CrunchGear

That device looks so slick. I love the minimalist looks. I hate that the device will never make it to the US.

On a tangent, I read somewhere that the reason so many of our devices never make it here is due to our mentalities. Apparently the average american does not want products that are feature packed and complicated to learn. They would like to just press play and have it work. VCR came and are on their way out and people still can’t program the clocks on them. However the mentality in the Asian countries is that the more the features, the better the products. It’s interesting to see how different cultures cause difference in shopping patterns.

Even more of a tangent, when the Barbie was first introduced in Japan it flopped. After doing market research the introduced the Child Barbie (forget what it was called) and it sold like crazy. In the US, being a teenager is associated with partying and independence while in asian societies teenagers are meant to be adults and start working. Interesting.

Amit

Looks nice… I’d get one if there was a US release…. But I’m sure that these guys will venture into the US eventually….

Vin Diesel you say? My have you a sense of humor :)

–Jon Z | http://www.jzencovich.com

Where is the keyboard?

I didn’t even see the 4 megapixel camera… Imagine that with the telescopic lens. Yeah for voyeurism.

http://crunchgear.com/2006/12/18/release-your-inner-peeping-tom-with-a-cellphone-telescope/

Amit

Wait a second! You mean the Asians don’t get Vin Diesel? Sounds racist, to me.

I wonder if they’d be willing to make a trade? What’s Asia’s email address?

I swore I mentioned something about an actual camera being intergrated into a phone, or vice versa, a few stories ago. XD Anywho, this looks great - shame it’s not stateside. :(

Yet. :D

If they can stick a 4MP camera in such a small object, why the hell is the Nikon D40 so big in comparison? I do most favor these micro-photographic-boxes, sure beats carrying around my current shoe box with a pin hole in the front and photographic paper in the back!

On a more serious note, it seems Microsoft has started to realize the error of its ways and actually starting to produce some quality partnerships and hence, products… except for the hick-up called a Zune. Hopefully they pick themselves back up and release a Zune 2.0 with a better eye towards design.

Jon

The zune currently looks like a beat up Ipod and the defecated on (the brown ones). They should take a few pointers from this Voxtel beauty.

Amit

Sweet looking phone. I love WM5 as long as I have my Missing Sync! (OSX sync support)

Craig

It’s like an LG Chocolate but with Windows Mobile built in? Sounds like a pretty good combination, but just thinking about the size of the thumboard gives me a headache

more photoos of this phone + links to website of manucturer are here:
http://msmobiles.com/news.php/5869.html

don’t link to Aving.net - they don’t put links to manucaturer!

I am still baffled by the keypad. Is there one?

I think the future of Alphanumeric inputs is the HexInput. http://www.strout.net/info/ideas/hexinput.html

Its basically hexagonally shaped keys that are arranged differently than the QWERTY keyboard. The best part is that you just drag your stylus/finger from one finger to another. To spell “Crunch” you would just start on C, drag it to the r and so forth until the end of the word. The program realizes when you have changed direction and inputs that letter. Combined with a T9input of sorts this would expedite typing and word input.

Amit

The camera sounds great, but until I actually see pictures taken with it, I would withhold praise for it. I’ve seen too much hype over camera-phones that I couldn’t care less about the newest and “bestest” camera technology for phones.

The fact that it’s only tri-band shouldn’t be too worrying, but many other smartphone manufacturers are releasing quad-band phones, so this is a little behind. Lack of wifi doesn’t attract me either. I use wifi pretty frequently, so this is a must for me. (Doesn’t mean it has to be a must for you!)

Looks like its selling point is its camera. I can understand why they’re only releasing it in Russia and Asia. US consumer habits will not drive sales. At least within my circle, nobody will buy a phone just because the camera is awesome.

2 cents, as always. :)