Amazon is offering a discount on this Nokia X3 Slider Unlocked GSM Phone with 3.5 MP Camera for only $159 – $39.01 Instant Off + Free Shipping = $119.99!

If you’re looking to get your hands on a slim phone with big sound then take a look at this discount! The Nokia X3 Slider phone is the ideal solution for portable music in the form of a phone. It features a super sleek and elegant design perfect for taking with you anywhere and is built with precision in mind. It hides within a powerful set of stereo speakers which can be used to play Radio music from FM bands as well as portable MP3 files for up to 24 hours at a time. It has dedicated media keys and even music based elimination for visual effect so you can take your portable music to the next level. It also allows you to connect to your favorite social networking sites and has an SD card slot to fit up to 16GBs of capacity at once, that’s 4,000 songs!

Before I headed off to CES I was able to get my hands on a Nokia N85.  The plan was too connect my Stickam account to the device and stream content live from the showroom floor.  Unfortunately, Stickam’s tech didn’t work and the show room floor had spotty 3G coverage.  Nonetheless, I’ve been able to spend some more time with the handset and despite lacking a touchscreen I really enjoyed the device.

The screen on the N85 measures 2.6-inch and sports a resolution of 240×320, which is more than enough.  This particular handset garnered numerous news posts (this site included) when it went on sale here in the US thanks to the AMOLED screen.  Although it doesn’t still stand up to the quality of the iPhone screen it can still hold its own, especially when reviewing photos and recorded movies.

As you’ve probably figured about by now the N85 is a slider phone.  But, it’s a little unusual in that it slides one way to expose the keypad and the other way to expose the media keys for accessing the phone’s music menu.  When slid into the ‘media mode’ the screen automatically switches to landscape mode and the main nav button serves as the track forward/back and play button.  Which brings me to my next point: The N85 include a real 3.5mm headphone jack.

Movies or pics, the N85 captures quality images.  Sure, like most cameras phones it’s not great in low light scenarios but thanks to the LED flash it suffices in a pinch.  And at 5 megapixels your images and movies (640×480) will look as good as some of today’s stand alone cameras.

I’m an avid Mac user and for some reason I couldn’t get the N85 to show up in my iSync menu.  So all I can say is that you’ve been warned.  Sure, some trouble shooting might’ve resolved the issue, but the point here is that this thing won’t just sync out of the box.

As for memory, the phone comes with an 8GB microSD card.  This was more than suitable for me but you can upgrade if you’re looking to add your expansive music collection.  As with most microSD card slots it was a bit fiddly when trying to remove the card, but with a little patience and a thumbnail I succeeded.

Unfortunately, by design my car doesn’t work with FM transmitters, but with that said, the Nokia N85 includes its very own. You can adjust the frequency, turn it on and whamo, you’ve got music streaming from your phone to your car’s stereo system.  I know, the sound quality won’t exactly be top notch, but for some quick tunes and one less trip to Best Buy who can complain.

Battery life of the N85 is outstanding.  I tested out the standby time, which means absolutely no use, and the handset lasted a few days short of 2 weeks.  Plus the OLED screen makes the phone even more efficient when it is being used.  When really using the phone I could get 4-5 days in between charges, but keep in mind your battery experiences may vary depending on signal reception and type of use.

Built-in to the handset is an accelerometer, but you wouldn’t know it at first glance.  Factor settings set it to off, but that can be quickly over ridden by navigating to Tools>Settings>General>Sensor Settings.  For the most part the accelerometer was very speedy to react but on occasion had a tendency to be a little over sensitive, ultimately changing the screen from portrait to landscape mode when not truly warranted.  Another interesting feature, which also is turned off by default, is the Nav Wheel.  It can be turned to ‘on’, which essentially turns the circumference of the main joystick button into a nav button.  I didn’t extensively test out the option since it proved more annoying than useful.  I suppose those used to a Blackberry experience might find it useful or just complete off setting.

Getting online with the N85 can be achieved via 3G/EDGE or WiFi and setting up the wireless was super simple thanks to the WLAN Wizard.  Surprisingly, it include a full HTML browser, which admittedly is a bit of a surprise given the small screen.  Fortunately, the OS, Symbian S60, pops up a little screen when you start to move the mouse around allowing you to navigate the page from afar.  In the end, I found the browser was only suitable for checking websites at a glance and really isn’t designed as a Web friendly device.

Overall, I’m very impressed with the Nokia N85.  I’ll be honest, it’s been many years since I’ve really used one but now I understand why they’re the number one handset maker in the world.  The build of the N85 is very solid.  At times the buttons on the phone proved a bit cumbersome and for anyone coming from a Blackberry or iPhone, or any handset with a touchscreen and full QWERTY keypad will find adjusting to the new layout challenging.  The payoff of course is in the optics, small footprint. solid build and opulent like hora the handset gives off.

Pros:

• Great battery life
• Solid build
• Nice screen with good resolution
• Great camera for stills and video

Cons:

• No QWERTY
• Screen a bit small
• Phone’s menus can be cryptic

Usually devices that receive updates are highly anticipated and garner a shit load of attention.  Guess Samsung overlooked those two factors when producing the Samsung Propel Pro.  Yup, it’s an updated and semi-refreshed version of the Propel we saw launch on AT&T in late November 2008.  Updates includes an optical joystick (according to the tipster it’s crap) a slightly updated QWERTY keyboard, 3G connectivity and, well, that’s about it for now.

[BGR]

T-Mobile shoved out the all new HTC Shadow slider phone today.  It’s pretty much your standard Windows Mobile phone with the exception of its ability to switch seamlessly between Hotspot and cellular calls.  Pretty bad ass if you’re a cheapo like me and opt for the lowest tier plan.  The remaining specs include EDGE connectivity (yes, no 3G), video capture, 2MP stills, Bluetooth (A2DP), microSD card slot and a music player.

The T-Mobile shadow is available now in ‘Black Burgundy’ and ‘White Mint’ for $200 after a 2-year signing.

The latest Nokia N series multimedia smartphone is expected to hit the US market sometime in December for the price of $650 dollars. The Nokia N85 boasts a full range of multimedia capabilities and new mobile service offers to boot.

The first AMOLED smartphone for the US market (that’s Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode, folks), the Nokia N85 has a lot to offer. Along with a 2.6″ OLED screen, the Nokia N85 features N-Gage gaming, music with built-in FM transmitter, a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and geo-tagging capabilities. Additionally, the Nokia N85 comes with a three month integrated license for turn-by-turn voice navigation and high-speed connectivity.

The Nokia N85 also offers a full range of standard scene modes, including Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sport and Night, and each smartphone comes with an 8GB microSD card, and a 3.5mm audio jack enables users to connect their favorite headset without the requirement of a converter. The Nokia N85 also supports the Nokia Music Store and other online music vendors.

The Nokia N85 is pre-loaded with ten N-Gage gaming title demos and a voucher to activate one full game license. Dedicated gaming keys light up when the device is in landscape gaming mode.

You can preorder the Nokia N85 from Amazon

[InfoSyncWorld]

Verizon officially launched a new Samsung slider today, called the Sway.  The handset features access to Verizon’s Rhapsody store (I’m currently reviewing and I’m impressed so far), Bluetooth stereo functionality, a 2.2-inch 262k color LCD and 2MP camera.  To expand memory you’ve got the SD card slot, which is compatible with cards up to 8GB, and talk time and standby time is 4.5 hours and 13 days respectively.

The Sway will be available October 14th for $70 after $50 mail-in-rebate.