British press exctatic about Lobster 700 smartphone
October 29, 2006 [MS Smartphone] | By Edward J. R.
If you are not located in UK then you can skip this new item! The technologies that this phone uses: mobile TV over DAB-IP and digital radio over DAB (Band III = only used in UK) are not to be found outside of UK. However if you are located in UK and you would like to enhance your everyday life, then this phone can really revolutionize your life and bring more fun to it!
To underline that this phone brings something that no other mobile phone can offer - TV over DAB-IP instead of 3G and radio over DAB instead of FM (BTW: it is a pity that FM tuner is not included for getting reception in areas where DAB coverage is weak) - it even scored first page of British leading magazine about mobile phones (issue 150):
... and a very extensive review of this phone has been published, where this phone achieves very high score of 89% :
... and where all advantages and disadvantages are mentioned:
... and where even screen shots from TV channels available (BBC1, limited version of Channel 4, ITV1 and Channel4) are presented:
Some selected highlights from this review:
- 4 TV channels + 50 DAB radio channels are available and EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) for them is available too - so you can see what is coming and what other channels are playing
- the technology used is DAB which is based on broadcasting and not on streaming so unlike it is in mobile TV that runs over 3G networks there are no limits on how many people are receiving
- DAB-IP technology for TV transmission was developed by subsidiary of British Telecom - huge British Telco - called "BT Movio". Theoretically it is possible that in future other mobile operators in UK will use it but clearly Virgin Mobile UK (a virtual mobile operator that uses network of T-Mobile UK) must have some exclusivity at first
- Lobster 700 is available since free on contract to 199 British pounds as pre-paid. If you buy it on contract then mobile TV is free, but if you but it as pre-paid then it is free for the first 3 months and then costs 5 pounds a month.
- the phone has asymmetrical construction and is a bit bigger than average phone but it is due to included mobile TV and digital radio capabilities; lack of UMTS is disappointing however
- already 3 million people use DAB - digital radio - in UK and inclusion of DAB radio alone may be reason enough for many people to purchase this phone [our comment: lack of FM is disappointing however because some people who are commuting, for example from Croydon to London can receive some radio channels in London both through DAB and FM but in Croydon only through FM]
- image quality of mobile TV in this phone is not the best and one can't switch to "full screen" mode viewing, but all in all it is watchable and soundtrack quality is excellent so you can easily understand what is going on and if you watch soap operas like Eastenders anyway dialogue is more important
- advertisements are not aired in the TV channels watched by this smartphone - probably due to legal reasons
- number of drop-outs is big during TV reception when moving (for example when commuting by train) but is smaller when it comes to radio reception
- the phone has 128 MB ROM and 64 MB RAM and microSD card slot and since it is powered by Windows Mobile 5.0 it can be used also as very good MP3 player (or media player) - it also supports stereo audio over Bluetooth; with included stereo headset the audio quality is perfect
- due to technical and legal limitations other mobile TV standards [like DVB-H and DMB] are not operating in UK, so don't hold your breath!
- the camera has 1.3 megapixel resolution and authors of the review were pleased with the results
- all in all this smartphone is called "ground breaking device" by the authors
To read this review in full please purchase Total Mobile issue 150 in the nearby newsstand! (UK only)
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