Top 10 Gadgets information update, free news

Apple iPhone 4

Top10 Gadgets — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 08:36:25 +0000

If you can work round the signal drop issue, the iPhone is a treasure trove of tech delights

Following all the hype and hysteria we have come to expect with the launch of Apple products, the iPhone 4 has landed in the UK, for the first time being launched simultaneously with the US.

The rollout of Apple handsets didn’t go quite as smoothly as the Cupertino company might have hoped however, with a troubling signal loss issue for anyone holding the iPhone 4 “incorrectly” who knew prior to June 24 that there was a “correct” way to hold mobiles?
Our findings so far are that when you hold the iPhone 4 with your hand covering the bottom left corner, there is a loss of signal. However, we have not found that this has caused us to drop calls or lose data connections when out and about actually using the handset. Whether this is because we’re subconsciously moving our hands to avoid the issue developing is hard to say.

That aside, there is no denying that the iPhone 4 is a stunning piece of tech. It’s 24 per cent slimmer than the 3GS at just 9.3mm thick, beautifully compact and elegantly designed with a stainless steel band separating the handset’s scratch-resistant glass covered front and back.

It’s this steel band, which is also the aerial, which seems to be causing the problems. Presumably it’s something to do with contact between the metal band and human skin causing conductivity issues as putting a casing on the iPhone seems to alleviate the problem.

Bizarre reception flaws aside, the iPhone 4 is a great showcase for Apple’s technological and design prowess. The combination of the new iOS 4 operating system and a noticeably faster processor than the 3GS make using it a very smooth and enjoyable experience.

The new 3.5-inch Retina Display is another big improvement over the 3GS – and all other mobile devices for that matter. With an 800:1 contrast ratio and 960x640p resolution – according to Apple, that’s more than the human eye can process at that size of screen – the Retina Display sets a new benchmark for mobile screens.

The Retina Display is a joy to use indoors and at most outdoor light levels, although it becomes reflective and difficult to admire when in direct, bright sunlight such as we’re having recently. Although adding a gratifying pop to images and videos, older applications and their icons can also appear dated and grainy on the new high-res screen – app developers will have to improve their wares for the iPhone 4. They’ll also have to adapt their apps to allow them to be part of the newly added multi-tasking in iOS 4.

Bringing the iPhone 4 to life is the same sprightly Apple A4 processor found in the iPad. You’d think that packing this hefty workhorse under the bonnet would drain the battery, but the new iPhone’s battery life is not noticeably diminished from the 3GS, and Apple claims it actually lasts longer.

As noted, iOS 4 brings multitasking to the new Apple handset. This feature is reliant on the compatibility of apps, but this should cease to be an issue pretty sharpish: iPhone purchasers are not likely to look kindly on app developers who don’t update to support multitasking.

iOS 4 is no one trick pony. The ability to create folders for your apps is another very welcome addition, as is the option to set homescreen images, scrapping the any-colour-as-long-as-it’s-black background of previous models.

iBooks makes the jump from iPad to iPhone with the arrival of iOS 4 and thanks to the iPhone 4’s Retina Display offers up text of impeccable clarity. Crystal-clear fonts similarly enhance web browsing, email and all other text-based functionality. The addition of iBooks will no doubt be a further cause to the iPhone’s success with the commuter market.

Following repeated cries from consumers, the iPhone 4 now offers flash. No, not the Adobe version for viewing web video – that’s just not gonna happen, so get used to it – but a scorchingly bright LED flash to accompany the improved camera.
Stills are not suddenly of compact camera quality, but they are undeniably better, and bigger at five megapixels. Video is much improved, with 720p HD video offers pristine and sharp detail on the Retina Display, though some detail seems to be lost when compressing for direct uploading to YouTube. In-camera editing is also straightforward, and you can add the iMovie app (£2.99) if you want more sophisticated editing of your clips.

In addition to the main, rear camera there’s a second, front-facing one. This offers decent picture quality, but it’s there for more than just vanity’s sake. Apple, you see, is attempting to transform video calling from its current status as the forgotten starlet of the tech world into a must-have feature. To this end, it’s included the Skype-style Face Time app. Given that this works only over Wi-Fi and only between one iPhone 4 and another, we can’t see it reviving video calling’s fortunes, somehow, but it does work nicely enough, with much better video quality than on earlier mobile systems.

The Apple iPhone 4 is another classic slice of Apple. In just 12 months Steve Jobs and his band have again redefined mobile handsets. From the simply beautiful Retina Display to the addition of HD video, and from the idiot-proof UI to the attempted reinvention of video calling, the Apple iPhone 4 is a majestic piece of kit that will no doubt steal hearts. As long as that signal-loss issue doesn’t prove to be a killer, anyway…

By Luke Peters

Sanyo Xacti CS1

Top10 Gadgets — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:16:25 +0000

The thinnest and lightest full HD Xacti yet

Sanyo’s Xacti series of camcorders have helped to overthrow the perception of what a camcorder should look like. The sleek and sexy Sanyo VPC-HD2000 remains the standard bearer for the pocket-friendly pistol grip form factor, producing fantastic full-HD video, impressive stills, and a unique thumb-operated control system that allows an easy switch between the two. The new generation CS1 is the lightest, thinnest (27mm), and indeed cheapest incarnation yet, but can this mid-range model live up to its, still hugely impressive, big brother?

Sanyo Xacti CS1: Usability

One of the key upsides of the HD2000 was the shear easy of use. It was just so comfortable. The sleekly designed body, with the rounded edges, fit so naturally in the hand, offering users a steadier shot than conventionally-designed cameras. This 159g size zero Xacti CS1 is devoid of that comfort. The edges are more pronounced, and it’s harder to get a decent grip on it, such is the thinness (less than 1cm in grip position).

The controls have also been cheapened to the extent that the famed usability is now almost redundant. Taking photos on the tiny, faux metal shoot button is really awkward and instead of just sliding your thumb across the circular control panel, like on the HD2000, it now requires a complete repositioning of the grip in order to switch between photos and videos, which had always been one of the main selling points of this “Dual Camera” range.

Sanyo Xacti CS1: HD Shooting

Fitting full HD video 1920×1080 at 60 frames per second inside a camera of this size is a great achievement, and the video quality is clear and detailed, even when blown up on a HD projector. However, footage lacks the rich and vibrant flavour of the earlier model. Colours sucked in by the 3.4-megapixel CMOS sensor can be dreary but the quality on offer easily outstrips the Flip Mino HD and Kodak PlaySports of this world, and so it should at almost double the price point.

The 10x optical zoom, has only one speed – too fast – but it is impressively smooth. It has a little bit of a heir trigger and the autofocus tends to take a little while to adjust to fast zooms. The face chaser tech is exemplary, instantly picking out up to 12 faces, while the on-board image stabiliser also works well. The white balance, ISO and exposure settings can improve your images no end.

Sanyo Xacti CS1: Control niggles

As we mentioned above, the shooting controls have gone from fluent to fiddly, and that is replicated by the menu system on the LCD screen. Adjusting settings is an error-laden chore compared to its predecessor. The 2.7-inch 230,000 TFT screen is excellent, however. The instant on door is far from instant, taking six seconds to warm up and become record-ready.

In summary, CS1 isn’t a bad device, it just feels like too much of a step down from the HD2000 and there just isn’t a place in the world for it any more. The pocket-friendly market has been cornered by much cheaper models and this gaudily designed shooter can’t be considered a serious camcorder either.

Specifications

Image sensor
C-MOS sensor, 1/5 inch, Approx. 3.4 megapixels
Effective pixels: Photo: Approx. 3.3 megapixels; Video: Approx. 2.8 megapixels (Full HD / HD), Approx. 3.3 megapixels (SD)

Recording media
SD memory card, SDHC memory card (up to 32 GB), SDXC memory card (up to 64 GB), Approx. 50 MB internal memory

Lens
f = 3.2–28.8 mm; F = 2.8 (wide)–3.0 (telephoto); Auto focus: 9 groups, 12 elements (3 aspheric elements, 6 aspheric surfaces);
Built-in ND filter

Photo range
Standard: 50 cm–infinity (wide), 1.0 m–infinity (telephoto); Super macro: 1 cm–1.0 m (wide)

Shutter speed
Photo: 1/2–1/1000 sec. (Lamp mode: max. 1 sec.); Sequential: 1/15–1/1000 sec.; Video: 1/30–1/10000 sec.

Digital zoom
Shooting: max. Approx. 10x, (total zoom range: 90x [photo] / 100x [video]); Playback: max. Approx. 51.0x ([8M] mode, varies
with resolution)

Focus
Auto (Photo: 9-point AF / spot AF; Video: continuous area AF); Manual: 22 steps

Scene select
Auto / Sports / Portrait / Landscape / Snow & Beach / Fireworks / Lamp*5

Digital filter
Standard / Cosmetic / Monochrome / Sepia

Image stabilizer
Photo: multi-calculation electronic image stabilizer; Video: electronic image stabilizer

Other functions
Red-eye correction in photos, Wind noise reduction

Self-timer
2 sec. / 10 sec

White balance
Auto: Full auto TTL; Manual: Sunny / Cloudy / Fluorescent / Incandescent / One-push

LED light
LED light on, LED light off

LED light range
Approx. 10 cm–1 m super macro (wide)

AudioMicrophone
Built-in stereo (with Sound Zoom); Speaker: built-in monaural (L/R mixed output)

Monitor
2.7-inch low-temperature polysilicon TFT color widescreen LCD, approx. 230,000 dots (7-level brightness, 285-degree rotation)

Interface
AV output (Video: HDMI, Composite video [NTSC/ PAL]; Audio: Stereo, USB 2.0 (high-speed mode)

Power supply
Lithium-ion battery (DB-L80, included: 700 mAh)

Weight
Approx. 159 g (including battery and SD card), Approx. 142 g (body only)

Posted by Chris Smith

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Top10 Gadgets — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:46:16 +0000

It’s taken almost six months since its official nod for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 to finally make its way onto the high street, finally arriving on Virgin Mobile. In that time its operating system, Android, has become ubiquitous and upped its powers, with the bleeding edge 2.1 version of Google’s OS out on the prowl in the HTC Desire and Google Nexus One. The Xperia X10’s reliance on the ageing 1.6, Donut, platform appears almost suicidal on Sony Ericsson’s part.

But the Xperia X10 cannot be judged solely on its older edition of Android. This is a truly stunning smartphone and undoubtedly Sony Ericsson’s greatest design achievement to date. In terms of looks and build, only the HTC Legend comes close when you consider the current crop of top end mobiles.

The tapered rear means the Xperia X10 sits beautifully in the hand and definitely makes it more comfortable for extended use when compared to the likes of the HTC Legend and the HTC Desire. Unlike older Sony Ericsson models, the focus is very much on keeping things minimal and sleek. The slimline 13mm body rocks just camera, volume and power buttons, as well as a much-welcomed 3.5mm jack, all without drawing away from the device’s central focus, that huge 4-inch (480x854) screen.

No matter which way you cut it, the inclusion of this monster panel makes the Xperia X10 a huge handset when up against the dinky HTC Legend. But it really is testament to the design labs that this phone never feels like a monster when you’re fondling it or slipping into a pair of jeans a lithe, youthful Mick Jagger would have trouble getting into.

That size also means Sony Ericsson can shoehorn in some truly stellar specs. There’s the latest 1 Ghz Snapdragon processor, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, AGPS,1GB internal memory, micro SD support up to 32GB and Bluetooth 2.1. We fired everything up the minute we got the phone, with the battery kaput in around 20 hours, after a raft of calls, texts, emails and web browsing. That’s a relatively average return, but can be tweaked by ensuring Bluetooth and Wi-Fi aren’t on all day.

Screen dream

The screen itself is excellent, although we would have liked to have seen it bumped to AMOLED in light of HTC’s like the Desire and Legend. That said, the 450 x 854 effort is absolutely perfect for watching movies on the move. Clips are beautifully rendered and look far better than on an iPhone or iPod touch, with the extra screen real estate giving your mobile movie experience a real lift.

In terms of the screen’s touchable style, there’s no denying this is Sony Ericsson’s very best effort to date, beating the Vivaz hands down. Swipes are registered every time and it has the same easy to tap icons that make other Android phones perfect for touchscreen tech. That said, multitouch is missing, something we find hard to fathom if this wants to kick it with the big boys.

The touchscreen is also let down by a poor onscreen keyboard. We found getting up to speed with its quirks a real struggle, with the X10 requiring spot on prods every time in order for your text to appear neat and perfect first time. This compares poorly to the ace keyboard on the HTC Legend, which feels far more reassured when firing off missives to your mates. The space bar on the keypad is tiny, meaning you often accidentally pick punctuation marks instead of the gaps in text you want. Fortunately, you can switch to the vanilla Android QWERTY as seen on the Nexus One and Motorola Milestone, although this, again, is nowhere near as good as HTC’s peachy version. This can be put down to Android 1.6: Android 2.1’s update offers a more stable, skilful keyboard solution.

Software struggles

The reliance on Android 1.6 is definitely an issue. For a phone that’s been held back for six months, it puts it well behind the Legend and Nexus One in terms of core Android skills. That’s not to say it doesn’t have the easy Gmail set up from the get go, or the familiar menu system and Android Market on board. But it does lack some key functionality that by now is standard on all high end handsets. There’s no multiple Gmail account support, so you can’t hot swap between different accounts or merge mailboxes from your different Google email addresses.

That said, we’re impressed by multitasking, which is handled with a simple press of the central hard key, bringing up a roster of the apps you have open, letting you tap into them stat. It’s an easy-to-use and much welcome function.

However, the older version of Android does bring with it some speed issues. The X10 is remarkably slow to start up. We’re talking three minutes from pressing the power key to getting the homescreen up and running. Hopefully the mooted over-the-air update to Android 2.1 can fix this.

Skinning skills

The X10’s trump card though is its new UI, where the system is split between Timescape and Mediascape functions. The latter houses all your music, video and photos, letting you choose the media you want swiftly by swiping through your collection. But it’s the much-hyped Infinity key which really makes Mediascape tick, bringing up a raft of recommended videos and music, the latter available for direct download. It’s a swish and clever addition which gives it the jump on HTC Sense’s media smarts.

Music playback is also as you’d expect from Sony Ericsson. It has the feel of a Walkman device and is by far the best we’ve seen on an Android phone so far, as this is an area where Google’s OS has struggled in the past. Although the Xross Media Bar has gone, left to handsets like the Vivaz. Timescape is also a winner, aggregating social networks and email into tiles which you can flick through using the touchscreen, integrating contacts with those from your SIM. The set up process is simply a case of adding deets from Facebook, Twitter or Gmail and watching the messages roll in. It’s very similar to HTC’s Friend Stream on the Desire and Legend, but we think this is a tad more powerful and easier to use, although the tile view can appear confusing by comparison.

Snapper’s delight

The 8 megapixel peeper on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is, as you’d expect, one of the stars of the show. That 4-inch screen means working up your shots is much easier than on smaller rivals like the HTC Legend. There are nine scene modes, smile detection and face recognition, with pics coming out very sharp and clean in good light. The single LED flash, however, means this isn’t a winner when the sun goes down, with shots appearing grainy and noisy unless you’re in a well lit room.

You can’t deny that the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is a corking smartphone. From its gorgeous design to its support for the increasingly excellent Android OS, it has everything it needs to be the iPhone-killer Sony Ericsson so obviously wants it to be.

But that’s to miss a few fundamental factors. The lack of Android 2.1 is really disappointing and Sony Ericsson’s excuses for not having it on board at the get go fall on deaf ears. In the six months since its official unveiling, the HTC Legend and others have taken the Xperia X10 to the cleaners.

It is clear though that Sony Ericsson should stick to Android. The new UI is fantastic and if the Android 2.1 update can get on board soon, this is a phone well worth taking a long hard look at. For design fanatics, the choice between the Legend and X10 is tough. The Legend offers HTC Sense and Android 2.1, but the large screen, excellent camera and 1GHz processor make the X10 worth a look. It's available now for free on Virgin Mobile £35 tariffs, with unlimited web browsing.

Specification Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Size

119.0 x 63.0 x 13.0 mm
4.7 x 2.5 x 0.5 inches

Weight

135.0 g
4.8 oz

Screen

480 x 854 pixels WVGA
65,536-color TFT touchscreen

Memory

Phone memory 1GB
microSD™ up to 16GB, 8GB included

Camera

Camera - 8.1 Megapixel

Digital Zoom - up to 16x

Auto focus

Face recognition

Image stabiliser

Flash / light type - Photo light

Send to web

Video recording

Video light

Geo-tagging

Smile detection

Music

TrackID™

Media Player

Album art

Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)

PlayNow™

Music tones - MP3, AAC

Internet

Bookmarks

Google™ search

Web feeds

Web browser - WebKit

Entertainment

Media

3D games

YouTube™.

Video streaming

Video Clip

Sony Ericsson Mediascape

Connectivity

3.5 mm audio jack

Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation*

aGPS

Google Maps™

Bluetooth™ technology

Synchronisation PC

USB support

WiFi™

Design

Onscreen QWERTY keyboard

Auto rotate

Picture wallpaper

By Joe Minihane

HTC Legend

Top10 Gadgets — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:03:40 +0000

Can the successor to the HTC Hero scale the same epic heights?

The HTC Hero was T3’s gadget of the year in 2009; so to say we’ve been eagerly waiting for it is an understatement. Instead of a few lazy tweaks like some manufacturers, HTC’s made significant changes to produce a far superior handset.

First impressions are impressive. Constructed from a single piece of aluminum, with a rubberised battery SD card cover and camera section, build is fantastic – it really feels like a quality product. This is a handset you’d be proud to show off, in contrast to the drab Google Nexus One. The Legend is exactly the type of product we’d expect if Apple were to transfer its unibody laptop design to a handset. There's no trackball, instead you get an optical joystick, which looks sleeker, but we barely used it.

HTC has upgraded the processor from a 528 MHz to 600 MHz processor and the difference is instantly noticeable. Windows load quickly and you can open several browser windows, listen to music and run several apps without any sluggishness. Running Android 2.1 you get support for Microsoft Exchange, otherwise it syncs seamlessly with Hotmail and Gmail accounts.

Beating the competition

What set the Legend apart from the Nexus One is the combination of HTC's fantastic Sense interface and multitouch, making the whole experience incredibly fluid. Customise seven homescreens with widgets, shortcuts and favourites, and within seconds you can check the weather, update your Facebook status and view pictures, without digging into menus. A quick tap of the home button now brings up the new Leap screen, giving an overview of all seven simultaneously.

When browsing pull and pinch controls are a cinch. Even highlighting text is a breeze. See a joke or quote you like, press down and move pins to select, before copying, sharing or even looking it up in Wikipedia.

Whether it’s BBC.co.uk or more complex websites like T3.com, web pages load quickly and Flash support surpassed the Nexus One and the iPhone 3GS. Videos on T3.com look pretty good, they’re not too blocky and the sound is loud enough for a few people to listen.

A highlight is Friend Stream, which syncs your Twitter, Facebook and Flickr accounts, much like MotoBlur. It’s fantastic to have all your social networking contacts in the same place and means you don’t have to swap between Facebook and Twitter apps, but lists can be a bit sluggish to scroll through.

At 3.2inches the AMOLED screen is small, with a lower resolution than the Nexus One (480x320 to 800x480). But it’s so bright you barely notice. Movies from the onboard camcorder look very clear, even if you're viewing from the side.

With moderate browsing, a few photos, calls and texts, the battery drops right down to about 25% at the end of the day, which isn’t terrible, but as with any smartphone, hit the browser hard and you’ll end up charging it every night.

Multimedia maestro

Our main criticism of the Hero was multimedia and while the Legend is an improvement, but the music player feels very much like a secondary feature. It’s fine for using on the train on the way to work, but lacks features you’d find on a dedicated music player – you can’t even adjust the EQ. The headphones are ok, but aren’t very comfortable for too long, although the 3.5mm jack means you can swap them easily enough.

The 5MP camera is pretty good for quick snaps though if no match for the Sony Ericsson Satio. The LED flash is a welcome addition, we took a few shots indoors in dim light results are grainy, but not bad. You can tweak White Balance, ISO and Exposure Compensation and add filters though. Video footage isn’t bad though, certainly fine for uploading to the web.

Despite 512Mb memory, you can’t take a picture or play music without using a MicroSD card and there’s no news yet on what card it will be supplied with.

On paper the Legend might not match the Nexus One’s and its 1Ghz processor for power, but that doesn’t matter. It’s quicker than the Hero and thanks to HTC Sense and features like Friend Stream; it’s a far slicker and easier to use then its Google rival. Factor in the gorgeous build and the HTC Legend is the best Android handset available.

Specification

Physical

Size:

Weight:126 grams (4.44 ounces) with battery

CPU Processing Speed

600 MHz

Power & Battery¹

Battery type: Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer or Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1300 mAh
Talk time:

WCDMA: Up to 440 mins
GSM: Up to 490 mins

Standby time:

WCDMA: Up to 560 hours
GSM: Up to 440 hours

Camera

5 megapixel color camera
Auto focus and flash
Widescreen photo capture
Geotagging

Sensors

G-Sensor
Digital compass
Proximity sensor
Ambient light sensor

Social Networking

Facebook™ integration
Friend Stream
Photo sharing on Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter
Video sharing on YouTube™
HTC Peep for twittering

Recommended Windows System Requirements

Windows® 7, Windows Vista®, or Windows XP
HTC Sync

Special Features

Automatically lowers the ringer volume as soon as the phone is picked up
Mutes the ringer when the phone is flipped face down
Backs up certain data and settings to the microSD card automatically, such as SMS/MMS messages, bookmarks, and Wi-Fi passwords

Display

Type: AMOLED capacitive touch screen with pinch-to-zoom capability
Size: 3.2 inches
Resolution: 320 X 480 HVGA

Platform

Android™ 2.1 (Éclair) with HTC Sense

Storage

ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 384 MB
Expansion slot:

microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
Supports up to 32 GB

Network Bands²

Europe:

HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Asia Pacific:

HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Internet³

3G:
Up to 7.2 Mbps download speed
Up to 2 Mbps upload speed
GPRS: Up to 114 kbps downloading
EDGE: Up to 560 kbps downloading
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g

Bluetooth

Bluetooth® 2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate
A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
FTP and OPP (object push) for file transfer
Other supported profiles: AVRCP, GAP, GOEP, HFP, HSP, PBAP, SPP, Service Discovery Application Profile

Multimedia

Photos application for viewing photos and videos
Music
FM Radio
Audio supported formats:
Playback: .aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma
Recording: .amr
Video supported formats:
Playback: .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv
Recording: .3gp

Location

Internal GPS antenna
Google Maps
HTC Footprints™

By Hannah Bouckley

ASUS G51J 3D Notebooks

Top10 Gadgets — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:04:03 +0000

ASUS drags 3D kicking and screaming back to gaming

When will 3D make up its mind? One year we’re gracing our faces with blue and red cardboard glasses re-announcing the revolution, the next it seems to have died a death. Well, for better or for worse, its back and this time with a glint in its eye as the likes of James Cameron and Pixar provide it with the credibility it has always craved.

ASUS is one of the first laptop manufacturers to wholly embrace 3D, and the G51J is material evidence of this. It’s a gaming laptop that boasts nVidia’s 3D Vision technology which, with the aid of an infrared module and, yes, a pair of glasses, allows you to view digital content on the laptop in the glorious third dimension.

This time round, however, the glasses aren’t torn from the front of a magazine, and don’t feature blue and red gel lenses. Instead, the plastic of each lens acts as a shutter for each eye separately. The glasses are synchronised with the laptop via the infrared remote and open and close – or shutter – for each eye separately. The result is that each eye sees a slightly different picture, and it is this that creates the 3D effect.

The most important question is, does it work? Fortunately, the answer is yes – but there are problems. The most irritating is the kit isn’t as easy to setup as it should be, and syncing the glasses with the infrared remote is a fiddly process at best.

The glasses snap into action as soon as 3D content is accessed, and we enjoyed a healthy session with Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 – an nVidia 3D Vision game. We were initially impressed by the level of immersion it provided, but the more we played the quicker the initial impact of the 3D effects melted away.

Other than a sense of distance between the main character and the surrounding action there’s nothing to separate the 3D Vision version from the experience played on a normal PC – those expecting bullets to flow towards them and fire out of the panel will be disappointed.

On top of this, colours appear washed out while brightness also suffers, and the game on the G51J loses much of the vibrancy it boasts on non-3D capable laptops. We found the situation to be similar when we trialed Batman: Arkham Asylum, another 3D Vision title.

Movies suffered less on this front, and the footage of a car race at the Nuremberg Ring especially impressed. Here the 3D effect was subtler and less forced than it had been in the games.

3D capabilities dealt with, the G51J boasts some cutting edge components that provide powerful performance. The Intel Core i7 processor, combined with 4096MB of DDR3 memory, impressed in benchmarking and we had no issues playing resource intensive games – including Crysis – thanks to the use of a nVidia GeForce GTX 260M.

All this power affects the portability of the machine, however, and the 146 minute battery life restricts mobility quite a bit. Not that you’ll want to carry the spine re-arrangingly heavy 3.7kg chassis round for long, anyway.

The 1TB hard drive offers comprehensive storage options, and there’s also a Blu-ray optical drive (read only) for you high definition fans out there – its just a shame that the 15.6-inch panel only features a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution.

While not the most garish of designs, the blue lid does appeal to the chav within, making it a bit of a guilty pleasure and build quality is generally good but the keyboard – featuring ASUS’s Chiclet style – is a little spongy for our liking.

Connectivity is decent, with an HDMI port included as well as four USB 2.0 ports and a mini Firewire. 802.11n and Gigabit provide the latest in networking technology.

Ultimately the ASUS G51J succeeds in bringing 3D to the gaming masses, but in our humble opinion the content – as is often the case – has yet to catch up with the technology. Until it does the £1699 price tag seems a little steep, considering there is currently more power available for much less.

Specifications

Processor & Cache Memory	Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 720QM Processor : 1.6 GHz with turbo up to 2.8 GHz;
Operating System	Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Chipset	Mobile Intel® PM55 Express Chipset
Main Memory	DDR3 1066 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SODIMM socket for expansion up to 4GB SDRAM *Due to the 32-bit operation system's limitation, only 3GB will show up with a 4GB memory. The 64-bit operating system will not have this issue. For more information, please check Microsoft's support site: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946003
Display	15.6" HD (1366x768) LED backlit
Video Graphics & Memory	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM
Hard Drive	500GB,5400rpm;7200rpm 320GB,5400rpm;7200rpm 250GB,5400rpm Dual HDD support
Optical Drive	DVD Super Multi Blu-Ray DVD Combo
Card Reader	8 in 1 card reader, SD,MMC,MS,MS-Pro,XD,Smart Media,mini SD w/ adapter,MS-Duo
Video Camera	2.0 Mega Pixel web camera
Fax/Modem/LAN/WLAN	Intel® WiFi Link 1000 Integrated 802.11 b/g/n Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.1+EDR (optional)
LED Status Indicator	Power-on/Suspend Battery Charging/full/low Storage device access Wireless on status indicator
Interface	1 x Microphone-in jack 2 x Headphone-out jack (1 with S/PDIF) 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor 4 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x IEEE 1394 port 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert 1 x HDMI 1 x E-SATA
Hot Keys	Instant launch Keys,5 buttons: Touchpad Lock,Internet access, Power4Gear eXtreme,Express Gate,Direct Console Hotkey, Function Keys: Fn+F1 Suspend switch Fn+F2 WLAN switch Fn+F2 Bluetooth switch Fn+F3 Keyboard light down Fn+F4 Keyboard light up Fn+F5 Brightness down Fn+F6 Brightness up Fn+F7 LCD on/off Fn+F8 LCD/CRT switch display Fn+F9 TouchPad Lock Fn+F10 Volume on/mute Fn+F11 Volume down Fn+F12 Volume up Fn+Ins Numeric Key Pad on/off Fn+Num Lk: Scroll Lock on/off Fn+Del Scroll Lock on/off Fn+Space Power 4Gear Fn+C Splendid Fn+V: Life Frame Fn+↑: Stop Fn+↓: Play/Pause Fn+ ←：Skip to Previous Track Fn+ →：Skip to Next Track
Audio	Altec Lansing® speakers EAX Advanced HD 4.0 Creative Audigy HD 3D Gaming Audio
Keyboard	19mm full size 88 Key with MS Windows function keys Numeric Keyboard
Battery Pack & Life	6 cells: 4800 mAh 9 cells: 7200 mAh
AC Adapter	Output: 19 V DC, 4.74 A, 120W Input: 100~240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal
Dimension & Weight	37.5 x 26.5 x 3.43-4.06 cm (W x D x H) 3.30 kg (with 6 cell battery,1xHDD)
Security	BIOS Booting / HDD User Password Protection and security lock Kensington lock hole
Supplied Accessories	Gaming Mouse Gaming Backpack Nvidia 3D Vision Kit ( 3D Glasses + RF Transmitter)
Multimedia Software	ASUSDVD 6-in-1 WinDVD8 BD
Virus & Tool Software	Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Trend Micro Internet Security 2009
ASUS Utility	Asus Win flash for BIOS and Driver live Update ASUS SmartLogon ASUS Net 4 switch Asus Live Update Power 4 Phone Asus NB Probe + ASUS Wireless Console Virtual Camera ASUS Splendid ASUS Hotkey ASUS Express Gate Fancy Start AI Recovery
Warranty & e-support	2-year limited global hardware warranty *different by country 1-year battery pack warranty On-line problem resolution through web interface (BIOS, Driver update) OS (Microsoft Windows Vista) install/uninstall consultation Bundled software install/uninstall consultation ASUS software supporting

By Tommy Melville

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Top10 Gadgets — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:53:42 +0000

The new Sony Ericsson Vivaz is full of media promise – an 8MP camera, HD video recording and an 8GB memory card, combined with a full touchscreen interface, make this a real contender for Sony Ericsson.

We're not sure that there's still room for a high end smartphone with a media focus over other functionality - but read on to find out whether the Vivaz ticks the right boxes.

Sony Ericsson claims to have thought about ergonomics with the Vivaz, and to that end has come out with a chassis that represents 'human curvature' - ie, it's nicely curved and sits well in the hand.

It feels little plasticky when you pick it up for the first time - there's no comforting weight like you get with other top end smartphones, like the Legend from HTC.

But the 3.2-inch touchscreen is pretty expansive in the chassis, and despite the phone's diminutive dimensions (107 x 51.7 x 12.5 mm), we didn't feel like finger space was at a premium.

However, we were less impressed with resistive screen - Sony Ericsson and Nokia are still banging this drum as they say it's better for handwriting recognition, but we honestly can't see this as a must-have feature.

The UI is similar to that of the Satio, as the Vivaz follows this model as the second Sony Ericsson to run on Symbian 5th edition allowing icon customising.

This means finger friendly icons to push, and despite the resistive screen the phone still responded fairly well to the touch, thanks to the new glass screen, and menus were pretty easy to navigate.

Media madness

Past the superficial, this phone excels in a couple of areas - photography/video capture and media.

The former is probably the best we've seen on a phone, especially when it comes to recording HD video, which is available at 720p - not bad for a phone of this size.

The video quality is more than passable as well - the 24fps frame rate is tip-top, and makes video recorded very smooth.

The 8.1MP camera is also pretty good - pictures can be snapped speedily, and the quality is high - even at high zoom level the quality isn't lost.

Sony Ericsson has also added a huge number of photography options to play with - from smile capture mode to panorama, as well as white balance correction, you're easily able to take the best picture with the Vivaz.

We mentioned media as another plus point - this is mostly down to Sony Ericsson adding in a 3.5mm headphone jack into the mix. It's the second phone the brand has done this with (the first being the W995) and is a real plus point, seeing as it was missing on the Satio.

The excellent XMB overlay is once again in effect - easily sorting your media in the relevant categories when you first slip over some media, either by plugging the phone into your PC or slotting in a microSD card.

The music quality is good, and video looks cracking on the near HD screen - we're not sure the screen size is the right format for long movie marathons, but if you're after the odd TV show, this is good enough.

A spot of browsing

However, ploughing further into the Vivaz and things are less exciting - the internet browser is only OK, and takes a while to load up pages, even over Wi-Fi.

And compared to the slick nature of the iPhone or Android phones, the Vivaz has trouble jumping from Wi-Fi and 3G. If you want to browse the web over the mobile 'net when out and about but connect to your router when you get in, you'll have to reconnect with a cumbersome pop-up.

Web pages did render well, and while there's no flash player on board as far as we could see, we weren't too unimpressed.

Call quality is OK as well - although it oddly didn't feel too face friendly when holding the phone to the ear, and sometimes the speaker sounded pretty fuzzy to us.

Messaging was also pretty good - the screen is smaller than other phones out there, and the resistive screen can be hard to text on, but overall using the phone in landscape mode made for some pretty swift messaging - and push Exchange email from RoadSync is pretty handy as well.

Mug or Mogul?

It's easy to see where Sony Ericsson is positioning this phone - the media-loving market is going to get a real kick out of this phone.

However, for £70 more you can pick up the Samsung i8910HD - the same 8MP camera, 720p video recording but with a large 3.7-inch OLED screen, which means media looks stunning on the display.

However it's a really chunky beast, and if you're more about the pocket friendliness, then you should check out the Vivaz - even over its larger brother, the Satio.

Vivaz™ Specifications

Size

107.0 x 52.0 x 12.5 mm

4.2 x 2.0 x 0.5 inches

Screen

360x640 pixel
16,777,216 colour 16:9 nHD touchscreen (TFT)

Memory

Phone memory 75MB
SanDisk microSD™ (up to 16GB)

Networks

GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

UMTS/HSPA 900/2100

Camera

Flash / light type - Photo light

Digital Zoom - up to 4x

Camera - 8.1 Megapixel

Video recording

Music

Music tones - MP3, AAC

TrackID™

PlayNow™

Media Player

Entertainment

Radio - FM radio

YouTube™

Video Clip

Video streaming

Organiser

Symbian™ OS

Phone book

Notes

Flight mode

By Gareth Beavis

Apple iPad

Top10 Gadgets — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:47:34 +0000

So we can finally put the rumours to bed – Apple’s tablet is here, and it’s called the iPad.

With a 9.7in LED screen and an accompanying iBooks store, the iPad is effectively is a giant (but 13.4mm thick) iPhone that's here to replace netbooks and e-readers as your mobile media weapon of choice.

Wireless options
The iPad will be available in surprisingly affordable 16GB ($499), 32GB ($599) and 64GB ($699) flavours, with Wi-Fi only models ready to ship worldwide in 60 days, and 3G-capable versions available in the UK from June. Apple has thrashed out two 3G deals in the US - $15 a month for 250MB data and $30 a month for unlimited data – but a carrier has yet to be announced for the UK.

Contrary to optimistic rumours, the iPad's glossy 1024x768 pixel screen is a backlit LED number rather than OLED, using the same IPS tech as iMac displays. It also has over a thousand sensors to help create an experience as slick and snappy as the iPhone.

Also lending a hand in that department is the Apple-made 1Ghz processor, which from the early demos appears capable of churning through games like Need for Speed: Shift and Nova at an impressive rate.

New iBooks store
While we're not convinced that the iPad's form factor will be worrying the Sony PSP or Nintendo DS Lite, it clearly has other gadgets in its sights – most obviously the Amazon Kindle.

Apple has announced the much-rumoured iBooks store, which is effectively the iTunes of books and stores hundreds of titles in the standard ePub format. Newspapers will also be releasing apps – the New York Times was demoed – which feature embedded video. Very nice.

The screen may not be of the e-ink variety – so will be more fatiguing on the eyes than current e-readers – but Apple is claiming a 10-hour battery life under standard use, and a month in standby. Combined with the iBooks store, it's all a very worrying prospect for the Kindle et al.

App happy
Although it's not capable of phone calls, the iPad also looks a tempting prospect for iPhone owners. All current IPhone apps will work on the iPad out of the box thanks to a nifty doubling of their resolution, and with a new SDK released today developers will soon be beavering away on versions made specifically for its 9.7in screen.

Like the iPhone, the iPad also has stereo Bluetooth, a built-in digital compass and A-GPS for maps (on the 3G versions), although without a camera it won't be able to do augmented reality, which could be a big miss.

Still, there are naturally some spanking accessories for Apple's latest golden boy. A basic dock means you can charge it on your desktop, the keyboard dock turns it into well, a desktop, and a rather smart carry case is the perfect way to attract covetous glances (and muggers).

So has the iPad lived up to the hype? It's certainly a gorgeous object and the iBooks store is big news for digital books, but the lack of multitasking or a camera for video Skyping could limit its appeal.

Technical Specifications

Display

9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Processor

1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip

Capacity³

16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flash drive

Battery and power⁴

Built-in 25 Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery
Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music
Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

Wireless and cellular

Wi-Fi model

Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Wi-Fi + 3G model

UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
Data only²
Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Audio playback

Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
User-configurable maximum volume limit

TV and video

Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite Cable
H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Mail attachment support

Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Languages

Language support for English, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian
Keyboard support for English (U.S.) English (UK), French (France, Canada), German, Japanese (QWERTY), Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, Simplified Chinese (Handwriting and Pinyin), Russian
Dictionary support for English (U.S.), English (UK), French, French (Canadian), French (Swiss), German, Japanese, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, Simplified Chinese (Handwriting and Pinyin), Russian

Accessibility

Support for playback of closed-captioned content
VoiceOver screen reader
Full-screen zoom magnification
White on black display
Mono audio

Reference

Nexus One™ – Will this real Google phone propel Android into the big time?

Top10 Gadgets — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:45:38 +0000

You’d have to have been hiding under a rock for the past week or two to not notice Google is making its own phone and it’s finally here: the Nexus One.

Manufactured by HTC but sold by Google, the phone has had early adopters and the casual user alike interested in what it will be like, so read on to find out how the UK version fared in our hands.

A lot has been made of the screen, and it's probably a bit overhyped. Yes, at 3.7-inches it's a little large, but it's not the biggest: both the Toshiba TG01 and the HTC HD2 beat it comfortably.

In our eyes, it's the perfect size for an internet and media glutton – big enough to wander around great expanses of internet browsing and watching videos without eye strain, but small enough that it doesn't get wedged in any pocket you put it in.

Slimmed down

At less than 12mm thin as well, this is certainly more iPhone than any other phone out there – in fact we bet that some Google employees have been hiding these phones in iPhone cases just to use them safely in the street, such is the similarity.

The top of the phone houses the 3.5mm headphone jack, which is nicely tucked away into the chassis. However, it follows the contours of the shell, meaning that when using your headphones there may be some of the jack left exposed.

The bottom of the Nexus One houses the microUSB port, as well as four golden dots, which we assume will be used for docking add-ons (possibly Google Navigation Sat Nav?).

The OLED display is also beautiful, as we've come to expect from this kind of technology – not only do the blacks look super dark and the whites clear and crisp, but the colour rendition is superb. Some early reviews have hinted that the saturation levels are too high, but in our eyes it only increases the beauty.

Specification

Processor	Qualcomm® QSD8250™, 1 GHz
Operating System	Android™ 2.1 (Éclair)
Memory	ROM: 512 MB RAM: 512 MB
Dimensions (L x W x T)	119 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm ( 4.69 x 2.35 x 0.45 inches)
Weight	130 grams ( 4.59 ounces) with battery
Display	3.7-inch AMOLED with 480x800 WVGA resolution
Network	HSDPA/WCDMA: 900/AWS/2100 MHz Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Device Control	Trackball with Enter button
GPS	Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity	Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g Micro-USB port 3.5 mm audio jack
Camera	5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus, 2X digital zoom, LED flash, and geo tagging
Audio supported formats	.aac, .amr, .awb, .wav, .wma, .mp3, .mid
Video supported formats	.mp4, .3gp, .3g2, .m4v
Battery	Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery Capacity: 1400 mAh Talk time: Up to 10 hours for 2G networks Up to 7 hours for 3G networks Standby time: Up to 290 hours for 2G networks Up to 250 hours for 3G networks (The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Expansion Slot	microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter	Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240 V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A
Special Features	Proximity sensor Ambient light sensor G-sensor Digital Compass

By Gareth Beavis

Sony digital camcorders – Sony HDR-TG7 adds built-in GPS to a slim and stylish Full HD camcorder

Top10 Gadgets — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:52:12 +0000

Just like its forerunner, the TG3, Sony’s stylish new Full HD shooter is a camcorder with the ‘wow’ factor. The Sony HDR-TG7 takes the pistol-grip camcorder design and refines it so that you get a trim, slim, easy-to-use model – with an intriguing twist being added by a built-in GPS receiver.

To clear up any confusion right from the start, this is also the Sony HDR-TG5 as that’s what this model is called over in the United States.

At the moment Sony is the only major manufacturer to jump on the GPS-camcorder bandwagon. It’s a costly investment for consumers too: the TG7 is available for around £700, while Sony’s other GPS shooter, the XR520, can cost over £1,000, whether we see more models like this depends on the success of our Sony duo.

If it’s a fact that you can pick up more affordable models than the TG7 what exactly are you getting for your money?

Well, with a nod to irony, you’re getting slightly less camcorder than with the TG3. Sony has shaved a few mm off the dimensions, and the TG7 is a whole 10g lighter than its predecessor. This trimming is fine but perhaps more relevant is the redefinition of the record button and zoom lever.

Rather cleverly, Sony has ditched the TG3′s zoom and record buttons and created a practical, user-friendly all-in-one control. One large button on the back of the camcorder activates recording, while a ridged thumbwheel goes around this button – and that’s your zoom control. Beautifully engineered and a pleasure to use.

The titanium body and scratch-resistant coating remain from the TG3, so the TG7 retains a reliable build quality.

It’s also got a good selection of connections courtesy of a supplied docking station. The TG7 camcorder itself just has an AV output and a charger input, which helps to keep the size of the cam down.

On the dock, however, you’ll find AV, USB and Component sockets, as well as a full-size HDMI socket. This means you can connect the TG7 to your high-def TV and enjoy its 1920×1080 Full HD movie power at top quality.

A further design tweak makes a significant impact on the TG7′s capacity to impress: where the TG3 recorded solely to Memory Stick, this new addition features a 16GB internal flash memory, plus the ability to record to Memory Stick PRO Duo.

Sony refers to this as hybrid recording, but the reality is that your camcorder has the potential to record up to six hours of Full HD video using this method.

Looking at its button-free minimalist styling, you’d be forgiven for thinking the TG7 had very few functions. Nothing could be further from the truth – it’s just that to access all the fun of the menu system you get to use a 2.7in touchscreen LCD.

The LCD provides crisp and colourful images and its 2.7in size means you keep that movie-friendly 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. The only downside is that it doesn’t respond as quickly as we’d like, and so you end up jabbing your finger repeatedly at the screen – not a good look.
Features


As with satnav systems, the GPS allows the camcorder to identify where you are. Once it's worked this out you will be shown your location on a map that's displayed on the LCD. If you move around the GPS will also be able to track your progress and the map will be updated.
Taking this a step further, when you record footage or photos at a location the TG7 effectively notes this down.
You can then call the map up onscreen and watch a movie that you've made by touching on its recording location. For example, watch the film you took in Hyde Park, London, by pressing its marker point on the touchscreen LCD.
The Sony Picture Motion Browser software that's supplied with the TG7 (though it's PC only) adds another element to the GPS story as, along with basic editing options, it offers direct upload to sites such as YouTube.
And, once you've got your clip or still image online you can ever go so far as to create a map using web tools like Google Maps. For an adventure break or location-packed holiday the whole GPS enables you to create a unique and multi-tiered experience.
What does remain a frustration however, is that the GPS doesn't always work out your location – and when it doesn't its great features don't function. And, a word of warning, it rarely works indoors either, so adjust your expectations accordingly!
The TG7 also boasts its fare share of more conventional camcorder features – among these is the ability to record movies and stills simultaneously, so there's no need to change recording modes. There is also a range of detection technology, including face detection and smile shutter.
The first looks out for faces, while the second is on the lookout for toothy grins. Both are useful and reliably effective. In playback mode you can also choose a Face Index mode, and this really speeds up the searching process and you look for particular clips.

By Rob Hull – TechRadar

HTC Mobile – Could a HTC HD2 Windows Mobile phone actually challenge the iPhone?

Top10 Gadgets — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:50:02 +0000

The HTC HD2 is the world’s first Windows Mobile-toting phone with a capacitive screen, and also packs the world’s largest mobile phone display too.

It’s also the first WinMo phone to use HTC’s Sense UI, previously used on the company’s Android handsets, bringing with it Facebook integration and direct Twitter access, as well as masking well the operating system beneath it.

Running Windows Mobile 6.5, it certainly makes use of the all the good bits of the upgrade, but HTC decides to do its own thing on around 95 per cent of the HD2.

The first thing that most people will notice when picking up the HTC HD2 is the sheer size of the screen, which is justified when you realise it’s a whopping 4.3-incher.

The screen dominates the whole front of the phone, reaching very close to the edges on either side and only leaving room for a speaker at the top and buttons at the bottom, meaning it’s a very nice tablet-style look.

The buttons on the front of the HD2 look like brushed metal, and are nicely rounded and raised, making them easy to hit. There’s the usual suspects on offer, with the call and terminate keys flanking the home, back and Windows buttons.

Other than that, there’s very little else on the HD2 button-wise. On the left-hand side, around half way up, there’s a volume up/down key, which is flush to the chassis. This is actually a little hard to hit at times, as it’s difficult to find it when not looking.

The bottom of the phone houses the microUSB slot for charging and PC connection, along with the 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s an odd place to put this pair, with the common option being at the top or in the top corners, and it means a headphone jack can sometimes get caught up in the pocket.

It’s also hard to text in portrait mode when listening to music – we know that sounds like a pretty niche situation, but as the multimedia aspects of the HD2 have also been upgraded, this is important.

The rear of the phone is also pretty minimal as well – apart from the camera (with dual LED flash) there’s very little else to look at. It takes a while to work out how to get the battery cover off as well, with a slight groove on the right-hand side needing to be pulled pretty hard to remove it.

The battery looks pretty small, although that’s probably just to do with the scale of the HD2. It basically holds in the SIM card and nothing much else, with the microSD card slot sitting away from it, making hot swapping possible.

The other noteworthy aspect when picking it up for the first time is the weight of the phone – it’s just 157g with battery, which is pretty darn light for a phone this size.

The camera protrudes slightly at the back, which can get in the way of holding it, but this is a minimal problem as you swiftly learn to shift it to a more comfortable position.

The phone is curved nicely on the back, meaning it sits well in the palm. And despite the huge screen size, it’s actually not that hard for the average (admittedly male) palm to navigate to all the important areas of the screen, with the thumb easily called into action to hit the upper levels.

In the box

Keeping with HTC tradition, the box is a slim design featuring just the basic components. This means a microUSB lead, an adaptor to let you plug said lead into the wall, a pair of headphones that double as a (pretty cool with remote control for the music player) hands-free kit, and of course the phone itself.

We’re not too sure we like the fact we only get one USB lead that doubles as both the charger and the computer connector, but with the polar bears in trouble the way they are, it’s only fair we all do our bit.

However, we do like the lack of CD in the box for software, with that being either available on the phone or downloadable from the HTC website.

Specification

Weight: 157 grams (5.54 ounces) with battery

Resolution: 480 X 800 WVGA

Operating System

Windows Mobile® 6.5 Professional

Storage

* ROM: 512 MB
* RAM: 448 MB
* Expansion slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

CPU Processing Speed

1GHz Snapdragon™ processor

Power & Battery1

Battery type: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1230 mAh
Talk time:

* WCDMA: Up to 320 mins
* GSM: Up to 380 mins

Standby time:

* WCDMA: Up to 390 hours
* GSM: Up to 490 hours

Video playback Up to 8 hours
Audio playback: Up to 12 hours

Camera

* 5 megapixel color camera
* Auto focus
* Dual LED flashlight

Connectors

* 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
* Standard Micro-USB
(5-pin micro-USB 2.0)

Sensors

* G-Sensor
* Proximity sensor
* Ambient light sensor

Multimedia

* Windows Media® Player
* Albums
* Pictures & Videos
* FM Radio
* Audio supported formats:
aac, .amr, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .mp4, .qcp, .wav, .wma
* Video supported formats:
wmv, .asf, .mp4, .3gp, .3g2, .m4v, .avi

Recommended Windows System Requirements

* Windows XP or Windows Vista®
* Microsoft® ActiveSync® 4.5 for Windows XP
* Microsoft® Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1
for Windows Vista

By Gareth Beavis – TechRadar

Top 10 Gadgets information update, free news

Apple iPhone 4

Related Posts:

Sanyo Xacti CS1

Related Posts:

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Screen dream

Software struggles

Skinning skills

Snapper’s delight

Specification Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Size

Weight

Screen

Memory

Camera

Music

Internet

Entertainment

Connectivity

Design

Related Posts:

HTC Legend

Related Posts:

ASUS G51J 3D Notebooks

Specifications

Related Posts:

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Related Posts:

Apple iPad

Display

Processor

Capacity3

Battery and power4

Wireless and cellular

Wi-Fi model

Wi-Fi + 3G model

Audio playback

TV and video

Mail attachment support

Languages

Accessibility

Related Posts:

Nexus One™ – Will this real Google phone propel Android into the big time?

Related Posts:

Sony digital camcorders – Sony HDR-TG7 adds built-in GPS to a slim and stylish Full HD camcorder

Related Posts:

HTC Mobile – Could a HTC HD2 Windows Mobile phone actually challenge the iPhone?

Related Posts:

Capacity³

Battery and power⁴