When I received the HTC Advantage 7510 for review I was a bit confused, was it a phone or was it a UMPC type device, I am still somewhat confused as to where it fits in to everyday life but having said that what a great piece of technology.
It is basically a large screened Pocket PC Professional device just too big to use as a phone but a brilliant Internet tablet and GPS alternative. Read on for the full review.
Introduction
The LG Secret (KF750) is the long awaited third offering from LG in their Black Label series. The secret with its carbon fibre back and tempered glass front teamed with a 5 megapixel camera, neon touch navigation and an accelerometer to boot it is no surprise it has been a huge success since the phone went on sale around the beginning of May, so can the Secret seriously compete with it’s competition?
What’s in the box?
The box Contains:
LG Secret Specification:
General
The phone is sleek and rather bare button-wise however, this seems to work with the overall look and styling of the phone.
The Front Consists of a four way neon navigation in the centre of which is the main action button, then you have the standard call buttons and a cancel button. The front also houses an inner camera lens for video calls.
The phone just like the two black label series phones that came before it is a slider and when open you have the standard numeric keypad which consists of soft keys as appose to touch sensitive alternatives.
On the Back you’ll find a 5 megapixel camera with flash as well as the carbon fibre battery cover that adds to the phones toughness and overall styling.
The left side of the phone is home to a single proprietary input used for the headset, Charger and data cable.
The right however has slightly more to offer in the way of buttons from left to right you have a camera capture button, button to open multi tasking menu and an interesting Touch media button which if pressed allows you to use a number of applications that utilise the touch media functionality allowing you to use your finger on the LCD to play games view photos and access music and files, however this is not a feature available for all functions on the phone by any means, the volume controls are also located on this side of the phone they are used to control ring volume aswell as speaker volume and also used with the media features such as the MP3 player.
Highlights and Lowlights
+ Great Functionality
+ Slim Design
– Over sensitive neon touch
– Poor Battery Life
Review
The LG secret comes full of promise and it delivers in so many ways, the phone is a great addition to the series and if a phone could be sold on looks I am sure this one would be right up there. However looks are not everything especially in the world of mobile technology. The “innovative” neon touch navigation is a great addition to the phone however due to it’s over-sensitivity can often feel clumsy and temperamental, The phone offers all the feature we have come to expect from an LG black label series phone and adds to them. The 5 megapixel camera is a welcome introduction and teamed with the fun editing function is perfect for those feeling creative however adding flowers and hearts to your city snaps is not going to be to everyone’s taste.
The phone is well laid out and despite the unpredictability of the neon navigation is easy to use and is well equipped for the average persons needs. The usual LG layout is present and offers no surprises in this regard.
Sliding the screen up reveals an attractive looking numeric phone pad consisting of 12 large and well spaced keys. The keys themselves have a nice positive action to them without requiring too much pressure. The only complaint here is that they are rather flat which makes using them without looking a little more tricky. The key illuminate nicely at night though.
The touch media function is an interesting one it allows the user to access music view photos and play games using the LCD as a touch screen however it seems like it would have made more sense to utilise the touch screen capabilities for all of the phones applications rather than a select few, that said this is still a solid feature and works well.
As a media player the Secret does a sterling job. Very impressed with the sound quality of the few sample MP3 files and easily out-performs a number of dedicated MP3 players that we’ve reviewed in the past. The secret has a MicroSD card slot situated under the battery cover but this only supports up to 4GB memory cards and not the MicroSDHC variety. Still, 4GB is good for hundreds of tracks and when you run our of pre-recorded content you can switch over to the FM radio. You can also change memory cards without removing the battery which is handy.
LG have included a pretty decent set of headphones with the Secret. These are the proper in-ear sound isolating kind and are probably the best headphones I’ve ever seen (of heard) included with a mobile phone. And if the headphones don’t suit you for any reason then that’s ok too as you can plug in any of your own that have a standard 3.5mm jack plug thanks to the in-line mic and volume control that’s part of the standard package. Why don’t all phone manufacturers do that?!
As mentioned earlier the phone houses an inward facing camera lens that is great for video calls. Another great feature of the Secret is the ability to use the multi tasking function that is accessed using the button on the right hand side of the phone, this allows for the minimising of files and applications while running several at once.
he web browser on the LG Secret is adequate and does a reasonable job of rendering standard web pages. You navigate the web pages using a virtual mouse pointer that jumps between links. However, just like the one on LG KF600, the mouse pointer moves rather illogically, which can become irritating on more complex pages.
As a final comment I feel I must say that for call quality and clarity the LG Secret is possibly one of the best phones that I have ever used. There’s plenty of volume through the earpiece and it seems to be large enough to produce a good range of sounds. Call quality from the other end is also good to LG must have included a decent MIC too!
Conclusion
Over the Secret is a great addition to the black label series and is certainly a future proof phone with great styling and functionality. The phone would be perfect for the studious university goer as the touch tempered glass front and carbon fibre battery cover means the phone would survive even the toughest nights out, however with hefty price tag the Secret carries it is sure to add to their student debt. That said if you have the money to spare and are looking for a feature-rich, future-proof phone then you could do much worse than the LG Secret – it’s just a shame that I’ll have to give it back now!
Review by: Nick
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, LG, KF750, LG Secret]
The F480 Tocco is another high-end touchscreen phone from Samsung following in the footsteps of the Armani and the F490 Nerva. It looks like every mobile phone manufacturer wants to have touchscreen devices in its arsenal and I wonder how much this has to do with the success of the iPhone and the HTC Touch.
What’s in the box?
GENERAL
The Samsung F480 Tocco is a lightweight, slim and attractive looking device. On the front we have a 2.8″ TFT display which sits flush within a metal surround. There’s a front-facing VGA camera for video conferencing and a few basic controls under the screen.
Looking to the left hand side of the unit we can see an up-down rocker button for in-call volume control as well as scroll control when browsing web pages for example. Below that a hinged plastic cover hides the MicroSDHC memory card slot.
On the other side of the unit there’s a similar plastic cover sitting over the proprietary connector used for charging, connecting a set of headphones (supplied) and for connecting to a PC via USB. Also on the right is a camera button used to launch the camera app. and for actually taking a photo. Directly beneath that are a couple of holes used to attach phone charms or lanyards.
Flipping the F480 over reveals an attractive brushed metal back and the 5 mega pixel camera complete with flash. Looking at the back of the F480 you could easily be forgiven for thinking that it was digital camera rather than a mobile phone.
HIGHLIGHTS
LOWLIGHTS
REVIEW
I first saw the Samsung F480 Tocco a few weeks ago when I called in at a local phone store. Initially I thought is must be a new Windows Mobile device that I hadn’t seen before (unlikely :P) as I thought it rather unusual for a ‘non-smartphone’ to be almost completely touchscreen. Returning back to the office I decided to drop Samsung a line to see if I could review one.
First impressions of the F480 is that it’s a classy looking phone. The front is clean and understated with just a few push button controls housed in a shiny case. Turning the phone over the metal casing is obvious which makes the phone both look and feel robust.
The supplied leather case should help to maintain its good looks. However, you’ll soon discover that the F480 is a total fingerprint magnet that will have you rubbing the screen on your shirt each time you finish a call having held the glossy screen to your ear! The other drawback of having such a shiny screen is the performance in bright lighting conditions, especially direct sunlight. It’s virtually impossible to use the F480 under these conditions and it has you looking for shade each time you attempt to make a call.
The touchscreen works very well and is quite sensitive to even a soft touch, not quite as good as the iPhone but certainly better than many other touchscreen devices that I’ve used in the past.
The user interface is also a pleasure to use and the main menu is set out as a series of 12 icons. Each of the sub-menus appear in list form and the last used item in each of the lists is highlighted as the default when you open up the menu. This sounds like a reasonable thing to do but actually becomes a bit of a pain, I’d like to be able to turn this feature off but sadly that doesn’t seem to be possible.
It’s been a long time since I used a phone with a numeric pad and as a consequence I find texting and emailing with a numeric pad a bit of a chore. The F480 doesn’t have an on-screen QWERTY keyboard which would be ideal for texting and emailing. I guess T9 is something that you will either love or hate but it would be nice to have the option of both included.
The 5 mega pixel camera on the F480 Tocco is quite pleasing. It includes autofocus, digital zoom, LED flash and also a funky new feature called “Smile Shot”. This is similar to the face and smile detection being incorporated in to many mainstream digital cameras and is supposed to be able to tell when your subject smiles and snap a photo at precisely the right moment! This isn’t something that I was able to get working quite right but I suspect that it may depend on the subject and the environment as to how effective this is. That said, the F480 is able to take fairly decent pictures but as I have stated before, camera phones are no substitute for proper purpose-built digital cameras and this one is no different. It is among the best I’ve seen though.
As a music player the F480 performs quite well. There isn’t a vast amount of free memory available on the device as standard, 240MB wont go very far but it will allow you to get a few MP3 files on to start you off. Fortunately you can add up to 8GB of additional storage memory thanks to the microSDHC compatible memory card support. When you do finally run out of music there’s always a built in FM radio, with RDS support, to give you something to listen to.
The media player application is decent and easy to get to grips with.
The application offering the greatest surprise is the built in web browser. To be honest I was expecting this to be basic at best but I have to say that it puts many other mobile web browsers, even the mainstream Pocket IE in smartphone, to shame. The best of the viewing modes for web pages is the smart-fit mode where pages are rendered neatly on the screen and can be read without having to scroll left and right.
There is another disappointment here though as it is NOT possible to rotate the screen and display webpages landscape on the device. Again I would have thought this logical and easy for Samsung to achieve but this feature is sadly missing.
The F480 is quite well connected and, where you have coverage, the HSDPA connection is extremely fast. Bit of a shame that the radio is only tri-band but this wouldn’t bother me too much. Music is transferred to the device via a USB cable connected to a PC. Transfer rates are high thanks to the USB 2.0 support.
The lack of WiFi is also a bit of a shame and something that I particularly missed especially coming from a Windows Mobile background where WiFi is normally standard. With the excellent web browser I think that the F480 would really benefit from WiFi support.
CONCLUSION
The Samsung F480 Tocco really surprised me. I thought that the beauty of the device would only be skin-deep but there are plenty of other bits on the inside to get the gadget freaks excited.
Cameraphone fans will love the 5 MP camera and those just wanting a cool looking phone that fit easily in their pocket will find this phone easily fits the bill and then offers so much more besides.
If only the F480 had Exchange email support then it’s be a phone that more business types could enjoy.
The F480 is a great all rounder offering Music, Video, Email, Web browser and Camera in one neat package.
Posted by: Matt
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, Samsung, F480]
Polaroid recently announced that they were to stop production of the instant film used in it’s range of instamatic cameras. When I first heard the news I was surprised that anyone was still using instant film and that they hadn’t stopped years ago. I later learned that there are a lot of business applications where this kind of film is used.
Polaroid are not leaving the instant photo market though as the launch of the Polaroid PoGo brings the concept of instant photos to the 21st century by using the latest Zink (Zero Ink) printing technology to support modern digital cameras.
The Polaroid PoGo is a small battery operated mobile printer that allows you to print your digital photos on the go. With Bluetooth and Pict-Bridge support it’s possible to print photos from virtually all modern digital cameras and mobile phones.
Whats in the box?
For more on what’s in the box and a demonstration of the PoGo in action take a look at Matt’s PoGo Video.
General – click images for larger view
The Polaroid PoGo comes in a neat and compact package weighing just 230 grams and measuring 120mm x 72mm x 23.5mm. On the ‘top’ of the unit you’ll find a single connector for plugging in the power supply to charge the internal battery.
On the side from the power connector is the power button and a couple of tri-colour status LED’s which tell you the print and battery power status. Next to that is the USB 2.0 connector which allows you to connect a compatible digital camera.
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On the end of the unit there’s a single slot where the printed paper is slowly ejected.
The paper is loaded in a tray accessed by pressing a release button on one end. Zink paper come in packs of 10 but there seems to be room in the paper tray for about 30 sheets.
Highlights
Lowlights
Review
I first saw the Polaroid PoGo a few months ago at a press event and when I saw it I immediately wanted one. The PoGo seemed like a great idea and as I am always behind a camera it was a logical addition to my gadget bag.
Polaroid released the PoGo in the UK a few weeks ago and it’s gradually being made available in a number of high street shops, such as PC World, and at online outlets such as Amazon and Play.com. The main unit will set you back just under £100 which isn’t all that cheap but you do get everything you need included in the box to get up and running.
Setting up is dead simple. Once you remove everything from the box you just have to install and charge the internal rechargeable battery. If you are a bit impatient you can start printing while the unit is charging.
The next step is to install that special Zink paper. Included in the kit you’ll find ten 2″ x 3″ sheets of paper in a pack. You’ll also find a piece of blue paper in the pack. Don’t throw this away as this is the ‘smartsheet’ that you need to run through the printer first. The smartsheet has a barcode printed on it and automatically runs through the printer the first time you turn it on after installing the paper. I believe that the smart sheet ‘tells’ the printer how many sheets of paper are installed.
You’re now ready to start printing and this can be done in one of two ways. The first is to use a mobile phone or other Bluetooth compatible device. If you are using Bluetooth you have to first set up a partnership between the PoGo and your mobile. The exact method depends on your mobile but normally consists of turning on Bluetooth and the selecting ‘add Bluetooth device’ and entering the Passcode. Once a partnership is created you can then send or beam images from your phone to the PoGo and within a minute or so out comes a full colour photograph.
The second way to print is to connect a PictBridge compatible digital camera. Connecting the printer to a compatible camera with a USB cable is normally enough to put the camera in to PictBridge mode. On my camera for example a button lights up blue when the printer connects and pressing the button prints the image currently displayed in the screen.
Once you press the print button the activity light on the PoGo starts to flash while the image is processing, within about 20 seconds the printer starts to whir and slowly the photo inches it’s way out of the slot at the end. The whole process from start to finish takes around 60 seconds. Printing via Bluetooth is a little slower but this is probably down to the connection speed.
So what are the prints like? I suppose I would describe them as ‘OK’. They aren’t going to compete with specialist photographic services or even the larger inkjet photo printers that you can buy these days but you have to remember this is a printer that fits in your pocket! When you consider that you can produce prints practically anywhere and any time then you begin to see where this little gadget will find its market.
Last week I went to a christening with my Canon camera around my neck and the Polaroid PoGo in my suit pocket. I took a number of nice pictures of the baby being baptised and while we were waiting for the ceremony to end I had already started to print and hand-out souvenir prints to the baby’s family. They were all very impressed an all wanted to have a go!
Have a look at the two images below. The first is the image taken straight from the camera with no PP and the second is of the same photo printed on the PoGo and scanned back in to the PC at 300 dpi. As you can see, the print isn’t perfect (the scan does look a little worse than the physical photo) and also note that the image is cropped.
The PoGo is great to take to parties and events, everyone will want you to print a photo for them. However, you wont want to get too carried away. The cost of the paper will probably stop you from going too mad as a pack of 10 sheets of Zink paper will set you back £3! So at 30p per print that works out at around 6 (six!!) times more expensive than commercial photo services such as Bonusprint. But again, remember that the PoGo allows you to have your prints NOW.
Even if you are feeling flush and splash out on a wad of photo paper don’t expect to be printing photos all day long as the rechargeable battery will only last for about 15 prints. In practice the battery will probably not last that long if you are leaving the PoGo switched on between prints.
The reason that the PoGo is so power hungry is down to how the Zink paper works. The print head has to get pretty hot to activate the colour on the page and it’s the heat in the print head that eats the battery.
The full-colour digital photos are created without ink cartridges or ribbons using Zink Photo Paper, keeping the printer to about the size of a deck of cards. The paper is a durable material that contains colourless cyan, yellow and magenta dye crystals. Heat activation brings photos to life, colourising Zink dye crystals, so digital photos can be shared instantly.
Conclusion
For truly mobile instant photo prints the PoGo is amazing, you’ll have your friends cooing over your new gadget!
However, for the PoGo to really take off I think the cost of the photo paper has to come down and come down a lot. If Polaroid can get the cost per print down to around 10p per print then I’m sure more people will consider the PoGo.
I’d also like to see a larger version made available. I know the portability will be somewhat compromised but I would much rather have 6×4″ prints.
Posted By: Matt
We have all read a lot of hype surrounding the HTC Touch Diamond and recently a lot of negative comments on how it actually performs, well we have had some hands on experience over the last week and its definitely a phone that will split opinions right down the middle. Read on for our full review and find out our opinion on this VGA Windows Mobile Professional device.
Not knowing an awful lot about GSmart and knowing even less about the two models presented for review, I was intrigued to get my hands on them and see what they are all about.
Will the impressive looking specifications live up to expectations? After a couple of weeks use, here is my opinion of the devices.
As the devices are so similar, almost identical in fact, I’ve have decided to review them together, highlighting the differences in the specification section.
Introduction
Gigabyte launched this range in the UK in earnest, with a launch date of 30/5/08. As indicated on their website:
“30th May 2008, GSmart announced its availability in UK today, the models available are GSmart GPS PDA series: MW700 & MS800, both installed GSmart developed user interface – Smart Touch, via its local partner Styte, UK is able to experience GSmart’s favourable slim and stylish GPS phone with brand new UI!”
Seeing the market demand for GPS capable devices, GSmart is launching its GPS PDA phone series to UK – GSmart MW700 and GSmart MS800. Targeting at the business users, GSmart MW700 and MS800 are built in slim and sophisticated design, although sharing similar features, the two devices are differentiated by its specification: GSmart MW700 is an edge supporting PDA phone; and MS800 is 3.5G PDA phone with VGA front camera, these are to fulfil the demand of different consumer needs and price range.
What’s in the funky box?
Specifications:
| Gigabyte GSmart MS800 Specification: | Gigabyte GSmart MW700 Specification: |
|
• Windows Mobile 6 professional |
• Windows Mobile 6 professional • 520 MHz Intel x-scale CPU • 256MB ROM / 64MB RAM • 2.8" QVGA display 320×240 pixels • GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900 • CSD, GPRS, EDGE • microSD, microSDHC, TransFlash, SDIO • 802.11b,802.11g • SiRF Star III GPS • Bluetooth 2.0 • CMOS sensor, 2.0MP camera with Auto Focus • 59 x 116 x 14.95 millimetres • Battery – 1300 mAh • 130 grams (battery included) |
General
On the top of the device is the on/off button
The right handside is fairly bare with only the dedicated 2.5mm Headphone jack which, for once, is separat from the USB and allows use while charging syncing etc. via the independent miniUSB connection. This side also holds the non-telescopic stylus
On the bottom of the unit is only the miniUSB connector/charger
Pretty much everything else is on the left hand side of the phone, these include the soft reset hole at the top, followed by the camera button then an up/down and enter wheel, and finally below this there is the uncovered microSD card slot.
Showing on the back of the unit is the 2 mega pixel auto focus camera and a loud speaker grille.
Finally the front of the unit is the aforementioned 2.8” touchscreen, the difference here is that the MS800 has the front facing 0.3 mega pixel VGA camera and the MW700 doesn’t. Below the screen is the obligatory left and right soft keys, dial and hang up keys and a Windows start key on the left side with a dedicated GPS key which is an OK button by default because there is no preloaded GPS software installed. Then in the centre up/down/left/right navigation key, which looks like some kind of scroll wheel or dial but sadly it isn’t it is solely as described.
Highlights
Lowlights
Review
I mainly have been using the MS800 because of the 3G, and rather strangely this device appears to have a better looking screen, when put side by side with the MW700, the MS800 is definitely whiter and brighter, the MW700 has a yellow tinge which deterred me slightly from me wanting to use it. Probably not noticeable if they weren’t together.
The biggest plus points for me are the specification as indicated, this unit is certainly top of the line in the way of processor, 2.8” screen, built in GPS etc. It is however let down slightly by the 64mb RAM already mentioned in Matt’s MW700 unboxing, which is surprising in a unit such as this but also seen regularly with a certain other manufacturers. Not an issue in its self as I noticed no real problems or memory shortages during normal use but I suspect that the device may struggle a little more if using applications such as TomTom and the fairly memory-hungry Opera browser.
Also letting it down a little is the 2 mega pixel camera, although it has auto focus, maybe a trick has been missed here to let the PDA’s standout a little, by the addition of better hardware, a 3 mega pixel unit might be nice.
The centre wheel was a disappointment as it is solely a navigation key and I found that with the OK key and side wheel, I used it only once or twice. Bit of a waste of space really for me.
I was very pleased with the new User Interface and will cover more about this in the software review section.
Further downsides of this unit, the touchscreen can be, at times, very unresponsive. It feels like glass or hard plastic to the touch, and I found that all too often it took quite a lot of dabbing and poking to get a reaction, this proved very annoying and unacceptable.
Next I found that the overall quality of the build could be better on both units, when inserting the miniUSB connector or replacing the stylus in the holder, you do notice a grating and misalignment of the casing, it feels as though they are not straight and need a little extra force to achieve the desired connection. This maybe could simply be the fact that the units are new and will become easier with time and use, but the standard was not the greatest.
Lastly on the downsides is the overall phone layout that I can’t see makes any sense, as most things are geared up on the left hand side of the unit. Silly things like when using the camera you have to hold it upside-down compared to any traditional unit or device that I have tested, the reset button being on the left side means that when pressing you can’t see the screen and therefore what is going on. Matt happens to be left handed and it was no easier for him to use either, I don’t understand the thinking behind this apart from maybe the internal logistical layout. I do wonder if the designer is left handed? Strange.
Software
The main issue to talk about here is the easy to use UI, varying adaptations are appearing on different models nowadays and this is Gigabyte’s version.
In addition to the traditional Windows start screen is the Home Button seen in the screen shot, this allows entry to the UI, seen in the next shots
The clock is easily changed by simply swiping left or right on the touchscreen, the icons on the bottom are also scrollable left and right and customable via access to the settings screen, seen below. The new uncluttered ‘Home’ screen indicates missed calls, messages etc. The screen lock function seen top left, was handy as well.
Not having extensively used this software I was unable to figure out if the icons where customisable to Third Party applications as well. It would be interesting to find out if someone could lets us know. During my use I stuck with the regular applications.
Additional software found on the device out of the ordinary, is a CPU profile allowing the user to switch between power saving, standard and performance modes. These had the effect of slowing down the units processor speed as follows, power saving runs at 208 MHz, standard is Auto, and performance is 520 MHz These settings obviously effect the overall battery life and standby times. There is a noticeable difference, but standard appeared adequate for me and the battery life was better than a lot of devices with the 1300 mAh battery.
As well this there is GPS tracking allowing you to map your journey, via GPS, with a compatible software, such as Google maps. Pocket remote allows you to see and capture the screen on your PC, actually used for the shots above. Quickmark allows barcode recognition for those who require this.
Camera operation apart, from being upside-down in my opinion, was ok. Auto focus is not the best and seems to take a long time to focus and then not make that much difference.
Voice call operation was fine and clear, connection to Bluetooth and use was no problem and also clear, I did find that almost on every call when answering there was quite a long lag and I was repeating “hello” 2 or 3 times every time, before there was a response at the other end.
Conclusion
There is great potential from these phones, as a reasonably high end device, they are very capable, apart from the problems or niggles mentioned above, they are well spec’d on paper, and if competitively priced would be well worth a look, the size is good, as is the speed etc, etc. I would have preferred to see a better quality product and bearing in mind the cost of around £320 mark for the MW700 and £350 for the MS800, I really can’t see the point in both of these devices personally; set at these prices I can’t see why there is a choice and would buy the MS800 every time. They are placed slap bang in the middle of a price war with the likes of the Samsung, HP, Asus and among others, and now not a mile away from the Diamond. Will it make a good showing? Not for me I’m afraid.
Now then Matt about this HTC Touch Pro/Raphael?…
Review by: Steve
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, GSmart MS800, GSmart MW700, Gigabyte, Tracy & Matt]
It has been a long time since I reviewed a phone but while I’m on maternity leave and waiting for the baby to arrive I thought I would do something useful. This is actually the first Smartphone (Windows Mobile 6 Classic) device that I’ve ever used in earnest and it has been quite an experience. Read on to find out what I thought of the Toshiba Portege G710!
10 second review:
Device: Tohiba Portege G710
Cost: SIM free only: £185 (Ex. VAT)
Available from: Clove Technology
Summary: One of Toshiba’s latest Windows Mobile device the G710 offers entry level features with the added benifit of built in GPS in a Blackberry style package.
Best of: Inexpensive WM device with GPS, great battery life.
Worst of: Lack of 3G and WiFi. Trackball navigation method that you’ll either love or hate.
What’s in the box?
Toshiba G710 specification:
GENERAL
Starting with the front of the device then we have a 2.46″ QVGA landscape screen with loudspeaker above and controls below. There’s the standard softkeys, home and back buttons as well as the send/end call keys. In the middle you’ll find the trackball which is in place of the Dpad that you’ll find on most devices. Certainly not the first device to use a trackball but the first time we’ve seen one on a Smartphone. Below these you’ll find the fixed QWERTY keyboard.
Looking to the left side of the G710 you can find just two buttons, the power button and the camera button
Spinning the device around to look at the right side you’ll see a up/down rocker for volume control and then a rubber cover over the USB socket. Under the cover you’ll also find a socket for an external GPS antena.
The G710 doesn’t have any additional controls on the top or bottom edges, these are both rounded off and give the device quite a smooth look.
On the back you’ll find a 2.0 megapixel camera with LED flash. You’ll also notice two loudspeaker grilles either side of the camera.
Highlights
Lowlights
REVIEW
I’ve been using the the Toshiba Portege G710 for just over a week now, it’s taken some getting used to as this is the first time I’ve used a Smartphone in earnest. Getting started is a simple affair, removing the back cover and installing the SIM card and 1050mAh battery. It took me a while to find the MicroSD card slot, I even had to double check the spec to make sure it really did have one! The MicroSD card slot is actually located on top of the SIM card and becomes more obvious once you have installed the SIM. It’s virtually impossible to install a memory card without havaing a SIM installed first.
On first boot up the G710 runs through the normal setup asking me to set the date and time and my region and offers to let me set up a PIN code. I notice that there’s no custom software installation routine when you first boot up and I’m not asked about setting up an email account, I can do that manually later. The G710 doesn’t have any special homescreen and instead has a standard WM design.
The first thing I want to do is see what software is already installed on the device but in order to do that I have to get used to the trackball! The trackball is one of those things that you’ll either going to love or hate. Personally I would prefer to see a normal dpad as I find the trackball awkward, there is a definite threshold where it goes from not working at all to working a lot – what I mean by that is if you move the ball too slowly in an attempt to be accurate then nothing happens to as you move it more or faster it suddenly comes to life an you find it scrolling across two or three lines or icons. There is no happy medium here and no settings to adjust to get it right.
Unlike newer HTC devices, the Portege G710 doesn’t automatically detect the network operator from the SIM card, instead you have to go in to a folder in the start menu called Config UK. In here you’ll find 4 icons for setting up the network settings. After runing the desired set up file you’ll see a text message confirming the change. There’s no setting for 3 users though so if you have a 3 SIM you’ll have to set up the data connection manually.
The G710’s keyboard is pretty easy to use and the keys have a nice positive feel to them. They are also raised enough to make them quite easy use either single or two handed. They are quite close together though so if you have particularly large fingers (or thumbs actually) then you might find that you press more than one button at a time.
The Portege G710 is one of an increasing number of Smartphone devices to include built in GPS and I’m pleased to report that it has a SiRF Star III chipset. Unfortunately Toshiba have not included any GPS software with the device but there are a few free or inexpensive packages out there that you can use. I installed Google Maps in order to try the GPS unit out. As with most devices it takes a little while to acquire a signal the first time you use it but after seems to take less time. Sitting in the garder it quite accuratly pinpointed my location on the aerial map.
The G710 has a dedicated external GPS antena socket. This is situated right next to the USB connector under the rubber cover on the right side of the device. The rubber cover it really awkward to open and it annoys me every time I have to plug in the USB cable.
If you use an external GPS antena you have to select this in the antena settings menu.
As Matt has mentioned in other reviews and articles, we live in an area with poor network coverage. The G710 isn’t the best device to network reception, nor is it the worst. I can get a bar or two of signal most of the time here at home but it’s not totally reliable. If you live in an area where the signal is marginal there are probably other devices that have better reception.
One of the biggest disapointments with the G710 is the lack of 3G or HSDPA. Now I realise that this is a fairly inexpensive device, and if you consider the GPS then it IS good value for money but no 3G I suspect will put many people off. We do not have 3G coverage where we live so I guess it’s not such a big deal for us. However, if you couple the lack of 3G with the lack of WiFi the G710 may have limited appeal. For me spending so much time at home at the moment I find myself using WiFi a whole lot more and I know that Matt uses WiFi all the time at work.
There are advantage to having only GPRS and EDGE though and that is the much better battery life offered by this device. Compared to my TyTN II over the past I’ve had to charge the G710 far less frequently. I guess you have to consider the trade off between connectivity, battery life and price.
The screen on the G710 is clear and bright. It’s smaller than I am used to but still just as readable. The screen is flush with the front of the device so you might want to use a screen protector as I think it’ll be more susceptible to scratching.
CONCLUSION
The Toshiba Portege G710 is a good entry level smartphone and offers value for money especially when you think about the built in GPS.
If you are a business or power user then I the lack of 3G and WiFi are likely to be a bit of an issue and I suspect you’ll want to look elsewhere. But if you are looking for an inexpensive Blackberry-style Windows Mobile device and like the idea of built in GPS then the G710 is definitely worth considering.
Review by: Tracy
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, G710, Toshiba, Tracy & Matt]
HTC Touch Diamond review (Part 3) – “Touch-flo 3D”
One thing that sets the HTC Touch Diamond apart from other Windows Mobile devices is the unique Touch-Flo 3D user interface. This builds upon the success HTC had with the original Touch and later the Touch Dual and Touch Cruise and integrates further into the Windows Mobile OS.
Lets take a closer look at the Touch-Flo 3D interface by examining each screen in turn. Note that I’ve reduced the size of the screen shots by 50%.
Home Screen
This screen effectively replaces the Today screen and shows you the date, time and Operator name. You’ll also see that it tells you when your alarm is set for, has a link to call history and shows you the next event in your diary. Unlike the today screen this page wont show you whether or not you have unread email or SMS on the main page but if you look to the bottom the number of unread emails is shown in a green circle over the email button.
People
This tab allows you to add your favourite people or contacts to a roladex style system that lets you thumb through your contacts if your contact has a photograph associated with it then it will be displayed here, otherwise you get to choose what image to display instead.
Messages
This tab provides you with a preview of your text messages and gives you quick access to compose a new text message.
The mail page is where you access your email accounts. As you can see in the image below you get a preview of the last message in your inbox on the screen. The icons down the side denote the three email accounts I have configured and the icon at the top starts a new email message. Buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you go to the inbox for the choosen account or, from the menu button, send/receive, switch accounts or start a new message.
Internet
The internet page is pretty self explanatory with a link to the web browser (Opera 9.5) and the excellent YouTube client.
Photos and Videos
The photos and videos page lets you browse through any photos you have stored on your device providing they are in the My Documents/My Pictures folder. You can scroll though your photos by swiping your finget up and down on the page then you can tap on the image to bring it up full screen. Once you have the image fullscreen you can zoom in and out by spinning your finger around the dpad and you can move the picture around the screen by dragging it.
On this page you also have an icon to start the camera in either still or video mode. At the bottom of the screen you have buttons to open the album, which gives you a typical preview of images or you can start a slideshow of the currently displayed images.
Music
The music page give you direct access to the music files saved on your phone so there is no need to go into media player, you can select songs or whole albums to listen to from this page and you even get to see the album art for your files if they have them.
You navigate through stored music on this page in much the same way as you would an iPod or iTunes, by swiping your finger across the screen. Buttons at the bottom get you in to your media library or the menu allows you to access controls for repeat, shuffle, track properties, playlist and audio booster.
Weather
Once again this page it pretty self explanatory. The main image tells you what the weather is like today (there are some nice animations to be seen here) with other buttons offering 5 day forecast and the menu allows you to add/remove locations, change the temperature units and change how the information is updated.
Settings
The settings page does what it says on the tin. From here you can sync with ActiveSync, edit the sound settings, alter the background image or wallpaper, open up Comm Manager or download updated weather information. Each of the pages accessed from here are also HTC customised pages that are very easy to use and navigate.
Programs
The last of the main touch-flo 3D pages is the Programs tab. Here you can add shortcuts to the programs that you most commonly use. You can add up to 18 shortcuts to this list and you can easily add or remove them as you see fit.
Comm Manager
Finally I’m going to briefly mention Comm Manager. This is yet another example of how HTC have done away with the standard Windows Mobile interface and replaced it with their own customised version. This is a welcome change and shows you at a glance whether the phone is on or off, if your data conection is active or if you have WiFi on. I think that new WM users are going to find these pages a lot easier to use.
I think that’s enough on the Touch-Flo 3D interface for now. This review unit has to go back in just a few more days but fortunately I’m told that my retail unit is on its way. I’ll tell you more about the retail version as soon as it arrives and I’ll let you know what the differences are, if indeed there are any!
Review by: Matt
See Part 1 of the review.
See Part 2 of the review.
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, orange, HTC, HTC Touch Diamond]
HTC Touch Diamond review (Part 2) – “Getting Started”
Last night I started setting up the Touch Diamond. First things first it’s a case of removing the back cover, which slides off upwards, removing the battery and then slipping the SIM card in to place.
At first boot the device sets itself up in much the same way as any other Windows Mobile device. However, after the first reboot you’ll notice something different as once the phone starts up, having played a little startup tune, you are presented with a virtually blank screen. This plain black screen lasts for about 30 seconds (long enough for you to consider that there maybe something wrong) before you are told to “tap here to launch touch-flo 3D” and then “Starting touch-flo 3D”.
I’ll cover the new touch-flo 3D interface in more detail in a later post but suffice to say that this is a nice extension of the original touch-flo as seen on the HTC Touch but it’s a lot prettier and has additional tabs. It’s also more deeply integrated than the original.
Setting up an Exchange email account is a breeze just as with most WM devices at the moment. There is a nice wizard included in WM 6.1 that takes you though the entire process the first time you boot up. Within just a few minutes that account is set up. The next thing for me to set up is my other email account that requires imap 4. This is again quite straight forward barring a slight problem with the larger Diamond soft keyboards. There are times when the larger keyboard gets in the way and where they seem not to obey certain rules like making the screen scroll when not everything fits on. This could be down to WM or the SIP It’s not a huge problem but can be quite frustrating when you are filling in forms with lots of text fields.
I’ve only been using the Diamond for a short period of time but I’ve noticed that the signal or reception seems weaker than on my TyTN II. I live in a village and coverage isn’t great but I always have a signal. However with the Diamond sitting next to me now it still searching for coverage. It finds a single bar on EDGE now and then but mostly has no service. Again I should point out that this is a demo unit but I just hope the retail version is better in this respect.
Driving home from work this evening I realised that the battery in the Diamond was running a little low so I thought I’d stick it on charge. I plugged in the car charger, the screen turned on, but then the battery wouldn’t charge. The charge icon appears briefly on the display but disappears. I’ve had this with some other devices recently where they seem to be fussy about the type of charger you use. I tried a few different car chargers but the Diamond didn’t seem to like any of them. It seems ok with mains chargers and USB Sync/Charge cables though so perhaps you need a special car charger?
In my post yesterday I mentioned the touch screen and how this is made from toughened glass rather than plastic. I had been told that this made the screen ver scratch resistant. However, what I failed to notice yesterday is that despite this being a new review unit there are already a few nasty marks on the screen. I’ve also since found out that a screen protector is included with the retail Diamond so I guess there is a reason for that!
The touch screen on the Touch Diamond is definitely more sensitive than other HTC devices such as the TyTN II. Most of the time it will respond quite well to being pressed or swiped with the tip of your finger rather than having to rely upon using a fingernail. I say most of the time as there have been some times when I’ve found myself wanting to either press the screen quite hard or else resort to using a fingernail or stylus. There are going to be inevitable comparisons between the Touch Diamond and the iPhone – in the touchscreen sensitivity department the iPhone wins hands down.
I’ve briefly used the built in GPS with Google maps. Having installed the app. I took the phone outside and enabled GPS tracking. It initially took a few minutes to get a GPS position fix but subsequent uses have been much quicker. The GPS doesn’t seem to work at all indoors (although why you would need GPS in your own home I don’t know!) even next to a window where the TyTN II would pick up a signal. This isn’t a very scientific test though but GPS testing is tricky at the best of times. It works very well and accurately when used in the car though.
The angular or faceted design of the back of the Diamond means that it sits comfortably in the palm of your hand as the corners have been chiseled off. As I said before it also looks quite cool and it’s something that other people in the office that have had a look at the device today have commented on. There is a slight negative to this design though: When the device is placed on a table it’s not 100% stable so if you were to press the buttons at the bottom of the screen it rocks from side to side. This is particularly noticeable with the end-call key which you may well press to reject a call. The other problem is that there are three distinct high spots on the back that even after 24hrs of use are showing signs of wear. I wonder what this would be link in a month, three months or a year?! This may also be quite annoying if you are typing on the HTC Touch Pro if that is to have the same back plate.
I know that I have only used the HTC Touch Diamond for one day so far but I have to say that I am really enjoying it. There are lots of cool things that I keep discovering, like the Email message preview in Touch-Flo 3D that I’ll show you later and that when you turn the device face-down on the table it’ll mute an incomming call.
The VGA screen is glorious, extremely clear and easy to read. The backlight can also be set extremely bright, much brighter than any other device that I have used in the past. This means that despite the screen being quite shiny it can remain quite clear even when used outside in bright conditions. The backlight even has an automatic setting so that the backlight dims when the ambient lighting is dim or brightens when you are outside. Genius!
There are some nice bits of software installed on the Diamond from YouTube and Opera to MP3 trimmer and audio booster. I’ll cover more of this later but now I’m off to play Teeter – the marble game on the Diamond!
Review by: Matt
See Part 1 of the review.
See Part 3 of the review.
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, orange, HTC, HTC Touch Diamond]
HTC Touch Diamond review (Part 1) – ‘The Overview’
Today I managed to get my hands on an HTC Touch Diamond which I have on loan for a few days and I’ll be starting our review from here. My plan is to use the Diamond as my main device and to see how I get on with it day-to-day as a replacement for my TyTN II.
I should state at this point that loan unit is still a pre-release version and while the hardware wont change between this and the retail unit the software and ROM may well be different as “Test only, not for resale” is very much evident at bootup. The latest update from HTC is that the retail version will be shipped to us next week so at that point we’ll be able to compare the two.
GENERAL
So let’s start out with the basics. As this is a pre-release device it arrived in a plain black box which just a charger and USB cable so I’ll leave the “What’s in the box?” until the retail unit arrives next week.
On the front of the Touch Diamond we have the 2.8″ VGA Touchscreen which is completely flush, no bezel to be seen. You would normally consider this to be a bad idea as it would mean that the screen was more likely to get scratched but HTC tell us that the screen is more scratch resistant than most as it’s made from glass rather than plastic.
Just above the screen is the front facing VGA camera (used for video calling) and the phone speaker. Below the screen there are just a few buttons. Home, back and send/end call keys plus what looks like a regular dpad style navigation control. However HTC have built in capacitive touch sensors in to the dpad so the unit will respond to the lightest touch. In addition to working as a regular up, down, left and right push button control you can also run your finger around the outer ring which acts as a zoom control.
Looking at the bottom of the Diamond only the mini ExtUSB connector is obvious. This is where you plug in your charger, usb sync cable and headphones. Once again, if you want to use your own headphones with a 3.5mm jack you’ll need to get an adapter.
On the left hand side of the device are two buttons for volume control. Interestingly these are two separate buttons rather than a rocker so it is possible to press them both at the same time (if you want to).
There are no controls be found on the right side but here you’ll be able to find the stylus which is fixed rather than telescopic. The stylus stays in place because it is magnetic which is a great idea. The stylus also turns the device on when removed.
On the top edge of the Diamond is the power button, which is a little hard to press with big fingers, and below that is the external loudspeaker. Loudspeakers are normally placed on the back of devices but moving it to the top of the Diamond is a good idea as it means that you don’t cover it up when the phone is on a desk and it’s also easier to hear ringing when the phone is in a jacket pocket for example. I suspect, though, that the decision to put it in the top may have been to save valuable space.
Finally, on the back of the Diamond is the 3.2 Megapixel auto focus camera. Unfortunately there is no flash included. Also, as you can see from the image below, the back of the unit, which removes entirely to access the battery and SIM card, has an angular or faceted design presumable to emulate a cut diamond. The design works well!
Now it’s time for me to install my SIM card and set up my email account. I’ll have more on that for you later.
Posted by: Matt
See Part 2 of the review.
See Part 3 of the review.
[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, orange, HTC, HTC Touch Diamond]
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