I-Teq X-Bond

T.V on Go...

In built TV Stereo Bluetooth Headset provided TV recording Pocket Flight software provided Plenty of AV converters included

No reception on the go Camera is not so good

I bet we’ve often wondered, what’s the next step for the mobile phone industry? Now that phones are out to replace cameras, portable music players, PDAs and data storage devices, what will they attack next? It’s true that the new phone we’ve had a chance to review may not be the only one to have such a feature, but it’s the closest to us in terms of availability. I mean, it’s something you can actually go out and buy, and not just dribble over pictures on the web. So let’s see what a company called i-teq has in store for us.

All you TV lovers rejoice. Break out the trumpets to announce the arrival of a mobile phone slash TV. That’s right boys and girls, a mobile phone with which you can watch television. Sounds great, right? But before you start making plans to watch your 'saas-bahu' and Bollywood movies on the go, there is 1 catch - it’s only the free to air channels like Doordarshan. So is this worth your money? Let’s find out.

Design
I like the design of the X-Bond. It’s simple and uncomplicated as Windows mobiles with touch screens go. A wee bit on the bulky and heavy side, but that can be forgiven when you consider the fact that you’re carrying a portable LCD TV in your hand! It does seem to have a professional look about it. Its 2.4-inch, 216K color touch screen LCD is quite vibrant and clear, but not too clear in the sunlight however.

The stylus pops out from the bottom like the i-mate K-JAM. Don’t worry, though, it has a sort of a locking mechanism that prevents it from falling out. Even so, with the experience of the K-JAM perhaps, i-teq has been kind enough to include a spare stylus with the box. On the left side of the phone you’ll find the camera key and a roll dial, for the camera’s zoom function (which wasn’t easy to figure out). At the bottom is the USB cable slot for data transfer as well as to connect the adapter for charging. On the right hand side, we have a hot-swap slot for a miniSD card and the headphones / antenna slot. That’s right; this phone comes with an antenna!

The front of the device has quite a few buttons. There is your call answer and end keys, a 5 way navigation pad that could be used for controlling volume or skipping tracks or videos. There’s also a dedicated Windows key for opening the "Start" menu. Aside from that there are 2 other keys that can be used to associate with anything you need quick access to.

On the rear you’ll find the 2.0 megapixel camera with a flash and speaker phone, which proves to be quite clear if you’re having a conversation, but not too loud if you’re trying to watch TV or listen to music.