BlackBerry proved with there pearl that smartphones don’t need to be ultra-widedevices with QWERTY keyboards - for simply reading email or drafting short responses, predictive text can be all you need. the E65 from Nokia looks like a consumer handset - it’s small at 49 x 16 x 105mm, light at 114g, and the way the screen slider up to reveal the keypad definitely gives the E65 a consumer touch.

but don’t be put off buy the traditional handset looks - Nokia has squeezed in a number of features that makes the E65 mpre then a match for the Pearl. 3G networks are catered for and, usually for what looks like a straight forward phone, 802.11g/b wireless as well.

The latter is useful, as the E65 has a number of data functions, which you can access without needing to connect to an expensive 3G network. The E65 works with push email either on BlackBerry Enterprise Server or though the appropriate Microsoft Exchange extension, as well as supporting POP3.

It also works as a SIP client. Al you need to is setup a SIP compatible account VoIP account and enter the appropriate settings into the E65. Next time you dial just select Internet Cial from the options menu. Call quality on both 512Mb/s and 2Mb/s ADSL connections was indistinguishable from a GSM call. While the economy of making same-country calls is debatable, making lots of international calls over a wireless VoIP connection could save you a significant amounts.

The E65’s 2.4in 240 x 320 pixel is enough for web browsing, even on websites that aren’t optimized for mobiles. Navigation is easy, with the direction pad controlling a mouse pointer. The downside is the standard phone keypad, which makes writing emails - even brief two-line responses - time consuming.

The operating system is Nokia’s venerable Symbian OS, which has plenty of software available for it, but it’s completely sluggish, even for simple tasks such as sending an SMS messages.

Features such as 802.11g/b WiFi, push email and SIP computability make the E65 incredibly well rounded as both a business and personal phone. For simply monitoring your email inbox, the E65 is a very useful device, but it is extremely hard to compose emails unless you are happy to txt spk. For practical we browsing and full time email, a full-blowen smartphone such as the Nokia E61 remains the more practical alternative.

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We’re going to take an iPod and turn it into a universal infrared (IR) remote control, which can be used to control all your home electronic equipment, or just about anything that uses a remote control. For example, in my home, my iPod controls my TV, DVD player, Direct TV, Ultimate TV PVR, Media Center PC, Xbox, XM Satellite Radio, Roomba, and a few other random things, such as a robot. Figure 1-14 shows a variety of remotes your iPod can replace.

To do this, we are going to “record” the “sounds” an infrared remote makes on a PC and then put them on an iPod as songs. Adding a special sound-to- IR converter then turns those sounds back to IR and allows you to use your iPod as a remote control. As an added bonus, it works from up to 100 feet away. It’s a slick all-in-one unit, and you’ll never go back to using multiple remotes again.

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One of the most popular smartphone shapes is the one with the display in wide screen orientation with QWERTY keyboard beneath it, or if you like, the Motorola Q and Blackberry winning design. ASUS now joins the wagon with the M530w smartphone with Windows Mobile 6 Standard.

ASUS M530w, a new Motorola Q/Blackberry look alike?Now that we talked about it’s shape let’s see what else it’s got. A notable addition is the two megapixel camera, with Auto Focus function, but if we look at how Asus P525 takes pictures, it might not be a good thing. Below are the specs, incomplete as we don’t know the CPU type.

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