I think I have finally found a quad band dual SIM phone for all of us Nintendo geeks! the LevelUP Quad band dual SIM phone.
Not only is it a solid performing phone but it brings back all my sweet childhood memories spent in front of the TV playing cool Nintendo games like:
- Legend of Zelda
- Super Mario Brothers 3
- Final Fantasy
- Contra
- Megaman 2
- Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!
That’s because, besides being a knock-out phone it also has a D-Pad and one of the best NES emulator functions you have ever seen…. but more about this later.
Because let’s get one thing straight – aside from the awesome gameplay this is one top notch quad band dual SIM GSM phone.
It takes photos, shoots videos, and also plays music and movies! Pick it up and you’ll love how solid it feels in your hand. Its QWERTY keyboard and state of the art firmware makes this the phone of choice for people who want to be productive! Just ask Steve Anderson from MobileWhack (mobilewhack.com/levelup-quad-band-cell-phone-review-you-wont-believe-this/)
The thing I love most about this phone is that the keyboard swivels. On one side, it’s a QWERTY keyboard that’s as good as any you’ll find on a Blackberry or a Nokia E71. Twist it, and it’s a Nintendo D-Pad.
At first I was skeptical about the twist mechanism.
I remember saying to myself, “moving parts on a phone, surely it will wear out!” So I kept twisting it, over and over. I put it through over 1000 twists (2 hours of my life I’ll never get back) and to my surprise the mechanism stayed firm like my old Nokia 3250!
Normally it takes me 2-3 days to fully test a phone, but this time around I spent close to 2 weeks because I didn’t want to give the phone back.
But enough about the phone in general, lets get back to the important stuff. How well it handles games.
The LevelUP M94 uses the MyNES emulator firmware to run all Nintendo roms with .NES extension, that’s right MyNES, as in MyGod why did I use any other emulator? Because it’s open source it’s always being improved and it means you can get the code so you can improve it if you are so inclined.
Thankfully I have all of my favorite Nintendo games saved up already so putting them on to the phone was not a problem (remember downloading ROMS is wrong kids the RIAA says so)…. All I needed to do was to connect the LevelUP to my computer via the USB port, open up the flash drive dragged and dropped them into the main folder. Then it was game on!
For those who have read my previous blogs (How To Buy Cellphones – Part 2) , you’ll know that my heart belongs to the Odyssey WiFi phone. But after testing the LevelUP M94, how can I explain it?
It’s like when you’re married to a really good woman and then all of a sudden this really attractive girl at work starts talking to you…
So, here’s a story of how addictive the gaming functions are on the LevelUP.
That girl in the photos is Mandy, a colleague.
She didn’t grow up during the Nintendo heyday of the 80’s. She plays World of Warcraft. The other day I was testing the phone (actually playing 1942) when she stopped by my desk and asked me why I was playing a game with such bad graphics.
I introduced her to the game, let her play a few games, and then asked for the phone back.
She grabbed the phone and ran off giggling like a…um…school-girl.
Long story short – she now PWNS me at 1943 Battle of Midway and Final Fantasy and it took me 4 days before I got my the phone back.
The world of cellphones is rife with continuous innovation from such features as quad band and dual SIM, to touchscreen and even wireless internet.
I love where mobile phones are headed, but the LevelUP looks back at the golden age of gaming and allows you to reminisce about those yesteryears where it wasn’t just about the technology, it was about gosh awesome fun.
Similar handsets these days seem to get better and better, and the HTC Diamond2 style cell phones that you see here certainly wins brownie points with us simply because it is able to dual boot both the Android and Windows Mobile 6.5 operating systems. Granted, the 600MHz processor might not seem to pack enough muscle, but it still comes with a WQVGA display that ought to please some quarters. No idea on whether this cloned handset is able to make phone calls on both operating systems, so we will just have to wait until the real deal comes out before arriving at a conclusion.
Mobiado is back with another millionaire-luxury phone - the Classic 712GCB. This handset is touted to be an “expression of mechanical perfection, mastering of aesthetic details, and the integrity of consistent craftsmanship.” When going through the specifications list, it is not too far away from the Classic 712ZAF, featuring a candybar form factor accompanied by a 2.2″ QVGA display, 3G connectivity, GPS support, a web browser, music player and a 5-megapixel camera with flash. Made from stainless steel, it will also have a touch of luxury with large sapphire crystal plates and 24K gold wrapping its exterior. Heck, even the handset’s keys are also made out of sapphire crystal hand-painted with gold. No idea on pricing, but this is a classic case of “if you have to ask…”
For those who are thinking of getting a cellphone for their aged parents, how about the ETS 50+ from China? This china cell phones was specially designed to cater to folks who are suffering from failing eyesight as well as poor dexterity, since this model comes with large buttons, huge fonts, rockers on the side that makes it a snap to access both radio and volume controls, alongside an emergency switch located on the back that allows you to make a call to a pre-defined number when activated.
Nokia’s Stealth and Dragonfly concept phones do look rather interesting, with the former being a mid-range handset, obviously inspired by stealth aircraft in its design that boasts an “ergonomically sculpted keypad, easy to navigate by touch sensations.” As for the Nokia Dragonfly, this more or less resembles an entry-level handset, although certain quarters might deem it to be a whole lot better looking compared to the Stealth. We do wonder whether anyone from Nokia will pick either design up or not.
ZTE looks like it’s going to place quite a bit of emphasis on Google’s Android platform, as the company is planning to release four phones that will be powered by Google’s mobile operating system. Hopefully these phones will be available outside of China, and we’re talking about the:
- ZTE Smooth (pictured above): Android 1.6 device that looks like a Palm Pre. Sports a 2.8-inch QVGA display, QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, FM radio and 3G
- ZTE Blade: 3.5-inch display, WVGA touchscreen, Android 1.6, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, FM radio, GSM/UMTS
- ZTE Racer: Android 1.6, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen display
- ZTE Mercury: Looks like a HTC Hero, 3.2-inch HVGA display, GPS and EDGE connectivity
This is clearly one of the more unorthodox phone designs – after all, how many handsets have you seen to date which features a cylindrical form factor? The Energy 888D could very well be the first of its kind, complete with a fully curved 2″ display. Apart from that, we don’t have any details about the rest of its specifications, but the clip at the back sure comes in handy since something this curvy could very well slip out of your pocket easily without you knowing any better.
The Qiao Sheng A45 cellphone sports a really alternative form factor (although Nokia did come up with something like that in the past), coming in a high lacquered finish and a display which is capable of rotating through 180 degrees while functioning as a make-up mirror as well. Meant to be the ideal handbag accessory, the Qiao Sheng A45 is equipped with a 2.2″ mirror touchscreen display, a 3-megapixel camera and a user interface that only folks who have yet to be spoilt by something classier can love.
Check out this colorful iPhone 4G concept that looks more like a blown up iPod mini of old, and it will supposedly come in a bunch of other colors as well to complete a rainbow collection. Of course, this is just the semblance of someone’s overactive imagination since there is no word on what the iPhone 4G looks like at the moment, but anticipation is running high that it will sport an AMOLED touchscreen display, more memory and a higher resolution camera among numerous others.
The BlackBerry Curve 8520 has fallen victim to the world of clones, this time round with the 