二号店

2011-03-20T23:49:00.002+08:00

Don't say you have lived your life yet until you try paramotoring!

Now you got a chance to fly in the sky. No, not with those boring aeroplanes but something way more exciting ..... you will get to fly with a wing! No, no, not bird's wing but paraglider wings! On a motorized harness. That's it, I have just introduced paramotoring to you. If you are still confused, don't worry, you just need to know that paramotoring is really awesome and you should try it.

Have friends, brothers or sisters that can't decide what to do after SPM? Help them by getting them to attend career talk during SeGi's Open Day!

So, what are you doing after SPM? Wondering which course or college is the best plan for yourself? Then you should attend SeGi University College Open Day to broaden your options. This will not be like any other typical boring Open Day but one that will be fun and full of surprises. You will get to meet SeGi's own students, who will walk you around the campus, giving you the 'real deal'. The career talks are also conducted by professionals. And... although SeGi's students get free YES4G wireless broadband, you might get a free 4G phone just by coming... and this is on top of all the mystery gifts awaiting you when you RSVP on Facebook! Well, no harm going, right? Check it out and remember to tell your friends to RSVP here for the gifts!

2011-03-16T23:24:00.000+08:00

Come and dance together in the dark during Earth Hour!

Stand together with the world in a global celebration of the one thing that unites us all – our living planet -- and have fun dancing too! Pledge to support Earth Hour and view the steps for "Dancing in the Dark" for Earth Hour at Sunway Pyramid on 26th March 2011 8:30pm to 9:30pm. Or maybe you will also want to watch the video and join the dance and have fun together!

Rise and shine to a McDonald's Weekday Breakfast Special from only RM4!

How would you like to wake up to a delicious and freshly prepared breakfast from only RM4? McDonald's Weekday Breakfast Special offers you 4 irresistible breakfast choices and a cup of steaming hot, freshly brewed Premium Coffee with free refills from only RM4!

And, to make your breakfast even more delicious, get online and play Breakfast Mania, a series of fun breakfast games now available on McDonald’s Malaysia Facebook Fan Page. It’s the perfect start to a great day!

2011-03-14T22:00:00.002+08:00

Save up to 50% on the perfect shoes! Available in KL and Selangor.

Want to discover shops around KL and Selangor which brings you the latest trendy fashion? Or perhaps you are a bargain hunter who like to hunt for good discounts on clothes and shoes? Sign up with Groupsmore today and you will receive the latest deals up to 90% around Klang Valley, right at your inbox!

Which is the most Green state in Malaysia? Guess it's not Johor… Pledge now to help us get on top of the list.

We all know the importance of having a healthy green planet for our better future. And to turn this dream to a reality, we need every Malaysians to support and pledge to make a difference for this world. And guess what? Now we have a live infographic to show how many people from each state have pledged their support for Earth Hour! Time to make our state proud! It's time for us to show to other states that we are more willing to make a change!

Thinking of getting a new credit card? Here's one which will give you plenty of benefits.

2011-02-18T20:55:00.005+08:00

Thinking of getting a new credit card? Here's one which will give you plenty of benefits.

Have you always wanted to get a new credit card but the annual fee is too expensive for you? Or are you thinking that it is pointless to get another credit card as all of them are giving you the same benefits? The brand new Maybankard 2 is offering plenty of benefits for you such as 5 times more TreatPoints, 5% weekend cashback, waived annual fee and only 8.88% of finance charge to your credit card! This could be the best credit card offer you can get out there!

Malaysians are receiving 1 free Blackberry Torch smartphone from Celcom everyday!

2011-02-18T20:55:00.002+08:00

Malaysians are receiving 1 free Blackberry Torch smartphone from Celcom everyday!

Want to get a new smartphone but not enough Angpow money to buy one? Just subscribe to XPAX Blackberry plan and you may very well stand a chance to get a free red Blackberry Torch 9800 for this Chinese New Year!

Do you know you will get RM500 benefits when you subscribe to broadband?

2011-02-18T20:54:00.005+08:00

Do you know you will get RM500 benefits when you subscribe to broadband?

Think that broadband is too costly and not affordable enough for you? But are you actually aware that under Malaysian 2010 Budget, Malaysian taxpayers will get tax relief on broadband subscription up to RM500 a year? This means that you can enjoy Celcom Broadband while at the same time get savings! More reasons for yourself to get Celcom Broadband now!

Something big is happening after you reload your phone credit for 10 times!

2011-02-18T20:54:00.002+08:00

Something big is happening after you reload your phone credit for 10 times!

Celcom Xpax is rewarding loyal users who always top-up their phone with free talktime, free SMS, free credit and a chance to win RM8,888 cash! With just a minimum reload of RM10, the more you reload, the more rewards you get! Find out how you can win these reward!

Do you care enough for your parents? This game will tell you.

2011-02-18T20:53:00.002+08:00

Do you care enough for your parents? This game will tell you.

Do you spend enough time with your parents? Are you being
patient enough whenever they ask you to do something for them? Are you
giving them respect they deserve? Play the 'Meet The Parents' game
and see if you are being caring enough to your parents. And if you
resolved to treat your parents better, make pledges of how you will do
it after playing the game!

Samsung S8530 Wave II : Display: size matters, but so does quality

2011-01-18T23:39:00.000+08:00

Samsung S8530 Wave II

Super AMOLED beats Super Clear LCD

Display: size matters, but so does quality

The greatest change that the Wave II brings is the new 3.7” Super Clear LCD screen. It packs the exact same resolution as the 3.3” SuperAMOLED unit of the original but the technology used makes a big difference in image quality.
LCDs are simply unable to provide the same contrast as SuperAMOLED, which is the key feature of a display indoors. We did like the saturated colors of the S8500 Wave unit more than the slightly colder hues of the S8530 Wave II. This however could simply be a matter of taste.
The SuperAMOLED unit has wider viewing angles, its colors remain unchanged to the very edge. The Super Clear LCD on the other hand tends to lose some contrast when looked at a wider angle and this is certainly a step down.
At least the new Wave’s sunlight legibility is still spotless and you will easily see what’s on the screen even in the brightly shining sun.
We’d still pick SuperAMOLED over the new generation LCD any day. It’s a pity Samsung were forced to make that change. By the way, we think Samsung’s Super Clear LCD is just a more personal name for Super LCD that we’re about to see more and more of.
Anyway, the Wave II is trying to cover its image quality losses with sheer size. The extra 0.4 inches of diagonal should make at least some difference. It’s obviously a matter of quality vs quantity here and we are afraid it’s a choice you’ll just have to make. At least for as long as the supplies of the original Wave last in the stores.

Samsung S8530 Wave II

2011-01-18T23:37:00.000+08:00

Key features

3.7" 16M-color Super Clear LCD capacitive touchscreen, WVGA (480 x 800 pixels), multi-touch input, scratch-resistant glass surface
Slim and solid metal body
Bada OS 1.2 with Samsung Apps
ARM Cortex A8 based 1GHz CPU
Quad-band GSM support with dual-band HSPA
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity with WPS support, Wi-Fi tethering
Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, digital compass, Samsung LBS powered by ROUTE 66
5 MP autofocus camera with touch focus and LED flash, geotagging, face, smile and blink detection
720p video recording at 30fps
2GB internal storage, microSDHC card slot
Standard microUSB port and Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP
Standard 3.5mm audio jack, TV out
Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording
Webkit-based Samsung Dolphin Browser 2.0 with Flash support
YouTube client, Facebook and Twitter integration
DivX/XviD video support
Good audio quality

Main disadvantages

Limited number of available applications
Super Clear LCD can’t match SuperAMOLED
Card slot under the battery
No lens protection
SatNav software only a 30-day trial
No ambient light sensor to adjust screen brightness automatically
Poor loudspeaker performance

Wave II over original Wave

Latest Bada OS 1.2
Swype-like T9 Trace text input
Over-the-Air software updates
Larger 3.7" touchscreen

It’s not a great update. Plus the first three differences over the original Wave are about to be washed away once it receives its due software update to Bada OS 1.2.

The Samsung S8530 Wave II may not be the upgrade that all users have been waiting for, but the phone runs the latest version of the Bada OS and has kept all the great features of the original: from the powerful CPU, to premium connectivity and HD video recording.

And all this is delivered on a larger 3.7-inch display. Sure, it’s no SuperAMOLED screen but Samsung promises the LCD screen is not your ordinary screen, too. You see, good things come in limited number and Samsung is pressed to supply enough SuperAMOLEDs for their Android and Windows Phone 7 operations.

Bad luck for the Wave II, even worse for the original Wave – this phone will be as good as discontinued when the stocks run out. The Wave II will take over and that’s that.

Anyway, Samsung are probably not giving up on their Bada OS. If it eventually becomes the base platform for all their midrange touch phones, they will be extremely well positioned to adapt to the new market reality.

It’s not about the business benefits or the multitasking – it’s as simple as apps. Users love to have them and makers love to sell them. Imagine being able to do that on all levels – from the most basic feature phones to the top-of-the-line smart devices. That must be enough reason for Samsung to keep their commitment to Bada.

Design and construction

It was obviously the design team’s day off. They hardly had anything to do on the S8530 Wave II. The goal was clear – don’t change anything just make the phone bigger to accommodate the larger screen.
The only difference in terms of design is the navigation deck up front. The buttons below the screen do look nicer this time but are not as comfortable to use. All in all, the buttons are OK to use – just not as clicky as before.

The slim metallic body is very elegant, and just as solid. As before, the only part of the handset to have fingerprint issues is the touchscreen (despite its anti-smudge coating). The rest of the sleek Wave II body is resistant to fingerprints.

The End key doubles as a power button. It will terminate the currently running app and take you to the homescreen wherever you are in the interface. Pressing and holding the Menu key launches the task switcher.
Above the display are the earpiece and the video-call camera, along with the proximity sensor. The Samsung S8530 Wave II has no ambient light senor to automatically adjust screen brightness.
The brushed aluminum surface of the battery cover is very pleasant to touch. The whole thing is quite usable too – the rear cover will pop softly up when you pull the latch at the bottom. Underneath is the 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery.

Both the microSD card slot and the SIM compartment are under the battery. The memory card isn’t hot-swappable and that’s one design decision we’re not happy with. It was the price to pay perhaps for the extra slim metal unibody. On a positive note, the phone handles a 16GB microSDHC card trouble-free.
The Samsung S8530 Wave II is the successor that the circumstances have forced on the original Wave.

These are virtually two identical phones: the attractive styling and solid build go without saying. The Wave II is just bigger and manlier that the original – a guy’s gain is a gal’s loss we’re afraid. But in the end, it all boils down to the screen – and we don’t mean size this time. It’s Super Clear LCD against SuperAMOLED. We have the score on the next page.

fallout流浪者手记

2011-01-10T20:11:00.003+08:00

（多年以前在网上看到的，非常有废土的气息，可惜不知道作者是谁、或者翻译者是谁。）

流浪者手记

年纪大了的好处之一是可以在适当的时候倚老卖老，按自己的想法办事，而不必听从于那帮嘴上没毛的年轻人。前不久，这个部落的新首领（在我归西之前，他们暂时不愿接受“长者”的称号，说是为了表示对我的尊重）希望我能“记录下自己一生的经历，为部落的后代提供学习的典范”。呸！他们这些在和平安宁的环境中成长起来的一代，哪里能理解过去那些血雨腥风的罪恶岁月，哪里能体会那些早已被我深深地葬于心底的痛苦回忆……我始终认为真正的知识只存在于血与泪、爱与恨之中，而他们所需要的却只是一种温和的火，一种有利于梦幻停顿的火。不过他们的想法并没有错，部落今后的路还很长，未来难以预知。我不想让他们失望，而且，我已经老了，我还能为这个部落做些什么呢？

他们希望我写一本回忆录，这可办不到，不过我会尽可能把一些重要的东西记录下来的，我需要按自己的方式进行叙述。是的，我已经到了知天命的年龄了，应该做些自己想做的事情了。

穴居生活

正如大家所知，我们部落最早的居民全都来自地下避难所，你们可能无法想象地下避难所中的生活究竟是怎样的……

在一百多年前那场可怕的核战争爆发以前，美国政府曾经动员全民备战，数以千计的城镇进行了规模浩大的掩体挖掘工程，他们开山凿洞，用金属和石块修建地下避难棚，这些巨大的地下掩体就是所谓的地下避难所，它们有的靠近城市，有的地处荒野，坚厚的外壳使它们足以抵御核武器的辐射和冲击波。终于有一天，世界无可挽回地陷入了战争之中，可怕的蘑菇云在这片大陆上升起，摧毁了地面上的一切生灵，事先迁入地下掩体的人们得以幸存，而那些暴露在核辐射中的生物，要么惨遭灭亡，要么变异为畸形的怪物。一年又一年过去了，外界的辐射并没有丝毫减退的迹象，人们被迫在这些避难所中继续生活下去，他们在地下种植食物，净化饮用水，回收垃圾，工作、学习、阅读、睡觉，不断繁衍……他们渐渐习惯了这种穴居生活，甚至已经忘却了地面的世界。

我出生在13号避难所的孤儿院中，是这个避难所的第三代居民。我从未见过自己的父母，是一个机器人把我拉扯大的，因此童年的回忆总是与孤儿院联系在一起，不过一切倒也过得无忧无虑。直到有一天，13号避难所用来生产饮用水的净化芯片突然损坏，而其他所有的备用部件要么找不到要么也已破损，没有这块净化芯片，整个避难所就会腐烂，发臭，最后消失在漫漫黄土之中，因此，必须派人到外面的世界寻找新的水净化芯片。避难所的首领把我这个年龄层的所有健康公民都召集在一起，让我们抽稻草决定由谁去完成这个危险的任务，结果我抽到了最短的那根，这个艰巨的使命便不可推卸地落在了我的肩上。说实话，当时我的心情确实很沉重，倒不是因为害怕外面的怪物，而是担心无法完成这项使命，要知道，整个避难所的命运都维系在我的手中。

我察觉其他的人都在用怀疑或幸灾乐祸的眼光看着我。

第二天我就离开了避难所。

外面的世界

临行前首领告诉我另一块净化芯片在15号避难所中，他在地图上标明了15号避难所的方位，这就是我手中唯一的线索。

外面的世界远没有想象中那般精彩，刚刚踏上这片荒野之地，我便险些丧生于无边的狂沙和凶猛的怪物手中，在避难所的时候我们常常以鼠肉为食，可没想到那些异形老鼠对人类的肉原来更感兴趣。我跌跌撞撞地在沙漠中闯荡了数天，毫无头绪，你们可以想见，这几天我过得是如何悲惨。

我遇到了一个名为“阴影沙地”的城镇，它是我旅途的第一站，也是我人生征程的第一站，正是在这里，我明白了一个事实：单枪匹马在这个荒蛮之洲中闯荡是无济于事的，只有与其他人一起合作你才有生存的机会，即便是与那些你并不信赖的人。我帮助了“阴影沙地”的居民，他们也热情地向我伸出了友爱之手。谭蒂和她的父亲阿拉代什决定加入我的队伍，帮助我一起寻找失落的净化芯片，之后，伊恩也加入了我们的行列，这些忠实的伙伴日后成为了我的生死之交，他们的音容笑貌至今依然历历在目。

我们很快便找到了15号避难所，准确地说，是15号避难所的遗址。这片焦土已经被时间、风沙和各种化学元素、食腐动物蹂躏得面目全非了，而那个装有水芯片的控制室也早已被数吨重的巨石永远地埋入了地下。

什么线索也没有，我的脑子里一片空白。恍惚间我们来到“废墟之镇”，在这里完成了我人生的第二次转折。这里的人们使我明白有时人不得不扮演坏蛋的角色，一味充当老好人是不会有什么好下场的。是的，我在“废墟之镇”的那段往事确实有些不愉快的污点，不过我对自己当时的行为并不后悔。“废墟之镇”是一个浑身散发着铜臭味的商业都市，到处都是无耻的商人和叛徒，我在那儿最大的收获是收养了一条无家可归的狗，它也成为了我忠实的伙伴，直到现在我仿佛还能听见它见到我时那快乐的叫声。“废墟之镇”虽然没有水芯片，却给了我远比水芯片还要珍贵的东西，那就是“信心”和“勇气”，我已经不再是避难所中那个善良得有些懦弱的乖小孩了。

一些好心人把哈勃城的具体方位告诉了我，哈勃是废墟上最大的一座城市，即便把“废墟之镇”和“阴影沙地”加在一起也无法与它的规模相提并论，因此如果那儿有避难所的存在是不会引起人们的注意的，我决定到那儿去碰碰运气。可在那儿看到的一切却令我失望不已，城市相当丑陋，这是显而易见的，没有飞鸟展翅，没有飘零的落叶，人们只有通过观察天空才能勉强判断出四季的变迁，更令我难以忍受的是，这里的人们似乎完全过着与世隔绝的生活。

在哈勃依然没有找到任何避难所存在的迹象，我有些心灰意冷。不知家乡的人们现在怎么样了，避难所中的储备用水在一天天减少，饥渴的孩子们一定在哭闹了。我只好买些水，请这儿的商人帮我带回13号避难所，以便有更充足的时间寻找净化芯片。不过这个善意的决定竟然改变了我一生的际遇，却是我始料未及的。

一个小小的线索使我找到了食尸者的城市所在，这是一个被称为“大墓地”的地方，食尸者虽然面目可憎，心地却很善良，他们从不主动伤害别人。真正的敌人是那些出没于这一带的超级变种人，他们装备有一种强大的未知武器。在与他们的战斗中，伊恩丢失了性命，一个超级变种人用喷火器从背后把他烧死了，他临死前恐惧的目光常常使我对自己一生的杀戮内疚不已，而那个杀害他的变种人的残骸也已经成为了伊恩墓前的祭奠品。当时惨烈的一幕至今依然记忆犹新，地狱之火从黑暗中升起，燃烧的肉体发出鬼哭狼嚎般的嘶喊。伊恩的血没有白流，我们终于找到了被埋在城市底下的水净化芯片。我手中握着这块千辛万苦得来的芯片，心中没有一丝喜悦的感觉，大家也都默默无语。

我含泪告别了曾经生死与共的朋友，动身返回13号避难所。

国家的敌人

首领带着喜悦的人群迎出门外，我知道他们不是在欢迎我，而是在迎接我手中的水净化芯片。我很希望自己能变回当初那个踌躇满志的少年，与人们一起分享这份欢欣，象当初无数次想象中的那样，体验英雄荣归故里时的感觉。可是我做不到，太多的血与泪已使我养成了一种心不在焉的习惯。

首领从我刻满伤痕的脸上读出了冷漠和忧虑，他向我询问路上发生的事情。当我谈到自己与那些超级变种人之间进行的战斗时，他的表情突然严肃起来，直到此时，我才发觉当初在哈勃城犯下了怎样的错误。当时我为了让那些商人顺利地将水送回避难所，不假思索地把这里的详细位置告诉了他们，现在外面的世界已经知道了13号避难所的存在，知道了13号避难所的位置，而我一路厮杀结下的众多仇家，尤其是那些巨大的变种人，将是避难所的最大隐患。当初的15号13号避难所就是因为不小心被人发现了他们的存在而引来无数心存叵测者的进攻，在不断的战事中变得支离破碎，最终消失于废墟之上。

几天后，首领交给我一项新的任务──寻找超级变种人的总部并彻底消灭这些危险的敌人。

我又一次离开了避难所，不过这一次我的心情十分平静，因为我觉得自己犯下的错误理应由自己去弥补。现在回头看看，当时的这种想法真是傻得可爱，我本应明白避难所的首领和其他居民打发我出去的真正用心，是的，他们希望我死在超级变种人的手中，以免整个避难所受到他们的报复。

我的第一个目标是哈勃，我一直觉得这个大都市实在是太平静了，沉闷的外表下总有什么东西使我觉得异样。经过几天的明察暗访，这个拥挤匆忙的大都市终于向我暴露了它最隐秘的核心──一个庞大的地下犯罪集团，那里的家伙把我当成了出道不久的毛头小伙，以为可以利用我为他们的组织服务，可惜他们打错了如意算盘。我把这些自找麻烦的家伙狠狠教训了一顿，不过我不愿卷入过多的无谓杀戮之中，因此，带着一丝厌倦，我决定离开这座无趣的都市。从他们手中我救出了钢铁兄弟会的一个年轻人，他告诉我他们的组织也许会有我所需要的资料，这是条重要的线索。

我长途跋涉来到钢铁兄弟会，希望加入他们的组织以便接近那些重要情报，兄弟会的头头告诉我在加入他们的组织之前必须前往“闪光地”完成一项任务以证明自己的实力，这对我来说算不上什么难题。我立即赶赴“闪光地 ”，那儿的敌人并不难缠，而真正令我吃惊的是那一带满目疮痍的景象，直到那时我才真正体会到传说中的核战争的恐怖。钢铁兄弟会的头头看见我完成任务活着回来时吓了一跳，他们如约把所需的资料全部提供给了我，当他们得知我要寻找的是变种人的基地时，眼神中闪过一丝难以隐藏的恐惧，他们告诉我那个地方叫“白骨之地”。

我并没有直接前往“白骨之地”，而是绕道来到“大墓地”看望我的那些老朋友。唉，地狱中最惨无人道的一幕呈现在了我的眼前！所有的食尸者被屠杀一尽，我的那些战友也下落不明，而巨大的变种人居然在成堆的尸体中悠哉游哉地散步。我找到一位幸存者，他告诉我在我离开后不久这里就遭到了变种人的攻击，临死前他对我说变种人部队正在四处寻找一个人，一个曾经打败过他们的人，他们扬言要铲平所有与这个人有关联的地方。我没有料到变种人的报复行动这么快就开始了，他们要找的人是我，而眼前这些无辜的人却因我而失去了生命。复仇的怒火把我的心撕裂，我的双眼迸出了可怕的火花。

我一步一步向“白骨之地”迈进。

魔王

“ 白骨之地”位于洛杉矶这座战前世界上最大的都市之中，无边无际的建筑物在天空下躺着，奄奄一息，浩瀚的太平洋上没有一丝风吹入这个死亡之谷，烈日烤炙着干燥的大地，使周围蒙上了一层死亡的灰色。我不愿打草惊蛇，因此只在迫不得已的时候才动手杀人。经过仔细调查，我对这个可怕的仇敌了解得越来越多，终于，在地下深处，我找到了这个躲在超级变种人和异形部队后面的邪恶魔头。

最后的决战没什么好说的，当时的许多事情被后人夸大了，不过战斗确实进行得十分惨烈。在一间黑暗的避难所禁地的墙上挂满许多了人类的肉体，垂死者的尖叫声回荡在大殿之中。我杀死一名卫兵，穿上他的衣服，以躲开畸形怪物的例行搜查。进入避难所的底部后，周围的景象越发令人发指，墙上嵌着一具具血肉模糊的躯体，而这些血肉居然是活的，并且能清醒地意识到自己的存在。没过多久，我就目睹了天地间最骇人的一幕，至今想起来仍有些心惊肉跳，我不想把这一幕写下来，你们只需要知道，当我离开时，这个罪恶的魔王已经永远地从人间消失了，他的部队也已经作鸟兽散。

不过我的任务仅仅完成了一半，因为那些在“大缸镇”还有一个秘密的生产基地，那个魔王把健康的人类抓起来送往“大缸镇”，在那儿，他们被浸入一种叫FEV的液体之中，最终转变为庞大的畸形变种人。为了防止出现另一个野心家继续生产这些可怕的变种人部队，我必须彻底摧毁“大缸镇”。幸运的是，兄弟会的朋友们为我带来许多重要线索，使我很快就找到了它的位置。在与变种人和机器人的决斗中，我最后一位忠实的朋友，那只陪我征战多年的小狗也倒下了，它成为了强大的能量力场的受害者。我发疯似地杀呀杀，直到这里的一切都化为碎片，消失在无边的荒野之中……

重返故里

当我回到13号避难所的时候，人们都躲在门缝后朝外张望，仿佛瞧着一只可怕的怪物，他们甚至没有允许我跨进自己的家门。首领在避难所庞大的拱形门外与我进行了最后一次交谈，他面无表情地对我说感谢我为避难所所做的一切，可是这里的人们已经无法再信任我，因为我会把外界的杀戮之气传染给其他居民。他高度评价了我的种种战绩，然后希望我从现在起立即消失。

我一句话也没说，转身离去。

当初在离开避难所时，我就已经有了某种不祥的预感，直到这一刻，我才明白原来自己对这个世界来说早已毫无价值了。在外面的世界中，我曾经遇到过许多真正的朋友，他们与我一起出生入死，毫无怨言；而现在，竟然是我的亲人把我一脚踢了出来。我在狂怒中甚至曾经闪过用武力打开家门的念头，幸运的是，我并没有跨出这一步。

慢慢地我意识到他们的决定可能是正确的，我的确已经改变了许多，避难所之外的世界是残酷的，完全不同于避难所内部那种封闭的平静。可是我永远不会原谅他们对我所做的一切，呸，他们全是一群懦夫。

我象狼一样在荒野中过着孤独流浪的生活，可是我从未远离自己的家乡。避难所中的一些人为我的遭遇打抱不平，他们离开避难所伴随我的左右。不过他们长期生活在平和的环境中，对外面的世界知之甚少，因此更多的时候不是他们帮助我，而是我去营救他们。我们一起在艰苦的生活和战斗中学会了团结，学会了相爱，学会了与险恶的环境搏斗。

最终我们决定迁往遥远的北方，远离13号避难所，远离原来的岁月。

部落

所有的是非曲直还是让老天去评述吧，我自认一生磊落，无愧于我的人民，无愧于我死去的朋友。多年的征战并未使我屈服于死神，而朋友的鲜血却使我无数次从梦中惊醒。幸运的是上天把善良的葩特赐给了我，是她抚平了我心头的伤痛，是她陪伴着我度过了无数失眠之夜，我们建立了一个幸福美满的家庭。

很久以后，我们这些被人们抛弃的贱民在大峡谷中定居了下来，村落位于大峡谷的悬崖边上，唯一与外界相连的是那座悬在峡谷上空的桥，这是一个非常安全的小窝，是我们多年辛勤劳动的回报。我把积累的所有生存技巧都教给了自己的村民，打猎、种田等养家糊口的能力，机械、科学等建设家园的知识，还有用以捍卫自己的各种战斗技能。人们很信任我，选举葩特和我作为这个新建村落的首领。在大家的共同努力下，部落日益强大起来。

起初我告诉自己，总有一天我要派人重返13号避难所，看看他们，也让他们看看我们，可是日子一天天过去，我早已打消了这个念头。我常常13号避难所的方向眺望，不知道那里的人们现在怎么样了，如果上天能再给我二十年的时间，我一定会回到13号避难所，回到曾经征战过的那些城镇中，再去看看我的朋友们，即使有一百个故事死去了，仍然会有一两个故事被人们记住的。

人总有一死，我把我的儿子和女儿们抚育成人，希望他们将来也能成为优秀的首领。亲爱的葩特几年前去世了，这几年我没有一天不在思念着她的容颜，每当我望着我的孩子们时就会想起她亲切的微笑。我的时间也不多了。

这段经历是我留下的所有遗产，给我的孩子们，给我的后代，给所有部落的人民。我将永远祝福他们，他们有一天一定会像我一样勇敢地走出去，完成我未竟的事业。

——流浪者

这个小说的内容非常巧妙，大家注意下面摘录自《辐射圣经》年代表中的段落，尤其是红色表明的那句·······那个1代主角亲手写的回忆录简直就是这个小说，吻合的太巧妙了～～～～

Quote:

    ★2161年十二月5日，辐射1开始：放逐者(Vault Dweller)被踢出13号避难所去寻找一个更换用的水质芯片（Water Chip）。
    ★2161年十二月15日，放逐者发现Shady Sands。他遇见Tandi和Ian。Ian加入了寻找水质芯片的队伍。
    ★2161年十二月30日，放逐者在Junktown得到第二个伙伴Dogmeat。
    ★2162年一月17日，放逐者到达Hub并和贩水商人进行谈判，使他们为13号避难所提供用水，为避难所赢得更多的时间。
    ★2162 年二月13日，放逐者在Necropolis得到水质芯片。Ian被一个超级变种人杀死并化为灰烬，ending his tendency to shoot the Vault Dweller in the back with SMG bursts.(这句话似乎翻译成：“为放逐者挡住背后用SMG脉冲枪射来的一发子弹。”我不敢确定，只好把原文写上来了。—— cryingshadow)
    ★2162年三月3日，放逐者和Master正式发生冲突。
    ★2162年四月20日，放逐者摧毁了军事基地。Dogmeat为了保护他的主人而死去。
    ★2162年五月10日，辐射1结束：放逐者回到13号避难所，却被告知“你是个英雄，但你还是要离开。”一些避难所成员（由主张“返回地面”的Lydia和她的支持者——Theresa和Lyle领导）不久也随着离开了。
    2165年五月12日，放逐者脱下他的避难所服装，并从这天起再也没有穿上过。
    2165年七月10日，放逐者和一小队原避难所居民和荒野居民向北走去，并建立起那个叫Arroyo(阿罗由)的小村庄。
    2167年八月18日，Arroyo正式建立。
    2185 年夏季，在午夜，Marus和钢铁兄弟会Paladin Jacob在Broker Hills西南部数英里处相遇，并相互战斗了好几天。最后，他们放弃了，因为相互并没有得到任何好处。那两个人开始一起旅行，一起争论Master和 BOS的教条，以及Master是否真的可以把他的神经与Cathedral电脑网络连接起来。
    2185年秋季，Marcus和Jacob以及跟随着他们的盗尸者，人类，和超级变种人建立起Broken Hills。
    2186年春季，Jacob告别Marcus继续前进，走向未知的地带。
    2186年，新加州共和国成立，并成立一个中央委员会作为政府机构。
    2188年十月2日，放逐者有了一个女儿（后来成为辐射2中的长老）。
    2196年，Tandi被NCR委员会一致通过选举为NCR总统。像所期望的那样，她继续做着教育工作（a kick-ass job，大概是指教育吧，cryingshadow这样想着，就把这些字打了上去：）。
    2198年，英克雷从事许多新的技术研究，包括能量装甲的改进。但是这些并没能更好地改良原来旧的能量装甲，有的甚至更糟。
    2208年一月16日，在写完F2回忆录之后，放逐者从Arroyo消失，并被人们认为他已经去世。放逐者原来的避难所服装折叠着放在床边。有人说放逐者被某种不可思议的力量带走了，也有人说放逐者是又开始旅途，留下长老们来引导Arroyo。
    2208年二月2日，悼念放逐者的一个月圆月缺周期结束，Arroyo的生日又回复原来的样子。
    2208年二月2日，放逐者女儿作为长老的最后特训开始。她忍受了一系列体力训练和其它各种辅助特训——科学、数学以及各种武器的使用。
    2210年一月31日，放逐者的女儿接受了她的精神测试。她服用了一种由Hakuinn的花园里种出来的致幻植物制成的药。她走进试炼神殿，在手枪坏掉后用她的魔力通过大部分测试。她还给测试做了许多修正。
    注意：坏掉的那把手枪就是辐射2开场动画中你在她桌子上看见的那把。
    2210年一月2日，放逐者的女儿成为部落长老。她治理得很好，她的智慧受部落所有的人尊敬。

辐射同人-遭遇战

2011-01-10T20:11:00.000+08:00

（一）

硬骨头镇里的人都是硬骨头。20年前，他们把镇子建在火蜥蜴和多脚兽经常出没的区域，这是对大自然险恶环境的一个极度鄙视。镇子里的爷们儿们和娘们儿们靠75

杆科尔特猎枪把威胁他们生命的火蜥蜴全部杀掉。至于多脚兽，则完全被他们驯服了。他们给那骆驼般大小的怪物带上废铁打造的项圈，把它们当成犁地用的牲口养

在破木板搭成的马厩里。现在，当年勇猛的爷们儿们和娘们儿们都已年过半百。他们常常在夕阳西下的时候坐在家门口的沙地上，期盼地看着远方，等待他们的儿女

从狩猎区带着猎物回家来。

现在的小镇很平静，老人们常常在酒馆里一起回忆他们当年建造小镇的艰辛。他们的孙子们常常赖在他们怀里要他们讲故事。他们就一遍又一遍地讲他们当年是如何

与火蜥蜴战斗的，是如何在多脚兽群的围攻中活下来的，是如何在旱季拯救庄稼的，等等等等…然而有一个故事他们从来没讲出来。那是一场遭遇战，以及一个舍己

救人的英雄的死…这是他们最不愿意回忆的事情。镇子建立后第五年的一天，一队穿着动力装甲的人从荒野来到这个镇子。他们一个个像刚从地狱里回来一样，有的

头上缠着绷带，有的少了一只胳膊，有的走路一瘸一拐的。他们挨家挨户地敲门，向镇民乞讨食物和水。好心而豪爽的人们给了他们所需的东西。

镇长问他们：“你们是当兵的吗？为谁打仗？”
他们其中一个说：“我是强森下士，我们是钢铁兄弟会的人。”
“哦，听说过你们这个组织。你们怎么会沦落成这个样子？”镇长说着，看了看强森的装甲上裸露出的电线。
“我们打了败仗。听着，你赶快带领你们的人离开这个地方。几天后，英克雷的部队就会经过这个地方。他们见人就杀，连女人和孩子也不放过。”下士说，眼中流

露出恐惧的神情。
“这是我们辛辛苦苦建起来的镇子，我们不会放弃这个地方的！”
“别说我没警告你。”下士小声说。
“毒牙小队，准备出发！！”残兵败将们拾起地上的武器，慢吞吞地站起来，像僵尸走路一样一摇一摆地穿过小镇，消失在荒野。

镇长陷入了沉思，他知道英克雷的恶行。虽然他们的领袖已经死了，他们仍然在大陆上凭借动力装甲和电浆枪烧杀掠夺。“凭我们的武器是伤不了他们的啊。”镇长

想。第二天，镇长向全镇老少宣布了这件事。全镇人没有一个害怕的，他们都决心誓死保卫自己的家园。决心固然重要，可是每个人都知道，这场仗凶多吉少。

（二）

镇长回到了自己的小屋。他向窗外望去，看见人们都在擦拭各自手中的枪支。他们皱着眉头，用力地擦着，一遍又一遍，好象在跟某些看不见的敌人较劲似的。镇长

拉上窗帘，把床推到一边，然后蹲下身子去拆地板。过了一会儿，他从地板下面拿出一个落满灰尘的手提箱。镇长小心翼翼地拂去箱子上的灰尘，把它放在膝上，自

言自语道：“本以为这辈子用不上它呢。”

第二天的下午，镇子西方的远处腾起了阵阵黄砂并伴随着隆隆的响声。那是英克雷的士兵在跑步前进。

“他们来了！大家做好准备！”

镇长一声令下，人们纷纷进入临时搭建的掩体中。几十秆来福枪的枪口对准镇子的西大门，人们几乎在同时拉动枪栓，发出“噼啪噼啪”的响声，十分整齐。不过这

个时候已经没有人欣赏这酷酷的响声了，他们的视线都穿过照门，跃过准星，齐刷刷地对准那片越来越近的黄雾。

当第一个人形从黄砂中显现，出现在西大门的门口时，镇中的掩体中立即喷出愤怒的火苗。那个人形没有动，站定在那里，任凭子弹打在身上发出“叮叮当当”的响

声。黄砂落下去，更多的人形显现，同时呈现在镇民眼前的还有他们手中那造型夸张的大枪。待黄砂完全落下时，镇民看清了入侵者的面貌：黑色的动力装甲，灰白

色的防护面罩。那灰白色面罩的造型与其说是高科技的产物，不如说是带着诅咒的荒蛮部落的图腾，让人不自觉地渗出冷汗。

“射击！全部杀光！”一个英克雷的军人命令道。英克雷的士兵慵懒地举起手中的电浆枪，随意地向镇子里扫射。临时掩体被电浆弹炸成碎片，四处纷飞。掩体里的

人们则边后退边射击，同时用余光寻找新的掩体。

“硬骨头们”死伤惨重，来福枪根本无法打透英克雷的装甲。这个时候，连镇子里最硬的汉子们都放弃了希望，只是他们没有表现在脸上。他们仍然顽强地抵抗——

在被电浆枪融化的同伴的尸片中射击敌人。

镇长扔掉那支枪管因长时间射击而烫手的来福枪，打开了那个秘密的手提箱。“是时候了，你们接受审判吧，英克雷…”

（三）

“你们快跑！！”镇长对抵抗中的人们大喊，“快跑！！”人们惊讶地看着镇长。其中一个人说：“这可不是我们的风格，你当初不是教我们要顽强地面对一切吗？

….正是因为这样做，我们才在环境如此恶劣的地方建立了这个镇子，并且……”

“不是这次，小子。快跑，我说最后一次，让我来对付他们。”镇长从箱子里拿出一副灰色的手套，像是用金属制作的。奇怪的是，那副手套比人的手大的多，像是

为超级变种人设计的。镇长把它们戴上在手上，随后又从箱子里拿出一个大号的注射器，上面还有一些电子芯片之类的东西。

“被压制了这么久，这次该解脱了。”镇长自言自语道，一丝微笑浮上嘴角。他举起那个注射器，狠狠地刺入自己的大腿。这时，那个注射器居然说话了，是一个电

子合成的声音：“如果要终止解压程序，请在3秒钟内取出注射器。”

“来吧来吧……让我默数3秒钟。”镇长带着陶醉的神情闭上了眼睛。
“程序执行完毕，请取出注射器。谢谢使用。”镇长拔下注射器，站起身，向英克雷士兵们走去。

“那些镇民都逃走了，是否……等等，有一个家伙居然向我们这里走来了……”
“什么？先别杀他，看看他要做什么。”中士说。

英克雷的士兵都停止了射击，他们的好奇心胜过了杀戮欲，都呆呆地望着向他们走来的这个家伙。镇长走到离敌人七，八米远的地方。突然，他开始脱自己的衣服。

他先脱下了黑色的皮外套，然后又脱下了那磨破的牛仔裤。最后，连内裤也脱了下来。英克雷的士兵静静地看了他30秒，然后“哈哈哈哈”地笑起来。笑声从防护面

罩里传出来，听起来十分沙哑，并且带着特殊的“嗡嗡”声。

“我操，他是不是想色诱咱们啊？哈哈哈……正好我有日子没玩玩了……”
“二等兵！你的电棍呢？让我电电他的老二吧……”
“等等！你们看，那他妈是什么啊？？”一个英克雷士兵大喊道。
“看来起作用了。”镇长小声说。只见他身上的青筋都胀了起来，像是要挣脱他的身体一样。他身上的肌肉固执地扭动着，并且不断地膨胀。这种效果决不是类固醇

药物能达到的。不知不觉间，他的块头变大了一倍，周身泛出青苔的颜色。他的拳头胀的如痰盂般大，正好撑起那副大手套。

“我的天！他变成超级变种人了！！”一个士兵惊叫道。
“啊……啊……”镇长低沉地吼着，那是一种没有字眼的叫声。

（四）

“快！！开枪杀死他！”中士疯狂地大喊道。当前排的那几个士兵慌里慌张地举起枪时，绿色的庞然大物已经冲到他们跟前。镇长用粗壮的大腿将一个士兵踹出老远

，随后又用敦实的肩膀撞倒旁边的几个士兵。当一个被撞倒的士兵正要挣扎着爬起来时，镇长一下子跳到他身上，把膝盖压在他的胸甲上。

“你不是说要跟我玩玩吗？现在就跟你玩玩。”镇长用橡树根般的手指抓住那个士兵的面罩，用力一扯，把那灰白色的乌龟壳揭了下来，顺势抛到几十码以外。看着

面罩下那因恐惧而扭曲的脸，镇长没有一丝犹豫，轻松地击碎了他的颅骨。

“再见了，龟脸儿。”见状，英克雷中士大喊：“快，快用火箭筒轰掉他！！”

“不行啊！我们的几个人还在那呢……”
“你他妈不想了活？他要是冲过来我们就完蛋了！给我！”中士一把夺过火箭兵手中的火箭筒，照着镇长的位置发射了一枚火箭弹。镇长见状，连忙举起一个英克雷

士兵，抵在自己身前。

“不要啊！”那个士兵惨叫道。不过这歇斯底里的声音只持续了不到一秒钟。爆炸过后，镇长扔掉那个里面装着“碎肉”的罐头盒，咳嗽了几下。由于英克雷的装甲

性能实在是太好了，他只是胳膊上多了几道血口子，脑子有点晕。这对于一个曾经身经百战的战士来说简直是踩了双头牛粪一般的事情。

“他妈的……给我射击！！”镇长像一头冲锋的牛一样，以恶狼般的速度冲向敌人，同时又以死亡爪般的敏捷躲闪着飞过来的电浆弹。

“咻——嗖”一团团电浆弹擦过镇长的身体。镇长抬起右手，抓住一枚从他身边飞过的电浆弹，把那团绿色的东西攥在手里。神奇的是，镇长的手并没有被融掉。绿

色的浆液正在他手中一点一点消失，同时那只手套正由灰色一点点变成红色。

“什么？？他……他居然能抓住……”几个英克雷士兵喃喃道。他们都被震惊了，不自觉地停止了射击。

“你们怎么了？快开枪啊？那只是“德斯拉手套”！我在战术课上不是给你们讲过吗……真他妈该死！！”这个时候说什么都没有用了，在那些士兵眼中，眼前的这

个绿色怪物已经成了一个神一样的人物，或者说是魔鬼一样的怪物。

镇长接下来的动作干净利落。他挥动那只灌满了能量的右手猛击敌人的面罩，那些炮灰般的士兵的脑子都被烧化，成为罐头中的油汤。

“可恶！！跟你拼了！！”英克雷中士趁镇长攻击一个士兵时，掏出开膛手猛力向镇长的腰部刺去。

“啊……啊……”痛苦。高速运动的锯齿在镇长体内撕咬着。这种痛苦很清晰，每有一条肠子被割断，镇长的眼前都会白一下。那是茫茫的白色。它们出现的时候，

视觉，听觉，触觉都消失了，人仿佛上了天堂。可这种感觉在零点几秒后就会被疼痛的潮水淹没。

（尾声）

“我现在不能死！！”

超人的毅力使疼痛变得麻木，镇长的意识从几乎令他晕厥的痛苦中挣扎出来。他把右手紧紧地按在英克雷中士的面罩上，手套释放出的能量使那面罩瘫软下去，并“

呲呲”地冒着白汽。但只过了几秒种，手套中的能量就殆尽了。英克雷中士察觉到了这一点，他从镇长体内拔出开膛手，准备在变种人的头部切一刀以便结束这场战

斗。

“现在，说再见吧！变种人畜生！！”
“你爸爸有没有告诉过你，在腰带上挂东西的男人是很没品位的？尤其是挂能量手雷的人。”
“什……”镇长“唰”地一下拔下了挂在英克雷中士腰带上的能量手雷的引线。伴随着手雷引发后发出的音调越来越高的“嘤嘤”声，镇长“亲密”地抱住英克雷中

士，把他按在地上……2．5秒之后，一切都终结了。

………………………………………………………………………………………………

“硬骨头”的幸存者们目睹了整个过程。他们先是惊讶，然后又沉浸在悲痛之中。悲痛之中，有人疯狂地想把镇长的尸体拼起来。但无论怎么努力，死人是不会复活

的。幸存者们没有辜负镇长，他们修复了小镇，并把它建设的更好。英克雷侵略者的到来似乎也有有益的方面。硬骨头们从英克雷士兵的尸体旁边捡起那些威力强大

的武器，把它们保存在仓库里，并且定期保养，修理。勇敢的人们随时准备为保卫他们的家园打下一场遭遇战。

COD7 使命召唤7 剧情详细解析

2010-11-24T12:41:00.000+08:00

本作的剧情跨越时间为1961年-1968年，另外有一关Reznov的回忆，控制Reznov与Dimitri并肩作战，时间是1945年(二战关卡）。

二战后期，帝国（纳粹德国）意识到战败已成定局，于是开始研究“非常规方案”，之后代号为Nova 6 的研究计划启动，由生化博士Dr. Friedrich Steiner带队的纳粹科学家（其中有一位叫Clarke的化学工程师）成功研制出一种毁灭性的大规模杀伤性毒气，纳粹甚至已经计划好通过V2导弹和毒气对盟国发动袭击，准备先对华盛顿和莫斯科下手。幸运的是在这千钧一发的时刻，运载毒气的货轮刚巧在北极圈附近被英军的轰炸机炸搁浅了，更倒霉的是德军还没来得及回收毒气盟军已经攻陷了柏林，大当家（希特勒）自杀了，德国投降，这样毒气已经没有存在的必要，德军曾暗中派遣一支SS党卫军部队前往保护搁浅的货轮，并准备万一货轮遭袭击就销毁毒气。但是Steiner博士是个有野心的人，他不甘心就这么结束，暗中联系了苏军中的某军官Dragovich（本作头号反派）。于是，苏军计划了一次奥林匹斯行动（Operation Olympus）

行动非常顺利，在Dragovich、Kravchenko、Dimitri、Reznov的带领下，苏军很快突入德军内部，找到了Steiner 博士，然后顺利拿到了毒气（毒气没有被党卫军销毁，大概是进攻太快了没来得及）。这时，Dragovich想试试毒气威力，同时主要也是为了灭口，将 Raznov和Dimitri的部队逮捕，之后就在那个货船中，Dimitri在密闭仓里被毒气毒死，死状非常惨，而Reznov在刚要被毒死的时候，英军特种部队刚好杀到（应该是来抢毒气的），Dragovish和Steiner等人立刻溜了，而Reznov和几个幸存的弟兄在混乱中从英军和苏军中杀了出来，并成功将货轮炸沉，这样英军没有获得毒气(大概也不知道有这玩意儿)，但是Steiner博士还活着，毒气并没有完全消失。之后Reznov不知什么原因被苏联抓获，关在了Vorkuta集中营。

1961年4月17日，美国对古巴发动猪湾行动，历史上真有这次行动，不过游戏中的剧情和历史完全不同，中情局特工Mason（本作猪脚）和队友 Woods、Bowman奉命刺杀卡斯特罗。行动非常顺利，三人顺利杀入古巴，Mason亲手杀死“卡斯特罗”，Woods还上前补了好几枪，之后三人顺利登上逃亡的飞机，但是在飞机在跑道上启动时，Mason看到敌人有大量装甲车和防空炮赶来，毅然跳下飞机利用路边的一座防空炮消灭敌人大量装甲车，之后队友的飞机顺利起飞并逃走，而Mason被古巴士兵抓走。之后Mason醒来，发现自己在某海边，旁边有一艘写有RUSALRA的大货轮（这实际上就是 Dragovich发布广播的秘密通讯基地），而卡斯特罗竟活生生站在自己面前，另外还有Dragovich和Kravchenko！通过他们的谈话得知卡斯特罗早已知道中情局的刺杀计划，Mason他们杀死的那人只不过是个替身。之后他将Mason当做“礼物”交给Dragovich，并请 Dragovich折磨Mason。之后Dragovich和Steiner博士似乎有另一个秘密研究，他们将某些犯人进行洗脑，让其为自己服务。由于 Mason本就是特工，很适合拿来作杀人工具，他们对Mason实施了洗脑，灌输了刺杀美国总统肯尼迪的命令！同时还在Mason大脑里植入了一套密码破译程序！但是Mason不是普通人，他有超强的意志，对他的洗脑失败了，于是Steiner放弃了Mason，也将他发配到Vorkuta集中营。

Mason来到了Vorkuta后遇到了Reznov，并和其成为了好朋友。Reznov一心想要报仇（Dragovich不止一次背叛他，而且 Dimitri的仇当然也要报），但是凭他自己似乎实力不足，然后他发现Mason身手不凡，于是计划让Mason帮忙。奇怪的是Raznov对洗脑的事情竟然也知道一些，他偷偷的对Mason灌输了：“Dragovish、Kravchenko、Steiner都必须死！”这么个思想，而且他成功了（真扯淡，不过也可能是因为Mason和他是好友的关系，反正他的洗脑成功了）。之后他计划将Mason送出去。而Mason自己对于被洗脑的事情一点都不知道，而且他的大脑在洗脑中似乎有损伤，之后他在执行任务的时候经常会产生幻觉，认为Raznov在和他一起战斗，其实那时候Raznov老早死了。

1963年10月6日，Reznov领导其他劳工发动了计划好的***，混乱中大量劳工被杀，Mason和Reznov并肩作战，最后成功杀了出来（其中有驾驶摩托车的逃亡的部分，那个散弹枪单手填弹的动作真TM帅），最后Reznov成功送Mason跳上路过的一列货运火车，而他自己为了让 Mason能成功脱身而驾驶卡车朝另一个方向开去以吸引追兵的注意。之后Mason成功逃出，而在后来Hudson的分析中得知Reznov自己没成功，在这次逃亡中被杀死了。之后剧情中Reznov经常会在关键时刻出现帮助Mason，那实际上都是Mason的幻觉。

一个月后，1963年11月10日，Mason回到了五角大楼，在通过忠诚测试后，又重新成为中情局特工，Jason Hudson成为了他新的handler（这个不知道怎么翻译，如果你玩过细胞分裂，那个兰伯特就是费舍的handler）。肯尼迪总统亲自召见了 Mason，给了他一个刺杀Dragovich的任务，Mason当然接受了任务。

一周后，1963年11月17日，CIA实施了闪电行动，Woods、Mason、Bowman、Weaver和Brooks袭击了苏联的拜科努尔太空基地，任务包括：破坏苏联的远程导弹（火箭），消灭苏联激进分子（包括Dragovich）以及一些投降苏联的纳粹科学家，Weaver在这次行动中被弄瞎了一只眼，最后众人杀到火箭控制台却发现控制台坏了，无法停止发射远程导弹（火箭）。但是苏联的科学家想的太周到了，他们早已考虑到万一有员工不小心发射了火箭而控制台刚好失灵无法终止的情况，于是事先在控制台门口存放了一支火箭发射器用来把火箭打下来，之后Mason执意要找到Dragovich 并亲手杀死他（被洗脑的后果），但是Dragovich早已逃走。

1968年1月21日，Mason和Hudson被编入“美国驻越军援司令部特别观测组（MACV-SOG）”，到越南调查苏联暗中在越南行动的证据，这关的实际内容和剧情没多大关系，Mason他们刚到刚好碰上北越大举进攻，于是突突突了一把。。。最后还遇到了Bowman。

2月2日，美军并没有找到苏联介入越南战争的证据，同时美军在越南已经面临失败，但是SOG并不愿意放弃，毅然空降到混乱的越南顺化寻找证据，在某幢大楼里，Mason找到一份档案，竟然是关于Nova 6计划的！之后众人突突突，然后回家了。

一周后，2月9日，通过对文档的研究，CIA发现了其中一个线索：化学工程师Clarke，很快CIA便确认了Clarke的地址：香港九龙！于是 Hunson和Weaver便被派到香港九龙抓住Clarke并审问，Clarke说出了Steiner及其实验室的地址，但是没等Clarke说出更重要情报，苏联人杀到。Hudson和Weaver毕竟是特工出身，非常强悍的拔枪就打，但是更强悍的是Clarke！这家伙竟然早有准备，释放了事先布置好了毒*气（他竟然也有毒*气……），苏联人顿时死了好多，然后Clarke带领Hudson和Weaver逃到某小房间里（是的，你没看错，是 Clarke带着Hudson和Weaver逃，不是Clarke在前面逃Hudson他们在后面追），然后Clarke打开一个密室，里面竟然是个私人武器库，之后三个人拿上武器突突突了一把，途中Clarke说出了一串数字，但是在他刚要说出这串数字的含义的时候却被流弹打中挂了。而Hudson和 Weaver继续突突突，最后安全撤退。

于此同时，2月9日（和上一关同一天），根据之前找到的文档，CIA怀疑Kravchenko上校（Dragovich的二当家）在越南进行毒气测试，同时CIA得知他在越南北部，于是还在越南的SOG（Woods、Mason、Bowman三人组）便被派往北越搜寻证据并除掉 Kravchenko，但是他们搭乘的飞机在途中被击落了，之后反正一路杀过去，最后Mason在越军的一处洞穴里发现了Kravchenko的通讯站，但是Kravchenko早已逃走，Mason只拿到些资料。

月11日，从Hudson那里得到消息说有一架装载Nova 6毒*气的苏联运输机在老挝边境坠毁，于是Woods、Mason和Bowman又半夜赶往老挝搜寻飞机残骸，最后发现残骸里根本没有Nova 6，这是个圈套，之后三人被大量围攻来上来的敌人俘虏。玩到这里顺便说下游戏的配乐，本作的配乐本身还算不错，但是和游戏场景完全不搭配，所以玩着就觉得没有像现代战争2那种带入感，不过这关是个例外--开头一群美军开着gunboat、扛着火箭筒、用着machinegun听着乡村音乐，然后强拆越南民房。。。就像某兄说的“这是怎么样的一种lifestyle……”。

2月18日，中情局竟然没有组织对Mason他们的营救行动，大概是以为他们已经挂了吧，由于之前从Clarke的口中得知了Steiner博士以及他的实验室的地址--乌拉尔山脉的亚曼托山上，于是Hudson、Weaver、Harris、Brooks四人便被派过去搜寻相关资料并抓捕 Steiner。这次任务中Harris掉下悬崖牺牲了，其他人最后找到了Steiner的办公室，但是Steiner并没在这个基地，整个基地布满了炸丅弹和导线。这时Steiner破解了Hudson等人的无线电频率并联系到了他们，Steiner告诉他们Dragovich正在清理所有与Nova 6有关的设施和人员（Nova 6 已经研发完成，Dragovich又要灭口了），他自己也即将遭殃。而且Dragovich在美国存储了大量毒*气，只要通过广播特定的密码这些毒*气就会自动施放。Dragovich将在36小时内开始广播（实际上后来不知为什么毒气释放时间推迟了很多，当然也可能是Steiner在这里稍微夸张了一下），只有Steiner知道如何停止广播，同时他又说了自己所在的基地--咸海的重生岛，言下之意就是要美军去那里救他了。之后Weaver拍了下毒* 气的储存点，然后大家便杀出基地返回。

2月19日，剧情回到Mason等人这边，上次被捕后，Mason三人被关在老挝某处审讯。越共实在太幼稚了，SOG这种美国最精锐的特种部队，一个人空手杀死十几个带枪的民兵那是很可能的，而Mason和Woods在审讯室里连手铐脚链都没有的戴，房间里总共5个人，两个士兵在后面懒散地坐着，其他三个围着Mason和Woods审问（Bowman之前由于不配合被那个军官打死了），而Mason和Woods竟然坐在那里玩俄罗斯转盘，大概是不说出情报就要一直玩下去。之后两人找到机会杀了几个看守逃了出来。为了报仇，两人没有直接走掉，开着抢来的飞机又杀到另一处基地路狂杀，到最里面后竟然发现 Kravchenko就在这里，于是顺便把Kravchenko杀了，不过在最后一个Kravchenko拉开手雷并拖住Woods，两个人最后同归于尽。这样最后回到中情局的只有Mason一人。

2月23日，Mason回来后也得知了Steiner的地址，由于担心美国找到Steiner和毒*气后也会像Dragovich那样不会销毁毒* 气而是用来对付敌人（苏联），当然更主要的原因是他脑子里有“Dragovich、Steiner、Kravchenko都必须死”的信念，所以他一定要亲手杀死Steiner（或者亲眼看到Steiner死），于是他便独自前往重生岛刺杀Steiner。其实这时候，Hudson等人已经在去重生岛救 Steiner的路上了，不过由于Hudson他们是正面杀入，而Mason是单人从后方潜入，最后Mason稍快几分钟，成功杀了Steiner。之后 Mason被Hudson等人打晕带回总部

接下来就是游戏一开始的时候就出现的审讯室场景了，时间大概是2月25日，幕后审讯者实际上就是Hudson和Weaver。在审讯中经常能听到有人在读奇怪的数字，这实际上就是Dragovich的广播，广播已经开始了！不过释放毒气的指令似乎还没有下达，但危机已经迫在眉睫，由于Steiner 已经死了，没有人知道Dragovich的广播站具体位置，而Mason由于之前被植入过密码翻译程序，所以只有他有可能翻译密码，从而找到广播站地点。于是为了帮助Mason记起密码破译程序，Hudson帮助Mason回忆了这些年来的经历（就是游戏内容），但是最后Mason还是没想起来。直到最后 Mason在听了Hudson说了事情真相之后，仔细听了一段广播，想到了一个词：RUSALRA--这就是1961年Mason在古巴被捕后曾看到的那艘船的名字，而那艘船具体是在古巴某处！

2月26日，CIA很快就找到了RUSALRA的具体位置并对其发动了攻击，当Mason等人突入轮船内部后，发现实际上Dragovich在轮船的正下方建了一座秘密水下广播站，那才是广播源。这时候Weaver收到消息海军将在15分钟内炸毁轮船和水下广播基地，但是Mason坚持要下去亲手杀死Dragovich（被Reznov洗脑的后果）。之后Hudson叫Weaver先上去，然后和Mason潜下了广播基地，最后两人真找到并杀死了 Dragovich，然后二人安全返回海面。游戏结束。

不过游戏结束后又出来一段过场，某个播音员仍在那里念那些数字，广播还在继续？或者广播站不止一个，还有另一个广播在在播放密码？而最后在肯尼迪遇刺的照片上，背景人群里竟然出现了Mason的身影。其实最诡异的还是在最终溺死Dragovich时，Mason质问Dragovich在Mason脑中试图植入命令（洗脑）。最后Dragovich在被摁在水里死前用反问句非常轻蔑不屑地说“Tried？”。加上最后一段过场中的女人仍然在广播着数字和Mason出现在肯尼迪的照片里，可能这暗示了其实Dragovich、Kravchenko、Steiner给Mason的洗脑有一部分成功了或者是洗脑后遗症遗留下来的指令，最后Mason还是干掉了肯尼迪……

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Introduction

2010-10-17T17:54:00.001+08:00

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Introduction

Mini is the John Smith of names in mobile phones these days. All makers in the Big Five are keen to have a diminutive version of a popular handset but if there is one to be the definitive repack, it would be the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini official shots

It took a while before mobile phones became portable not only in name. At one point, small size alone made a phone something special. Calling and texting were all there was and twelve buttons were nonnegotiable.

Those times seem prehistoric now that a contemporary smartphone is expected to do all but the dishes. There we are – 3.7” touch screens are now the norm. It sounds like pushing the limits of portability but most people won’t mind as long as there’re virtually no limits on functionality. With nearly desktop-like browsing, video and TV – displays are only supposed to get better, crisper… and bigger. Who would want it the other way? Small touchscreen doesn’t make sense.

You know, a couple of millimeters on each end are obviously enough for Nokia (N97 and N97 mini). Even the HTC HD mini isn’t that much smaller than the Touch HD. But when Sony Ericsson go mini they mean it.

The X10 mini is here to show how a mini phone should live up to its name – sheer smartphone power in a half-size package. There’re always sacrifices involved to fit the new cut but if size is what matters it’ll hardly get any better than that.

Now, everyone’s entitled to an opinion. And Sony Ericsson are keen to disagree. Small touchscreen may be against the simple logic, but just don’t rush to judgment yet. Not till you’ve seen the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini. It has more smartphone powers than most users will ever need. It’s a little sweetie, and it’s cool and gadgety too. Just don’t let the size fool you.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini at a glance:

· General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 1900/2100 MHz, HSPA

· Form factor: Touchscreen bar

· Dimensions: 83 x 50 x 16 mm, 86g weight

· Display: 2.55" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen with QVGA resolution

· Platform: Android OS 1.6 with Sony Ericsson Timescape UI

· CPU: 600Mhz processor

· Memory: 128MB internal memory, microSD card slot, 2GB card included

· Camera: 5-megapixels auto-focus camera, LED flash, geotagging

· Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, digital compass, 3.5mm audio jack

· Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate, FM radio with RDS, TrackID music recgnition

· Battery: Non-removable Li-Po battery

Main disadvantages

· QVGA resolution doesn’t do Android graphics justice and limits the number of compatible apps

· Battery not user replaceable

· Limited Android homescreen functionality

· No smart dialing

· Typing long messages is very hard on the small screen

· No Bluetooth file transfers from the gallery

· No Flash support for the web browser

· Very basic camera interface

So, long story short, crowds probably won’t be flocking to the shops to replace their full-sized XPERIA X10 units for the mini version. The X10 mini doesn’t have it all and isn’t the ultimate smartphone, but all is not what everyone needs.

The X10 mini is easy on your pocket – and we don’t just mean size. The phone uses less expensive hardware – low-res screen, a midrange CPU. But if you think of it, it’s not just blatant cost-cutting.

OK, there are downgrades in most departments compared to the original XPERIA X10 but those are never too painful, especially if they’re reflected in the price.

Some might argue that the 600 MHz processor is nowhere near as impressive as a 1GHz Snapdragon but the X10 mini doesn’t seem underpowered at all – screen resolution makes quite a difference. In fact, it is the most capable handset with a QVGA screen to date and we have seen those kinds of devices perform admirably on weaker CPUs.

Of course this is all on paper and we all know a handset is more than a spec sheet can tell. We’re about to see if the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini (now that certainly is a long name for such a small phone) will cash the checks its features wrote.

It looks like they made the right choices and in the end you don’t have to pay for something you cannot use anyway. Anything higher than QVGA wouldn’t have made much difference on a 2.55” screen (which is the most you can fit in a phone this small really). Anything faster than the 600 MHz Qualcomm CPU is simply unnecessary given the low pixel count.

A so-so retail package

Nice surprises are what we like to find inside the boxes of the phones that we review, but unfortunately the X10 mini didn't have many of those. On the other hand all the essentials are covered so there is not much to whine about either.

Inside the package, there’s a microUSB cable and a charger. The rest of the contents include a short manual and a 2GB microSD card that comes loaded directly in the phone.

The headset bundled with the XPERIA X10 mini is the Sony Ericsson MH610. It has a standard 3.5mm jack - there's no sign of the Hi-Fi MH810 headset which has a custom jack developed specifically for XPERIA X10 mini.

Also included in the retail package is a rubber case that's designed to be always-on the handset. It covers and protects the sides and back of the XPERIA X10 mini. There's also a screen protector.

Since XPERIA X10 mini features exchangeable back panels, the retail package comes with a choice of two panels.

Sony Ericsson will be offering a total of six different colors for the back panel. Unfortunately, the back panel availability and retail bundling would be strictly market and even carrier-dependent. In most cases, the phone should come pre-bundled with two of the back panels and users should be able to purchase extra panels.

At 83 x 50 x 16mm the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini sure is tiny. There is hardly a pocket that won’t find enough free space for it and the mere 88 grams of weight will almost make you forget it is there.

Some might frown at the 16mm of thickness which is too much by today’s standards but it doesn’t really make the device unattractive. It almost looks like the boxy appearance was exactly what designers were looking for. Thinner than that and the phone would’ve been near impossible to handle comfortably. And the X10 mini is truly the smallest handset we have had recently.

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Design and construction

It’s all a matter of personal taste how you feel about the X10 mini. The boxy handset is quite different than most of its competitors. Manufacturers would usually go for tall slimmer bodies for their touch phones.

The plastic used on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini won’t earn it many points either, especially against metal-built phones, but is decent. The back is nicely fingerprint-resistant with rubbery finish.

The shiny plastic on the front does become greasy with use (it doesn’t take too long) but, since the front is mostly taken by the display anyway, we are willing to let that one go.

The touchscreen itself measures 2.55” in diagonal, which seems like the very minimum that still allows finger-use. Sony Ericsson did well though to make the best use of the screen estate with the interface. We’ll get back to that later but the icons are all large enough and you won’t have trouble pressing any of them.

The screen sensitivity, as was to be expected in a capacitive unit, is excellent. The slightest of touches is enough for a click to be registered, for a great touchscreen experience.

Equally important, the QVGA resolution is adequate for this screen size but doesn’t allow for too fancy graphics. For example, most of the icon labels don’t look sharp enough and the icons themselves are not as smooth as we’ve seen on HVGA and WVGA Android handsets.

The 65K-color limitation inherent to Android versions prior to 2.0 could result in the occasional banding but it’s not as easily noticeable on a screen this size. If the X10 mini ever receives an Android 2.0 update those issues will be completely solved but we wouldn’t hold our breaths just yet.

The image quality is passable as far as TFT displays go, with good brightness and above average contrast. Anyway, an AMOLED display would’ve made sense on the full-grown XPERIA X10 but is obviously too much for the mini league.

Unfortunately the sunlight legibility of the X10 mini display is pretty mediocre. There are just too much reflections and operating the handset outdoors on a bright sunny day is pretty troublesome.

Below the display there are three hardware keys – contextual menu, home and the back button. Those are thin buttons but nicely raised and with good press feedback. The obvious absentee is the Search button: in exchange there’s a search widget on the homescreen.

Above the display we find a status LED, the earpiece and the proximity sensor. The proximity sensor is in charge of locking the display when you hold it next to your ear during calls.

The left side of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini is completely bereft of controls. The only thing of interest here is a small groove to pull the battery cover off.

On the right you get a volume rocker and a shutter key. The volume rocker is as good as the three keys below the display but the camera key is a bit too tiny. It still has a proper stroke though and very distinct half press. It’s not bad at all, just needs some time getting used to.

On top of the handset is the screen lock key which also acts as a power button. Again, it isn’t the most comfortable to press but we suspect it was done on purpose to minimize accidental presses. More than often it needs a push with a fingernail really.

At the bottom the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini has the audio jack and the microUSB port. The audio jack is absolutely compatible with standard 3.5mm plugs but the unusual shape accommodates the X10 mini prebundled headset. There is a protective cap over the microUSB port, while the audio jack is exposed.

The back of the phone hosts the 5 megapixel camera lens and the LED flash. The loudspeaker also goes in here, slightly to the right.

Removing the battery cover reveals the microSD card slot and the SIM compartment. The microSD slot is hot-swap enabled but the bad news is the battery isn’t replaceable.

Not only is carrying a back-up battery out of the question but effectively once the original battery runs its life span you’ll have to buy a new phone. You’re more likely to upgrade long before the battery expires anyway.

At this stage we are unable to comment on the real life battery performance of the X10 mini. It’s quoted at up to 285 hours of standby and 4 hours of talk time in a 2G network. In 3G mode, it’s up to 360 hours of standby and three and half hours of talk time.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini is so tiny you can cup it in your hand and out of sight. It’s brilliant to handle and makes you want to cuddle it. Some users might find awkward making calls on something that small but otherwise working on such limited touchscreen estate is trouble free. There are inevitable compromises of course, like no virtual QWERTY keyboard, but the little chap sure is hard to resist.

SE XPERIA X10 mini - User interface: perfect fit

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini runs version 1.6 of the Android platform just like the rest of the X10 gang. There is nothing out of the ordinary but what makes the mini special is the QVGA resolution which is a rare sight in the Android world.

In all fairness, Android doesn’t look as pretty on 320 x 240 pixels but this certainly isn’t a deal breaker. Sony Ericsson have done a good job of customizing the interface and making the icons large enough, given the limited screen estate.

The downsized interface isn’t much of a looker but is well touch-optimized

They have opted for more screens rather than downsizing the tiles, which, even if a bit slower, is the more comfortable option.

The XPERIA X10 mini packs the Timescape UI plug-in but lacks the Mediascape that is only reserved for its full-grown X10 for now. Timescape is an application that brings all your communications together. It always displays an aggregated view of your SMS, MMS, email, missed calls, Facebook and Twitter updates all on one screen. It also has a large number of tabs that can filter the content by type.

There’s no Mediascape this time but Timescape is here

As we already mentioned, Sony Ericsson have managed to make best use of the limited screen estate by adding large thumbable shortcuts at the four corners of the homescreen. Those lead to the message composer, music player, phonebook and dial pad/call log by default but you can easily replace them if you see fit. The tiny Android is obviously short of hardware keys but they’re not badly missed.

The homescreen has also been affected by the resize. You are limited to widgets only – no shortcuts or folders are allowed and you can only add one widget per screen.

The available homescreen widgets

On the other hand, the number of available homescreen panes isn’t limited so each time you add a widget a new screen appears. You can then rearrange the screens as you please.

Luckily, the Sony Ericsson R&D have found enough space for the notification area, which we consider to be one of the best Android features. It's a thin bar at the top of the screen with status info about battery, signal strength and others such as Bluetooth or missed events. Sliding it down however reveals the whole story - you get a list of all recent notifications.

The notification area is still here

To bring up the task switcher on the X10 mini you press and hold the Home key just like on any other Android phone. It gives you access to the six most recently used apps although, due to the specific operation of the operating system, some of them might be hibernating rather than actually running in the background.

The X10 mini task switcher

Now, the actual performance is surely where the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini is nothing short of impressive. Regular HVGA resolution and a 528 MHz CPU that most other droids use surely ensures a decently smooth Android run. But when you cut the number of pixels in half and crank up the clock speed a bit, the thing starts flying.

Now we look deep into the other reviews.

Phonebook, Telephony & Messaging

Multimedia

5 megapixel Camera

Connectivity & Web browser

Organizer, GPS & Android Market

Final words

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Phonebook, Telephony & Messaging

2010-10-17T17:48:00.000+08:00

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Phonebook, Telephony & Messaging

Phonebook does the job

The phonebook can store quite a lot of information. It lets you input numbers for work and home, but this time there are no custom labels. There is of course an email field and you can assign a custom ringtone.

The phonebook is still comfortable enough to operate

You can add an IM nickname to the contact as well as a postal address, company and job title, several notes, you name it. Quite interesting is the option to redirect calls directly to voicemail.

Editing a contact

When viewing a contact the various details are displayed in sections. Clicking a given number dials the contact while opting for the envelope icon next to it launches the message editor. Those two buttons fill an entire horizontal row so that they are more thumbable.

Telephony is fine

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini had no issues with reception and in-call quality. The sound is loud and clear if you manage to hold the phone right. That’s a bit easier said than done as the phone is quite small and we had a finger on the mouthpiece on several occasions.

Unfortunately, the XPERIA X10 mini, just like the rest of the Android crew (except for the HTC Hero and Samsung Galaxy S) doesn’t feature smart dialing.

In the X10 mini the call log is a part of the dialer application. You can easily search the entries in it by flick scrolling.

Thanks to the proximity sensor the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini automatically switches off its touchscreen when you hold in next to your ear for a call. There is no chance of ever hitting an on-screen button with your cheek on this one.

We also ran our traditional loudspeaker test on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini. We were rather disappointed with its Below Average score. You might want to keep an eye on the little fella when it’s noisy around you if you don’t want to miss calls.

Speakerphone test	Voice, dB	Pink noise/ Music, dB	Ringing phone, dB	Overal score
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10	64.9	66.1	66.6	Below average
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini	65.9	66.5	67.3	Below average
HTC Tattoo	75.1	66.6	75.9	Good
HTC Magic	70.3	69.5	79.3	Very good
HTC Hero	76.7	71.9	77.7	Very Good

Limited text input puts the brake on messaging

The SMS and MMS messaging section is quite straightforward and simple at first glance - there are no folders here, just a new message button. It doesn't stay like that for long - under that button is a list of all your messages organized into threads.

When viewing a thread, the newest message is placed at the bottom. At the bottom of the display is the tap-to-compose box and the send key, of course. There is a counter on the right which is displayed once you have 16 or fewer characters remaining of the 160 limit. It also shows the number of parts the message will be split into for sending.

Texting Dee Dee from the X10 mini

Converting an SMS to MMS is logical and easy. When you add multimedia content to the message, it is automatically turned into an MMS. You can just add a photo or an audio file to go with the text or you can choose to go into a full-blown MMS editor, depending on your needs.

Moving on to email, the Gmail app supports batch operations, which allow multiple emails to be archived, labeled or deleted.

The Gmail app is an inherent part of the Android OS

There is also a generic email app for all your other email accounts and it can handle multiple POP or IMAP inboxes. You have access to the messages in the original folders that are created online, side by side with the standard local ones such as inbox, drafts and sent items.

The generic email app will is also there

Google Talk handles the Instant Messaging department. The G-Talk network is compatible with a variety of popular clients like Pidgin, Kopete, iChat and Ovi Contacts.

Quite naturally, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini isn’t the heavy texters’ choice. The software is just fine, but with the limited text input options long messaging sessions are out of the question.

With the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini you are limited to a standard multitap keypad (T9 is supported though) and given the available screen estate we don’t think a virtual QWERTY would have made any sense. Not on a capacitive screen anyway, where stylus is a no go.

Still if you are really into typing on tiny virtual buttons you can find apps in the Android market, which enable QWERTY keyboard for free.

You do not want to type long messages on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini

In any case, the X10 mini pro should be the choice for those that actually do more than an occasional SMS on their phones.

(Click here to go back to the main menu.)

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Multimedia

2010-10-17T17:42:00.000+08:00

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Multimedia

Gallery’s nothing to get excited about

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini gallery automatically locates the images, no matter where they are stored. There is none of the cool new look of Android 2.0 and later devices – you just get a plain grid with your images sorted by date.

The gallery supports finger scrolling or panning so you can skip images without having to return to the default view. Just sweep to the left or right when looking at a photo fullscreen, and the previous/next image will appear.

The image gallery is decent but hardly the best we have seen

Pinch-zooming isn’t available but Sony Ericsson have come up with their own version of one-finger zoom that actually works great. You just hold your finger down and than sweep upwards for zooming in or downwards for zooming out. There’s also the double-tap zoom if that’s how you roll.

The one-finger zooming is quick and responsive

Unfortunately, there are no Bluetooth file transfers in the gallery or any other fancy functionality that more demanding users might expect. The X10 mini is a simple tool for previewing your images and it won’t do more than that.

Bluetooth file transfers from the gallery are not an option

Video player needs more work

For some unknown reason, video playback has been one of the hardest things for Android to pull off. First, there was no video player at all and we have seen very little progress so far if you don’t count some custom-made improvements by select makers.

Okay, there is a player now but looks and functionality are nothing special by today’s standards. You get a list of all videos available on the phone and play/pause, skip controls, as well as a draggable progress bar.

The video player is as simple as it gets

The codec support is also pretty limited with DivX and XviD nowhere to be seen. H.264 MP4 files is as good as you are gonna get, but at least those seemed to run okay with little to no hiccups.

The Android market already offers a player that supports DivX and XviD videos. The yxflash player handles well the files we threw at it but you need to keep your videos below VGA resolution or it becomes too much for the hardware to handle. The bad is that you only get the trial version for free and after it expires you need to pay 9.9 US dollars for the full license.

Music player is pretty basic too

Despite a fresh redesign, the music player on the XPERIA X10 mini didn’t get much in terms of new features. It manages your audio files decently but there is very little extra functionality beyond that.

The music player is decently looking and snappy

The best bit is the shortcut key that allows you to quickly look up a song or album on YouTube or Sony Ericsson’s own Play Now arena by pressing the Infinite button .

Pressing the Infinite button let’s you look up tracks on YouTube and Play Now arena

There isn’t even gradual typing for searching a specific song this time so you will have to use the kinetic scrolling or opt for artist sorting. At least there are three smart playlists that automatically gather your newly added, most played and never played tracks.

There are still a lot of shortcomings of the music player that need addressing, though. For example there are still no equalizer presets, nor any alternative skins.

FM radio is nice

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini is also equipped with an FM radio, which has a really neat and simple interface. It automatically scans the area for the available stations and allows you to mark some of them as favorite for easier scrolling between them.

The neat FM radio app

Very decent audio quality

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini performed more than decently in our traditional audio quality test. The noise level, dynamic range and stereo crosstalk are the strongest points of its performance but the rest of the readings aren't bad either.

The total harmonic distortion levels are pretty good and even if the intermodulation distortion is slightly above average, it's nothing to worry about. Oh and the frequency response is pretty good too, but for the cut-off extreme bass frequencies.

And here go the results so you can see for yourselves.

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini	+0.18 -1.64	-86.5	88.9	0.028	0.409	-83.8
HTC Tattoo	+0.12 -0.63	-84.8	87.2	0.018	0.156	-84.8
HTC Hero	+1.04 -2.13	-91.3	92.3	0.458	0.902	-95.8
HTC Magic	+0.21 -2.20	-85.6	88.8	0.025	0.220	-86.0
Samsung S8000 Jet	+1.01 -2.03	-87.9	87.0	0.015	0.060	-85.9
LG KM900 Arena	+0.09, -1.61	-91.6	91.7	0.0017	0.101	-90.4
Apple iPhone 3GS	+0.01, -0.05	-92.1	92.1	0.0035	0.011	-95.0

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini vs Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 frequency response graphs

You can learn more about the whole testing process here.

(Click here to go back to the main menu.)

SE XPERIA X10 mini - 5 megapixel camera

2010-10-17T17:39:00.000+08:00

SE XPERIA X10 mini - 5 megapixel camera

On the hardware side of things, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini has a 5 megapixel camera module for a maximum image resolution of 2592 x 1936 pixels and a LED flash. It doesn’t sound like much but the size of the package says it all.

The camera interface is as simple as it gets with four buttons in total. There is a camera/camcorder switch, a gallery button, scene mode and flash settings. The four available scene presets include twilight, sports, landscape and, of course auto.

The camera interface

This is certainly one of the most basic camera interfaces on the market but we guess Sony Ericsson thought users wouldn’t need much more and will prefer simplicity to functionality. In the end, it all comes down to the image quality, so let’s see.

The image quality is pretty pleasing with a good amount of resolved detail and the noise levels kept well under control, even in not so favorable lighting. Contrast on the other hand is somewhat low at times and the colors are a usually bit off.

Here go the samples for you to check out.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini camera samples

VGA video recording

Video recording on the X10 mini goes as high as VGA resolution which, needless to say, is far from impressive. At least the framerate is a good 30 fps to make sure motion looks smooth enough.

The interface of the camcorder is similar to the one on the still camera, except that there are even fewer settings. You can set the video quality, turn the video light on and off and that's that.

The camcorder mode

Videos are recorded in 3gp format suggesting lower bitrate, which in turn leads to some compression artifacts. Video also suffers from the lack of contrast, much like the still camera so videos aren't too nice to watch on a computer screen.

Here is X10 mini sample video shot at VGA@30fps.

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SE XPERIA X10 mini - Connectivity & Web browser

2010-10-17T17:36:00.002+08:00

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Connectivity & Web browser

Connectivity: all on board

Connectivity is full suite on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini. For starters, you get quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE for worldwide roaming and two versions with either dual-band (900/2100 MHz) or tri-band (850/1900/2100 MHz) 3G with HSPA.

As to local connectivity, the X10 mini offers USB v2.0, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP support (no file transfer though) and Wi-Fi. The USB interface is standard microUSB, which makes finding a compatible cable a lot easier.

The built-in microSD card slot can also be used as a data transfer tool. Card-readers are going for peanuts these days so you probably already have one lying around and they give some impressive speeds.

Web browser is in a dire need of a higher-res screen and Flash support

The XPERIA X10 mini is an Android phone and an excellent web browser is an important part of that description. With the exception of Flash, the browser performs pretty decently.

The user interface is rather minimalist – all you get on the screen are the zoom controls. The address bar is hidden by default to save some space as the low resolution doesn’t allow too much content to fit on the screen anyway.

The X10 mini web browser

Unfortunately, the Android browser on the X10 mini supports only a single zoom method – the dedicated onscreen buttons. There is no double tap or one-finger zooming.

Going landscape

On the positive side, the browser supports text reflow – as soon as you zoom, columns of text adjust to fit the screen width. And there’s also the nice magnifying glass browsing mode, which let’s you browse the page quickly until you reach the part that you want to focus and then zoom in on to read it.

The magnifying glass mode can help you quickly search larges sites for specific bits of info

The minimalist UI is still quite powerful – hit the menu key and four keys pop up. You can open/switch tabs, refresh the page, go forward, open bookmarks.

The available options • Multiple tabs can be opened

Flash support is the other letdown of the X10 mini browser. There is of course a YouTube application onboard but Flash content doesn't start nor end with YouTube.

(Click here to go back to the main menu.)

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Organizer, GPS & Android Market

2010-10-17T17:35:00.000+08:00

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Organizer, GPS & Android Market

Organizer does the job, with some help from the Android Market

Our Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini came with no preinstalled document viewer so we had to snatch one off the Android Market. There is plenty of choice there so we don’t consider it too much of a disadvantage.

When you download an app it automatically integrates with the Gmail app as well, so you can view attachments. Unfortunately, you can’t save them in the phone memory (that only works for images). Attaching saved files (and we mean all kind of files) is possible though.

The other disadvantage is we didn’t find a free app that also supports editing so if you decide to edit documents on the X10 mini (highly unlikely anyway) you will have to spend some.

The calendar has only two view modes - daily and monthly. Adding a new event is quick and easy, and you can also set an alarm to act as a reminder.

The calendar offers monthly and daily view modes only • Setting up an event

There is also a calculator, a timer and a stopwatch aboard. Those are all nicely touch optimized - the buttons are big enough and easy to hit.

Calculator, timer and stopwatch are also available

The XPERIA X10 mini features a decent alarm clock application, which allows a huge number of alarms to be set, each with its own start time and repeat pattern.

Alarm clock app offers all you will ever need

The RoadSync applications, which also come preinstalled use the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol to provide push synchronization of your corporate email, contacts and calendar.

Finally comes the YouTube app which, as we said, partially compensates for the web browser's lack of Flash support. Its interface is simple enough to let you find whatever you're looking for as quickly as possible.

The YouTube works fine

GPS navigation

It comes as no surprise that with the X10 mini you have Google Maps out of the box. Multi-touch doesn't work and double tapping won't do either. To zoom in and out you use the two virtual buttons at the bottom of the screen. These are hidden when not in use and only appear when you touch the screen.

Naturally Google Maps is on board

A tap-and-hold on the screen activates Street view. As usual, you can enjoy the 3D view of the area, which is controlled by sweep gestures with impressive fluidity. They can also make use of the built-in compass for an even better experience – just hold the phone in your hand and turn around and Street view will follow you.

Street view also works with the built-in compass

Voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation isn't available on the X10 mini’s Google Maps. Still, there is some kind of navigation: your route and current location appear on the screen so you'll be able to reach your goal, assuming you can read maps of course.

However, the other preinstalled map application is Wisepilot to pick up where Google Maps left. The thing about Wisepilot is that it requires a license for voice guided navigation and it downloads data over the Internet. That makes it unsuitable (or at least really expensive) for using abroad.

WisePilot comes preinstalled and does voice-guided navigation

There are already several ways around that of course. The Android Market offers a dozen of applications so it’s up to you to pick one that best suits you. The problem is that the screen and the phone itself seem too small to use for navigation but we guess everyone should judge that for themselves.

Android Market has what you need

We mentioned the Android Market in the previous section and we found SatNav software, both free and paid, with very little effort. Since we haven’t heard of some of the apps, user ratings were a good clue of what’s worth checking out and user reviews helped us decide which ones to download.

The Android Market made a very positive impression – the number of available apps is growing by the day and a good deal of them is free. In fact as it turns out, if you’re after free apps, Android Market has a larger percentage of those than any of the application stores of the competition. The Market organizes apps and games into two separate tabs, and each tab shows the best in the relevant category. The third tab keeps track of what you’ve already downloaded.

The Android market will cover your 3rd party software needs

Searching is very easy – just tap the search button, type what you’re looking for (e.g. “navigation”). From then on, it’s pretty easy to choose – each app has a rating, a short description by the author, user comments and screenshots.

Checking out a single app details

Applications vary from pretty basic tools (such as the one that turns the display into a flashlight) to real must-have's (including file managers, navigation software and more), but that’s true for every other app store.

(Click here to go back to the main menu.)

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Final words

2010-10-17T17:30:00.002+08:00

SE XPERIA X10 mini - Final words

Small phones are special, no doubt about that. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 might just be too special to have mass appeal but we don’t think it’s what this phone is trying to do. The X10 mini is an experiment, which works out well.

It’s hard not to like the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 mini. It’s equally hard we think to not notice its limitations. But we should make it clear: it delivers on the main promise it made when it first appeared in public – it’s a capable smartphone that every pocket can take. Better yet, it isn’t outrageously expensive either.

The user-interface has been well optimized for the little (in touchscreen terms that is) display and while this has involved some functionality sacrifices, they aren’t too bad. Granted, you won’t be able to edit documents or read maps as comfortably as on the full-size XPERIA X10 but the mini is by no means a poor relation.

No review can help you make up your mind about a phone like this one – if you haven’t already. You might think it’s a cool and cute li’l droid – or see no point in it whatsoever. After all, there’s plenty of smartphones out there that will do the same things (and better) within the same budget.

Reading your mail, browsing the web or watching video will be better on almost any other touch phone out there. But the X10 mini doesn’t want you to be sensible and practical. It hopes you’ll appreciate the idea behind it. Getting smaller and better – isn’t this the life story of mobile phones.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: Symbian S60 (r)Evolution

2010-10-17T17:24:00.000+08:00

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: Symbian S60 (r)Evolution

We now come to probably the most important part of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic performance. We do need to rethink our perspective and, instead of looking at the 5800 as a standalone touchscreen device, get to the real point of exploring the level of touch optimization of the S60 interface. How good - or bad - Nokia 5800 is very much depends on how well S60 translates to touch.

The S60 UI finally made the jump to the touchscreen world

You can go ahead and call S60 the most mature, user-friendly and stable smartphone interface but that won't necessarily make its touch reincarnation any better at this point. The pains of growth can't be helped we guess.

The fact is that Nokia have not done a great job at creating a user-friendly touch interface. At this stage we're not looking at an elaborate touch interface but the first stages of touch-optimizing an existing UI. S60 is more of a curse than a blessing at this point. Honestly, at times we felt as if Nokia is using all 5800 users as a giant focus group to test out various elements of their new interface - try this scrolling and that scrolling - which one do you prefer?

Comparing the S60 5th edition to LG and Samsung touchscreen interfaces or Windows Mobile is not in favor of Nokia. And even the mere mentioning of iPhone would be devastating on the 5800 morale.

Update: Nokia have slowly but steadily been making improvements of the interface usability. S60 touch edition is still playing catch up with the competition, and it's still behind.
We appreciate the effort and the recently added kinetic scrolling works pretty well, even though only in list menus. Now if they come scrolling in icon menus, it would be just great.

This was more or less expected - there aren't absolute deal-breaker issues but the interface is obviously immature and the touch implementation inconsistent. The great asset - which could prove vital in the long run - is the familiarity, predictability and comfort of the original S60.

User interface basics

The homescreen layout of the S60 5th edition is similar to previous S60 versions - all the status indicators are at the top, plus the clock and the calendar. A single press on the clock starts the clock application (with an option for setting up an alarm) while tapping on the date opens a drop-down menu where you can either enter the calendar application or change the currently active profile.
You have three layouts for the homescreen to choose from - an active-standby kind of shortcuts bar, contacts bar or blank screen (called Basic). Activating the latter will let you enjoy your currently selected theme but the large homescreen will be quite lacking in functionality - save for the status bar and the two touch buttons at the bottom. One launches the virtual num pad, while the other opens the Contact list.

There are three available layouts for the homescreen

In fact, we can't help but notice Nokia 5800 fails to make the best use of the screen estate that's available.

Not only are the available shortcuts notably less than on regular D-pad-controlled S60 handsets but some of the additional controls (like the bar for the quick WLAN search) are also removed.

Touch navigation on the homescreen boils down to a few buttons/icons. What we miss is at least a basic degree of gesture control - a finger sweep for example could toggle the main menu or an extra set of shortcuts.

The Shortcuts bar in its current implementation accommodates four large touch-optimized icons at the top of the homescreen. Below them are the reserved lines for the search application, calendar and the currently running music track or radio station. The number of shortcuts has obviously been reduced to make each icon big enough to touch.

It still seems though there is plenty of unused space on the display most of the time so we find the decision of removing the quick WLAN search from the homescreen totally wrong. You can assign the WLAN wizard to one of the shortcuts, of course but that leaves you with only three remaining for you other favorites.

You can also access the connectivity menu by tapping around the battery status indicator, which is the quickest way to initiate a WLAN search. It is not quite as quick as the 3rd edition plug-in where you only needed a single click for the purpose but it is better than nothing.

The other option is the Contacts bar where you can place shortcuts to four favorite contacts. Given the limited number of slots here and the available space on the screen, this could've been way more convenient if displayed along with the shortcuts bar. On the positive side selecting one of the contacts brings out a list of all your recent communications.

The contacts bar

Update: With the latest firmware Nokia updates the contacts bar functionality as well. Now it features the contacts icons at the top and four customizable shortcuts at the bottom. The number of contacts that you can add is no longer limited to four and their thumbnails have been increased in size to make them more thumbable.

Most menus can be set to show as either a grid of 4x3 icons or a list of nine items per screen. The exception is the settings menus, which can only appear as lists.

You can choose between grid and list view modes for most menus

S60 users will of course feel at home but the interface is intuitive enough as well, even if not the best in terms of touch control. Each screen and submenu comes with its contextual touch buttons, so navigation won't differ much from a D-pad and soft-key controlled device.

Strangely enough, opening an item in any of the listed submenus calls for two presses - one to select, and another one to confirm the action. Now that's something that you don't normally see in other touch phones and seems to hurt usability. You get used to it with time, but the main issue here is that the interface logic is different when you deal with icons instead of lists.

When the opened menu uses icons to represent items as opposed to lists, then a single click usually does the job fine. Sounds quite strange, right?

There's a possible reason for that - the scrolling logic used. Again we see two different implementations throughout the interface - scrolling of lists and scrolling of icons is different. And it has a negative impact on the touch usability again.

Thumb scrolling is an option everywhere but in listed menus it gets really bumpy. Instead of a smooth roll in response to every sweep (think Apple iPhone, LG Renoir, Samsung Pixon or Touch Diamond), there's a notable break as each line slowly revolves up or down. And when you stop dragging, the last item you touched remains highlighted. That's a reason why you need a second click to activate an item in listed sub-menus - to prevent accidental clicks.

But it's strange why Nokia had to use that logic in the first place, since when you scroll icon menus the last item you touch when you stop dragging doesn't get activated. So there's some intuitive solution that Nokia just didn't use for listed menus.

In the end dragging the side scrollbar turned out to be our preferred way of scrolling in all menus and we just had to put up with the double-click system in the listed ones.

The main menu and each of its submenus can be set to appear in landscape mode thanks to the build in accelerometer. Rotation is quick enough if you don't use the available transition effects (which are turned off by default).

Landscape mode is available almost through the whole menu

The only parts of the UI that cannot be rotated are the standby screen and, quite naturally, the camera interface. Unfortunately, when you rotate the handset in text input mode, instead of getting a landscape QWERTY keyboard automatically, you are still offered the regular multi-tap input keypad. To get the QWERTY out, you need to activate it from the menu - again a solution that's far behind the competition.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic features a task manager, which is launched by a press-and-hold on the menu key. The task manager itself is identical to the one found on Symbian S60 3.2 devices. Also much like in the previous version of the UI, it appears on top of every pop-up menu.

The task-manager

The 5800 XpressMusic runs on a single 369 MHz ARM11 CPU and has 128 MB of RAM. Given the high-resolution screen, you can guess this isn't the fastest Nokia handset around.

Update: Nokia also switched the CPU frequency with one of their earlier firmware updates. The ARM11 CPU now works at 434 MHz, which combined with some UI optimization delivers better user experience. The 5800 XpressMusic is still some way of the best in class but it is now much easier to swallow.

Major lags and holdups are still rare enough and they will hardly be much of a bother. And as to RAM - 128MB is a respectful count in Symbian terms. Depleting it is quite a challenge, unless done on purpose.
We have prepared a couple of short videos demonstrating the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic user interface.

Those should give you a better idea about its speed responsiveness and organization.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic comes with 86MB of internal memory plus the 8GB memory card that ships along. If that seems insufficient 16GB microSD cards are available and compatible. Accessing data on the card isn't any slower (not noticeably at least) than doing so on the phone memory. The phone didn't seem to slow as the memory card started filling either.

Customizing the UI

There are a number of options for customizing the interface of you Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. For starters you can change the menu view mode - the options here are pretty limited though.

You can also switch theme effects on and off. There are some really nice transition effects all over the interface but if you'd rather have your handset fast than pretty you'd be better off without them.

Finally, you can change the theme itself. From wallpaper through icons and transition effects, everything can be modified. Our unit came with a single theme preinstalled but there are already quite some of those available online.

Next: the battle just begins

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: An impressive high-res screen

2010-10-17T17:20:00.002+08:00

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: An impressive high-res screen

The Communicator series and the exotic 77xx tablets aside, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic 3.2" display is the largest in the Finnish family. The resolution of 360 x 640 pixels is also second to the E90 business monster only. In fact, outside the Windows Mobile realm there isn't any other device to match the display resolution (no - not even the omnipresent iPhone 3G).

So the large and pixel-dense screen, building on the Nokia expertise in displays, grants the 5800 XpressMusic a top spot in the company portfolio. The contrast and brightness are great, although - we have to admit - they are no match for the OLED technology in Nokia N85. But talking about displays, size does count above all.

Unfortunatelly the legibility of the display under direct sunlight is rather poor. It is at about the same level as the HTC Touch Diamond which means that it is rather hard (but not completely impossible) to find a proper angle for working with the phone on a bright sunny day. We guess the interface isn't the only place where Apple have blown the competition away.

As already mentioned, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic uses a resistive touchscreen as opposed to the capacitive displays in devices like LG Prada and Apple iPhone 3G. This means there's a need for a bit of extra pressure to the screen for a click to be registered. The resistive display technology has the dubious advantage of allowing the use of stylus (and fingers with gloves).

When using the stylus, the 5800 display is absolutely on par with any competing touchscreen. On the other hand, sensitivity to fingers is quite adequate but slightly short of the, say, HTC Touch Diamond, which uses the same touchscreen technology.

Haptic feedback is of course enabled. Vibration intensity is adjustable, with three different levels available.

You might have some trouble getting used to the screen sensitivity at first, but problems will be sorted in a short while of using the phone. Besides if you prefer the stylus (which we certainly don't), it gets even easier.
The plectrum is somewhat of a bogus alternative to the stylus - we mean an alternative would be anything that makes the whole thing more thumbable. The plectrum is just another thing to poke your screen with. Now, we are obviously not the kind to go Jimi Hendrix on our phone. Others might find it cool though.

Next: Symbian S60 (r)Evolution

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: Design and construction

2010-10-17T17:16:00.001+08:00

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: Design and construction

The elongated body is the most notable design feature of the Nokia touchscreen. The 16:9 display is enough of a rarity - Samsung F490 is probably the only handset to be used as a reference.

The touchscreen form factor leaves little room for variation, and Nokia 5800 XpressMusic looks to build an identity by staying as close as it can to the house styling. So, instead of looking at just another touch phone, you're faced with a handset that's unmistakably and proudly Nokia.

Up front, the touchscreen is recessed into its frame more than usual, while the hardware keys' styling clearly repeats recent Nseries. The Nseries influence is even more distinct at the rear, but this time the cheap gloss is graciously traded for soft rubbery finish. The color accents on the sides - red or blue - are a nice touch.

The phone is a tad bulkier than we would have liked but still by no means a burden to carry or operate.
The front of the fully touch-operated Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is dominated by the 3.2" touchscreen. Above the display, it's a bit more crowded than usual. What you get there is the tiny cleft of the earpiece, the video-call camera a touch-sensitive Media key and a couple of sensors.

There is quite a lot of stuff at the top

The Media key triggers a drop down menu of shortcuts to media and web. Other than that, an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor to turn the touchscreen off during calls are squeezed between the earpiece and the front-facing camera.

Below the display we find three slim keys - Call and End knobs, with the menu button in the middle. The call buttons are just a little stiff, with not the best press feedback. The menu key is definitely better in terms of response. A press-and-hold on it launches the task manager - in the long-standing Symbian tradition - to let you easily terminate or switch between running applications .

The three keys below the display

It's quite crowded at the top of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic as well. In the top right corner is the Power key, that also handles ringing profiles. On the opposite end is microUSB port, the charger plug and the 3.5mm standard audio jack in between.

A bunch of jacks are located on top

The microUSB connector is hidden under a protective lid to prevent it from filling up with dust and dirt, while the 3.5mm audio jack is exposed. The possible explanation is the XpressMusic branding, which suggests frequent use of the audio jack.

Unfortunately, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic doesn't charge via the microUSB port.
The right side of Nokia 5800 hosts the volume rocker, the screen-lock switch and the camera key. The screen lock switch is an essential shortcut - the implementation in the 5800 is quite ergonomic and friendly. Locking/unlocking of the screen is marked by a short vibration.

The volume rocker is accompanied by the screen lock switch and the camera key

The volume rocker - serving as a zoom lever too - is quite flat and stiff. The nicely projecting shutter key fares a bit better: it offers a distinct half-press but the overall feel is well short of the soft and responsive camera button of N95

The bottom of the handset features the microphone pinhole and a small groove to place a finger and lift the battery cover up.

The bottom is pretty plain

The lanyard eyelet is all the way down on the left side of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. On the same side you'll find the microSD card slot and the SIM compartment - both covered protective plastic covers. Yep - you got that right - the SIM card gets in and out on the side of the handset.

Two card slots, a lanyard eyelet and the loudspeakers' grills are on the left

But don't get this wrong - it's not hot-swappable or anything. You still need to remove your rear cover and battery. Then you put the stylus in a little hole to push the SIM card out. In fact it's so unusual that they drew a manual on the inside of the battery cover about it.

The last thing to note here are the stereo speakers, marked by small clefts on either end of the phone's left hand side.

The back side of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic features the 3 megapixel autofocus camera, which comes with a dual-LED flash. The other thing of interest here is the stylus which slides smoothly into the back panel.

The stylus slides into the back panel

Removing the battery cover reveals the Nokia 1320 mAh Li-Ion BL-5J battery. Quoted at the impressive 406 hours of standby and 8 hours 45 minutes of talk time it is sure to keep your phone going for quite a while.

The battery is has large enough capacity but the handset is quite power-hungry

The commitment to 35 hours of music playback is something we're more inclined to believe than doubt. But these are of course the maximum values achievable.

Update: The real life performance is also quite impressive with the handset easily managing to go through three to four days of moderate usage (about 20 minutes of calls, 30 minutes of browsing through Wi-Fi and 20 minutes of fiddling with the other features a day).

The large screen and the power-hungry features like Wi-Fi and GPS can get tough enough on even the most powerful of batteries. In real life scenarios you can be looking at two days of regular use but should be prepared to charge daily if the screen is constantly on and you're hardly giving the handset a break.

The general build-quality of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is good but the XpressMusic branding does make it hard to expect anything more than decent plastic. The fact of the matter is the first S60 touch handset doesn't get noticed for elaborate exterior. We guess when it's midrange, it's midrange all over. Though we wish the same held true on the high-end too (N96, anyone?).

Here is how Nokia 5800 XpressMusic looks held in hand

Anyway, the exterior gives a nice sturdy impression, which however is ruined by the almost constant unwelcome creaks by the rear cover - the Nokia 5800 looks and feels more like a wobbly slider than a monolith block.

The 5800 dimensions are altogether friendly, and the consistent and identifiable styling will be appreciated by brand loyal users.

Next: An impressive high-res screen

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

2010-10-17T17:14:00.000+08:00

It's touchscreen o'clock for Nokia and the stage is set for the 5800 XpressMusic. Go ahead and touch it. We did and we've got a story to tell.

Now, it's technically not the first time Nokia get their hands dirty with touch screens, but it sure feels they really mean business this time. For Nokia 5800 is not the only story here. The smart platform with the most influential touch receives its first trial by touch. Being the first device running Series 60 5th alone is enough for the 5800 to be remembered by.

You can check whether you have the latest firmware for your Nokia 5800 XpressMusic over here.

It's a first try and proceeding with caution is only fair. Nokia 5800 is unthreateningly and unobtrusively positioned in the mid-range and the XpressMusic branding helps share some of that first-S60-touchscreen weight. Still, it's way more than an affordable music-centered handset. The 5800 has a strong and unmistakable Nokia identity and delivers multimedia prowess. So, let's touch, shall we?

Key features:

3.2" 16M-color TFT LCD 16:9 touchscreen display (360 x 640 pixels)
Symbian S60 5th edition
ARM 11 434 MHz CPU, 128 MB of SDRAM memory
3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash
VGA video recording at 30fps
Dual-band 3G with HSDPA support
Quad-band GSM support
Wi-Fi
Capable GPS receiver and Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch
microSD card memory expansion, ships with an 8GB card
TV out
FM radio with RDS
Bluetooth and USB v2.0
3.5mm standard audio jack
Excellent audio quality
Landscape on-screen virtual QWERTY keyboard
Proximity sensor for screen auto turn-off
Accelerometer sensor for automatic UI rotation and motion-based gaming
Rich retail package
Affordable price
Office document viewer
OVI and MySpace integration (direct image and video uploads)

Main disadvantages:

Limited 3rd party software availability
UI is still immature with somewhat dodgy user experience
Touchscreen sensitivity not the best in the class
No smart dialing
Poor camera image quality
Touch web browser not quite polished
No office document editing out-of-the-box
Doesn't charge off microUSB

Retail package: hats off

What's a better way to start a review than a retail package brimming over with goodies. We cannot quite remember a handset to offer this much in the box without getting out-of-reach kind of high-end.

For starters, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic comes with an 8GB memory card - not bad for a sub-300 euro handset. There is also a microUSB cable to use for your data connections, a TV-out cable that normally ships with high-end N-series models only and a two piece handsfree. It's 3.5mm on either end so you can easily replace the provided headset without sacrificing the remote.

And if you're still not impressed, Nokia 5800 won't stop there. That sweet touchscreen needs protection and the carrying case sure comes in handy. Made of rubbery plastic, the case is pleasantly soft to the touch and seems durable enough. Another nice surprise is the desk stand which according to Nokia will also be included in every retail package. Well, we didn't get it so we guess there is some market dependency here.

Update: For some reason Nokia have replaced the rubbery carrying case with a TV-out cable in the 5800 XpressMusic retail package. To be honest we liked it better the way it was before but it's still one of the best (if not the best) retail packages you can get in this price range.

It also has an eyelet to attach the spare stylus or the plectrum-shaped alternative. Yep, if stylus ain't your game you're not entirely optionless. Now, for all we know, there's no better substitute for stylus than our very own thumb but we're yet to see about that with Nokia 5800.
To complete exploring the retail box, we should also mention the mandatory DC charger and the bunch of manuals and quick start guides provided. There is also a mini DVD containing a presentation of the phone features and the required PC sync software.
So far so good - the mid-range Nokia 5800 XpressMusic passed the first test with flying colors but let's see if it can keep the pace through the rest of the review.

Next: Design and construction

HTC Wildfire - index

2010-10-10T13:45:00.001+08:00

The HTC Wildfire is a down-sized, down-clocked and down-priced version of the HTC Desire. If Sony Ericsson can do it with the X10 mini, then HTC have all the right in the world to make a Desire mini too.

Here we go to the review for each fundamental function.