Nokia slides out 8800, 8801 luxury phones

News and Photos From InfoSync



Drawing upon modern watchmaking and jewelry techniques, Nokia today unveiled the latest addition to the company's line-up of high-end fashion phones, the 8800. Contained in a stainless steel body, the 8800 follows in the footsteps of the 8910, the last handset unveiled by the company to boast a sliding pop-up mechanism.

Small, yet heavy, the 8800 measures in at a modest 107 x 45 x 17 mm and weighs 134 g, offering tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz. Similar to the recently introduced Nokia 6230i, it also boasts an active TFT display with a resolution of 208 x 208 pixels and 262K colour depth, in addition to a 3D image engine.

An integrated SVGA camera offers still shooting at 0.5 Megapixels and video recording at QCIF resolution, with 64 MB of non-volatile memory available for storage - much needed, as the 8800 does not support memory expansion. Additionally, the 8800 also sports music playback functionality for MP3 and AAC encoded audio, and also integrates an FM radio along with Bluetooth for short-range connectivity.

In creating the 8800, Nokia designers employed watch-making techniques, such as the use of metal injection molding on the function keys. A specially reinforced glass, typically used in luxury timepieces, provides added toughness and scratch-resistance to the front display, whilst the pop-up mechanism releasing the handset from its protective cover relies on a bi-stable spring mechanism and stainless steel ball bearings.

Other highlights of the handset include an integrated handsfree speaker and, on the software side, WAP 2.0 microbrowser, full OMA DRM software, the 2.0 version of Nokia's Mobile Wallet secure PIM keeper, Java MIDP 2.0 along with exclusive graphics and UI themes developed specifically for the 8800.

In related news, Nokia today also introduced the Nokia 8801, which shares the specifications of the 8800 but has been designed expressly for the Americas market. The Nokia 8801 is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2005, and will likely feature support for GSM 850/1800/1900 MHz bands.
Oliver

A picture I took while in Vietnam on vacation during Christmas 2004. This is the view from our beachside bungalow during sunrise. Jealous much?
Oliver

I Love HerbAsia Tea!

Check it out at HerbAsia.com

Goodbye 2001 Audi A6 2.8Q. We sold it around 2 months ago to make way to a new Lexus RX330. Now the only Audi left with us is my old 1999 A4 2.8 Q that is with my sister.
Oliver

A picture from those I just transferred off my Casio EX-Z3 digicam. I was trying to be artistic and took a picture of the Gates in Central Park when I went there back in Feb/March.
Oliver

Samsung "Booth Babes" show off some of their latest devices at a Korean trade show. Looks like their mini-MP3 players are alive and well while the large colour LCD screens are taking over. Very Cute ... the MP3 players I mean ... yeah.
Oliver

Best Buy Arrests Man for using US Currency - $2 bill

News from Baltimoresun.com (requires free registration)

PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.

For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.

Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.

Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.

Have a nice day, Mike.

"Humiliating," the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole -- and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."

What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in screw-ups all around.

"When I bought the stereo player," Bolesta explains, "the technician said it'd fit perfectly into my son's dashboard. But it didn't. So they called back and said they had another model that would fit perfectly, and it was cheaper. We got a $67 refund, which was fine. As long as it fit, that's all.

"So we go back and pay for it, and they tell us to go around front with our receipt and pick up the difference in the cost. I ask about installation charges. They said, 'No installation charge, because of the mix-up. Our mistake, no charge.' Swell.

"But then, the next day, I get a call at home. They're telling me, 'If you don't come in and pay the installation fee, we're calling the police.' Jeez, where did we go from them admitting a mistake to suddenly calling the police? So I say, 'Fine, I'll be in tomorrow.' But, overnight, I'm starting to steam a little. It's not the money -- it's the threat. So I thought, I'll count out a few $2 bills."

He has lots and lots of them.

With his Capital City Student Tours, he arranges class trips for school kids around the country traveling to large East Coast cities, including Baltimore. He's been doing this for the last 18 years. He makes all the arrangements: hotels, meals, entertainment. And it's part of his schtick that, when Bolesta hands out meal money to students, he does it in $2 bills, which he picks up from his regular bank, Sun Trust.

"The kids don't see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world," Bolesta says. "They don't want to spend 'em. They want to save 'em. I've been doing this since I started the company. So I'm thinking, 'I'll stage my little comic protest. I'll pay the $114 with $2 bills.'"

At Best Buy, they may have perceived the protest -- but did not sense the comic aspect of 57 $2 bills.

"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."

He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"

"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."

A Best Buy manager refused comment last week. But, according to a Baltimore County police arrest report, suspicions were roused when an employee noticed some smearing of ink. So the cops were called in. One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order.

"I told them, 'I'm a tour operator. I've got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank,'" Bolesta says. "I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, 'We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'

"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"

Bolesta was then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called in.

"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."

Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."

This will be important news to all concerned.

For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."

The other day, one of Bolesta's sons needed a few bucks. Bolesta pulled out his wallet and "whipped out a couple of $2 bills. But my son turned away. He said he doesn't want 'em any more."

He's seen where such money can lead

BestBuy To Carry Mac Mini

News from cNet.com

BestBuy is now going to sell the Mac Minis. And personally I cannot wait. Just think of all the Best Buy salespeople telling you how these are the greatest thing since sliced bread and offering you their *great* protection plans on the Macs. Since we all know how educated their salespeople are I expect that my Mac Mini will have some cutting edge processor that outguns any PC and that it will be able to do anything that I expect right off the bad, oh yeah and that it will make my iPod work 1000% better since its a Mac. And why not pick up some $250 ram upgrades and cables while I am at it. If you can't tell by now I am not a fan of BestBuy or their policies of blacklisting certain customers and opening products in store (to check if they are giving you the right product then claiming that you opened it so you own them 15% restocking fee when trying to return the item) ...

I expect that these Mac Minis will sell well, but that BestBuy will continue its reputation as one of the retailers with the worst customer service practices in the industy. Ah well, at least Dell still loves everyone (if you saw their ads a few months ago =p)

Click on photo to see it full sized.

Paris Hilton uses a Sony PSP. And she can carry a dog the size of the PSP at the same time ... Amazing! Now the whole world holds its collective breath as we wait for someone to hack her PSP to find her saved games and music and um.... movies.

Can You Hear Me Now?

If you ever want to know what the reality is behind the Verizon commericals look no further than Levy Rippy. He is a verizon test man working near Tampa, FL. Instead of walking all over the country he drives around in a Ford Tarus loaded with a quarter million dollars of electronics.

Want to know more? Just go on over to [MobileTracker]

Samsung Z700 - Sexy Phone

Upcoming Samsung 3G mobile phone with clamshell design. Announced in March CeBIT, it has a 3 megapixel camera, 262k colors display screen and 90 MB built-in memory. Samsung Z700 will be available in this year but there is no official released date.