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Apple iPhone 4S

2011-12-07T22:03:00.001-08:00

The T3 Apple iPhone 4S review is finally here! In the 16 months from the launch of the iPhone 4, we've had antennagate - the iPhone 4 had serious reception issues due to a misjudgment in the placing of its antenna - the unveiling of iOS 5, Apple's latest mobile operating system, and three versions of Google Android's Honeycomb OS.

The world's handset manufacturers have also been playing a fierce game of catch up, releasing a raft of ever-improving smartphones with faster processors and more features, all trying to steal a march over Apple and its seemingly unstoppable freight train of success.

Many T3 readers have told us how they'd forgone the Apple iPhone 4 because of reported signal problems, or were tied into long 3GS contracts. They were itching for something new. Something special. Something worth waiting for.

So, when Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing at Apple, took to the stage to announce the long-awaited 'iPhone 5' last week, he needed to pull something big out of the iBag.

What we got was the iPhone 4S. The most powerful iPhone Apple has ever made, yet criticised by many as nothing but a cosmetic upgrade.

So how different is it and, crucially, is it worth upgrading? We've been living with the iPhone 4S, iCloud and iOS 5 for a few days. Here's what we think, in a few words...

Apple iPhone 4S Review: Unboxing

Out of the box, the iPhone 4S looks identical to its older sibling bar the distinguishing birthmark of a brace of top-mounted incisions signifying that a new antenna design lurks within. Switch on the phone, however, and things are different.

Unless you're restoring the data from an older iTunes backup, the 4S doesn't require a computer for activation. You can restore the phone from an iCloud account, or set up as a new phone. If you don't have an Apple ID, you have the option to create one.

iCloud can also be activated from the phone for storing and wirelessly pushing photos, apps, contacts, calendars to and from your 4S. The whole process, whether restoring from iTunes or setting up fresh, takes less than five minutes. And because it's the same case design, iPhone 4 users can just swap over their SIM card.

Unfortunately, in-app information isn't transferred, so you'll need to re-enter login details, re-download offline Spotify playlists and re-affirm personalised settings in every app that requires it. An obvious security measure by Apple, but it was these actions that took the longest to complete.

The Apple iPhone 4S Review: Hardware changes (processor)

Many iPhone 4 owners will be asking themselves why they need an iPhone 4S when the free iOS 5 upgrade will equip their current phone with most of the new 200-odd features. We'll get into the meat of those features later, but know this: Apple has built its best phone to date.

The new A5 dual-core processor (as seen in the iPad 2) makes things noticeably nippier. Apps launch quicker, web pages load faster, multi-tasking is more fluid and resource-hungry apps like Pages now allow you to edit documents without any lag. Competitors will argue that their phones have been able to produce similar results for months, and they'd be right, but it remains a welcome (if a little late) upgrade.

The processor also supercharges the iPhone 4S's graphical prowess. We tried Real Racing 2 HD and, while the visuals were a little smoother, we didn't notice the 7x improvement as claimed by Apple. This is because games will need to be tuned to take advantage of the new chip. We had a demo of Infinity Blade 2 (confirmed to launch later this year) at the iPhone 4S launch and were blown away by the detail and speed of the polygon pushing. We're talking PSP Vita graphics, if not better.

Another benefit of having the A5 processor is to mirror 4S content over AirPlay. Wirelessly, the 4S will push out 720p to an Apple TV. Over connected HDMI, that will jump to 1080p. The simplicity of pushing small-screen content to the big screen on the fly is a neat trick, especially when you start rotating and zooming. It's also something to brag to iPhone 4 owners; T3 was told that the older model simply can't cope with the demands of such technological wizardry.

The potential for playing games on the big screen from your phone is something Sony and Nintendo should keep an eye on, too. Note that, in our demo, the super-charged Infinity Blade 2 was jumpy over wireless. Tiny Wings has never looked better, though.

Apple iPhone 4S vs Apple iPhone 4 video

The Apple iPhone 4S Review: Antenna

Antennagate rocked Apple's world for the wrong reasons after the launch of the iPhone 4, so we were keen to see how the new design 'improves call quality' and 'reduces risk of dropout'.

Both the 4S's antennas, which run around the top of the phone, can transmit and receive data, allowing for faster 3G connections. Apple claims that maximum download speed over HSDPA is 14.4Mbps – twice as fast as the iPhone 4.

In the few days we've been testing, we haven't noticed an improvement in call quality and didn't experience any dropouts. But we have definitely seen faster download speeds over 3G and quicker web page loading. T3.com took an average of 5 seconds to load on the iPhone 4S, compared to an average of 8 on the iPhone 4.

We also ran the SpeedTest app (on O2-UK network) and got an average of 3.34Mbps download and 1.45Mbps upload. On the older iPhone 4, on the same network in the same location, we achieved average results of 2.32Mbps download and 1.31Mbps upload.

We also tried the death grip (for old times' sake) and didn't see any signal bars dropping off a cliff. Hurrah.

The Apple iPhone 4S Review: Camera

The camera's had a major overhaul, now capable of taking eight-megapixel stills and recording 1080p video. Apple claims upgrades to the optics allow for more light, better colours and improved white-balancing. We didn't dismantle the 4S to find out, but did take a range of shots in a variety of conditions to test the assertion.

Photos are crisper, no question, but it can't compete with traditional cameras with bigger lenses in low light. You can now choose to have a grid on the screen when taking shots, perform basic image-editing within the Camera Roll and jump straight to the camera function via a shortcut.

Log into Twitter and you can post photos from the Camera Roll directly to your feed. It's quick and makes a cute tweet sound when sent into cyberspace. Anti-cutes can, however, switch off this slice of audible joy before tucking into their sour-faced sandwiches.

iOS 5 brings with it the option to use the '+' button as shutter when taking landscape shots. Face detection is also an upgrade and works well.

The 1080p, 30fps camera is impressive. Clarity and detail are excellent and the A5 processor allows for image stabilisation of the go. Shaky hand, be gone. We played back footage on our 47-inch TV and, even in full screen, video quality was great. We can hear the home camcorder industry wincing from here.

Sound quality is limited due to the small in-built microphones, but good enough for most things, especially YouTube where videos can be uploaded directly from the 4S. Which leads us onto a point of compromise; with an upgrade in image quality comes an increase in file size and it's no wonder Apple needed to launch a 64Gb version. You'll also want to do more uploading and sending over wi-fi as not to upset your network operator and/or bank balance.

Apple iPhone 4S: 10 things to do first video

The Apple iPhone 4S Review: Siri

The main talking point of the iPhone 4S, quite literally, is Siri – a voice-controlled in-built app that acts like your own PA. Hold down the home button to launch Siri and then ask it to perform certain tasks. We barked a variety questions and demands, all with varying responses and success rates, which can be seen as follows:

The command “call my wife” resulted in Siri asking who our wife was from our address book. Once confirmed, repeating the same instruction resulted in a call to the wife. 1-0 Siri.

“What is 477 multiplied by the circumference of the moon?” we asked. Siri consulted the Wolfram Alpha engine and presented an accurate and detailed result. It's 6786.03 miles, in case you were wondering. 2-0 Siri.

T3: “Set a reminder to buy some milk tomorrow” Siri: “Calling Simon now” 2-1 Siri

Nevertheless, what makes Siri so clever is how it can maintain a conversation to perform a task. While driving we asked, through our headphone mic,: “what's the weather like in London tomorrow?”, to which Siri dutifully replied. ''Rainy”. We then followed with: “And on Sunday?” and Siri was clever enough to contextualise the conversation and give us a report: “Weather for this Sunday is....Rainy.”

You can also have fun with Siri – asking it things like the meaning of life, the meaning of naughty swear words, why Siri exists, or whether Brian Blessed has the loudest voice in human history. The results can be entertaining. We'll leave you to discover them.

Siri needs at least a 3G connection to operate and we found that Wi-Fi works better. It's presently in beta, so we're expecting some improvement as and when updates are released.

Albeit fascinating and entertaining, we don't think Siri is reason alone to upgrade to a 4S. It's undeniably amazing technology but we just can't see how often people will use it. Asking it to do things like “set the alarm for 6.30am tomorrow morning” will save a few buttons clicks, but most things we asked of it are quicker to do manually. Apart from the moon calculation bit.

If you do decide to form a relationship with Siri, a word of warning: your partner will go mental. Smartphones already come between us and our dearest, so striking up a conversation with a robot rather than talking to your beloved, or Siri being the last person you talk to before falling asleep might just be a step too far in today's society.

Apple iPhone 4S Siri Demo video

The Apple iPhone 4S Review: iCloud

The notion of cloud computing is still a mystery to many and we were pretty skeptical as to how Apple, the maestros of uncomplicated explanation, would decipher this one for the mainstream. But therein lies the genius, you don't have to understand how iCloud works to get it working or benefit from it. You just need to enter your Apple ID and start using your Apple kit.

Mail, contacts, calendars, reminders, bookmarks, notes, are all updated whenever you make a change. It takes the pain out of worrying where things are and gives you time back. We're amazed Apple is giving everyone 5GB of storage free, but think an upgrade (and accompanying annual subscription) will be all but necessary for those with a half decent media collection.

iTunes in the Cloud isn't currently available in the UK so we haven't been able to test music, movie and app syncing.

PhotoStream is a cool feature of iCloud but we found the time between taking a picture on the 4S and it appearing in our iPhoto stream slow. We'll update as to whether this was a case of teething.

Apple iPhone 4S: First look video

The Apple iPhone 4S Review: Notifications

Although part of iOS 5, rather than iPhone 4S-specific, notifications are a a great addition to the art of using an iPhone. Run your finger down the top of the screen to bring up a list of your latest feeds from Twitter, Mail, Facebook, calendar and reminders, among others. You can customise what appears in the list and how notifications appear – in the centre of the screen or a banner at the top of the phone. Again, many phones already have this, but it'll be a welcome first for iPhone fans.

The Apple iPhone 4S Review: Battery

Battery life has also been improved. Apple claims 8 hours of 3G talk time, upto 9 hours of wifi use, 10 hours video playback and 40 hours of musical pleasure. In our experience, we can say that when compared to the iPhone 4, all of these activities had less of a drain on battery. Whether this will still be the case in six months time, we'll have to see. We did notice the battery draining a little quicker when in standby, however.

Among the 200-odd new features in iOS 5 and other things we've noticed thus far, here's a collection of what's floating our boat on the iPhone 4S. And what isn't...

Apple iPhone 4S Review: T3 Verdict

So, as previously mentioned, the iPhone 4S is the most powerful and feature-packed phone that Apple has ever made. The camera, processor and antenna are all well-needed improvements. And Siri is eccentric genius, if a little before its time. However, the fact that you can upgrade your old iPhone 4 with a smorgasbord of brand new features for free, with iOS 5 and iCloud, will undoubtedly put many off upgrading to the new phone.

16 months is a long time for the competition to catch up and the iPhone 4S has some serious opposition. However, what no-one else can offer is the colossal, yet slick infrastructure that is iTunes and iCloud. And this may be just enough to coerce those teetering on the edge into opting for the iPhone 4S. What's more, are people really going to wait another year to see the iPhone 5?

We don't think so.

It may not be what people were hoping for - whatever that looked like - but the iPhone 4S is now the best phone from the Apple stable. A powerful mobile device with a great OS and some cutting-edge tech to boot

HTC Sensation XE

2011-11-25T09:29:00.001-08:00

The rumors can be laid to rest, because HTC has officially announced its Sensation XE handset, replete with some upgraded specs and Beats Audio. Powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, this Android device features a 4.3-inch touchscreen with qHD (540 X 960) resolution and boasts a larger 1730mAh battery that promises prolonged run times. As the first smartphone produced under HTC's partnership with Beats Audio, this special edition Sensation also ships with a special pair of Beats by Dr. Dreheadphones, along with an 8GB or 16GB microSD card and remote control that allows users to flip through tracks of take calls without ever reaching inside their pockets. Once these headphones are plugged in, the phone will automatically activate a Beats-optimized sound profile that, according to HTC, will deliver fuller bass, sharper vocals and broader range. The Sensation XE is slated to launch in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East sometime this month, though price and a possible North America launch date remain unclear. Scurry past the break for more details in the full press release, along with an extra shot of Dre's in-ear headphones.

Amazon Kindle Fire

2011-11-21T08:52:00.001-08:00

Introduction:

As nostalgia sets in, we can only think back to the day when the Apple iPad was first unveiled, seeing that it was a groundbreaking moment in time for general computing. Besides witnessing an intuitive experience on a tablet level, which wasn’t necessarily seen before its time, the one thing that impressed people most about it was its highly competitive $500 starting price point. Today, it seems that many companies strive to achieve that figure with their alternatives – thus, bringing us into the constantly shifting price wars.

So when Amazon finally dropped the news regarding its Kindle Fire tablet a few weeks ago, many were enamored to find out its price, yet somehow, it was all too expected. Nevertheless, the easy-to-swallow $200Amazon Kindle Fire is here itching to ignite itself into stardom – thanks to its combined functionality of being an eReader first, with some light tablet-ing sprinkled on. There’s no arguing that it’s priced remarkably on so many levels, but will it contest to replace the titans in the tablet landscape? Or will it merely prove to be nothing more than a laughable tablet wannabe?

The package contains:

· Amazon Kindle Fire

· Wall Charger

· Quick Start Guide

Design:

When you’re priced so affordably out the door, it’s hard to expect a design that’s going to exhibit the traits of being stylish or chic. Let’s be for real with ourselves, we can’t knock on the Amazon Kindle Fire for its spot-on conventional tablet design, but there are still people that take pride in materialistic possessions.

Fortunately, the Kindle Fire is one solidly built tablet that enables it to stray from the perception of something being on the cheap side – thanks to its soft touch back cover and accompanying weight (413 g) that combined together give off that sensible feel in the hand. Even though it doesn’t attempt to be the thinnest or most compact 7” tablet out there, we’re still able to comfortably hold it with one hand. Interestingly, its overall design very much looks like the BlackBerry PlayBook, and honestly, if you remove their brandings, it’d be nearly impossible to tell the two apart. Overall, it’s no looker that’ll attract people from afar, but rather, we have to give kudos to Amazon for at least coming up with something that’s exceptionally solid feeling for its price.

For its display, Amazon decided to outfit the Kindle Fire with a 7” IPS LCD panel, and when you combine that with its resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, it’s fairly standard amongst the spectrum of 7” tablets. Reading shouldn’t be much of an issue, because you can always adjust the font size to your liking. Furthermore, like other IPS displays we’ve seen, color production is very neutral with its tones, which essentially provides for some realistic looking colors – as opposed to oversaturated ones we tend to see with AMOLED displays.Viewing angles are broad to maintain its visibility, but it doesn’t quite have the strongest brightness output we’ve seen on a tablet, which proves to be a challenge when trying to use it outdoors with the sun present.

Considering that the Amazon Kindle Fire is one clean and minimalistic looking tablet, there are barely any noticeable buttons or ports protruding from its side. However, taking a quick peek on the bottom edge, we do find a 3.5mm headset jack, microUSB port, and dedicated power button. With the latter, it might be on the small size, but luckily, its response is springy enough when pressed. Meanwhile, on the top edge, the only items that are present are the left and right speakers. Finally, flipping it over to the rear, there’s nothing of particular interest except for the prominent Kindle branding embossed into the soft touch rear cover.

So what’s missing you ask? Well, it omits a volume rocker to quickly modify its level, though, it is controlled via the software. Secondly, there are no cameras whatsoever to give us the ability to shoot photos/videos, and at the same time, that means there isn’t going to be any video chat functionality. Next, it lacks a microSD card slot for additional storage, which might handicap some people because of the paltry 8GB of internal storage it’s packing – albeit, Amazon does stress the cloud storage you gain. And lastly, there is no video-out functionality of any kind, meaning, you’ll be strictly relying on the tablet's screen.

Dell Venue Pro Windows 7 Phone

2011-11-20T00:28:00.001-08:00

Do everything smartphone

You want a smartphone that enables you to stay connected, be productive and keep in touch with the people who matter? Dell Venue Pro with Windows® Phone is a do-everything smartphone that helps you be more efficient in how you stay connected and entertained. It’s all about people. Seamlessly toggle between your work and life apps. From your favorite games on Xbox LIVE® to keeping up on Facebook®, Twitter or LinkedIn®, Dell Venue Pro keeps what’s most important to you at your fingertips.

For your viewing pleasure

See the world and your life like never before with the stunning 4.1 in., WVGA AMOLED capacitive, multi-touch display. The large slide screen allows easy navigation and viewing of your email, calendar and Web. Your photos, videos and movies have never looked better in the palm of your hand. No more squinting or panning — see the full width of the Web page in one glance. And Corning® high-quality, scratch-resistant Gorilla® Glass means your view can stay crystal clear.

Your life at a glance with Windows Phone

Imagine being able to see everything you care about at a single glance on your smartphone without ever breaking stride — an email from a friend or coworker, appointment reminders, the score in the game or just the weather and time. Customize the Live Tiles on your start screen so what’s most important to you is always in the front and center and easily recognized with a momentary look. The built-in Microsoft® Office Mobile lets you operate on the go as seamlessly as you would in the office.

Elegant Beauty

While the Venue Pro smartphone, with its elliptical, slender form fits comfortably in your pocket, it’s probably the last place it will ever be. Surely, its large 4.1", touch display lets you see everything that is most important to you at a single glance that will make it hard to put down. But you’ll also love how it feels in your hand. And just a simple slide reveals the full portrait QWERTY keyboard, providing a superb viewing and messaging experience.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

2011-11-17T10:22:00.001-08:00

Android touch phone with super-screen

View pics and video in vivid colours with your Android touch phone. Crisp and clear on the 4.2” Reality Display with Sony Mobile BRAVIA® Engine

The sleek, super-slim Xperia™ arc

Start with premium materials. Stir in some beautiful curvature. Squeeze down to 8.7 mm. And there it is, a perfect palm fit: the slim, lightweight and strong Xperia™ arc.

HD phone with 8.1 megapixel camera

Your HD phone has a Sony Exmor R™ for mobile CMOS sensor that lets you capture high-quality movies and stills in low light. So go ahead and shoot. Then show, in stunning HD direct on your TV via the HDMI connector.

Screen

- 854x480 pixels
- 4.2" 16,777,216 colour TFT

Memory

- Internal phone storage: 1GB (up to 320MB free)
- RAM: 512MB
- Memory card slot: microSD™, up to 32GB

* Actual free memory may vary due to phone pre-configuration.

Networks

- GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
- UMTS/HSPA 800/850/1900/2100
- UMTS/HSPA 900/2100

Available colours

- Midnight Blue - Misty Silver

Possible limited market availability.

Sizes

- 125.0 x 63.0 x 8.7 mm
- 4.9 x 2.5 x 0.3 inches

Weight

- 117.0 gr
- 4.1 oz

Nokia Lumia 800

2011-11-15T08:04:00.001-08:00

Introduction:

Nokia, wow, it's been a journey and a half tracking all the highs and lows Nokia have encountered over the past few couple of years. Losing a monumental amount of smartphone market share and abandoning their prized Symbian in favor of Microsoft's new OS. On the plus, their decisiveness to move forward and even the strengths of their now abandoned MeeGo platform have to be commended. But we're not here to lament, no, lamenting is what we did when reviewing the Nokia N9. Now we are embracing change, embracing Windows Phone 7.5, embracing Stephen Elop's vision and embracing the Nokia Lumia 800. A unibody plastic device with a beveled Gorilla Glass display, a 1.4GHz processor and f2.2 8MP camera put the Lumia 800 at the top of Windows Phone technology on paper, but the question on everyone's lips seems to be: have Nokia done enough?

The Lumia 800 is currently not expected from any US carrier. It is somehow usable with AT&T's 3G network, supporting the 1900 MHz band but lacking the 850 MHz one.

Design:

With little in way of variance between the Nokia N9 and the Nokia Lumia 800, it's fair to say our over-riding impressions of both device aesthetics are similar, however if this was a competition, on physicality alone, the Nokia N9 would be the winner. Let us explain.

Starting with the screen, unlike the Nokia N9's Full WVGA480x854 display, the lower end of the Nokia Lumia 800 is re-tasked to function as three capacitive buttons, sacrificing on resolution (now WVGA480x800) and making the display roughly 7% smaller at 3.7 inches. What you do still get is the bevel edged Gorilla Glass fascia atop Nokia's Clear Black AMOLED display. It looks beautiful, as if AMOLED displays were made with Windows Phone in mind, with Live Tiles gliding vertically below the bevels and above the deep black beneath. This is emphasized by how responsive the Lumia 800 is, coupled with the glass offering a rich, cool sensation to the touch. If we never saw the Nokia N9, we would have been none the wiser. The Nokia Lumia 800 has a beautiful display. As we have seen it however, we also know it's not the best that Nokia can do.

Moving away from the screen and the same, high-grade polycarbonate (plastic) unibody design graces the Nokia Lumia 800 as the Nokia N9, except for two key differences. The first - the flash is repositioned, the second - there is a physical camera button. Which is better? Well that depends, form or function, which is your preference. There's no denying the camera button clutters up the right hand side of this lithe, slick bit of kit, however, we like taking photos and taking them quickly, so can embrace the advantages of the camera button. Otherwise, the physicalities surrounding the handset is the same with a microSIM card and microUSB port up top aside the 3.5mm headphone jack. The right side is laden with silver buttons: a volume rocker, lock / power button and two stage camera button while below is the loud speaker. The reverse of the Nokia Lumia 800 is the 8MP f2.2 camera with Carl Zeiss optics as well as the accompanying dual LED flash.

Overall, the hardware works beautifully with Windows Phone 7.5, from the AMOLED screen with its Clear Black technology, through to the flat bottom sitting atop your little finger for one handed use. We can't wait to see what Nokia brings us when they make a piece of hardware with Windows Phone in mind from conception. Nokia N9 comparisons aside however and the Nokia Lumia 800 is a standalone triumph.

HTC Vivid

2011-11-14T09:01:00.001-08:00

Introduction:

Let's not forget to give credit where credit is due, but after a long year of seeing plenty of top-notch smartphones, we've probably forgotten about the HTC Inspire 4G for AT&T. Well, we really can't forget about it, because it brought HSPA+ connectivity to the masses for AT&T – priced competitively at $99.99 on-contract. Seeing that AT&T is on the verge of kicking things up with their 4G LTE network, it's naturally fitting for them to bring a device that showcases their network's potential. Seriously making it affordable on any budget, the $199.99 on-contract HTC Vivid seems remarkably priced to offer plenty of value for the dollar – while introducing us to the capability of AT&T's next-generation data network.

The package contains:

· HTC Vivid

· microUSB cable

· Wall Charger

· Quick Start Guide

Design:

Right off the bat, we're quickly reminded of the HTC EVO 4G because the Vivid sports some of the characteristic design traits found with the beloved smartphone. Specifically, it features a plastic exterior, beveled border that tapers towards the back, and a very similar overall size. Despite the plastic exterior, it still packs a noticeable amount of weight when it's held in hand – though, it's evenly distributed. Fortunately though, its body is reinforced with some strength thanks to the stainless steel back cover. Overall, it doesn't come off as something remarkably fresh in appearance, but instead, it takes the safe approach of improving an already established design.

For something packing a 4.5 inch qHD S-LCD display, it's nice to see that it maintains a manageable size – that's because the bezels surrounding the display are kept to a minimum. Thanks to its qHD (540 x 960) resolution, resulting in 245 ppi, the detail is quite good, although not HD. Meanwhile, the S-LCD panel manages to produce some very deep and punchy color tones, which something we typically find with this type of display technology. However, we find its viewing angles to be less than desirable seeing that it washes out the display – plus, it doesn't help that its brightness output is rather weak. In fact, it's very prevalent when we're trying to see the display outdoors in the presence of the sun.

With some spacing between the bottom edge and the Android capacitive buttons, there are rarely moments when we find ourselves accidentally pressing them. On the opposite side, there's a narrow slit for the handset's earpiece – with the front facing 1.3-megapixel camera nearby.

Taking a peek on the left edge of the phone, the only thing we find there is the microUSB port, which also doubles as the MHL port to provide a mirrored experience on an HDMI screen. Furthering its close ties to the HTC EVO 4G, it sports the same exact volume rocker, 3.5mm headset jack, and dedicated power button. Even though the dedicated power button and volume rocker offer tactile responses when pressed, they're very difficult to make out with our finger because they're extremely flat and flush to the surface.

The Vivid packs a sizable 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with dual LED flash , which features backside illumination and a wide-angle F2.2 lens. Also, the speakerphone grill is barely seen and sticking out behind the stainless steel back cover. Sliding it off doesn't require that much force, but once it's off, we're given access to the SIM card slot, 1,620 mAh battery, and unoccupied microSD slot.

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket

2011-11-14T08:50:00.001-08:00

Introduction:

Filling in the gaping hole that was found in the hearts of many AT&T customers for some time, the recent availability of the Samsung Galaxy S II for AT&Tseemingly plugged up the void with its awe-inspiring presence. It was as if all of their desires, needs, and wants were answered by the introduction of theSamsung Galaxy S II. Well, just nearly over a month after bringing aboard the highly respectable Android powered smartphone, AT&T is already bringing in to its lineup an even newer Galaxy S II model. Sporting a $249.99 on-contract price, the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket just might make those early adopters of the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II boil over with regret because the Skyrocket packs support for AT&T's 4G LTE network.

The package contains:

· Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket

· microUSB cable

· Wall Charger

· Stereo Headset

· Quick Start Guide

Design:

Knowing that it's packing a larger display over the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II, the Skyrocket is marginally larger in size – though, it's not as massive looking compared to the Infuse 4G. Fortunately, for something that's packing a 4G LTE radio inside of it, the Skyrocket is impressively streamlined (0.37" thick) and lightweight (4.6 oz). However, its overall design doesn't deviate from what we've seen already with other variants of the popular Samsung Galaxy S II line. Specifically, it features an all-plastic exterior that contributes in keeping its figure in shape, but to tell you the truth, it's nothing premium.

The Skyrocket manages to pack a larger 4.5" WVGA Super AMOLED Plus display. Obviously, its resolution (400 x 800) is hardly going to impress anyone nowadays, aspecially at this size, resulting in 207 ppi. And just like before, its color production is immaculate to reel in our eyes with its iridescent colors, high contrast, and strong brightness output. However, after spending a few days in our pockets, we notice the display showing signs of scratching, which is partly due to the fact that it doesn't offer the durability of things like Gorilla Glass.

Due to the nature of the capacitive Android buttons being in close proximity to the bottom edge of the phone, we still have a tendency of accidentally pressing them. Meanwhile, on the opposite side, we find the handset's earpiece and front-facing 2-megapixel camera.

The volume rocker on the left edge is pronounced and offers a tactile response when pressed. Conversely, the dedicated power button (on the right)is rather flat to the touch – though, it still exhibits a springy feel when pressed. Also, we find the handset's 3.5mm headset jack, noise cancellation microphone, and microUSB port on its top and bottom edges. With the latter, you can use an optional MHL-to-HDMI adapter to output high-def video to a TV or get a mirrored experience.

Motorola DROID RAZR

2011-11-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

Introduction:

At one point not too long ago, high-end Android powered smartphones were considered to be a rarity in the landscape, but in the last couple of years alone, it seems we've been inundated by them – to the point that the market was over-saturated. In fact, it seemed like every month (even weeks), some kind of high-end device was being announced or launched, which made it very difficult for consumers to separate the great from the greatest. Looking back at it now, there's no arguing that we've been jaded by it all, since our expectations have become rather cutthroat in what is perceived to be a game changing device.

Combining two of the most memorable brand names in phone history, the Motorola DROID RAZR is bent on establishing itself as the poster child of tomorrow's next-generation Android smartphone selection. On one hand, it follows in the same stylistic manner that made people fall in love with the original Motorola RAZR from back in the day – thanks to its insane razor thin profile construction. Meanwhile, it doesn't skimp out from what we've seen already in the past, considering that it's packed to the brim with some cutting-edge technology to make it one drool-worthy smartphone – like its 4G LTE connectivity, Super AMOLED display, and dual-core processor.

Packing all of that hardware, and some additional software functionality from Motorola, it's priced at $299.99 with a two-year contract – thus, potentially making it one justified price point. Knowing that some other respectable handsets are on the horizon, namely the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and HTC Rezound, we're curious to see how the Motorola DROID RAZR is going to set the bar. Let's not waste anymore time and dive right in!

The package contains:

1. Motorola DROID RAZR

2. microUSB cable

3. Wall Charger

4. Getting Started Guide

5. Product Safety & Warranty Information

Design:

Game changing! That perfectly sums up the overall design of the Motorola DROID RAZR seeing that it flaunts one of the most compelling handset designs in recent memory. We're not kidding about that, because going forward, all other smartphones have to live up to its mark.

Aesthetically, it combines the designs of the Motorola DROID X series and the PHOTON 4G, but it's able to dramatically separate itself from them thanks to its remarkable razor thin construction. Right off the bat, we're mesmerized by its 0.28" (7.1mm) thickness – making it the thinnest smartphone on the market. However, it's not uniform because of the hump towards the top where the camera sensors are placed. Regardless of that, it's an incredible engineering masterpiece to behold considering that it packs 4G LTE connectivity. And to complement its svelte appearance, it's by far one of the lightest smart phones in its size category.

For something so thin, some would probably envision it to be frail, but there's nothing to be worried about because it's constructed out of the finest materials out there. Specifically, it's internally strengthened by its stainless steel chassis, which is further supplemented by its KEVLAR fiber back cover for reinforcement and water repellent nanocoating to absorb some levels of liquid splashes - though, it's not completely waterproof. Tell you the truth, this is easily the most solidly built device we've seen put out of Motorola's camp. So yeah, it's a modern marvel in every way!

It's not the first time we're seeing a 4.3" qHD (540 x 960) display with Gorilla Glass on a Motorola smartphone, that's because we've seen it done already on the DROID BIONIC and DROID X2, but what's new is the fact that it features a Super AMOLED panel instead of a traditional LCD one. Granted that it utilizes the PenTile matrix arrangement, it's more than capable of producing distinctive details to make even fine text more than visible to the eye. However, its pixel density of 256 ppi is way behind those of the upcoming GALAXY Nexus and HTC Rezound, which clock at 316 and 342 ppi, respectively.

Not surprisingly, we're captivated by the polarizing and saturated colors it's able to produce. Throw in its high contrast ratio, deep black color production, and wide viewing angles, it's well equipped in providing plenty of visual treats to our eyes. Still, we find ourselves covering the display with our hand in outdoor conditions.

Typically for an Android 2.3.x phone, we find the same set of capacitive Android buttons sitting beneath its display – with the microphone situated very close to the home button. Meanwhile, the front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera and narrow earpiece are all located directly above the display. Furthermore, to profoundly exhibit its premium taste, the Motorola name is etched into the diamond-cut aluminum accent.

On the left side of the phone sits a plastic flap that hides away the handset’s microSIM card slot and microSD card slot – the latter of which is preoccupied by a 16GB microSD card.

Rather than finding the dedicated power button on the top side of the phone, like most other recent devices, this time around it's positioned on the right edge along with the volume rocker. Between the two, the power button is slightly more raised versus the flat feel of the volume rocker – still, they exhibit a good response when they're pressed.

The top edge of the phone claims home to the handset's 3.5 mm headset jack, microUSB port, and microHDMI port. To think that they're all there is indeed impressive for device that's razor thin!

Finally, the 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and the speakerphone grill are all stuffed into the handset's hump, which forms the slight bulge that we've been accustomed to seeing since the original Motorola DROID X. In order to retain its slim appearance, Motorola has opted to keep its battery shut out from the world – essentially requiring you to send it away to get it replaced.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

2011-11-13T10:34:00.001-08:00

They say good things come in small packages, and when it comes to phones, they don't come much smaller than Sony Ericsson's X10 mini.

Design

It really is quite an astounding feat; Sony Ericsson follows up its Xperia X10, one of the industry's larger phones, with a mini version and succeeds in creating a truly unique, pint-sized smartphone. At only 90mm tall and 52mm wide, the mini pro looks like a small, black pebble and fits in the palm of our hands. Sony Ericsson has told us that this design encourages single-handed use with your thumb in position for all menu navigation. For the most part, this works exactly as described. In combination with the user interface design, most menu surfing is possible without needing to hold the mini pro in one hand and poke at it with the other.

Sony Ericsson's UX user interface has been modified from what we saw on the original Xperia X10 for use on smaller devices. The most notable and necessary adjustment is its four-corner user-definable shortcuts. Though users will also get four home screens to customise with widgets and application hot-keys, the four corners of the home screen constantly display the same shortcuts for one-touch access to the apps you use most. You can also access the Apps Drawer on the phone with a vertical swipe anywhere on the home screen, rather than having to hen-peck at a tiny on-screen button.

At the end of the day, though, there's no overlooking the fact that the display of this smartphone is only 2.6 inches big, which is tiny compared with similarly capable smartphones, and its QVGA resolution is much lower than we're coming to expect from phones of this ilk. The mini pro's form factor may fit better in your jeans pocket, but when it comes to viewing web pages or multimedia, we're talking about thousands of pixels difference. For most everyday tasks this screen is fine — reading messages, selecting contacts from your address book — but if you rely on your mobile browser for lengthy sessions of web surfing, the mini pro is not for you.

If messaging and social networking is your focus, then you will appreciate the mini pro's decent QWERTY keyboard. Hidden beneath the screen, this keyboard is definitely shorter length-wise than the keyboard you'd get if you choose the LG Eve instead, but it's nonetheless usable for thrashing out a quick SMS or typing a URL into the browser's address bar. We wouldn't want to be conducting a day's worth of email on this pad, but it'll do the trick for anything else.

Features

Making a working phone this size is a remarkable enough accomplishment in and of itself, but what's truly amazing is that Sony Ericsson has managed to cram in everything else you'd expect to find on a modern smartphone. For web browsing and data transfers, the mini pro features HSPA technology (high speed uploads and downloads) and Wi-Fi with support for 802.11 b and g network protocols. On the back of the phone you'll find a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash, a 2GB microSD memory card inside, 3.5mm headphone socket and a video player supporting H.264 MP4 video files.

There's an accelerometer and A-GPS for orientating the phone locally and globally, with Google Maps installed to make use of the GPS hardware. The mini pro runs on Google's Android version 1.6, so you can expect to find Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar and the Android Market pre-installed and ready to play with out of the box. Also installed is a YouTube client and an FM radio player, though you'll need to plug in headphones to tune in to FM radio stations.

As part of Sony Ericsson's UX interface you also get access to Mediascape and Timescape, though the versions of these apps on the mini varies from what we originally saw on the first X10. You could consider them "lite" versions of the software, Timescape in particular has been pared back to improve performance, and both apps now make use of the four-corner shortcuts you find on the home screens. Mediascape is still a winner for us and is probably the standout feature on both the X10 mini and the mini pro. The UI is attractive, easy to use and takes your music further than other players with a direct link to YouTube videos of your favourite bands.

Performance

If there's one area of smartphones that truly suffers after being miniaturised, it's the battery's capacity. The battery in the mini pro is a non-user removable 930mAh unit, which is 25- to 50- per cent smaller than the batteries we tend to see in regular-sized smartphones. The results are pretty obvious, even when we employed our best battery-saving tips we still needed to charge the X10 mini pro every night after a day of low to medium use. The upside is that this tiny battery charges like its been struck by lightning.

We also struggled a little more with the tiny touchscreen than we would have liked. For broad strokes of the screen, for example, swiping between screens in the menu, the touchscreen seemed to be responsive. But for fine object selection, the usability takes a dive. Trying to select the pull-down Android notification bar can be very tricky to do quickly, but it was perhaps most notable when we played Peggle during our tests, a game that requires fine movements, and we found it very hard to position our shots as accurately as we'd expect to on another devices, like the iPhone. You often have to move your finger slowly over the screen to ensure your accuracy and this is less than we'd expect.

Making calls is fine with this tiny unit, with a loud, clear earpiece speaker, though receiving calls is a little trickier. We found the ringer volume to be far quieter than we'd like, even at full volume, and often we'd miss calls with the phone in our pockets. The irony to this point is that the mini pro has a startlingly loud external speaker, which you can use for hands-free calls or music playback, so we're guessing the quiet ringer must be a software issue, rather than a hardware one.

Overall

The Xperia X10 mini pro is an engineering feat, but we don't buy phones because they are a certain size, shape or colour — performance always has to come first. The X10 mini pro includes all of the features you'd expect from a smartphone, fast web speeds, Wi-Fi and GPS, a good suite of apps and an online store to expand its functionality, and it packs it all into a unit that is about half the size of a standard phone. But the size of the phone does come with drawbacks, its smaller battery capacity and more importantly its smaller, low resolution screen. Both are issues that challenge the everyday use of the X10 mini pro as a phone.

At its best, the X10 mini pro is an excellent portable music player and short messaging handset. We don't love web browsing with the itty-bitty display, but it's fine for browsing sites with clean, minimal layouts, like Facebook mobile.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

2011-11-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini - compact versions of Xperia X10, which will deliver powerful and application packed mobile phone into the industry. By introducing mobile phone that is compact and clever, Sony Ericsson is challenging the norm and defining a brand new offering that combines high specification features with a version of Sony Ericsson's powerful UX platform specifically designed for smaller devices.

Combining the Android platform with signature applications and a customisable UX platform, communication truly becomes entertainment with these new mobile phone. To enhance the experience, pick and choose from a multitude of applications at Android Market and co-create a mobile phone experience that is entirely unique. Users can go one step further and customise the home screen's four corners and widgets to access the most needed applications for limitless possibilities.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini incorporates the signature application Sony Ericsson Timescape which brings all communication together in one place so users can see at a glance text messages, missed calls, and Facebook and Twitter updates, without having to open lots of different applications. The interactive music player also uses the "infinite button" to pull together all music content from the music store and YouTube - a smart way to search for new tracks from a favourite artist.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini

o Sony Ericsson Timescape - brings together all communication in one place

o Four corner control - applications, calls, web, the consumer decides. Four customisable icons for ultimate control

o 5 megapixel camera and video - share creations via the web

o Music player links to music stores and YouTube - access the world of music

o Android platform - with Google services and Android Market

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini supports HSPA 900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 850/1900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900. The Xperia X10 mini will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Pearl White, Black, Pink, Lime, Red and Silver.

LG Optimus One P500

2011-11-11T10:54:00.001-08:00

Having left behind by Samsung which was released a phoneSamsung Galaxy Tab. The company's third-largest mobile phone maker in the world, LG Electronics plans to release one high-end mobile phones that use Android system. LG Optimus One (P 500). In addition, not only the LG Optimus One system that uses Android, LG plans also to release the LG Optimus in Windows 7 system.
The entry of LG to release Android phones because LG Mobile saw its market share of Android phone is still wide open.

Here LG P500 Optimus One Specification :
General
Dimensions: 59 x 113.5 x 13.3 millimetres
Mass: 129 grams (battery included)
Operating System: Google Android 2.2
CPU Clock: 600 MHz, Qualcomm MSM7227

Memory
RAM capacity: 512 MiB
ROM capacity: 512 MiB (accessible: 170 MiB)

Display
Display Type: color transflective TFT , 262144 scales
Display Diagonal: 3.2 "
Display Resolution: 320 x 480
Multi-touch screen

Sound
Microphone(s): mono
Loudspeaker(s): mono
Audio-Output: 3.5mm

Network
Cellular Networks: GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS900, UMTS2100
Cellular Data: CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA
Call Alert: 72 chord melody
Vibrating Alert Supported
Speakerphone Supported

Interfaces
Expansion Slots: microSD, microSDHC, TransFlash
USB: USB 2.0 client, 480Mbit/s micro-USB
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Wireless LAN: 802.11b, 802.11g

Multimedia:Telecommunication
Analog Radio Receiver: FM radio (87.5-108MHz) with RDS

Satellite Navigation
Built-in GPS
GPS Services: Assisted GPS, QuickGPS, Geotagging

Camera
Main: Camera 3.1 MP
Autofocus(AF)
Optical Zoom: 1 x

Additional
Built-in accelerometer
Battery: removable
Battery:Capacity: 1500 mAh

Samsung Galaxy II

2011-08-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

The South Korean mobile phone maker unveiled to the world an LTE-enabled flavor of the device, one that also packs upgraded hardware specifications when compared to the already available flavor of the handset.

One of the first enhancements that should mark the difference between the two devices would be thedual-core processor that both the original and the LTE-enabled smartphone pack, but which was clocked in at 1.5GHz in the latter, compared to only 1.2GHz in the former.

Moreover, the new mobile phone arrives on shelves with a larger Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen display, one that measures 4.5-inch diagonally, though it boasts the same resolution as the predecessor.

Of course, there is also the LTE connectivity included into the mix, in addition to the WCDMA/GSM capabilities that the device already included.

A Li-Ion 1850mAh battery should provide users with increased usage time, while the 16GB of internal memory will enable them to carry around a great deal of files. If that is not enough, users can also add a microSD card into the mix, of up to 32GB.

On the back, the new device features an 8-megapixel photo snapper, the same as the original phone, also with LED flash and support for full HD video recording. On the front, the device sports a 2MP camera, offering video calling capabilities.

The Samsung Galaxy S II LTE runs under Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and sports the TouchWiz user interface on top of it.

NFC (Near Field Communications), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities were included into the mix as well, along with 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS receiver, accelerometer, digital compass, and proximity sensor.

The mobile phone also offers support for the Social Hub from Samsung, as well as for Readers Hub, Games Hub, Music Hub, and a wide range of services from Google, such as Search, Maps, YouTube, Android Market, and more.

In addition to boasting a larger screen, the new Galaxy S II LTE model also sports a battery cover with a brushed metal finish, the guys over at Samsung Hub note. The smartphone will be showcased next week at IFA 2011 in Berlin.

Nokia N8

2011-07-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

Nokia N8 is one of the latest Nokia Smartphone with multi touch screen, 2 Mobile Cameras , GPS, GPRS, FM Receiver and transmitter and various other useful gadgets in this useful and comprehensive Nokia Mobile Phone. Given below are specification details of Nokia N8 with brief description of every technical gadget in the Mobile.

Nokia N8 has a multi touch touch screen of around 3.5″ with a resolution of 640 x 36 pixels. The screen color of every pixel can be anything from 16.7 million colours. The Multi touch feature of Nokia N8 mobile can be really useful when you want to zoom in into an image. In order to explore this multi touch feature, open up an image on Nokia N8 and use two fingers and expand it. The Nokia N8 mobile has an orientation sensor so you can view the image / video or anything else on the mobile in landscape or portrait mode by rotating N8 mobile sidewise or holding it in vertical position. Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light detector and Magnetometer are other sensors in Nokia N8 mobile.

Nokia N8 can be connected to various network for data and voice communication. Nokia N8 can communicate with 2G and 3G networks with GPRS / EDGE class B, multislot class 33. Nokia N8 has a inbuilt GPS receiver with configurable other GPS connectivity options such as Assisted GPS, Bluetooth GPS, etc. Nokia N8 can be used as a modem as well to connect your computer with 2G or 3G network. TCP / IP Support, WLAN, HSUPA Cat5 with max speed of 2.0 Mbps, HSDPA Cat9 with maximum speed up to 10.2 Mbps make Nokia N8 a really sophisticated mobile phone.

Connectivity options of Nokia N8 to other mobiles / devices are also really vast. You can use Nokia N8 to transfer images, videos and other files to other mobile phone or any other device supporting Blutooth. Just power on your Nokia N8′s bluetooth and transfer files to and from other bluetooth supported devices such as Laptops, other Mobiles Phones, Desktop Computers with active external Bluetooth dongle, etc. You can also connect a USB cable to computer to connect your Nokia N8 to your laptop or desktop computer to transfer data to and from computer or install new applications onto your Nokia N8 mobile using Nokia OVI suite. Symbian, Java and other applications can be downloaded from internet and installed onto your Nokia N8 mobile phone. Inbuilt FM transmitter can be used to listen to songs played on your Nokia N8 mobile on another FM Radio receiver at a frequency configurable in the settings of Nokia N8 mobile. The HDMI connector can be used to watch videos from the Nokia N8 mobile onto your High Definition Television.

The Nokia N8 mobile has a single button at the front of the mobile screen which can be used to display the available icons of application in list format. By default Nokia N8 opens up with a configurable home screen. There are 3 configurable home screens available in Nokia N8. The customization of home screens of Nokia N8 can be done using widgets, shortcuts, icons, etc. Various ringtone formats are supported so there are good chances that most of the ringtone types will work fine on Nokia N8. The Mobile Phone’s theme can be selected from various pre-installed themes. There are buttons at the side of Nokia N8 to change volume of the speakers, lock the mobile, click photographs using either of the 12 Mega Pixel or 2 Mega Pixel camera.

Nokia X7

2011-05-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

The new smartphone from Nokia called the Nokia X7 runs on the latest Symbian operating system called Anna and has a 680MHz ARM 11 processor with Broadcom BCM2727 GPU. It has a 4 inch, AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 640×360 pixels resolution and 16.7 million colours. The device also has a dedicated graphics processor with OpenGL 2.0 which enables 3D graphics. The internal memory of the mobile phone is 350MB, which is extendable up to 32GB with the help of a MicroSD card. An 8GB card is included with the device.

It has an 8 mega pixels camera with third generation dual LED flash and can record High Definition (720p) videos at 25 frames per second. The device also comes with an FM radio for music lovers. The dimensions of the phone are 119.7 x 62.8 x 11.9 mm and it weighs at 146 grams. Nokia promises a talk time of six and a half hours, video playback of 6 hours and audio playback of an amazing 50 hours.

The mobile phone also has a feature which helps in updating software Over the Air (FOTA) and Over the internet (FOTI). For a better web browsing experience, Flash Lite 4.0 is also provided in the device (a feature absent in the Apple iPhones). The mobile phone also has a USB 2.0 port which gives the device on the go support and helps the device become a USB mass storage device for storing documents and media content. The users of Nokia X7 will also get free lifetime walk and drive navigation including turn-by-turn voice guidance.

The On-demand Web TV feature will enable users to watch channels like CNN, BBC and National Geographic via a 3G or a Wi-Fi connection. If the users add their favourite channels on the home screen they can get updates automatically about the arrival of new content. Additional channels can be downloaded at the Ovi Store (to be named Nokia Store) but the availability of channels depends on the region.

The price of the phone in India is not yet disclosed by Nokia but the Europe price of the device is 380 Euros. It seems like a good mobile phone but the problem lies in the OS, since Nokia has already declared that its future mobile phones will be Windows Mobile phones, Symbian is a dying breed of Operating system in Nokia mobile phones.

Samsung Notebook 900X3A

2011-05-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Samsung Notebook 900X3A, a new revolution in the domain of notebooks, presents the right concoction of style, durability and usability. Its stunning slim design with flowing curves, features the premium and specialised Duralumin, which is the same material used to build aircrafts and twice as strong as aluminium. Within this slim and lightweight design underlies a huge mobile performance capacity. The SuperBright Plus LED screen delivers 16 million colours and a market-leading 400nit brightness viewing experience that is 100% brighter than a normal 13” notebook. Use your Series 9 during the day or at night with a beautiful backlit keyboard. Outstanding performance coupled with improved Solid-State Drive, the Samsung Notebook 900X3A is sure to get all thesecond looks!As light as it gets with DuraluminSamsung Notebook 900X3A utilises the lightweight yet strong material Duralumin to create a slim and aerodynamic design. Used in the building of military aircrafts and other highly-specialised equipment, Duralumin offer twice the strength of aluminum despite being light in weight. This allows for a design that is like no other, with premium finishes and a lightweight arching curved design that is beautiful from every angle. Other stylish features include a backlit keyboard that is always easy to see regardless of the environment and an edge-to-edge LCD design for visual impact. It’s a minimalist look that is both simple and sophisticated.Catch every detail with SuperBright Plus.If you live for the latest HD movies and games, then Samsung’s SuperBright Plus screens, with 400nit brightness, will transform your mobile experience. With 16 million colours and the vivid SuperBright Plus clarity, Samsung Notebook 900X3A is 100% brighter than the standard 13” notebook display. You can enjoy HD movies, games, and other favourite multimedia even when viewing in direct sunlight, and there are no more annoying reflections that tire your eyes. From high-energy, action-packed sequences to angelic scenes that enrich the soul, the true-to-life picture quality with Super Contrast ratio (1,300:1) will blow your mind. With such powerful mobile performance, your home entertainment system is now able to join you on your travels…brilliant!Better performance. Slashed power bills.A 128/256GB solid state drive (SSD) provides plenty of storage, and with no moving parts it boots 60% faster than a hard disk drive (HDD). Additionally, SSD reduces energy consumption by a remarkable 86%, therefore significantly lowering operating and maintenance costs. With Eco-innovative SSD, Samsung doesn't compromise performance, which is why they are the leader in green memory technology.Slim Intel® Processor for power that lastsThe Intel® CPU, which boosts performance to handle more demanding tasks with its 8GB memory, stands out with intelligent processing while on the go. The slim and stylish design packs in loads of power with a 30% improvement and features the Intel® HD Graphics 3000 for a brilliant visual experience - with twice the graphics performance of the previous generation. The Intel Silicon battery also provides 500mW of power savings for longer life, ensuring a powerful and mobile performance.Fast Start Technology to help you make most of every moment.Make the most of every moment with Samsung’s Fast Start technology. A 15 second* boot-up, which is 60% faster than HDD models, and an impressive 3 second Fast Start from sleep mode ensures that you’re ready to go in minimal time. And while in the advanced sleep mode, you can rest assured knowing that your content is safe and secure with the Auto Data saving function. Furthermore, once your Samsung Notebook 900X3A is up and running, you will also benefit from quick internet browsing – it’s almost too good to be true.

*Microsoft Velocity Test Suite resultSuperior touch controls…hands down!Samsung’s new large multi-touch clickpad is stylish and convenient. Featuring a new glass coating and image sensor, users can enjoy enhanced multi-touch awareness and better palm rejection. This means no more cursors disappearing or frustratingly jumping place. The new intelligent multi-touch gesture pad, which is now centered for usability, also features 21 types of gesture support (such as pinch, swipe, and rotate) with advanced 3D image sensing for sophisticated and intuitive navigation.Get more out of your laptop with longer battery life and life span.Samsung Notebook 900X3A from Samsung delivers perfect mobility and freedom with its power efficient performance and extensive battery life of up to 7 hours** —plenty of time to get things accomplished or to be entertained without the added stress of worrying about how much battery life is left. Its advanced Lithium-Polymer battery and Samsung’s innovative charging technology also make the battery lifespan last up to three times longer than a typical notebook battery, so you can keep on going – anywhere.

** Battery life based on Battery Mark test scores that will vary based on configuration.Premium connectivity with Bluetooth 3.0 High Speed.Enjoy wireless transfer of media and other data between your electronic devices—audio, video, print data and more, with an upgraded Bluetooth 3.0 High Speed delivering higher data transmission speeds (24Mbps), 8x faster than Bluetooth 2.1 (3Mbps) and enhanced power control for extended battery life. PhoneShare*Merge your PC and Smartphone functions for great results. Access the internet on your PC using your Smartphone’s 3G network, when Wi-Fi is unavailable, and/or enjoy free Wi-Fi using your PC as an Access Point. Enjoy the extra freedom! Auto Display Brightness ControlEnjoy a perfect viewing experience every time. Samsung’s Auto Display Brightness Control smoothly adjusts the screen brightness for optimised viewing that matches the environment. So, if it gets darker, so does the screen. It’s intelligent viewing. Always On*Find and connect to Wi-Fi in blazing speeds with Samsung’s Always On feature. Automatically detecting, listing and connecting to available Wi-Fi signals, going online is now easier and faster than ever before. Enhanced Acoustic ChamberWith SRS Premium Sound™, you have a wider ‘sweet spot’ that delivers natural and realistic 3D sound for music, movies and games. It provides enhanced bass, crystal clear dialog and better definition control for maximum clarity at high frequency.

Nokia E7: Redefine

2011-05-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I am a techie, and a connectivity junkie. I don’t need to tell you that this requires me to have access to my emails, my social networks, my blog and all within reach, even in the deadest of the night.Searching for a good phone much like searching for a good woman, is normally a daunting task as we all have our strong point while looking. Some go for sleek design, light weight, camera functionality, durable body types and/or ability to live on the phone on the go.Having said this, I recently met an auspiciously different kind of woman. Yes; she is sleek and yes; she is a killer on the body. Albeit a bit heavy, she caught my eye. Sliding up from different positions encouraging me to feel her cool glossy texture, she indeed made my evening.For those whose minds may have wandered off to God knows where, we are still on phones. The Nokia E7 to be precise.A first encounter with this device will tell you that it is made for champions, nice curves that feel great to the touch and equal simplicity that matches the raging urge to understand how exactly it functions.The Nokia E7 is the latest from the range of Nokia E Series phones and has been well received. A complimenting 8MP camera does well to capture photos and video with High Definition option, which can be viewed on a HDMI Television set via the inbuilt HDMI port on this device. It also features a dual camera which allows for video calling and normal photography as well.Powered by Symbian*3, the Operating System on which Nokia has built for decades, it is an impressive piece. Real-time push from Mail for Exchange, ease of access to both work and private emails, outlook synchronized calendar as well as office editor to view and edit documents and PDF files are all included in the package so round the clock work-ability. Coupled with the full touch screen and the full QWERTY keyboard, one is spoilt for choice on how to make this a seamless mobile experience.The 4inch screen is constructed from anodizes aluminum with an AMOLED real glass display for improved outdoor viewing and usage not forgetting the exciting pinch to zoom where a pinching motion on the phone’s screen causes a webpage to be either bigger or smaller.OV maps is included too with free lifetime GPS navigation and vice guidance and F-Secure which is a security feature that keeps all your data safe in the eventuality that the phone is stolen.In case you need to, you can also use a capacitive stylus for UI control.You can also chat well from this phone as it has instant messaging inbuilt supporting OVI chat, Yhoo, AIM, Windows Live and GTalk. Don’t worry, Skype in also installable from OVI store.This phone accepts most apps available on the Nokia Ovi Store and will respond fast to installations courtesy of the ARM 680Mhz processor and 256 MB RAM / 1024 MB ROM and a hardware graphics accelerator.Contrary to what they say, it actually has 16734 MB of internal storage though usable up to about 15GB to maintain the phone’s sanity. Say ‘Hello!’ to more movies on the goJ.WI-FI, Bluetooth and internet speeds managing HSDPA Cat9, maximum speed up to 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA Cat5 2.0 Mbps included. Yeah, you can upload a video to YouTube straight from the E7.Pricing was and still is the main mood-killer for most people but for like every other fine thing in life, you cannot compromise on price for quality. One has to fork out Sh54,000 but for this excellence; who’s complaining?

Samsung Nexus S 4G (Sprint)

2011-05-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sprint customers looking for a pure Android experience now have something to sink their teeth into. Like the original Nexus S that debuted five months ago, the $199 Nexus S 4G features the latest Gingerbread 2.3 software and a nifty curved Super AMOLED display. No skins, no apps loaded on top, and no having to worry about when you'll get the latest OS updates (or at least that's the idea). The big difference this time around is that you get 4G speeds on Sprint's network instead of T-Mobile's 3G speeds. Plus, you can use your cell number as your Google Voice number. Check out our full review to find out if the Nexus S 4G delivers.Editor's Note: Portions of this review were taken from the original Nexus S review.DesignLike the Nexus S, the Nexus S 4G sports an all-black glossy plastic design with a slightly curved shape. Samsung calls this a Contour Display, which is supposed to give the device a better feel in your hand and against your face. We didn't notice much of an ergonomic improvement, but we have to admit that's it's a nifty aesthetic touch. Despite the lack of metal, the 4.5-ounce Nexus S feels fairly solid. It sports a welcome ridge on the back side toward the bottom that makes the device easier to grip. Just beware of fingerprint smudges. A volume rocker lines the left side of the device, and the right side houses the power button. We would have preferred a camera launch/shutter button as well. Some might wish that the headphone jack were located on top, but we don't mind that it's on the bottom with the microUSB port. Four capacitive buttons sit beneath the eye-popping Super AMOLED display. From right to left, there's Back, Menu, Search, and Home. While responsive, these somewhat dimly lit buttons aren't easy to make out when you're outdoors.The Nexus S sports two cameras: A 5-megapixel shooter with LED flash sits on the back, while a front-facing VGA camera rests above the display to the right of the earpiece. DisplayThe 4-inch Super AMOLED screen on the Nexus S 4G really pops, whether you're watching Netflix, flicking through photos, or just staring at 3D wallpapers. The viewing angles are also excellent. On other the hand, 800 x 480 pixels doesn't exactly wow now that you can get a qHD (960 x 540) display on Android phones such as the Atrix 4G. The upcoming EVO 3D for Sprint will sport the same resolution as the Atrix.Android Gingerbread OS and InterfaceThere are a lot of benefits to running the latest Android Gingerbread software (OS 2.3.4). For example, the Nexus S 4G lets you make video calls over Google chat. This device also supports NFC for reading information from objects such as stickers or posters. (More on that below.)Gingerbread on the Nexus S 4G also has a sleeker, more intuitive interface than older versions of the OS. For example, when you get to the end of a menu or web page, you'll see a glowing orange bar that serves as a visual cue. And both the notification bar and dialer are now done up in a sleeker black, which saves battery life. We especially like how the screen zaps off like an old-school TV when you press the power button or the display times out.On the more practical side, you can now manage applications more easily just by clicking the Menu button from the home screen. From there you can see what's running and stop any resource-hungry apps. If you want to drill deeper and see which apps are using the most power, the retooled battery use utility provides a neat visual readout with a graph and percentages.Google provides a total of five home screens, which you can easily customize with widgets. We also like the new selection of live animated wallpapers, including the trippy and colorful Microbes. We'd like to see the ability to toggle the Wi-Fi, 3G, and other wireless connections right from the notification area, as you can with Galaxy S phones. However, the Nexus S 4G does include a widget that lets you do this.KeyboardOne of the best features of Gingerbread is the new virtual keyboard design. Although the letters themselves are smaller, the increased space between the keys and improved multitouch support allowed us to enter text faster and more accurately on the Nexus S 4G than on most other Android phones. Google also tweaked the suggested word area so that the options are easier to read and select. Plus, you can enter numbers and other special characters just by long-pressing one of the keys in the top row and then sliding your finger to the desired choice. Same thing goes with the punctuation key.

Samsung Galaxy S 4G on T-Mobile

2011-05-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

A few days after the New Year dawned, we told you about a leak that hinted at the possible arrival of the new Samsung Galaxy S 4G on T-Mobile. The carrier has now confirmed the news, adding that the Galaxy S 4G on T-Mobile will offer blazing-fast speeds and unparalleled entertainment experience featuring movies, TV and video chat. Now, that is something that gives us something to look forward to.

To be presented with Android 2.2 Froyo OS, the Samsung Galaxy S 4G comes with a pre-installed 16GB microSD memory card. The device to come on the carrier network later this month, features a 4 inch capacitive touchscreen display, a 1GHz Hummingbird processor and a 5 MP camera that can record HD video in 720p. Add on attractions include a front-facing camera for video chat an array of pre-installed video chat apps.This month will see the MWC 2011 open in Barcelona, and chances are that the launch date could well be preponed so that the device comes to our hands before February 14th. What could lure more buyers could be the fact that the Samsung Galaxy 4G would be offered by T-mobile with a full copy of Inception.This apart, we the pre-loaded T-Mobile TV application will bring to customers palms access to live and on-demand mobile HD TV on T-Mobile’s 4G network. Programs ABC News NOW, FOX Sports, PBS Kids and Azteca America will be some of the channels offered.The exact date of launch is what we would like to hear from T-Mobile now. Stay tuned, as you chart out your shopping plans this month.

BlackBerry Bold 9000

2011-05-14T10:03:00.000-07:00

BlackBerry Bold review

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 is not destined to have the broad based appeal enjoyed by the Apple iPhone 3G but, for the mobile professional, it is likely to be the best device on the market. This is a serious communication device catering to those who need the best of email and connectivity to their other office information in an instant. Calendar, address book, and task lists are immediately available as are other selected corporate data bases.

Standout Features

• 480x320 resolution screen
• Improved document handling
• Increased processing speed
• Excellent multimedia capabilities

Features

Display
Let’s get the most obvious difference between the Bold and the iPhone and its myriad clones out of the way: the Bold doesn’t have a touchscreen. If you’re looking for the combination of BlackBerry features and a touchscreen your only option is the Blackberry Storm. The Bold does, however, have a great screen. Its 2.75-inch display is smaller than the 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone but it does feature the same 480x320 resolution. The result is the sharpest display available on a mobile device essentially because the same number of pixels is shown on a smaller screen.

Keyboard
Typing on the Bold’s excellent keyboard is a treat compared to most smartphones. The design of the back-lit keys seems to meld the best features of the BlackBerry Curve and the 8800 series phones. Rows of keys are separated by a thin metal strip much like the frets on the neck of a guitar helping those of us with wide fingers to press only the intended key. Feedback is quiet and firm but not too stiff. The keyboard is topped by the familiar BlackBerry send, menu, back and end keys and the signature trackball.

Email
BlackBerry sets the industry standard for business and personal email versatility and accessibility. Email is pushed automatically to the device by the server so it arrives in a flash as well as conserving battery life because the phone doesn’t waste energy looking for mail. The Bold handles up to ten email accounts. There’s no need to sign in … each account has its own icon. Click it and you have immediate access to your mail.

Synchronization & Sharing
Using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, intended for large businesses and organizations, allows remote synchronization of the device with your server. IT departments can easily customize access and security permissions for each device and even delete all data in the event of loss or theft. BlackBerry Professional Software, for organizations with up to 30 BlackBerry users, provides similar service on a smaller scale. For individuals, the BlackBerry Internet Service is ideal. It provides most of the same features though it doesn’t support remote synchronization with your computer. Even so, synchronization with Outlook or many other Personal Information Manager (PIM) programs is simple via Bluetooth or USB cable.

Recently available BlackBerry Unite! Software allows busy families and small businesses to share files and schedules with as many as five phones and even allows for remote wiping of a lost or stolen device. BlackBerry Unite! Software is free of charge.

The Bold can be used as a tethered modem allowing internet connection for your laptop computer when Wi-Fi or high-sped landline access isn’t available.

Messaging
Text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messaging are fully supported as are popular instant messaging programs. The BlackBerry Messenger Service is also available, allowing instant communication with other BlackBerry users, worldwide, without using the wireless carriers data or text allowance.

Speed & Memory
The heart of the Bold is a new 624 MHz Intel PXA270 processor, fully doubling the 312 MHz speed of its predecessors. Couple that with AT&T’s high-speed 3G network and you can really get down to business. When you can take advantage of the integrated Wi-Fi function in conjunction with the 3G network, you can seamlessly employ both voice and data services simultaneously. The Bold’s power and multitasking prowess is further enhanced by 128 MB of Flash memory doubling that of previous BlackBerries and most other handheld devices. Included also is 1 GB of built in memory allowing for the saving of a large amount of data without the potential security problems associated with removable memory cards.

Internet & Documents
The Bold comes equipped with the new BlackBerry OS 4.6 making it able to take full advantage of the also new BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) 2.5 which, happily, includes an improved web browser. For the first time HTML e-mail is available with all of its familiar features including embedded graphics and photos, active hyperlinks, and paragraph and font formatting. Additionally, attachments can be viewed in their native format such as MS Word, Excel, Power Point, Adobe Acrobat, and WordPerfect. Thanks to the inclusion of the DocumentsToGo program from DataViz, you can now edit Word and Power Point files, though unfortunately not Excel. If you’re willing to upgrade to the Premium Edition of DocumentsToGo, you can not only edit Excel files but also create new Word, Excel, and Power Point files.

Camera & Video
It’s disappointing that a top end device like the Bold has a just a 2.0 megapixel camera; nonetheless, it does feature 5x digital zoom and, frankly, results in photographs that are somehow notably better than those taken by other theoretically identical cameras. White balance can be adjusted and color effects can be added. The camera will take pictures with your choice of three image qualities and sizes. With the built in GPS feature, you have the ability to geotag pictures at your fingertips. Unlike the iPhone and T-Mobile G1, the Bold has a video recorder built in. Videos can be taken on normal format or for inclusion in MMS messages. Both the video and still photo functions are made all the more enticing by the remarkable clarity of the display screen.

Music
The Bold caters to your mobile music collection. The media player allows eleven equalizer settings and supports virtually all music file formats. With the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Media Sync program, you can easily transfer songs from your iTunes collection to your BlackBerry. To hold all of those files you need a lot of memory and the Bold supports up to a 16 GB MicroSD/SDHC card. To listen to you tunes, the Bold is equipped with a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and, better yet, supports use of Bluetooth wireless stereo headsets or speakers. The high quality, built-in stereo speakers are also a most pleasant surprise. This is the first wireless device that I have ever found that I could actually enjoy listening to without a headset. An unexpected coincidence is that this feature makes the full duplex speaker phone much more usable.

Battery Life
Packed with so many features and multi-tasking functions, the Bold really needs a power-packed battery and fortunately it has one. The manufacturer estimates 270 minutes of talk time and 324 hours of standby time. If you can avoid too much battery hogging Wi-Fi use, getting through the day shouldn’t be a challenge.

Design
The design of the Bold is elegant if not spectacular. The generally black case with chrome trim and the rounded edges are handsome and the leather-like rear cover adds a tasteful, progressive touch. It has a substantial but comfortable feel the hand. Overall, it provides a fitting presentation for the device’s outstanding functionality.

Summary

The BlackBerry Bold is the best BlackBerry yet. It capitalizes on the industry-leading email and communication abilities and adds improved document handling features. While remaining enterprise centric it makes major multimedia and entertainment strides to broaden its market appeal.

Apple iPad 2-New Slim Sleek Apple Tablet

2011-05-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

The new Apple iPad 2 the successor of the popular Apple iPad Tablet .It is thinner and lighter than the iPad (1) , more powerful with double speed CPU and 9 times speed GPU and comes with the latest iOS 4.3 .

Again it comes in 2 models : Apple iPad 2 WiFi and Apple iPad 2 WiFi+3G

Apple iPad 2 features :

9.7 inches LED-backlit Multi-Touch display , IPS technology , Fingerprint-resistant coating
Dual core Processors – Dual-core A5 chip
up to 2x faster CPU
Up to 9x faster graphics
Low power consuming processor
8.8mm thick ! – that is 33% thinner
Lighter – up to 15% lighter
Two colors – Black and White
Up to 10 hours battery life
One month standby
WiFi + 3G connectivity (in iPad 2 3G model)
Dual Camera – Front and Rear
FaceTime HD
Sensors : Gyro, accelerometer, and compass
iPad Smart Cover – Available in various vibrant colors

Apple iPad 2 specifications :

Dimensions (HxWxD) : 241.2×185.7×8.8mm
Weight : 601 gm
Storage : 16GB/32GB/64GB
Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
3G : UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA , Quad band GSM/EDGE
Digital compass
Sensors : Three-axis gyro , Accelerometer , Ambient light sensor
GPS with A-GPS
Display : 9.7-inch LED-back-lit Multi-Touch display with IPS technology , 1024×768 resolution
Processor : 1GHz dual-core Apple A5 Processor
Camera : 5MP Rear and Front VGA
Audio Player and HD Video Player
Battery :
- Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi
- Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using 3G data network
- Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system
3.5mm stereo headphone jack
Built-in speaker
Micro-SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model)

Samsung Galaxy Pro

2011-05-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

You can edit documents in it as it comes pre-loaded with the ThinkFree Office applications and always stay connected and updated with its Social Hub Premium application.

The new Samsung Galaxy Pro is a large 2.8-inch touchscreen Android Mobile With QWERTY keypad .It is a business series mobile phone with touch and type (quick) feature for fast and convenient communication . It is the first “Touch and Type” QWERTY keypad mobile from Samsung .The in-built 3G module support up to 7.2Mbps HSDPA .It is a slim mobile phone with merely 10.5mm thickness . The 3 mega-pixel camera at the back features auto-focus but lacks flash . It is also known as Samsung B7510 .You can edit documents in it as it comes pre-loaded with the ThinkFree Office applications and always stay connected and updated with its Social Hub Premium application .

Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510 mobile phone key features:

Android v2.2 OS800MHz Processor

2.8-inch touchscreen display

QWERTY keypad

Candy bar form factor

3 mega-pixel camera (without flash)

Wireless LAN WiFi

Social Hub Premium

TouchWiz UIHigh speed 3G connectivity

Network : Quad band GSM , 3G HSDPA

OS : Android OS v2.2

CPU : 800 MHz processor

Dimensions : 108.6 x 66.7 x 10.7 mmWeight : 103.4 gm

Display : 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen, 320 x 240 pixels resolution

Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate

Proximity sensor for auto turn-off

3.5mm jackInternal memory : 512 MB

Expandable memory : microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB card included

GPRS/EDGE3G HSDPA 7.2 Mbps

Wireless LAN : Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP

microUSB v2.0Camera : 3.15 MP

Messaging : SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS

Stereo FM radio with RDSGPS with A-GPS support

SNS integration

Digital compassDivX/Xvid/MP4/WMV/H.264 playerMP3/WAV/eAAC+ player

Free document viewer/editor

Google Search, Maps, Gmail,YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration

Adobe Flash 10.1 support

Battery : Li-Ion 1350 mAh

Stand-by : Up to 620 hours

Talk time : Up to 11 hours

Apple Ipad

2011-03-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

A whole new kind of device for business.iPad is the best way to collaborate with colleagues, deliver and display presentations, and access, create and share business information. The large, high-resolution display allows your users to see their work like never before. iPad is incredibly thin and light, and provides instant-on access at the press of a button, so work is almost always at-hand.The Multi-Touch screen on iPad is incredibly precise and responsive, which allows your users to work using just their fingers, with little need for training or support. And with up to ten hours of battery life, iPad is always ready to work whenever your users are.Work, right out of the box.iPad ships with an amazing set of applications like Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Maps, Notes and Safari. In Mail, your users can quickly flick through emails, tap to respond, and pinch to zoom in and out of attachments. They can use Maps to get directions, check traffic, and explore their local area, and use Notes to capture and share ideas in meetings. And the Safari web browser on iPad puts the internet in your business user’s hands– whether it be public news and business sites, or protected, internal webpages. Out of the box, iPad is a productive business partner. Learn moreIntegrates with business.iPad integrates with Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino and standards-based messaging environments, to provide your users push email, calendar and contacts, right out of the box. And iPad supports the most common corporate VPN and Wi-Fi protocols for secure access to your company’s networks.Data on iPad is secure, with full device encryption and support for passcode and other remote management policies. And iPad’s worldwide 3G coverage gives your users the ability to work and connect, even in the most remote locations.
Learn moreA powerful platform for just about anything.With iPad, your users can choose from thousands of business apps at the App Store to help them stay on top of your work. Track key business metrics, read and edit contracts remotely, review and manage sales proposals, organize travel plans and more — all with the tap of a finger.
See apps available for businessAnd you can build custom applications designed for specific company needs, such as document management workflows, accounting and approval processes, and financial data tracking. Join the Apple iOS Developer Enterprise Program to get your development teams all the tools they need to develop, design, and deploy proprietary, in-house apps for iPad.

Apple iPhone 4

2010-06-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone 4, he called it "the biggest leap since the original iPhone." So what, exactly, is new in the new iPhone? Here are all the details about Apple's latest device.Price and AvailabilityThe iPhone 4 will be available from AT&T and Apple on June 24, with pre-orders beginning on June 15. New AT&T customers and current customers who are eligible for an upgrade will pay $199 for the 16GB iPhone 4 and $299 for the 32GB iPhone 4.DesignOne of the most obvious differences between the iPhone 4 and past models is the new look of the phone. For one, it's noticeably thinner: the iPhone 4 measures just 9.3 millimeters thick -- 24 percent thinner than the already-svelte iPhone 3GS. Apple says it is "the thinnest smartphone on the planet."The iPhone 4 also is more squared-off in shape, with a thicker metallic border running around the phone's edges. The new phone doesn't feature the plastic backing found on the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 3G. Instead, the front and the back of the iPhone 4 are covered in aluminosilicate glass, which Apple says is found on helicopter and high-speed train windshields.

It's designed to be significantly stiffer (20 times) and harder (30 times) than plastic, with a fingerprint-resistant finish.DisplayOne of the iPhone 4's most-hyped features is its new display, which features an astounding resolution of 960 by 640. It measures the same size as the screen on the iPhone 3GS (3.5-inches diagonally), but packs in four times as many pixels. Apple calls it a "Retina display," and says it offers more pixels than the human eye can see. Experts have already begun debating that claim, but the iPhone 4's screen should still look remarkably crisp and clear.SoftwareThe iPhone 4 will run version 4, the latest version, of Apple's iPhone OS, which has been renamed: it's now just iOS. iOS version 4 adds several new features, including a long-desired multitasking capability, which will allow you to run more than one third-party app at a time. Other new features in the new OS include folders for organizing all of your apps, a new Mail client, and a Game Center.For more information on the new features in iOS 4, see iPhone OS 4 Gets Multitasking and More.Browsing the WebDespite the "4" in its name, the iPhone 4 does not support 4G wireless networks. Still, you do have plenty of options for speedy Web browsing. For one, the iPhone 4 now supports 802.11n wireless networks, which are faster than 802.11b or g networks. And you still get support for AT&T's high-speed 3G network.Note, though, that AT&T has changed its smartphone data plans, and is no longer offering an unlimited data plans. That means that new iPhone users will have to choose between two plans: the $15-per-month DataPlus plan, which offers 200MB of data access each month, and the $25-per-month DataPro plan, which offers 2GB of data access each month.For more information on these plans, see AT&T's New Data Plans: All the Details.The iPhone's new iOS 4 also adds tethering capabilities, which will allow you to use your iPhone as a modem to connect other devices to the Internet. Tethering requires the purchase of an additiona $20-per-month tethering plan, though.CameraThe iPhone 4 features not one but two cameras: a forward-facing camera for video chat and a rear-facing camera for capturing photos and videos.The rear camera is a 5-megapixel shooter, which should be a big step up from the 3.2-megapixel camera found on the iPhone 3GS. It adds an LED flash and a 5x digital zoom.In addition to snapping photos, the camera can record HD video clips at a resolution of up to 720p. Apple also will release an iPhone-compatible version of its iMovie video editing app to coincide with the release of the new iPhone. The $4.99 app will allow you to edit videos right on your iPhone.FaceTimeiPhone users have long wished for video chat capabilities, and with the iPhone 4, they get their wish. The phone's front-facing camera will allow for use of a feature called FaceTime, which allows users to make video calls. While the capability sounds impressive, it does come with some serious limitations: it works from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 only, and video calls can only be conducted over Wi-Fi networks.Additional Features

The iPhone 4 will feature Apple's own A4 processor and a bigger battery; Apple says the chip has power-saving features that, combined with the bigger battery, will deliver 40 percent more talk time.The new iPhone also features a gyroscope, which, in combination with the phone's accelerometer, will deliver more specific motion detection.Bottom LineOn paper, the Apple iPhone 4 looks to be one of the most impressive smartphones available today. Stay tuned for a full review to see if the performance lives up to the hype.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

2010-06-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Here are the phone’s main specs and features:

GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS HSPA 900/1700/2100 or UMTS HSPA 800/850/1900/2100
4.0 inches scratch-resistant capacitive touchscreen display with 480 x 854 pixels
Wi-Fi
Gesture control
GPS
Google Maps with Street View
Wisepilot turn-by-turn navigation (free trial version)
WebKit web browser
Gmail
Google Calendar
Google Media Uploader
Google phone-top search
Google search widget
Google Talk
Google Voice Search
3.5mm headset jack
Bluetooth
MicroUSB
8.1MP autofocus camera with touch focus, intelligent face recognition, smile detection, image and video stabilizer, and geotagging (no flash, though)
1GB of internal memory
8GB MicroSD card included
119 x 63 x 13 mm
135 grams

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and X10a will be available starting the first quarter of 2010, in two color versions: Sensuous Black and Luster White. The smartphone’s price was not announced.

Sony Ericsson says about the X10 that it’s “the flagship phone in a family of phones coming to market during the first half of 2010”, so we should expect more Android handsets to be announced soon by the Swedish-Japanese company.

The X10 will run Android 1.6 Donut, coming with a new UX (user experience) platform that we’ve seen before. This UX platform should provide a unique user experience, as it’s “combining best-in-class entertainment features with signature applications, unrivalled integration of social media services and a rich graphical user interface.”As previously rumored, the Xperia X10 is based on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 processor – being the second Android phone to use a Snapdragon platform, after the Acer Liquid A1.With the X10, users will have acce

ss to both Android Market and Play Now Arena. At the same time with the X10, Sony Ericsson will introduce two new features: Sony Ericsson Timescape, which “manages all your communication with one person in one place – you can browse through your conversations the bright way to check out your Facebook, Twitter, photos, emails, and texts all in one go”; and Sony Ericsson Mediascape, which “is the smart way to get all the music, photos and videos you want from your favorite friends and artists. It accesses content from everywhere – your phone, YouTube, PlayNow – and presents everything for you.”