Thứ Năm, 19 tháng 11, 2009

T-Mobile G1 review: The whole cagoogle

The T-Mobile G1 is the Googlephone. Did we really need to say that? Well, there's more Google in this story than there is phone, so we guess we did. We've got a new contender on the race track but we're talking no rookie here. If you thought Apple made the phone game breathtaking, think of where it's all heading with Google keen to play along. Unlike the iPhone Mac OS X, the Android is the joint effort of the whole Open Handset Alliance, which brings together makers that sure know the drill. So much for the rookie, as long as Google is siding with Asus, HTC, LG, Garmin, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba.
But well, that's the bigger story. We have the first chapter right here, and it's called the T-Mobile G1 or HTC Dream if you prefer. The first impression sure is important. So, there we go.
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T-Mobile G1 official photos
T-Mobile G1 or to be also released as HTC Dream might not have the specs to make a geek's heart melt but we guess the Android OS was still gonna draw drool even if it came tossed in a plastic bag or wrapped in newspaper. So, forget about the peculiar form factor, the full QWERTY keyboard, the large and crisp touchscreen and the anti-utopian design. Android's inside and google is the limit.

Key features:

  • Android OS
  • 3.2" capacitive touchscreen display of HVGA resolution
  • Slide-out five-row full QWERTY keyboard
  • Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528 MHz CPU, 192 MB RAM
  • Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
  • 3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps
  • 3.15 megapixel autofocus camera
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
  • GPS
  • Trackball
  • Accelerometer sensor
  • Digital compass

Main disadvantages:

  • Quite unassuming looks
  • Pretty bulky and heavy
  • The slider mechanism rattles
  • No video-call camera
  • No video recording
  • No flash support in the web browser
  • No file transfers or A2DP over Bluetooth
  • No FM radio
  • No screen auto rotation
  • No smart dialing
G1 does look like a rather wary and conservative approach to introducing a new OS to the mobile world. While the T-Mobile G1 isn't by any means low-end it kind of deliberately falls short of what the current multimedia monsters have to offer, both in terms of styling and mind-boggling high-tech feats. This gives the G1 two quite important advantages. Firstly the main focus of the device remains on the OS, though this doesn't exactly relieve the pressure. Secondly, keeping a low profile allows the G1 to get away with its juvenile weaknesses more easily.
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T-Mobile G1 all over
Another seemingly smart move by Google is to debut in a rather vacant segment where the G1 will face less competition. While there certainly are a few slide-out QWERTY touchscreens, only a couple of them have achieved a fair degree of success recently.
HTC Touch Pro and Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 are both manufactured by HTC and are basking in the spotlight. However, the WinMo Professional isn't everyone's cup of tea even with all the custom plug-ins there are. So why not freshen things up by bringing something completely new - the G1.
The result they achieved is controversial - the G1 sells pretty decently but still hasn't matched the iPhone kind of hype. Part of the explanation is of course the iPhone itself, which raised the bar rather high for any newcomers. But we doubt that any personal failure of the G1 - if any - is likely to spell doom for the Android platform. So, in a way that sounds pretty safe and reassuring for this here Google-phone.
Anyway, we're more interested in that one soldier at this point rather than the army to come. So, let's see if there is more to it, as we inspect the T-Mobile G1 more closely. We take off on the next page with the design and ergonomics of the first of them Androids.

T-Mobile MDA Vario IV and Compact IV: First Look

Two new devices were revealed by T-Mobile at a press conference held in Germany - the MDA Compact IV and MDA Vario IV, both close relatives to the recently announced HTC Touch Diamond.
Actually, the MDA Compact IV is the T-Mobile version of the HTC Touch Diamond with a revamped design - a bit larger, more rounded edges, and most importantly - a lot lighter at 98 g as compared to 110 g of the HTC Touch Diamond. The proprietary 3D TouchFLO menu is also changed - now it turns up in white and magenta colors. The system RAM however has shrunk to 128MB as opposed to 192MB in the HTC Touch Diamond.

MDA Compact IV
By the way O2 also have their own incarnation of the HTC Diamond platform called quite expectedly the O2 XDA Diamond.

MDA Compact IV vs. HTC Touch Diamond: the differences are only cosmetic
All the other specifications of the MDA Compact IV remain the same as those of the Touch Diamond so users can enjoy a GPS receiver, Wi-Fi and a 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera. Powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro, the T-Mobile MDA Compact IV packs a 2.8-inch VGA display and is extremely thin at 12mm. It has a built-in accelerometer which allows screen auto rotation. Additionally, it would have the sweet 4GB of storage memory (no memory card slot though). FM radio with RDS and a proprietary HTC mini-USB port are also on board along with Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR.
The T-Mobile MDA Compact IV will be available in July at currently unknown price.
The T-Mobile MDA Vario IV is the other device which was revealed at the conference. It's based on the rumored and yet unannounced HTC Raphael platform. HTC themselves haven't announced a commercial device based on that platform, so the MDA Vario IV in a way gives a glimpse of a future HTC handset too.

MDA Vario IV
The T-Mobile MDA Vario IV will obviously hit on the HTC TyTN II since its main accent is the full sliding QWERTY keyboard - surprisingly the thickness of the device however has been kept to 18mm.
The MDA Vario IV is a communication expert, offering a tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS support and full HSDPA 7.2Mbps. On top of this are the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, and GPS connectivity.
The device runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS and is powered by the same Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 Mhz processor. The memory department has also got a boost to 256 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM, this time expandable via a microSD card slot.
The display remains the same as in Touch Diamond - 2.8" 65K TFT touchscreen, with a VGA resolution (480 x 640 pixels). Keeping the same 3.2 MP camera, the MDA Vario IV has got a major boost in the battery performance, thanks to the 1340 mAh battery as opposed to the 900 mAh one in the Touch Diamond.
The actual dimensions of the new QWERTY communicator are 103 x 52 x 18 mm and weight 158 g. The MDA Vario IV is due for release in the autumn, yet its pricing is still unknown.

Hands on MDA Compact IV and Vario IV
Now that we've introduced the players, hit the jump for more live impressions and some camera samples.

MWC 2008: Various brands overview

Hands-on with the Readius mobile phone

We think it's time we pay due respect to smaller brands. They quite deserve it for offering some exciting devices, which are sometimes capable enough to stand up to the big fish in the pond. First off, it's the Readius fold-away e-book, the iRiver GSM phone, the Garmin Nuvifone, Toshiba and their Widows devices, a Texas Instruments Android prototype, and others to follow really soon.
Polymer Vision announced the Readius mobile phone a few weeks back. The Raedius has a display as large as two business cards. In other words, the Dutch company has managed to squeeze a screen with twice the surface area of Apple iPhone in a device not much larger than most mobiles around.
The Readius secret is that it has a rollable display. You roll it out, read your email, and then roll it back again. Screen legibility is awesome and bright daylight won't hurt it either.

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The Readius offers a 5-inch display with great legibilty
The display uses the electric ink technology and thus brings amazing power saving capabilities. Once a certain screen is displayed no more energy is needed to display it until the image changes. The other most obvious effect is that the fold-away form factor makes a color screen implausible. Instead, the 5" QVGA display is a 16-grayscale unit.
Once you roll the screen up, it becomes a pretty compact device that can amazingly fit into any pocket.

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Fold it away and it becomes really pocketable
By the sound of it, Polymer Vision will be challenging the Amazon's Kindle e-book reader, since the grayscale display will not do for watching videos or browsing photos.
The Readius mobile phone comes with UMTS/HSDPA connectivity for downloading all the content you might want to read - including your emails and messages.
The other connectivity options of the Readius include USB v2.0 and Bluetooth v2.0. There is also a built-in microSD slot with support for high capacity memory cards.
The Readius mobile phone is powered by a 400MHz ARM processor and has only 8 hardware keys that are used for all its features.
Unfortunately, the phone dialling funtion of the Readius is rather limited. You are confined to using your Outlook-synced contacts - dialling a phone in numeric mode is not posible as there is no keypad of any sort.

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The Readius is amazingly thin too
The Readius is expected to set foot in stores worldwide in mid-2008 with the company currently set to conclude some high-profile contracts. Price is not yet known, but should be in the vicinity of high-end mobile phones.

O2 Cocoon review: Music can be cool

O2 Cocoon is a captivating music-centered device manufactured exclusively for the O2 carrier. Although it's a last year edition, it sports all the sweet features you would expect in a contemporary handset - 3G and HSDPA support, large QVGA TFT display, a 2 megapixel snapper and 2GB of internal memory - not to mention the turn-head design.
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Official images

Key features:

  • Quad-band GSM support
  • 2.28" 262K-color TFT display of QVGA resolution
  • Hidden external LED display
  • 3G and HSDPA support with video calls
  • 2 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash
  • 2GB of integrated memory
  • microSD memory card slot
  • FM radio with RDS
  • USB port (USB drive mode supported)
  • Stereo Bluetooth
  • Stereo speakers
  • Dedicated music keys
  • Original design and bold choice of color
  • Rich accessories pack
  • Great web browser
  • Nice music player

Main disadvantages:

  • Sizably thick at 21mm
  • External LED display turns off too quickly
  • Short battery life
  • Poor file manager
The O2 Cocoon is designed by the Syntes Studio, and manufactured by Pantech exclusively for O2. The user interface isn't just a spin-off but a new creation modeled in close cooperation with the O2 development team themselves.
With prices ranging between 0 and 199 GBP with different O2 plans, the O2 Cocoon can meet a variety of user needs.
The O2 Cocoon is impressive enough to grab attention. Add the audacious white exterior and you get yourself a handset that stands out in the crowd.
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The O2 Cocoon at GSMArena.com
The shell-like Cocoon certainly sounds and looks sweet, but we are yet to see about that as this review rolls. We've even spiced it up with some live action videos. So waste no more time and hit the jump to continue.

LG GD900 Crystal review: Crystal clear

When talking about good design it's usually all about placing the right elements in the right places. And in the rare cases when an R&D team actually comes up with something innovative, they usually reserve it for a 2000 buck handset like the Motorola Aura. The LG GD900 Crystal and its see-through keypad, however, prefers walking among the mortals to sitting on mount Olympus and drinking ambrosia.
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LG GD900 Crystal official photos
And luckily the sleek handset is much more than a pretty face. The rich feature set of the GD900 Crystal places it only a short step away from LG's multimedia flagships. However the lack of GPS is easily made up for with cool features like gesture shortcuts and multi-touch input. Sure, these may seem like fancy additions rather than key features, but sometimes it's all about winning the hearts of the users rather than their minds. And the Crystal seems pretty well designed to do that.

Key features

  • Unique see-through alphanumeric touch-sensitive keypad
  • 3" 16M color capacitive TFT touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
  • S-Class Touch UI
  • Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
  • 3G with HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
  • Wi-Fi
  • 8 megapixel autofocus camera, LED flash, manual focus, geotagging, image stabilization, multi face detection (up to 3), smile detection
  • D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps, VGA@30fps, QVGA time-lapse and slow-mo video recording
  • 1.5GB storage memory
  • Hot-swappable microSD card slot(up to 32GB)
  • microUSB v2.0, mass storage mode
  • TV-out port
  • Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
  • Gesture shortcuts
  • Accelerometer for screen auto rotate
  • Multi-touch input
  • DivX and XviD support
  • FM radio with RDS
  • Dolby for Mobile audio enhancement
  • Office document viewer
  • Smart dialing

Main disadvantages:

  • Poor screen sunlight legibility
  • Below average camera image quality
  • No built-in GPS receiver
  • No standard 3.5mm audio jack
  • Records video in 3GP format
  • Email attachment size limit is 1MB (both ways)
  • Limited DivX/XviD video support
  • All-plastic build
So what we have on our hands here is a handset that's dressed to impress and with a mind bright enough to keep your attention. We really like it when there's something new thrown at us and a see-through touch-sensitive keypad is certainly a first in the mobile world.
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LG GD900 Crystal live shots
The novelty factor is certainly there, we only need t to check if the delicate LG Crystal will pass our tests with flying colors. The ergonomics inspection is due right after the jump.

LG BL40 New Chocolate preview: Having a first bite

Introduction

The words "Black Label" evoke images of things exclusive, reserved for the lucky few. The new entrant in the arena, the LG BL40 New Chocolate, the intriguing successor of highly popular style-conscious phones such as the Chocolate, Shine and Secret, fully deserves the honor. It looks like the kind of gadget that is always on the other side of the store window or in the hands of someone demonstrating a prototype that never sees the light of day. But the LG BL40 New Chocolate is quite real and it's here to stay and fight for market success - in fact LG announced today the New Chocolate will hit the European market in mid-September this year.
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LG BL40 New Chocolate New Chocolate press images
The unorthodox long shape definitely sets it apart and the glossy black plastic with careful touches of silver trim easily remind of the times we first saw the LG Chocolate in flesh. The LG BL40 New Chocolate is immensely sleek and the 4-inch screen with 21:9 aspect ratio easily makes it one of the most unusual mobile phones that have set foot in our office this year.

LG BL40 New Chocolate at a glance

  • General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 1900/2100 MHz, EDGE class 10, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
  • Form factor: Touchscreen bar
  • Dimensions: 128 x 51 x 10.9 mm
  • Display: Unique 4" TFT capacitive touchscreen with 21:9 aspect ratio and 800 x 345 pixels resolution, multitouch support, scratch resistant glass
  • Platform: Latest S-Class UI
  • Memory: 1GB internal memory, microSD card slot
  • Camera: 5-megapixels auto-focus camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, LED flash, geo-tagging, image stabilization, face detection, Smile Shot, Blink detection, Intelligent shot, Beauty and Art shot, VGA video recording at 30 fps
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
  • Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate, Proximity sensor for screen auto-turn-off, FM radio with RDS, FM transmitter, DivX/XviD support, Dolby mobile, TV out, multi-touch input, office document viewer
  • Battery: 1000 mAh battery
Unlike some other fashionable handsets out there, the LG BL40 New Chocolate beauty is not skin deep - the hardware has all the bells and whistles a modern high-end gadget should have. And though technically not a smartphone, the BL40 New Chocolate S-class user interface offers convenient multitasking and is polished to match the sleek exterior.
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LG BL40 New Chocolate in our office
With a brilliant screen with aspect ratio shared only with cinema screens and a few home cinema oriented TVs you can be sure the LG BL40 New Chocolate is a star. It certainly is no introvert - with TV out and DivX/XviD support, along with Dolby mobile plus an FM transmitter, we guess you can say that the LG BL40 New Chocolate broadcasts on all frequencies.
The camera and connectivity prowess of the phone do great job of covering all the advanced features found on phones today. So, it's got the looks and it's got the brains. Will its extravagance make it a hit or an oddity?
After the jump, you can see the LG BL40 New Chocolate do a 360-degree spin for you while we take a closer look at its hardware. Just keep in mind it's an early version we're working with and some design elements might go through changes before the handset hits the market.