. As 2 megapixel cams go, the 6300’s was a bit weak, the volume rocker on the phone’s side was a bit funky, and we’re not too sure how we feel about a handset with a meager 9MB of internal storage these days, but for the uptight, non-smartphone-minded target demographic, the 6300 should fill the bill quite nicely. Click on for the full review, but don’t get too attached if you’re in the US — the lack of 850MHz is going to bum you out.

Update: There is a version of the 6300 with 850MHz support in the cards, though it wasn’t the version phoneArena rocked. Sorry for the confusion! [Thanks, Pablo]

Not to suggest there’s any… oh, you know, “service” you can subscribe to in these parts that rocks mobile TV over the DVB-H airwaves, but an FCC approval is always a good sign — and the presence of an upstart service provider working its rear off to get picked up by a carrier always helps, too. The 3.5mm jack-sportin’, S60-havin’ N77 from Nokia is the latest DVB-H equipped handset to get signed off by the FCC, and while we don’t have any word of a GSM 850, UMTS 850 / 1900 version floating around, we can’t help but hope that an eventual Modeo success could lead to phones like this magically gaining bands; until then, we’ll just be tooling around with our Foreseers.

We don’t generally associate the terms “HTC” and “slider” — at least in the traditional, numeric keypad sense — but it seems the Taiwanese patron saint of all things Windows Mobile would like us to have a change of heart in that regard. The rumored HTC “Nike” (these code names of theirs keep getting weirder and weirder, we swear) should bow as the P5500 when it becomes available this fall in HTC-branded trim, rolling deep with a 400MHz Samsung core, 128MB ROM / 64MB RAM with microSD expansion, integrated FM tuner, Bluetooth 2.0, a 3 megapixel cam, and a 2.6-inch QVGA touchscreen. Best of all, it’ll pack GPS and industrial-strength data via both 802.11b/g and HSDPA (no word on bands, though) — and yes, that is Windows Mobile 6 Professional you see there, hence the touchscreen.
[Via Navigadget]

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It’s a little late for AT&T to be quoting “roses are red” in their press release, but they’ve got the red — not (red), as in the money-losing charity — tip covered for the Treo 680 and, of course, BlackBerry Pearl. Both will set you back $200 with a two year commitment. Is red plastic really worth all that to you?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Man, we hope this is true. Switzerland’s Zenum has been talking up its gorgeous “Opus Operis” concept Pocket PC for a while now — but as is too often the case, the alleged release date came and went with no product in sight. Zenum’s site has been reborn recently, though, suggesting that the company is still on track to eventually offer the QWERTY device, this time with a spring ‘07 launch. Though the site shows Windows Mobile 5 as the platform of choice, we trust Zenum will have the wisdom to switch over to 6 by the time the Opus gets out the door. Other specs should include 128MB ROM, 64MB RAM, 2 megapixel cam, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 1.2, and a tri-band GSM radio (no 850MHz, apparently) atop a 200MHz OMAP750. We’d love to see a successful launch on this one, folks, but we’d gladly wait a few weeks if you could squeeze some quadband action in there. Oh, and Windows Mobile 6, while you’re at it, eh?

[Thanks, Ramesh]

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