DON’T — leave your iPad on the sofa
The sofa may be the best place to use an iPad, but it’s not the best place to leave one. If it creeps under a cushion, away from view, an over-keen loved one might sit down on it a bit too quickly after a hard day at work. A cracked screen is unlikely unless you have a very hard sofa, but it’s a possibility. Play safe, put it on a table.

DO — cushion your iPad in your bag
Even without using a case, there’s a good way to protect your iPad when it’s in your bag — wedge it between a pair of magazines or books (most paperbacks are a bit small for this job though). Use something that’s the size of the iPad or larger and your pride and joy will be kept safe from knocks and bumps.

DON’T — use it down a dark alley at 2am
More a tip of how to avoid a mugging than avoid smashing your iPad, but not only is the iPad the biggest high-profile tablet around, it’s also the most conspicuous. Everyone knows what an iPad is, most of them know how expensive it is. Use a spot of common sense and don’t flash it around in dark, lonely city streets.

DO — consider a case
The larger screen of the iPad makes it even more vulnerable to knocks than the iPhone 4’s, which may crack under the pressure if it’s dropped onto a hard surface. Cases do spoil the look of Apple gadgets somewhat, but there are oodles of iPad cases out there, and one may well take your fancy. From simple silicone skins to full leather cases, all styles are covered. A case comes especially recommended if you take your iPad out of the house.

DO — take ignorance into account
Just because you treat your iPad with care, knowing how much it cost you, doesn’t mean the people that live with you will. The problem with the iPad is that it’s not likely to be a gadget you keep in one place, or under lock and key. If you see them mistreating your iPad, make sure they know about it — will they stump up the £400+ cost if they destroy the thing?

DO — consider a screen protector
Apple has banned screen protectors from their Apple Stores, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad idea. Apple hasn’t revealed exactly why screen protectors are no longer welcome at its outlets, but we have an inkling it might be to do with the high rate of returns on such products (thanks to common user errors when putting the thing on). Buy a high-quality protector and you should see no significant touchscreen performance hit, while getting another layer of protection for your iPad.

YOU SHOULD READ — Samsung Galaxy Tabs vs Apple iPad — tablet test

The two top tablets in town, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Apple iPad, make a formidable pair, but who in their right mind will buy both? Do you go Android or iOS, big or medium? We take a look at how the two compare.

Screen
The Apple iPad remains the big boy of the tablet world, with a 9.7-inch screen. Using a lower-resolution display, Samsung sensibly opts for a smaller 7-inch model. Neither uses the next-gen screen techniques seen in their smaller relatives, the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S.

There’s no need to frown though, because the Samsung Galaxy S’s screen is super-bright and the iPad uses IPS (in-plane switching) for flawless angled viewing. With great-quality displays in both tablets, you only have to ask yourself — is the extra 2.7 inches worth the sacrifice in portability for you?
Result — draw

Power
The iPad uses the Apple A4 processor, which makes it sound as though Apple came up with the architecture all by itself. Nonsense , for the most part, of course.

The A4 processor is powered by a fairly common Cortex A8 CPU, the Hummingbird, which is also used in the Samsung Galaxy Tab (and produced by Samsung!). Both devices also feature a PowerVR graphical accelerator — slightly different, but not by much. Neck-and-neck in pure power terms, the fight here is more about which uses its power better, but more on that later…
Result — draw

Software/customisation
Both iOS 4 and Android 2.2 are stop-gap solutions for the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Apple iPad. Google is set to bring a more tablet-centric approach to the OS with post-3.0 Android, while Apple CEO Steve Jobs has detailed plans to enrich iOS tablet functionality in November with iOS 4.2.

But which is better right now? iOS 4 is still slicker, but the widget customisation and live wallpapers of Android make its interface more dynamic. Android also gives you more flexibility, with Flash support, the ability to turn your Samsung Galaxy Tab into a Wi-Fi hotspot and Wi-Fi media streaming, for just a few examples.

Some built-in Android features have been re-honed for the tablet form factor too, courtesy of Samsung
Result — Samsung Galaxy Tab wins

Apps
The Apple App Store is the biggest mobile app store there is, and although it involved a gargantuan amount of work by thousands of devs, dedicated iPad apps were released at an incredible rate as soon as the tablet was launched. Thanks to “backwards” compatibility, even if the app you want doesn’t have a specific iPad version, you can always just run an upscaled version of the iPhone edition.

It’s quite remarkable how well Apple engineered the early days of iPad tablet apps. We expected iPad users to feel left out as many developers slowly cottoned-on to the importance of the iPad, but there was precious little of this effect in evidence. Developer support for the iPad is massive, and thanks to the early commerical success of the tablet, that shouldn’t change any time soon.

Things aren’t quite so simple for the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Android apps are designed to scale between several screen resolutions — after all, top Android phones have varied between 240×320 and 480×854 pixels for yonks now. How will the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s 1024×600 display cope?

As yet we don’t know, but it does feel like Google’s pushing it a bit. Should the same app that runs on a 2.55-inch screen really be pushed and prodded into working on a 7-inch screen? We’re not convinced, but until Google starts breaking-up smartphone and tablet apps like Apple has, it’s what we’re going to be left with — at least when developers haven’t gone the extra mile with clever coding to cater for new tablet devies like the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Result — Apple iPad wins

Portability
A lot simpler than discussing the fluid world of apps, portability comes down to size and weight, and there’s no contest here. The Samsung Galaxy Tab weighs a lot less and is much smaller than the iPad. Galaxy Tab? 380g. iPad? 730g. That’s a massive difference, and as its screen is 2.7 inches smaller, there’s naturally a lot less gadget to go round.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is also slightly slimmer, at 12mm against the iPad’s 13.4mm. It’s a small difference, but it’s the size contrasts between the two that make the iPad the perfect at-home device, while the Galaxy Tab is begging to be taken on the train, bus or rickshaw.
Result — Samsung Galaxy Tab wins

YOU SHOULD READ — Samsung Galaxy Tab full specs exploration — king of the tablet jungle?

Sizing-up a tablet
The new tablet movement brings with it a whole host of questions for buyers. One of the most important is to do with size. There are currently three commonly-percieved tablet sizes — five inches, seven inches and ~10 inches. Each one brings with it a remarkably different feel and series of strengths.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab sits in the middle ground with 7 inches of screen space. As you can see here in the hands-on photo, unless you have tiddly hands, you’ll be able to hold it one-armed. However, unlike a 5-inch tablet like the Dell Streak, it’ll be too big for standard pockets.

Unless you’re big into watching movies on-the-go, the extra two inches of screen space won’t back a massive difference at present, because the Android development scene hasn’t yet fully cottoned onto the tablet explosion. It’s only a matter of time until the feel of a large, high-res tablet starts to veer away from what Android feels like on a 3.5-inch smartphone.

Pre-3.0 is early days
At present, with Android 2.2 being the newest version of Google’s OS available, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is something of a stranger in its own home (its home being Android). The vast majority of Android devices use smaller, lower-res screens, which means that most software won’t yet be optimised for the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s dimensions.

It’s early adopter syndrome, something that still affects Apple’s iPad too. But that doesn’t mean using it right now won’t be a pleasure.

Samsung Galaxy Tab – the top facts

• You have full access to the Android Market. As with any Android device, you’ll find compatibility issues within some apps, but you’ll be able to use a big chunk of the Market’s 100,000+ apps
• It can make phone calls. Cellular functionality is a requirement for full Android Market access, so Samsung was obliged to pack it into the Tab
• Full Flash support is on-board as standard. As the Samsung Galaxy Tab ships with the Android 2.2 OS, Flash 10 support is in from the off
• Dual cameras enable voice chat. The cameras on the Samsung Galaxy Tab won’t rival those of the best smartphones, but the 3.2/1.3 megapixel front and back camera combo lets you take snaps and voice chat with friends
• It lets you stream videos to and from other devices over Wi-Fi. The built-in AllShare app lets you stream content to and from DLNA-compliant devices, including other Samsung AllShare tech and popular consoles like the Xbox 360
• 4GB of flash app memory is included. Android 2.2 lets you install apps to SD card, but only if the developer has enabled the feature. 4GB of basic app memory is much more than you get in most Android phones
• 16GB of memory is built in. This will give you enough room for a handful of movies, while you can easily expand this memory with a memory card
• It’s around half the weight of an iPad. The Apple iPad may offer a slightly larger screen, but it’s significantly heavier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Tab weighs just 380g, while the iPad weighs 730g (680g for Wi-Fi only model)

The rivals
Although the Apple iPad has been out for yonks, other manufacturers are only just starting to escape from their R&D labs —

• HP is planning a series of tablets, using Windows, Android and WebOS systems. When they’ll start to hit the shelves is still sketchy, but it won’t be until next year
• The BlackBerry BlackPad is often cited by analysts, but almost never by RIM itself. Analysts say it’ll be released this year. We’re not so sure
• Nokia’s first MeeGo tablet can’t be too far away now. The MeeGo OS, formed within a partnership between Nokia and Intel is geared towards tablets, but we’re yet to see how it performs under real-world conditions
• LG and Motorola are both working on Android tablets, and these could prove to be the “closest” rivals to the Samsung Galaxy Tab. But Samsung has beaten them to the punch…
• The iPad is still the main rival for Samsung’s sales. There are fewer hiccups involved with an iPad, because app compatibility is no issue — there are thousands of dedicated iPad apps and iPhone ones work just fine too — but it’s a lot less portable than the Samsung Galaxy Tab

YOU SHOULD READ — Samsung Galaxy Tab full specs exploration — king of the tablet jungle?

Scanning the cheaper end of your local phone shop can be as confusing as trying to digest all the jargon involved in buying a high-end phone. How can you find out about these budget beauties when no-one ever talks about them? Here are our top ultra-budget buys…

Vodafone 340 (£10)
Best bit – It costs a tenner!
One of the cheapest phones you’ll find anywhere, this is no-frills mobile-making at its most efficient. It can play MP3s, but there’s no memory card. It has a camera, but you wouldn’t want to look at its VGA pictures for very long.

On the plus side, it has an FM radio and uses buttons rather than a touchscreen — always a good move for a sub-£50 phone. It can even search the web. Not very quickly, there’s no 3G here obviously, but if you want a phone you won’t cry over losing, the Vodafone 340 is a budget miracle.

Nokia 1800 (£15)
Best bit – Big name, tiny price
At a fiver more than the Vodafone 340, the Nokia 1800 doesn’t get you masses more in feature terms, but if you’re after a branded phone, it’s one to check out. It’s designed for durability and rocks a 1.8-inch screen, built-in FM radio and a handy torch.

It lacks the camera of the Vodafone 340, but as it’s only a VGA jobbie, we’re not going to bawl about it.

Sony Ericsson Spiro (£40)
Best bit – Great build quality
Sony Ericsson’s latest ultra-budget phone, the Sony Ericsson Spiro blows the manufacturers previous efforts out of the water. Gone are the terrible quality screens, the slightly dodgy slider mechanisms and cheap-feeling keys. Although a bargain basement model, the Spiro feels like a quality handset.

It uses a slide-out numerical keypad and is available in two different finishes — black and white/pink.

Samsung Genio Touch (£55)
Best bit – Strong capacitive touchscreen
If you’re after a cheapie phone, buying a touchscreen mobile is a dangerous game. Many cheap touchscreens are unresponsive, resistive models that really need a stylus — but don’t come with one. Samsung’s Genio Touch opened our eyes last year to the fact it doesn’t have to be this way.

Using a slick capacitive touchscreen, just like the top smartphones on the market, the Samsung Genio Touch feels a lot more luxurious than its price tag suggests. Its screen isn’t as responsive as a Samsung Galaxy S’s, but when you’re paying just a fraction of the price, who’s going to complain?

Sony Ericsson Zylo (£60)
Best bit – 3G connectivity
The Sony Ericsson Spiro’s big brother, the Zylo, kicks build quality up a notch, with a slightly larger body, more comfy numerical keypad and a silky smooth slider mechanism. It’s no smartphone, but unlike any phones lower down the price ladder here, it’s primed and ready for the web.

With 3G connectivity on-board (up to a whopping 7.2Mbps), the Zlyo has the specs to make the most of its on-board browser and social networking features. There’s one sore spot though — it’s a music-oriented phone, with decicated Walkman buttons, but doesn’t have a 3.5mm earphone jack.

Nokia C3 (£80)
Best Bit – Great mini-Qwerty keyboard
It’s the most serious looking phone in our round-up, with its communicator-style keyboard, but it comes in bright pink if you like your phones loud and garish. Unlike the Sony Ericsson Zylo, the Nokia C3 doesn’t offer 3G connectivity, but it does have something you might find even more useful — Wi-Fi.

This makes it perfect for sending emails, updating social networks and surfing from the sofa. Build quality is top notch and the contoured mini-Qwerty keyboard could give a Blackberry Curve a run for its money.

YOU SHOULD READ — Sony Ericsson Spiro review

The LG Optimus 7, previously known as the LG E900, has been shown-off at the IFA conference ahead of its dedicated launch event next week. The full and exhaustive spec list for the LG Optimus 7 hasn’t yet been released, but thanks to Microsoft’s taut approach to Windows Phone 7 hardware standards, we already know what sort of handset this will be.

Microsoft wants Windows Phone 7 to be a high-end platform, and as such has imposed strict hardware profiles on all manufacturers wanting to use the operating system. If you don’t have a large capacitive touchscreen, you’re not coming in. If your processor isn’t quick enough, you’re not coming in either. And if you don’t have the right configuration of soft keys, with a Windows key to boot, you haven’t got a chance.

Two features that mark the LG Optimus 7 out from the pack are its full slide-out Qwerty keyboard and its built-in DLNA support. DLNA lets you stream media over a Wi-Fi connection to other compatible devices. You might be surpsied at how many things can cope with DLNA too — the list includes games consoles, computers and some DVD players.

The LG Optimus 7 is expected to be given a grand unveiling next week, when we’ll be back with more coverage on this phone’s features.

YOU SHOULD READ — LG E900 to feature fastest processor yet?

Apple’s iOS platform is still a way ahead of Android in web browsing terms according to Quancast’s stats, but Android is rapidly gaining ground on its iRival. In North America, iOS devices (iPhone and iPad in this case) command a 56% share of mobile web browsing, while Android has reached a respectable 25%. Although hugely popular in the US, RIM’s BlackBerry OS is languishing at just 9% of mobile web traffic.

In bare figures alone, Android’s achievement may not sound that impressive, but check out the rate of growth demonstrated in Quancast’s graph of the last 18 months and you’ll see a different story. Unlike other smarpthones, Android is on the up, no-doubt thanks to stellar smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S and their appeal to the web browsing mobile elite.

Android OS updates have significantly improved web browsing experience over the last year. With Android 2.1, Google improved email support hugely, while Android 2.2 made an even bigger leap with full Flash support. What’s coming next, Google?

via Mobileburn

YOU SHOULD READ — Android Market hits 1 billion downloads

Could this be the first killer Windows Phone 7 phone? According to mobile business website Smarthouse, the HTC HD3 will be revealed in its full glory next week on 15 September.

Currently going under the non-catchy codename 6HTHD7XM, the HTC HD3’s specs are sure to widen a few eyes. In short, they’re amazing. Early indications suggest the HD3 will use a huge 4.5-inch AMOLED screen, with an ultra high-res 1280×800 display. This will produce ridiculously sharp images, just like the iPhone 4.

It’ll also use the upcoming 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon CPU, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal memory, an 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and an HDMI port for viewing your vids on a larger screen. And how chunky is this smartphone battleship going to be? According to Smarthouse, it’ll be just as slim as the current Samsung Galaxy S at around 10mm.

These specs are entirely subject to change — unconfirmed specs can often prove to be little more than a blogger’s personal wishlist mis-reported as the real thing. The HTC HD3’s specs do sound a little too good to be true if it’s heading for a launch next week, but we’ll be on this story like a bloodhound come next week.

via Smarthouse

YOU SHOULD READ — Windows Phone 7 is ready to roll

We first heard word that Android 3.1 (or whatever number convention Google decides on) would be called Honeycomb around three weeks ago, but the rumour has been given some weight after being used by JK Shin, from Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business department. At IFA, Shin said to Pocket-Lint that “there will be a Honeycomb tablet device” to follow-up the recently-unveiled Samsung Galaxy Tab.

It seems believable that Samsung would be in the loop on upcoming Android developments, because this is such a crucial time for the OS. It’s moving from being a smartphone platform to a broader operating system that will frequently have to deal with much larger tablet screens, using higher resolutions than your average smartphone. And Samsung has already staked itself out as a big player in this movement with the Galaxy Tab.

Other than the inclusion of further tablet optimisation, we have no clues as to what Android Honeycomb will include. For now, we’re more interested in Android 3.0 Gingerbread anyway, which reportedly will completely overhaul the Android user interface to give that slick Apple-style experience.

via Pocket-Lint

YOU SHOULD READ — Samsung Galaxy Tab full specs exploration — king of the tablet jungle?

Nokia C6
Best bit — Qwerty keyboard
Nokia’s latest C-series phone owes a lot to the Nokia N97 Mini, a flagship phone from last year. It’s a mixed bag of old and new, but some of you will get on with it famously. The Nokia C6 is the only phone here to use a resistive touchscreen, but it also has the biggest typing surface of any phone here, thanks to the full slide-out Qwerty.

It’s powered by Symbian — not the cutting edge of smartphone software, but it has a long-standing library of software available from the Ovi Store. If you want to browse the app catalogue, head over to the Ovi Store and filter the selection to the “Nokia C6-00″.

HTC Legend
Best bit — Unibody construction, AMOLED screen
The HTC Legend remains one of our favourite handsets ever. It’s gorgeous, slim, has a great AMOLED display and capacitive touchscreen, and runs the Android OS. If you want something as stylish as an iPhone, but without the big price tag, the HTC Legend deserves serious consideration.

The downside? There’s no physical keyboard, so you’re left tapping away on the touchscreen. With 3.2 inches of screen space to deal with, it’s not the most luxurious screen to fit a full Qwerty into, but as long as you don’t have sausage fingers you’ll be fine.

BlackBerry Curve 8520
Best bit — Great mini Qwerty
Why go BlackBerry? BlackBerry phones offer fab keyboards that are more convenient to use than slide-out ‘boards like the Nokia C6’s. There’s no sliding mechanism so the keyboard’s right there, all the time. As it’s a vertical keyboard, the keys are smaller than those of the Nokia C6, but RIM put a whole lot of time into the design of the Curve 8520’s keys.

BlackBerry App World is on-hand to offer a decent apps selection too. Like the Ovi Store, it can’t compete with the mammoth Android Market and iPhone App Store, but it’s always fairly easy to find what you want thanks to its smaller size.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini/Mini Pro
Best bit — Tiny, great interface
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini twins are a rarity. Most Android phones strive to offer bigger and bigger screens, forgetting about the strain they’ll put on your pocket. These two phones go the other way, with tiny 2.55-inch touchscreens.

They’re the smallest Androids in town — the Pro version being a shade tubbier thanks to its slide-out Qwerty keyboard. Thanks to the fab UX interface, you don’t feel the strain of such a small screen. If you want the full smartphone experience, but at the size of an old-school feature phone, go for an Xperia X10 Mini.

Nokia X6
Best bit — 16GB internal memory
The Nokia X6 was the first capacitive-screened Nokia phone to hit shelves, and its touchscreen is one of the main reasons the Nokia X6 feels a little more “modern” than the Nokia C6. Its ultra-slim, jet black looks help out too.

Comparing the Nokia X6 to the C6 is a classic case of the sensible versus the stylish. The physical keyboard of the C6 will come in very handy, but the X6 looks sharp as a knife and offers a generous 16GB of internal memory. We’d prefer to write an email on the Nokia C6, but to show off down the pub, it’s the Nokia X6 every time.

HTC Wildfire
Best bit — Android OS
HTC’s latest budget Android phone, the HTC Wildfire is like the smaller brother of the HTC Desire, and a slightly cheaper alternative to the excellent HTC Legend. The capacitive screen’s present and correct, and the full Android OS with the HTC Sense UI rocks just as hard as it did on the HTC Desire.

The one cut corner is in the screen. It’s not AMOLED, but it’s still bright and vivid — it’s the screen resolution we’re not so sure about, not the basic quality level. With a 240×320 pixel screen, the HTc Wildfire’s screen has a blocky look to it that the other phones here avoid. if you can deal with the retro-tinged screen, this is a great little Android.

YOU SHOULD READ — Nokia C6 – the top accessories

Processor
Next year may be all about 1.5GHz dual-core, eye-watering CPU speeds, but for now the Samsung Galaxy Tab is still at the top of the mobile tree with its 1GHz A8 processor. It’s basically the same as the one used in the Apple iPad — although Apple’s baby’s CPU is dubbed “Apple A4″, it’s still an ARM A-8 under the hood.

There’s also a PowerVR SGX540 graphics accelerator, giving you HD video playback and plenty of polygon-pushing power. Few Android games so far will make full use of it though, sadly.

Screen
Samsung has wowed us this year, with the beautiful Super AMOLED screens of the Samsung Galaxy S and Wave. Such screens don’t come cheap though, so we weren’t hugely surprised when we learnt that the 7-incher of the Galaxy Tab is a standard TFT model.

Using a 1024×600 resolution, it’s not a super-high pixel density screen like the iPhone 4’s, but it is comparable to the iPad. Samsung has done its best to make the Tab feel like its not lagging behind its Galaxy S cousin — the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s TFT display is very bright, with some early impressions suggesting it’s almost on-par with AMOLED. It’s not king of the jungle, but it’s not bad.

Phone skills and connectivity
Google has made having cellular capabilities (making phone calls, basically) a requirement for any device wanting full access to the Android Market, which the Samsung Galaxy Tab has. It’s a bit big to fit in your pocket and take around with you 24/7, but this hybrid-sized tablet-phone can make calls.

This isn’t what impresses us about the Samsung Galaxy Tab — we’re not planning on calling home with that great big hunk of gadgetry against our ears. It’s the inclusion of all the latest connectivity standards that gives the Samsung Galaxy Tab its bite.

Wireless “n” support is in, giving you a connectivity range of up to 100m if used with a n-capable router, and Bluetooth 3.0 features too. Bluetooth 3.0 uses Wi-Fi to supplement transfer speeds, avoiding the sluggish feel long-term Bluetooth users will be all-too familiar with.

On the 3G side, you have 7.2Mpbs HSDPA — enough to max-out the connection you’re likely to get from any UK carrier at the moment, while EDGE and GPRS are on standby if you enter a 3G blackspot. All bases are covered.

Apps
The Android Market is massive, with more than 100,000 apps on offer in total. But the Samsung Galaxy Tab isn’t the sort of device that most app makers had in mind when making their apps.

Until now, Android devices haven’t tended to skip past the 854×480 mark, in screen resolution terms, and those that have haven’t offered full Android Market support. We haven’t yet had a chance to check out how existing apps cope with the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s relatively massive 7-inch 1024×600 pixel screen, but we imagine more than just a few will have more than just a few problems with it.

The Android OS will soon become much more tablet-friendly though, with truckloads of tablets using the OS heading to market. Android tablet apps will get there soon — they’re just not quite “there” yet.

Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy Tab offers two cameras — or “two more than the iPad”, as Samsung might put it. These will enable video calling and simple taking of snaps.

Unfortunately, neither one is much cop. The main back camera is a 3.2-megapixel jobbie, a megapixel count we normally only see on budget phones these days. Autofocus and an LED flash are on-board though, so it’s not an entirely no-frills deal. The front-facing camera has a 1.3-megapixel sensor, which is fine for video calling, but not much else.

We understand Samsung’s desire to one-up the competition with these cameras, but it’s playing big fish in what’s currently a very small pond. Let these cameras out into the wilds of the larger smartphone market and they’d become someone’s lunch before too long.

YOU SHOULD READ — Samsung Galaxy official photos gallery