AT&T’s HTC Aria Reviewed at Gear Diary

The HTC Aria is a recent addition to the AT&T line-up of devices, and while it’s not one of the larger screen devices that we are starting to see so much of, it still packs a pretty good punch. Our friends over at GearDiary.com have posted a great review of the device. There’s lots of pictures and information about the Aria.  Personally, I like the bright colors that HTC is doing under the battery door. The EVO has a nice red, the Incredible and the Aria have a nice yellow color. It’s a small touch, but it really adds character to the device.

iPhone 4 FaceTime on AT&T 3G Works Great

The iPhone 4 was officially released yesterday, and one of its highly touted new features is the front-facing camera and the inclusion of Apple FaceTime. The only serious drawback to the new FaceTime feature is that both parties must be connected to a WiFi network. Is this an Apple imposed limitation, or is this an AT&T limitation? Being a mobile technology junkie, I had to find out for myself if the AT&T network was capable of handling a high-quality FaceTime call.

Being the MacGyver of mobile computing that I am, here’s what I did to test it out. I took my Google Nexus One running Android 2.2 FroYo on the AT&T network and enabled the WiFi HotSpot feature as seen below:

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AT&T Announces Pocket Sized HTC Aria Smartphone

AT&T steps into the Android market with this new mid-level smartphone – the HTC Aria. The Aria is a small device with a 3.2 inch capacitive screen, weighing in at 4.05 ounces and just over 4 inches in length. Despite it’s small size, it’s still packed with some goodness – powered by Android 2.1, a 5 megapixel camera, and an optical joystick. The Aria is compatible with AT&T’s high speed network allowing for 7.2 Mbps download (HSPA). And if required, you can still connect the Aria to your local WiFi hotspot for faster download speeds.

The Aria will be available this coming Sunday, June 20th, for $129.99 after a $100 mail in rebate. If you’re looking for a good cheap Android device that works on AT&T or North American 3G network, the Aria looks to be a good choice. Personally, I was hoping for something with a larger screen like the HD2. But there’s little chance that would be available for this price.

Full press release after the break.

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Taking a Closer Look at Samsungs Jack Smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.5

Last week, Samsung released Windows Mobile 6.5 for their popular Jack Smartphone. Microsoft claims that the Windows Mobile 6.5 update is all about touch. It offers an improved home screen and today menu for touch screen devices, as well as an updated version of Internet Explorer Mobile, Market Place for Mobile, and a number of more finger friendly enhancements to the general user interface. But the Samsung Jack does not have a touch screen. So is there any reason to apply this update?

Samsung offers the following list of enhancements and additions that Windows Mobile 6.5 brings to the Jack:

• Internet Explorer Mobile 6
• Windows Market Place for Mobile
• Modified UI with updated text & icons in several areas
• Enhanced, Java platform
• Battery optimization
• Radio signal optimization
• Fixed, T9 predictive logic (able to use z character)
• Added, RNDIS bypass support (Settings>Connection>USB) for simpler desktop connectivity
• Added, AT&T WiFi and Mobile Share
• Added, Vlingo for Windows Phone for improved voice recognition

The two big things that you’re going to see after upgrading to 6.5 are an improved web browsing experience thanks to Internet Explorer Mobile 6 and the new Market Place for Mobile. I’m sure that Samsung has done some tweaks to the battery life, but it’s nothing ground breaking. I haven’t noticed an extra day or power or anything. As for the modified UI, take a look at the pictures below and you be the judge if there’s anything there that is so over the top you just have to have it, because, frankly, I don’t see it.

While the market place is a welcome addition, it has yet to receive the praise or attention that it needs from developers to make it worth while. Many developers still see developing for Windows Mobile as a costly endeavor and that hasn’t changed with 6.5.

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Maggie’s Pantech Matrix Pro

We just got word that Maggie, the winner of our AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro, has received her device and is she ever enjoying it. I have a feeling this device is going to get a lot of use. Congratulations Maggie, Enjoy the new phone!

Thanks to Pantech and AT&T for providing us, along with the 25 other websites, a Matrix Pro to giveaway, and thanks to everyone who entered the contest. For those that didn’t walk away with a new Matrix Pro, you can grab one from your local AT&T store for around $100 with a contract.

Unboxing the Samsung Jack at Mobility Minded

Johan van Mierlo was able to get his hands on the new AT&T Samsung Jack smartphone and has filmed an unboxing video showing off the device in all of it’s glory. The Jack sports a similar keyboard to that of the Motorola Q9, but as the picture below shows, the Jack’s keyboard is a smaller due to the overall device being smaller. Samsung will be releasing a Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade to the Jack later this year. Samsung and AT&T recently released the Propel Pro smartphone, which is similar to the Jack but the keyboard slides up and underneath the screen. Check out the full unboxing videos over at MobilityMinded.com (Part 1, and Part 2) and let us know your thoughts on this device. Is there a Samsung Jack in your future?

AT&T Set to Release New Samsung Jack Smartphone

This past week, AT&T announced another Samsung smartphone that will be added to their line-up. The new phone is called the Samsung Jack, not to be confused with the Samsung Jack being offered on the Canadian GSM carrier – Rogers, which is actually a BlackJack II. This new Jack runs Windows Mobile 6.1 but will be upgradable to Windows Mobile 6.5 when the time comes. The new Jack adds WiFi, a 3megapixel camera and a new keyboard design. The new keyboard is more like the one found on the Motorola Q than on previous BlackJack models. There are no more spaces between the keys on this new layout. I actually prefered the keyboard on the old BlackJack and didn’t care for the keyboard on the Q because of that space. I found it much easier to find the keys without looking at the keyboard. So it might take a little getting use to for some of us. It’s getting very hard to decide what my next device should be. I’m still lusting after the Propel Pro which was released a couple weeks back.

The Samsung Jack will be available on May 19th for $100 after a mail-in rebate and a 2 year contract.

We Have a Winner for the Matrix Pro Giveaway!

Thanks to everyone that took the time to enter our AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro giveaway by posting a picture of their mother, either in a reply to the contest post or on Twitter. And thanks to AT&T and Pantech for making this event possible. Unfortunately, everyone can’t win. If you’re name was not selected, please remember that you can still enter for a chance to win on some of the other websites – check out this post for more details about which sites are still running their contest along with the start and end dates. You can also enter the Matrix Pro Tweetstakes over at PantechMatrixPro.com.

Enough talk about that, on to the winner! The randomly selected entry is from Maggie Bushway – Congratulations! Maggie gets a AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro smartphone along with a $100 gift card for AT&T.

AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro Giveaway!

Does everyone remember that giveaway we’ve talked about a couple times? Well, it’s now Mobile Jaw’s turn to giveaway a brand new Pantech Matrix Pro smartphone. The Matrix Pro is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard device (that means it doesn’t have a touch screen), that sports a regular 12-key slide-down number pad, as well as a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. If you’re not familiar with the Matrix Pro, I would suggest you take a couple minutes to read my review of it as well as the reviews from other popular mobility websites.

What do you need to do to enter and have a chance at winning this device? With Mother’s Day fast approaching, I thought it would be nice to include our mother’s in this contest. So, to enter, you need to post a picture of you and your mother. Since we don’t have the ability for you to upload your images, you have 2 choices on how to do this:

• Share you picture here on MobileJaw
  1. Login here at MobileJaw (If you don’t have an account, you can register here for free).
  2. Reply to this post with a link to a picture of you and your mother hosted on Flickr, ImageShack, or some other free image hosting service.

Or,

• Tweet your picture on Twitter
  1. Login into Twitter (If you don’t have an account, you can register for a free account at Twitter.com).
  2. Follow @MobileJaw
  3. Tweet the following message along with a TwitPic of your Mom – “Happy Mother’s Day Mom and thanks for the chance to win a Matrix Pro @MobileJaw”

And that’s it. The contest will run until the end of day May 11th. The winner will be randomly selected from all the entries and announced first thing on the 12th. They will get a Matrix Pro of their very own along with a $100 AT&T Gift Card! Please note, the Matrix Pro and gift card are for AT&T, so in order to win, you must be a US resident with a valid US shipping address. Please, only 1 entry per person. Good Luck!

Hopefully you’ve been following along with the giveaway event and have entered for a chance to win on the other websites. If not, you still have a chance to enter on about 7 out of the 26 websites. Each day will see a contest end and another one start. For a full list of the sites involved, check out our earlier post about the event.

Pantech Matrix Pro Giveaway in Full Swing

The Matix Pro giveaway is in full swing – there has already been 3 winners! Everyday there is a new contest kicking off and a winner selected from a previous site’s contest. You can’t win if you don’t enter! If you’re not familiar with the Matrix Pro, then you need to check out our review of it over here. There are also links at the end of the review to some of the other sites that have reviewed the Matrix Pro. Check those out and get familiar with this amazing device.

To enter, check out this post – The AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro Giveaway Event – to find out what site is currently running the promotion and who is up next.  And don’t forget, we’ll be kicking off our giveaway on May 7th. So stay tuned for the details.

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