Everyone uses cell phones and with upcoming barrage of Smart Phones from Apple iPhone, HTC, Samsung, Nokia and other vendors we have numerous options, but for Enterprises requiring rugged phones which can tolerate temperature, weather and harsh environments options are far too less. Below are few top ranking Smart phones which are modern, feature packed, enterprise ready and important of all rugged and hardened.

Rugged SmartPhone market is different and there are new phone vendors which specialize in rugged devices, such as Motorola, Airo, Trimble and i-mate etc. Following SmartPhones are covered which meet rugged and military specifications like MIL-STD 810G, MIL 810-F , IP42 , IP67:

• Motorola i1 – Android Based Rugged SmartPhone with Push to Talk- See Details – See Pricing and launch dates
• Motorola ES400 – See Details
• Airo A25is – See Details Here
• Motorola MC55 – See Details Here
• i-mate 810-F – See Details Here
• Trimble Nomad – See Details Here

Sometime back I wrote about TravelSIM, a GSM SIM that works in over 170 countries. This was for frequent travelers who trot the global on a monthly basis or even more frequently. It seems that the trend is catching on. Now truphone has launched a new SIM that lets subscribers to be local literally anywhere in the world. Moreover, they won’t even have to buy a new SIM card every time they travel out of country. This also means cheap calling anywhere to the tune of 90% as compared to standard calling rates!

Initially it has been launched for the UK, US and more countries will be added in 2010. The list includes South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia and some European countries as well. There are three different kinds of plans being offered the Starter, UK Holiday Pack and the US/UK Pro Pack. The Starter Pack offers local number and local rates for home country including low cost international calling and global roaming. The Starter pack can be upgraded to the Holiday and Pro bundle for more savings and advantages.

Users can also add a local country rate to their SIMs and pay as the locals. Besides all this the company also has a set of customized apps for the iPhone, Nokia and Android phones (including the Google Nexus One) using which users can make free VOIP calls to truphone, Skype and Google Talk users. Check out the truphone website for more information.

This is it, now we have Skype for the Symbian available for download and use. It is a full feature rich Skype and not a run down version of the popular application. The beta was launched a few months back but this version id presumably free of errors and necessary fixes have been made. Oh and off course the Ovi store is hosting it.

The app will allow users to make Skype to Skype calls on their data connections thus reducing massive phone bills, both local as well as long distance. The app also lets users share and send images  video files. The list of supported devices is rather long and you will find it at the end of the post.

Now is the tie people can really benefit from a WiFi enabled Nokia or even some other device running the Symbian. They say support for Sony Ericsson is coming shortly so hopefully the newest Vivaz might run the app. Those going out of country might find this app extremely useful in cutting down on International calls. However, the preferred medium would still be a WiFi network rather than a 3G Volume based connection. Download from the Ovi store.

The supported devices are enlisted below:

Nokia N96, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N85, Nokia N82, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8 GB, Nokia N79, Nokia N78, Nokia 6220 classic, Nokia 6210 Navigator,  Nokia 5320,  Nokia E72,  Nokia E71,  Nokia E90,  Nokia E63,  Nokia E66,  Nokia E51,  Nokia X6,  Nokia 5800,    Nokia 5530, Nokia N97 and the Nokia N97 mini

It has been a little over a week since Nokia’s Ovi maps (free) was launched. The word “free” is enticing in many ways, it is attractive, inviting and conjures up curiosity in almost everyone. So now there have been over 1.4 million downloads of this application in this small period. By the way Ovi Maps offers free walk as well as drive navigation.

From next month onwards all Nokia devices with GPS will come with Ovi Maps pre-installed sparing users the trouble of downloading and installing the app themselves. Also included will be local country maps, drive and walk navigation, access to Lonely Planet and  Michelion Travel guide.

Supported devices include Nokia X6, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia N97, E72, E55, E52, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic, Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition, Nokia 5230. Support for other devices can be found at the Nokia website. The app can be downloaded from the same page and is available in over 70 countries.

Buying a new mobile phone is an experience which is always full of excitement. There is the pre-purchase period during which one tries to find information about the object of his/her infatuation, then there is the smirk period during which one enjoys the thought of buying a new gadget and finally is the dreaded period during which one starts using the device. That is when one has to move contacts and other data from the old device to the newer one.

Moving stuff form the (old external) memory card like photos/videos etc is easy as one can copy it on a PC and then transfer it to the new device using USB card reader or any other method. The major problem in most cases is moving the Contacts (which we are all afraid to loose). The prime reason is because all mobile phone makers have their own customized software for synchronizing data between devices and PCs. Nokia for instance has Nokia PC Suite and Nokia Ovi Suite, Sony Ericsson has its own version of the PC Suite and off course Samsung calls its sync application as Samsung New PC Studio.

Contacts are always saved in formats like .csv, .vcf, .npf. These formats have various fields for storing personal data like Name, phone number, email address , street address etc. The problem arises when you buy a different brand of mobile device then your previous one and your contacts are present in the old PC Suite.If your contacts are stored on the SIM then all you have to do is insert the SIM in your new mobile phone and start using it. But that is seldom the case, because normally we have contacts that far exceed the maximum 250 contacts limit set by SIMs. In  that case we are forced to store our contacts on phone and this means trouble when transferring them on to a device of a different brand.

Listening to, reading and finding translation of the Quran is a daily ritual for most Muslims. This can be done using the paper version of the Quran or using specialized software like Quran Reciter etc. Now several websites offer this facility online for free. Tanzil.info is one such website which lets users read and listen the Holy Quran. It also allows users to read translation of the Holy Book in multiple languages.

The interface is attractive and user friendly to use. First time visitors will not find themselves lost in the maze. One can browse through the entire Quran via Suran, Ayah, Juz or even page. Next comes the recitation which can be listened online as well as offline using a separate application. There are 19 Qaris to choose from and the biggest names like Al-Sudais, Abdul Basit and Al-Ghamdi etc are included in the list. A simple mouse-over provides translation in the selected language. A total of 69 types of translation options exist. For example in the English language one can read translation by about 12 people like Marmaduke Pickthall and Mahammad Asad etc.

Nokia 2710 is a pretty normal handset. By normal I mean 2 MP camera, Bluetooth, microSD card based expansion upto 16 GB, FM with RDS and GPS. The phone is 11.2 x 45.7 x 13.7 mm in dimensions weighing 87 grams. It runs on S40 series firmware and software includes Ovi Mail and Nokia Life Tools (for selected areas). Nokia maps come with the set along with lifetime navigation license.

The device has GPS as mentioned before, A-GPS support, voice guided drive and walk navigation for lifetime, car holder (not all areas) and a dedicated key to launch the navigation applications. I am surprised why a digital compass has not been included. The set has a102 mAh Lithium Ion battery which gives 6 hours of GPS usage.

The mobile phone is expected to be released in the second quarter of 2010 for around $ 170. But with navigation features included it is worth buying. However, since Google Maps Navigation for Android devices has been announced it will be a tough choice for buyers.

With the huge success of our last post on Samsung B1200, a real waterproof, shockproof and dustproof mobile phone from Samsung, I will now be introducing another rugged phone from Nokia modeled as Nokia 3720 classic also designed to resist water, dust and shock. Whether you hit it with Golf club, drop it from top of  ladder, swim with it or sunk it in a jelly, it simply bears everything. Built on IP-54 standard, this Nokia phone is gradually growing popularity for being a preferred choice for many among the available rugged phones in market.

Features

It is designed exclusively for music lovers who don’t mind a little bit  of chatting and texting in between. What else can you expect from a sleek phone which happens to be a hear turner as far as looks are concerned, but the 32 GB of storage is something really outstanding, did I mention 35 hours of music playback, which translates in to 16 days of standby time? They say the device will give you access to over six million tracks.

Also included is a 3.2” capacitive touch screen display. The smart device has 5 MP camera with dual LED flash and off course Carl Zeiss optics, besides having Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, TV out, video editing, online sharing, web browser, A-GPS, Ovi Maps, lots of games and 3G. The home screen can accommodate 20 of your friends and some widgets for some of the top social networking websites like Face book, thus allowing 24/7 connectivity.

The mobile phone is being launched in the UK on Friday that is 27 November 2009 for £449  that is about $742. It is available in two color combinations that is White/Blue and Black/Red. More info is available at the Nokia website.

The N900 from Nokia announced in September 2009 at Stuttgart Germany has finally been released. The smartphone has all the features of any leading mobile phone of the day, GSM, HSDPA, WiFi, 3.5″  TFT touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, 32 GB internal storage with options for expansion via external storage, DLNA, 5 MP cam, Dual LED flash, video light, geo-tagging, digital compass,  A-GPS  etc etc. The most outstanding feature however, is the open source Maemo operating system running the device.

Maemo is a faster OS and supports running of multiple applications. Users can for instance surf the web and listen to music at the same time. The Maemo operating system  is similar to a PC’s OS. Best of all it is open source.

José-Luis Martinez who happens to be Vice President for N series devices said the following about the N900.

“The Nokia N900 has generated a lot of interest since its public launch in August, which has been reflected in the device preorders. What’s exciting is the Maemo software, which takes its cues from the desktop computer and offers a full browsing experience like no other handset. We believe the Nokia N900 will be a very compelling device for people who are passionate about technology.”

Well if that be the case then is the N900 going to pose a challenge to the iPhone? And what about the new entrant Android? Does the Android have another competitor? More infor on the Maemo is available at the Nokia Maemo website. The mobile phone info is at the Nokia website. Watch the Nokia N900 video review at Youtube.