Tracy and Matt's Blog

The chances are that if you are reading Matt & Tracy’s blog then you will need little introduction to the Nokia N810 internet tablet. I confess to being the owner of a Nokia N800 internet tablet so, when Matt invited me to review the N810 I jumped at the chance. I was curious to see how the latest member of the breed measured up.

The Nokia N810 Internet Tablet

Introduction

Internet tablets themselves are an odd breed that occupy a bit of a niche market. They are neither PDAs, mobile phones or laptop replacements, however, with a fully customisable Linux operating system they are real computers with great potential to act as converged devices. They are to my mind what the PDA always should have been

The N810 represents the latest evolution of a concept that began with the N770 in 2006 and progressed through the N800 in 2007. The 770 and the 800 have something of a cult following, but so far have failed to make a wider impact. Perhaps the 810 might change that?

Nokia N810 specification:

Internet Tablet OS: maemo Linux based OS2008

High-resolution 4.13” WVGA display (800 x 480 pixels) with up to 65,000 colors

400MHz TI OMAP 2420 CPU

128 Mbytes RAM & 256 Mbytes Flash ROM

2GB internal memory

Built-in VGA Camera

MiniSDHC Compatible memory card slot (up to 8GB)

Bluetooth® 2.0

WiFi: 802.11b/g

Built-in GPS receiver

Integrated QWERTY keyboard

High quality stereo speakers and microphone

Continuous usage (display on, wireless LAN active): up to 4 hours, Standby time: up to 14 days

Dimensions: 128x72x14 mm

225 grams

Internet Calling with Video

Built in email client

RSS Feed reader

Instant Messaging

Media Player

Browser based on Mozilla technology

Flash 9 compatible

What’s in the box?

1. N810.

2. Plug in wall charger.

3. USB cable.

4. Stereo headphones..

5. Slip case.

6. Spare stylus.

7. Dashboard mount (for use as a GPS).

General

The form factor is similar to its predecessor the N800, albeit smaller. The device looks clean and modern with its brushed metallic aluminium style fascia. It feels reassuringly solid and well made, sitting easily in one hand whilst leaving the other free to use the stylus. If you’re left-handed like me then you might find that the stylus stored in the upper right corner is a bit awkward to access.

The controls are similar to the N800 but arranged slightly differently:

· On the top from left to right there is a switch for full-screen mode where toolbars and the taskbar can be turned on/off, a volume/zoom up/down control, in the middle is the on/off/standby power switch and on the right is the screen lock switch.

Nokia N810 top view

· On the upper left corner is a multi-function led designed to give visual notifications of device status.

Nokia N810 camera and light sensor

· On the front fascia to the left are the home screen select and browser back navigation buttons. Above these is the webcam and light sensor.

Nokia N810 front view

· To the right on the side, from top to bottom is a 3.5mm audio socket, power socket and, hidden under the stand, a USB2.0 micro socket.

Nokia N810 right side

· On the bottom the mini-SD slot is hidden behind a plastic cover. Next to that can be found together with the battery cover release switch.

Nokia N810 bottom view

· On the back a brushed-metallic fastened panel hides the removable battery that is found in many Nokia mobile phones.

· Very little to be seen on the left hand side of the device beyond the loudspeaker.

Nokia N810 left side

· The QWERTY keyboard is accessed by sliding it out from the bottom of the unit in a fashion similar to some HTC Windows Mobile devices. Doing that not only gives access to the keyboard, but also context sensitive menu key on the lower left and a five-way navigator D-pad used for moving around various screens and menus.

Nokia N810 keyboard

The N800’s two SD slots have been dropped in favour of one mini-SD slot. This seems like a backward step and reduces the potential for expansion, but Nokia provides an internal card with 2GB of file storage so, potentially there’s up to 10GB of space available and perhaps more with larger cards. A swap file can be configured on the internal storage to improve performance, but I can’t say I noticed any difference.

Highlights:

· Speedy performance.

· Excellent bright, evenly-lit and sharp screen.

· Quality construction.

· Powerful, highly customisable and reliable operating system.

· Connectivity.

· Open source community support.

Lowlights:

· Navigation is a backward step from the N800 at times requiring the keyboard to be opened up.

· Unfinished feel to some of the software.

· Only one memory expansion slot.

· Brushed metallic finish is susceptible to scratches and greasy finer marks.

Review

In use the N810 generally feels very responsive with applications launching quickly and menus popping up on command with little delay. The fact that it’s a Linux device should not put you off – it’s easy to use, configure and very intuitive.

As the name intimates, the N810’s primary function is web browsing and in this respect it’s pretty much on the money as far as mobile devices go. The Mozilla based browser is quite speedy with support for Flash, and the large 800 x 480 pixel screen allows web pages to be viewed in full without having to scroll around like you would on a PDA or phone. In this respect it is light years ahead.

As you would expect for an internet-enabled device, connectivity is excellent with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v2.0 built in (no bluetooth stereo audio though). There is support for WEP and WPA-PSK encryption for secure wireless connections and setting up a connection to a hotspot or your home network is easy with the ability to have several configurations available. Equally simple is establishing a bluetooth connection to a 3G mobile phone for go-anywhere internet access. Rather surprisingly the N810 like the N800 seems to have an uncanny ability to hold onto a Wi-Fi signal for far longer and more reliably than any Windows pc I have ever used.

Out of the box there is no decent PIM application other than a rudimentary contacts manager, but to be fair Nokia makes no claims regarding PIM functionality.

As a media player the N810 is competent and possesses some excellent features such as an internet radio application and the ability to play media streamed from a server. The built-in media player is somewhat basic, but it does a reasonable job of things and there’s good support for a wide variety of audio and video formats including mp3, WAV, AAC, WMA, WMV, MPEG 1-2, mp4, avi etc.

Sound quality is good and on par with a decent mp3 player. Quality headphones enhance the experience further. Video playback is superb: smooth and sharp on the large screen making it much better than any mobile phone or PDA. Watching an entire movie is a reasonable proposition. Occasionally, playback can stumble on high resolution video files but transcoding to 400 x 288 pixels soon sorts that out and Nokia provides a free utility for optimising videos.

The email application is fairly basic, but allows multiple POP3 and IMAP4 mail accounts. I found that it does slow noticeably with large volumes of mail.

There is no sim slot and therefore the N810 can’t be used as a standalone mobile phone, nor can it access the online world without a hotspot or phone to hand. For some people this is a major omission. For me it isn’t an issue. With excellent Wi-Fi performance to rely upon free Skype-to-Skype calls were of decent audio quality with minimal lag.

Physically, the keyboard is what differentiates the N810 from the N800. It slides out smoothly from the bottom of the unit and locks into place. It adds a new dimension to the device that makes data entry less of a chore than it is on the N800. Writing mail, short notes and documents, and instant messaging becomes more realistic. However, you will struggle to touch type on it or write a lengthy document.

Nokia N810 in the open position

Inevitably, the addition of the keyboard has forced some compromises upon the o/s in terms of navigating the user interface and on occasions when I found myself using it, I was still forced to resort to the stylus. Conversely, when I wanted to just stick with the stylus I was forced to pop out the keyboard. This was slightly frustrating and could probably be overcome with familiarity, but in this respect I feel that the N810 is slightly behind the N800 in ease of use.

Battery life in use for media playback is borderline acceptable at about 3-4hrs depending upon settings and the quality of encoded files. In general use it fared much better. I was pleased to discover that the charger is a standard Nokia phone affair because the battery is also a standard Nokia item, obtaining replacements or spares ought to be cheap and easy.

Software

There’s nothing new here which hasn’t already been covered elsewhere in this or the N800’s review except the GPS functionality. The GPS and mapping software itself is a bit clunky. Getting a satellite lock was slow and the maps seemed to be quite low on detail compared to dedicated GPS units.

Nokia N810 closed position

Conclusion

Has the 810 moved things on and would I recommend one? Not much and almost is the answer.

You really have to want an internet tablet to be able to reconcile cost against performance and convenience. If you are looking for a laptop replacement and for something that can be used for regular web access then you are probably better off looking at a sub-notebook such as the Asus Eee PC which is much more capable and cheaper.

If you are like me and don’t like to be carrying several devices, then it’s tantalisingly close to achieving that nirvana as an all-in-one replacement for a PDA, mp3 player and mobile phone. This in itself is worth paying good money for.

 

Review by: Nigel

[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, Nokia, N810, Internet Tablet]

Aiptek is a brand name that I only recently came across. They are probably a little better known in the USA than on this side of the pond.

The other day I got my hands on the Aiptek AHD Z500 Plus HD Camcorder to have a look at. The Z500 is a budget HD Camcoder that records up to 1080p on SD or SDHC memory cards.

The RRP of the Z500 is £250 which ir pretty amazing for and HD camcorder and so far I have been very pleasantly surprised by both the quality and specification. The HDV21X has a 5 megapixel sensor which can record up to 30 frames per second at 1080p or 720P at 60 frames. You'll be able to record up to 8 hours of 1080p video on a 32GB SDHC card. As for still images, the Z500 shoots at 8 megapixels and even sports a macro mode for both video and still. Also on board is a 3x optical zoom, CIF mode for easy YouTube uploads and a 2.4-inch swivel-mount TFT LCD

Does this all sound too good to be true? Well you'll have to come back in a week or so for Nick's review of the Z500 and we'll also include some sample footage to help you make up your own mind!

For now you can have a look at the unbox video below:

Aiptek AHD Z500 Plus Specification
● 1440 x 1080 H.264 Video @30fps
● 1280 x 720 H.264 Video @60fps
● Personal Media Player & Recorder
● Up to 8 Mega Pixel Digital Camera
● .MOV Video Format
● 3x Optical Zoom w/ Auto Focus
● 2-inch Macro Zoom
● Flash w/ Red Eye Reduction
● Night Shot
● LED Lights
● HDTV Component Output
● 2.4" Swivel-Reversible LCD
● Easy Charging via AC or USB
● 32GB SDHC Card Slot Expansion
● Remote Control Included

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Aiptek, Aiptek AHD Z500 Plus, HD Camcorder]

The Samsung Soul U900, which is the latest phone offerings from Samsung, Samsung is sticking to its slider guns with the Soul U900, which incorporates modern technology into a classic design. I thought on first impressions this was just another slide phone that looked good but lacked functionality, I WAS WRONG!!

The Samsung U900 Soul

Samsung U900 Soul Specification:

• Size: 105 x 49.5 x 12.9 mm
• Weight: 112 grams
• Camera:  5 MP, 2592?1944 pixels, autofocus, image stabiliser, video(QVGA), flash
• Battery life: 400 hours standby & 6.5 hours talk time
• Display size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches
• OS: Custom flash UI on S60 OS
• Bluetooth: 2.0 with A2DP
• Memory: 240MB shared memory & MicroSDHC
• Networks: GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
• HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps
• FM radio with RDS
• MP3/AAC/AAC+ player
• AC Charger: Output 9VDC, 2.5A

 

What's in the box?

• The Samsung Soul handset
• Battery
• Mains Charger
• Hands-free wired headset
• USB Data Cable
• CD-ROM
• User's Guide

 

GENERAL

The Samsung U900 Soul is an attractive looking candy-bar style slider phone with a funky touch window below the main 2.2" TFT colour display. Either side of the touch controls are a couple of physical buttons or selection keys along with call send and end keys. Above the main screen you find a single VGA camera for video calls as well as the loudspeaker.

The Samsung U900 Soul

Looking to the right hand side of the U900 you'll find a plastic cover over the MicroSD card slot as well as a dedicated camera button.

Samsung Soul right side

Left hand side is home to the volume controls, USB/Audio/power connector and finally a eyelet for a lanyard or phone charm.

Samsung Soul left side

Slide the screen up to reveal a 15 key numeric pad. The keys have a brushed metal finish to them that looks pretty cool, it looks even better in the dark when the numbers are illuminated from behind.

Samsung Soul Keypad

If you turn the phone over with the screen open you'll see the excellent 5.0 Megapixel camera with LED 'flash' and self portrait mirror.

Samsung Soul Camera

 

 

Highlights and Lowlights

+ Attractive Design

+ FM Radio with RDS

+ Decent Digital Camera

- Only Tri-band

- Battery life not as good as promised

 

REVIEW

To be honest, I didn't understand what all the fuss was about when this phone was first introduced to me, but when I took this out of the box I soon came to realise that all the fuss was about something rather stylish and attractive.

When I was out using this it felt right, sitting there in my hand, the solid look and feel that you get from the metal casing, the way the keypad and screen are laid out it just feels right, some people might think its chunky or oversized but I think that Samsung might have made a phone that could just be right.

When I reviewed the KF600 I was not struck on the split/dual screen but with the Soul it just goes together perfectly, the navigation touch screen at the bottom is very responsive and provides an adequate amount of vibrating feedback.

Fortunately, all the heavily-used keys such as cancel and soft keys are mechanical. You can avoid the irritation of deleting a whole text message as you could on the Samsung E900 when you mistakenly brushed the touch-sensitive cancel key.

The Samsung Soul U900 is built in a way that kind of puts across that Samsung acknowledges its past mistakes and has cleverly engineered the Soul. The 5-megapixel camera, for example, is protected behind the slide mechanism similar to the Nokia N95, which is a small detail that adds to the overall user experience.

The aim of having a navigation touch screen seemed redundant at first, but starts to make sense when you use the Soul. When you access an app such as the camera, it offers a series of camera keys making it easier to change all the settings.

LG tried to achieve a similar thing on the KF600 but the often unresponsive touchpad left me frustrated. Samsung's Soul reacts well to touch and you can even adjust the sensitivity of the touchpad to be higher or lower.

Fortunately, the touchpad isn't the only thing on offer. HSPDA (3.5G) allows for high-speed browsing, which is made better when you download one of our favourite programs.

Using the music player is straightforward and it supports a variety of formats including MP3 and AAC, but the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack or adaptor means that you have to use the provided headphones.

Battery life lasted for over two days with moderate use. It started to drop when I used more of its features, particularly while browsing the Web over HSDPA and listening to music for a prolonged period.

 

 

Conclusion

The Samsung Soul is fairly straightforward, but that's what impressed me. It's by no means a do-all phone: there's no GPS and no Wi-Fi, for starters. It just works well and provides an enjoyable user experience.

 

Review by: Phillip

[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, Samsung, U900, Samsung Soul]

The MWg Zinc II is a feature-rich Windows Mobile 6.0 pro device with a built in sliding QWERTY keyboard. On the face of it the Zinc II looks like a decent alternative to the HTC TyTN II.

Take a look at my unbox video below to discover a little more about it and come back soon to read the full review.

MWg Zinc II Specification

Windows Mobile 6.0 pro.

UMTS Tri-band, GSM Quad-band, HSDPA 3.6 Mbps

Samsung 500MHz Processor

1.9-megapixel CMOS camera

2.8-inch 340x240-pixel LCD with 262,144 colours

ROM: 256MB Flash + 64MB SDRAM

SDIO, miniSD expansion slot

GPS: SirF Star III

Bluetooth v2

WiFi 802.11b/802.11g

sliding QWERTY keypad

109.5 x 59 x 18 mm

165 grams

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, MWg, MWg Atom Life, Zinc II]

Something a little different for a bit of weekend fun. If you've got an iPod Touch or an iPhone you may have seen an application in the Apple Store called iPint. iPint is a fun little game that allows players to earn themselves a virtual pint of Carling!

The idea is a pretty simple one, using the motion sensor on the iPod you have to easy a pint of Carling Lager down a slippery bar top. There are obstacles along the way to make the task more tricky and there are 3 levels of difficulty. Once you navigate the pint in to the hands or a waiting punter you earn yourself a frosty pint which you can also 'drink' using the motion sensor!

Since its launch just over a week ago Caling's iPint application has rocket to the number one spot in the Apple Store free Apps chart.

Carling is one of the first UK brands to develop and distribute a third party application following Apple's release of it's SDK.

This fun little application will go down a storm with your friends whether you are in the pub or at work. Everyone wants to give it a go!

Thanks to the guys and girls at Hill & Knowlton for sending us the App. (and an iPod Touch to play it on!)

If you want to see the game in action then head over to the Carling iPint site.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, carling, iPint, iPod]

Great news for TyTN II owners as finally the Direct3D video driver that the device so desperatly is now available!

Most HTC TyTN II owners are probably aware of the campaign to get a proper set of video drivers for the device and have no doubt heard of the HTCClassAction site that has been campaingning for them.

If you want to download the new driver or to find out more then head over to the HTCClassAction site where you'll find a whole load of information about it.

Haven't installed the drivers myself yet but will do so later and come back with an update.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, HTC, HTCClassAction, ATI Imageon]

Lots of you out there seem to be waiting for the launch of the Samsung i900 Omnia before making up your minds between buying that or the HTC Touch Diamond.

Today I heard some news though, that comes as something of a disappointment. Apparently Samsung are not going to release the 16GB version of the Omnia in the UK, only the 8GB version.

We now have official pricing for the 8GB unit. It will be £399 + VAT, with first stock arriving 18th August. Because Samsung are not releasing the 16GB version Clove Technology thought they would come to the rescue with a special offer to help boost the memory available by offering a package with a FREE 4GB microSD card.

This offer is valid on all purchases of the 8GB Omnia, but you need the voucher code: SAM8GB0708

Simply use the code about when buying the 8GB Omnia and Clove shall send the machine with a free 4GB card!

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, Samsung i900 Omnia]

Sony and Sky have just launched the first on-demand TV service for the PSP. This service has just gone live, and with Go!View, PSP users are now able to create their own TV schedule from Sky’s line-up for entertainment, sports, movies and TV series. Content can easily be transferred to their PSP via a PC.

From the Sony Press release:

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Sky are pleased to announce that Go!View, the official PlayStation Portable (PSP™) video-on-demand service in the UK and Republic of Ireland, is now live. From today, content spanning TV, movies and sport will be regularly added to this new service for PSP users to enjoy in addition to their usual gaming experience.  With everyone who registers for the service at www.goview.tv receiving a free month’s subscription, there’s no better time to be a PSP owner!

Go!View makes portable, video-on-demand a reality, now PSP users are able to easily transfer content to their PSP via a PC. Through agreements with distributors and broadcasters including Disney-ABC-ESPN Television, BBC Worldwide, Sony Pictures Television International, NBC Universal International Television Distribution, National Geographic and Sky Sports, Go!View can offer PSP users an excellent range of content. Programming will range from US dramas such as library series’ of Lost and Desperate Housewives (produced by ABC Studios) to hit UK shows such as Doctor Who and Top Gear (from BBC Worldwide) through to FA Premier League football action and blockbuster movies.

Comedy, Sport and Entertainment Packs are available by monthly subscription, whilst selected movies and TV series can be transferred via the rental service on Go!View. Subscription packs are priced at £5 (€7) for 1 pack, £8 (€11) for 2 packs and £10 (€14) for all three packs and users can trial all three packs free for a month.  Rental TV is available from £1.50 (€2.00) per episode and a range of movies is available from £2.50 (€3.20) each.

This initial launch phase will see the Go!View service constantly growing from now through the autumn. ‘We are working with our content providers to secure a quality range of programming and ensure that PSP™ owners are getting the best possible service on-the-go and on-demand.’ said Alison Turner, General Manager, Go!View Entertainment UK

www.goview.tv

Go!View is a joint venture between Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Sky who have established the joint venture ‘GO!VIEW Entertainment UK’.  This is being used to bring the PSP video-on-demand to market in the UK, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands & the Isle of Man.  Sky is providing their expertise in building successful video-on-demand platforms as well as content acquisition.  Sony Computer Entertainment is providing the marketing for the service.

 

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, Sony, PSP, Go!View]