January 2008 archives

If ever there was a time for top ten 10s, then seemingly the end of one year and the commencement of the next is indeed that time.

In this tradition Dean of Technical Itch has created his list, a Top 10 of most popular reviews featured on his site. And, as you have probably being cunning and insightful enough to realise, his rundown on the 3 Skypephone made the grade.

To read his chart making review head to here.

Chris Green has given some serious testing to the 3 Skypephone, in fact, he believes that his enjoyment of the device, and subsequent excessive use because of this fact, has led to possibly the most severe trial he has ever dished out. And how did our little fella hold up? The answer is Fantastically!

So impressed by the voice quality over Skype was Chris that he decided to conduct interviews, necessitated by articles he is writing via the device, and was also twice interviewed himself for radio using the phone and the Skype-to-Skype service. This is something he considers remarkable, “previous Skype radio interviews I’ve participated in have involved me using a desktop computer, headphones and a broadcast-quality microphone, so doing the same thing with just the phone and still producing audio good enough for broadcast was just amazing.”

Making a point of how tooled up the 3 Skypephone is for the price it is sold at, he compares it favorably to a host of other hand sets. The long and short of this is that Chris considers the 3 Skypephone, well, fantastic.

Joe Anderson of Webby’s World writes a solidly crafted review of the 3 Skypephone. His month with the device has resulted in a post punctuated with sub-headings, from “What’s in the box” to “Conclusion”, with all the prerequisites and more in between.

A notable heading, and clearly a point of much excitement to Joe, is “Skype!” Covering the integrated key feature of the device is his first stopping spot, after listing the specifics of what buying a 3 Skypephone gets you other than the phone, naturally. He takes a keen interest in the camera and provides a sample of of an image taken using the device and the associated highs and lows involved in the process of fulfilling your snap-happy whims.

One point that does leave Joe slightly confused is the duality function of the Skype button situated in the front of the phone. The primary purpose of this is to take you straight into the Skype interface, but as Joe points out, it occasionally acts as a ’select’ key, something that he feels defies it’s branded status.

This minor point isn’t enough to affect his conclusion though that “overall, the 3 Skypephone is a great idea and for the cost you simply cannot go wrong!” Well, that’ll be that then.

JohnG knows an attractive deal when he sees one, and the 3 Skypephone “As a solid second handset or a dedicated Skype phone [is] almost perfect, and for £50 or £90 for a pair it’s a rather attractive deal.”

After a glorious unboxing back in November, John now brings us his review. Having always found Skype to falter on his PC setup, the arrival of the 3 Skypephone was more than welcome.

In his exploration of the device, John merrily lays bare his opinions, which are on the whole positive, especially referencing the little things - such as being signed in simultaneously on the phone and PC, which he thought would be a little clunky. This detail, and more, all contribute to John’s endorsement of the 3 Skypephone.

Mobile Info and News has posted a lengthy review of the 3 Skypephone and associated deals, should you want to secure a device for your own needs.

The author of the piece makes clear that the reason for buying the 3 Skypephone was the integration of Skype, and there is plenty of information on this, before he offers a fascinating aside on other areas of the device.

To conclude, there is talk about the best place to get a unit and the relevant bespoke deals that exist… Find out more here.

3mobilebuzz is back, and there have been a scurry of postings over the festive break, which we will endeavor to bring you. As you can probably tell from this imaginatively titled article, the first of these comes from marketing, communication and PR guru Simon Wakeman.

Simon’s article is a full review of the device he has penned after living, breathing and (of course) chatting with his 3 Skypephone for a month. After introducing the phone basics, he lists what he believes are the pluses and minuses of the 3 Skypephone. In reverie he lists, amongst other elements, the aesthetics and Skype functionality. He is however, less impressed with the “fiddly keypad” and inability to make SkypeIn calls.

After this low-down, Simon goes into more detail, looking at the X-Series and 3 Skypephone and their different target markets. Understanding that the 3 Skypephone is designed to bring VoIP to a larger and less niche audience is left largely unexplored, the review instead opting to plant a seed of debate and retreat to wait for a chartable statistic, i.e. how many 3 Skypephones reach the hands of consumers.