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Cream of the crop
2003: a look back
By Joni Blecher
Section editor, CNET
(March 18, 2004) |
We saw a lot of innovative products at last year's CTIA: phones with swiveling displays, a camera solution from most manufacturers, and even a handset that pulled double duty as an MP3 player and a text-messaging device. We selected five products we considered to be the cream of the crop. But, a year later, did we pick phones that everyone would want or models that would just turn heads? Read on for the answers.
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Our initial impression: "Nokia's 3300--designed with teens and young adults in mind--seems to go the extra mile with the inclusion of an MP3 player, 64MB of MMC media for extra memory, and a built-in FM radio."
Our hands-on verdict: While cool in theory, this phone tried to be a jack-of-all-trades but was master of none. Its biggest downfall: You have to remove the battery to swap out the MMC media. And that paltry amount of memory is not nearly enough for the MP3 feature--which actually impressed us. |
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2. Motorola V810
Our initial impression: "Motorola's V810 camera phone clearly stands out from the rest. Besides being the smallest of its kind we've seen here in the States, the V810 sports a 260,000-color display and a sleek, brushed-aluminum interior."
Our hands-on verdict: We're still waiting for this phone to hit stores. We saw it again at CES this year and continue to believe that this slick mobile is one to watch. We just hope Motorola improves the V810's feature set before it ships so that it has a fighting chance against handsets released this year. |
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Our initial impression: "Danger's 65,536-color TFT display is not the only noteworthy addition; it also has more memory (32MB) and an improved, higher-quality camera attachment. That may be just enough to put this phone over the top."
Our hands-on verdict: This mobile is still an improvement over its monochrome predecessor, but competition in this PDA/phone combo space heated up considerably this year. The handset's biggest limitation is that it syncs with only AOL mail. |
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Our initial impression: "Samsung has taken phone design to the next level with this model. It still has the VGA camera cleverly integrated into the hinge of the handset, as first seen on the SGH-V205. But the rotating, 260,000-color TFT display gives the A600 that must-have feel that gadget lovers crave."
Our hands-on verdict: This mobile lived up to its phone-envy promise. The A600 managed to turn heads as quickly as we could twist the screen. We're not the only folks who found this phone appealing; Verizon recently announced a similar version, the A610, for its customers. |
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Our initial impression: "This podlike phone with a slide-down keypad is undeniably cool. When the handset is finally available in the second half of this year, you'll be able to choose from two colors: a masculine gray and silver or a dazzling deep red and silver. We saw the mobile in red, and it's definitely a jaw-dropper."
Our hands-on verdict: Superslick--when we finally got our hands on the SL56, we were just as excited as when we saw it at CTIA. Unfortunately, the phone never made it to the United States in the luscious deep-red-and-silver casing, but the gray version still has its appeal. |
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