Reviews

Samsung Pixon (M8800) review

The Samsung M8800 (Pixon) is Samsung’s latest attempt at replacing your digital camera by combining a great 8 mega-pixel camera and a high end touch screen mobile. So is it really time to say goodbye to your current compact?

The Samsung Pixon

As for styling the Pixon is dominated by a large 3.2” touch screen display which allows for clear and high quality playback of your videos and photos, as for the phone’s capabilities the specifications are as follows:

Samsung M8800 Pixon specification:

• Dimensions:107.9 x 54.6 x 13.8 mm
• Weight: 121g
• Battery:
  – Talk Time: 220 mins
  – Standby Time: 290 hrs
  – Capacity: 1000 mAh
• Display: 240 x 400 pixels/3.2 inch
• Network:
  – GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band)
  – 2100 HSDPA (Single-Band)
• Camera: 8 mega-pixels (auto-focus)
  – Dual LED Flash
  – Shake Reduction
  – WDR (Wide Dynamic Range)
  – Face Detection
  – Smile Shot
  – Face Link (Face Tagging)
• Video:
  – Hi-Resolution VGA Video Recording
  – 30fps Video Recording (VGA)
  – 120 fps Slow Motion Video (QVGA)
  – Supported formats: MP4, 3GP, H.264, H.263, DivX & XviD
  – Video Streaming
• Music:
  – Supported formats: MP3, AAC, eAAC+ & WMA
  – FM Stereo Radio (RDS)
  – Windows Media Player Sync
  – DNSe (Digital Natural Sound engine)
• Memory:
  – Phone Book (2000)
  – Dilled Calls
  – Missed Calls
  – Received Calls
  – 200MB (internal)
  – microSDHC (external)
• Connectivity:
  – TV Out
  – Bluetooth (2.0)

What’s in the box?

I wont go in to any detail here as matt has already recorded a great Samsung Pixon unboxing video.

General

At 13.8mm thick and weighing just 121g the Samsung Pixon is surprisingly small considering the large amount of features packed into the device. The general style of the phone is similar to several of the LG touch screen devices. In your hand the Pixon feels fairly substantial and as for build quality it certainly feels like a quality device.

The phones overall appearance is more likened to that of a digital compact camera with a simplistic layout and with most of the the controls being handled via the touch screen display the Pixon is fairly clutter free with regards to buttons.

The Front of the device as mentioned is home to the wonderful 3.2” Touch screen with the call buttons below and a single button for navigating menus. A forward facing VGA camera is also located on the front of the device for video calls.

Samsung Pixon front view

The left side of the phone is home to a micro SD slot below which is a quick launch button allowing for easy access to the phones music player, camera or messages and finally a hold button for locking the device.

Samsung Pixon left side

On the right a button for controlling volume which also becomes zoom control when the phone is in camera mode. Below this a playback button allowing for quick and easy viewing of photos and videos. The camera button is the final button on the right side of the phone and is used to launch the phones camera function as well as doubling up as the shutter button for capture.

Samsung Pixon right side

The Proprietary connector input for headphones and the phones charger is located on top as is is the phones battery cover release.

Samsung Pixon top view

The back of the device is very similar to a compact digital camera largely due to the impressive looking 8 mega-pixel camera which is obviously this phones big selling point. Above this is an LED flash and below is a fairly powerful speaker which is great for music playback. The camera lens has an automatic lens cover which is activated when the phones camera function is launched and remains closed when the camera is not in use.

Samsung Pixon back view

Highlights & Lowlights
+ 8 megapixel camera
+ Responsive Touch Screen
+ Easy to use
– No WiFi
– small internal memory

Review

The Samsung M8800 is a great looking phone full of promise and I am pleased to say that in many respects it has lived up to my personal expectations. The First thing that struck me about the Pixon was its size, for a phone with so may features I was certainly expecting the Pixon to ave more depth but the fact Samsung have managed to squeeze all of this into a device 13.8mm thick is a great achievement.

As it is the first thing you will see when you unbox the Pixon it makes sense to start by talking about the touch screen display. I am sure I am not the only one who has not always been the biggest fan of touch screen displays on phones I have often found them to be over sensitive and for this reason make tasks such as texting very difficult indeed. I can honestly say though the Pixon has changed my opinion on touch screen displays, it is not perfect but it is certainly one of the best I have used. The screen is clear and crisp which makes navigating through the phones menus quick and easy.

As far as using the Pixon day to day call clarity is good and I had no problems with the receiver, as mentioned texting as well as carrying out any other tasks which involve you typing such as sending emails or adding event to your organiser are easy to do either using a classic numeric text pad layout or by using the touch screen QWERTY activated by rotating the phone horizontally. Browsing the net is as expected nothing special and the lack of wi-fi is a disappointment. The phone includes the standard organisational tools such as calender and memo’s also included are widgets similar to vista these allow for quick access to your favourite applications as well as providing some fun extras such as photo viewers and world clocks.

The Samsung M8800’s party piece is its 8 mega-pixel camera this includes a number of functions which manage to match those included on an average priced compact digital, the camera includes face recognition, auto focus, anti-shake, blink detection to mention just a few. Videos can be recorded using high-resolution VGA recording at either 30fps or 120fps for slow motion playback. The picture Quality of the Pixon is certainly accomplished for a mobile for but also would be considered more than acceptable for a standard digital camera. The phone also managed to perform well even in low light situations which is a common problem. When combined with all the other features such as the included multimedia functions it really is a suitable substitute for many mid range digitals but will be replacing your high end compacts just yet.

Speaking of multimedia functions the phone has support for MP3, AAC, eAAC+ & WMA with clear playback either through the mobile’s in built speaker on headphones. As for memory the phone has 200mb of internal memory however support for up to 16GB with the use of microSD.

Standards such as battery life not great with the Pixon stated as 220 minutes talk-time and around 290 hours stand by however obviously these will vary depending on the amount and type of use you put the phone through with tasks such as browsing taking the battery life allot quicker. The M8800 supports Bluetooth 2.0 and TV out allowing for big screen playback.

Conclusion

In conclusion the Samsung M8800 (Pixon) is an attractive stylish piece of kit packing a big punch in the form of an 8 mega-pixel camera. The phone has some great features and the clear and responsive touch screen allows for quick and easy navigation as well as text input. The phones’ picture quality is not perfect and may struggle to match many 8 mega-pixel digital cameras currently available on the market however that said a combination of the Pixon’s camera and video capabilities along with it’s multimedia functions leads us to a great phone for the popular party goer, the phones puts to much emphasis on the camera and relatively little in terms of accessibility through features such as Wi-fi to be a great corporate phone but with this being the time of year for parties the Samsung Pixon is perfect party accessory.

Review by: Nick

[ Post Tags: smartphone news, Samsung Pixon, M8800, camera phone, 8 Megapixel, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Sony Ericsson C905 review

The Sony Ericsson C905 is the latest in the Cybershot range and another addition to the fast growing range of 8 mega-pixel mobiles out on the market. So how does the c905 set itself aside from its competition?

The Sony Ericsson C905

The C905 certainly looks the part on paper with the inclusion of the 8 mega-pixel camera, Wi-fi and a host of other features which are designed to give you the all round mobile experience.

What’s in the box?

Head over and have a look at Matt’s Sony Ericsson C905 unboxing video for the full run down of what’s included.

Sony Ericsson C905 specification:

• Size
  – 104 x 49 x 18 mm
  – 4.1 x 1.9 x 0.7 inches
• Weight
  – 136 g
  – 4.8 oz
• Screen
  – 262,144-colour TFT QVGA
  – 240×320 pixel
  – Auto-Rotate
• Memory
  – 160 MB Phone Memory
  – Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support – 2GB card in the box
• Networks
  – EDGE  – GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
  – HSDPA – UMTS 850, UMTS 2100
• •Camera
  – 8.1 megapixel camera
  – Xenon flash
  – Auto focus Face detection
  – Smart contrast
  – Image stabilizer
  – Red-eye reduction
• Music
  – Album art
  – Media Player
  – Music tones
  – PlayNow™
  – TrackID™
• Internet
  – RSS feeds
  – NetFront™ Web browser
• Connectivity
  – Bluetooth™
  – WiFi™
• Messaging
  – Email
  – Exchange ActiveSync®
  – MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
  – Predictive text input
  – SMS long (Text Messaging)
  – Sound recorder

General

Being a slider the C905 is more similar in style to the walkman series of mobiles as appose to the Cybershots that have come before it. The Phone is light in the hand and feels fairly solid and well built however as with many sliders they do tend to feel slightly more fragile than candy bar style devices.

The phone has a matt silver finish and unlike some of the other 8 mega-pixel mobiles out there it still looks like a phone not a compact digital camera, something I personally I like because despite the camera quality it is still very much a Phone with a camera rather than the other way around.

The Front of the phone when closed is home to a number of buttons first of all there Is a four way directional control with a single central selection button, surrounding this you have your call control buttons a few quick launch keys for accessing contacts, messages etc. a cancel key Is also located on the front of the device, at the top of the phone above the receiver are two soft keys for quickly accessing your photo album and double up as mode control when the phone is In camera mode.

When opened the phone reveals a standard numeric keyboard with reasonably spaced keys with no problems with big thumb syndrome.

Sony Ericsson C905 open

The left hand side of the Mobile houses the M2 card slot and also the proprietary connector for the phones charger, headphones and also for USB sharing with a PC.

Sony Ericsson C905 left side

On the right are the phones camera controls, from left to right there is 2 way button for checking the phones status battery life etc. also used for multimedia volume control and for operating the cameras zoom function. There is then playback button for quick access to your photos and videos. A button for switching between photo and video mode is next and finally the shutter button for capturing your shots.

Sony Ericsson C905 right side

The back of the C905 will be a familiar site to Cybershot users. The sliding lens cover which when opened launches the phones camera function. As well as the lens there is also a phone light and the all important xeon flash which has been lacking from other mobiles of a similar spec.

Sony Ericsson C905 back view

Highlights & Lowlights
+ 8.1 mega-pixel Camera
+ Wi-fi
+Xeon flash
– Large proprietary connector

Review

The Sony Ericsson arrives full of promise and for the most part seems to match it however the phone does come unstuck when trying to compete with other phones of things such as styling and features.

First of all let me say having had limited experience with the cyber shot series with regards to hands on day to use, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the device was to use the menus are clear and to the point with nothing fancy to take your time, the functionality and connectivity of the c905 is first class with Wi-fi, 3G and GPS included allowing you to be connected whenever you need. It also includes PictBridge which is great for getting your photos quickly and with minimal fuss. For a phone of this price some of the features feel a little primitive with little WOW factor on the other hand some of them certainly do have that WOW factor leaving the phone with a middle of the road feeling with obvious improvements that could be made however it does manage to distinguish itself in the ever expanding high end high spec camera phone market.

Making calls with the phone either voice or video is simple and I had no problems with muffled sound although the receiver was not the loudest or I have experienced it was not something that had a great effect on calls as it was not a huge problem just something to say as a comparison to other phones.

Although not sold on its multimedia capabilities the c905 does not disappoint with regards to playing back your favourite tracks transferring is remarkably simple either via Bluetooth, USB or the fantastic M2 USB Adapter all included. The phone comes with a 2GB memory card however support have M2 card support if you wish to increase capacity.

The phones camera as I’m sure you are of by now is a superb 8.1 mega-pixel auto focus with a selection of functions and modes for improving picture and video quality. The camera is simple to use activating it by simply sliding the lens cover and you are ready to go. The features included allow for things such as facial recognition, image stabilisation, red eye reduction, smart contrast which makes capturing photos in lowlight heavy sunlight situations that bit easier. Another area in which the c905 really manages to distance itself from its competitors is through the inclusion of a xeon flash which really does improve your images over those captured using an LED flash. Image quality is very good although the phones screen is not the best for playback once transferred to a PC the pictures soon come to life, they are clear and crisp however as with other phones with these 8 mega-pixel cameras they just don’t match a dedicated digital compact. The phone is also capable of capturing video with image stabilisation and make use of the phones camera light.

The phone claims to have around 540mins talk time and 380hrs standby which is perfectly acceptable although obviously these times will change depending on what you are using the phone, if you were using the phone for heavy photography uses than expect the battery life to be reduced however will still offer you a reasonable level of battery. Other features such as games and a few fun tools such as Photo DJ and Music DJ which will keep you busy on those tedious bus journeys. An FM radio is also included, another feature that will keep you busy is the phones browser which is of a decent standard is not ideal on the phones relatively small screen in comparison of other devices.

Conclusion 

In conclusion the Sony Ericsson c905 is certainly an impressive phone in more ways than one the trusted and established name of the cybershot cameras instantly gives the c905 an advantage over competitors however it does not quite challenge a dedicated digital compact. The phones media features are also a great addition with an included 2GB M2 card allowing for you to start transferring your tracks to your mobile straight out of the box.

The c905 would make the perfect mobile for students as it brings together a great combination of multimedia and photographic excellence, this combined with great connectivity leaves with lighter pockets and allows you to take great photos with great features wherever and whenever the moment takes.

Review by: Nick

[ Post Tags: Sony Ericsson, C905, Cyber-shot, tracyandmatt.co.uk, 8 Megapixel, mobile phone ]

Optoma Pico Pocket Projector review

Remember the days when projectors were large and expensive pieces of kit that you only saw at high-end presentations? They used to have three separate colour ‘guns’ for for RGB and each required time consuming alignment and focusing.

Things have come a long way since then and not only are projectors much smaller but that are also more affordable. Go in to the meeting rooms of many businesses and you’re bound to find a projector there somewhere.

A few years ago there was a lot of talk about making projectors so small that they would actually fit inside a mobile phone. While me might not quite be there yet the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector brings the concept a lot closer and provides us with a projector small enough to fit in your pocket!

The Pico Pocket Projector

The 10 second review:
Device: Optoma Pico Pocket Projector
Cost: £244.67 (Inc VAT).
Available from: Clove Technology (Go and buy one from here)
Summary: An excellent addition to your kit bag if you have to do unplanned presentations or want to show something off on a large screen but you’ll have to dim the lights is you want to use it to it’s full potential
Best of: Tiny size and battery life
Worst of: Poor built in speaker and relatively low resolution

What’s in the box?

• The Pico Projector
• Mains Charger (USB)
• USB to Mini-USB cable
• Video input cable
• Two batteries
• Tripod adapter
• Carry pouch
• Manual and warranty card

If you want to have a more detailed look at what’s included with the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector or to see it in action, take a look at my demo video below:

Optoma Pico Pocket Projector specication:

• Projection Type –DLP 
• Lamp – LED 
• Lamp Life – 20,000 
• Acoustic Noise – Silent 
• Contrast Ratio –1000:1 
• Power  – Battery  Operated 
• Recharging –USB 
• AV Input – 1 x 2.5mm 4 pole jack socket, AV Input combines stereo audio and composite video, PAL\NTSC(576i\480) 
• Weight – 115g (4oz) 
• Dimensions – W50mm D103mm H15mm 
• Throw Ratio – 1.9 
• Proj Distance – Min 0.25m – Max 2.6m 
• Image Size – 0.15 – 1.5m (6-60") 
• Speaker – 1 x 0.5w 
• Battery Life – Up to 1.5 hours 
• Power Input –Mini USB connectors 

General

Lets start off by taking a look around the projector.

The Pico Pocket Projector has a clean design and is made form black and silver plastic. Looking from above there are no controls, just a simple silver band and logo across the middle and a simple LED the indicates battery charge.

Optoma Pico Pocket Projector top

On the right hand side of the unit we have the AV input socket which is a 2.5mm 4 pole jack carrying both audio and video signals. In front of that we have a grille over a small single speaker and then a dial which controls the focus.

Optoma Pico Pocket Projector right side

Looking to the left side we have the power control which has a full brightness, half brightness and off setting. Next to that is the mini-USB connector that’s used to charge the battery.

Optoma Pico Pocket Projector left side

On the front is the lens out of which the projected image is emitted. There is no lens cap though.

Optoma Pico Pocket Projector front view

On the bottom is a battery cover, which slides off backwards, and the screw hole for the tripod adapter.

Optoma Pico Pocket Projector bottom view

Review

When I first heard about the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector I have to say I was rather skeptical, having owned several large projectors in the past, each of them having incredibly bright (and expensive) bulbs I couldn’t imagine how you could build a projector so small and have LED’s as it’s light source.

Having unboxed the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector I was amazed at how truly tiny it is, certainly it deserves it’s Pico name. At a little larger than most candy-bar style mobile phones it’s probably lighter than the vast majority of them.

As I mentioned in the video above, I quite often have to stand in front of groups of people and give presentations. Normally I arrange for there to be a projector or plasma screen at the venue but when this isn’t possible I take along my own portable projector. This last week I thought I would try the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector when I did a Powerpoint presentation to a small group of people. I put the slideshow on to my HTC Touch Pro and went along with the TV-out cable and the Pico projector. I have to say, this worked quite well for me. Sure, we did have to dim the lights in the room and there was already a proper projector screen at the venue but the eight people in the group were able to see the presentation quite easily. Imagine also how impressed they were when I pulled everything I needed to the presentation out of my jacket pockets!

At the heart of the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector is a DLP chip with a resolution of 480×320 (half VGA) while this doesn’t sound like a lot it does work quite well easily accepting PAL and NTSC signals as well as those output from many mobile phones. Lighting is provided by one or more (I’m not sure how many) bright white LED’s. The advantage of using LED’s is that they are efficient, run cool and have an amazing lifetime. Here the LED life is quoted at 20,000 hours. LED’s are also quite robust which is ideal for something portable.

The projector does have a small loudspeaker built in which combines both left and right input channels. The built-in speaker is probably the worst part of the projector. It’s range is fairly limited and it sounds really quite tinny with lower frequencies causing distortion to the middle and higher end. There’s also no volume control on the unit so if your source isn’t loud enough there’s nothing you can do about it. That said, I doubt that you’d buy the Pico projector for watching the latest DVD’s!

One other thing that lets the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector down a little is the lack of keystone correction. For those of you that don’t know a keystone effect is caused by attempting to project an image onto a surface at an angle, as with a projector not quite centred onto the screen it is projecting on. It is a distortion of the image dimensions, making it look like a trapezoid. In the typical case of a projector sitting on a table, and looking upwards to the screen. Most projectors have some kind of keystone correction whether digitally controls or through a control that shifts the lens. The Pico has neither of these but I guess this down to the size constraints.

If you do choose to use the projector to watch a video, perhaps from your phone or your iPod then it does perform quite well, especially if you can turn out all of the lights and project on to a proper projector screen or a plain white wall. I’d suggest that you allow your video source to output the audio or at the very least use headphones. Under these conditions I was impressed with the detail in the image and the contrast ratio, even fast-moving scenes, where you might expect to see motion blurring, were displayed rather well.

In all, when you consider how small this thing is the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector is impressive!

Highlights

• A tiny projector that sits in your hand
• Ideal for mobile workers
• Silent in use
• Ideal for down the pub!

Lowlights

• Needs to be in a dim room for best results
• Poor internal speaker
• No keystone correction

Conclusion

The Optoma Pico Pocket Projector is a great little device which is ideal for anyone that travels to meetings regularly but would rather travel light. It’s great for ad-hoc presentations and showing off your latest photos and videos to your mates without having to plan it. It performs amazingly well for something so small!

However, if you are doing professional presentations then the Optoma Pico Pocket Projector wont replace more expensive and brighter projectors out there.

Review by: Matt

LG KS360 Review

Introduction

Announced back in July 2008 the LG KS360 was code named the LG Tribe and in fact still retains that name on the TIM Italy network. Not by any means the first QWERTY handset by LG but certainly the first handset by LG that was designed with typical phone users in mind and the first to come in an array of bright but very simplistic colours.

This phone holds a bag of surprises and given that "again" the phone was in Pink we gave it straight to Lynne to play with.

Lynne (up until this handset) was a Sony Ericsson fan and was using the W850i for about 2 years because she just could not find a phone that suited her like that but this handset changed that opinion and we will go a little deeper into why during the review (which Lynne wrote herself….. So proud!).

LG KS360

The 10 second review:
Device: LG KS360
Cost: £88.09 on Orange PAYG
Available to order from: Argos (Go and buy one from here)
Summary: A very nice phone with a great QWERTY keyboard and a simple menu layout.
Best of: QWERTY Keyboard, Music Player, Design & Style 
Worst of: No WiFi, No Flash for the camera

What’s in the box?

• Handset
• Battery
• Wired Headset
• Data Cable
• Travel Charger
• User Manual
• Software Disc

LG KS360 Specification:

• GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
• Dimensions: 101.5 x 51 x 16.8 mm
• Weight: 108 g
• Display Type?: TFT, 256K colours
• Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches
• Touch Screen Dialling
• Full QWERTY keyboard
• Vibration
• microSD (TransFlash) up to 4GB
• 15 MB shared memory
• GPRS
• EDGE
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• USB v2.0
• SMS, MMS, Email, IM
• WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
• Colours: Black and red, Black and silver, White and soft pink, Titanium and bright blue
• Camera: 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, video
• Java MIDP 2.0
• MP3 player
• MPEG-4 player
• FM radio
• Photo/video editor
• Built-in handsfree
• Voice memo
• Standard battery, Li-Ion 800 mAh
• Stand-by Up to 430 h
• Talk time Up to 5 h

General

To keep with the site format we will now take a look around the phone from top to bottom , left to right and front to back but in a more simple than normal format.

Top: Release catch for back cover

Bottom: Microphone

Left: Volume Rocker Button and Camera Hotkey

Left hand side view

Right: At the top there is the charger port which doubles as a headphone socket

Right hand side view

Front: The top has the speaker grill with the 2.4 inch screen just below. There are also several keys on the front of the phone namely (from left to right and top to bottom), hot selection key, call start key, left direction key, phonepad key, up selection key, ok button, down selection key, right selection key, cancel button, hot key, and call end.

Keyboard Open: Full backlit QWERTY keyboard with an SMS hot key.

Keyboard Open and Slanted View

Back: Loudspeaker Grill, Self Potrait Mirror and 2MP Camera Lens.

Highlights and Lowlights

+ Comes in an Array of colours to suit individual taste.

+ The music player is far superior to that of the Sony Ericsson W850i which was Lynne’s last handset.

+ The QWERTY keyboard when in use for SMS (Landscape Mode) allows a clearer view of the screen.

– No WiFi

– Sensitive Touch Screen

– No Camera Flash

Review

LG KS360 in Pink and White

I am not a fan of fancy phones and to be honest I never really wanted to try another handset but as Matt said that I would love this little pink phone I decided to give it a go.

My initial reaction to the phone was "excellent it’s pink" but we all know that colour doesn’t really make a phone and in this case it just helped it out a little.

Setup was easy, I had a lot of files on my old phone and to get them over to the LG I decided to use Bluetooth which proved to be a wise move as the transfer rate between the phones was great. I moved onto the contacts next and decided the easiest way to do this would be to stick all my phone contacts onto the simcard then when I put the simcard into the LG I could just copy the sim contacts to the phone which was my biggest pain point. For some unknown reason the phone imported the contacts from the sim in last name first name style which meant I had to edit every contact one by one to get them right as there was no option to fix this on the phone itself.

On my next step to making the phone my own I decided to go through the menu system one option at a time to see what was there and to make sure the settings within the options were exactly how I wanted / needed them. To say I found this easy would be an understatement, the menu system was easy to navigate, had everything in the right place and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand what each option / setting did. I particularly loved the animated desktop graphics when I first used them, they were fun and very unusual to see.

Like I mentioned above, I’m no techy when it comes to phone and when John explained that the SMS messages would need to be typed using the QWERTY and the phone numbers dialled using the touchscreen I thought, forget it, I’ll never get my head round this but I was very surprised at just how quickly I learned how to use these and how easy to use they were. After a few hours I thought to myself "I don’t know how I managed without a keyboard before".

The touchscreen vibrated on the touch of every button which was a tad weird at first and the over sensitive screen meant that I quite often hit the wrong button but again after a few hours I had it sussed and away I went with my new mobile.

I made a call to my mum cause I really wanted to see what the call quality was like (not that I would know much of a difference). There was not a single glitch or blank during my 20 minute conversation and my mum could here me very well too which was a great change as my W850i had a terrible habit of dropping speech during calls when we were on the move.

The easiest thing about this phone is the SMS, it’s quick, simple and fun to use which makes it an excellent phone for me as it’s the main thing I do with my phone. The QWERTY keyboard slide mechanism is smooth and doesn’t just throw itself out now does it crawl out making it seamless to use.

Conclusion

Keyboard Open in Landscape Mode

I can’t believe I never moved phones before now, this is by far the best phone I have had and yes I know it has no WiFi or Flash for the camera but trust me, you really don’t need it. I can honestly that everything I need this phone to do, it does it and then some.

A cheerful phone which I would fully recommend to anyone. If I were to mark it out of 10 then I would break it down into the following:

Looks: 10

Design: 10

Features: 8.5

Ease of use: 9

Call Quality: 10

Easy Setup: 8

Overall: 9.5

I hope this was useful to you all and since I will now have this as my own phone I would be happy to answer any questions that you have about it.

Posted by: John

Review by: Lynne

HTC S740 Review

As regular visitors to T&M will know Matt had a mini play with the HTC S740 couple of months ago, and his video preview can be seen here.

In a detachment from the normal review I think that in lots of ways I totally agree with Matt’s views. This time I will concentrate on my opinion of the mobile, in agreement with Matt’s comments, some of which I have replicated.

The HTC S740 (aka HTC Rose)

What’s in the box?

• HTC S740 smartphone with Windows mobile 6.1 standard
• Stereo Headset with miniUSB connection
• AC plug with interchangeable heads for specific countries which connects to the USB cable (insert pic?)
• Soft slip on carry case, with no clips or connections
• USB to miniUSB connector

Point of note here is that this is, once again, a test device, so although it appears to be the final version, the contents and finished article may differ slightly.

HTC S740 Specification:

• Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard
• 116.3 mm (L) X 43.4 mm (W) X 16.3 mm (T)
• 140g with battery
• Qualcomm® MSM7225™, 528MHz
• RAM: 256MB SDRAM
• ROM: 256MB
• 2.4 inch TFT-LCD and QVGA resolution screen
• HSDPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz for Europe.
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Quad-band 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• 802.11 b/g WiFi
• Bluetooth® 2.0
• 3.2 megapixel colour camera with fixed focus
• 1000 mAh Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery
• Battery Standby: Up to 280 hours
• Battery Talk Time: Up to 380 minutes 
• HTC ExtUSB™
• GPS / AGPS
• microSD

Highlights

• Sharp clear screen
• Great design
• Build quality
• Usability
• Battery life
• Hey, what the heck, sexiness!

Lowlights

• 4 row keyboard
• Chunkiness
• Poor camera

General

The top houses the power on/off button

HTC S740 Top View

The left has only the separate volume up and down buttons.

HTC S740 Left Side

The bottom of the device finds the miniUSB connection socket, for charging, headphones, sync etc.

HTC S740 bottom view

The right hand side has a dedicated camera button.

HTC S740 right side

So as you can tell fairly straightforward and uncomplicated thus far.

On the rear is the now expected ‘diamond faceted’ back cover which as usual is a little annoying as it rocks and is unstable when you place it down and try to type etc. Also here is the 3.2 megapixel colour camera with fixed focus, which I will mention later.

HTC S740 back view

The phones’ front holds the sharp and clear 2.4” QVGA screen, left and right soft keys, a home key for returning to the ‘Today’ screen as well a back key. Embedded within these you can see a raised Send and End key, which I have heard people describe as useless, but for me they make perfect sense, easy to locate, especially without having to look, and means you can quickly and easily answer and end your calls.

HTC S740 front view

In the middle of all these button there is the non- scrolling directional wheel, for up/down/left/right navigation, with a central enter button. Below all of these buttons is the tactile and very usable 12 button keypad.

HTC S740 numeric keypad

Slide out the positive 4 line keyboard to find the Touch Pro like black and white keys. I think Matt summed this up expertly and also his comments about the SIM and microSD card operations, here is a review of what he said:

The QWERTY keyboard slides open from the back and is similar to that found on the HTC Touch Pro but the HTC S740 has only 4 rows of keys, mainly because the S740 is that much narrower than the Pro. Keys are nice and easy to type with though and there’s the standard Caps Lock and Function LED indicators.

HTC S740 with keyboard open

The worst thing about the HTC S740 in my opinion is the SIM and MicroSD card arrangement. Not only can you not hot-swap the MicroSD card, which I can just about accept, but you have to remove the SIM card to gain access to the MicroSD. Opening the cover over the SIM and MicroSD card slot kills the power to the device, this is annoying enough but removing the SIM card all the time is a pain. If you are a frequent memory card swapper then this probably going to get on your nerves and runs the risk of damaging the SIM card.

HTC S740 SIM and MicroSD card slots

People, who know me, are aware of my minimal use of a keyboard, and this device is no different in that respect, I did use it very occasionally, but found the keypad adequate for the majority of tasks. I would prefer a 5^th line to include a separate numbers line as in my job I complete a lot of figure templates etc..

With regard to Matt comments about the fitting of the SIM and microSD card, I concur, fiddly at best very annoying at worst.

Have a look at Matt’s HTC S740 video for a more detailed tour of the device.

Software

Not being a WM Standard user, I can’t really comment on the software included, I assume that it has pretty standard inclusions. The interface I used the most was the HTC Home screen and found this great to use and more than capable of completing pretty much all of the tasks that I had to do on a regular basis.

Included in the menus over and above normal are QuickGPS, RSS Hub, Adobe Reader LE, Audio manager and booster, FM radio, eJava, and a folder called HTC Debug Tools which holds a plethora of extras such as a couple of register editors, Wireless LAN loggers, Uni AT’s, Battery specs, Bluetooth testers etc. A lot of these I have never seen before and what’s more I don’t understand what they do, maybe because this is a Test unit, I am not sure.

Review

My first impression was that I don’t do ‘smartphones’ (Windows Mobile Standard) and never have; I have only ever used ‘ordinary’ or touchscreen. When Matt asked me to review this, I thoughts where, ‘ho-hum, great a smartphone, nothing here for me, get the review over with and get back to my Ingito’, a proper phone.

Out of the box it didn’t get any better, looking at the device and picking it up I thought ‘it’s a Bang and Olufsun TV remote’, ‘ Matt’s put his remote in the Box!’. This was actually a compliment in disguise, the feel and quality of the HTC Rose is superb. It is very solid, slightly heavy but in a good way. As I mentioned, very tactile, friends and colleagues have all commented how good the HTC looks and feels.

My small gripes include, the print on the keypad could be a little more prominent, as it is difficult to read in bright light or low light, another line on the keyboard would have been a bonus, but I suppose at the cost of a wider chunkier unit.

The camera, I have to say, for me was rubbish, the fixed focus, no flash, and quality of the pictures where very disappointing, not even adequate, poor. A step back in this day and age of huge advances in the camera/phone devices available today.

I really surprised myself with this mobile, I found myself leaving my Ignito at home, and using it as my sole device. I was recently up in Scotland for a few days, and it took awhile to realise that from Tuesday through to Friday, with low to moderate use, I had not charged the phone at all, a real benefit for a diamond user! The battery seems last forever.

I find that the HTC S740 does the simple things in life like texting and calling people very efficiently, and I really like the ease of use, again a refreshing change, from the often over complicated devices around. (That, as a gadget freak, was not something I thought I would appreciate!)

Conclusion

What a cracking little phone! It is well designed, great to use and very easy to live with.

I would be really impressed if HTC could bring out a derivative without the keyboard, a la diamond, that would be good in my opinion.

I do miss the touchscreen for certain operations, but I have come to realise it is not the end of the world not to have one.

The sound quality, signal strength and ability to hold it where absolutely fine. (I have added as I know this was asked in the previous review.)

If only it could change channels and operate my sky+ it would be the best smartphone ever!

I do know that some people who have already taken delivery of their HTC S740 are already singing its praises and rightly so.

Go, buy it, it’s great. And I don’t very often say that! I’ll wait for the keyboard less model.

Review by: Steve

[ Post Tags: smartphone news, windows mobile news, HTC, HTC S740, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Acer Aspire One Review

Acer Aspire One Review – Appliance computing

Another day, yet another small cheap portable computer. This time it’s the Acer Aspire One. After having been wowed by the MSI Wind of recent, I was keen to see how the Acer compared as it takes a different approach to the task of lightweight mobile computing.

The Acer Aspire One

What’s in the box?

Not a lot. Bearing in mind that this was a review machine, the contents of the box are not likely to be representative of retail machines.

1. Acer Aspire One

2. Mains charger.

General

Controls and ports:

Left side: Power jack, VGA port, RJ11 ethernet socket, USB2.0 port, SD card slot (marked as storage expansion)

Right side: Microphone socket, headphone jack, 2 x USB2.0 ports, multi-card reader, Kensington lock socket

Acer Aspire One Specification:

• CPU: Intel ® N270 Atom 1.6GHz
• Operating System : Linpus Lite v.0.5
• Chipset: Intel ® 945GSE
• System Memory: 512MB
• 8.9”LCD panel, 1024×600 pixels with LED backlight.
• 8GB Intel SSD
• Keyboard 80 key keyboard/Touch Pad
• I/O Port USB X 3,Mic in, Earphone out, D-SUB, RJ45, SD/MMC/MS/MS
• Audio Speaker x 2
• Integrated Acer Crystal Eye Webcam, supporting 0.3megapixel resolution
• Networking: Wireless LAN 802.11b/g, 10/100 LAN
• Protection: Kensington lock
• Battery: Li-ion 2200mAh
• Dimensions: 260 x 180 x 19-31.5mm
• Weight 1.15kg
• 1year RTB warranty

Highlights:

• Robust feel
• Simplicity.
• Linux stability.
• Sturdy screen hinge

Lowlights:

• Mouse glidepad and buttons
• Screen
• Dumbed-down operating system

Review

The review unit was the base A110L with 512MB of Ram and an 8GB solid state disk which retails for about £200 – £220 online.

In use the first thing to strike you is how quick this machine boots up. The operating system is a lightweight and optimised version of Linux that goes by the rather unfortunate name of Linpus. Together with a solid state disk they make any similar Windows-based netbook look positively tardy. From cold to rock ‘n’ roll takes 12 seconds. Portable computing is not quite instant, but it’s getting there.

The 512MB and 8GB solid-state disk might seem a bit lightweight these days, but it’s not that long ago when leading edge desktops had that amount of RAM, and 8GB is more than enough for a tight Linux installation. For this class of machine there’s sufficient applications installed for everyday tasks which left about 4GB of space for files. A machine like this is not going to be used for storing large numbers of files on, but mostly surfing, music and email so 4GB is enough, but for those of you who need more this can be augmented by popping a high capacity SD card into one of the two available slot.

The operating system can best be described as a dumbed-down version of Linux. On boot-up you’re presented with a desktop, which is divided into four panels: Connect, Work, Fun and Files. Within each panel software is installed so, for example, in Connect we find a web browser (Firefox), an instant messenger application, an e-mail client (Thunderbird), Skype and Google Maps. In Work we find a word processor, spreadsheet application, a contacts database and calendar application. Everything you might need for computing on the move is there and, my only criticism is that adding to the suite is not easily possible unless you know your stuff because the o/s is locked down tightly. For Linux fans like myself this is disappointing as one of the things I like about Linux is its versatility, its ability to be customised, new applications compiled, installed or removed. This cannot be easily done with the Acer. There’s not even access to the command line which, is the backbone of Linux. In many ways though this is not a bad thing as it removes the potential (of which there is plenty with Linux) for completely screwing things up badly!

With a speedy and silent SSD, applications loaded very quickly indeed and there was little noticeable lag. In comparison to other netbooks running Windows XP Home the little Acer was noticeably quicker and a joy to use. Setting up a wireless network connection was simplicity itself compared to Windows machines. Sadly, it was unreliable. Sometimes it would connect and sometimes it wouldn’t despite all settings being correct. I never got to the bottom of the problem.

Typing is like on any other netbook, it takes some getting used to. I did find the Acer more fiddly and cramped than other netbooks that I have tried recently and there was too much flexing in the keyboard for my liking. It felt flimsy which, was highlighted by the left-shift key falling off. Having said that, it was obvious that the review machine had been through a bit of a hard life.

Aspire One glidepad and keyboard

The mouse glidepad was perhaps the only bit of hardware I disliked. It was small, imprecise and had the mouse buttons unconventionally either side of it. In use I found that the mouse pointer would suddenly veer off screen which caused no end of confusion. The pointer was small which didn’t help and there were no means of changing the speed, size or acceleration of it.

The 2200mAh battery should be more than capable of delivering enough life for the type of use the machine would be put to. Having an SSD means battery life is likely to be better than hdd-equipped competitors. The battery in our review unit was, unfortunately, unable to hold a charge for more than a few minutes – again evidence of the life the review unit has lead. Reports elsewhere state that using the machine for a couple of hours at a time seems to have virtually no impact upon the charge level. I’d estimate 3-4 hours use would be possible with more aggressive power management.

The display is a typical netbook standard 8.9” 1024 x 600 pixel item. It’s nowhere near as good or sharp as the MSI Wind’s display, but then again this machine costs a fair bit less so you pay your money and take your choice. Illumination is even and bright, but it lacks punch and the standard themes included with the o/s are dull. In fact, all colours are fairly dull, but the screen is fine for documents, surfing and mailing and not so good for photos and videos.

Conclusion

I liked the Aspire One. It feels quite well put together, the software is solid, reliable and well matched to the hardware so the machine is surprisingly fast and responsive. I am a little disappointed in the operating system and software suite insofar as adding to it is not immediately possible, but perhaps that is no bad thing because the upside of this is simple, utilitarian appliance-like computing. At about £200-220 depending upon specification it is good value and arguably more so than my current fave the MSI Wind, but is this enough to overcome the lack of Windows familiarity for many people?

Review by: Nigel

[ Post Tags: UMPC, laptop, Windows Mobile, Acer, Aspire One, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Nokia N96 review

Introduction

I’ve been waiting on this one for a while! Having had an almost exclusively Windows-mobile phone history, in January I bought an N95 8GB. I know that probably won’t make me any friends here, but for the past year, I’ve enjoyed a bug free simple phone, but with all the extras as well. Texting and calling is simple and easy – and without a touch screen (a big PLUS in my eyes).

The Nokia N96

The 10 second review:
Device: Nokia N96
Cost: SIM free only: £459.99 (Inc VAT).
Available to pre-order from: eXpansys (Go and buy one from here)
Summary: A good phone, which a year ago would have been fantastic. The problem for Nokia, is the bar has been set so high by their own past devices, they now find themselves struggling to keep up momentum.
Best of: BBC iPlayer and 16GB of built in memory
Worst of: Poor battery life (compared to N95) and cramped keypad

What’s in the box?

Like the N95, Nokia haven’t skimped:

• Nokia N96 Handset
• AC Charger
• Car Charger
• Wired Headset/Inline remote
• Battery (BL5F)
• USB Cable
• Video Out cable (with stereo)

Have a look at Matt’s Nokia N96 unboxing video for more details.

Nokia N96 Specification:

• Quadband EDGE
• Dualband HSDPA 850/2100 MHz
• DVB-H Class C
• 92 cc volume
• 125 gram weight
• 103 x 55 x 18 mm
• 16 GB internal memory AND a microSD slot;
• 950 mAh battery
• 6.1 cm (2.8 inch) 320×240 display with 16 million colors
• 3.5 mm headphone jack
• WiFi (802.11b/g)
• AGPS
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens that also does VGA video recording at 30 FPS
• Dual LED flash that can also be used when video recording!
• S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 (Flash Lite 3 enabled web browser included)
• microUSB

More @ http://europe.nokia.com/A4797549

GENERAL

Let’s start with a quick look around the device, which is thinner, but slightly taller than its predecessor. That said, the general layout and design of the phone is not too far away from the original N95.

The front panel of the phone is almost completely flat. Gone is the “stuck out” front facing camera from the N95, and in comes a smaller smooth camera lens, alongside a very similar speaker cover, and minute “N96” branding.

N96 back view

The screen is the same size and shape, but appears to have a slightly glossier screen, which produces slightly better contrast and colour in full screen videos. The lack of widescreen is still disappointing though.

It’s all change below the screen though – the soft keys haven’t changed much, but there’s now another set of media controls around a slightly fiddly direction pad. The menu button is still slightly lost, to the left, while its symmetrical counterpart on the right becomes the ‘C’ key. The Call and End keys are squashed in either side, along the edge of the device, and the splendidly pointless 3D swish menu thing that no one uses, has its own dedicated button, plonked on the right, ruining the symmetry. All the buttons are flush against the device.

N96 keypad

Sliding open the phone is exactly the same as the N95, although the mechanism does feel slightly more rugged. The keypad itself is slightly cramped, with wide, but not very high buttons.

The reverse slide is another N95 similarity – and inexplicably, Nokia have gone back to completely flat media buttons, despite fixing this issue on the N95 8GB.

N96 media buttons

On the left hand side, the micro-sd card slot makes a comeback, despite the 16 GB of onboard memory. A matching silver plastic cover fits nicely to finish the side well.

N96 left side

The right hand side of the phone is a lot busier – with a speaker top and bottom (or left and right if landscape). I’m not sure on this. While it’s better for movies I’m sure, I like the N95s setup with a speaker either side.

N96 right side

Between the speakers, towards the top, is the volume rocker switch. Again probably due to software constraints, this cannot be used for anything other than volume control.

Probably due to Nokia’s “comes with music” rubbish brand, the 3.5 headphone jack is location on the top of the phone, which is definitely not an idea stolen from Apple 😉 Alongside this, is the obligatory power button, and a key lock slider switch. That last one is a new one on me as well – at least on Nokia phones.

N96 top view

Finally to the bottom end of the device, where the power adaptor jack is found, and the USB port – which is sadly no longer normal micro-usb

N96 bottom view

REVIEW

I’ve been on at Matt about the N96 for a long time, mainly because he doesn’t like anything not running WM, but also because the N95 was such a step forward 2 years ago, I was hoping for another major leap forward.

In a lot of ways I’m disappointed though. The N96 is great fun, and is packed with features. However, there’s not a lot it can do that my trust N95 8GB can’t.

The new slimmer design is a plus point, and it feels a lot lighter too. Side by side, the N95 does look dated, and in terms of looks, there’s no doubt about Nokia improving things. There are some design flaws apparent though. The slider mechanism is a LOT firmer, and hopefully won’t suffer like my N95 did over time. However, the thing just doesn’t slide enough – meaning the keypad is woefully small – though wide, which makes for a difficult texting experience.

N96 keypad

I chose my N95 last year because I wanted a bells and whistles phone that could do the simple stuff well. Basically, I wanted a phone I could speed text on. Sadly the N96’s keypad is bad enough to mean I absolutely will not upgrade to it.

That in itself may well be a problem of the phone itself anyway. It’s marketed clearly at the business end, and the area of the market that probably already have an N95, and I’m not quite sure what the N96 adds.

It does of course include DVB-T, the digital-terrestrial TV for mobile standard, but in the UK, this shows no signs of being used anytime soon. Other new features and few and far between, although the newer version of S60 does seem speedier, less prone to slowdown, and lockups are almost unknown.

Another Nokia oddity comes is their choice of battery. The BL5F was the much-abused original N95 battery, which was replaced in the N95 8GB with the BL6F. I have no idea why this is the case, and although the usage is quite good, I just can’t understand why the BLF6 hasn’t been used. The battery cover is also a seemingly weak point. Its flimsy, doesn’t click into place well, and seems poor quality compared to the rest of the unit.

After all this negativity though, the N96 does have a great party piece – BBC iPlayer is included in the UK release – and Nokia have been really pushing this in their advertising. In truth, it works damn well, and in truth far far better than the iPhone. All of which makes the lacklustre screen an even bigger shame. Don’t get me wrong – the screen is of excellent quality, but the lack of widescreen, and the same resolution just don’t do the iPlayer justice. That said – the BBC software, and Nokia’s implementation of the licensing stack is exemplary, giving you the chance to stream or download programmes as if you were in front of your home PC.

The iPlayer clearly takes up a lot of space, so Nokia’s decision to jump to a straightforward 16 GB chunk of onboard storage is a good one – and a shot in the eye of Apple. Actually this is one area of significant improvement. The N95 8GB storage was fantastic – but terribly slow, but on device, and via USB Data Storage. I’m not sure of the setup which regards to storage but something really killed performance. Luckily the N96, while not exceptional, has improved this no end, including transferring to and from a PC.

Nokia maps are – obviously – included, and appear to run a lot happier on the N96 than the N95. I’m not sure why, as there are very little differences hardware wise. Maps is a nice free-include, but you’ll probably download Google anyway?

The S60 software bundle is as usual plentiful, with latest version of the built in browser seemingly quicker than ever. Opera Mini is still a must-download, but I often find a mix of the 2 browsers is for the best – and gives you access to almost any site. The inbuilt browser is almost always better for those pesky free-wifi spots that insist on you clicking through a “login” page before connecting – Opera doesn’t seem to understand this, but to be fair, nor do I.

I really thought I would love this review, but in reality I’m struggling to pad it out – it’s a simple choice for new purchasers. If you don’t have a Smartphone, or are coming over to the dark side from Windows Mobile – then go and buy the N96 – right now. Go!

If you are already an owner of an N95 8GB – or possibly even a N95, I see no real reason or need to upgrade.

The N96 is a great phone, but the disappointment stems from the lack of progress. The N95 re-defined Smartphone’s completely, with a pigs-might-fly feature list that truly broke the boundaries. The N96 just bumped into them slightly and apologised. It’s good, but it’s no groundbreaker.

Highlights

• BBC iPlayer support is absolutely fantastic
• Lightweight, modern look
• Earphone socket location
• 16 GB onboard storage

Lowlights

• What’s new?
• Squashed, hard to use keypad

Conclusion

A tired horribly overused cliché to end on then: Evolution not revolution. If you want a non-WM smartphone, buy this. There really is no other option in the business world, and the N96 is, despite the disappointments, a great device. If you upgrading from an older N-series – think carefully before handing over your dollar.

This is a good phone, which a year ago would have been fantastic. The problem for Nokia, is the bar has been set so high by their own past devices, they now find themselves struggling to keep up momentum.

Review by: Mark

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, Nokia N96, Tracy & Matt]

Samsung i8510 Innov8 Review

We now have our first 8MP mobile phone but how will it compete with the others?

Introduction

Like Matt mentioned in his unboxing post the Innov8 was the first 8MP camera phone sent to us but what he didn’t mention was that this was the UK’s first 8MP camera phone. It was almost a dead set that the 8MP phones would be hitting shelves before the end of 2008 and with this review you can read exactly how it fares as a mobile and an 8MP camera.

What’s in the box?

Have at look at the unboxing video by Matt here

Samsung i8510 (Innov8) specification:

• Operation System – Symbian 9.3 / S60 v3.2
• Memory – User Memory 16GB microSD (up to 16 GB)
• Display – Internal Technology 16M colour TFT 2.8” QVGA
• GPRS, EDGE, 3G
• GSM&EDGE Band Quad Band
• Browser – WAP 12., WAP 2.0, JAVA
• Input Device Numeric Keypad
• Bluetooth
• USB 2.0
• PC Sync Application
• TV-output
• Wi-Fi
• 8 Megapixel Camera with ‘Professional Imaging Applications’
• LED Flash
• Video player DivX support, 3D Surround Sound System
• Video recording MPEG4
• FM RDS Radio
• FM Radio Recoding
• Document Viewer Doc/ Viewer (PPT, Word, Excel, PDF)
• Talk Time (Standard) 8.5hrs (2.5G), 5hrs (3G)
• Standby (Standard) 310hrs (2.5G), 330hrs (3G)
• Weight – 136g
• Dimensions – 106.5 x 53.9 x 17.2 mm

General

The Samsung i8510 looks a lot like the Nokia N95 8GB. It’s rather chunky, it’s black and it packs a whole lot of features but look closer and you start to see the trademark industrial styling that differentiates Samsung from the rest of the crowd. A tough-looking, relatively large phone the Innov8 feels reassuringly solid with a smooth slider mechanism brings it together.

Starting a the front of the phone with the slide closed we can see the 2.8” QVGA screen with printed 8GB text to the top left, an earpiece grill in the middle and the front facing 3G camera and flash to the right. Underneath the screen sits 2 hot keys (one left and the other right), an optical touchpad surrounded by a d pad and the call start / call end buttons.

Samsung Innov8 Closed Front View

With the slide open we see the numeric keypad with the cancel button in the middle and an M1 button to the left / M2 button to the right.

Samsung Innov8 Open Front View

While the mechanical keys underneath the screen are well laid-out, as is the i8510’s keypad, it’s easy to brush the small optical touchpad by mistake. It should also be noted that it’s cumbersome to use unless you’re browsing the Web, where it works very well for scrolling through pages.

Moving to the left hand side of the phone and starting from the top down you will find a lanyard / pendant hole, volume rocker switch, 3.5mm headphone socket and the generic Samsung charging port.

Samsung Innov8 left hand side View

The right hand side of the phone there is again top to bottom a 3 point camera function slider switch, MicoSD slot and a hotkey.

Samsung Innov8 right hand side View

The bottom of the phone is very uneventful and contains nothing except plastic.

Samsung Innov8 Bottom View

Moving swiftly on to the back of the the Innov8’s we see it’s star feature, the 8-megapixel camera which looks every bit like a real camera, with an automatic lens cover that opens when you activate the camera and shuts when you’re not using it. Disappointingly, there’s no xenon flash on the camera you and only get a dual LED photo light that works well at close range but doesn’t illuminate very much past a few metres. The only other thing on the back of the phone is the printed text and speaker holes.

Samsung Innov8 Back View

Highlights and Lowlights

+ 8MP Camera

+ Auto function lens cover

+ DivX Support

– Location of headphone jack

– Proprietary charger

– Lack of Xenon flash

– No optical zoom

REVIEW

A 3.5mm headphone jack is one of the small details that makes this one of Samsung’s most feature-packed phones but unfortunately, as with the Nokia N95’s headphone jack, it’s on the side rather than on the top. This means you may find that the headphone pin sticks out at an awkward angle in your pocket.

Whilst the Innov8 screen packs some punch it isn’t as sharp as I expected, particularly when watching videos.

It’s the i8510’s camera that packs the most punch. Boasting an 8-megapixel sensor, auto-focus and a range of options, the camera also features an incredible panorama mode, facial recognition and smile recognition, which immediately takes a picture when someone is smiling.

For panorama, all you have to do is put the camera in panorama mode and click the shutter button once, and the i8510 instructs you to move the camera in a certain direction following an orange box it then stitches a 180-degree picture together for you so you don’t even need to press a button.

Another trick up the i8510 camera’s sleeve is the ability to shoot slow-motion video at up to 120 frames per second, similar to the LG Viewty, which is great for shooting fast-paced action. We found the slow motion mode worked well even in low light, where the LG Viewty didn’t perform so well, according to many users’ complaints. It’s not all good, though, the i8510’s camera doesn’t have an optical zoom, which means that zoomed-in pictures come out fairly blurry, and as I mentioned before there’s no xenon flash. With only a dual LED photo light, shots taken in low light only come out well at close range.

Samsung has generously provided the i8510 with 16GB of on-board memory, and as if that wasn’t enough you can add memory via a microSDHC slot. That means you can carry around up to 32GB worth of data with you, giving you plenty of room to store pictures, videos or apps.

Given that the i8510 runs on Symbian, you can download a fair amount of software, including Opera Mini to browse the Web and mapping software such as Google Maps, which can be used in conjunction with the i8510’s built-in GPS. You can also use the GPS to geo-tag your pictures so you can see exactly where you took them.

If all that is not enough to wet your mobile appetite, HSDPA and Wi-Fi are also available on the i8510 an the ability to play DivX movies, particularly useful if you want to carry several films with you without needing sacrificing too much memory. Also, there’s an FM radio. Combine all of the above features and you get something very close to Nokia’s incoming N96, which I think makes for a battle of Godzilla-like proportions. But when the dust settles, we think the Samsung i8510 might just take it.

Audio quality during calls is good, with no noticeable distortion or muffling, and the loudspeaker is loud enough to hear even in a moving car. Picture quality from the 8-megapixel camera is fine, but not massively better than certain 5-megapixel camera phones such as the Nokia N95 8GB.

Battery life is quoted at 300 to 500 minutes talk time, depending on whether you’re using 3G or not, and around 330 hours standby time respectively. We found that we got a full day out of the i8510 with heavy usage, but if you cut down on battery-intensive apps such as browsing the Web and using GPS, you’ll find that it lasts for at least two days.

Conclusion

Having not properly reviewed the Nokia N96 just yet, I don’t want to speak too soon and say the Samsung i8510 definitely wins out, but what I can say is this is Samsung’s best phone yet. A solid design combined with more features than you can shake a moose at, the i8510 genuinely took me by surprise

Review by: Phillip Cooper

Canon Digital IXUS 85IS review

A little while ago, our friends at Canon provided us with a very smart looking Canon Digital IXUS 85IS. This is the mid range camera in the latest Digital IXUS range of cameras from Canon. The IXUS range has been around for a number of years now, and the latest versions certainly seem to continue Canon’s acclaimed styling, reliability and quality. However, if this new version is anything to go by, I have to say that first impressions show an even higher level of build quality than previous units. This little gem is solid, well built and looks like it would take a few knocks or accidental drops for sure.

Have a look below at the front of the camera and judge for your self…

The Canon Digital IXUS 85IS

Canon have certainly stuck to their initial plans from the very first IXUS ranges, and this latest version doesn’t really differ too much in functionality from some of the original cameras. Obviously the electronics have got faster, lenses smother in operation and Image Resolution has increased but the look and feel remains around the same. Don’t expect technical wizardry, in camera editing or a host of scenery effects with this little camera, Leave that for Photoshop. Canon have however built in a really good Image stabilisation system into this camera so there is a little of something for everyone. The processing power of the DIGIC III engine is actually very good, and whilst some of the options seen on other cameras may not be included, the more important benefits really shine through such as very fast focusing and excellent colour capture and reproduction..

What’s in the Box?

Not surprisingly, pretty normal for a compact Digital camera, LI-ON Battery, Manuals, Charger, USB connection and AV cables. Wish I had the patent for those AV cables everyone uses.

Canon IXUS 85IS Specification

• Type: Type – Ultra Compact
• Pixels: CCD – 10 megapixels / Resolution (in pixels) – 3648 x 2736
• Optical: Optical Viewfinder – Real-image zoom, optical viewfinder / LCD display – 2.5" (6.35 cm) PureColor II TFT screen 100% coverage 230,000 dots Up to 15 brightness settings / Macro Distance – 3 cm / Normal Distance – From 30 cm upwards / Optical Zoom – 3x / Digital Zoom – 4x / ISO range – Auto, High ISO auto (with movement detection), 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 ISO /
• Storage: Image formats – JPEG / Memory Card Type – SDHC, SD, MMC Plus, HC MMC Plus cards / Included Memory Card – 32 MB / Internal Memory – No
• Video: Video mode – Yes, with sound / Video Sequence – 640 x 480 at 30 images/sec. / TV Output – No / Webcam – No
• Classic IXUS design
• 10.0 Megapixels
• 3x zoom with optical IS
• Motion Detection Technology
• Face Detection Technology
• Red-Eye Correction
• DIGIC III processor and iSAPS
• 2.5" PureColor LCD II
• 19 Shooting Modes
• Creative movie options

General

The IXUS 85IS, takes its lead from the earlier IXUS80 taking the well tried and tested Image stabilisation introduced with this earlier version and increasing the Image resolution to 10megapixels. This should really be enough for almost anyone allowing a substantial range of enlargements whilst retaining high quality.

Looking at the camera starting at the back shows a very uncluttered set of controls.

A simple “Shoot or Play” switch at the top, menu access via pretty standard buttons, but with direct access to some of the most common used controls such as flash, autotimer and macro settings. It certainly would not take anyone who has used any compact camera before very long at all to use this camera to full effect.

Unusually though for a compact camera is a built in viewfinder which in my opinion is a very useful addition. Seeing any compact camera screen clearly in a very bright sunny day can be difficult, and with additional power saving of not using the screen a further advantage.

A standard SD card slot is provided which will take SDHC cards located right next to the battery location.

Shutter controls and zoom functions are located at the top of the camera, initially I thought the zoom control was slightly too far to the centre of the camera but this turned out to be quite comfortable.

With the majority of the case metal, the look and feel of the camera are very good, controls are simple to operate and menu response very fast when jumping through settings.

Highlights

• Very fast to operate – Average start up times of the camera around 1 second
• Fast focusing of the autofocus engine is very good, allowing shots to be taken very quickly. It takes about 1.5 seconds between shots which is average for a camera of this size and type. Continuous shooting allows a couple of frames a second, but the camera does not refocus though.
• Good colour and Saturation of images and shots taken
• Image Stabilisation helps remove lots of camera shake allowing pictures to be taken in lower light levels (This is more important as the IXUS 85IS does suffer from noise at higher ISO levels)
• Simple to use menus and controls

Lowlights

• Noise levels on High ISO values over around ISO 400 do start to affect image quality
• Levels of purple fringing on some shots taken outdoors in bright Sun

Review

This little Canon really looks and feels like its earlier stable-mates from the original IXUS mould. Enhancements have been made, and the increase in image resolution and Image Stabilisation are great benefits but are becoming more and more standard across all manufacturers. What sets Camera this apart is the IXUS style, build quality and performance. Built to take knocks and I’d suggest a reasonable amount of abuse. It’s almost akin to what that certain “Fruit Named” manufacturer did with MP3 players – Added style!

The lens is relatively standard 3x Optical zoom equivalent to a standard 35-105mm lens, perhaps not offering quite the range of some other cameras – I missed a slightly wider angle. Quality though was excellent and zoom in and out times quite impressive. Built into the lens is Canon’s tried and tested image stabilisation which again does the job very well.

Images taken were very sharp and very crisp to view, even when zoomed in at very high levels. The 10MP CCD is certainly well up for almost every demand that most photographers would throw at it. Some issues were seen with shots, mostly with outdoor images in bright sun, with some fringing in a great shade of purple against edges of images. I had seen reports of softening of images towards the corners but I found this acceptable and not overly soft.

Image noise on high ISO values (mostly above 800) was quite high and got worse as the ISO level was increased. I’m sure most users would not really use these high ISO settings on a day to day basis though so probably would never been noticed.

The controls are synonymous with most of the other cameras in the IXUS range as well as most other compact cameras. The simple DPAD and switches to choose Picture, Video or Play mode are located in sensible places, very clearly labelled and simple to understand.

The 2.5” LCD is clear, crisp and very bright in most light levels with the added advantage of a small but very useful viewfinder.

Conclusion

Staying true to the IXUS brand, the IXUS 85IS is a commendable well built and performing compact digital camera. It is very simple to use, light weight (Whilst still feeling very well built) and a fast performer with autofocus taking around ½ second even in low light situations.

The evidence of some fringing in bright shots and the noise on High ISO settings did let things down a little, but most normal photograph takes would never notice these issues.

Overall another worthy contender to the IXUS brand, with prices now coming down on this little unit to very reasonable levels around £140 advertised on various web sites it is a very good day to day camera with some good nifty features.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced, point and shoot camera, with some nice additions this one should be on your list.

Review by: John

Samsung U800 Soul Review

Introduction

When the nice guys over at Samsung sent us this this very nice pink handset to review and my initial reaction was "It’s Pink". I decided immediately that this phone would do my street cred no good at all and immediately handed it to my wife Lynne who was all too obliging to try it out for me. For each Samsung U800 Pink mobile phone that are sold, a minimum of £10.00 which be donated to Breakthrough Breast Cancer, which is a charity that is committed to the fight against breast cancer through research, campaigning and education of the people within the UK.

Samsung Soul U800

The 10 second review:
Device: Samsung Soul U800
Cost: PAYG on Orange £79.95 (Inc VAT) or From Free on O2 & Orange Contract.
Available to pre-order from: Phones 4 U (Go and buy one from here)
Summary: A great device aimed at the typical mobile phone user and does exactly what it says on the tin.
Best of: Design, Ease of Use, Size, Concept
Worst of: No WiFi or IRDA, positioning and proprietary headset connector (port)

What’s in the box?

• Samsung U800
• Battery
• Mains charger
• User manual
• Quick start guide
• Sync software CD
• Warranty Card

Specification

• GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
• HSDPA 2100
• Dimensions: 111 x 46 x 9.9 mm
• Weight: 90.4 g
• Display Type: TFT, 16M colors
• Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.0 inches
• Vibration
• microSD (TransFlash), up to 8 GB
       – 1 GB shared memory
• GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
• EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps
• HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• USB  v2.0
• SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
• Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
• Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, video(QCIF@15fps), LED flash; secondary CIF videocall camera
• Java MIDP 2.0
• MP3/AAC/eACC+/WMA player
• FM radio with RDS
• T9
• Office document viewer
• Organizer
• Built-in handsfree
• Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion
• Stand-by Up to 400 h
• Talk time Up to 3 h 20 min

General

The Pink U800 Soul is no different as you would imagine to the the U800 Soul in any other colour although the main thing to notice is the fact that it’s a Samsung U range phone that is not a slide which could be considered a break from the norm.

The phone design is very nice and fits into the hand very snugly. At the top of the screen there is a rectangular curved edge earpiece grill and the front facing 3G camera. The Phone itself is not unlike a standard candybar phone in regards to button placement and design.

Angled view of Pink U800

The left hand side of the phone has just 2 areas of interest starting at the top with the rocker volume switch and lower down with the MicroSD slot .

The Left Hand Side

Moving over to the right hand side we find the charging port which triples as a headphone socket and usb connection then a customisable button a little further down with a red line going through it.

The Right Hand Side

The top of the handset has nothing interesting to see except for what can only be described as a fake grill pane

Top View

At the bottom we find a hole for the carry strap or pendant

Bottom View

Looking to the back of the phone we find the 3MP Camera with the flash underneath and loudspeaker grill to the right. The back is made of a metal and has the Samsung name and camera specs etched / printed on it. At the bottom area it moves back to the standard handset finishing and the other end of the carry strap / pendant hole can be found.

Back View

Removing the back from the phone allows you access to the Li-Ion battery and simcard area.

Highlights and Lowlights

+ Camera Quality

+ Finish of phone

+ Easy GUI

+ Screen resolution & size

– Placement of earphone / charging jack

– No 3.5mm Jack socket

– No IRDA

– No WiFi

Review

We had this phone for just over 2 weeks and in those 2 weeks it was used daily by Lynne. The simple menu system was the first of the things that made the daily usage a pleasurable experience. Wherever you expected to find something in the menu it was generally there which was a real plus for this phone.

Text messaging was the next thing that Lynne mentioned as being great, the size of the keys and the on screen text size made it very easy for frequent text messaging.

I think the biggest downside to this phone has to be the Samsung proprietary headset connector and Charger. Having these things on the side of a device which is used daily and sits in pockets can only signal one fate, breakage (we didn’t actually break anything… thankfully). The use of a miniUSB on the bottom of the device would have been a far better idea for both charging and headset usage than the standard that Samsung and many other manufacturers through out.

Not having WiFi on this phone really broke Lynne’s heart, it was the one thing that would have prevented her from buying one herself and given today’s fast paced lifestyle and mobile competition this feature should almost be considered as standard as the ability to connect via GPRS.

The battery life was really good and with normal usage it needed a charge after 3 to 4 days. The actual charging time itself was also very quick although we didn’t think to note the actual time.

The phone had a few surprises up it’s sleeve with the first being that despite the phone sitting in the budget market the sound quality on the speaker phone was very clear and not at all tinny which is very common these days. The next wee surprise was the sound quality of the radio / media player with the earphones in. It was loud and clear enough to ignore anyone sitting beside you and to enjoy music in peace which Lynne found useful when sitting next to me.

Left Angled View

Conclusion

The Samsung U800 Soul is a wonderful low to mid market phone. Although not rich in many of today’s must have features it does not claim to be anything other than it actually is.

Without sounding remotely sexist this phone was designed with women in mind and it works 100% within the realms of what it is designed to.  

Samsung have really worked this phone very well and the idea of assisting a well deserved cause as well as having a mobile phone that is both very well designed and very pink should be enough of a USP to get this phone selling loads and out of the door.

Overall this phone great to use and as per my comments above it done exactly what it said on the tin which is a nice change in today’s markets.

Posted by: John

Review by: Lynne