Chip maker Nvidia will power new mobile devices made by HTC. The maker of popular Geforce graphics cards technology enabling computers to render 3D imagery is pushing a new Tegra processor that is aimed for mobile devices and lower powered Netbooks. “We believe that HTC has selected the NVDA Tegra applications processor for a new handset design that will ramp in [the second half of 2009],” according to Doug Freedman of American Technology Research. Announced in early 2008, Tegra puts an Arm-based processor core, a GeForce graphics core and other components onto a single chip. The product lineup will include the Tegra 600 running at 700MHz and the Tegra 650 running at 800MHz.
Android Central have uncovered a video which looks like the Dream G2 Android phone for the Chinese market. There is a video of it in action after the break. Surprised to see a lot of stylus action going on in the video although this phone doesn’t have a hardware keyboard maybe its not that big of a surprise especially for handwriting recognition which there is an application for on this phone. The multimedia capabilities of the phone in this video are on display with a movie sample and some music. Take a look after the break.
Palm Infocenter has heard from a seemingly reliable firsthand source that Palm is prepping a new Centro 2 that will debut later this fall on Sprint. According to Palm Infocenter, the Centro 2 is supposedly around the same size as the current Centro and will run on the Palm WebOS. PIC also mentions a PCMag article that addresses the top 15 questions concerning the Palm Pre and the WebOS. Question #4 was “Will there be other Pre models?”, and the answer is:
“Yes. There will be different models, in different shapes and sizes. According to a tipster, the next Pre may be a lower-cost, candybar-style phone without a QWERTY keyboard.”
[Via Treo Central]
Smartphone sales are trumping PC and Notebook sales for quite a number of years, you would have expected Dell to be in the market long ago to cement their position as a top manufacturer in the market, and sadly, they stayed on the wayside. Now rumours are popping up everywhere on the Net about a possible Dell Smartphone, it is expected that this Smartphone will be announced at this year’s Mobile World Congress or CTIA and will feature Google Android or Windows Mobile, so far from what I’m reading, Android seems to be the likely contender.
The iPhone. You may have heard about it!?
INTRODUCTION
Here at TracyandMatt, we’re always quick on the uptake, so wasted no time getting o2 to send us an iPhone. Hmm. Anyway, here it is, and I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by the added features. It’s not a major leap forward, but is their enough to warrant an upgrade?
The Apple iPhone 3G
What’s in the Box?
I’ll not go into too much detail but in summary, it’s typical Apple. By typical Apple, I do of course mean that plenty of effort has been put into making the entire product, including the packaging, a design marvel. OK – it’s a box, but it sure looks nice.
GENERAL
So, a little history lesson. iPhone was released 29th June 2007 in the USA, and worldwide launches followed soon after. The iPhone 3G was released July 11th 2008 with a lower pricing structure, and more features.
I reviewed the original iPhone for TracyandMatt around a year ago and tried to cut through all the promotional stuff associated with it, and find out if it was any good. It was.
So to the iPhone 3G. At 115.5mm x 62.1mm x 12.3mm, its slightly bigger than its predecessor, but doesn’t really feel it. The black plastic back is actually an improvement over the scratch-happy shiny metal finish. As it’s curved, in the hand the 3G variant feels smaller with no noticeable difference in weight either.
Little has changed design-wise, but we’ll start with the usual tour around the device. The front is still taken over by the excellent widescreen display, which when turned off, appears as a complete blank surface. At the top there is the speaker/earpiece, and at the bottom the single ‘home’ button takes its customary place, just like the original.
iPhone 3G front view
The back of the phone, as I’ve stated already, is in black plastic, with a silver apple logo, and iphone designations. The 2mp camera is also in the same place – top left.
iPhone 3G back view
Things changed a little when we take a look at the top of the iPhone. The main silver power button is similar, as is the sim card slot, but there is now a none-recessed 3.5 earphone jack – woo!
iPhone 3G top view
On the bottom of the hand set you’ll find Apple’s proprietary sync/charge cable socket. This is exactly the same as the previous iPhone and other iPod products. Either side we have a loudspeaker which plays audio when then headphones are not connected.
iPhone 3G bottom view
The left hand side of the device has a toggle switch at the top – used to turn vibrate mode on and off. Below that we have some VERY welcome hardware volume controls – a rocker switch system which works very well.
iPhone 3G left side view
iPhone 3G right side view
SOFTWARE
In truth, outside of standard firmware updates, small improvements etc, there isn’t a lot added in terms of standard software.
The first row of apps – SMS, Calendar, Photos and Camera are all pretty much identical to the original iPhone release, and the same goes for the YouTube and stocks apps. Maps – powered by google, has probably seen the most change, and now supports the new built in GPS module, as well as traffic information where available, and Street View.
Continuing through the menu – with the Clock app, Calculator and Notes all seeing little change. The settings area again has seen minor changes, but the App Store is where the real excitement happens. While it may have its faults, the App Store is the new gateway to ‘real’ software on your iPhone. Bye Bye web-apps? I hope so.
I could spend all day talking about the useful software available in the App Store, it is huge. I found a (London) tube status program MASSIVELY useful on a trip to the capital, and the National Rail Enquires application is also a must-have for the traveller!
You’ll also find a large supply of free and paid-for games, and the most poinless-yet-genius app yet – iPint.
Highlights:
- 3G – Yes it should have been there in the first place, but ignoring that, it’s a must have.
- GPS – I could just repeat myself – but at least its here now. Seems to work well enough in Google Maps, and ‘local’ apps.
- It’s an iPhone – As John stated in his HD Touch review, whether other phones are better or not, you still get to tell people you have an iPhone.
- App Store – Its simple, quick, and fairly cheap. Possible the best install experience of any device. Ever.
Lowlights:
- Battery Life – its still not quite enough. I have a background of using really terrible early Windows Mobile Smartphones, and I don’t mind charging every night. But these days… surely Apple can do better than this?
- It’s an iPhone – No not a copy and paste mistake, but you are locked to Apple, to what they want to allow you to install. Well… unless you are extremely naughty and break it out of jail!
REVIEW
I have to admit I was pretty impressed with the original iPhone, despite being of a Windows Mobile background. Apple are truly masters of the UI experience, and the iPhone OS’ look and feel is unchanged from the original. The new plastic back panel could have ended up looking cheap, but Apple have in fact improved on the original instead. The iPhone still looks expensive, still feels well built and still attracts attention from friends/colleagues when you feel like showing off (with a review device you don’t own perhaps!)
At first glance, besides the minor handware mods, you might think there isn’t a lot to see here over the original, but you’d perhaps be wrong. 3G and GPS are features that many people would say should have been on the EDGE iPhone, but that could well be said about phones released by Nokia and HTC. The GPS chip was reported early on as being very weak, but in my experience was pretty reliable. I don’t know whether this is down to a software update since launch, but I really can’t complain at all.
The 3G is interesting. Unfortunately in most of my experiences, I felt the iPhone was still pretty slow to download webpages, despite having a seemingly stable 3G connection. My Nokia N95 8GB sat next to the iPhone was much quicker. I’m not sure why this was the case – or whether it was a fault. On wifi I saw no such slowdown, and struggle to explain why I struggled on 3G.
The major software upgrade on the iPhone 3G, or rather software version 2 for both 3G and original, is the App Store.
The App Store is effectively a new area of the itunes store, just like Music, Videos, TV Progammes etc. Apps are downloaded for free, or paid for, on the same apple ID account that you use for other areas, and if you have credit card details saved, you can quickly download applications on the device. You can also run up a nice bill!
Despite this being a review device, I put my hand in my pocket and took one for the tracyandmatt team in order to test the whole process. As I already have an apple ID, I started up the app store client onboard the iPhone 3G and quickly found a sort-of-but-not-for-legal-reasons Mario Kart clone. I think the whole game was around £1.29, which seemed reasonable when you consider the cost of java games on other platforms. I was asked for my password, and the app started downloading – literally onto the main menu screen. A progress bar appears on the menu icon, and when complete, the icon becomes coloured and the process is complete. Tapping the icon launches the game like any other app.
It’s a shame that Apple couldn’t have improved some of the existing apps though. SMS is still threaded, which is nice, but it’s also still extremely limited. No MMS, no copy/paste and no forwarding etc. It’s a nice experience, but needs more options and features – and fast.
The onscreen keyboard is identical to that of the original software, which works well enough, but is a little bit squashed – and hard work if you are typing out an email or text in a rush.
The landscape does make an appearance within the Safari browser – and it’s a revelation. I found myself able to type much much quicker, and with a lot more reliability. Please Apple – allow us to use the landscape keyboard in the email and SMS applications. There is a free application available on the app store that allows a user to type out a message with the landscape keyboard, and then copy it into the mail app to send. A useful workaround, but this is really something Apple need to get on top of, and give users a proper solution.
As an iPod, it’s still the best you can buy – barring storage space issues. The screen is still lovely, and for playing video’s its pretty much unbeatable. The new built in speaker actually performs quite well – especially for listening to online radio where quality is not always great anyway. It’s also great for playing this weeks favourite track to mates etc. Compared to other ‘loudspeaker’ options its very good – which is amazing considering the size of the iPhone vs, for example, the N95 with its stereo speakers.
CONCLUSION
In summary – I love this, like I loved the original. I’m a sucker for design, but I need usability as well – which is why (and I can hear the abuse already) – I don’t like mac’s. However the iPhone has both in buckets, and when my contract expires in a few months time I have a tricky decision – iPhone 3G or HD Touch.
The iPhone 3G is most definitely the most desirable, and probably the most polished. The HD Touch though fixes nearly all the items on my missing-from-iphone list. It’s a tricky one, but there is no doubt in my mind – the iPhone 3G is a great phone, and a good update. I await this years iPhone HD(!?) with interest.
Review by: Mark
One of my favourite phones of 2008 has received a major update just to make it that little bit more attractive. I didn’t really have too much trouble with the phone and I certainly haven’t heard of many people complaining that it’s buggy. However, Nokia have deemed it necessary to push out an update and packaged some interesting features. Click to read on.
Steve Jobs is temporarily handing over control of Apple to Tim Cook, while he recovers from his hormone imbalance. Steve sent an email to apple employees stating that he underestimated the complexity of his health issues. He was quoted in the email saying “In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June,”. I hope Steve takes the spring to convalesce, and returns in time to make a big iPhone announcement this summer.
Our latest podcast is now available to download, in episode 20 we discuss the new Palm Pre and Webos, the HTC 2009 device road map photos, some Windows Mobile software, Nokia 5800 Tube first impressions and the LG watch phone plus much more. You can subscribe via iTunes, RSS or download the mp3 file here. Full show notes after the break.
MacRumors are reporting that over the past 24 hours, Apple has begun to approve 3rd party web browsing applications for the iPhone. A number of new web browsing apps have suddenly appeared with original submission dates ranging as far back as October. Web browsing applications were previously charged with “duplicating functionality” of other iPhone apps and was felt to be the reason why Opera would never be approved by Apple.
Face detection technology has been around for a while on digital compact cameras. The technology can determine if there are faces in a particular scene and adjusts the focal point so that the face takes focus priority over the rest of the composition.
Samsung are taking this technology a little further though with their new ST10 which includes facial recognition where the can actually recognise the people you are taking photos of and, taking a crowd scene for example, will prioritise focus on those people you know rather than those that you don’t!
I’m a big fan of face recognition and have used the Riya service for a while as a way to index family photos. I hope that software provided with the ST10 will go as far as this. I hope to get the chance to check it out soon.
Samsung, is breaking new ground with the launch of the world’s first digital camera to feature face recognition and highly responsive Haptic Interface integrated into a 3.0” hVGA Touch Screen – giving physical feedback and feel for greater control over the camera’s functions.
The ST10 is packed with advanced technology and a host of cutting edge functions, including an in-built PMP (Personal Multimedia Player) with integrated MP3 player and Digital Image Stabilization, providing outstanding sharp images.
Face Recognition Technology
The 9 mega pixel ST10 takes Samsung’s Face Recognition technology to a new level – it’s the first camera that actually recognizes the people you’re taking photos of. Face Recognition prioritizes friends, family and those you photograph most; in smile shutter mode the camera only takes a photo when a recognized person smiles and, in blink shutter mode, photos are automatically retaken when a recognized person blinks. What’s more, the camera automatically classifies photos according to the most recognized faces, helping you instantly create a slide show of your closest friends and family.
Smart Scene Recognition
The ST10 also introduces Samsung’s new "Smart Scene Recognition" technology with 11 optimized picture pre-settings such as Portrait, Night portrait, Macro, and Macro Colour helping people take the perfect shot regardless of the conditions. You can also use these settings when sorting through your photos – making it quick and easy to find all the portrait, outdoor or macro images you’ve taken.
Angle/Composition Guide
The Angle/Composition Guide setting on the new ST10 means you no longer need rely on the technological capabilities of strangers for those perfect holiday snaps. When you use the setting, the camera takes a ghost picture of your desired shot and displays a template when you pass the camera over to someone else – ensuring they take the picture you want them to take with you in it.
Digital Contents Management
The ST10 features a new Digital Contents Management system (DCM); a contents management program within the camera itself that significantly reduces the time it takes to find a photo – meaning it’s quick and easy to store and manage your photo collection. The clever navigation program automatically organizes photos based on the date they were taken, their contents, colour or themes.
The ST10, priced at £179 (TBC), is available in various colours and will be available from leading high street and online retailers from February 2009. All Samsung Cameras include a two year warranty. Customers requiring further information should call 0845 726 7864 or visit samsungcamera.co.uk
Posted by: Matt
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