I got a chance to look at some cool stuff Samsung has out right now that is pretty lust-worthy. The Galaxy S3 is sort of a beast, the note is pretty much a tablet if you ask me, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a sexier TV. Below are my impressions of those devices.
Samsung S3 and Note
These two devices are pretty similar in that they both make and receive phone calls. Other than that, they have pretty stark differences. The Galaxy S3 is quicker, with a faster CPU speed, more up to date OS (Ice Cream Sandwich), and to me, just plain sexier. However, the Note is no slouch with it’s stylus and huge display at 5.3 inches. Depending on your aesthetic tastes, I’d say either is a pretty good bargain if you don’t mind Samsung’s Touchflo skin on top of stock Android.
One service that I really liked was the Group Sharing found in Samsung’s “Group Cast”. What was cool was that you could share a PowerPoint presentation, images, or .PDF files in real time with other folks (with a Samsung Galaxy S3 or WiFi enabled TV). Any person in the group could move the slides along or mark them up. This functionality is a welcome addition to the Android experience.
Samsung’s new line of Smart TVs are really sexy and have great functionality. They are a little pricey though, so if you are on a budget I might do a little research before plunking down your cold hard cash. What’s really cool is the “Smart Interaction” which allows you to control the TV or Play a Game with motion or voice. Now, this is very Kinect-like, however, if you don’t have an Xbox360 with Kinect, then this is of course an alternative. The TV also comes with Active 3D Glasses – which are pricier than passive 3D glasses but supposedly give higher resolution. I’ve got a passive 3D TV at home and it’s great, and I got it for a little less, so like I said, make sure to do your homework. I’ll continue to keep you updated on the latest in lustworthy gadgets for the Holidays!
We got a chance to check out the Xperia PLAY 4G for the last few weeks and I’ve definitely got some opinions on the phone. Read further to find out what they are!
Likes:
Design
When looking at the phone, it honestly looks like a business device. The chrome and shiny back really look sleek. The 4″ screen doesn’t look over-sized and it’s not a device you would be ashamed to pull out on the train or around others. You really can’t tell that this device is meant for gaming until you slide out the game pad.
Software Tweaks
Sony has skinned Android Gingerbread (Ice Cream Sandwich’s predecessor) and overall its pretty nice. It’s mostly visual tweaks like widgets and the way you get around the app-tray. None of these tweaks are groundbreaking but they add some extra pizzazz.
Games
This is what you’re waiting for no doubt. I really like the fact that there are games specifically designed for this device. They also have great titles. I’ve been playing Sims for the last week. The graphics for playing games like Asphalt 6 were great and the phone rarely stuttered in those high-speed moments. This phone really takes you away from the lower quality games and makes you want to spend money investing in decent games because you can play them better with a direction pad, touch pad and physical buttons.
Dislikes:
Size
The look of the device is great, but it’s pretty heavy and the game pad really makes the device look thick. I totally understand that the space is needed for physical game buttons, but it really detracts from the beauty of the phone. If this phone could slim down, it would look a lot nicer.
Buttons
I’m really talking about the the Android buttons here. They are really thin and are situated in a sort of arc at the bottom of the phone which is kind of annoying. It’s really hard to hit any of them without looking since they are so close together and not linear. I also didn’t like the left and right bumper as well as the volume rocker all on the same side. It’s really cluttered on the right side and the left side is pretty much barren except for the micro USB slot and 3.5 mm jack. I really would have liked to see the bumpers a little smaller and perhaps doubling as the volume rocker when a game is not being played. Or maybe even one of them as a physical camera button when in camera mode. I definitely understand the need for the game buttons to only have in-game use, but they are just so big so you really can’t ignore them. so why not use them?
Touch Pad
The two touch pads are really neat, but I just can’t get used to them. The area is so small it’s difficult for me to really game effectively. However, it is more sensitive than the D-Pad I’ve found, but I’d rather have a more sensitive D – Pad in the end.
Summary:
I love the concept. It’s a phone that plays games. Well. It has a directional pad built in along with the other bells and whistles that come with a normal game controller. But it’s also a phone. This is awesome, and if you like to play games on your mobile device you should really consider this phone. However, I found that the phone and game portions of the device didn’t mesh as well as they could. You really can’t use the directional pad or touch pad anywhere other than in a game. For the rest of the time, half of your phone is unusable which I think is a real shame. I think Sony Ericson should have ditched balance and went with one of the characteristics. A gaming device that makes calls or a calling device that plays games with an emphasis on one or the other, but this phone seems to be balanced exactly 50/50 which I think hurts it a bit. But what do I know – check it out for yourself!
I got a chance to take a look at Nokia’s E7 and I had a blast doing so. It was cool getting stares and having people ask what type of phone it was. I have the lowdown on what it was like to actually use the phone. Though my relationship was short-lived, about two weeks, I had some ups and downs. Read on to find out what they were.
Likes:
Form
So did I mention this phone is sexy? I got the Austin Martin Grey (ok I made that up). The phone just looks and feels nice in the hand. It has gentle angular curves on both ends of the device much like the N8 which no other device really has. It’s not the thinnest device, but it doesn’t feel flimsy at all like the Nexus S or the Galaxy S. In fact, it’s sturdy enough to hang out in the pocket all day and come out unscathed without the aid of conventional phone armor. I’m still not a fan of the slidy-nob to unlock but at least the center button serves that function as well. There is also another slidy-nob on the top right of the device that serves as a zoom in/out or volume control which I found clever. I also loved the slide-out sim-card trey. It keeps you from having to open the phone for switching sims if your into that kinda thing.
The Extras
Again, I love the fact that it comes with a mini HDMI slot and adapter for Hi Definition output. Dual LED lights for a nice bright flash instead of the commoner’s one LED light source. Really spacious and well thought out keyboard that slides into a provocative pose. Though it takes a little getting used to at first, the sliding mechanism is quite sturdy and unique. Most people I showed the phone to were pleasantly surprised with the hidden keyboard. These are the little things that make the phone pleasant to use. The 4″ AMOLED screen certainly doesn’t hurt either. The display is quite bright and is makes video playback look great.
Staying Connected
You can stay connected through your OVI password. I liked being able to stay logged into my facebook and twitter and get updates via the widget on one of my homescreens. You also get updates from your different email accounts as well as messages from contacts.
Dislikes:
Audio
On more than one occasion, I did notice the phone quality seriously depreciate. The audio would sort of pop, almost like an old vinyl record would. Not sure what that was about, but it wasn’t often. However, I did notice it and thought it worth a mention. Other than that the audio quality was on par with my other phone experiences.
Browser
I’m not clear on what the vision is for the Symbian browser, but I wasn’t too impressed with the browsing experience. It was fairly fast on my T-mobile “3.5g” connection, however, I found it cumbersome to navigate. It would give me a list of sites to navigate, but it always felt like I was doing too much work to get from one place to another. The phone never really supplied me with possible sites I was trying to type out, nor was it visually engaging. Of course you can bookmark, the surfing with more than one window open wasn’t very elegant and was definitely difficult to do while on the go. You had to stop what you were doing in order to navigate and that can be a little annoying in a city like NY where I need my info ASAP while I’m on the street.
Data Input
The keyboard definitely helped with text input but I am still unsure of why Nokia doesn’t just break down and add a full digital keyboard for both portrait and landscape modes. Why do I have a number pad in portrait mode? It’s useful when talking with the drone on the other end of the phone when trying to pay a bill or turn the cable back on, but that’s about it. Wish there was at least an option to switch between keyboards. I also didn’t like being taken to a text area when typing up an email or response to a text. I think it would look better if I would see the text right there next to the original received message without first going into that text box. It feels like an extra step which ads to the time it takes to get simple things like that done.
Camera
Why oh why did you skinch on the camera for the E7? Give it the bulgy eye like you did with the N8. I don’t care if you guys were concerned about the slimness. I like my phones with curves in all the right places! I thought 8 Megapixels was good, but no true focus killed it for me. All of the pieces for a great shooting experience and no control over focus ruins the fun. It’s like going to the mall on a shopping spree and only having a dollar to spend. Ok I’m being a bit dramatic, but it did feel funky. I ended up wanting to wait till I got my true camera for picture taking.
Overall:
Overall I enjoyed the device and I can’t sing enough praises about how well made and beautiful the device looked and felt in hand. Other than a few funky sounding calls, and camera disappointments, I enjoyed using the phone and wouldn’t mind owning the device. However, I must say that Symbian is beginning to feel a bit aged, especially when I compare it to iOS or Android. It’s a shame because the phone itself is a true beauty.
The wonderful people over at womworld.com sent us a unit and below are my thoughts. The N8 is definitely a powerful device, and I was quite curious about what my experience with it would be like. So lets get to it!
Hardware:
Its a solid piece of hardware – that’s for sure. Once before, someone demoing the unit did a key-scratch test and it did nothing to the unit. Needless to say, I didn’t do that with my unit, but I have no problems believing that if it was accidentally scratched the phone would be ok. Its fully encased in an aluminum shell. The shape is a bit odd to me, but I ended up liking it. It feels really nice in my hand and had a nice weight to it. Not unbelievably light, but not too heavy either. It really was just right. For its thickness, I wondered if they would have had problems adding a keyboard, but I guess that’s what the E7 is for. It had plenty of buttons and protrusions. Dedicated camera button, screen-lock slider, and volume rocker all on the right side. Power button and HDMI port and 3.5 mm headphone jack on the top. Then there was the menu button on the bottom left and the 12 mp Camera with xenon flash, which was quite handy.
Software:
Symbian 3. It’s been re-worked and I think it does well in many areas. For example, you have three home screens which is nice, and the ability to add widgets. They are quite useful like an RSS Feeder, or time and date, Instant Messaging clients, email clients, music, etc…. Transitions are quite smooth and you can find a lot of pertinent information at a glance. Your menu button takes you into the menu of whichever application you happen to be in which is nice, and the camera button allows you to quickly jump out of an application for a quick snap when the mood hits you. If you hold down the menu, a very well done task manager appears where you can manage your applications. It shows you a preview of any application that is still open and you can ‘x’ out of any one. I found this extremely helpful and will now be looking for something similar in my next device. The OS was polished, but straightforward. Very simple.
What I Liked:
I liked the ability to customize to a level that many other devices don’t allow. Loved being able to customize my sound profiles and schedule them! Loved the email widget. I could get a quick snapshot of my last few emails and figure out if I wanted to get in and reply or check in another few hours. Quick access to my music with the music widget, and I could change the images that would appear once I locked the screen and how long that transition would take. I could have the ringer use the voice program to literally “say” the name of the person who was calling me if they were in my phone book which was awesome! My phone would suddenly say the name of the person calling – thought those were great geeky moments.
One of my favorite applications was the social app. You could link it to your facebook or twitter account and get a stream of updates. It actually got me more involved in my twitter and facebook life because I can’t stand a long process of logging on just to say a few comments and logging back off. This app provided quick updates. I could say what I had to say – upload a pic and be done.
Another nice feature was the clock. While your phone is sleeping, you can set it to display a clock. Its very simple with no animation so it consumes very little battery life. While on the topic, the battery life was pretty good. I could get more than a day of full use. However, you’d have to use the phone gingerly the next day if you wanted the phone to last till you get home to charge. However, I found its battery consumption pretty impressive. You can obviously improve the performance by being diligent about your app management and display settings, but all in all the phone generally has enough juice to do what it has to do. Symbian 3 also has a battery saving mode you can switch to which makes certain tweaks to display, data consumption, etc…which will tighten your phone’s belt so-to-speak. It worked well, but I found it too restrictive so I rarely engaged it, but it was nice to know that it was there just in case you were in a jam.
I also loved the tactile feed back. Seriously – its the best I’ve ever felt on any device before. It really feels like I’ve depressed a real button when typing a message.
What I Disliked:
This part of the review is inevitable and to be honest I had a few gripes with the phone in certain areas. I’m not sure if this was the phone’s fault, but I found myself dropping calls – a lot. A lot more than usual. It was noticeable to many people I spoke to and they would end saying “Something’s wrong with your phone” or something to that effect. Once I switched back to my old phone (HD2) it was normal again.
Another issue was that I would be pressing buttons with my cheek while on a call. I didn’t know why at first because there is a light sensor which automatically turns the screen off when the phone is against the face. I think what the issue was, was the fact that the phone isn’t that large and when placed against the ear, some light may get in. Enough to confuse the sensor just enough to have the screen display for a moment and for me to press the mute icon or the hold icon. This was quite annoying.
The menu button was oddly placed in my opinion because of the slope design of the phone. On more than one occasion I almost dropped the phone because it was a stretch to press the button with my left thumb. Also, getting through the phone settings menu was a bit difficult as some things were pretty hard to find. It took me the longest time just to turn off the battery saver!
I didn’t like the fact that you can only put widgets of one size on the screen. I also didn’t like the fact that you couldn’t put shortcuts on the screen – only widgets. You could put a widget on the screen called shortcuts though, but I wanted a little bit more control here.
The keyboard was pretty nice, and as mentioned before, I really loved the tactile feed back. When horizontal, you get a full QWERTY keyboard which is great. They also give you a pretty good predictive text program. However, you really have to press to get your words out. Pretend that it’s a real button and things will go faster. However, my issue is that it’s not a real button and I don’t feel like I should have to press that hard or that long to get my letter to display. No QWERTY Keyboard while Vertical is unforgivable. Some people prefer texting with a dialer, but let us choose. Many of us no longer like typing with the number pad and decided to upgrade the phone. You can say, well they can always have the full keyboard in landscape mode. While this is true, it leads my to my last annoyance which is why is there always an extra step?
Web experience was decent, and quite fast. But nothing special. To be honest, I couldn’t really get into the web with this phone, so web surfing became a chore – mostly because of the keyboard and entry.
While using the phone, I always felt like there was an extra step to accomplish for everything. Typing a message. I had to navigate to the message app, then press it. Then press the empty field to activate the keyboard – which would lead to the text screen where I could then type. Why wasn’t the keyboard initiated once I got in the app? Why did I have to get to another screen just for the text? Same with email, and many of the other applications. I always felt like I was taking at least one more step than was necessary.
Wrap-Up:
Overall, I felt like the phone was a very nice device. I loved the looks it got from people who had never seen the N8 before. Great form-factor and it was quite functional. There were some slowdowns and dropped calls, errant button pressing, and redundancies but I still had a good feeling about the phone. It really does do a lot. Full HD to the TV! Flash support from the browser, customization. It’s all there.
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Samsung Fascinate and had a few weeks to play around with this beautiful phone. Does the phone live up to the hype, or does it falter? Check out my thoughts below.
Hardware:
The first thing I noticed about the phone was how stunning it was visually. Make no mistake about it, this phone has a beautiful form factor. It’s large and sleek with chrome trim around its borders. I like the touch buttons rather than physical buttons which i feel are a follow-through with the slick design. The phone is quite light in the hand. I definitely expected the phone to be a bit heavier, but was pleasantly surprised with its heaviness – or lack thereof. It weighs around 4.5 ounces compared to the iPhone’s 4.8 ounces. I had to take a double-take at the specs because the Fascinate seems to be a lot lighter than the iPhone. Seriously, a few times I felt like the Fascinate would fly out of my hand if I made too many sudden movements! I think the weight might have been spread out over the wider surface area of the Fascinate. The micro USB port and 3.5 mm headphone jack are located at the top of the phone, while the power button/lock button is located on the right side of the phone. The volume rocker is on the left side. Sadly, no dedicated camera button in site. The display is a 4.0 inch WVGA capacitive touch screen display. It has a 5.0 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom. It also has a 1Ghz processor which makes things nice and speedy.
Software:
It’s running android 2.1 which is not the latest iteration of android,which would be android 2.2, but I suspect an ota update isn’t too far away. Its a lot more mature than android 1.6 of course with a slew of new functions, but with Google’s break-neck pace of providing updates, 2.1 is definitely getting old fast if only in name. Also, Samsung has obviously added their flavoring to the OS which also slows down the updates because it takes time to re-skin once they come out.
Likes:
I love the form factor. Its slim so it doesn’t quite put the bulge in your pocket that other 4.0 inch and larger phones would have. Its also so light which for some people may be a problem, but for me I find to be a plus. I also like the text to speech functionality, even though, I think it still has some improvements that could be made. Its still not as accurate as I would like, but i still love it. I also love the interactive backgrounds. You can also download a bunch from the application store. Also, the processor speed really makes you feel like your using a quality product. You rarely have to wait for anything. Swype movement is always smooth and snappy. I also like the Buddies Now Widget from Samsung. It’s a quick way to flick through your most used buddies, and it takes their images from your Google contacts. I also love the 3G Mobile Hotspot app, but that’s because Verizon supports that. Many carriers would cut that functionality out all together, but I’m glad its here on the Fascinate. Call Quality is quite good as well with both myself and the caller on the other end surprised at the call clarity. Lastly, the lock-screen has lots of great information like time and date. You have to drag a puzzle piece to the open spot in order to unlock the phone, but what’s clever is that if you have when you have a missed call or new email, that new piece of information gets its own puzzle section. You can then drag that puzzle section to the open spot and go directly to the intended application.
Dislikes:
Earlier I was talking about how light the phone was, part of the reason may be because of the plastic back cover. I didn’t like the feel of the back cover as I would rather the back cover be metal. It’s definitely a small thing, and quite subjective, however, the plastic feel takes away from the mature feel of the phone. I also didn’t like the lack of a physical camera button. The camera controls are pretty extensive and the shutter speed is decent for a phone so a two stage button I feel is in order.
When it comes to contacts – Android automatically syncs with your contacts and if your like me, you may have a ton of contacts that you don’t necessarily use. So your contact list will be huge – so you will have to do a lot of fine tuning to do. That’s where the buddies now app comes in, but it can still be annoying to have so many contacts in your contact list.
Wrap up:
Overall, I loved the phone. It has such a visually stunning presence which can totally be a conversation piece in a social atmosphere. Its light in the hand, and the 1Ghz processor is not for show. Camera, is OK but nothing to write home about. Call quality is great and a great sign of a well put together phone. Android 2.1 is great, but 2.2 it is not. Definitely not a deal-breaker, but if I bought the phone, I would definitely be looking out for the updates. All-in-all , totally worth it for looks and functionality in my opinion. It’s shortcomings are easily overshadowed by the areas it excels in. Do you have the phone? Let us know your thoughts below!
If your anything like me then you can’t wait to get your hands on the latest and greatest gadgets. The next lust-worthy piece of electronics is coming to T-mobile it seems and this phone is the successor of the G1. Three guess for what the name will be…that’s right…in a surprise move – they will be calling it the (wait for it….) G2! I actually still have my G1 and if it weren’t so slow, I would probably still be using it. Those of you who have had the G1 will attest to Google’s diligence in keeping it up to date as best they could despite the phone’s lack of horsepower and the phone’s sturdiness. It wasn’t the sexiest phone, but it definitely surprised you with it’s subtle elegance once you had it in your hand. Keyboard was killer and the snappy slide mechanics were cool.
Now its elder brother, the G2, comes in to take its place as the #1 Android phone in the T-mobile Stable. I say number one because it will be the only one carrying stock Android at launch. Personally I much prefer it that way instead of having to do with the phone company’s vision of what they think is cool. Stock Android has a simplistic beauty about it that I find to be both charming and refreshing unlike the business of Motorola’s “Motoblur” or Samsung’s iPhone-reminiscent “Touchwiz.” Sadly, I doubt it will come with Android’s ability to tether since T-mobile has traditionally killed that option on all its smart phones – but the rest is still there. The specs are as follows according to HTC’s G2 info page found here.
It has a Qualcom Processor humming along at 800 MHz, Android 2.2, 4GB ROM, 512 MB RAM, 3.7 inch WVGA display, GPS,5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash,wifi and bluetooth compatible, 1300 mAh.
It takes HD video, runs at 4G speeds on T-Mobile’s new network, and takes advantage of Android’s Voice Action Technology.
All-in-all I’d say its a pretty nice phone to give a try, but to be honest – I’m kinda wanting to see another phone besides the iPhone4 that has video-telephony. The rumored “MyTouch HD” should be just what the doctor ordered.
Have you guys heard yet? Google is coming out with a “Google Phone” called the Nexus (as of right now). According to the rumors floating around, they will be selling the phone themselves much like Apple is doing their iPhone. Gizmodo.com seems to have uncovered the price for this puppy and its about what you would expect. According to the leaked documents, the phone can be had for about $530 unlocked and $180 with a two year contract on T-mobile’s network. The clincher is the fact that you only have one choice and its not even the best plan! No unlimited Data. I suspect Tmobile is trying to take it slow and not cripple their network and make it as sucky as ATT’s. Perhaps its a wise move. At any rate, the phone is a beast with its 1Ghz processor and snappy android 2.1 UI. Check Tmonews.com for more pics and vids.
Update:
Those bastards at Engadget have gotten their mitts on their very own Nexus phone! They also have a pretty nice video of it in action. It looks super fast, and full of interesting little UI tweeks that we havent seen before on an Android device like interactive wallpapers and a separate applications screen. A drawback in my opinion is the same old dusty keyboard (can’t they just use the one from HTC’s Sense UI???) Also saw a microphone on the keyboard…dictation abilities anyone? You can check it all out for yourself here
so I got my hands on the Behold II for T mobile and am presently testing it out. The review will come soon enough…sorry kinda got lazy over the weekend! But never fear, I have some shots below to wet the appetite (as if you haven’t already seen pics and vids already). I will leave you with this. It feels really nice, and for those who are hating on it…chances are, they either a) didn’t have the phone for very long, or b) didn’t really have the phone at all and are copying off of what others are saying. The phone really flies in some areas like picture taking and speaker phone quality, and are mediocre in other areas such as battery life (which can be assuaged by some tinkering). The full review coming up!
