PSPhone Mockup

If Sony Ericsson came up with a cellphone slash PSP that looked like this, I'd definitely snap one up. It looks gorgeous! The dual-sliding keypad is suspiciously similar to that of the Nokia n95's but I think this one makes use of it in a better way. How I wish this is a mockup of an actual product to be released, but unfortunately, Engadget debunks it's existence as a mere flight of fancy.

MacBook Pro Mockups

The MacBook Pro is rumored to be updated any time soon. But while that's not happening yet, the time's just right for speculation and excitement. To up the speculation, Engadget challeged it's readers to create mockups of the next MBP. The gallery of submissions is now available at the site and while there were some pretty wacky submissions, some looked great. See my faves below...

Thoughts on the Palm Centro

This isn't the first time the Palm Centro was leaked. But I held off blogging about it before today because the first few leaks weren't really blog-worthy in my opinion. They were grainy pics that didn't really interest me.

However, the latest Palm Centro leak looks great. Finally, an official-looking photo of the not-so-much-awaited Palm smartphone. In contrast to the first photo, this one certainly looks like something halfway interesting. Here's some more info about the Centro care of our trusty rumor mill...

• Smallest Palm OS smartphone to date
• Targeting a younger demographic... people who are new to smartphones
• Runs on EVDO network
• Features a full keyboard and touch screen

• It'll go for $99, and Sprint will have 90 days exclusivity

A bit disappointing... these are all nothing I haven't heard of before. Is it just me or is Palm losing it's touch? I mean I totally agree with Engadget's open letter to Palm (Dear Palm: It's time for an intervention) --> except for the Foleo bit. Palm needs to shape it up or the company might die a natural (or painfully unnatural) death. I especially agree with these statements...

• "Get thin - Three words: FIGURE IT OUT. If HTC, Apple, and Motorola can offer thin (and we mean friggin' thin) smartphones, you can too. We know you think the Treo is perfectly proportioned, but it's not. It's chubby. No excuses any more, ok? It doesn't have to be as thin as the iPhone, but you've gotta trim some of the fat."
• "Speaking of the keyboard, don't mess too much with it - Apple may or not add a physical keyboard to the iPhone (our money says it won't happen), but the one the Treo has now is pretty good and it's pretty much the one thing that's keeping a lot of Treo owners from jumping ship."
• "Add WiFi - Is it really almost 2008 and the Treo STILL doesn't have WiFi? No excuses any more, sort it out."

• Oh, and I have a request of my own. If you can't put a decent camera on a smartphone, don't put one at all.

These aren't difficult requests. They should be pretty obvious actually. Let's see how Palm fares in the future... I do hope they release some great gadgets pretty soon.

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iPhone Nano Rumors

I am going crazy with all these Apple rumors. One of the more persistent ones is the iPhone Nano rumor. I'd just like to comment on the points made in the Gizmodo article about this rumored gadget...

• it'll be out before Christmas (ed. Almost every rumored gadget was predicted to be "out before Christmas"... Unfortunately, some of them do not even see the light of day.)
  
• it will combine iPod functionality with "rudimentary cellular capabilities" (ed. Say what? Can't they just say that it'll be an iPod and a basic cellphone in one? No need to confuse the vocab-challenged. Anyway, it doesn't sound that appealing to me.)
  
• "more resource-heavy internet browsing and email capabilities are not expected of the device" (ed. This thing is sounding less and less appealing.)
  
• it'll be cheaper than the iPhone (ed. duh) but more expensive than the Nano (ed. another duh)
  
• it might involve this "clickwheel dialpad patent" (ed. Looks nasty... and complicated... which is never a good combination.)

Let us be wary of which rumors we believe... this one sounds totally crazy. Then again, it could turn out to be true after all. I'd like to see how the public will react to a phone like this. It honestly sounds unappealing to me.

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Unlocked iPhone from Expansys UK?

Apparently, Expansis UK is offering an "network-unlocked" iPhone for preorder. At least that what it says in the product description of the iPhone their website. Here's a screenshot of the aforementioned page...

Thomas Ricker of Engadget wonders if Expansis actually knows something we don't or if it's just wishful thinking. I can't help but think however, that all the speculation regarding this is all for nothing. It simply seems like a mistake, something the guys at Expansis UK might have overlooked. Oh well.

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Waiting for the Touchscreen iPod

Now that the iPhone is released and hype has died down a bit (well, just a little bit) I think now is just the right time to announce a shiny new 6th generation (touchscreen) iPod. It’s about time right? After all, the current 5th generation iPod has been around for a couple of years now. I honestly think that feature-wise, it’s being left behind other newer media players. I mean next to the Zune, the iPod’s screen looks tiny.

Anyway, as we’re waiting for the next gen iPod, let us satisfy our cravings with mockups. Yup, some Apple fans have all the time in the world. Mac Guides has organized all the touchscreen iPod mockups on the net into a gallery. How convenient. Here are my faves…

These series of pics come from one source (they were anonymously emailed to MacShrine.com) and they all look great. You still have the functionality of the clickwheel through the touchscreen but the the screen size is significantly increased. It's amazing how they all look so damned realistic. If Steve Jobs announces an iPod tomorrow that looks exactly like this I’ll be happy. I would have preferred a black version though, since the white in the picture seems too light and pristine looking.

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