We also reveal which phone we believe comes on top in this test, and draw some other interesting conclusions at the very end. One thing is for sure: all three are well rounded high-end smartphones that are interesting and unique in their own right.

Read on to find out more.

User interface

With Galaxy Nexus, iPhone 4S and Lumia 800 on hand, we’ve got all three major smartphone operating systems present in this test – Android 4.0, iOS5 and Windows Phone 7 respectively. It’s safe to say that the operating system is where the most striking differences will come out that will have big – if not the biggest – impact on your day-to-day experience using the smartphone.

Android 4.0, also codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) by Google, has seen a number of notable changes in the UI in an effort to make the OS more user friendly, and also to unify the mobile and tablet versions of this OS. The underlying structure of Android, including its greatest qualities, remained unchanged. In comparison to the other two players in this test, Android provides user with the richest customization options, most notably with the 5 homescreens that can be populated with useful widgets as well as application shortcuts.

Unlike Android, iOS visually changed very little since 2007 when Apple introduced the iPhone and revolutionized the touchscreen user interface on mobiles. There’s the horizontally scrollable grid of apps and folder, while an omnipresent bar with 4 shortcuts sits near the bottom of the screen.

It’s clear that Apple is still reluctant to wander even half-step away from the winning formula that has simplicity as one of its main draws. With iOS5, however, Apple managed to nab some successful ideas from competitors, most notably the ‘new’ notification center that combines all system and app events into a pull-down window that is extremely reminiscent to that on Android. The change is nevertheless very welcome in iOS5 and iPhone 4S, especially because it fits so organically with the rest of the OS, enriching the already solid user experience.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 follows closely iOS philosophy in simplicity but with its very own tiles inspired user interface. Nokia Lumia 800 ships with Windows Phone 7.5 update, codenamed ‘Mango’. The main idea of this mobile operating system revolves around having everything easily accessible in a vertical grid of live tiles that Microsoft calls Metro UI.

The tiles can be re-organized on the homescreen, and new ones can be quickly added from the application list. In terms of customization, however, WP7 is still quite basic and in a similar league with iOS5. However, if you especially look for a phone with a fresh approach to user interface, and large, easy to read fonts, then Windows Phone 7 is probably the way to go.

While Android remains clearly unbeaten in terms of offering the most freedom in tweaking the look & feel of the system, it also has the steepest learning curve among all three platforms. On the other hand, Windows Phone 7 with Metro UI is not only interesting to look at, but also provides the most intuitive user experience on a mobile phone so far.

Pre-installed apps & services

Android takes the most liberal approach from the three platforms as it allows a more or less traditional method of mass file storage. Just like using a flash memory stick, the user can easily move any kind of content to and from Galaxy Nexus mass memory without the need of dedicated desktop software (provided, you use a Windows PC). The disappointing part is that Galaxy Nexus memory is non-expandable since the phone lacks an SD card slot. The good news – in comparison to previous versions of Android on phones, ICS allows the use of all built-in storage space for app install purposes.

Aside from core Android apps, Galaxy Nexus also unsurprisingly comes pre-loaded with a range of different Google specific apps that most are already familiar with, like GMaps, Google+ or Google Books. There’s nothing else beyond that – after all, Galaxy Nexus is a ‘Google phone’ that is meant to provide a stock Android experience – the user is set free to mold the phone in accordance to his or hers liking.

The iPhone 4S is closely tied to iTunes ecosystem, and the desktop app is the central hub for syncing content wirelessly or via USB. Among pre-installed regulars like Google Maps, Safari web browser or music player, there’re also some new services from Apple including iCloud, iMessage and Siri.

As the name already implies, iCloud is cloud-based content management service that comes with free 5GB of virtual space for every iSO5 user. The service automatically backs-up and restores user content like contacts, photos, documents and apps, and thus is extremely useful if you own other iDevices with the same Apple ID. Another useful service is iMessage as it enables free instant messaging between iOS5 devices using Wi-Fi or 3G connection. Siri is the more novel feature that is sort of a personal digital assistant that can provide information (like current time, weather or maps directions), set up reminders, record notes (there’s a dictation feature) or play your favorite song on request. But whether Siri will become a serious asset to your mobile experience or ultimately end up as a gimmick – that will depend entirely on you. The built-in social networking integration in iOS5 is limited to Twitter only, so you’ll have to look into some 3rd party solutions for the complete set.

On Windows Phone, content is synced via USB or Wi-Fi connection using Microsoft’s Zune desktop software. Quite annoyingly, there’s no traditional mass storage mode, so transferring local files, such as photos or music, is a no-go without Zune. From notable pre-installed apps, there’s Nokia Maps & Nokia Drive to fill in your digital navigation needs, and XBox Live, that serves as the central hub for gaming on WP7 and syncs with your 360’s Avatar and Achievements.

Document viewing and editing is already built-in and handled by the free Office app. Thanks to SkyDrive integration, documents are also stored in the cloud (user gets 25GB of space for free) where they can be easily shared between the phone and computer. The email app is extremely straightforward to setup, and allows managing several inboxes from a single place. Built-on social networking features are also well covered, and you can setup Twitter, Facebook and Windows Live accounts that will automatically consolidate with your phonebook. While it might sound rather complicated, the execution as it turns out is pretty slick, but you do need to have use for social networks to really appreciate all those extra features.

From the perspective of built-in features, Nokia Lumia 800 with WP7 shows the strongest performance in this test – there’s barely any need for 3rd party apps to hit the ground running.

However, a developed ecosystem is important above and beyond, and this is where iOS5 on iPhone 4S shines with its cloud support that provides a truly engrossing experience.

Apps

A place where you can browse, buy and download third-party apps for your phone, the app store is an indispensable part of any working smartphone ecosystem. While the ecosystem is designed to keep you engrossed, it’s the constant supply of new apps that keeps the experience fresh and interesting.

Both the Android Market and Apple App Store excel with their incredibly rich libraries, and there’s very little sense in trying to highlight which one is the largest. Android Market has considerably more free apps to offer, while the App Store remains unbeaten in the number of quality gaming tittles, but even there Android is catching up fast.

Comparatively speaking, the most struggling here is Windows Marketplace. Apps and games are usually a great deal more expensive than on other platforms, and the selection, although improving at a steady pace, is nowhere near the app stores from Google or Apple. The importance of this might depend entirely on the user: if you plan on using just a select few 3rd party apps with your Nokia Lumia 800, then Windows Marketplace might even satisfy you completely.

A good idea would be to check the Marketplace website beforehand, to see what is actually there and what is missing. It could very well be that the particular app you know and love on another platform is also present on WP7. Or, at the very least, there’s a decent enough alternative available.

If you love exploring and trying new apps, then Android should be on top of your list. The redesigned Android Market provides a comprehensive overview of apps – new and old alike – and the background installs and updates on Galaxy Nexus happen so effortlessly it’s hard not to recommend Android over other platforms in this section.

Prices

When deciding smartphone to pick as your communications device for the next two years, the price is no minor consideration. , whether you get it for free with 24 monthly payments commitment, or shell out a hefty sum up-front. To help you decide – we checked the prices at which Nokia Lumia 800, Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S are available in U.K.

Operator prices in the table are in British Pounds, for the cheapest monthly plan on which you can get your smartphone for free, on 24 month contract. Unlocked prices are from Amazon UK.

Conclusions

As we mentioned early on, all three phones have something unique and worthwhile to offer. That, of course, only makes the final decision harder to make. But, if we absolutely had to pick an overall winner in this test, then it would be the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

The Google phone smashed its competition with a brilliant quality HD screen, impressed with the OS customization options and the vast amount of free apps in the Android Market. It was also the only phone that struck us with that old-school smartphone vibe that seems to be missing on other major platforms. At the same time, Apple iPhone 4S drew us in with its versatile 8 Mpix camera and very tight integration with other iDevices. And, finally, Nokia Lumia 800 won us over with its intuitive user interface, rich built-in features and attractive monoblock design.

It should be obvious by now that none of the phones are universally flawless, and careful deliberation of each platform’s weakness and strengths in the light of user’s priorities is required. Because it’s not just about the hardware that you buy – now the emphasis should be on the software and services that comes along with the phone.

If you already own a Mac, an iPad and watch your movies via Apple TV – the choice is obvious – the iPhone 4S. The new Apple phone will also be the best choice for those who like to explore an incredibly rich app ecosystem available for iOS devices, and who do not mind paying additional £100+ for the privilege.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the best choice if you like to tinker with your mobile device. Various launcher apps, third party firmware and tons of other customization options in an unfettered Google Experience device makes this phone a geek’s dream. It’s also for those who rely a lot on various Google cloud services. You simply won’t get a better integration of those features anywhere else. If you think that the bigger the display the better the device – Galaxy Nexus is also the best choice. But be warned – the screen real estate comes at a price. The Google flagship is huge, and one hand operation can be a challenge even for the biggest hands.

Nokia Lumia 800 is the best device if you are just moving into smartphones after dumping your good old feature phone, and wouldn’t mind saving £100 while still getting a first class smartphone experience. Windows Phone 7 OS is super simple to set up and use even if you are a complete newbie. It also has the best Facebook integration around. So, if you have a lot of FB friends, you won’t go wrong with new Lumia. The same for Microsoft Office and XBox integration.

Choosing which platform you will invest in – Android, iOS or Windows Phone – can have an enormous influence over what phones you will continue buying in the future. So it goes without saying – choose wisely – and, on top of all, enjoy!

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• Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs Nokia Lumia 800 vs iPhone 4S Comparison/Review. Part 1 – Hardware & Performance
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• More info on iPhone 4.0 OS: multitasking via Expose-like interface
• Nokia S60 Devices to get touch interface next year

Samsung Galaxy Nexus represented Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, iPhone 4S stood for Apple’s iOS 5 and Nokia Lumia 800 for Windows Phone 7.5 Mango.

In the first part of this comparison/review we look we checked out the device hardware and performance. In the second part tomorrow we will look at software and features.

Design & Ergonomics

The Galaxy Nexus remains true to its Samsung roots as it is mainly based on different kinds of plastic. The build materials aren’t necessarily cheap but rather very uninspiring, especially for a high-end device. The design is also kept very simple, where the only diversity comes from the textured battery cover, while the front of the device is completely bare and button-less. The phone sits quite nicely in palms thanks to the slight hump at the back, but due to the enormous size of the screen – 4.65 inches – the overall usability takes a hit.

Clearly ambitious in its undertaking, Apple iPhone 4S takes the design to extreme heights. The phone consists of two glass panels separated by a stainless steel frame (thankfully the antenna problems have been resolved with 4S), which makes the phone pretty to look at, but also quite impractical. The glossy glass surface can easily get smeared with fingerprints, and getting it scratched isn’t too hard either if you’re not careful. On top of all that, the phone is extremely slippery, and we’ve already seen some vivid examples of what happens when the glass structure of iPhone 4 meets its worst enemy: the gravity. These undoubtedly premium materials also contribute towards making 4S the heaviest phone in this test.

Nokia 800 Lumia seems to take the golden middle ground both in terms of built materials and usability. It’s made from a solid block of polycarbonate plastic that is not only eye-catching but also quite practical as it barely leaves any fingerprints. The smooth surface and curved sides of the shell also provide some extra grip in comparison to the other two phones in this test. The screen is also decently sized – 3.7 inches – which makes 800 Lumia neither too small nor too big, so the phone fits nicely in hands and pockets alike.

Display

All three are standard candybar touchscreen phones, and as a result, the quality of the display has an immense impact on their look, feel and usability. Unsurprisingly, the first phone to separate from the rest is the Galaxy Nexus with its sheer size of the screen that literally dwarfs the tiny in comparison screen on the iPhone 4S.

(In this and other display pics: top – Lumia 800, middle – Galaxy Nexus, bottom – iPhone 4S)

But there’s far more to Galaxy Nexus than just the physical dimensions of the screen. Samsung has also equipped Galaxy Nexus with an HD quality screen of 1280 x 720 pixels that can easily rival and surpass Apple’s retina display (960 x 640 pixels). Due to smaller physical size, the 3.5 inch screen on iPhone 4S offers a slightly higher pixel density than Galaxy Nexus (316 vs 330 ppi), but both screens look incredibly sharp and detailed. On the other hand, the WVGA resolution of 480 x 800 pixels doesn’t look quite as impressive on Nokia’s 3.7 inch screen.

In terms of picture quality, Samsung Galaxy Nexus with its AMOLED display (in the middle) also comes first, followed closely by Nokia’s own AMOLED display (top), and Apple, unsurprisingly, taking up the rear with its LED-backlit IPS TFT screen. All phones have exceptional viewing angles and great sunlight legibility, but Nokia’s screen comes off as noticeably darker for some reason.

While the physical size could be an issue for some users, it’s easy to recommend Galaxy Nexus HD screen that puts its rivals to shame with the combination of vibrant colors, great contracts and just the sheer amount detail. This especially applies to users who find themselves frequently surfing the web or watching movies on a phone – those particular kind of experiences are head and shoulders above the competition.

Performance

All 3 phones are considered high-end smartphones and are equipped accordingly to run their environments. There are, of course, some notable differences in the hardware amongst the three.

Android has proven to be the more resource heavy OS, and the speedy 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and a whopping 1 GB of RAM really comes into play on Galaxy Nexus to ensure a very fluid and responsive user experience. Unlike most other Android phones with their custom skins or launchers that sip away extra processing power, the Galaxy Nexus additionally benefits from running a clean, unaltered version of the OS.

Apple, and, more recently, Microsoft, has taken a different kind of approach by strictly tailoring hardware to their OS. As a result, Windows Phone 7 runs nicely with the single core 1.4 GHz Scorpion CPU on board the Lumia 800, and no noticeable hiccups were encountered while performing tasks.

The dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 processor on the iPhone 4S, on the other hand, feels more like a response to the market’s shift to dual-core smartphones. The most dramatic improvement over the older generation iPhones is the increased performance in graphically demanding 3D games, and as such, the 4S is well catered towards people who are passionate about this form of digital entertainment.

As mentioned earlier, all phones in this test showed admirable performance on their respective platforms, and opening & switching between apps happened with no interruptions in most cases. If, however, we had to nominate the winner solely judging by its raw computing power, then Galaxy Nexus would take this round.

Camera

By looking at the specs sheet, it appears like Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be not on equal footing in this part of the test. While its hardware in many ways derives from Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S2, the camera has been reduced from 8 to 5 Mpix, which is exactly the same amount as the last Google phone, the Nexus S. On the opposite side of the ring, the other two contestants share a similarity for once as they both are keen to show off their cameras in the same 8Mpix league.

Despite the inferior megapixel count, the underlying improvements in Galaxy Nexus camera in comparison to its predecessor were enough to make the end result look good. Even more so, the quality of the still shots is fairly acceptable in comparison to the other 2 phones in this test.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Apple iPhone 4S

Nokia 800 Lumia

The biggest disappointment, and surprise, comes from Nokia Lumia 800 – the Finns usually put a lot more effort in their smartphone cameras. On the surface, the photos taken with Lumia 800 appear to be OK, but closer inspection reveals that some finer detail is washed away. Could that perhaps be noticeably improved with subsequent software updates? Only time will tell.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Apple iPhone 4S

Nokia 800 Lumia

The camera interface is pretty straightforward and easy to use on all 3 phones, but Nokia does earn a few points back with its more expansive settings that allow tweaking things like white balance, contract, saturation and ISO. In comparison, the Galaxy Nexus and especially iPhone 4S camera settings are very bland, but nothing some 3rd party apps couldn’t fix.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Apple iPhone 4S

Nokia 800 Lumia

Due to the very limiting dimensions of phones, the built-in cameras have always been about having the right compromises. In that respect, the iPhone 4S camera, even though far from showing flawless performance, did manage to deliver the most consistent results throughout the tests. More often than not, this 8Mpix shooter from Apple impressed me with its rich colors and sharp detail, and the ability to take HDR pics right from the start proved to be the icing on the cake.

Battery life

Depending on the user, the results here can vary drastically. The 1430 mAh Li-Po battery took iPhone 4S to the top position in our tests, giving almost 2 full days of moderate usage. That feat was followed with solid 1.5 days from Nokia Lumia 800 with its 1450 mAh battery. Despite having the beefiest battery – 1750 mAh – Galaxy Nexus came in last with an up-time of slightly above one day. It didn’t do too bad – in fact, with its massive screen, the Android could have fared much worse than it actually did.

Also worth noting, Galaxy Nexus is the only phone in this test with a replaceable battery. So, if you’re used to prolonging your phone’s life with an extra battery pack or two, you should take that into a serious consideration.

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That’s about it for the hardware bit of our Galaxy Nexus vs Lumia 800 vs iPhone 4S review. Check back tomorrow for the second part, where we take a closer look into what makes these devices tick – the software and features inside.

• Verizon exclusive Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets its full specs leaked ahead of October 11 unveiling
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• Some Nokia Lumia 800 phones have battery issues, software update coming soon
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs Nokia Lumia 800 vs iPhone 4S Comparison/Review. Part 2–Sofware, UX&Conclusions
• The first Google Nexus One review shows up

Releasing once per year, these smartphones break little ground in terms of hardware. Down to its core, however, the fundamental selling point is a substantial one, namely, the premise of a Google phone itself. The outgoing advantages are apparent right off the bat – an Android phone running on the very latest version of the OS, freshly baked with love, directly from Google. But, aside from the premise of being first in line of receiving any future Android updates, what else is there going with Galaxy Nexus? Let’s find out…

Look&feel. Simple yet elegant – all plastic

The unusual shoebox-like package of Galaxy Nexus doesn’t hold any surprises. You basically get what you pay for – that includes a charger/data cable and in-ear type headphones. Take a look at the whole thing getting unboxed along with a short demonstration of the new Android in action:

Google appears to be quite content on using Samsung as its OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to demonstrate the raw power and potential of Android. The previous Google phone, Nexus S, was also manufactured by Samsung, and was based for the most part on South Korean company’s own Galaxy S model. The story with Galaxy Nexus, for the better or the worst, is no different. At least on the paper, it seemed like a no-brainer to base the hardware platform on the widely successful Galaxy SII that came out earlier this year and took the market by storm.

The design on Galaxy Nexus, while some might consider it to be overly simplistic, has a certain touch of class to it. The curved display isn’t very obvious but enough to highlight the little design fidelities that full touchscreen phones have still left.

The build materials are consistent with what we’ve previously seen from Samsung for what seems like eternity now: the plastic encompasses most of the phone, while the front is covered by a solid layer of glass that resists fingerprints surprisingly well (oleophobic coating is probably in action here). Following the curved glass display, the slim profile (8.9 mm) of Galaxy Nexus starts to widen towards the bottom, creating a nice point of counterbalance to keep the phone steady in hand. That is not to say that Galaxy Nexus is very comfortable to operate using just one hand. While the weight remains fairly manageable – 135 g (vs 116 g on SGSII), the hefty dimensions of the screen -4.65 inches – dictates certain loss in ergonomics. Naturally, Galaxy Nexus dwarfs most other phones, for example, Apple iPhone 4S (3.5 inch screen) and Nokia 800 Lumia (3.7 inch screen):

From usability standpoint, the most drastic change is the integration of traditional Android navigational and contextual hardware keys into the display itself, which explains the somewhat odd size of the screen.

Interestingly enough, the effective size of the screen remains identical to that of SGSII. I’ll take a look at those particular changes in Android UI at a greater detail in the software section of the review, but for now, it’s suffice to say you’re actually getting the same 4.3 inch screen, only at a much higher resolution.

Atop the display, there’re the usual suspects: an earpiece is dead centre, while the ambient light and proximity sensors along with a front facing 1.3 Mpix camera are pushed to the right side. And, finally – this came as a pleasant surprise for me – there’s also a white notification LED light hidden in the area below the display.

The lonesome pair of physical controls on Galaxy Nexus reside on either side of the screen. On the left, a decently sized volume rocker stands ground, but on the other side – just where your right thumb should be – the power or screen wake button.

The number of ports are also kept to a bare minimum. There’s a connector for a docking station further down on the right side of the phone, while the rest of the physical output/ input options, including a 3.5 mm headset jack and microUSB port, are collectively residing at the bottom.

The story around the battery cover of Galaxy Nexus is, predictably, quite similar to SGS2. The comparisons are, unfortunately, unavoidable even here, as the plastic piece that covers the battery and SIM card slot radiates cheapness on a level that is not typical to the standards set elsewhere on this elegant looking phone.

However, since Galaxy Nexus lacks an external memory expansion slot, most users probably won’t have to bother with the cover too often. Once the cover is correctly attached, however, it sits surprisingly well, and the slightly rubberised texture creates a reassuring friction with fingers.

The Galaxy Nexus comes equipped with a 1750 mAh Li-Ion battery that with moderate usage should be enough to keep the lights on for around 1.5 days, which is an OK achievement, given the enormous size of the screen. Realistically speaking, you’d want to charge the phone every night to avoid any surprises. And, unless you’re planning for an extended movie viewing session, the Galaxy Nexus should get you through the day.

A screen of beauty

If I had to pitch the biggest selling point for Galaxy Nexus, there would be two – the simply gorgeous Super AMOLED display and Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich. Both of these points almost seem to be made for one another as they complement each other beautifully on Galaxy Nexus.

There isn’t much to say what hasn’t been already said about Super AMOLED display on Samsung Galaxy SII – the two a pretty much on par here, except that Galaxy Nexus utilizes older PenTile screen tech. Nevertheless, the display features amazing level of contracts, wide viewing angles and expressive colours unmatched anywhere else. But there’s more with our newcomer here: its display offers an HD resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, which is a first on a screen that ‘small’. You will, however, lose some of that to the omni-present black bar with three navigational and contextual keys at the bottom, which – as mentioned earlier in the review – marks a departure from the previous versions of Android on smartphones.

The idea of integrated hardware keys seem to have caught me surprisingly quickly – there’s barely any real difference from using the usual capacitive keys below the display. And, thanks to Super AMOLED technology, the dedicated Android command key area seamlessly blends in with the rest of the phone, giving little in terms of distraction.

We also did some comparisons of Galaxy Nexus, iPhone 4S and Nokia Lumia 800 displays. But you will have to wait until our 3-way review of these flagship devices,  coming up next week.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Galaxy Nexus performs remarkably well with what it has under the hood as I saw virtually no hiccups amidst the smooth animations and screen transitions. Only during continuous downloads and heavy multi-tasking the phone’s back became noticeably warmer, but even then Galaxy Nexus managed to demonstrate an admirable stability throughout the stress-tests.

Android 4.0 or ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) obviously inherits a number of design elements first seen on Android 3.0 Honeycomb running tablets. In short, ICS introduces some interesting changes that are aimed towards improving the full touch user interface, and simply make Android more fun to use. It remains to be seen, however, how ICS will handle and look on devices with smaller and lower res-screens, but on Galaxy Nexus spacious screen the OS feels very much at home.

The main underlying structure of the OS remains unchanged – you have the customizable homescreen (consisting of 5 in total screens), the app menu and the ever-present and useful status bar.

The new multitasking view – now handled by a separate command key – is a particularly nice addition to Android as it makes the process of switching between recently opened apps much more accessible. By swiping sideways you can remove an app from the list, but it’s not entirely clear whether the background process is also killed or left running. So this is more of a cosmetic overhaul – as previously in Android, the listed apps may already been closed by system’s memory manager and not actually be running.

There are also a few lessons that Google probably took from iOS. To begin with, app shortcuts in the homescreen can now be dragged on top of each other to quickly organize them into folders. The dockbar is also quite similar to iOS, and you can effortlessly replace shortcuts there to your liking, except for the menu icon in the middle.

Another major change is how you access and browse widgets. All widgets are now listed in a separate section after the app menu. While it’s indeed a handy way of exploring widgets in that fashion, scrolling through a dozen of screens to find the right widget gets cumbersome very fast.

There are also persistent moments when the new ICS is obviously conflicting with the older generation Android. The context sensitive menu key now looks more like a neglected distant relative on the new OS, sometimes being tucked in the far right corner at the bottom of the screen, sometimes, like in the case of web browser or the gallery app, relocating to the top of the screen and creating a fair bit of confusion in the process.

Overall, it’s clear Google aimed to make Android more appealing to casual smartphone users. Even though you can catch a few glimpses through the seams of the redesigned UI, it nevertheless feels like a step in the right direction.

Interestingly enough, there’s no native file manager in stock Android 4.0, but, as always, the situation can be quickly remedied with a rich selection of 3rd party apps. Speaking about apps, there’s one particular kind of app that really shows off the spacious HD screen on Galaxy Nexus – a video player. The Android Market’s favourite – MoboPlayer – didn’t support ICS at the time of writing, so instead I decided to give MX Video Player a shot. I can confirm that .mkv files (tested with a 4.37 GB movie) ran smoothly enough, although hardware acceleration still wasn’t working.

The built-in web browser has also been updated. It renders websites at a great pace, supports tabbed browsing, and, thanks to the extra pixels on the display, looks extremely impressive on Galaxy Nexus. For some reason, the ‘request desktop site’ option didn’t always work for me.

A great way to earn some extra points in my OS reviews is to natively support screenshots, and, fortunately, Android 4.0 does not disappoint here. For that, you have to press and hold the power and the volume down button at the same time for a couple of seconds. A notification message pops up after each successful attempt – and here’s a plus point well deserved, Android.

Galaxy Nexus camera. A decent 5′er but not much else

The Galaxy Nexus won’t be taking the crown as the best Android camera phone, and it quickly becomes clear that was never the aim. That’s not to say the built-in camera is bad – rather, that it could’ve been so much more. With just 5Mpix, the camera disappointingly remains on about the same league as the predecessor, the Nexus S.

The camera interface has been slightly retouched in the new Android. It’s entirely usable, but as before, won’t be taking any awards for it. The usual options to change the white balance, exposure and photo scenes are there to choose from, but anything beyond that is a no-go. On the positive note, there’s panorama shooting mode, and in camcorder mode the Galaxy Nexus can record videos with up to 1080p resolution.

The first revelation after using Galaxy Nexus camera is that its capture speed is on par – if not better – than the competition. Secondly, the 5 Mpix ( 2592 x 1944 pixels) photos have a surprising amount of detail in them. Even though with flash the photos tend to lose some colours, the outdoor shots in particular look simply great.

The bottom line – you won’t be disappointed with the camera on Galaxy Nexus, unless, of course, you come in to expect the same level of performance as anywhere else on this high-end smartphone.

Conclusions

An uncompromised, stock Android 4.0 experience alone might be enough to elevate the heart rate of many Android fans and easily justify the purchase. While the latest Google phone is clearly a great package for the Android geeks out there, the choice is less clear for others, especially current Samsung Galaxy SII users. You’ll have to be ready to give up a slightly better 8 Mpix camera and more compact dimensions in turn to receive an outstanding high-res display and the latest stock version of Android on Galaxy Nexus. The underlying performance specs are mostly identical. That’s not to say the mentioned points aren’t enough to warrant an upgrade, but that might depend heavily on the individual users priorities and needs.

Also worth keeping in mind is the non-expandable storage memory, as I’m sure quite a few multi-media users will find 16GB to be quite limiting. Perhaps for some it might be a worthwhile effort to sit tight until a larger, 32 GB model of Galaxy Nexus becomes available. But time isn’t much in favour of Galaxy Nexus. Already looming is the release of the next juggernaut – Samsung Galaxy SIII – most likely around the time of MWC in February. Taking that and the elevated price (especially compared to SGS2) out of context, and Galaxy Nexus becomes an all around solid Android power-house that I doubt many would regret buying.
I have to admit that Google Nexus with ICS at the forefront managed to grow on me fast. I can certainly spot its unique share of beauty. Unlike the competing smartphone platforms, Android can be as complicated as you want it to be. Although the learning curve remains noticeably high even with this next step in Android evolution, exploring new areas and expanding possibilities is more fun than it was ever before.

Verizon’s version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is available on Amazon for $189.99!

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Hardware/Design

The Titan’s large gorilla glass screen and matte finish go quite well together. I personally don’t like a ton of company branding on smartphones and the Titan is very discrete with the HTC and Windows Phone logo both chrome-free. There is no doubt that the Titan is a large phone with its dimensions at 131.5 x 70.7 x 9.9 mm and 160g. It felt a little big in my hands and it was slightly crammed when I wore jeans which do not have as baggy as pockets as regular shorts or pants. On the top edge of the device you will find a power/sleep button on the right and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left. The right side includes a volume rocker and a dedicated camera button below it. The left side includes your micro usb charge/sync port. The bottom  includes your three touch buttons which are the usual back, home, and search. On the back is a 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and a 1.3 megapixel camera in the front.

Under the hood is a 1.5 GHz single-core processor, which is 50 percent faster than the HTC’s previous HD7 on AT&T, 512 MB of RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage(only 12.63GB of it is actually usable). It is quite disappointing that Microsoft still has yet to include expandable memory into any of its devices. This will definitely annoy those who love to load their devices up with tons of photos, videos, and music. Connectivity wise, the Titan features UMTS/HSPA (up to 14.4Mbps downloads and 5.76Mbps uploads depending on the Network), WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. Also included in the Titan are the GPS, gyroscope, G-sensor, digital compass, proximity and ambient light. The Titan lacks a NFC chip(since there is no support for it in Mango) and a FM radio.

Display

Under the Gorilla Glass is a 4.7-inch Super LCD display. This is the largest screen on any Windows Phone device on the market. The display is bright, has good viewing angles, and the colors look vibrant. The downfall of having a large display on a Windows Phone is the resolution. Since Windows Phone only supports WVGA resolution, you’ll only be getting 800 x 480 resolution on all different screen sizes.

The Titan does a decent job even with the lack of pixels. Some of the font was a little fuzzy around the edges, but that was really the only noticeable issue with the screen. What annoyed me the most was the wasted potential of the huge display of the Titan. Everything was stretched to fit rather than actually getting more space for viewing emails, home screen tiles, or app graphics.

Software/Performance

The HTC Titan comes pre-loaded with Windows Phone Mango, Microsoft’s latest mobile OS. There’s not much we can talk about OS wise since Windows Phone is pretty locked down customization wise. The most OEMS or carriers can do for setting themselves apart is with the Hub and a few particular apps for that company.

With the Titan, HTC included their own HTC Hub and a few apps exclusive to HTC devices. The HTC Hub is the one place on your phone where you can check weather, news, stocks, and app suggestions. The Weather looks great as always on HTC with some nice animations. HTC has also included the following apps on the Titan: the Photo Enhancer, Connected Media, Locations, Notes, Flashlight, and HTC Watch.

The Windows Phone Market is lacking compared to that of the Android Marketplace and the iOS App Store. Facebook and Twitter both have their own official apps which will please some, but you won’t be doing much game playing unless you enjoy the Xbox Live arcade games or will always be satisfied by Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds. If you are a heavy Google user, you’ll be disappointed by the lack of a Google Apps including Gtalk, Gmail(no dedicated app, only support), Google+, Google Maps, and others. I was particularly disappointed in the lack of a Skype app yet since Microsoft purchased them recently and there is other way to video chat on Windows Phones.

Syncing the Titan with my Macbook was very easy thanks to the Windows Phone 7 Connector. It easily uploaded all of my photos and videos I took and made it easy to sync all of my music, videos, calendar, and photos. Android phones do not have a dedicated desktop client yet, so its nice to see Microsoft making it easier to sync your content.

The 1.5 GHz processor allows for smooth performance. Menus and lists scrolled lag-free and pinching images was slick. Apps and Web Pages also loaded relatively quickly. Mango also added its own software performance improvements which paired along with the 1.5 GHz processor made it difficult to find anything that the device couldn’t handle. Microsoft was confident that their single core devices were as fast as other dual-core devices. This statement is true with the HTC Titan.

Camera

The Titan has a great 8 megapixel camera with a BSI Sensor, f2.2 wide-angle lens, and dual-LED flash. The dedicated camera button is pretty nice. The camera app features two different types of shots: Panorama and Burst. The Panorama allows you to take a picture of something too big to fit for your camera. It takes multiple pictures across the whole object and then pieces them into one photo. Burst Mode fires off multiple photos quickly in succession and you pick the best. Face Detection is also included and you can focus by tapping on the screen. If you press halfway on the camera button you it will focus and if you press fully then it will take the shot. It works out pretty well.

The resulting photo is rich in color and clear. The Titan takes pictures quickly after you press the camera button and Windows Phone Mango will slide the photo to the left so all you need to do is drag to the right if you want to see the previous picture you just took. The Titan takes its best shots in the daytime, which is the case with most smartphones. The BSI sensor did a decent job in situations with low light. The LED flash is very bright and can sometimes overpower the photo.

The front-facing camera is 1.3 megapixels and is better suited to video calls, although there is not yet a native video chatting client available for Windows Phone. Hopefully, Skype will soon become available since it is owned by Microsoft.

Video recording is limited to 720p due to the hardware restrictions of the Titan. If it was dual-core it would be able to support 1080p HD recording. The Titan’s extra weight allows it to be more stable in one’s hands while recording. Two new options are available as well: stereo audio recording and continuous focus. You can also now save settings. Nonetheless video recording is still solid on the Titan. Video recording is also better in day time. The LED flash can be used, but it makes the video blurry occasionally.

Phone/Battery

Phone calls were clear and solid. The earpiece got up to a very nice volume level and I never had trouble hearing the person on the other end of the call. The speakerphone was incredibly loud and sacrificed clarity for volume. I wasn’t getting as strong as Wi-Fi signal as I was on other devices such as my Motorola Atrix, but it had no problem maintaing the connection.

The Titan is powered by a 1,600 mAh battery. HTC claims as much as 410 minutes of 3G talktime(710 minutes GSM) and up to 460 hours 3G standby (up to 360 hours GSM) on a single charge. We expected the Titan to run out of battery before the end of the day due to the large screen size and powerful processor, but it managed to make it through the whole day and some of the next even with push email, internet use, camera use, and listening to music.

Wrap Up

The HTC Titan goes against what you would expect. It has a very large display, but has the same resolution of the smallest Windows Phone on the market. You would also expect poor battery life with such a large screen and powerful processor, but it lasted longer than a day on a single charge. There’s not much customization besides HTC’s Hub and selected apps, but it’s nice to see a consistent UI experience and not an intrusive OS skin which many OEMs pre-install on Android devices.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace is still no where near the Android Marketplace or iTunes App Store, which can be a turn-off if you are a heavy app user. The Titan may be too big for some people who have smaller hands or don’t enjoy lugging around such a big device in their pocket.

Those who are looking for the biggest screen possible or just have big hands, the Titan will be a great phone for you. It has an awesome sturdy build and even though the screen resolution doesn’t compare to that of the iPhone 4S or Galaxy Nexus, it still works out well for the Titan. The camera app is definitely one of HTC’s best. The rest is really up to your opinion on Windows Phone Mango versus Android or iOS. It was almost as if Mango was meant to run on this big of a screen. Microsoft is definitely committed to this OS and was very quick about updating all of its devices to Mango. The Titan is definitely one of the top Windows Phone Mango devices available. It is currently available unlocked on Amazon and will be available on AT&T at some point this fall.

• HTC Titan (Eternity) and Radar (Omega) with Windows Phone Mango announced
• AT&T intros three Windows Phone Mango handsets: HTC Titan, Samsung Focus S and Focus Flash
• Windows Phone handsets with NFC coming next year?
• AT&T’s HTC Titan to be included in a BOGO offer?
• HTC Titan priced at EUR 512, HTC Radar at EUR 335 (before taxes and subsidies). Hands-on videos

For the record, I am not a big fan of TouchWiz or any custom UI, for that matter; I feel that Honeycomb, like any other vanilla Android OS, is good as is. Visually, the TouchWiz UX interface shares many commonalities with its smartphone platform brethren, but it doesn’t exactly tilt my meter of excitement.

With that said, it’s been over a week since Samsung has pushed out its TouchWiz UX update to retail Galaxy Tab 10.1 units across the country, and having spent most of the week playing with it, I would love to share my thoughts on the Tab 10.1 with you guys.

Installation & Impressions

The actual installation process took about 20-25 minutes, most of which went at a fairly decent pace. I thought something went terribly wrong with my Tab once it stalled completely at 77% for several minutes, but once it hit 78% it was all good again. After the first update had completed, the reboot process had followed, taking a handful of minutes that seemed to take forever to pass by. (Be sure to have you Tab fully-charged before starting the update process.)

Once the installation process was complete, there was a noticeable aesthetic difference. When I navigated between home screens and switched pages within the app drawer the entire experience felt a lot smoother, with less lag. Now lets break down TouchWiz UX shall we?

This is the first major overlay to hit Honeycomb and I can honestly say its far from a hindrance or annoyance. The user interface reflects what the Samsung Galaxy S II is using with TouchWiz 4.0 with several enhancements that are unique to tablets. One of the first things that you’ll notice about TouchWiz UX is the updated navigation bar, but you’ll be happy to know that core functions still remain the same as it does on stock Honeycomb. This version of TouchWiz on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is nothing like its predecessor on the Galaxy phones.

Navigation bar, Quick Panel and Mini Apps Tray

In this update, a noticeable change happened within the notifications, which Samsung calls, the “Quick Panel.” The stock Honeycomb notifications tab has an unintuitive design. With TouchWiz UX, all of your toggle settings like Wi-Fi, Notifications, GPS, Sound, Auto rotation, are noticeable and a finger press away. But I must say I don’t care much about the lager font Samsung added; it’s just not necessary.

When it comes to the navigation bar, one of the coolest additions has to be the feature that wasn’t mentioned much before the update was released, which is native screenshots without root. It’s a simple process, to grab a pic of the screen, hit the icon right of the app chooser, and viola – your screenshot is saved.

In the middle of the navigation bar you’ll see an arrow pointing upward, which releases the mini-app tray, which is one of the most unique upgrades offered by TouchWiz UX. This was made for quick access to commonly used tools such as: Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator, and Music Player. The app tray is very useful when checking you’re Gmail and want to access the calendar or calculator for example, but don’t want to bounce out of Gmail by doing so. Mini Tray is like a picture-in-picture mode for select tasks. Another slightly but noticeable difference is the color scheme changing from black with neon, to dark gray with a lighter gray, accompanied by cyan and neon green accents (the color scheme reminds me of Tron the movie like stock Honeycomb does).

Applications and other updates

If you’re reading this and asking yourself for more customizations, then you need not worry; Sammy has you covered. Samsung threw in several more apps including Samsung Media, Music, and Social Hubs; and eBook, Memo, Pen Memo, Photo Editor, and My Files. With the eBook app, Samsung continues to give Apple the middle finger, because it looks eerily similar to iOS’s iBooks app. And I’m sure this will only fuel Apple’s appetite for further litigating the Korean electronics company. My Files is a very simple, yet functional file manager, offering most of the things that you need to explore and edit files on the built-in storage of the Tab. Pen Memo works pretty well, and is very responsive to the touch of any of your fingers. Here you’re able to write with your finger, paint, type, and in general make things easy on your day to day forgetfulness. It’s an instant hit for your wife or kid when they want to doodle on your Tab when you’re away from the room.

A few stock Honeycomb apps like Calendar, Email, and Browser all received little changes, but for the better. The new calendar is a slight tweak that to me makes the app seem a little more refined. When it comes to the Email app, I haven’t really noticed any big differences, but that could be due to the fact that I don’t use it often. The Browser, aside from a few color changes, remained mostly unchanged. You can now enable Google Instant for faster search loading, and much like the new tab page in Chrome, your homepage can be set to view your most visited pages. I find these changes to be a definite plus.

In terms of inputting text, the Swype keyboard comes along for the ride with the TouchWiz UX interface. Of course, the main Swype keyboard encompasses the entire width of the display, which can prove to be very helpful when accurately inputting text on the go. If you hate the width, you can minimize it so that the layout is shortened to make it easier on your fingers.

What you can also expect is the typical widget functionality that Samsung tends to offer with all of its Galaxy products. In what Samsung is calling the Live Panel (of widgets), you will find Accuweather, Agenda, AP Mobile, Yahoo! Finance, Bookmark, Program monitor, Gallery and two clock widgets — digital and analog. Why would Sammy name all of its widgets the “Live Panel” is anyone’s best guess. (It’s really nothing different — they’re widgets.)

The wrap-up

Okay, it’s time for me to give my mea culpa. TouchWiz UX was successful in changing my negative attitude toward custom UI’s, but the Android purist in me still finds them tedious and unnecessary for the most part. That said, the update hasn’t slowed down the tablet as many expected it would, in fact, performance has been spectacular and battery life seems to have slightly improved. TouchWiz UX has made the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 an even better tablet, and one of the best parts about this update is that it’s in no way obtrusive.

Let’s be honest, though: the TouchWiz update may not be received with opened arms from the entire Android ecosystem because of the bloatware and the changes to the look of stock Honeycomb. What I will say is, right now, TouchWiz UX is better than stock Honeycomb — this could of course change with the Android 3.2 update down the pipeline, which is another problem. Can we expect long waits for updates like people have seen on Samsung phones? Only time will tell, but a burning thought this may delay future updates, and I hope that will not be the case.

• Samsung Galaxy S i9000 and Galaxy Tab P1000 won’t get Android Ice Cream Sandwich because of hardware limitations
• Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab gets software update. Not Honeycomb
• Acer Iconia Tab A500 and ASUS Eee Pad Transformer to get Honeycomb 3.1 in June
• New Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 announced
• Upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 may run Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, not Honeycomb

Now that WP7 is finally available on CDMA, we should see the floodgates open for multiple handsets running the platform on Sprint and Verizon both. This is going to be great for Microsoft, since up until this time the OS was only available on exactly 50% of the major nationwide networks, and it’s only going to continue growing.

But before we see any sort of floodgates in action for WP7, let us first reflect upon the HTC Arrive, the phone responsible for leading the charge against the CDMA carriers. With one more OS platform becoming available on Sprint, I love seeing carriers offer more OS choices to their customers.

Let the HTC Arrive review commence!

Here’s Part 1 of the Video Review.

First impressions and Unboxing

Check here for my first impressions of the HTC Arrive immediately after unboxing it, and watch the unboxing video below.

Software of the HTC Arrive

Windows Phone 7 devices are the most consistent of any OS platform (with iOS perhaps excepted) currently, which is another way of saying it’s the most boring across the board. Every single device running WP7 has to be running a minimal hardware standard, and the most customizing any OEM or carrier can do on WP7 is restricted to the Hub for that company.

It’s a locked-down OS to the max, which makes Microsoft sound a heckuva lot like Apple. My guess is that they have chosen the same closed-OS model as its competitor because they were too worried that an open-sourced or open-to-customization WP7 would easily just spiral out of control, essentially turning into the same exact problem Windows Mobile 6.x ran into.

The software of any WP7 device is going to be boring to review, because there’s very little room for each OEM and carrier to innovate and be different from their competitors. The only hope for each WP7 phone to shine is to find a nook or cranny on the software or hardware that makes it look or feel different than the rest. In the case of the HTC Arrive, they were supremely different in 3 things: NoDo pre-installed, Sprint Zone, and a couple new design ideas that had me sold from the first moment I tried the phone.

NoDo Update on the Arrive

The HTC Arrive is the first to come pre-loaded with the new NoDo update, which is finally now starting to roll out to select WP7 handsets. This NoDo (which stands for “No Donut”, a direct crack at Android’s naming scheme system) update is the famous one that finally makes copy-and-paste come alive along with a few other important bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Here’s the laundry list of enhancements in the NoDo update:

• Copy and paste – still not implemented perfectly, but a massive improvement over the non-existent kind of copy/paste on the original version of the OS. See the video review for more detail on exactly how the copy and paste works. Like I said, though, it is definitely not a perfect system as we would like it to be; there are restrictions on developers that force them to have to rewrite the code for their apps in order to have their apps properly work with the copy and paste functionality. But natively, the copy/paste actions seem to work flawlessly in emails, messages and web browsing.
• Marketplace search. My largest complaint about the Marketplace is not how few apps there are in it — I understand it will take time to get developers to hop on the bandwagon — but how difficult it was to filter through all of the search results. Previously, you could only do a general search through every aspect of the Marketplace, so your quest to find the band “Crazy Leg Warmers” would also reveal a list of apps, artists, albums, and games that would fit under that same search, and there’s no way to separate them out or categorize them at all. In the new Marketplace under NoDo, simply go into the games or apps section, and the new search menu will let you search ONLY apps and games. Same with the music section. Again, not perfect but much improved.
• Other Marketplace enhancements. Added stability in downloading apps, and improved the experience of downloading apps larger than 20 MB. NoDo also made it easier to upgrade from trial apps to fully-puchased versions, using a credit card from outside the US, and other improvements to XBox Live.
• Faster app/game loading. Another big complaint about WP7 has been focused on how long it takes to actually load a game or app before finally letting you in. This update will help each app on the WP7 system load up faster, so you can get to enjoying your apps sooner.
• Better Facebook syncing, improved ability to switch from camera to camcorder and vice versa, improvements in the Wi-Fi performance and Microsoft Outlook, bluetooth improvements, and many more general bug fixes.

NoDo is considered a major update, technically, though it doesn’t really add a whole lot to the WP7 experience. It’s definitely not an overhaul of the OS, and doesn’t come anywhere close to the kinds of improvements you can expect to see in the next major update, nicknamed Mango, likely coming out late 2011 or early 2012.

Here’s part 2 of my video review:

Hardware and Design of the HTC Arrive

The Arrive is a hefty phone, even more so than the HTC Thunderbolt I just recently reviewed. This particular phone is thicker (at 15.5 mm) and heavier (6.5 oz) because it has a full horizontal slide-out keyboard, and it is comprised of more durable materials. For instance, the battery cover is made of brushed aluminum, and the top and bottom of the back are all soft rubber. Finally, plastic lines the sides and edges of the phone. I prefer lighter phones, but I’m willing to make a sacrifice if it’s made of durable materials.

I think one of the biggest differences in the weight/size issue that I had with the Thunderbolt (in short, I did not like having such a large and wide phone be so thick and heavy) is that the Arrive has a smaller screen and they compact a physical QWERTY keyboard into a smaller package. It reminds me much of the HTC EVO Shift 4G in that it’s a skinnier phone and the weight, though heavier, is all condensed. Thus, the Arrive has a natural feeling when you’re holding it in your hand, like it belongs there.

Beyond the types of material used and the overall look, HTC threw a couple other design innovations into the mix for good measure. The most important design element is in the keyboard slider: when open, the phone’s screen tilts up. the slider uses a bar that goes length-wise across the back of the phone and pivots up and down. As soon as the keyboard is slid all the way out, the pivot is freed up and automatically flexes upwards, pushing the screen up with it. This particular style certainly differs from anything else I’ve seen in a slider phone; for instance, the HTC Touch Pro (AT&T Tilt) used a plate on a hinge to allow the screen to tilt.

The drawback to the pivot style for the screen tilt is that you’re not given the option to push the screen down and use it like normal. It’s tilt, and tilt only. Not everybody enjoys having their screen tilt upward at an angle. I prefer it this way because I don’t have to look at the screen straight-on in order to see what I’m typing.

However, this pivoting style does add to the complexity of opening and closing the slider itself. Opening it isn’t much of a problem, though sometimes there is a little too much friction caused between the keys and the slider, making me have to push a bit harder. Closing the slider is different than usual because I have to push the screen down to be parallel with the keyboard first, rather than diagonal. The pivot only releases its grip on the screen when it’s pushed down, finally giving the slider a chance to be pushed back in at that time.

Keyboard

This is one of the best keyboards I’ve tested recently. For starters, it uses a 5-row keyboard with a dedicated number row. I can never emphasize strongly enough the importance of having a row of numbers on the top of the keyboard — if it’s not a dedicated row, it becomes a large nuisance because it’s treated as a symbol. Trying to toggle the Sym or Fn key several times is a huge hassle if you need to type a string of numbers at the same time.

The keys are separated slightly (not too much space to make it awkward trying to type back and forth, but not too little space that my thumbs are constantly smushing on the wrong keys), made of a comfortable soft rubber and is elevated off the board perfectly, so that it offers enough feedback when pressing the keys in but doesn’t cause it to bounce back too much. It sounds weird to say, but the higher the keys are off the board, the harder it is for me to type on them; I think the extra bouncing down and back up throws off my rhythm. And I can’t stress enough the importance of having a rhythm when typing on a smartphone keyboard.

Also, the keyboard has 2 LED lights on the left-hand side that will light up when the caps lock key or FN key are activated. I enjoyed seeing these light up to indicate I was using an uppercase letter or one of the yellow symbols on the keyboard. There’s also a dedicated direction pad, emoticon button, and comma button. Anyone who has read my reviews of other phones with keyboards will know that I strongly dislike the lack of a .com and / button. I heavily use both of these buttons, whether it’s just for emails or for web browsing; either way, these two activities are huge when using a smartphone.

Performance of the Arrive

The Arrive has similar specs to that of any other Windows Phone 7 device: 1 GHz CPU, 576 MB RAM, 5 MP camera with 720p HD video capture and LED flash, 16 GB internal storage space with no MicroSD accessibility, and no front camera.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that the Arrive is not an international phone. It only uses dual-mode CDMA, so there is no GSM and no 4G WiMax either. That’s right — any international travelers or speed enthusiasts need not apply here. You will still get access to the 3G network on Sprint, but it almost feels like a step backwards these days, considering every other high-end device on Sprint’s lineup is 4G-capable.

The processor and RAM are not excessive, but still sufficient on WP7. Every transition is a smooth one, with no ghosting effect when scrolling up and down through various screens; the apps all boot up fairly quickly (faster with NoDo, for sure) and the games run smooth with no lagging.

I absolutely love the audio quality and volume control on the Arrive. I could hear the other end of the line clearly and loudly in every environment, even on speakerphone. Most smartphones have a difficult time keeping the volume loud enough, forcing me to put the volume on max almost exclusively, but I never had to go to maximum volume on the Arrive.

The battery life on the Arrive is nothing spectacular, but certainly is average for a smartphone. It’s rated to last 6 hours for constant talk time, which is true to my tests.

Overall, I felt like the phone performed very well, with few bugs or lags.

Overview of the HTC Arrive

I recommend it for: those who prefer a physical keyboard to touchscreen-only, need their phone calls to be nice and loud, want a new OS experience, and for smartphone novices that are just learning the ropes.

I don’t recommend it for: international travelers, screen display enthusiasts who like the best possible screen resolution, anyone who wants to have 4G-capable phone, or those who prefer the lightest phone with the largest screen.

You can find some great deals for the HTC Arrive right now. On Sprint you can get it for $199.99 with contract, but you can find it on Amazon for $49.99 (new customers) or $149.99 (upgrades). Either way you’re still saving more by taking that route.

Also, you can find it at Let’s Talk:
HTC Arrive (Sprint)

• Sprint HTC Arrive Unboxing and First Impressions
• Minor Update May Come to Windows Phone 7 This Week
• Windows Phone 7 NoDo update starts rolling out, brings copy&paste and more
• Samsung Focus to Get NoDo WP7 Update Monday?
• HTC Arrive is Now Available on Sprint; $199 with Contract

Because I went to CTIA 2011 in Orlando, Florida last week, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to get some in-depth testing of some of my review products. There were two in particular I was extremely excited to check out: the HTC Thunderbolt and Pantech UML290 LTE USB modem.

Why was I so particularly interested in testing these two gadgets? They’re both signature products on Verizon’s still-new LTE network, which is only available in certain cities across the country. Though Verizon announced expansion to a total of 147 US cities by the end of 2011, only 38 are covered currently, and my hometown is unfortunately not one of them. I was very excited at the prospect of taking my brand new Thunderbolt, the very first LTE phone on Verizon, and the Pantech USB modem, which has been out a longer period of time but still crucial for me to do some testing on.

Orlando is one of the 38 markets blanketed by LTE, so I was ready for a smooth process and all of my data needs at CTIA would be totally covered by these two devices, right? Well, not so fast.

You may have read my article that listed Verizon’s LTE coverage at CTIA as one of the worst parts of the show. But I must emphasize that I was referring to coverage I experienced at the show — which was swarming with other tech powerhouses that either have purchased LTE equipment on Verizon or were taking review units for a spin, much like I was — and not the LTE network itself. Regardless, I don’t think Verizon was quite ready for the onslaught of bandwidth hogs that a show like CTIA attracts.

In general terms, the Verizon 4G network is the strongest and fastest at present time. Part of this is due to the LTE technology itself, which is indeed faster than WiMax and most of T-Mobile’s HSPA+ (though now that they are expanding out to speeds of 42 Mbps, this is a harder point to argue currently). It is what many tech gurus feel is true 4G, not “faux G” as Dan Hesse has called the competition. The other reason it’s strong and fast is the lack of market penetration the 4G network has experienced. It’s still freshly-baked, hot out of the oven, so there isn’t as much saturation of the network as its 3G has. Simply put, the less people on the network, the faster it will go.

I experienced the best and worst of the network in Orlando, and it depended on my location. The worst, of course, was at CTIA itself. There were a few places inside the Convention Center that were so bad I could not get my USB stick to maintain a constant connection. It would start off with a full signal and then, a few seconds later, cut off for no reason just to come back with full bars and force me to reconnect.

I need these speeds to be as fast as possible, since I publish a lot of videos on YouTube, especially during trade shows like CTIA. My job is dependant upon getting the fastest speeds possible, so this is why my experience at the Convention Center was so frustrating. There was even one point when none of my LTE equipment would could at a decent speed or with any decent consistency, that I resorted to tethering my AT&T iPhone to my computer to upload videos (I point out the irony in this statement, considering AT&T’s history at previous trade shows has been less than satisfactory; on the contrary, AT&T’s service worked great for me at CTIA).

I also tried the equipment in my hotel, roughly a mile away from the CC. The LTE worked perfectly fine here, though with lower reception than I would prefer; even right next to the window I could never get a higher signal than 2 bars. The stronger the signal, the faster the speeds. I found this to be bizarre because I shouldn’t need to be next to the window anyways, as the 700 MHz spectrum the LTE signal uses is low enough to penetrate buildings with ease.

At the airport, I had wonderfully strong signals and the network was at its prime in terms of download and upload speeds; my USB stick hummed along quite nice with no problems at all. In particular, I noticed the great upload speeds the network is capable of. When at the airport I ran several tests on all of my equipment, and my downloads averaged between 5-15 Mbps normally, and uploads averaged 4-8. I was completely blown away. In fact, my USB stick never dipped lower than 4 Mbps up at any time during all of my tests at the airport.

This is how I know the LTE works great — when it wants to work. But it appears the network may be ill prepared to handle large amounts of traffic. I had been told Verizon brought in a COW (Cellular on Wheels) to help handle the additional load placed on the network, but I could not seem to benefit from any impact the COW may have had at CTIA.

There was one other point of frustration for me, which was the performance of the HTC Thunderbolt’s mobile hotspots and tethering capabilities in general. I will get more into specifics in my review coming up shortly, but suffice to say that I eventually stopped even trying to use it after enough failed attempts. I’m pretty sure this has something to do with faulty firmware or a malicious bug of some kind, because I know the Thunderbolt was getting superfast speeds directly on the phone but virtually no LTE performance while in tethering mode. I also spoke with several colleagues at the show that had the same experience with their Thunderbolts.

So even though I had to air my frustrations here about Verizon 4G coverage while at the show, I also experienced the LTE network at its best at other times, which is the most important part. It’s a given that a brand-new infrastructure will take time to build out and become perfectly stable, and it’s definitely not at that point yet. But at its strongest, Verizon’s 4G network has greater potential to blow every other network’s 4G coverage out of the water completely.

With average download speeds ranging between 5-15 Mbps and average upload speeds of 4-8 (not counting the occasional spike or dip in speed from time to time), this is my choice for the best 4G network — the way it is right now. Meaning, I may change my mind when more people buy into 4G and the coverage starts getting bogged down, if CTIA 2011 is a foreshadowing. This was a great test drive for the network to learn its strengths and weaknesses, and I am extremely hopeful Verizon will come out with a much stronger 4G network in consequence.

What have your experiences been with Verizon’s 4G coverage so far? Please let us know in the comments!

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Android 3.0 Honeycomb — the latest release — is special, being used only for tablets and is therefore optimized with even more features and benefits than you would normally find on a regular smartphone running on Froyo or Gingerbread. The Honeycomb project has seen a larger number of changes and revamps to the whole OS than any of its predecessors, with a whole new User Interface never seen before.

But does that mean it’s better? We’re going to take you through a guided tour and review of Android 3.0, more popularly known as Honeycomb.

I spent a considerable amount of time playing with Honeycomb while using the Motorola Xoom (review forthcoming), and I wanted to write separate reviews for each because Honeycomb is so different from 1.x or 2.x that it would be very difficult to cram all of this information into one convenient review. So let’s get started by going over the new layout of Honeycomb. This is, after all, the most visible part of the OS, and the most important as well.

Tablet UI Wars: Honeycomb vs. Froyo

If you’re expecting a similar Android experience to that found on the original Samsung Galaxy Tab, you should really lower your expectations. It’s a complete 180-degree turnaround in the User Interface — it looks nothing like the Tab’s UI.

This is because the Galaxy Tab runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo), a version of Android that was built and meant for smartphones. In other words, while the Froyo works fine on a 7-inch screen, it just feels forced; it doesn’t feel natural to use on a larger screen at all. There aren’t very many apps that work and look perfect when stretched out to fit the larger screen, nor are there any widgets that go well with the tablet. In other words, using Froyo makes the Galaxy Tab feel and act just like an oversized smartphone, not a tablet.

That’s where Honeycomb is meant to come in and save the day. A fresh UI redesign, brand new tablet-ready widgets, as well as apps that are optimized to work on a tablet, make it so my Motorola Xoom unit actually felt and acted like a tablet, not just a really large phone. This makes a huge difference in the user experience.

It not only makes a big difference in overall experience for those who use Honeycomb, it also adds a hefty learning curve for anyone used to playing with Android 2.x devices. The Galaxy Tab was easier to figure out for the hardcore Android fanboy, but I believe Honeycomb will be much more satisfying in the long run.

I’ll put it this way — when first using the Xoom, I was thorougly confused by the OS and it took a couple days for me to finally get the hang of it. Now that I have become used to it, the experience is taking a huge leap over any 2.x tablets I’ve used in the past. It feels natural, like Honeycomb belongs on the Xoom.

What’s so different on the Honeycomb? Just about everything. Let’s dive in.

Layout of the Honeycomb UI

Your first experience with Honeycomb can be a little overwhelming. The interface looks totally different so nothing is in the same place it was with other Androids, it offers a more futuristic/holographic look and feel, and physical buttons are nowhere to be found, making me realize how much I have relied on them. It’s a Grand Slam of visual presentation, and being very familiar with previous iterations of Android  doesn’t prepare you for how stunning it really is.

To say Android’s team went a different direction with Honeycomb is an understatement. We know that, underneath it all, Honeycomb is still the same Android as you’ve come to love on smartphones but with completely different ways of handling whatever you throw at it.

Home Screens and Widgets on Honeycomb

Honeycomb uses 5 main home screen panels, with each panel employing 56 squares that can be filled with single apps or multi-square widgets. With 56 squares to work with, it is much easier to customize your home screens with whatever you want. You can fit more widgets on one screen than ever before, and more apps than ever before. However I was unable to find a way to put folders onto the home screen, like you can with smartphones.

With a much larger screen, widgets can be much bigger and take up more space than ever before. The same widget that would occupy an entire smartphone screen panel fits a whole quarter of a Honeycomb screen. Having such large widgets offers developers many more options, stretching the limits of what widgets are capable of doing.

These new widgets cleverly add an extra element of interaction to the user experience. Certain apps such as Gmail and YouTube can now be browsed directly through their widgets. For instance, the Gmail widget lets you scroll through your inbox without even entering the app itself. As for YouTube, videos are stacked as cards, and you can flick each card down when you don’t want to watch it. This gives you the ability to browse through Gmail and YouTube much more quickly.

This is an example of what I mean when I say it’s the same Android, but you accomplish the same things in different ways. Honeycomb is meant to be enjoyed when using a tablet. Screen size is a luxury which should be taken advantage of whenever possible.

Overall, you’ll find many of the same or similar widgets here as on older Androids, larger to accommodate the extra real estate, in addition to dedicated apps in Honeycomb. The Android Market widget is one such example of a new Honeycomb widget, in which the featured apps are shown off as cards and can be flicked through by others. There’s no doubt that the type of content found on a Honeycomb offers much faster and easier access to information that we need. This will always be a huge advantage of Honeycomb tablets over the iPad: the ability to get this instant access to information without the need for pop-up notifications or the need to get into the app itself.

I also love having this much extra screen space to put these widgets on, because I can now have ALL of my favorite widgets together on one page, instead of having to spread them out over several screens.

Continuing with layout, Honeycomb has two information bars, with the action bar on the top and system bar on bottom. Both bars will stay up in one way or another no matter what app you pull up.

System Bar

The System Bar combines both the navigation keys and notification bar into one bar along the bottom that always shows, whether you are in apps or on the main screen. On the left hand side we see 3 permanent touch-sensitive buttons — Back, Home, and Multitask — and 1 menu button that is only manifest on the system bar when the app dictates such.

On the right side of the bar is the notification info. Permanently situated are the clock, wireless signal strength, and a battery life indicator. To the left of this are the notification icons. This will always change depending on the notifications themselves, but you’ll see the same exact icons here as you would on an Android smartphone: new messages, mail, downloaded apps, etc.

Clicking on this part of the System Bar will bring up more details on the notifications, as well as additional options. There are two boxes that appear first: one on bottom that lists off more details about each notification — this wonderfully lets you delete each notification one by one without requiring you to go into it, and without requiring you to clear all of them out at once, though it is lacking the option to clear all — , and another above that which gives full date/time, signal, and exact battery percentage.

Hiding in this box is a small icon that opens up a short-list of various toggle switches and settings. There are options such as airplane mode, Wi-Fi, lock screen orientation, and even a way to adjust screen brightness without digging through the settings to find it. There is also an option to go into your settings, if none of the above really accomplish the task at hand.

As a sidenote, when you get a new notification it will show up in the lower right part of the screen, just barely above the System Bar, for a few seconds before disappearing for good into the notification box.

Also of note is that when the tablet shifts to portrait mode, the System Bar also moves along with it.

Action Bar

The Action Bar is mainly dependant upon the app you are running at the moment. It offers you specific options that can’t be accessed otherwise, and each app will have different options. The Action Bar itself usually blends in with the background of whatever screen you’re on, so you only can see the touch-sensitive buttons associated with that particular app.

When on the home screens, you will see a Google search button on the left, with a voice recognition shortcut at its right-hand side. On the right side of the bar itself is access to the app tray and a + symbol that takes you into the App Launcher, which lets you choose a widget/wallpaper/shortcut to be placed on that panel.

Of course, the Action Bar is variable in every other task and app, so it’s difficult to say what you’re going to find on it. In the web browser, the Action Bar shows all of the tabs you have open, in the same manner you would see in the Chrome browser on your computer. However, in the Google Body app the Action Bar offers a search bar for quick finding, and lets you toggle between different body systems (ie skeletal, muscular, digestive, etc). Typically you’ll find some sort of navigation controls within the app, search capabilities, and even additional options not found on the menu button (if the app even offers it).

App Launcher

Honeycomb’s App Launcher is activated the same exact way it always has been: a long-press on the home screen or the + icon (in Honeycomb, found on the Action Bar in the top right corner). The App Launcher is much more sophisticated in Honeycomb, making very good use of the extra screen space.

In smartphones, the App Launcher simply shows a list of different things you can customize, prompting you to click on the item of your choice which then lets you see all of the different possibilities to choose from.

On tablets, however, your App Launcher shows all 5 home screen panels miniaturized on the top half of the screen. On the lower half there are tabs for each category – widgets, app shortcuts, wallpapers, and “more”. Pressing a tab will offer up all of the possibilities without having to leave this screen. The options all line up underneath the tab, giving you the ability to scroll back and forth through everything.

When you quick-press something here, animation shows that choice floating up to the screen panel you were last working on. If you want to choose a different panel, hold onto the choice until it slightly lifts up from where it was before, and do a drag and drop.

I prefer the App Launcher on Honeycomb because there is much more information I can access, and can surf through several categories without having to click on the back button multiple times a day.

Multitasking on Honeycomb

Another key element to the main UI of Honeycomb is the multitasking feature. Certainly, this feature is not new to Android, but the way Honeycomb takes advantage of the UI for this feature is much better than smartphone versions.

The multitask button is permanently situated in the System Bar on the lower left corner of the screen. Upon pressing it you will see up to 5 miniature screens, each one showing the exact screen of each app that you recently visited, the way you left it. Touch one of the panels and you will be taken back to the same exact spot in that app you had been, as though you never left in the first place. This is much better than in the smartphone versions that only show an icon of the app that’s still technically open.

Having the extra space to fit living panels of all your open apps in the multitask feature is incredibly convenient. Not only does it show which apps you have open, it shows what exactly is going on in those apps; it’s like you’re peering through the tiny window of somebody’s house just to see if anyone is home.

Other notes about the UI of Honeycomb

It is worth a mention that not all of your old Android apps are going to look perfect on Honeycomb. In fact, I noticed several of my favorite Android apps not work as well. For instance, many apps will still only support portrait mode — try switching to landscape and it does nothing. This is sure to change over time as more devs make their apps compatible with the new OS, but for now some of your old Android apps will not look quite the same as what you had envisioned them to look like when on a tablet.

Keyboard

As to be expected, the keyboard has been optimized for a tablet screen as well. You’re given large, spaced-out keys that make for relatively easy typing. Heck, I even started to get decent at typing on the keyboard just like I do on a computer, so it is definitely possible to start typing even faster than you can on any of Android’s keyboards (with perhaps Swype excepted?).

The Android team opted for a 4-row keyboard here, with the bottom row reserved for the space bar and specialty keys (depending on the app, you’ll find a .com or smiley button, forward-slash, hyphen, an input settings button that seems awfully out of place here, and/or a speech-to-text button).

The good: I loved seeing a Tab on the top left of the keyboard which makes it easier to move from one entry field to the next with ease. I also loved the size of the keys. The autocorrect is more functional now, because you decide whether you want a modest amount of corrections, an aggressive amount that bugs you relentlessly, or no autocorrect at all.

The bad: I found the number/symbol toggle to be located at a rather inconvenient spot, tucked away on the left side between the Tab and the Caps Lock. It didn’t feel like a natural placement to me at all, so I had to force my fingers to go there. Besides, on many Android smartphones you can simply long-press the desired key and it will turn into a number or symbol, rather than having to toggle back and forth each time. I also grew frustrated by the space bar being just above the System Bar, and when my hands rested naturally on the tablet my thumbs always wanted to touch the System Bar instead of the Space.

Fortunately Honeycomb tablets can connect to a bluetooth keyboard, allowing for faster and easier typing when you’re preparing longer emails and documents.

Feature Enhancements of Honeycomb

Copy and Paste: Honeycomb’s copy and paste has been enhanced and is much more intuitive than ever before. Text selection is much more accurate now with new tab sliders. Long-press a word to see the tab sliders pop up, then stretch them to whatever specifications you’d like. You have the option at that time to copy to clipboard, share the text through email or social networking apps, or even paste that text directly into a web search.

3D Rendering with Renderscript: Renderscript gives more opportunities to produce highly optimized 3D graphics and animations. One example is the smooth page turn animations for the Google Books app. Add this to the idea that Honeycomb tablets are sporting multi-core processors, and 3D graphics are now a much cooler reality.

HDMI Mirroring: This great feature makes sure that when you connect your tablet to any HDMI-enabled device (a HDTV, for example) to watch an HD-quality video or slideshow, the image resolution looks as good on the TV as it does on the tablet screen. It is therefore mirroring the image from the tablet and translating it onto the larger screen.

Device detection: APIs are available that will let devs design one single app that will work on both tablets and smartphones.

More sensor support: Support for barometers, accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes and an ambient light sensor.

Enhanced apps: Many of the native apps on Android have been completely rethought and enhanced, such as the browser, email, camera, Google Talk, YouTube, and music player.

Enhanced Applications in Honeycomb

Browser: The biggest enhancement is tabbed browsing. Instead of pressing a menu button within the browser to see all of the open windows, they’re just presented like the Chrome browser on your computer, with the Action Bar showing off multiple tabs that you can switch to rather easily. Also new to the browser are a “incognito tab” (private browsing) and find on page options.

Email: The email apps (both Gmail and everything else) use a two-pane system that makes perusing your inbox and various folders much easier. Not only that, these apps use a new API open to all devs called “fragments” (do you find the term as amusing as I do?), which allow for sliding panes. This means the left pane starts out listing all available folders for that email account, but when you choose something from the panel on the right side, that then slides over to the left and replaces the folder list. Now on the right side I can see the entire email thread or full chat that I requested pull up, and I can see the whole conversation.

Camera: The new UI in the camera is nowhere near the smartphone versions. The viewfinder takes up the biggest space, with all of the options on the right side of the screen. Most prominent is a large circular graphic that has the shutter in the middle, with extra options for camera effects set up as their own icons circling around the shutter button. It’s much easier in that you don’t need to worry about going into a menu button and then looking around forever for what you need; rather, when you press an icon, an appropriate list of choices will pop up right next to that icon. There’s also an easy one-touch toggle for camcorder and front-facing cameras.

Music player: There are some things about the new music player I like, and some that I don’t. There are two different types of views: one is a 3D carousel that is eerily reminiscient of Apple’s Cover Flow because it shows the album covers and lets you scroll through them, the other is just a plain list.

When playing a song, I noticed that there aren’t a lot of customization options on the screen. There’s the basic bar that lets you fast-forward and rewind to any point in the song, the pause/go back/go forward set you’ll find in any music player, and shuffle/repeat buttons. The album cover is displayed prominently in the middle, and to the left there is a clever + button that lets you add the current song to a playlist, or even set up a brand new playlist. My concern is that there is plenty more space the tablet screens provide that are not being utilized. I appreciate the minimalist approach, but there are no EQ settings anywhere to be found. An EQ could have (and should have) been easily added to the UI without making the space look crowded or overdone.

YouTube: The YouTube app was built with Renderscript, and it’s easy to tell because of the extra 3D renderings done up here.  The app is set up like a grid with several rows and columns, but when you scroll left or right this grid curves with the scrolling, acting as if it’s on a carousel. It also makes use of the fragments as mentioned earlier.

Google Talk: Google has now integrated native video chat into its Talk app, which now makes it more convenient and accessible for anyone to use it. Even if you have a tablet and your business partner doesn’t, just have them sign on to Google Talk on their computer and you’re all set for a good video chat.

Android Market: Another use of fragments, with 3 scrollable panes on the main screen. Categories on the right, top apps on the left, and featured apps that both auto scroll and allow for your own manual perusing. My favorite enhancement is the “my apps” section, which shows a listing of all apps I’ve downloaded, updated and/or installed. I can dictate whether the apps will have updates automatically installed, and I can open each individual app directly from this section. This listing of My Apps also notices if any updates are available, keeps me apprised of download/install progress, and is easy to scroll through. My least favorite part of the Market? As of this writing, there are very few Honeycomb-optimized apps available in the market. Since 3.0 is so new, this will take time to grow out.

Movie Studio

The Android Movie Studio was also introduced in Honeycomb. The app is supposed to be Android’s version of iMovie, basically. It takes any videos you have taken on your tablet or those that are already on the tablet itself, and make a movie out of it. Each project can be saved. It’s easy to add extra layers onto the videos, such as adding in your own audio tracks and throwing on captions. As the first generation version it’s not complete by any stretch of the imagination, but still is a good start compared to not having any movie editor available for Android at all.

Conclusions on Honeycomb

Each update to Android takes months to come to full fruition, and Honeycomb is no different. It’s off to a great start – the visual design of Android 3.0 grabbed me almost immediately after I began using it. It also has some wonderful new UI and feature enhancements that we hope will translate well not only for tablets but for smartphones as well (and Google has already stated that many Honeycomb features will work their way over to the smartphone when Ice Cream comes out).

Even though we have seen Android grow and mature with each and every new dessert, it’s been a slow work in progress. It takes time to blossom and become a full-strength OS with heaps of dev support. Honeycomb, however, has been the biggest leap Android has taken in its growth and development ever since the OS came out. It may be much the same Android we’re used to underneath the skin, but it looks and feels nothing like any Android that I’ve ever used before.

And this excites me. It still needs work, don’t get me wrong. But the Android team is on to something here, and I think they’re going the right direction. Honeycomb has made Android much smarter in the process, and I have a feeling that this snowball is rolling down the hill, picking up speed and momentum and growing in size as it goes along.

Right now the OS is a young pup, but it won’t be for long. The key to Honeycomb’s success will be twofold: first, it needs to be sold at a price that competes with the iPad, Blackberry Playbook, and HP TouchPad. Motorola isn’t doing itself any favors by launching the Xoom at $799 ($599 with contract), and as such will be left in the shadow of the iPad 2. Secondly, Honeycomb success will largely depend on how dev-friendly it is. If Honeycomb doesn’t see the thousands and thousands of tablet-optimized apps that are currently seen in the iPad App Store, it will struggle to get interested buyers. The inclusion of Flash Player as of March 18 will definitely go a long ways to aid this process along.

• Android 3.0 Honeycomb gets officially unveiled, alongside Web-based Android Market
• Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb preview teases, leaves us with even more questions
• Android 3.0 Honeycomb Previewed on Mysterious Motorola Tablet
• Honeycomb 3.1 available today for Motorola Xoom on Verizon
• Sprint ID: A Full Review

Now that iPhone exclusivity is gone, the game has changed and AT&T knows this. Thus we are now seeing a whole lineup of 4G-capable Android phones with top-of-the-line specs and reasonable prices getting launched, so AT&T can be truly competitive with the other networks. After all, now the network has to rely on other things to keep its numbers up.

So without further adieu, we intro the HTC Inspire 4G on AT&T, the very first phone that the network is attaching the “4G” moniker to. Everyone has their own ideas about what 4G actually is, and if the current AT&T network can even be considered real 4G. The answer is yes, it IS technically 4G, but it’s not going to be running on the LTE network that’s slated to come out later this summer.

On top of the 4G debate, is the Inspire 4G actually worth considering? Is it a legit post-iPhone contender that will likely be butting heads with the likes of the EVO 4G and HTC ThunderBolt? Let’s find out.

Unboxing the Inspire 4G

We had the opportunity to unbox the Inspire 4G and get some good first impressions of the device in the video below.

Overall, my first impressions of the phone were good, though the 4.3” screen is not for everyone. Small hands need not apply, that’s for sure. Otherwise, a very solid phone with a battery cover (door?) that is nearly impossible to open and close without worrying that you’re going to break the cover.

Design and Hardware of the Inspire 4G

Since the Inspire 4G — a revamped US version of the Desire HD — will be the first one on AT&T to bear the name of the high-speed network it is using, there’s a lot of pressure on the landmark handset to get it right.

In terms of overall design, for starters, HTC sure did get it right. HTC excels at phone design by sticking with what works, and branching out for unique unibody aluminum exterior with the classic industrial silver and gray look is a wonderful design choice that’s both elegant and durable, and appears to be one of HTC’s lasting trademarks over the last couple years. By that, I mean that I can recognize an HTC phone from far away without squinting, because of its design.

Let’s look at some of these elements one at a time. The aluminum backing is a smart choice when you’re trying to design a phone with durability in mind, but there are some side effects. The phone weighs more than the average, and aluminum generally attenuates the cell phone signal (especially if designed poorly). In my review I determined that the wireless connections were never an issue, though I can attest to the additional weight.

I’ve always felt that one of the biggest factors that you need to consider when shopping for a new phone is the comfort level when you first use it. There are just simply some phones that feel more at home in the palm of your hand than others, and the Inspire 4G is a wild card because of its large 4.3” Super LCD screen. The screen makes the phone so wide that unless you have larger hands, it doesn’t feel natural to hold. I consider my hands to be average-sized, and it’s on the borderline comfort level for me. Fortunately HTC contoured the back of the phone so it tapers off the sides instead of opting for the boxy feel, which helps the phone fit in the hand as well as it could given the circumstance. But still, a lot of people pass on the Inspire 4G because of the size.

The screen itself uses HTC’s new Super LCD resolution, which is basically its version of Samsung’s Super AMOLED and Motorola’s qHD displays. The screen is very bright and easy to see, and when I viewed the screen outside in the sunlight, I could still see almost everything decently. In comparison with many other phone screens it’s rather tolerable in the daylight.

A major flaw in the design of the phone is the battery access panel in the back. Since the phone is unibody, the usual back door battery cover style was replaced by an access flap that once open will allow the battery to slide right out of its lair. The key phrase is “once open”, because  it was much easier said than done. It was incredibly difficult to not only open the door, but put it back on and have everything click in and have it look like it’s completely closed.

At least the SIM card and MicroSD card access doors are on the bottom of the phone, making it much more easy to slide off and access these when needed.

Beyond the issue with getting the battery out, I have high praise for the Inspire’s sleek look and solid feel. The wild card, as mentioned earlier, is your personal comfort level with the wide 4.3″ display. While having the larger screen makes your usual Android apps a much more awe-inspiring (pun not intended) experience because of the extra real estate to take advantage of, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons together. The phone is wide, and it’s heavier than many of its rivals. If you can’t properly grip your phone and it keeps slipping out of your hand, the large screen will only serve to annoy you over the course of time, and heavier phones may also be an annoyance to you and your hand muscles.

• dimensions of phone: 4.8 x 2.7 x 0.46 inches
• weighs 5.8 ounces

Our final verdict on the design: Comfortable for large hands, but many of you will find it to be just a tad too wide. It is on the weighty side for non-QWERTY phones. However, it is one of the most attractive phones I have used on AT&T in quite some time. Just pray you don’t have to take the battery out on a regular basis.

Software and OS of the HTC Inspire 4G

The Inspire 4G is the very first phone released on AT&T that uses Android 2.2, better known as Froyo. In the tech community, no Android phone is acceptable that doesn’t have at least Froyo, if not even newer. There are several reasons for this: a true Flash Player is finally supported, the web browser is now much faster than before, offers better battery life due to better task management, and there are now more options to keep your personal and work information secure.

Now that the Inspire 4G has received Froyo, now we have seen several devices on AT&T receive the update as well. The ATRIX 4G, Samsung Captivate and HTC Aria all now offer this update, which means AT&T has finally caught up to the rest of the US carriers in their Android selection.

In addition to using Froyo, the Inspire 4G uses HTC’s trademarked Sense User Interface. Sense is my personal favorite UI for Android because of its ease of use, vast amount of widgets and customizable content, and it doesn’t cause the phone to get bogged down and slow.

Sense has been around for a few years, and is actually used for other OS platforms such as the old Windows Mobile and the new Brew MP. The brilliance in the UI is that no matter what platform gets used, the Sense remains the same. When I used the Brew MP-powered HTC Freestyle, I noticed it was much easier for me to learn the OS because I already felt familiar with it. That’s the beauty of Sense – a universal feeling to the user interface.

Along with HTC’s most recent offerings on Android, Sense has some new enhancements that make the experience even better. A new icon graces the bottom left corner of each home screen panel that looks much like paint and brush, which takes you to a full menu of customization options. This menu lets you change Scenes (different sets of home screen panels, apps and settings that you can change to when your situation and needs change), wallpapers, widgets, and skins, and you’re given several other options as well. If you don’t find what you want or need, HTC also offers additional content that can be downloaded directly into the phone. Simply click on the included link to HTC’s database, where you will be able to surf through everything HTC has to offer.

The new Sense also gives you the ability to rearrange your home screen panels. Sick of seeing the large clock/weather widget on the main page, but still want it sticking around just in case? Just change which screen panel is home.

HTC also makes a few tweaks to other programs within Android itself. For example, HTC opts to use its own version of the music player, camera, and web browser to name a few. There are also a few other features that you’ll find on the Inspire that aren’t guaranted to show up on every Android.

Final verdict on OS/Software: My absolute favorite UI keeps getting better, and helps the Inspire 4G perform admirably.

Cool features on the Inspire 4G

The very first feature that adds to the phone’s cool factor is the mobile WiFi hotspot feature. This is, again, AT&T’s first venture into this category, with MiFi being the only exception, having become widely available only within the last few months.

The Mobile Hotspot feature takes the Inspire’s 4G connection speed and broadcasts it out as if it’s a wireless router, allowing up to 5 devices to simultaneously connect to the signal and access the AT&T 4G mobile broadband connection. This could include your iPad, laptop, Wii, or any other WiFi-capable device.

Just don’t go too crazy on the internet, though — you’re forking out $45 for 4 GB data per month, which isn’t much if you’re streaming video and music like mad. Just be very careful about when and how much you use it, and make sure you keep a close eye out on your monthly internet usage so you don’t go over. If you do, don’t fret too much: it’s $10 for each GB increment you go over. Obviously, don’t make a huge habit of it.

Another wonderful feature that, in my honest opinion, should be included on every single phone made today (both feature phone and smartphone alike): the Blocked Caller app. This is found on very, very few devices (none actually come to mind right now) and hopefully this is a predicator of things to come. The app does exactly what it sounds like it does. You add an unwanted number on the list, and every call that number makes to your phone goes straight to voicemail, thus leaving you from being disturbed by that person.

Frankly, the blocked caller list is a bit of a surprise to me because AT&T offers a similar program that blocks specific numbers from calling your phone (or conversely allows only specific numbers to call it) called Smart Limits for $5 per month. Having such a feature on the network’s phones will surely cannibalize sales of that particular plan (As a side note, the Smart Limits will do much more than just block calls — it will also put restrictions on your kid’s phone use, time of day, etc.).

How annoying is it to get a new smartphone and have to worry about finding a way to transfer your old phonebook over to it? Sure, there are different methods of doing so (for instance, I prefer backing up my contacts through Google, and then it automatically syncs with whatever smartphone i’m using at the time), but HTC threw in an app that lets you transfer your personal data from one phone to another using a bluetooth connection. Personal data includes contacts, texts, and calendar events. This feature is offered when you first set up your Inspire, and can be accessed at any time in the app tray.

Note: Not every phone will be supported, but there’s a very good possibility that if you already use a smartphone, its personal data can be transferred over using this method. If it can’t, it’s still easy to transfer contacts via SIM card or go to your local store to have them transfer it for you.

In helping you keep your data easily backed up, HTC has created its own website dedicated to this very purpose called htcsense.com. You’ll be invited to set up your very own Sense account when you first start up your Inspire, and then you’ll have access to it through the phone and your computer browser.

When thinking about this service, think of an HTC version of MobileMe that is completely free. You can sync your contacts and texts, and even use it to locate your phone. You can also purchase apps online and download them direct to phone, though this isn’t as impressive now since the Android Market came out with the same thing. Still, HTC is working to create a seamless transition for you in case you change phones or your Inspire ends up lost.

Performance of the AT&T Inspire 4G

We admit, the Inspire 4G is not the most powerful smartphone on the planet. With the introduction of dual-core CPU units such as the Tegra 2, a single-core 1 GHz CPU is beginning to feel somewhat inferior.

But here’s the deal: firstly, the Inspire 4G is only $99 with contract on AT&T; this is still a bargain when compared to other similar-spec’d phones, and if you want the extra power then shell out the extra $100 to get the Motorola ATRIX 4G. Secondly, a single-core 1 GHz CPU, especially when paired up with 768 MB RAM, is still plenty fast for the vast majority of phone shoppers. Unless you are going to be doing any sort of gaming beyond the usual Angry Birds, the Inspire will be quick and powerful enough to handle almost all of your needs.

I was happy with the processing speed and power of the Inspire 4G. While it’s not the most powerful on the market today, it’s also not being compared to devices that may be more powerful since it’s in a different price bracket. Most of the phones (regardless of carrier) in this price range are definitely similarly spec’d. The iPhone 4, which only beats the physical hardware specs of the Inspire in its frontward-facing camera and Retina Display, is still $100 more.

Also, I had no problems in making phone calls and sound quality on both ends of the conversation was good enough to be uneventful (meaning, no complaints at all on either side of the line).

However, the “4G” branding on the Inspire may be technically correct according to the ITU because it includes HSDPA+ 14.4 Mbps max download speeds, but it sure doesn’t live up to the name because it doesn’t get anywhere close to those speeds. Also, I can’t forget to mention that HSUPA is present on the phone but is at present time disabled (there are some technical reasons why this is so, and we have been told that the HSUPA should be running within a couple months). So when I attempted several speed tests, I was getting 3-4 Mbps down (granted, I do live in an area that doesn’t offer the fastest speeds possible) and a mere 300-500 kbps up.

So the HTC Inspire 4G on AT&T has been a tough one to judge overall, because as a phone and Android device I found the Inspire to be top-notch, and one of my absolute favorites to use. It’s a gorgeous phone with beautifully bright screen, plenty of screen space to work with, and runs HTC Sense with Froyo on it. The aluminum exterior unibody shell makes me feel as though the phone will last longer than a few months with hardy use.

There’s plenty of storage space with MicroSD, a fast processor with abundant RAM, and a high-res 8 MP camera with HD video recording. I experienced much better battery life on the Inspire than on earlier Android models. The mobile hotspot is also included which is one of my must-have features in a smartphone, for my needs.

But on the other hand, much of your opinion of the phone will be different depending on if the phone feels too large for your hands and how good or bad AT&T coverage is in your area. For me the coverage is good, but I don’t think we are getting the fastest 4G speeds possible in my area. The lack of high-speed uploading is worrisome to me, since I rely heavily on uploading videos and files on a regular basis. I also would have liked to see a mini-HDMI jack somewhere on the Inspire.

All in all, I consistently am impressed with the amount of TLC that HTC likes to put into its phones. The Inspire 4G is one such phone that left me impressed. No, it’s not perfect, but it is definitely one of the best Android phones you can find on the market today for $100. If it lacks some features you need in a phone, keep searching the higher-end models on all networks. But the Inspire certainly covers almost everything else that is important.

Check out the full video review below!

Get the Inspire 4G on Amazon

• AT&T HTC Inspire 4G Hands-On at CES 2011
• AT&T HTC Inspire 4G Unboxing
• HTC Inspire 4G pre-orders starting tomorrow at RadioShack?
• Google Instant for iPhone and Android launched (beta)
• AT&T intros HTC Inspire 4G and dual-core Motorola Atrix 4G

But do phone sequels work the same way, or are they truly what they should be in the first place: improvements to the first piece of work?

The Motorola CLIQ was a run-of-the-mill Android 1.5 handset launched in late 2009 that didn’t really make any ripples in the time-space-phone continuum besides being the primary vehicle to launch MOTOBLUR, a proprietary Motorola UI which gets mixed reviews depending on who you talk to (When it launched I looked at it as a pointless user interface that bogged down the phone’s processing speeds in order to “enhance” your social networking experience).

But the landscape for Android is much different now. The CLIQ did well enough that a sequel was born, though current handset component standards are much higher. The average Android phone will typically have 800 MHz-1 GHz CPU with 512 MB RAM, 5 MP camera, HD video recording, and the list goes on; the original version barely even halfed those stats, and only in some categories. The point is, the CLIQ was obsolete within a matter of a couple months and the new version, the CLIQ 2, aims to appease T-Mobile customers who are looking for a good standard Android phone without having to pay too much.

So does this sequel improve upon the original in ways other than just higher specs? Read on to learn my take on the Motorola CLIQ 2 MB611 for T-Mobile.

Unboxing the Motorola CLIQ 2

Here’s my unboxing video of the CLIQ 2. Good wholesome entertainment, that’s for sure. It gives you a good idea of my overall first impressions of the phone.

Hardware and Software of the Moto CLIQ 2

The CLIQ 2 is a solid device that will definitely not feel too cheap in your hand. The 3.7” 480 x 854 pixel capacitive touchscreen makes it just the right width to feel comfortable holding for long periods of time, but the only concern will be the thickness and weight. Weighing 6.17 ounces does indeed make it heavier than the average phone. It also comes in at 14.5 mm thick, which is right about average for a smartphone with full keyboard attached.

The CLIQ 2 actually reminds me a lot of the HTC EVO Shift 4G in that it uses the same screen and takes advantage of a full physical QWERTY-style horizontal keyboard and adds weight. It does feel a slight bit bulkier than the Shift, but wasn’t so bad that I was uncomfortable holding it up to my ear to make calls.

On the back, the battery cover has a few ridges built into it which allows for extra grippiness, always a must-have with phones in my opinion. I don’t like the polished glossy plastic feel because it ends up being way too slippery for my taste. I don’t mind the phone being a little less pretty just to ensure it survives without being dropped for a longer period of time.

Upon turning on the phone I am greeted with a request for MOTOBLUR logins. This version of MOTOBLUR has been improved over the last year and this is the same version you’ll find in the Motorola Bravo, Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global. It overall is very close to the original, but among the enhancements that have been made, you get: improved business security and encryption capabilities, battery manager, more power over your social networking widgets (the ability to change widget sizes, add in photos, filter out what you don’t want in your feeds, etc.), to name a few. The new version of Motoblur appears to do a better job at managing CPU resources so as to not cause the phone to become sluggish.

The CLIQ 2 runs on Android 2.2, better known as Froyo, so it will have better battery life, faster web browser and of course Flash 10.1 capability. Anyone looking to get an Android phone now should be looking at getting one with Froyo on it at the least, if not even better. There is simply no reason to choose a phone anymore that still runs on Android 2.1 or lower. Slower, less features, and has been technically obsolete for months. Not to mention there’s no guarantee that your 2.1 phone will ever be upgraded in the future.

Under the hood you’ll find a 1 GHz TI OMAP 3620 CPU unit with 512 MB RAM, a much-needed improvement over the original CLIQ’s 528 MHz Qualcomm CPU with 256 MB RAM. The TI OMAP 3620 CPU is the same as you’ll find in the Droid Pro and Droid 2, so look for comparable performance between this and those other devices.

Almost everything you see on the CLIQ 2 could be considered standard for a midrange Android. There really isn’t anything I can think of that sticks out to me about the phone that differentiates it from any others — except for the unique keyboard design.

And I definitely mean unique, since something like this has not been attempted before. It looks like a cross between a beehive and the back of a turtle shell (a friend calls it the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle phone; I think it’s too long a nickname to stick), what with its array of hexagon-shaped buttons that raise above the rest of the board. The keys are very well spaced and sufficiently raised. I think using the keyboard is pretty easy. What I don’t like on the keyboard is that the keys are so stiff and pointy that it takes me longer to type on it.

I appreciate the added dedicated keys, like @, comma and period. The only dedicated keys I would also like to see included are the .com and messaging buttons; I can survive without them, but why make a smartphone that thrives primarily on emailing and web browsing without having these keys in mind?

Also handy to have on the CLIQ 2 is a dedicated toggle switch on the right hand side that switches the phone back and forth between ringtone mode and vibrate/silent mode, much like the iPhone toggle switch.

I lament the neglection of 4G on the Moto CLIQ 2. Sure, it’s a midrange Android, and I assume it was left out because it was an added expense T-Mobile deemed unnecessary, but if you are advertising a new Android phone at CES alongside two other 4G phones being sold by your biggest competitors, it’s probably a good idea to throw it in for good measure to keep it relevant. As it currently stands, the CLIQ 2 is capable of a theoretical max of 10.2 Mbps on regular HSDPA. It still ends up being faster than some competing 4G networks and much better than any other 3G network. The CLIQ 2 does offer a mobile hotspot so you can share that 3G connection with 5 other devices.

Notable Features of the Motorola CLIQ 2

Surfing through the programs that come preloaded on the CLIQ 2 was nothing exciting for me, as I didn’t see anything offered that I haven’t seen before several times on almost every single T-Mobile Android handset over the last 6 months. 3G Mobile Hotspot, Amazon MP3 downloads, Google Latitude, Blockbuster, DLNA, CarDock, QuickOffice, Telenav GPS and WiFi Calling are all normal included apps these days on T-Mobile. This isn’t a bad thing, but I was expecting at least one or two bloatware apps that were completely new.

I also noticed that the CLIQ 2, being a Froyo Android device, has a nice built-in task manager that lets you kill selected apps and even tell certain apps to die as soon as your phone times out (or the screen locks). This is something that I wish was in every smartphone. It also uses a dedicated file manager and battery manager to help you stay organized and keep your battery from falling victim to the same blunders that has affected so many Android phones before the CLIQ 2 ever came around.

The CLIQ 2 also uses a 5 MP camera and HD video camcorder with 720p resolution. Here’s one of the first things that came to my mind when I saw this: while the camera is the same, the camcorder is better than that of the Nexus S, currently considered a top-of-the-line device with fresh features.

Internally, the CLIQ 2 includes 1 GB memory and comes loaded with a 2 GB MicroSD card, though you can stick in your own memory chip (up to 32 GB) to load your own music, movies, and pictures.

The CLIQ 2 also comes with a FM radio, a feature overlooked by many but can be very important to anyone wanting to listen to the same overplayed songs again and again. You will, however, need to use your headphones to activate the radio. I’ve always been told it’s the only way to activate the radio’s antenna, but it’s probably to keep everyone else from having to listen to your music too.

Performance of the Motorola CLIQ 2

Motorola has put its proprietary CrystalTalk Plus technology into the CLIQ 2. This is Motorola’s patented noise cancellation tech that allows you to talk in a loud room at normal volume. With that, it gave me the ability to hear and be heard perfectly fine, either through the phone or through speakerphone.

Mentioned before, the 1 GHz CPU speeds coupled along with 512 MB RAM help keep the CLIQ 2 stay fast and fresh. Every app I tried to use in the phone loaded pretty fast with no sluggish behavior. The only sluggish part of the experience was when I would move my fingers up and down in the app tray and there was a slight delay waiting for the screen to catch up with me.

All in all, I’d say the CLIQ 2 is a great buy for a midrange Android handset. The call quality is good and loud, it has sufficient programs and specs to fit your needs well, and is pretty darn quick when looking for something. The keyboard is a hit and miss experience, and it all depends on how you feel once you get it broken in. At first impression those keys are stiff and too pointy to be able to type my normal speeds on. But I give them all the brownie points in the world for coming up with such a clever design, and look forward to seeing more unique designs down the road.

Below you will find my review in video format, with less written and a lot more talkative. Hopefully that makes it a good thing.

You can also get the Motorola CLIQ2 Android Phone on Amazon!

Video Review

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• Unboxing the T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ 2
• Motorola Cliq XT available at T-Mobile USA, $129.99 on contract
• Motorola Dext / Cliq previewed. Low price apparently confirmed
• T-Mobile Motorola Cliq 2 leaks, may launch on January 19
• T-Mobile Motorola Cliq 2 with Android 2.2 officially unveiled

Welcome to the MiFi revolution, AT&T. Seemingly sick of being left behind by its competition, AT&T has introduced its customers to the wonders of MiFi, a mobile hotspot reminiscient of a hockey puck that allows you to connect up to 5 devices wirelessly to AT&T’s data network all at once.

All of this may seem laughable, considering 2 other MiFi devices were announced at CES a few weeks ago that offer access to 4G speeds on both Sprint’s and Verizon’s networks; the brand-new AT&T MiFi, also known as the Novatel 2372, is only capable of HSDPA 7.2 Mbps speeds.

Keep in mind, however, that this shouldn’t come as a shock since it’s the introductory MiFi device, and at the time of release AT&T wasn’t focused on launching any 4G devices period. The closest any data device got to 4G was an LG USB stick that’s upgradeable to LTE once that network is deployed.

But now that we’re seeing several 4G-capable phones and laptop cards announced for AT&T, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we soon see MiFi devices sporting the same speeds. Heck, the carrier even announced earlier that its forthcoming HTC Inspire 4G will have a mobile hotspot starting February 13, so why not offer a similar service on a MiFi as well?

It’s not unreasonable to question the logic of purchasing a 3G MiFi when 4G is knocking on AT&T’s door. But even with that in the back of my head, how was my experience with the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2372 with AT&T? Read on to find out.

First Impressions

I’ve been waiting a long time to see AT&T come up with a MiFi solution. Laptop cards are SOOO 2009, after all. Not to mention it gets frustrating only being able to get data for one device at a time, and having to install special software onto each device I wanted to use the laptop card on. Unlocked MiFi devices have been available as a cool workaround way to operate a mobile hotspot on AT&T’s network for a while now, but only at full retail price, without contract.

So I was definitely excited to see the Novatel 2372 come out on the network with specific AT&T frequencies and available for either full retail or a subsidized price for those who for sure will need the device for 2 years and want to save some money.

Inside the box there is a standard quickstart guide with a full wall charger (not the new charging modules with USB ports as we see on most smartphones now), dedicated USB cable, and the actual unit itself. On the unit I found all the instructions I needed to get the MiFi charged and ready to broadcast a signal.

Setting up the MiFi was easy enough to do, and I was working off the network in no time. It couldn’t have come at a better time, honestly, because my home internet was down most of the night (sure love paying premium prices for that privilege too. I’m not bitter though) and my wife was really hoping to watch Netflix before turning in for the night. Easy enough problem to solve: I got her hooked up with the MiFi connection and her Netflix was flying in just a few minutes.

In this scenario, my new MiFi unit was worth its weight in gold at first impression. Did it hold up over the course of my review?

Speeds of the Novatel MiFi 2372

Usually I save the device’s performance to the very end of the review, but this is the most important part of the MiFi analysis. If it doesn’t offer decent speeds, the 2372 isn’t worth getting, much less for a 2 year contract.

My experience was great with the 2372. I consistently saw speeds between 3-4 Mbps down and around 1.0-1.2 Mbps up, which for my neck of the woods is great. I’ve read reports of people in other areas getting 4-5 down. For a 3G-only MiFi, this is top-notch speed and certainly worked for my needs. Don’t get me wrong — I love speed and want to access the net with the fastest speeds possible, and I want to upload my videos as quickly as I can. But I never had to complain about the network going too slow, especially given the recent trouble my landline internet provider has been to me. I actually have been getting faster down/up speeds than those guys.

The Novatel 2372 has a theoretical peak speed of 7.2 Mbps on AT&T’s HSPA network, but it’s extremely rare and the planets have to align to achieve these speeds. In fact, 4 Mbps is still considered above average performance. For a 3G-only device, it worked to my satisfaction.

Performance of the MiFi 2372

Speed of the Mifi 2372 aside, there were other aspects of the device’s performance that left me somewhat concerned.

Setting up the MiFi onto my wireless devices was very easy, and I was up and running within only a couple minutes. One of my first tests, however, involved uploading a video to YouTube. Everything was going fast enough to my satisfaction for having 1 Mbps upload speeds, until the MiFi just mysteriously shut off halfway through the process. After some fiddling around, I realized that the 2372 was incredibly hot. The overheating obviously shut down the MiFi so that it could cool down.

Overheating happens with most electronic devices; it’s the nature of the beast, unfortunately. My concern is that it happened so quickly. Within 45 minutes of seemingly standard use, the MiFi was crippled.

On another occasion, the MiFi worked well for around 2 hours before turning off again. It wasn’t hot this time — it just appeared to stop getting internet service until I reset the device. The only difference this time is that I had the MiFi plugged directly into the wall. While there are settings to turn the MiFi off automatically after a certain period of non-use to save battery life, I had been actively using the MiFi connection the entire time.

Those were the only 2 issues I had with the 2372. Every day after that, the MiFi unit worked perfectly without any hiccups, even for an extended period of use.

Either way, I’ve been perfectly happy with the MiFi, as long as it’s been working.

A side note about plugging in the MiFi: if you plug it directly into the standard wall charger that comes in the box, you can charge the MiFi and broadcast a signal at the same time. However, when I first tried using the MiFi I had it plugged into the USB data cable instead. Since the cable had the data pins inside, it would not allow the 2372 to broadcast. This will be important to know when using the 2372 for the first time.

Setting up the Novatel MiFi 2372

Haven’t been scared off yet? Let’s look deeper into how the MiFi gets set up. Upon first getting it out of the box, the 2372 comes with a default SSID and password. After turning on the device, the network will be located and you’ll see a soft blue LED icon lighting up on the front of it. Simply find the SSID in the list of available WiFi signals, type in the given password, and you’re ready to internet it up all night.

There are more options for customizing the 2372 to your liking and taste. In the box, you are given instructions to point your browser to http://att.mifi, or you can alternatively type in the device’s IP address instead. Once there, log in and you will have access to all your vital stats such as current monthly usage, text messages received, current battery life, and which wireless devices are currently connected. It’s a pretty handy way to keep a close eye on your account and everything you’re doing on it.

Final Thoughts

I’m very happy to see AT&T making a necessary competitive adjustment by offering a MiFi on its network. Having the ability to connect 5 devices up to the network all at once is a much better use to everyone than a laptop card. The MiFi itself performed decently. Aside from having it disconnect on me twice when first using it, it worked great since without a flaw.

The 3G speeds are usable without getting too frustrated, but I anticipate some 4G MiFi devices coming in the very near future on AT&T’s network so it’s hard to completely back this one. But if you need one now, without any worries as to what’s coming down the pipeline in 2011, the Novatel MiFi 2372 will still serve you well and save your skin in a tight pinch. It has for me already, even after only using it for a week now.

If you’re shopping around, here’s where you can find the AT&T Novatel MiFi 2372.

LetsTalk.com: Free with new service ($49.99 when upgrading)

Wirefly.com: Free with new service

Amazon: Get it Unlocked for $234.99

• T-Mobile 4G Mobile Hotspot and Rocket 3.0 Hands-on at CTIA 2011
• Comcast announces $25 Novatel MiFi 4082
• T-Mobile Announces New MiFi, Laptop Stick, and Availability of 42 Mbps 4G
• AT&T to upgrade its 3G network to HSPA 7.2Mbps
• iOS Devices on 4G? Clear’s iSpot is to Thank

One announcement made on Wednesday got an average amount of press coverage, but I think it’s one of the most important announcements Google made at that event. I’m referring to the web store version of Android Market. On the surface, who cares? But for anyone who lives in an Android family (or uses multiple Androids from one time to another), having the Market on my computer browser becomes much more convenient and organized. It also becomes easier to share apps with one another.

What the Android Market Web Store is All About

The point of bringing the Android Market to the computer screen is to make shopping and downloading apps easier (and in theory, it will also be easier to impulse buy — especially if you’re already spending time on Amazon or eBay). While it’s easy to find an app through the phone Market, the limited screen space often makes it frustrating for me to get exactly what I’m searching for, without spending countless time scrolling through lists of hundreds of apps. In contrast, having the infinitely larger computer screen gives the Market much more room to be itself, allowing for bigger lists, images, user reviews, and more.

It’s similar to the App Store on iOS and looking up apps in the iTunes store on your computer. But the Android Market has the advantage because any downloads you choose will be synced up with your phone wirelessly. In other words, once you choose which device you’d like to download your new app to (it retains a list of all Android devices your account has been set up on), it will just automatically begin downloading onto it. This makes everything done with a few simple clicks, and you’re done.

While Android phones are generally pretty fast, using the computer to find and purchase apps will usually be faster and more user friendly for many reasons: the large screen allows for thumbnails and fits more apps on each page, your landline internet connection will probably be faster, and you can look up user reviews much faster and easier than on the smaller screen of the smartphone. Not to mention the ability to download to multiple devices one after the other.

Some more reasons I like the Market on the computer: each app has its own dedicated URL on the Market, making it possible to write articles or reviews with the app link taking you directly to that app information and download page. For instance, be sure to check out Angry Birds on the Android Market!

You can also share this app by Tweeting it from the information page using a handy link on the right hand side.

My Experience with the Android Market Web Store

There’s not much more to it than that, folks, but even the most simple ideas can be the most brilliant. While it’s a small change, I believe it is a foreshadowing of what changes we’ll be seeing with Android in the very near future, perhaps with the introduction of Android Ice Cream. The Android Market on the web is now my preferred method of shopping for Android apps whenever possible. With hundreds of thousands of apps available in the Market, this tool will make it easier to sift through the mile-high list of junk apps and find true gems that currently reside somewhere deep down amongst the junk.

When I logged on to my online Market account, I found it incredibly easy to get in and find what I wanted to download, and save countless time purchasing those apps directly from the Web Store. Let’s face it: when you have multiple apps to download, it gets cumbersome trying to find and download those apps one by one on the phone. But I found it to be a much more pleasant experience when doing it through the Web Store.

All in all, I like the direction Google is heading with Android, and will continue to use the Market through its Web Store whenever I have the ability to. I look forward to seeing how well the Web Store is accepted, but I have a feeling it will catch on rather quickly.

To see the Android Market Web Store, visit here.

Also, enter to win our weekly drawing! Go to our Facebook page for more information.

• The Android Market finally, officially has 100,000 apps
• Google Maps 4.6 for Android available now
• Android Market “only” has 70,000 apps, daily Android device activations still at around 160,000
• App Review: Google Reader for Android
• SHOP4APPS – Motorola’s own Android app store coming soon

Nexus phones are manufactured by an OEM (The Nexus One was made by HTC and the Nexus S is made by Samsung), but are the only phones that Google actually plays any part in producing, marketing, or selling. They want Nexus to be pure and unadulterated “vanilla” Android, typically acting as the phone leading the charge into the latest and greatest Android firmware update so that developers can use the phone as a living emulator for the Market apps they are developing. No special user interfaces to mess around with and bog them down, and usually complete with the best features that mobile technology has to offer at the time. Anytime a Nexus phone is launched, the tech world looks in with great anticipation.

The Nexus One was launched last year to much fanfare for developers and tech media, but wasn’t popular with the general public. It wasn’t heavily marketed, was only available online through Google and T-Mobile directly, and when launched was available at full subsidy ONLY for brand new customers. T-Mobile upgrades were done for an extra $100. Eventually it launched on AT&T, but was only available unsubsidized for $529 and only on the Google Phone Webstore. The avenues of selling this product were niche, to say the least.

Though the Nexus One was top of the line, it ended up being considered by many to be a failure due to underachieving sales and lack of public interest.

Now here comes Google’s second attempt at Nexus. Called the Nexus S, manufactured by Samsung and renamed to avoid being an official sequel to the One and being branded more closely to the Galaxy S lineup. Heck, the “S” on the box even uses the same exact logo. It’s as if Samsung just wanted to release this phone as a Galaxy S in the first place.

But this is where it gets weird. Though there was more S branding involved on this phone, there are actually quite a few key differences between the Nexus S and the Galaxy S series.

To me, the real questions are: why is the Nexus S relevant? Why does it matter? What does it bring to the table that no other Android does? Let’s discuss the Nexus S and break it down.

In this review, I endeavor to answer the above questions, show off what makes the Nexus S unique, and my usual likes/dislikes of the device itself. Buckle up, everyone, it’s going to be a long and bumpy ride.

First Impressions

When first laying eyes on it, I could immediately see the resemblence between the Nexus S and the rest of the Galaxy S series. In fact, the Nexus S is pretty much the same design as the Samsung Fascinate, except for Contour display and front-facing camera.

I am also intrigued by the curved display, but not so sure if it makes a huge difference to my opinion of the phone that it’s included. But to note, it’s easy to be deceived by this curved “display”; it’s not actually the display that’s curved, merely the glass above it which gives it the curved look. I myself was originally of the belief that it was the display itself. So it’s still intriguing, but more as a design concept rather than innovation in screen display technology.

For me, seeing the Nexus S for the first time was more of a “meh” experience. Sure, the inclusion of Gingerbread is a huge deal, but what else does the phone bring to the table?

Hardware and Design of the Nexus S

At least Samsung was going for something different in the design of the Nexus S, something that would make it stand out over some of the phone maker’s latest design innovations. To me, one of the big successes for the Galaxy S lineup is the fact that every single version of it uses a unique design. The Captivate, for instance, is much more square on front and sharp on the edges, along with a metal backing and very little glossy plastic; while on the other hand, the Fascinate has rounded corners, rounded on the sides, and all of it is glossy plastic.

The Nexus S goes the glossy plastic route, but adds in a few different design elements. The major one is the “Contour” display. In theory, the phone’s contours allow for an easier one-handed experience on the phone. Having the inward curve would also seem to make it more comfortable to hold it up to your ear. I didn’t see a noticeable improvement on either.

One quick note on port placement: while the power button on the right and volume keys on the left are a natural fit in my hands, the headphone jack is on the bottom next to the MicroUSB. This completely confuses me, and just doesn’t feel like it should be there. I understand the desire to have the design be as minimal as possible, thus keeping the top of the phone totally clean and port-free, but I always prefer the 3.5 mm jack on the top of every phone I use because it’s out of the way. Placing the port anywhere else makes the headphones feel intrusive.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread Software on the Nexus S

The biggest reason for the phone’s very existence is that it’s the first phone with Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread. Both Nexus phones have been geared toward developers because this is a great way to test out the latest firmware updates on a real-life emulator before it becomes available on any other device.

Why should we care about Gingerbread? Just like every other Android firmware update, several improvements and added features get thrown in, making the Android experience better each time. Here are some features and improvements that come packaged with Gingerbread:

NFC: Near-Field Communications, aka NFC, is a relatively new concept to mobile phones outside of Asia. But with Gingerbread now allowing the feature, look for NFC to start exploding in popularity over the next year. NFC is similar to Bluetooth in many ways, but on an even more secure basis. Right now NFC tags can be found in certain restaurants and retail shops, and when you swipe your phone across one of these tags it will download coupons, advertisements, and other information. Once it’s running at full speed, however, NFC-equipped phones can act as your wallet, making transactions and completing payments. There are many possibilities with NFC, and it certainly will be a huge part of the future of smartphones.

Improved copy/paste: With Gingerbread it’s now much easier to copy and paste, because you can now easily select a word or entire phrase by dragging a set of “bounding arrows” (similar to the blue dots found on iOS when doing copy and paste) to your preferred selection.

New and improved keyboard: There are a few improvements in the keyboard. First, the keys are reshaped and repositioned. This makes the keys larger and easier to see. It also adds in a built-in dictionary, with the ability to correct your words from dictionary suggestions, and even gives you the option to switch from text input to voice input when replacing that word.

Finally, the new keyboard also enables multitouch key-chording. This means that you can enter entire strings of numbers and symbols by just holding down the ?123 button as long as you need, and then just let go when you need to go back to letters. This will allow for faster typing when letters, numbers and symbols are all involved. There are also certain keys that when held down, a pop-up menu will appear that offers several different symbol and character options.

Improvements in gaming development: Gingerbread offers gyroscope support, 3D vector detection, and several other gaming-related APIs for developers to create even better and more realistic and challenging games.

Internet Calling: Gingerbread now supports SIP calling through VoIP apps. It also lets you choose between answering a call through Skype or the phone when it’s one of your Skype contacts calling.

Access to multiple cameras on one device: Developers will now be able to take full advantage of both the rear and front cameras.

Improved power management: The Nexus S has much better battery life than its Android brethren, mainly due to improvements in the way Gingerbread manages running apps. It uses a smart app manager program that will shut down background apps if they’ve kept the device awake too long or are just using up too much CPU. This same app also gives you more access to those running apps, letting you see exactly how the battery is being used.

Subtle orange light when at end of list: This may sound trivial, because it is, but I love it. Scrolling to the bottom or top of a list, you’ll now see a small orange light on either the bottom or top of your screen, showing you that you can’t scroll any further beyond that point. Again, a small thing, but yet a clever addition to Android.

Here are some other screenshots of Gingerbread.

Music player:

Calendar:

Maps:

Misc:

Specs and features of the Nexus S

The choice of hardware components for the Nexus S is confusing. In some ways the S is portrayed as a top-of-the-line phone with best-in-market components, but there are a few specs on the Nexus S that aren’t even as good as the Galaxy S.

Front-facing Camera: Yes – VGA (Galaxy S has none)
Rear-facing Camera: 5 MP with LED flash
Video capture: 480p; no HD video capture (Galaxy S has 720p HD)
Processor/RAM: 1 GHz Hummingbird; 512 MB RAM (both same as Galaxy S)
Internal memory: 16 GB (MicroSD adds 32 GB max)
Battery life: superb (much better than Galaxy S)
High-speed internet: Max 7.2 Mbps; no 4G (HSPA+ or LTE) access
HDMI: None (Same as GS, but Droid X, EVO 4G, and Atrix 4G all have this)
Mobile hotspot: Yes

Where Does the Nexus S Miss?

When the Nexus S was officially announced, there was an impression amongst the tech community that this would be Google’s true flagship device, throwing in the best that Android has to offer all into one handset. The simple truth is, however, that it isn’t top of the line at all.

Sure, it has Gingerbread, the Contour display, and the front-facing camera. But look at the upper echelon of Androids announced at CES two weeks ago: most have dual-core processors, front-facing camera of at least 1.3 MP, some sort of 4G technology (LTE, HSPA+, or WiMax), and there were some that added in HDMI support and full 1080p HD video capture. Oh, and a few of them will come Gingerbread, the rest will likely be upgraded to it within a few months.

The Nexus S doesn’t have HDMI. It doesn’t have 4G of any kind. Heck, it doesn’t even have HD video capture. You may argue that you don’t care to use any of those things anyway, and that’s acceptable. The reason I find it a frustration (besides the fact that I do use them, and on a regular basis) is because this is supposed to be a top-notch phone but doesn’t offer many specs that are already prevalent in several other Android phones. What can the Nexus S offer me that these other phones cannot, besides Gingerbread? Within a couple months after launch, the Nexus S is already becoming obsolete.

I noticed it was very easy to transfer music over to the Nexus S, as it just involved dragging and dropping files in my Windows Explorer. I could easily find it in the stock Android music player, but was disappointed by the lack of audio EQ capabilities. No huge issue, though — my solution to the problem was to download one of many music players available in the Android Market. Doing so allowed me to have easy access to EQ settings as well as a plethora of other audio preferences.

Where does the Nexus S Hit the Spot?

On the other hand, one area where the Nexus S holds a special charm over any other Android phone is the fact that it’s completely vanilla Android. In other words, customizable. There isn’t a proprietary UI getting in the way of you being able to fully enjoy your own Android experience exactly the way you want it.

And the Gingerbread really is a significant update to Android. The battery life, if nothing else, make the Nexus S experience a great one. Not to mention the improved multi-touch keyboard and gaming improvements. Plus the Gingerbread UI is the easiest and most robust of any other vanilla Android version out there.

Overall impressions of the Nexus S

When reviewing phones I prefer to be as fair as possible. Every phone has its good and bad points, and it’s only fair to make sure I mention both sides. All that truly frustrates me about the Nexus S is the fact that it should have better specs than it actually does. It’s actually a great phone — processor speed is faster than usual because it runs vanilla Android, battery life has improved, and call quality was perfectly fine — and it just happens to use Gingerbread and have some cool design elements. But the hype on this phone was completely over the top, and unfortunately it just doesn’t live up to that hype. If the expectations were lower, the outlook of the Nexus S would be much more highly regarded.

I was very impressed by the performance of the Nexus S, as mentioned above. One thing that I enjoyed about having Gingerbread on the Nexus S is that this is arguably the best stock Android experience I’ve seen so far. I didn’t miss having any special UI experiences at all, because the stock user interface was well polished.

But it may not be enough. If you’re looking for the latest and greatest, be on the lookout for some of those devices announced at CES: the Motorola Atrix 4G, the LG Revolution, the Droid Bionic, to name just a few. I can, however, recommend the Nexus S to developers who want Gingerbread right now to test their apps, to Android purists who prefer to put their own customizations on their phones instead of letting the OEMs do it, and to anyone wanting a great quality Android phone without caring about the nitpicky hardware specs.

The Samsung Nexus S can be purchased at Best Buy.

For more information and visuals, check out my video below:

• Unboxing the Samsung Nexus S
• Verizon exclusive Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets its full specs leaked ahead of October 11 unveiling
• Google Nexus S lands in Italy in February, EUR 549
• Google Nexus S and Android 2.3 Gingerbread finally announced (video)
• Wi-Fi-only Samsung Galaxy Tab and mystery Samsung GT-i9010 (Google Nexus Two/S?) hit the FCC

It’s pure speculation at this point, but it’s hard to see otherwise. EVO is here to stay, folks, and it’s shining brilliantly so far. Sprint hit one out of the ballpark with the original EVO 4G, throwing in just about every possible top of the line spec that’s come to market so far. Can they duplicate the same success with the midrange QWERTY-packing EVO Shift 4G?

This is my experience with the EVO’s younger brother, the Shift 4G.

Unboxing the Shift 4G

Nothing special was caught when I first unboxed the Shift 4G. It’s another phone in Sprint packaging, complete with the standard yellow/white box with the picture of the random person in the shadow of a hilariously oversized phone. Inside the box, USB cable and wall charger with user manuals and a bag with which to recycle your old phones. It’s very eco-friendly that way.

Still, I made a video of it nonetheless.

First Impressions

Easy to hold without awkwardness of gripping (present with most larger screens such as original EVO); impressively fast for a phone that doesn’t have a dual-core processor; simple to navigate around and all pretty small compared to the size it could have been.

Design of the HTC EVO Shift 4G

Ever since the Droid Incredible was released last year, HTC has been responsible for some of the most clever and innovative phone designs. The original EVO 4G was one example, being not only the first 4G phone in the US but top of the line in every way — and that includes design. What other phone outside of HTC has an actual kickstand built-in, let alone make it look classy?

The EVO Shift 4G may not have as quite dramatic a difference in design, I find the subtleties in the way a phone is constructed to be rather intriguing. For example, the Shift 4G took a decent-sized (but not overbearing) screen and put a full keyboard in such a way that the phone doesn’t feel boxy in the slightest.

On the back, the edges contour inward so the phone gets smaller and smaller the further away you get from the screen and keyboard. This helps make the phone feel incredibly comfortable fitting in my hand, even though the weight and overall size make it rather hefty on paper. But this is where the miracle of good design comes in; it fools us into thinking the phone is actually smaller and easier to handle than any other similar phone.

The EVO Shift 4G is also constructed in such a way that it feels more robust than the standard plastic-bearing phones. The Shift 4G is still made of plastic, mind you, but it has a peculiar way of making you feel like the phone is still invincible. Perhaps it’s the weight and size. Either way, don’t be fooled; it’s still vulnerable.

The 3.6” touchscreen is large enough for me, since I have a full keyboard to take advantage of. The main reason I ever like large screens is that it gives me extra real estate by which to use the larger on-screen keyboard, making full use of the size of each button. But with a fully-functional physical keyboard that can be slid in and out, I don’t need as much space to type or message.

Don’t get me wrong — sometimes it’s nice using the on-screen keyboard for the EVO Shift 4G, but then why buy this phone over the keyboard-less competition if you prefer that?

I would’ve preferred seeing a screen on the EVO Shift 4G, however, that filled up more of the available bezel space. For instance, at the bottom of the screen we find 4 touch-sensitive navigation buttons — home, menu, go back and search — that could have been pushed down a couple centimeters under its current position, thus allowing more room for a bigger screen. There’s just a lot of unused space on the front of the Shift 4G. I did like the longer speaker on top that allows for better audio feedback.

My favorite part of the HTC EVO Shift 4G is its keyboard. As I am normally on the team that prefers on-screen keyboards over physical ones, I tend to be more skeptical of the physical QWERTY keyboards on phones today. Most keyboards are either too wide, too narrow, too small, too large, too spaced out or not spaced out far enough. Sounds picky, right? It’s hard to find a good middle ground for my taste.

Let me tell you exactly why I love the keyboard on the Shift 4G: everything is done just right. The phone is not too large so the keyboard doesn’t have to spread out way too far for its own good; all buttons are well spaced and just barely large enough to cover my fingers (but again, not too large). When pressing the keys they are set slightly above the base, so there is a reasonable amount of button bounceback. It’s simply a comfortable keyboard to type on, and I can type reasonably fast on it.

I like that there is a dedicated @ button as well as a emoticon button. Personally, I would also like to see the .com button be dedicated instead of tucked away as a Function key shortcut, but at least it’s included somewhere.

Hardware/Software of the HTC EVO Shift 4G

The most important part about a smartphone besides performance is the user experience. If you cannot figure out a phone within 3 days of owning it, nor do you feel comfortable using it, you’re just going to get more and more frustrated as time goes by. Android in and of itself has a relatively low learning curve when compared to other smartphone OS giants, but each phone manufacturer likes to take a crack at making Android look better and easier to use.

HTC’s user interface for the Android is called Sense. It’s essentially the exact same UI on every HTC Android phone made over the last couple years, with only a few minor tweaks here and there. I have many fond feelings for Sense, as it has always performed exceptionally well (not every UI overlay on Android works so smooth), has some great features, and genuinely works to make Android a better experience.

The EVO Shift 4G also comes with Froyo, aka Android 2.2, included by default. Froyo is best-known for adding the Flash player to the Android experience. As I loaded up several Flash videos and even visited Badger Badger Badger (I do not recommend this, as doing so will get the song stuck in your head for at least 2 days) because I knew it was a good test of the Flash. The Flash player worked as well as I would expect it to on a phone with 800 MHz CPU and 512 MB RAM.

Speaking of which, there are several other great features that the Shift 4G has that should be emphasized.

CPU: The Shift 4G uses a second-generation Qualcomm processor, the MSM7630. It clocks at 800 MHz and uses 45 nm architecture, which basically equates to lower heat and power consumption than the first-generation chips that use 65 nm. In other words, the newest generation chips outperform the first-gen even though it technically sees a slower clock speed. When I wrote the unboxing, I originally saw the 800 MHz clock speed and naturally assumed it would be slower than the Snapdragon 1 GHz CPU located in the original EVO 4G, but was surprised when I noticed the performance of the Shift 4G was the same, if not better than the original.

In addition to the processor, the Shift 4G also smartly includes 512 MB RAM which makes it easier to multitask without slowing the phone down. This is perfect for a midrange smartphone that’s both powerful and budget-friendly. Sometimes it can be difficult to balance those two attributes, oftentimes sacrificing one for the other. However, the Shift 4G has done an excellent job balancing power with price.

5 MP Camera: Sure, it’s not 8 like the original EVO. But for 95% of interested buyers, a 5 MP camera is perfectly acceptable. It’s the standard for most Android smartphones coming to market in the US, so it’s not particularly surprising either. But it also comes with 720p HD video recording capability, which to me is a must-have. Raising two young kids under the age of three, they have a tendency to do really cute stuff at a moment’s notice, and it’s essential for me to have something pocketable and handy to catch them on video as quickly as possible before the moment’s gone forever.

4G access: I always love using a phone that has 4G internet access because of how speedy it can be, and when combined with the Mobile Hotspot feature that takes that 4G internet, broadcasts it out as a WiFi signal and allows up to 8 devices to connect to it. I found this feature to be very handy at home, since our home internet connection can be spotty at times and my wife likes to use the Netflix streaming when going to sleep. As I try to use our home internet it causes her Netflix to go incredibly slow, so I just used the Mobile Hotspot for all of my computer activities. It worked like a charm.

Storage Space: The Shift 4G comes with not even 400 MB storage, though HTC has equipped the Shift 4G with a 2 GB microSD card already. This still isn’t a lot of space to put music or high-quality pictures, so I highly recommend you get a larger storage card; the Shift 4G can handle up to 32 GB, which should be plenty for most. These phones can make excellent music players, and if you have it you might as well use it.

FM Radio: It’s always nice to see these show up on smartphones. FM radios are not insanely popular, but you never know when they come in handy. The only way to make them work, however, is by plugging in headphones because they act as the antenna.

One of the biggest question marks that get placed on smartphones is the learning curve on them. How easy are they to figure out? What if I can’t do anything on my phone? How do I learn? Fortunately HTC has thought ahead and addressed this question directly on the phone by preloaded the HTC Mobile Guide app, which is nothing more than a bookmark shortcut in the app tray that sends you into a website that is set up specifically to be a user guide. This way, you don’t have to blow dust off a user guide that’s been sitting in the basement for months, if you’ve kept that user guide at all. Plus, most of your questions about the phone will pop up at random times outside of your house or apartment.

Performance of the HTC EVO Shift 4G

For being the younger brother of the original EVO, it sure packs a mean punch. By that I mean it’s a wonderful phone to use that has all of the major features you’ll ever use in a smartphone. It doesn’t have the top of the market components, nor does it pretend to be “that phone” — you know, the one phone that leaves all other smartphones behind in the dust — in order to be a great device to use. It just has solid parts, and has good call quality with good-for-Android battery life (1500 mAh Lithium Ion battery with 6 hours talk time).

The Shift 4G has a speedy processor, even though on paper it doesn’t seem like it should. With a 3.6″ touchscreen and 4.6″ x 2.31″ x 0.61″ dimensions, it’s smaller and thicker than the standard smartphone but it isn’t boxy or bulky either. Weighing 5.87 ounces, it’s still lighter than similar phones with full slide-out QWERTY keyboards. The keyboard is also well-designed and a good fit for my picky fingers and thumbs.

All in all, I was very pleased by the performance and outlook of the EVO Shift 4G. It is a great addition to the new EVO lineup and one that I would feel comfortable using on a regular basis.

You can get the Sprint HTC EVO Shift 4G here on Amazon

And check out my full video review of the HTC EVO Shift 4G below:

• Unboxing the Sprint HTC EVO Shift 4G
• Sprint HTC EVO Shift 4G Drops to $89.99 on Amazon
• Sprint HTC EVO Shift 4G Preview and Hands-On at CES 2011
• Sprint HTC Evo Shift 4G now available, Amazon has it for only $119.99
• Sprint HTC Evo Shift 4G now only $69.99 at RadioShack

As of this writing, only 5 phones in the US run on Windows Phone 7: 3 on AT&T, and 2 on T-Mobile. I’ve had the opportunity to review 2 of these, the Samsung Focus and LG Quantum. I concluded that both were excellent phones in various ways, and both are the same cost. So it’s natural to wonder which one is the best.

So let the showdown begin: the full keyboard-packing LG Quantum vs. the Super AMOLED screen real estate king, the Samsung Focus. In this showdown I will go through several categories, deciding on a victor in each one. Since Microsoft has enforced several limitations and restrictions on what can and can’t be done with its OS, these two phones have had to differentiate themselves in other ways, so I will be judging those categories in which they have power to be different in. These will mainly be related to hardware, design, and apps. So let the games begin, and let’s see which phone will win the most categories!

Hardware

Screen Size/Type

The Quantum features a 3.5” capacitive TFT screen that has a WVGA resolution of 480×800 pixels. The screen, at its brightest setting, is very easy to see and read, even in direct sunlight. It’s also one of the most responsive screens we’ve used in a smartphone. A screen of this size is not huge, but is not small either. It seems to fit well with the overall feel and design of the phone, because if the phone were built any larger than it already is, it would be too bulky to handle comfortably. My only frustration was that due to the size of the screen, the on-screen keyboard was too compact for me to use without numerous typing errors. While it’s true the Quantum has a full landscape QWERTY keyboard, there are just some times when it’s easier to use the portrait on-screen keyboard without sliding open the physical one.

The Focus doesn’t have a physical keyboard, so it makes up for the loss in terms of overall screen size and tech. Featuring a top of the line 4” Super AMOLED screen with incredibly rich and deep vibrant colors, it really is hard to beat. It uses the same WVGA resolution as the Quantum and expounds on it with the Super AMOLED’s ability to provide superb visual quality in pictures and videos, as well as the simple stuff like apps and messages. It also uses ultra-thin parts and is battery efficient, helping the Focus become one of the thinnest phones with the best battery life you’ll find on a smartphone. You can even view the Focus at virtually any angle you want without the image becoming fuzzy or distorted.

Winner: Focus. While both screens are incredibly responsive and bright enough to see without incident, it’s hard to beat the exclusive technology Samsung has brought to some of its top of the line phones with the Super AMOLED.

Phone Dimensions and Materials

There are pros and cons for each phone. On the Quantum, the biggest concern is weight at 6.21 oz, compared to the Focus at 4.07. It’s also thicker due to the keyboard, at 15 mm vs. 10 mm on the Focus. However, the Quantum is also a much more solid phone with its soft rubbery exterior and metallic back, making you feel like it’s a lot more durable and robust than the plasticky material on the Focus.

Winner: It’s a tie. While the Focus is a much sleeker and sexier looking phone that happens to be thinner and lightweight, it’s also fragile and you don’t feel like you can carry it around unless you use a protective case, thus making it thicker and defeating the purpose of having a super thin phone.

CPU/RAM

This one is a hard one to disagree with; both phones have 1 GHz CPU built in, but the Focus has 512 MB RAM inside, compared to the 256 MB RAM in the Quantum.

Winner: The Focus, by a slight margin.

Memory

Another area in which the two phones differ largely is in internal storage space. The Focus offers a mere 8 GB space, whereas the Quantum gives you 16 GB. If it were limited to just internal memory alone (that’s how Microsoft would want it as well), the Quantum wins by a landslide. But there’s the sneaky issue with the Focus and the weird MicroSD card slot. It’s technically usable, but is strongly discouraged by AT&T, Samsung and Microsoft together because no MicroSD currently in production can support the technical speeds that the WP7 OS requires. As it appears, some incompatible cards being used have been known to crash the Focus or cause a significant loss in responsiveness and productivity. New cards are supposedly on the way, but until this happens, use only the 8 GB that it comes with.

Winner: The Quantum, at least for now (and maybe for a long time). This may depend greatly on whether proper Microsoft-certified MicroSD cards can be made for the Focus, and if so, when this will occur.

Battery Size

Both phones have the same battery size and type, both Lithium Ion batteries using 1500 mAh.

The Winner: It’s a tie. Battery life, however, is a different story that will covered in a later category in this showdown.

Hearing Aid

It may be a more obscure category, but a very important one to many. The Focus is rated for hearing compatibility at M3 and T3 ratings, whereas the Quantum does not have any compatibility as of this writing.

Winner: Focus.

Keyboard

When comparing virtual keyboard against virtual keyboard, the winner will always be the Samsung Focus only because it has a larger screen size. Large screen size means larger key size, and each key becomes much easier to press at that point. I’ve noticed that from using the Quantum, the keys on the screen itself are just a slight bit too tiny to text fast. However, is it worth getting the full physical slide-out landscape QWERTY keyboard as a substitute?

The physical keyboard on the Quantum feels very solid, like it will not fall apart in your hands when sliding open or closed. The keys are slightly raised and spaced out, a great combination to look for when choosing a phone with keyboard. There are two buttons of interest on this keyboard: Fn and Sym. Traditionally, pressing the sym button on most phones will trigger the alternate symbols or characters found in the blue lettering on each individual key. On the Quantum, that’s what the Fn button is for; and it’s in a very confusing spot, just to the left of the A. When doing speed typing, it just slows me down. The other button is the Sym. This button will bring up a touchscreen selection of the different symbols that can be used in your text or email. The mixup in roles of each button will most likely cause some confusion at first, depending on what you’re used to using right now. There is also a dedicated emoticon button and comma button.

Keys on the Focus are much taller and wider than the Quantum, mainly because it has more screen space to use up and needs to use it up to keep consumers happy with not having a full-sized physical keyboard to take advantage of. It’s more reminiscient of an iPhone on-screen keyboard, only the keys are even larger than that.

Winner: Quantum. While the Focus on-screen keyboard is a great experience, the LG Quantum has it beat by offering two options: both a smaller keyboard and a full physical keyboard that feels very comfortable to type on.

Design

Physical/touch-sensitive buttons

Even though I am a right-handed person, I use my left hand primarily when handling phones. As silly as it sounds, the placement of the buttons is very important to me. If buttons are in a place that’s completely unnatural, it throws me off and it takes longer to retrain my brain to just instinctively go to those buttons, no matter where they are.

The Focus has an advantage for button placement. The volume button is at a perfect spot for my thumb, and the screen lock/power button is ideally placed right where my index finger can push it with no problems. On the Quantum, the volume buttons are at a great spot for my index finger, but the screen lock is on the top left, tucked a little too far to the back. It’s not too far out of my way to press the screen lock, but it’s certainly not located in a place that my thumbs or fingers can reach naturally.

In the design of the buttons, the two phones have a slightly different approach. Every WP7 phone must have 3 buttons at the bottom of the screen, and only these three: back, Windows, and search. Samsung made the Focus buttons all touch-sensitive, which works great for the phone in keeping the sleek look and feel. Having a physical button just would make the Focus look tacky. But on the Quantum, 2 out of 3 buttons are touch, while the Windows button in the middle is a physical button that is tucked a little further below the other buttons (to make room for the LG logo between the back and search buttons, of course). But since the Quantum isn’t designed to look sleek or sexy, the physical button works great, especially since it’s the one that will likely be pressed the most.

Winner: Focus, because it has a more natural feel in my hands, and the touch-sensitive buttons on front easily add to the elegant and sleek look of the phone.

Comfort

While the Focus is lighter and sleeker, the larger screen also makes it feel wider than the Quantum. Both phones are rather comfortable to hold, but the Quantum’s weightier yet smaller approach means that it’s more grippable compared to the wider and flatter Focus.

In my pockets, it’s a different story. The extra weight does make a difference when I put the Quantum in my pants pockets, and I can barely feel the Focus in my pockets at all. If you are a phone in your pockets person, this can play a significant factor. However, if you put your phone in a purse or a belt clip, this will not make a difference at all in the decision.

Winner: Quantum in my hands, Focus in my pockets

Interaction with OS

Exclusive features

Another area of intrigue for WP7 is the Marketplace, because there are a few Marketplace stores within a Marketplace store. For instance, LG has its own app store in Marketplace called “LG Apps Store”, and Samsung has one called “Samsung Zone”.

And this category has a clear winner, hands-down, no competition whatsoever. Samsung’s involvement in the “Zone” has been pathetically limited to just 4 apps, and 2 of those apps aren’t even relevant to anyone using the Focus in the US and not traveling internationally. Blah. The LG Apps Store, on the other hand, started with 7-8 apps at launch, and in the last 2-3 weeks has expanded out to 13. While some of these apps are niche (such as a Caddy app that will assist any avid golfer), most of them can be used and enjoyed by anyone.

It’s wonderful to see LG taking such an active role in adding exclusive apps that will be of interest to the consumer, not just riding on what other developers have done in the Marketplace. This leads me to believe that LG has more plans to continue expanding its Apps Store.

The most interesting and satisfying exclusive app I found on the LG Quantum was the Voice to Text app. It’s exactly what you would expect it to be: it gives you the ability to speak your message and attach it to a tweet, email, memo or text message. This is great for driving safely and for simply being lazy. In my tests, the app could understand almost everything I said, and I easily inserted punctuation just by saying which punctuation mark I wanted to put in (for instance, I can say “I’m great, how are you?” by saying the words “i’m great comma how are you question mark”). Spelling out words worked sometimes, but I learned it’s much easier just to say the full word unless for some reason the app can’t understand what you’re saying. Once you’re satisfied that the message you spoke has been clearly transcribed the way you like it, just save the message and it transfers you into the app of choice where the message gets pasted in.

Honestly, I think this app should be included by default with every WP7 phone at launch. With such a heavy emphasis on safety, Voice to Text is an absolute must-have. I also hope LG continues to update this app with additional features and extra services.  I would love to see a way to speak my Facebook status updates, for example.

Winner is: Quantum, by a large margin. The LG Apps Store offers a lot of great exclusive content that Samsung doesn’t have.

Camera/Camcorder

Both phones use 5 MP cameras, and both have 720p HD quality available. So I took identical pictures from each phone and will show them head-to-head, so you can see an accurate comparison.

Here are a couple pictures, one in medium lighting and one in brighter lighting. The ones on the left are the Focus, the ones on the right are Quantum.

For HD comparison, watch this video. To make sure the differences weren’t caused by the camcorder settings, I changed them around so they would be identical.

Winner: Focus. On both the still pictures and HD video, the Samsung Focus seemed to have higher clarity, the colors weren’t as washed out, and the videos weren’t as choppy.

Performance

CPU
Both Quantum and Focus have top-notch processors and touchscreens that cause very little, if any, delay or lag in scrolling, going to programs, or any other everyday activity on the phone. Even the animations when going back and forth through applications are quick and painless. A very slight edge goes to the Focus on this one, however, due to the higher amount of RAM. When dealing with multiple apps and push notifications, the Focus will be much more likely to handle an increased workload.

Winner: Focus

Call quality

Neither phone gave me any concerns in call quality. Both phones’ speakers were sufficiently loud for normal conversations, and I didn’t experience any dropped calls during my testing.

Winner: It’s a tie!

Speed Tests

On WP7, I could only find one speed test app, so I downloaded it onto both phones. There wasn’t a large difference between the two phones, but I did notice that the Quantum seemed to consistently get faster download speeds on both 3G and WiFi.

Winner: Quantum

Battery life

Both batteries have the same size and type of battery, but both have different rated talk times. The Quantum’s battery is rated for 6 hours talk time, shorter than the 6.5 hours found on the Focus (primarily due to the battery-saving Super AMOLED screen on the Focus, it’s assumed), but the Quantum wins the battle for standby time, offering 350 hours compared to the 300 on the Focus. Perhaps it’s longer on the Quantum because standby time doesn’t have to rely on what kind of battery-efficient screen the phone has.

Either way, both phones have the BEST battery life I have ever seen on a smartphone, by a rather large margin. This is interesting to me simply because the rated talk times are similar to what can be found on competing Android phones, but none of those actually last quite as long in tests as the WP7 phones do. We wonder if there is a certain battery efficiency that comes with WP7 that isn’t overly mentioned.

Winner: Quantum, but it’s practically a tie. I know that both phones will last the entire day for me, even with my heavy usage on text, data, email and other things. This impresses me a lot. So since both phones have roughly the same talk time, the big difference maker is the standby time. A whole extra 50 hours — more than 2 full days — longer than the Focus helps the Quantum be the winner in this head-to-head battle.

Conclusion

There you have it, everyone: an ultimate showdown between two very good and powerful phones. The difficult thing is finding a real winner between the two, because as you can tell, both phones won almost the same number of categories. It’s been a wonderful experience to play with both phones and would be happy using either one. What I hoped to accomplish in this comparison, though, is to help you determine which one is a better fit for you based on a blow-by-blow breakdown of each relevant category. Also, visit my reviews on both the Samsung Focus and LG Quantum to help determine which one is the better choice for your needs.

Based on what you have seen, which one is the best?

• LG Quantum Windows Phone 7 device now available from AT&T
• Unboxing the LG Quantum: Brad’s First Impressions
• AT&T LG Quantum, HTC Surround and Samsung Focus now only $0.01 on Amazon
• Samsung Focus, LG Quantum Now $99.99 at AT&T
• AT&T’s Samsung Impression A877 Review

The year 2010 saw the world’s introduction to mainstream tablet devices. They’ve been around before, but were executed poorly and nobody wanted them (remember the Apple Newton?). But now it’s becoming a part of everyday living, and everyone who buys one seem to get addicted. That means this obsession with tablets that started with the iPad isn’t going to stop anytime soon. It’s going to keep growing.

One such example of bigger and better devices in the form of tablets is the Samsung Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch tablet device. Sure, it’s not a phone (at least, not without rooting it anyway), but it’s the epitome of what phones have become over the last two to three years since iOS and Android came out: a large-screened device that does a great job of retrieving information off the internet, entertaining us with multimedia and games, and helps us communicate with others around the world even more efficiently than we could have ever dreamed. The only thing that’s missing is the phone.

But nobody seems too concerned with the fact that there’s no phone. In fact, it’s pretty much the exact opposite. And why is that? Why pay all that extra money for an oversized smartphone that isn’t actually a phone? Today I review the Samsung Galaxy Tab, a powerful Android device that is good enough to convince each of the four main US carriers (plus smaller regional ones) and multiple carriers worldwide to carry it as one of their flagship devices.

In the US, the fact that every major carrier is offering the Tab not only for different prices up front but also with different monthly data plan options means that competition is working in your favor. Other than the performance of each carrier’s network in your area, the only other major factors that could influence your decision of which version of the Tab to buy is if you want to be under a contract, and how much internet you’ll need and how much you’re willing to spend to get it. We’ll cover that in this review, and much more. Keep reading below for the review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Unboxing of the Galaxy Tab

Disclaimer

Before I begin the review, I want to be completely forthcoming about something: the Samsung Galaxy Tab has been compared to the iPad in every single review I have read, and as I have played around with it for quite some time now, I’ve concluded that I should not and will not be comparing the two tablets side by side. I do understand that it’s natural to compare them since both are tablets and competitors with each other, but I feel that comparing a Galaxy Tab to an iPad is much akin to comparing the Samsung Galaxy S to an iPhone; they’re two completely different devices with completely different OS platforms. They both do great things and each has a set of pros and cons. And frankly, if you have looked at iPhone reviews vs. Android reviews, you have that opportunity to weigh out which one fits your needs best. I like using both tablets, and both have things that are better than the other, I’m treating the Tab as its own separate, independent device from the iPad, so if you want a side-by-side comparison of the iPad and Galaxy Tab, you will not find it here.

Please enjoy the full video of my Galaxy Tab overview:

Hardware and Design of the Galaxy Tab

The Galaxy Tab is a large device that feels awkwardly placed in a zone between the category of smartphone and netbook. It acts as a smartphone more than a computer, but its size makes me want to treat it like a touchscreen computer rather than a smartphone. It’s a confusing place to be for a device, and only as time goes by will people begin treating it as its own unique category that can’t be compared to either smartphones or netbooks/notebooks.

For a device that ranges between $400 and 650 depending on which carrier you buy it from, it sure has a rather glossy and plastic feel to it. No metal, no rubber, no soft materials whatsoever. This is nothing surprising for a Samsung device, as its main driving force in designing a new device is making it look sleek and sexy. After all, if you dont’ like looking at your phone or tablet, it’s not worth buying, right? While most Samsung phones that use this material feel as though it’s going to break, that glossy plastic on the Tab doesn’t make it feel like it’s going to break into pieces the first time you drop it on the floor. On the contrary, the Galaxy Tab is incredibly sturdy and solid, and I feel as though it will last a long time with good use.

Certainly, Samsung was very wise in choosing Gorilla Glass for the touchscreen display, because you can’t get any tougher a screen than that. Given the 7-inch display, it’s absolutely essential to make sure it’s as protected as possible.

The most important question that has been asked of me is how easy it is to hold in my hands and move around with me. I was skeptical at first glance, wondering the same thing: as much as I love the idea of a tablet, where the heck can I put it? I can’t really carry it around in my pocket as easily as a standard phone.

To answer the first part of the question, it’s very easy to hold in my hands because I don’t need both hands to keep it steady. The 7 inches does come to close to being too large to hold with one hand, but it was designed to be portable nonetheless. A device becomes much less portable when it requires use of two hands. The ability to keep the Tab in the palm of your hand is tremendously handy. And at 13.4 ounces it’s still light enough to use it at any angle without my arms getting tired.

As for taking it around with me wherever I go, even though it may not fit in my regular pockets, it fits nicely in my coat pocket. If you wear cargo pants or just like oversized pants pockets, it may possibly fit in there too. Other than that, it still fits in nooks and crannies whenever I’m in my car (it fits easily in the glove compartment so it’s out of the way) or at a friend’s house. In other words, I can still hide it easily enough without showing the entire world that I use the Galaxy Tab.

In handling the Tab I was impressed by how simplistic the tablet was on the outside. Samsung tried to keep the sides and back completely uninterrupted or littered with unnecessary buttons. The whole left side, in fact, is completely smooth (only a small hole for the mic resides there) and the only 2 physical buttons found on it are screen lock/power and volume up/down. There’s a 3.5 mm headphone jack on top and a MicroSD slot on the right side, and a proprietary charger with speakers on the bottom.

One part to the Galaxy Tab that was completely off base is the proprietary charger port. It’s not a MicroUSB or anything Samsung has used before. It looks a lot like the same charger Apple uses on all its devices (ha, you thought I was going to mention the iPad, but I tricked you!), and the only theory I can come up with for doing it this way is that a MicroUSB port doesn’t provide enough power to sufficiently charge a larger device like the Tab. It is, after all, a 4,000 mAh battery that’s supposed to play movies for up to 7 hours.

The keyboard is a feature that can be rather intimidating when you first use it. Going from typing on a standard-sized smartphone to the Galaxy Tab is a huge step when considering this thing stretches out over a 7-inch screen. I use Swype on all of my Android devices, and portrait mode feels like the ideal size to do Swype on. Landscape, however, is stretched out too far. For having so much screen real estate to use up, the keys tends to be too short and wide for my tastes; I would prefer having taller keys because it meshes with my hand easier. At least when I mess up on a word I can easily go back using a built-in cursor feature that enables me to slide the cursor to whatever point in the sentence I want to go to. This cannot be said about most other Androids I’ve used.

Fortunately there are more keyboard options than just on-screen, because the Galaxy Tab allows support for Bluetooth keyboards and includes a keyboard dock.

Software and OS of the Galaxy Tab

The Galaxy Tab smartly came with Android 2.2, aka Froyo, installed in-box. This means we can has Flash Player 10.1 on our Tabs and enjoy plenty of videos and websites that we normally can visit on the computer but not our smartphones. On top of Froyo Samsung throws in its ageless TouchWiz User Interface, the one that never seems to get old. It adapts to the Tab surprisingly well; it looks exactly the same as you would find on the Galaxy S with plenty of room for all the apps you would ever need and enough space between them that you’re not going to accidentally enter the wrong program.

Unlike most other Android devices, the TouchWiz app tray swipes sideways instead of up and down. It certainly does give off the aura of an iOS device, so if you a user of one you will definitely be very comfortable with the Galaxy Tab.

However, one thing that causes the Tab to stand out from the Android crowd is, again, its size. When using the Tab you will notice some significant differences in the way different apps are set up, and I absolutely love it. Several native apps now give you two panes of information, and putting the Tab in landscape mode enhances the experience greatly.

Email is one such example, where you can choose to view your selected inboxes on the left side and the actual email you have chosen on the right. Pinch-to-zoom can be used on the right side, which is wonderful when you have attachments you’re trying to view.The calendar doesn’t have a second pane, but it’s still amazing how much more organized you appear when you see your calendar on a Galaxy Tab. The messaging app has two panes, similar to the email app, and the right side gives the full conversation you are currently viewing. When looking at the music app in landscape, you also see the same two-pane effect, the left side showing the list of albums or artists while the right side shows more detailed information about each album or artist and the songs they contain.

These are just a few examples. A large number of apps are becoming tablet-friendly. In other words, porting a regular Android app into the Tab without much extra effort will show off the app as if it’s on a 4” touchscreen, so you see the app only show up smack-dab in the middle of the screen, with plenty of background showing through on the borders. However, more and more apps are getting in the tablet mode, with the apps being adapted for the 7-inch display and taking more advantage of all that space. Facebook is one example of an app that takes up the entire display; Touiteur and Tweetdeck also do their best to use up every possible square inch. Scores of developers are doing the same exact thing, helping the Galaxy Tab become a wonderful experience for those who use it.

Differences between carriers

Samsung’s product placement team must have done a very persuasive job of convincing the carriers — all of them — that they need to carry the Tab. They’re doing something right, if every major carrier in the US plus multiple carriers across the globe are carrying it as one of their flagship devices. This amount of competition between these carriers is very much welcome, and rather refreshing to have such an open and available device in a world of exclusivity.

But the difficulty in this lies in the fact that since there are so many options to choose from, which one is the best for you? Two factors will be involved in the decision-making process: the network/data coverage/strength, and price. That means both monthly data costs as well as cost of the Tab itself. Some carriers offer more data for higher price, so it’s essential to be very picky about which plans are the best.

Here’s a quick rundown of all the carriers and their prices with monthly data plans:

Verizon - Available for $600; no contract subsidized pricing available. Monthly plans include $20 for 1 GB and $80 for 10 GB.

Sprint - Available for $600 with no contract, but you can purchase with 2-year agreement for $400. Monthly plans include $30 for 2 GB and $60 for 5 GB.

T-Mobile – Currently at $550 with no contract, subsidized with contract down to $350. Data plans are $25 for 200 MB per month and $40 for 5 GB.

AT&T – The most expensive at $650  and there is no option for contract. Monthly plans are $15 for 250 MB and $25 for 2 GB. Comes with a $50 Media Hub credit voucher.

There is no clear advantage in the competition. Each carrier has a price plan that fits somebody, so this way you don’t have to settle with a plan too small for your liking, or spend too much for something you don’t use. It can be just right to fit your needs.

Besides these differences in price, each carrier puts its own proprietary software on the Tab, called bloatware. The goal of this bloatware is typically to get you to spend more on certain services offered, such as VCAST for Verizon and Sprint Zone for Sprint.

Media Hub and Kindle

The Galaxy Tab, much like most other Androids, has the ability to offer a little something to both business professionals and consumers alike. While the email, calendar and memo apps are very handy to use on a 7-inch screen, the Tab also offers many opportunities to add entertainment value as well. For instance, the Media Hub is a type of video store where you can rent movies and TV shows or just buy them permanently. The Media Hub is easy to browse through and also find exactly what you want.

Another handy purpose for the Tab is to use it as an e-book reader. And fortunately the Kindle app for Android comes pre-loaded onto the device, and all you need to do is register your account. Having set up my Kindle account on other devices before, all I had to do was login to my account and tell Amazon to restore my latest reading selections. The Kindle for Tab is incredibly easy to use and read with large (and adjustable) print size, and it doesn’t take a lot of effort to flip pages, simply by sweeping your finger back and forth.

Camera App

The camera was the one app that stretched out over the entire screen but probably should’ve stayed the way it was. I had a very awkward time trying to use the viewfinder on the Tab’s camera interface because of how large it was. Trying the hold the Tab in a certain way, I could barely keep it from shaking all by itself, let alone take pictures. It uses 3.0 MP with autofocus and LED flash on the back and 1.3 MP facing forward for video calls and vain movies that you want to make of yourself.

To be honest, I don’t expect much from a tablet camera. Given how large the tablet is in your hands, it’s very difficult to get a completely accurate and focused shot because there’s no dedicated shutter button except on the main screen, and you’ll be busy trying to not have your hands shake at the same time. I do find the front-facing camera to be much more intriguing and useful when trying to make video conference calls or just seeing your children when you’re out of town on business. My hands did shake somewhat, but I was at least able to take some decent shots with the 3 MP resolution. It certainly exceeded my expectations.

Here are a few sample shots.

Multimedia on the Galaxy Tab

With 16 GB internal storage as well as a max of 32 GB extra available on MicroSD, you’re definitely going to want to take advantage of all of the Tab’s multimedia capabilities. Syncing music and movies with my Windows PC was incredibly easy: just change the USB settings to Music Sync, load up your Windows Media Player, and start dragging your music and movie files right on over to the Sync List. Once you have everything compiled together, just hit sync and it only takes a few minutes before your entire collection is in the Tab.

I enjoyed the Tab’s double-paned music player because it gave me a chance to preview the next song I wanted to play before the previous song ends. Going to the main library screen in the music player, I could control the current song by using the handy controls on the same screen; on Android smartphones you typically need to go back into the Now Playing screen to make these same changes. It just eliminates an extra step.

Performance of the Samsung Galaxy Tab

95% of the time, the Galaxy Tab took full advantage of its A8 1 GHz processor with 512 MB RAM and powerful SGX540 GPU and there were few problems. However I did notice some sluggish behavior from time to time. For example, loading up a podcast and then fast-forwarding to a different part of the song caused a delay in the processor and took a couple minutes to do anything again. Going into the standard Android browser also showed signs of lag, which I assume was due to difficulty in porting a browser meant for a 4″ screen to that of a 7″. The only times I saw any kind of lag in the Tab is in those activities which were likely built for an Android smartphone and were just thrown onto the Tab later.

Other than this, I enjoyed my time with the Galaxy Tab. I was skeptical about it at first but then as I began to use it more and more, the more I started to like it. I am still curious to see what new tablets come out over the next few weeks, and this keeps me from buying one quite just yet; there’s a lot in the tablet pipeline from very legit companies such as RIM, HP, and LG, so I’m going to keep a close eye out for these ones as well. If you don’t care about any of these upcoming tablets, the Tab is definitely worth considering.

Get the Galaxy Tab on Amazon:

T-Mobile

AT&T

Verizon

Sprint

Enjoy our comprehensive gallery of the Galaxy Tab: I threw in several pics and screenshots both, which should be rather educational and hopefully intriguing as well!

• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v pre-orders start tomorrow at Vodafone Australia, pricing info now available
• Samsung Galaxy Tab officially coming to all major US carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile)
• Samsung Galaxy Tab may launch on Sprint on November 14th, cost $399
• Samsung Galaxy Gio will be available at SaskTel starting at $29.99
• Verizon will launch the Samsung Galaxy Tab on November 11, weeks after the iPad

The Continuum comes as the latest in a now-very-long lineup of Galaxy S series smartphones made by Samsung. Up until now, though, all of its brethren also in the lineup had a rather specific look and feel to them, and they all had identical specs with only a few exceptions. In other words, the Continuum is the black sheep of the family that looks more like a cousin than a sibling.

But that’s okay — it doesn’t have to be a blood relative to get an invite to the family Christmas party. It just has to be as entertaining and captivating as the other guys. So let’s see if the Samsung Continuum has the cojones to keep up with the best of the best. The Samsung Continuum review starts……….now.

Unboxing of the Samsung Continuum

In the below video, I tackle the box the Continuum calls home and dig deep inside to find any hidden treasures (or not-so-hidden treasures, for that matter…I’m not picky). I also give my very first impressions of the phone. It’s good times, don’t miss it. Then, we’ll proceed with the review.

Hardware and Design of the Samsung Continuum

Two screens. Need I say more?

Okay, I’ll get specific. First of all, the Continuum actually has one large Super AMOLED touchscreen that’s divided up into two separate “screens”: on top the screen takes up 3.4-inches, the bottom encompasses 1.8-inches. As far as I can remember, this style has never been done before on a touchscreen phone. Cleverly, the bottom screen will be used as a moving ticker with constantly updated information, almost like news tickers most commonly found on cable news channels and ESPN. More on that later. Suffice to say, including this second screen and sacrificing the extra screen space to try it out was a bold move for Samsung, and it’s hard to say quite just yet if it will pay off.

The Continuum is a heckuva long and skinny phone, but Samsung makes it work. In fact, the phone feels right at home in my hands. I never felt like it was going to slip through my hands and hit the floor because it was so easy to grip onto. If it were larger, the glossy plastic material making up the sides and back is slippery enough that it would be much more difficult to keep a firm grasp on it without having it slip right through your fingers.

But this is definitely nothing new for Samsung; the phone maker tends to favor this choice of materials because it gives its phones a much sleeker and sexier look than much of the competition. And it works — it just needs to be offset by the much less-attractive protective cases to ensure it doesn’t break into two pieces when dropped. The Continuum could probably stand a few drops, but not many.

Also to go along with the sleekness of the phone’s body and accompanying Super AMOLED, the Continuum is also a sleek fingerprint magnet. Keep a clean cloth handy, and you’ll survive this.

To go along with the second screen, Samsung added in some grip sensors on the side of the Continuum near the very bottom, essentially at the left and right sides of the ticker screen. These sensors will detect when you’re giving a good firm grip to the ticker and responds by activating only the ticker screen, for your perusal or brief glances while the rest of the phone remains inactive.

Beyond the unique second screen and grip sensor, though, there isn’t much extra innovation to the phone’s design. It has a standard flat back with camera and LED flash, along with some speaker openings; there’s no crazy angles or bulges to note. 3.5 mm headphone jack and screen lock on top, camera button and MicroSD card slot on the right, and volume up/down toggle on the left with standard MicroUSB charger port. Nothing outlandish or special; just the usual controls you’ll find on any smartphone (but don’t forget the lanyard hole!).

Software/OS of the Samsung Continuum

The Continuum runs Samsung’s Touchwiz user interface, laid over the top of Android 2.1. It’s hard to believe that this phone was released this past month, but is now 2 versions behind. All Galaxy S series phones are scheduled to receive the 2.2 update, nicknamed Froyo, but with 2.3 Gingerbread now slowly spreading out to new devices, this would still mean the Continuum is obsolete even with a fresh update. There hasn’t been any word on whether or not these phones will get 2.3 though I’m optimistic that Samsung will put it on all the phones in this lineup.

Touchwiz separates itself from the stock Android build in a few key ways. One way is by including 4 different app options on the bottom row, compared to the standard 3. The other way is the app tray that scrolls left to right and encompasses multiple screens, a la iPhone style, whereas the stock build just has a continuous stream of apps going up and down that you scroll through, on only one screen. These are some of the most recognizable ways the Touchwiz is different; quite frankly, I like the user interface. Samsung keeps it simple, so it’s easy to figure out and navigate around the phone to what I need when I need it.

All in all, the software on the Continuum is nothing new and offers no new features that we haven’t seen on any other Galaxy S Touchwiz-enabled phone. Except the ticker.

The Ticker

The scrolling ticker at the bottom of the Continuum draws a very fine line between being incredibly convenient and being incredibly annoying. And it all comes down to what we use it for and how often it gets used.

Weighing heavily on a small 1.8-inch SuperAMOLED screen, the ticker offers three to four different types of screens you can scroll through, left to right. The first screen shows the time and date along with a quick weather shortcut. The next screen shows different icons that indicate missed calls, unread emails and text messages, and IM messages awaiting your response. Next to that you can get a screen that offers continually updated information for several services ranging from social networking like Facebook and Twitter to RSS feeds to news updates like ESPN and weather, not to mention new emails and messages, and even a music player.

Unfortunately, there is a limit to the kinds of information that can be loaded into the ticker for now, as the necessary codes (APIs) to access this potentially powerful tool are still under wraps. I say potentially powerful because thousands of developers could build apps that access the ticker and bless our lives with convenience in ways we may not be able to imagine yet.

Samsung is definitely taking a gamble with the move, not opening up the ticker code to developers. If they don’t allow open access to this feature, it’s wasting a precious opportunity to exploit the ticker for what it’s worth: a powerful open-ended tool on an open-ended platform. By restricting the kinds of apps and features that can utilize the ticker, the phone will remain stale and will go obsolete very fast. Nothing will change on it, and it will be just like most other Android phones. But by keeping it updated with new ticker-accessible apps, the Continuum can continue to be a relevant phone in the market for a very long time — it can be a shining example of how clever ideas such as the ticker can make a winning product succeed well in an incredibly saturated market.

Here’s a rundown of all the features that currently can utilize the ticker: Twidroyd, Facebook, RSS feed reader, Verizon Voicemail, Weatherbug, an IM client (for Gtalk, MSN and Yahoo), text messages and missed calls, and Samsung’s mail client.

So as of this writing you can get all of your messages and social network updates, you can chat via IM, and get updated on the latest blog posts, all while doing other activities on the phone or while not even having the main display on at all.

But remember at first that I said this ticker draws a very fine line between being very useful and very annoying. Such great ideas don’t come without drawbacks. The annoyance of the ticker is how often it light up and show updates if you have certain services on, such as a heavily-used Twitter account. It can be rather frustrating seeing so many Twitter feed updates or Facebook status updates and messages coming through that ticker. It can be overwhelming. My biggest recommendation is to not activate the vibration setting on the ticker, as you’ll notice your phone shaking around the desk like crazy.

Another nice thing Samsung thought up on the ticker settings was a way to put it in sleep mode after a certain time of night, so as to not wake the entire house up with all the constant updating.

The other concern I have with the ticker is that the Continuum uses the same processor as all of the other Galaxy S phones, but has an additional display to worry about operating simultaneously to the main screen. The more the ticker is updating and being used, the more processing power gets pulled away from all of your phone’s other processes, which means a significant change in how fast it can run.

But overall, I have found the ticker to be useful because I was able to adjust the settings to receive only the crucial stuff that I really consider essential when I’m not using the phone actively. The updating feeds and the notifications are nice, but I don’t absolutely need the notifications there when i can find them in the top notification bar when I’m actually ready to turn on my phone’s display and use it for the day.

How does the Continuum compare with other Galaxy S phones?

The Continuum, by all technical specs, is a Galaxy S phone: it comes with a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, runs on Android 2.1, throws in 2 GB internal storage plus 8 GB card included (and 32 GB max), a 5 MP camera with 720p HD video recording, and it even has the DLNA feature. It just doesn’t look like the others at all.

It doesn’t have as large a display: when comparing side-by-side to another Galaxy S phone, the 4” Samsung Captivate, the Continuum’s screen is actually skinnier but longer. Usually smaller screens hurt a phone’s credibility, but the phone is still easy to handle and use without worrying about how hard I have to grip it so it doesn’t fall out of my hands. And it’s still easy to type on and play with.

Turning on the phone I was instantly reminded of the look of the Samsung Fascinate’s user interface. It uses the same default wallpapers and the same type of bloatware; heck, it even uses Bing as the default search engine like the Fascinate did. More on that in a moment.

What else can this thing do?

Being a high-end smartphone, there’s a lot of things this phone can do, though nothing beyond the ticker is truly groundbreaking. It can do all of the same stuff most other top of the line Android phones can do.

The music player is nice on the Continuum. First, I found the Continuum easy to sync media files from my computer. After setting the USB to music sync mode, I plugged my unit into my PC and was promptly given a pop-up menu — the first option was to sync my music using Windows Media Player. Not too shabby, Samsung. Not too shabby.

From here, I found the music player using the Applications menu. This can be done easier by simply pressing and holding the music player icon and pulling it onto the front screen so you can access it faster. Once I was in the player itself I was given a listing of my entire library; I put a few different kinds of songs that I could listen to, and in no time I was listening to my selection. As I was listening to my music, the screen would go dark due to staying idle. But this wasn’t an issue when I wanted to change the song because I could either use the ticker controls, or turn on the main display and pull down the CD icon until the music controls popped down. The player also has an EQ with several preloaded settings as well as my own custom setting, in which I can adjust the bass and treble however I wanted.

There are also extra effects you can add in: you can add reverb like you’re in a concert hall or just barely outside the arena eavesdropping on the live set, or just throw in extra bass or add stereo widening. Changing the sound effects kept me entertained for quite some time. Listening to music on my Skullcandy headphones was a joy because of that EQ. The sound was rich and sounded just like any dedicated PMP or iPod, for which I was happy about.

Taking pictures with the Continuum was very similar to my experiences on the other Galaxy S phones. With the 5 MP camera and 720p HD video, I was able to take excellent pictures and videos. Samsung always does a tremendous job adding in all sorts of extras to its phone cameras. In the Continuum there are several options to customize each individual picture, such as various scene modes, several shooting modes (like panaroma shots, for instance), white balance and ISO settings, face detection, and one of my favorites, Macro mode for close-ups. I’ve never felt like phone cameras can match all of the features and quality of a typical DSLR or even point-and-shoot digital camera, but Samsung tries to make the experience as close as possible.

Here are some selections for your viewing pleasure below.

In traditional Verizon Android style, the Continuum does offer WiFi hotspot features, which can be accessed for an additional monthly fee. This hotspot can broadcast Verizon’s data network to up to 5 devices.

And lately Verizon has been using Bing as the default Android search engine. I had a sizeable rant about this in my Fascinate review, but my opinion in a nutshell: terrible idea. Bing shouldn’t be the only available option here, especially for a Google phone. It just doesn’t make any sense. I do think that with the open-source debate, Bing should be offered as an option, but not the only option.

Performance of the Samsung Continuum

The Continuum’s Hummingbird processor, rated at 1 GHz, proved speedy enough for any of my normal processes, but it did end up being slightly more sluggish than the standard 1 GHz CPU due to the extra processes taken up by the ticker display. It’s not really much a shocker; this ticker running continually in the background, constantly picking up updates that get pushed into it from the internet, will require some extra power out of the CPU. That ends up meaning you’ll sacrifice some speed in order to use the ticker. For first-time users, however, you likely won’t even notice that there is a difference.

My call quality on the Continuum was equal to that of the Fascinate in that there were no problems with the speaker and the mics. Battery life is rated at 7 hours talk time and 312 hours standby, thanks to its 1500 mAh battery. And let’s face it — battery life is going to be greatly affected by how much you use the ticker. If it’s buzzing and lighting up every few seconds because you got a new email or article in your favorite RSS feed, it will drain your battery even faster than the rated talk time.

Why on earth should I want this phone?

Because you like the ticker, plain and simple. The Continuum doesn’t add anything extra besides the ticker that you can’t get with any other Android phone on Verizon. The only other reason you would want this phone is because you prefer a Galaxy S with a smaller screen. That actually is quite understandable; sometimes wider phones with larger screens can be too hefty or bulky for your taste. The Continuum body is easy to hold and grip onto.

But other than that, this is just a typical Android 2.1 phone. I do hope though that Samsung will release the API codes to developers and make something of this ticker. And if it does well, this could be a new lineup of phones for Samsung, all of them throwing in the live ticker. If Samsung doesn’t improve the ticker options, the Continuum will mysteriously disappear very soon, never to be seen again.

Get the Continuum for $.01 at Amazon.

Please view my video review below:

• More pictures and details of the Verizon Samsung Continuum leak
• Unboxing the Samsung Continuum on Verizon
• Verizon announces the Samsung Continuum, launches Motorola Droid 2 Global Edition
• Verizon Samsung Continuum specs break cover (again)
• Verizon Samsung Continuum leaks, has two displays

By now everybody knows that Microsoft completely bungled it’s smartphone OS strategy a couple of years ago, when they failed to recognize the changes iPhone and then Android brought to the category, and adapt their pretty popular at the time Windows Mobile smartphone OS to these changes. After fumbling through 2008 and 2009, trying to tweak Windows Mobile to work with finger touch instead of stylus, Microsoft finally gave up and decided to start from scratch.

The problem was, that during the last couple of years , while Microsoft was getting it’s act together, Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android completely took over the most lucrative high end smartphone category. While Nokia’s Symbian ruled among mid to low end smartphones. From a second largest player in smartphones in 2007, Microsoft’s marketshare dwindled to below 3% this fall. Despite being one of the most important smartphone players during this decade, with Windows Phone 7 OS Microsoft now takes on entrenched incumbents Apple and Google as a completely new player, with no installed user base, no app developer ecosystem and only limited OEM support.

Needless to say, LG Optimus 7 and other Windows Phone 7 handsets, launched a couple of months ago, had a lot to prove. Let’s se how LG Optimus 7 fared in that regard.

Design of LG Optimus 7

In the looks department, LG Optimus 7 doesn’t stand out from the crowd. But with it’s strict a bit rounded lines it does look pretty good. And it feels unexpectedly solid in your hand. Maybe it’s a bit of extra weight, the Gorilla display glass, or stainless steel back cover and sparing use of plastic, but LG Optimus really feels like it’s built to last.

The built quality of LG Optimus 7 is very good, with no lose covers peeling away anywhere. And after a month of use it confirms my first impressions. I put my LG Optimus 7 through a pretty intensive wear and tear during the last month, and I only need to wipe out the finger smudges for it to look just like it looked after I first unboxed it. Well, if you look carefully, you may notice some small scratches on the back cover from the quality time my smartphones occasionally spend with a ring of keys in the same pocket, but I couldn’t find a single scratch on the Gorilla glass covered display even now.

Another cool thing about LG Optimus 7 are the mechanical navigation buttons at the bottom of the display. They are easy enough to press, and never once I accidentally exited the running application with an inadvertent key press, which happened to me quite a few times on other Windows Phone 7 handsets in the short time I had to play with them.

Overall – LG Optimus 7 may not go on winning any design awards, but it still looks good, feels solid, well built and after you buy it, you don’t have to worry what it will look like 18 months down the road when you still have 6 month to go on your current contract.

Performance of LG Optimus 7

Performance of LG Optimus 7 is very closely tied to the performance of it’s OS – Windows Phone 7. It is a new first generation OS from Microsoft and I didn’t expect  much going in. In fact, during all these months since it’s announcement at Mobile World Congress in February, I’ve been quietly skeptical about the new Panorama interface, this whole concept of tiles and overall hype WP7 received.

Well, it seems that my skepticism was misplaced. Intuitiveness and ease of use of Windows Phone 7 OS impressed me as soon as I first unboxed LG Optimus 7 and turned it on:

The whole set-up process for LG Optimus 7 took about ten minutes, and after that it was good to go, connected without a hitch to all my e-mail and social networking accounts.

To see if my first impressions will last, I took LG Optimus 7 on a business trip as my main mobile device. You can read a detailed account about how it fared on the road here. The short version – it did pretty well. Despite everyone moaning about the lack of multi-tasking and lack of copy/paste in Windows Phone 7, these weren’t a problem for me at all. Link sharing from Twitter and browser worked very well without copy&paste, and I hardly use this functionality for anything else. The lack of multitasking was a minor annoyance at times, but nothing too bad too.

The only thing in Windows Phone 7 I found inferior to other platforms was the Mapping/Local Search/Navigation stuff. The Maps app is good enough for the basic use to figure out where you are and how to get somewhere, but not much beyond that. Microsoft clearly has some work to do on Bing Maps to catch up to competition.

Still, LG  also loaded a ScanSearch augmented reality app that uses Google Local Search as a data source and overlays local search results on your  display camera feed, which solved my “finding things in a new town” problems pretty well. You can watch me wondering about Dublin using ScanSearch here:

As for the handset performance itself – it is fast, touch responsiveness is great and it has a pretty good battery life for a smartphone, which easily lasts through a day on my daily use routine.

Camera on LG Optimus 7

LG Optimus 7 comes equipped with a 5 megapixel camera, which, according to our smartphone use survey is good enough for most. Well, it was a good enough point&shoot camera replacement for me. LG takes good enough pictures in good lighting conditions, and OK pics in darker environments. What’s more important – the camera is fast, with now noticeable lag between when I press the shutter button and the picture is saved.

Automatic photo sharing capabilities are currently limited to Facebook and Microsoft Live SkyDrive. Once you set up these services and select where you want to upload send your pictures, they are uploaded to SkyDrive or Facebook automatically, with the privacy setting you select. For other services you’ll have to upload your pictures manually, using free or paid apps from the Marketplace. There are quite a few of them in there.

LG also seems to be the only major OEM that was granted access to WP7 camera API this time around, and it added few cool apps to expand your camera functionality – I already mentioned ScanSearch, which overlays Google Local Search results on top of camera feed on your display, another app is Panorama Shot , that allows you to take panoramic pictures with your LG phone.

Apps on LG Optimus 7

Another thing I was worried about when starting with WIndows Phone  7 OS, was the amount and quality of available apps. I shouldn’t have. Though the reported number of 3000 apps pales in comparison with just above any other platform except of WebOS, Microsoft did a great job of getting the key apps made and ready for launch. These include official apps from Twitter and Facebook, Yelp, a good selection of quality weather apps with feeds to Home Screen live tiles and others. The only app I really wanted and missed, was Amazon Kindle for WP7.  The number of apps in the Marketplace is also growing every day, so there are good chances that even if you are still missing an app, you’ll be getting one in the near future.

Microsoft has set pretty strict guidelines of what OEM is and isn’t allowed to do on a WP7 phone. And one point of differentiation for smartphone vendors is the App Marketplace, where vendors are allowed to set-up their own shops with exclusive apps. LG seems to be taking this possibility seriously and has put quite a few interesting apps into it’s own Marketplace. You can read our detailed account about LG Marketplace on Optimus 7/Quantum here. LG has also officially announced that it will be releasing free application packs worth $30 every 60 days, keeping your app selection on LG smartphones fresh.

Conclusions

Overall, after trying it for a month,  I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the new Windows Phone 7 OS on LG Optimus 7. The quality is even more impressive for a first generation OS release. Especially when I compare it to the quality of the first generation Android or iOS. It shows that Microsoft is back in the smartphone game and is serious about.

LG implementation of WP7  in Optimus 7 is also very good, and I can easily recommend to check out this smartphone next time you are in the market for a phone upgrade.

• Windows Marketplace opens for submissions on July 27; WM 6.0 and 6.1 will be supported
• Microsoft ups Windows Phone 7 free app submission limit from 5 to 100
• Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace now hosts more than 60,000 apps
• More details on Windows Mobile Marketplace’s Phase 2
• Windows Phone Marketplace now has more than 50,000 apps

To figure out pros and cons of the  new platform and device in a short time, I usually take it on a business trip abroad and try to use it as my main mobile device for everything I do. Which is what I did with LG Optimus 7 when I wanted to see how robust and useable the new Windows Phone 7 OS is. Here are my impressions about how Windows Phone 7 LG Optimus 7 smartphone performed on the road.

Preparing to the trip

While preparing to travel, I want to make sure that I’ll have the  access to all my trip related e-mails that are stored on Gmail servers,  my Google calendar where my schedule is stored and I have to load enough podcasts and films so I don’t get bored on the road.

Windows Phone 7 e-mail client and syncing with Gmail Google Apps account on LG Optimus 7 worked like a charm. All I needed to do was select Google Mail option for e-mail, enter an address and password and it was done.

One note of caution though. When setting up syncing, you have an option to download e-mails to your phone from the last 3,7 days, 2 weeks, last month or all of them. If the message you are looking for falls outside of selected period – you won’t be able to find it on your phone. So make sure you either resend the important e-mails to yourself, or use more of that 16 Gig of storage for more e-mail.

Google Calendar syncing is also a breeze on LG Optimus 7. You just select “Sync calendars” box when you are setting up Gmail account (it’s not selected by default), and you are good to go. All you appointments and meetings from the calendars on that account are sync’d, with pushed notifications available on a “Calendar” live tile.

Travel entertainment. To manage you media on Windows Phone 7 device you have to install Zune software on you PC. After that is done, synchronizing your media between the phone and PC is as simple as plugging your new LG Optimus 7 to your PC via USB port. Transferring music files and podcasts works very fast. With movies, since all my films were stored in Xvid/AVI format – Zune decided to render those files into some other format that the media player on Optimus 7 can play. On an underpowered (by today’s standards) 4 year desktop of mine that took some time and translated into about an hour for every hour of movie playback. More modern multicore machines of today should handle the rendering process much faster.

On the road

When traveling, my smartphone needs to handle following things well – e-mail communications to keep in touch with my team,  good Twitter client to keep up with what’s happening around and in wider world, good mapping app to find things in a strange city, camera to take quick snapshots of interesting things, media player to keep me entertained on the road and, of course, good battery to last me through the day.

Entertainment on the road. I already mentioned that uploading several hours of movies from my PC to LG Optimus 7 was very easy, if a bit time consuming. On the other hand, the movie file conversion that is responsible for the time it takes to get films onto Optimus 7 might actually be worth it.

The movies on the phone take up over almost full screen, with only very narrow black lines at the top and bottom. 3.8″display was also big enough to watch few movies on a plane.

I already mentioned how much I liked the Windows Phone 7 e-mail client on my Optimus 7. One thing I was worried about before trying it out – was my ability to share links to interesting news items with UV  team, while I’m on the road. With the the lack of multitasking and copy/paste in Windows Phone 7 OS, I was afraid that it would be problematic to send out news alerts to UV writers.

Well, the lack of multitasking and copy&paste  turned out to be a non-issue for me. Whenever I noticed an interesting news item in my Twitter stream, I went to the linked item in the browser, and from there all I needed to do is select “Share via e-mail”option, enter our internal mailing list address, and the message was on the way. Then I’ll press a “Back”button on Optimus 7 a few times, and I’m back to where I left off in my Twitter app. In the end, the whole process was so easy, that I ended up sending out more news alerts on the road then ever before.

Talking about staying connected to my social networks, due to it’s integration with People hub, I started using Facebook a lot more. I’ve had a Facebook account for several years now, but I had very little use for it until recently. But now, with my friends Facebook updates just a tap away on my phone’s Homescreen, I check my Facebook news stream at least a couple of times a day. And I even started posting status updates and Wall comments once or twice a week.

Still, Twitter remains my main social comms tool, so I really needed a good client app for, for me to be happy with LG’s Windows Phone 7 handsets.  I tried several of the available apps, but the  official Twitter client for Windows Phone 7 worked best for me. There were a few things that I didn’t like about it. My main beef was the lack of any active notification about Replies and DMs when you are in your main Timeline. If you do not proactively check “Mentions”or “Messages” tabs, those messages can sit there unnoticed for days. Still, overall it worked great both for keeping up with Twitter updates, and sending out either plain text or illustrated tweets too (taking a pic from Twitter client, uploading it to TwitPic and posting a link into tweet was automatic enough).

Mapping&Navigation part is where Microsoft has still a lot of work to do, compared to similar functionality available both on Android and Nokia phones. The thing I missed most on Windows Phone 7 was the ability to save pointers on the map for later use. The lack of syncing between PC and phone apps also didn’t help. And Bing local search leaves a lot to be desired, compared to what you get with Google maps. Still, the basic maps app worked pretty well, with necessary local maps all there. And as for Google Local Search results, LG found a way to give you access to them too on Optimus 7. In LG’s ScanSearch Augmented Reality app, Google Local Search is the default data source, and when you need to find some interesting stuff near you , it works pretty well. I’ve shared my experience with LG Optimus 7’s Scan Search here.

Battery life. On a normal day’s use I could easily get through the day on a single charge with my Optimus 7. When on the road – it’s not that simple. Two of the most energy consuming things in a smartphone is it’s display and wireless connection, especially for data transfer. And these are the things I tend to use most when I’m traveling. Watching a movie obviously requires for the display to be on all the time, I also do a lot more then usual browsing and tweeting on my phone, as well as taking a lot of pics and uploading them to the cloud. All these things tend to eat through the available power pretty quick. Still, even on an intensive use,  I managed to get 6-8 hours of battery life from my Optimus 7, which is much better then what I usually got from my average Android handset.

It doesn’t last me through the day yet. Then again, I wonder if it ever will. Batteries seems to be the Achilles heel of nowaday smartphones, and clever power management gimmicks can only do so much to stretch the 1500 mAh capacity current battery makers seem to be stuck on for several years now.

Overall, after using LG Optimus 7 as my main travel device, I was pretty impressed by how well it all went. Especially having in mind that it runs on a first generation of a totally new Windows Phone 7 OS.

• LG says it’s actually planning Android ICS updates for Optimus 2X and other phones
• Smartphone use survey and LG Quantum/Optimus 7 giveway results. They ain’t smart”phones” anymore
• LG Optimus 7 Windows Phone review
• INQ to release a Twitter phone before Christmas
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for select LG Optimus phones coming starting Q2 2012

But here, all of a sudden, came the announcement of the Samsung Craft, the LTE pioneer in the US, a foreshadowing of the crazy 4G wars that will flare up to a peak in 2011. This is the leaky hole in the dam that you know is just waiting to burst open and flood the valley below.

The crazy thing is, for something so iconic to the industry’s immediate future, the surprising thing is that the Craft isn’t even a smartphone. It’s a standard messaging phone with some decent specs on it.

Is there more to the Samsung Craft than just the fact that it’s an LTE phone?

Hardware and Design of the Samsung Craft

For anyone interested in the Craft, it’s not necessarily because of looks. The Craft is reminiscient of Samsung phones from a couple years ago. While it has somewhat-rounded corners on the front, it’s also thick and looks boxy from the side. It even has the same dark red tint found on the Samsung Omnia II and others from the same timeframe.

The Craft measures out at 4.5″ x 2.2″ x 0.6″. This puts the phone at a hair over 15 mm thick, and let’s face it — that’s beefy. Compared to other touchscreen phones with full QWERTY keyboards, this is on the larger side of the spectrum; but I do believe that the built-in LTE chip may contribute to making it look and feel thicker. And unsurprisingly, the phone weighs in at 5.3 ounces. That’s also above average when comparing other phones of the same style and genre. But yet, even with the extra weight the Craft doesn’t feel as though it would hold up well against the elements or accidental drops. After all, just by touching the phone you can tell it’s made of plastic all the way around. You’ll want to baby this phone to make sure nothing happens to it.

So is there enough to this phone to make it attractive? Granted, the front of the phone and the keyboard are both very pleasant to look at. On the front you’ll notice Samsung’s usual rounded design, complete with the usual keys found on their touchscreen feature phones: call/answer, back, and end call/power. All the rest of the navigating can be done using the screen itself.  The screen technology is AMOLED, which means your colors are going to be crisp and deep, and the display will be bright enough to see indoors but questionable outdoors.

The Craft has a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which for some bizarre reason isn’t found on as many messaging or feature phones as I’d like; it only makes sense that phones already designed to be great music players as well as messaging and internet phones would actually let you easily play music through your own headphones, right? Yet too many phones still rely way too heavily on proprietary headphone docks — usually they’re the same exact plugin spot as your charger.

Speaking of music player capabilities, the Craft also increases the enjoyment of your multimedia experience by putting the MicroSD card slot on the outside, where it’s easily accessible and swappable. That card can be up to 32 GB, if you need a lot of movies and music on your phone. It also uses a MicroUSB charger, which is quickly becoming the new universal standard in charging ports.

Lastly, the keyboard is decently good. I had no trouble typing fast on the Craft because all the keys were spaced out, ever so slightly raised (just a teency-weency bit, but enough to do the job), and while the keys aren’t incredibly large, they worked for me. It’s a 4-row keyboard with a dedicated row of numbers, which I prefer. My advice if you have larger fingers and thumbs, however, is that this will probably not produce the best typing results for you.

Also unfortunate is the lack of dedicated keys on this keyboard. My favorite keyboards will often have standalone keys for the period, the @ symbol, .com, and/or dedicated messaging button. The Craft’s keyboard doesn’t have any of these. It’s true that some of them are still on the keyboard somewhere, but only as secondary keys that require pressing the Fn button first. When it comes to speedy typing, this is not the best design for a keyboard.

Software and OS of the Samsung Craft

Like many of Samsung’s touchscreen feature phones, the Craft uses Touchwiz. Many people have a love/hate relationship with the Touchwiz interface because while it can be clever and intuitive by offering widgets (shortcuts) to use on the main screen, Touchwiz has been known to slow many decent phones down significantly so that going into programs or changing screens is a slower process.

The Touchwiz UI typically offers a small side-tray of widgets that can be pulled out and plopped onto the main screen without hassle. These widgets are shortcuts that can take you directly into whatever application you want to go into. For example, by pulling out the Google search widget, you can just type in your search on the main screen instead of having to go into the web browser first, a tedious process that could take several minutes (depending on if you’re using the LTE or not, I suppose).

But another thing that gets added onto the Craft that I haven’t seen on other Touchwiz-capable phones is a pull-down tray on the very top of the phone. By pressing the down arrow, the tray pops down with some of the most popular apps hiding there: browser, music, WiFi, and Bluetooth. That’s right, WiFis included on this phone, which is unheard of with most non-smartphones on the market today. This could be a compromise for those MetroPCS customers who want the Craft but can’t have LTE just yet.

Besides this, there’s a whole lot of bloatware. MetroPCS threw in an incredibly high number of apps geared directly towards the carrier, such as: mail@metro, Metro411, @metro, MetroWEB, metroSTUDIO, myMetro, Metro Navigator, Metro BACKUP, and Pocket Express. Enough with all the Metro branding. That is all I have to say about that.

Multimedia

The Craft only holds around 160 MB of internal storage, so don’t expect to do a whole lot of music playing or video watching with that. However, the Craft comes with a MicroSD card that has the full-length Star Trek preloaded on it. Not too shabby an offering for a phone, and frankly I wish more phones would come with stuff like this. Some of you may call me a hypocrite for hating bloatware but loving movies on MicroSD. But hey, it’s a good full-length movie that I wouldn’t mind keeping for myself, and if I don’t want it, I can delete it; the same cannot be said about most bloatware that shows up on phones these days.

For the camera, we have a 3.2 camera to play with on the Craft, which is slightly above average for a feature phone. It has an LED flash accompanied by a really tiny mirror so when you take pictures of yourself you can make sure you’re pointing the camera the right way before you snap it.

It can also take video, but don’t expect it to be any sort of replacement for your HD camcorder by any means. Far from it. But at a resolution of 640×480 running at 15 fps,  it’s adequate for taking videos when you’re in a crunch and can’t find your super-awesome digital camcorder anywhere. But it definitely is choppy when panning the video around from place to place.

Playing videos and music is a great experience on the Craft; it should be, if it’s going to advertise Star Trek being played on the phone’s AMOLED display. Unlike the choppy video record, the video playback is much smoother to the eyes, and any movies you have will actually look like movies (well, movies on a really small screen, that is).

Performance of the Samsung Craft

The performance on a phone such as this can be a huge wild card, because it’s meant to be a standard messaging phone, yet as the first US phone with LTE it’s apparently destined to be something truly groundbreaking. And I can tell it’s having a hard time with these two roles meshing together into one. There were times that I felt as though this phone was only built to get out into the spotlight before any other potential competition could stand in its way. But at other times it turned out to be a pretty decent phone.

It was okay, but not great. Battery life is rated at 6 hours talk time and 200 hours of standby, and I was able to stretch out the battery life to a little over the 6 hour mark. The WiFi also worked fine, when it was connected. I did notice, though, that after a brief time of inactivity, the WiFi connection would disappear and I’d need to go back into the phone settings and re-add my original connection.

Call audio quality was okay. I could hear everyone fine on my end and vice versa. But I did notice some connection issues from time to time, though I’m pretty sure this is due to my coverage being serviced by other carriers (roaming). Since MetroPCS isn’t available everywhere, it uses a lot of roaming networks around the country. It certainly didn’t help me get very fast internet speeds, either. But 2G never does offer fast speeds anyway. The concern is, I wasn’t able to actually test out the LTE network because it’s only available in a handful of cities, such as Las Vegas, LA, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Dallas/Fort Worth. Thus the most important part of the phone in this case isn’t even testable.

I do like what Samsung was trying to do here with the Craft, but it’s still nothing more than a simple messaging phone that happens to do a few extra cool things on the side. And I can’t even say that it’s the best messaging phone either because of the questionable keyboard design and layout. Nonetheless, if you want to check it out, the Samsung Craft is available on MetroPCS at stores or online for $299.99.

Please check out our photo gallery below!

• Samsung Craft (r900) LTE phone for MetroPCS pictured
• The world’s first LTE phone (Samsung Craft for MetroPCS) to be launched in September
• Samsung Stunt R100 launched by MetroPCS
• Samsung Craft, the world’s first 4G LTE phone, now available at MetroPCS
• MetroPCS launches Samsung Freeform II (SCH-R360)

I had a good opportunity to play with the Droid 2 Global. With its global capacity, it becomes a much more ideal choice for any serious business professional than the first Droid 2 was. Even though the first one was meant to be good for business, now it truly can become so with the additional capacity.

So what’s so different about the Global? How was the overall experience I had with it? These questions as well as many others will be answered in this full and comprehensive review of the Motorola Droid 2 Global, now available on Verizon Wireless.

Unboxing the Droid 2 Global

Check out the video below and my Droid 2 Global unboxing article to see more details on everything inside the box as well as my first impressions of the Global itself!

Hardware and Design of the Droid 2 Global

For the Global, this category is the make it or break it part of the entire review, and it’s such a mixed bag. Motorola laced the Global with absolute top of the line specs in terms of performance, but made virtually no changes to an already outdated phone design.

The Global is designed first and foremost to be a business phone, so it’s not meant to be the sleekest or sexiest looking device on the market today. And sadly, there’s a tradeoff involved, some sacrifices that have to be made to get top-notch performance. For instance, the Global is a very solid phone that doesn’t feel like it will break apart just by sliding open the keyboard. But by the same token, the solid design also makes the phone feel clunky and boxy. It seems as though you can’t have the best of both worlds: sleek design plus solid build with durable materials.

Motorola tries to add a little sleekness to the look of the Droid 2 Global by adding in the classy lip at the bottom of the phone’s front, but unfortunately serves no real purpose other than to try making the phone look more “modern”.

While the D2G variates only slightly from the original Motorola Droid which came out over a year ago, it is definitely better off as a result. The original featured a direction pad that used up way too much keyboard real estate, forcing the keyboard itself to be scrunched up so much it became the sore point of the phone. Motorola learned its lesson with the sequel, getting rid of the D-Pad so as to stretch out the keyboard to a usable size.

As you may see in my video, though, I’m not in love with the keyboard. Oddly enough, by all accounts I should love it, but I don’t. The keys are all large enough to use without mashing my fingers up on any neighboring key, and there’s even a small bubble on each key to help offer even more separation between keys. In casual typing I was able to do just fine on it, only making mistakes every once in a while. But as soon as I got into an involved group IM chat and sped up my typing, I started falling flat on my face and couldn’t type worth a darn. Like I said, though, everything about the keyboard in my observations and initial tests show that it is one of the best quality and best sizes — not too large, but not too small either.

Another thing that contributed to the clunky feeling of the phone was the resistance factor on the sliding mechanism itself. Though I don’t love having really loose sliders, I also enjoy actually being able to slide the keyboard out easily with one hand. On the Global, there was just too much resistance.

One huge positive I think is also worth mentioning on the keyboard are some of the specialty keys: the ones that don’t always show up on every phone. The Droid 2 Global has dedicated comma, @, search and voice activation buttons. Since I use all of these, this saves me a lot of time.

Along with the super solid feel of the phone comes the weight to give it that feel. The Global weighs just a smidge under 6 ounces, which is rather heavy for phones these days (the average weight for a smartphone is around 4-4.5 ounces, for comparison). But looking at the materials comprising the back and sides of the phone, most of it is a softer rubber type material that keeps the phone from inexplicably slipping out of your hands by accident, and even if it does drop, it’s less likely to break than an all-plastic phone.

Turning to the screen, we are blessed with an average-sized 3.7″ screen with 480×854 pixel resolution – a small improvement over what a WVGA screen offers (granted it’s only a 54 pixel difference, but pixels matter, darn it!). The soft keyboard with this screen size was perfectly fine, and I got accustomed to using the Swype keyboard over the stock Android; this way, no matter how large or small the screen size is, it’s relatively easy for me to get used to using the keyboard on the screen. For me it’s much easier to slide my fingers across a letter than it is to hit it precisely. The resolution is also very nice for a phone of this caliber – it’s hard to get much better than this right now, especially on a Motorola (I have seen plenty of lower-end Motorola screens that are incredibly pixelated; fortunately this one had very sharp resolution).

At the bottom of the screen, just on the top of the ridge of that lip I mentioned earlier, you’ll find the standard Motorola set of touch-sensitive Android navigation keys. This means you’ll see Menu, Home, Back and Search in that order. These buttons are easy enough to press and will offer a small amount of haptic (vibrating) feedback to let you know you’ve pressed them.

As I’ve seen recently, most smartphones seem to be taking a more minimalistic approach to the number of physical buttons on the phones’ exteriors. The same is true for the Droid 2 Global, which provides you with a camera button and volume up/down rocker on the right side; a standard and open (no plastic covers) MicroUSB charging port as the lonely component on the left side; and a 3.5 mm headphone jack and screen lock/power button on top. The screen lock button is located on the right side of the top, which I was happy about since I usually hold the phone in my left hand and the button is in a place my index finger feels natural reaching. The button itself didn’t protrude terribly far out of the phone, thus requiring a little more pressure to ensure the screen gets locked each time.

The back is comprised of the battery cover and a small ridge on the top that the camera and LED flash sit on top of. The explanation for this ridge is that the Global version is actually a miniscule amount thinner than the Droid 2, but the camera stayed the same thickness. So basically the rest of the phone got squished, but the camera didn’t. The battery cover is metallic and can be taken off by using your thumbs and sliding the door down; I prefer this method over just prying a thin piece of plastic off with my fingernail, which happens way too often for my taste.

Underneath the battery cover you’ll find a SIM card and 8 GB MicroSD card. The slot accepts up to 32 GB, so don’t hesitate to put in a much larger card if you have it.

Software and OS of the Droid 2 Global

The user interface on the Droid 2 Global is unsurprisingly familiar thanks to many similarities between the Global and the Droid Pro; both made by Motorola with the business user in mind, and therefore both use the same UI. The major difference is the Global’s larger screen, which I find to be much more pleasant to use than the Droid Pro’s measly 3.1-inch screen.

Motorola equipped the Global with Android 2.2, better known as Froyo, and put its usual Motoblur-related UI flavor on. It’s not specifically Motoblur since that is geared more towards consumer-end phones instead of business, but all of the design elements are essentially the same. They still use a lot of the same social networking widgets and cues, helping to integrate Twitter and Facebook information into your address book.

Flash is the major reason anyone really cares so much about having Froyo on their phone, and it doesn’t disappoint on the Global due to the 1.2 GHz processor and 512 MB RAM, but we will discuss the performance of the Global later in the review.

Since the Global is mostly business, many of the same features customers are treated to on the Droid Pro will apply to the Global as well. The same VPN client used on the Pro is also present on the Global; multiple corporate exchange accounts are supported; in addition, you will find a task manager, file browser, and the aforementioned address book is integrated, meaning duplicates are eliminated and everything is combined into a very user (and business) friendly system.

All of the above features will make the Droid 2 Global a fierce competitor to the Droid Pro in the professional field. At the very least, it’s nice to have legitimate choices for business professionals besides the Blackberry lineup. If more and more phones of this caliber come out, Blackberry won’t be able to hold its loyal business market share for much longer.

Differences between Droid 2 and Droid 2 Global

Surprisingly, there really aren’t as many differences between the two phones as you would imagine there should be. But there are two key ones that have been briefly mentioned in passing but will now focus more on.

First and foremost is what causes the new phone to have “Global” added onto its model name: The addition of a GSM-compatible chip allows the Droid 2 Global to be used on foreign networks all over the world. It was impossible to take the original 2 to other countries around the world because very few phone carriers worldwide actually still used the CDMA technology that Verizon phones use. Instead, GSM is the global standard by which at least 90% of the world goes by (that’s not an official stat, by the way, but there’s only a small handful of CDMA companies still out there). Now that the Global has the new connection capability as well as a SIM card included in the back of the phone, it can now officially be used anywhere. Not just for GSM/EDGE phone calls, but HSPA as well.

Normally carriers will lock these SIM cards down so they can only be used with one specific network. This can be pricey and frustrating because you would be restricted to do international roaming in these countries and would rack up the phone bill by the minute. Verizon, however, will unlock your Global after 60 days so that you can use a locally-based Prepaid SIM card already loaded with money. This is always a good idea when making a large number of local calls so as to not get charged for being rerouted through the US first.

The Global will function globally as a quad-band GSM/EDGE phone, set up with tri-band 850/1900/2100 UMTS/HSPA (up to 10.2 Mbps download speeds), so it’s assured to work virtually anywhere around the world. Sorry folks, don’t get your hopes up about using these on AT&T or T-Mobile while in the US; the Global will default to Verizon every time.

Finally, another key difference between the two phones is the faster processor speed. The Global features a 1.2 GHz processor, compared to the Droid 2′s 1 GHz CPU. While not a huge difference in speed, it’s enough to make multitasking and Flash player seem snappier and faster than before. Toss in the 512 MB RAM, and you’re looking at the fastest processor for a phone currently in the market.  On top of that, throw in the phone’s own dedicated GPU to handle certain games and apps even quicker, thus freeing up extra room for the regular CPU to do its job better, faster and more efficiently.

Another interesting note in differences is that the battery is slightly larger to handle the increased processor (1420 mAh vs 1400), even though the manufacturer rating gives it a shorter lifetime for the same reason. We’ll touch on battery life soon.

Lastly, the Global looks on paper as though it has the same specs, but we’ve been told that the Global is a hair thinner except for the camera (which is as thin as it can go), which is precisely why there appears to be a bulge at the camera.

I am somewhat impressed that Motorola didn’t just slap a SIM card in the Droid 2, call it the Global and close up shop. Instead, it improved further on a few things, which always makes for an even better reason to switch phones, even if you don’t plan to go international anytime soon.

Multimedia

Oddly enough, Motorola chose to use the stock Android 2.2 music player instead of incorporating its own UI. I find it strange that Motorola would add a dash of its own UI flavor into every other aspect of Android with the exception of the multimedia aspect. All I can assume here is that they decided that this category meshed well with the rest of the Motorola user interface, and thus nothing was changed. I do miss the Motorola-influenced media player on the Defy, that automatically captured album art and generated lyrics for every song I played — even the more obscure ones that aren’t so popular — so I do wish this style was incorporated into the Droid 2 Global as well.

Notwithstanding this UI choice, the Global’s media player is perfectly fine. I used my Skullcandy wired headphones and loved the audio quality through them; the stock media player offers plenty of sound options such as Equalizer and stereo surround.

The Global includes 8 GB of internal memory and is supplemented with an 8 GB MicroSD card. If you choose to, you may install a card with as much as 32 GB on it, to give you a total of 40 GB storage space to take advantage of.

Using the camera is an okay experience. It is a 5 MP camera with LED flash, autofocus, and other goodies like geotagging support and photo editing. Some of the colors washed out with bright lights but seemed to work just fine under medium lighting conditions. Video is captured at WVGA (480p, one step down from HD 720p) and takes videos at 24 frames per second, an average amount for similar cameras with the same resolution.

Performance of the Droid 2 Global

Motorola built the Global to be superb on its overall performance — it’s gotta be good for business, after all — and you can tell throughout almost every aspect of the phone itself. Battery life is rated at 8.5 hours of constant talk time, which is definitely above average for an Android phone (in the video I mistakenly quoted it at 6.5 hours, which would make it average for a Froyo device). Frankly, though, the battery life actually went down going from Droid 2 to Global; the original was rated for 9.5 hours talk time, which is almost unheard of for Android phones of any kind. Personally, my experience with the Droid 2 Global battery was average. I’m usually happy enough if my battery can last me most of the work day, which the Droid 2 Global was able to provide.

Naturally the 1.2 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM and dedicated GPU put the Global into a world of its own. This is like the Miami Heat of cell phones right now, with 3 powerhouses stepping up and teaming together to make one complete trash-kickin’ team. Apps and games just flew, without any problem or delay whatsoever. Seeing a power team like this makes me giddy for  2011, when even faster dual-core CPU processors are inside the popular phones.  I’d like to use this to see exactly how far current tech can be stretched out as a result of faster processors, and curious to know to what extent developers can innovate with the extra available power.

Call quality is generally pretty good, but I did notice that the speakerphone is actually a fair amount louder than the internal speaker when making calls. For whatever reason the phone’s speakers tended to be on the quieter side.  This may be due to the speaker, located just below the battery cover on the back, is set into the phone further than the normal speakers. The thinking behind this design is that when the phone is laid flat on the surface, the sound won’t be as muffled as it would be when the speaker is flush with the back. And it looks like a great design choice for Motorola.

Overall, I ended up very impressed with the Droid 2 Global as a whole. The specs and resulting performance simply cannot be beat yet, and Motorola showed that it has all its ducks in a row in terms of included hardware. Sadly, the company fell short in the phone’s design. While the keyboard will work just fine for most, I had a difficult time using it. But more importantly, the slider mechanism was extremely resistant to people opening it, the phone felt boxy and clunky, and the phone itself didn’t depart too far away from the 2009 design fashion that just frankly needs to be refreshed.

But since I realize that most business-centric consumers won’t really care about how fashionable it looks as much as how durable and reliable a phone it is, with high performance and global capabilities to boot, I know that this device will be a hit. It is currently $50 more than the Droid 2 original, at $200 with new contract. I would definitely recommend this phone to any business-oriented individual. For a non-business consumer, it’s a good average phone that doesn’t blow me away but is so solid in performance that it will be most likely worth giving it a second look.

You can now get Verzion Motorola DROID 2 Global for $39.99 on Amazon.com

Check out my video and full gallery with pictures and screenshots below.

• Verizon Motorola Droid 2 Global price drops to $149.99 possibly making way for the Droid 3
• Unboxing the T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ 2
• Verizon Motorola Droid 2 Global specs revealed, including color options
• Motorola Milestone XT720 will be available in the UK on July 19th
• Unboxing of the Droid 2 Global for Verizon

Not only has LG chosen to take full advantage of this opportunity by launching the “LG Apps Store”, it continues to utilize it and add fresh content. When I began reviewing the Quantum, only 7 apps were available. I downloaded a couple cool apps but otherwise was rather unimpressed. However, over the last two weeks 6 more apps have been added in, including one called Voice to Text, which does exactly what it sounds like, and is an app so important it should have been added into the default OS itself.

LG also  promised that they will be giving away about $30 worth app packages every 60 days. A bunch of paid apps is made available for free for 60 days. As soon as the new package arrives, the old one goes away. But if you installed it, the app stays on your phone.

This is great news for anyone considering an LG WP7 purchase, because we know the company is taking the LG Apps Store seriously and will continue to load in fresh content. Adding fresh content into any smartphone is what helps us fall in love with it again and again. Stale devices get tossed aside, but phones like the Quantum and Optimus 7 won’t be obsolete for quite some time.

Here are some exclusive apps that are now completely free and can only be used on the LG Quantum and LG Optimus 7:

Voice to Text

Mentioned earlier, this is my favorite app available in the store and could likely be the most important in regards to driver safety. Far too many people are texting and driving at the same time, becoming a potentially fatal distraction. Voice to Text aims to limit this distraction by introducing a speech-to-text app for the Windows Phone OS. Using Voice to Text, all you need to do is speak and the app will transcribe what you said into a text message, tweet, email or even a memo, depending on what you initially choose. Once you approve the transcribed message, VTT will copy and paste that message to whatever destination you want, and you’re on your way to having a true hands-free experience with your phone.

Voice to Text should be available on every phone, not just LG WP7 phones. The technology is there in full force for smartphones, but feature and messaging phones are still usually left without these kinds of options. We should all make a statement in supporting speech-to-text technology so phone companies understand the kind of demand there is for this kind of service.

Panorama Shot

Panorama Shot allows you to take your phone camera and stitch together several images spanned over a 180-degree angle. I’ll need to add a disclaimer to this one: the capability of phones to do a panoramic-style still image is not new. Far from it, in fact. But what IS exclusive about this app is the fact that it isn’t  available for WP7 devices, since Microsoft has restricted access to camera API, and only LG for now seems to be able to get around those restrictions. Fortunately this app can be accessed directly from your camera menu, so when you go into the camera and press the settings menu button, Panorama Shot is one of the first options available.

Look n Type

While texting while driving is incredibly hazardous, so too can texting while walking be dangerous. Ever hear the story about the girl who fell down a manhole while texting? This app will help reduce those kinds of incidents, and may even prevent you from randomly bumping into people because you’re not looking where you’re going.

The Look n Type app gives you access to the phone’s camera while overlaying that image with a full-sized keyboard. As you type, the text shows up in yellow on the actual camera imagery itself. Once done typing, you can choose whether you want to email, SMS or Tweet whatever you just wrote. So this way you are fully protected from falling or bumping into something (or someone) when you’re fully in “the zone”. Again, another very clever app that should be available for more phones, and hopefully will be over the next couple years.

Play To

Have you ever wanted to hook your phone’s multimedia collection up to your TV, computer, Xbox 360 or stereo? Play To helps make that happen on the Quantum and Optimus 7. As long as each device is connected to the same WiFi network, and has DLNA support,  you’ll be able to wireless stream any of your phone’s music, videos and pictures. On my Windows 7 PC, all I had to do was go into Windows Media Player’s Stream menu and tell it to allow remote control, and the Quantum picked up my PC within 3 seconds. Once connected, I chose to begin playing my preloaded playlist and sure enough, it started streaming through Windows Media Player with no problem; I got the same results from the slideshow I set up. In the Play To app, after choosing pictures I was prompted to select which pictures I wanted in my slideshow. Press the sync button, and it was playing on my PC.

The same is true for the DLNA enabled TVs. I don’t have one, but I have a friend who works at an electronics retailer, and he let me try out PlayTo there. All I needed to do – was connect to to their   open Wi-Fi network and find DLNA enabled  TV sets which are connected to that network too. Then I just selected one of the TV sets I wanted to stream a movie to, tapped on it – and the movie started playing. I even managed to accidentally get an episode of ‘The Living dead” streamed on a TV set a floor below, to the surprise and confusion of the salesman demoing it to the customer.

Photo Stylist

This app is, for lack of a better term, Photoshop on your WP7 device. Take either a new picture or an already existing one, put it through the Photo Stylist, and you can change the colors, brightness, contrast, you can make it look vintage, not to mention several other effects available for your tweaking satisfaction. Once you’re done, just hit save at the bottom and you’ll be able to keep your brand new creation!

Tool Box

An all-in-one app that combines several different types of applications into one convenient hub. Tool Box combines a flashlight, world clock, unit converter, level, and date calculator and puts it in one simple menu for you to access. Not much to it, but it’s nice to have this: it turns an app into a folder of sorts, and allows extra room on the main screen to be used for other apps and tasks. After all, it gets frustrating trying to look through a full range of apps to find the one you want.

ScanSearch

Another exclusive app is ScanSearch, an Augmented Reality app. This means you can use the camera app on the phone and couple it with the compass and GPS to find local businesses and other points of interest around you, just by pointing your camera in the direction of that particular point of interest. In the viewfinder you’ll see whatever points are close and in that same direction, and will give you additional information to see if you really want to go that particular point. As of this writing, ScanSearch is the only AR app available for WP7. We assume this will change down the road at some point, but this is just another reason to look at LG as a quality option when deciding which Windows Phone to choose. You can read (and watch) our full review of ScanSearch here.

Overview

There are a few more random apps available through the LG Apps Store that are more niche, but the ones I mentioned seemed the most interesting to me.

Overall, with a set of exclusive apps not available on any other Windows  smartphone, and a promise of fresh and free App package updates every 2 months, LG seems to be taking the customization through apps opportunity on WP7 phones much more seriously then competition.

• Win 3 AT&T LG Quantum and 2 LG Optimus 7 WP7 handsets with us
• Unboxing the LG Quantum: Brad’s First Impressions
• Exploring Dublin with LG Optimus 7 ScanSearch
• Smartphone use survey and LG Quantum/Optimus 7 giveway results. They ain’t smart”phones” anymore
• Microsoft Windows Phone Mango officially announced, brings IE 9, Groups, Threads and more

Samsung was one of the first manufacturers to take a swing at the platform, bringing out the Super AMOLED-equipped Focus to make a stellar example of WP7, showing off many of the platform’s capabilities. With a 4” capacitive touchscreen and 1 GHz processor, it’s definitely on the high end of the spectrum, and offering phones like the Focus tells the world that Microsoft is ready to play with the big boys and isn’t messing around anymore.

So while it’s going to be known as one of the very first Windows Phone 7 devices in the US, will it also be known as a good phone? Let’s find out what the Samsung Focus is all about.

Hardware and Design of the Samsung Focus

In hand, the Samsung Focus has a very familiar feel to it because it’s designed quite similar to many of Samsung’s other most recent phones, such as the Galaxy S. With its 4” touchscreen, thin body and rounded curves, anyone who has used a Galaxy S device will feel right at home with the Focus. It has a certain aura of elegance about it, and is a device I truly enjoy looking at. Even though it has a large screen it doesn’t feel like I’m holding a barge; the same cannot be said about other devices with 4-4.3” screens. At 4.07 oz the Focus is very light for its overall size.

I was a bit disappointed that Samsung chose to go with a black glossy all-plastic exterior that would attract fingerprints from a fly, let alone my grubby hands. While it may all be plastic, at least the back cover is something besides a boring flat back. Instead, Samsung designed it with some clever angles, keeping the middle raised and tapering it off on the edges. It adds class and makes the whole phone look solid.

As mentioned earlier, the Focus has a Super AMOLED display that makes the screen resolution brighter than the competition, helps save battery life, and uses thinner parts so the phone itself can be much thinner at 10 mm. The resolution of the screen is 480×800. In contrast to the LG Quantum, the colors and more vibrant and deep, and it’s easy enough to tell the difference when holding the two phones up next to each other. I did notice at the same time, however, that the screen brightness itself was higher on the LG Quantum when both were on the same brightness level.

Still on the front of the phone, 3 capacitive touch-sensitive buttons are shown directly underneath the screen. These 3 — back, Windows, and search — are the same as any other WP7 device since Microsoft requires this layout on every one of its phones. There are small changes the manufacturers can make: for example, the LG Quantum chooses to keep back and search touch-sensitive but turn the Windows button into a physical button. Samsung opted to go all touch, straight across. Fortunately all three of these buttons are easy to press, and at a comfortable place for my thumb when I’m holding the phone with one hand. I don’t feel as though the phone will just go off-balance and fall out of my hand easily, and that’s a great comfort to me.

The Focus attempts to keep the outside of the phone as minimal as possible. It subscribes to the idea that the less physical buttons there are, the better. On the left side you’ll notice the volume up/down rocker, again in the perfect spot for my thumb when one-handed.

On the right side, you’ll see both the camera button (I believe this is also a requirement on every WP7 phone; Microsoft prides itself in the ability to take pictures no matter if the screen is locked or if you’re in a different screen) and the power/screen lock button.

Up on top is the 3.5 mm headphone jack and the Galaxy S-esque MicroUSB charger port with the sliding door to help keep moisture and dust out without worrying about a dinky plastic flap just coming off the phone. I’ve always enjoyed this small but significant innovation.

Rounding up the tour of the Focus, the back simply has the 5 MP camera with LED flash and a decent-sized spot for the back speaker, as well as logos and the aforementioned angles. The battery cover is a basic snap-on and pry-off cover, nothing new. Underneath the battery cover there is room for a SIM card and MicroSD card slot.

A word about the MicroSD, since it relates to the overall hardware of the phone. This particular issue has been a rather large controversy and source of utter confusion ever since before the phone was even released. Here’s the scoop on it.

Originally Microsoft hadn’t intended any of its phones to have accessible expansion card slots, but somehow the Focus slipped through the cracks and shipped with one anyways. We’re still hazy on the details on how this occurred and why it was allowed to pass through testing this way, but the fact is that while the slot can technically recognize a MicroSD card (I’ve seen plenty of successful attempts), an official memo sent out by AT&T explains that no MicroSD cards currently made are actually compatible with WP7. The memo mentioned that owners of the Focus should wait until Microsoft-certified cards are available, though there is no word on exactly how long this will take. In the meantime, if a card is used, there is a rather sizeable risk to it in that it can severely affect the performance of your Focus. So for now, take full advantage of the 8 GB internal memory that the Focus has, and be patient until the new Focus-specific cards come out.

All in all, the Focus feels elegant, classy and modern. I don’t feel as though the phone’s style will be obsolete within the next few months, which is always a huge plus to potential buyers. Nobody wants to buy a phone that just looks old and outdated.

Software and OS of the Samsung Focus

The Focus being a Windows Phone 7 device (am I the only one who keeps wanting to say “Windows Phone 7 Phone”?) could either be a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at the OS. The phone has to somehow get past Microsoft’s soiled reputation in the world of mobile and prove not only itself but the OS that operates on it as well. That’s a rather heavy burden for any WP7 device to have at present time. Contrast that pressure with that of its relative, the Samsung Captivate, which has much less pressure on it than a normal phone just because it happens to run Android, an OS that’s already been proven a hundred times over.

At least the Samsung Focus does a spectacular job of handling this pressure well. As I was playing with the phone, never once did I think I was actually playing with first-generation firmware. The interaction with the OS platform was incredibly smooth and I rarely found any type of glitch or bug. This is a huge difference from that of the T-Mobile G1 running first-gen Android firmware, for sure.

Though there are a few things that I missed having on WP7 (copy and paste, *cough cough*), I know that I could use this phone on a long-term basis and be perfectly happy with it.

More details on my WP7 experience in a future review. But suffice to say, Focus had a heavy burden to bear, and bore it flawlessly.

One more note on the OS experience. Microsoft went polar opposite of Android’s multi-UI approach and actually clamped down on what phone manufacturers could do with the WP7 firmware. Each and every Windows Phone has the same exact layouts, user interfaces, and minimal spec requirements, to ensure that a phone maker can’t go messing up what Microsoft has already “perfected” and try to add in its very own flavor. Microsoft just held its ground and said if you want to play with me, you have to go by my rules. Fair enough, Microsoft, I think it’s probably for the better.

There are a few small changes each company can make. One such leniency Microsoft has granted is in the Marketplace, where each company can feature its very own store within the Marketplace itself. So Samsung has put in a few extra apps that can only be downloaded on the Focus and none other, such as:

Samsung Photo Sharing: Gives you the ability to upload multiple pictures at once to certain SNS sites.
Now: Basically identical to Daily Briefing on Samsung Android devices; shows your essential life information, such as weather, stocks, news, etc.
Three: Exclusive to H3G, gives easy access to customer support.
Network Profile: For any unlocked Samsung WP7 devices. Allows you to switch your active network profile to whatever networks are available, and gives you a list of networks to choose from. Great for international traveling.

Exciting? Not really. I wasn’t too impressed by the lack of choices in the “Samsung Zone”, as it’s called. When using the LG Quantum I noticed a much better selection of apps in LG’s Hub than I did with Samsung. Fortunately, this isn’t really that large a concern since the majority of apps that you’ll be interested in downloading will be available in the main Marketplace on any WP7 phone.

Camera and Camcorder

The camera built into the Focus is a good quality 5 MP that does offer LED flash and autofocus. It was a little tricky trying to find the best way to get the pictures completely focused, but after just a couple practice shots I had it down easy. From that point on it was smooth sailing and I felt the pictures turned out very well.

These pictures below are taken in my backyard under cloudy and almost rainy conditions, so there is a lower light level than usual. But the pictures still turned out great.

The camcorder is 720p HD resolution at the max, though you do have the option to record at a lower screen resolution. The advantage of doing this is in how much space you’ll save between the two different styles. If you’re running low on memory and can’t get to a computer to transfer existing files over, go with the lower res for a small period of time.

Thing is, when you look at this video below, it’s hard to tell that it’s in HD in the first place. Panning around my backyard made the video look slightly choppy, as if it takes a while for the picture to catch up with where the camera’s pointing. So at least outside it seemed sluggish. Using it inside looked slightly smoother but it is not 100% by any means.

You can set the camera to automatically or manually upload your pictures to SkyDrive, making it even faster and easier to get your pictures moved to your computer. It’s always nice to have the wireless upload ability to limit the number of times you actually need to plug your phone into your computer.

Multimedia and Browser

Sideloading the Focus on my PC was a piece of cake. All I needed to do in order to get started was download the Zune app on my computer, and plug the phone in. The Zune app booted right up and took me step by step through the setup process so it could recognize the Focus. Once setup, it was incredibly easy to go in and pick out which artists I wanted to listen to and import any pictures I had taken on the Focus already (and that’s if you never took advantage of the Focus’s ability to take the pics in your gallery and upload them to Microsoft Live SkyDrive).

Once on the phone, the music was easy to find since it was in the “Music+Video” tile. Going into that program, I was immediately faced with the options of music, videos, podcasts, and marketplace.

While I enjoyed the audio quality of the music I loaded into the phone, I was hoping to find an equalizer somewhere in the phone to adjust my bass and treble settings based on what genre I was listening. I couldn’t find any equalizer available.

Fortunately, WP7 allows me to perform other tasks while listening to my music player, so I could easily browse the web, text or email at the same time. Microsoft hasn’t enabled multitasking for third-party apps yet, but at least there is a small degree of multitasking that I do have access to.

Speaking of browsers, the included Internet Explorer on the Focus is rather robust. If you’re not a huge fan of IE, don’t worry too much about this version because it doesn’t look anything like the computer versions; instead, it’s optimized for your Windows Phone. Switching between active windows is easy, you can do voice searches, and the pinch-to-zoom and accelerometer work like charms here. Sadly, I absolutely hated the fact that going into my Google Reader pulled up the same mobile site that you would see on an old Blackberry or messaging phone. It’s hard going back to this style after getting used to the Android and iPhone web apps.

Even if you never use Google Reader, the important thing to take out of this is the idea that while most sites look perfectly fine (and normal) through the WP7 IE browser, those sites that are Android/iPhone optimized won’t be optimized on this OS platform (at least, not yet).

Extra Tidbits

With a 4” screen, typing on the WP7 keyboard was never an issue at all. In fact, going to this phone from an iPhone made me feel at home, because the keyboard was very responsive and Microsoft built an excellent autocorrect feature in with the keyboard itself that exceeds any other platform’s version.

Performance of the Samsung Focus

While having a solid OS and user experience matters a great deal, none of it is relevant if the phone itself is a piece of junk. Thus, it’s time to evaluate the performance of the Samsung Focus doing the most important stuff — its job.

Fortunately I was very pleased with everything on the Focus. For instance, the battery life on it is outstanding, especially compared to any iPhone or Android device I have ever used. I am fairly positive it had the best battery life I’ve ever used in a smartphone, which is saying a lot. The battery life is rated at 6.5 hours of constant talk time, but during my review I used the Focus as my primary device, which includes texting, emailing, web browsing and social networking, and the battery lasted me the entire day with some left to spare. I still charged it up every night, but I personally never had to worry if it would last through the day without getting a spare charger somewhere. Any phone that can start the day at 9:00 with full charge and still have 15% left at midnight is a winner in my sight.

The call quality was also excellent. No dropped calls, no static, and nobody complained on the other end of the line when I made my calls. The volume was high enough for me to hear everything clearly, and the speakerphone was equally impressive. In fact, I never had to bump up the volume to the highest setting, because moderate volume was good enough for me.

Finally, the 1GHz processor is coupled with 512 MB RAM, which makes this phone extra speedy. Scrolling up and down, the screen kept up with me without falling behind. It moved instanteously whenever I moved my fingers. The programs loaded up without major delays and everything I did using the phone was rather seamless. While other similar phones use the same speed processor, they don’t feel as speedy because they don’t have as much RAM as the Focus.

In my reviews I hate to say nothing but good things about a phone, because it’s my job to find little nitpicky things to like and not like, and there are goods and bads with every phone no matter how close to perfect it may seem. With that said, I was hard-pressed to find things I didn’t like about the phone that weren’t related to the OS in some way. The Focus has top-notch specs and carries those specs very well. I am rather disappointed in the SD card slot debacle, and hope it can get fixed soon so the Focus can have more than 8 small GB of storage space inside.

But overall, provided you are willing to venture into unknown territory with an unproven first-generation OS, the Samsung Focus is a great option to consider for your purchase. It is currently available in AT&T stores for $199 with contract and no mail in rebate.

Below you will find my video review of the Focus and a full gallery of pics.

You can now get AT&T Samsung Focus WP7 phone for FREE on Amazon.com

For more reviews on Windows Phone 7 devices, check out my LG Quantum review.

• IFA 2007 Report: Samsung SGH-i550 with GPS navigation and Google apps
• Unlocked Samsung Focus with Windows Phone is now just $214.99
• Windows Phone Marketplace now has more than 50,000 apps
• AT&T HTC Titan Review
• Samsung’s Focus S and Flash Windows Phone Mango handsets not coming to the UK?

Take the Droid Pro, for example. Just by name it’s easy to assume this particular device is made primarily for the business professional. It could simply be assumed this to be the case because Motorola took design cues from our neighbors up north and threw some obvious Blackberry inspiration into it.

One thing I was very curious to find out when I received the Droid Pro was how this device is supposed to be for businessmen and women, while no other Droids in the series are geared toward that same group. What makes the Pro so different and so desirable in the business community?

Hardware and Design of the Droid Pro

The Droid Pro ultimately looks as though it was imported straight from Canada, because it has a lot of interesting similarities to a Blackberry device. It’s as though Motorola was trying to come up with the perfect hybrid device that combines the best of Android with the best of Blackberry. The keyboard even looks exactly like the one found on the Bold 9700 or Torch 9800; it’s just too close to be a coincidence.

Along with the keyboard on the very front we are also blessed with a 3.1” HVGA (320×480) touchscreen. In other words, it’s smaller and has worse screen resolution than many of the best Droid handsets on market today. The smaller screen size is to be expected given the design, since it can’t fit both a large keyboard and screen, so a compromise had to be made down the line somewhere. For resolution, HVGA is okay, but simply not up to par with its competition. But the screen lover department is not the demographic Motorola is looking for in this device; if you must have a bigger and better screen, it’s best to go with a Droid X or Samsung Galaxy S series device.

I was impressed that a frontwards keyboard/touchscreen candybar such as the Droid Pro can still easily fit in my hand without any level of awkwardness. However, the phone did feel a little top-heavy when it came to tasks like typing with one hand. I could still do it, but in order to type fast enough, I had to use both hands. At that point it’s almost worth it to just go with a full sliding horizontal keyboard. So I found myself gravitating towards the on-screen keyboard more often because I knew I could use just one hand without feeling like the phone was about to fall off.

As for the keyboard itself, I mentioned earlier that it is eerily similar to that of a Blackberry. While I don’t have numbers to back this up, I’m pretty sure that a majority of phone enthusiasts could be shown only the keyboard without seeing the rest of the phone, and would say that it is Blackberry. The keyboard is similar because of the slightly-raised ridges protruding from each individual rectangular-shaped key, the ridges making it easier to type each individual key. The direction of the ridges even splits in the middle of the board (left side pointing to the left, right side pointing to right). The keyboard is 4 rows, which doesn’t leave any extra room for a dedicated number row. Instead, the numbers are situated left to right on the top row, and are used as a secondary button press (when using Alt, for example). I found the buttons relatively easy to press after a small adjustment period and could type smoothly, as long as I gave it the support of two hands. I also really liked some of the included shortcut buttons, such as the voice activation key and dedicated comma and @ buttons. These may seem insignificant until you start typing a lot of emails and text messages, and all of a sudden they become very handy to have. The only button I would have liked to see as well is a dedicated .com button. But even that’s not a huge concern to me.

Sharing the space between keyboard and screen are the touch-sensitive soft keys; Menu, Home, Back and Search. If it looks familiar, that’s because it should be; these keys are the same buttons Motorola uses on almost every single Android device it launches. I assume that’s because they found something that works, and why go with something different when it’s working just fine?

The entire side of the phone is graced with a silver chrome bezel running around the whole phone. The rest of the materials around that bezel, including the back, appear to be standard plastic. On the left side we find a volume up/down rocker button with MicroUSB charging port. One small tidbit about this charging port: it lights up when it’s charged. This can either be a pro or con, depending on your situation and tolerance level. Obviously this may be annoying when you’re charging your phone up and trying to go to bed at the same time, but it is many times nice to know for sure that the actual charger is working and doing its job.

On the right side, there is a customizable shortcut key and nothing else. Up on top, the usual 3.5 mm headphone jack and screen lock/power button. I don’t like precisely where that power button is located because it’s difficult to press when the phone is only in one hand.

We see a slight slope and protruding ridge on the upper half of the back which presumably is for the slightly thicker camera assembly. This includes the 5 MP camera and LED flash. To open the battery cover, simply use your fingernail to pry the cover away from the phone.

I would have liked to see higher quality materials used in the production of the Droid Pro, to ensure that the phone holds up to a professional’s hectic travel schedule, who is always moving from place to place.

To see what the Droid Pro is packaged with, check out my unboxing here.

Software and OS of the Droid Pro

The Droid Pro fortunately was loaded with Android 2.2, aka Froyo. While it doesn’t have full-on MotoBlur, the UI took a lot of inspiration from it. Even many of the widgets are identical, but I’m perfectly fine with this. I think Motorola opted not to go full MotoBlur because of the heavy emphasis the phone has on business-centric use; simply put, MotoBlur is destined to be more consumer-friendly because of all the social network syncing the UI throws in.

Don’t get me wrong: you can still sync up your social networking like Twitter and Facebook. It’s just not in your face as much. If you want it, it’s there for the taking. By logging into each social networking account, it will begin pulling status updates and tweets as well as integrating all of your friends’ contact information into your address book.

You have 7 home screen panels to customize to your heart’s content, and 3 buttons at the bottom of the screen to navigate to the most important parts of the phone: the dialpad, the app tray, and your address book.  The app tray is standard for both Android and Motorola, keeping it all on one page and making you scroll up and down to navigate through all of your downloaded apps.

The Pro also comes with some preloaded software (commonly referred to as “crapware” or “bloatware”), including: 3G Mobile Hotspot, backup assistant, city ID, DLNA, Media Share, My Verizon Mobile, Need For Speed: Shift, QuickOffice,  Skype Mobile, Task Manager, and a VPN client.

Droid Pro vs. Droid Amateurs

Why would business professionals ever choose the Droid Pro from anything else in the competition? It’s a valid question. After all, it’s still running the same kind of UI that can be found on the Droid X or Droid 2, so what else is going on behind the scenes that makes it more business-friendly?

First, some of the preloaded software helps throw in an extra element for business-saavy folks: QuickOffice, which allows you to create and edit documents; Skype Mobile lets you make international calls for a fraction of the standard per-minute cost that the carriers charge; VZ Navigator lets you use voice turn-by-turn navigation; 3G Mobile Hotspot will broadcast WiFi broadband for up to five devices (2 GB data costs $20/month); and a VPN client to give you access to those uber-secure intranet websites your company needs you to get into.

But in addition to that, the Droid Pro tries to add more Blackberry-esque data encryption and root certificate management, remote wipes, and plenty other ways to keep your data from being hacked and/or stolen. It also gives full support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, with instant email pushing, integrated calendars, and the ability to look up your corporate directory.

Soon (sometime in early 2011, that is), Motorola will also update the Droid Pro to throw in SD card encryption so that even if someone does hack into your phone, everything is still completely unreadable.

Finally, the Droid Pro is a world phone. This means that it comes with a CDMA/GSM chip and SIM card built in so the phone can be used internationally. This is a must have for many businessmen and women who travel around the world. To clarify, this doesn’t mean that the Droid Pro can be used on AT&T or T-Mobile in the US (it always defaults to Verizon in the US), but it does mean that it will automagically find GSM-based networks all over the rest of the world since GSM is the globally accepted standard.

An interesting tidbit on this is that Verizon will let you unlock the SIM slot after you’ve been with Verizon for 60 days and are in good financial standing (I assume this means you’ll be subjected to a credit check and your payment history will be evaluated). Once unlocked, you’ll be able to buy prepaid SIM cards from international carriers, which could likely make your calls cheaper when you are abroad.

Camera and Camcorder of the Droid Pro

Unsurprisingly, the Droid Pro packs in a 5 MP camera with LED flash, autofocus, and a few of the usual added features like geotagging, face detection, and various modes for different scenes. The camera did an average job in both bright and low-level light scenarios, though in the bright lights the pictures were slightly washed, in such a way to not show off the colors as well as I wanted.

Video recording is only at 720×480 with 30fps speed, just a notch down from the top of the line 720p that many new Androids are recording with. Normally 30 frames per second is more than enough, but in my initial tests of the video I noticed some choppiness when panning the camera around at an average pace. I tried not to make it too slow or too fast, but yet it seemed as though the video had a hard time keeping up with me.

Multimedia

The Pro may be built primarily for the business user, but it assumes that professionals like to party too. And by party, I really mean watch movies and listen to music on their phones. Although if that’s my idea of partying, it would explain why I don’t get invited to very many parties. Go figure. But my social life aside, the Pro does a decent job of including multimedia support. Motorola doesn’t throw in any frilly media player of its own, it just uses the normal Android one.

This Android media player does support most of the major audio and video formats, so chances are most types of media you use will be alright. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll likely have to bring your own SD card to this party; the Droid Pro comes with 2 GB internal memory and a 2 GB microSD card inside. At least this can be expanded out to a max of 32 GB, allowing for a grand total of 34 GB of possible storage space for all that music and all those movies.

Using my Skullcandy headphones, I was still able to get a good audio experience, though I felt that the Droid Pro was more on the soft side when listening to some of my volume and bass-intensive music.

Profiles

The Droid Pro offers the ability to change profiles. This is much similar to HTC Sense’s Scenes or, to a lesser extent, Sprint ID. There are three profiles, and each one has different customized settings and apps. For instance, the businessperson who wants to loosen up the tie on the weekend and get crazy can get rid of all work-related apps and settings and elect to use the “weekend” profile with a whole different set of games, programs and other apps.

Performance of the Droid Pro

Android phones have never been known for its prowess in the business world, because Android has always been marketed and focused toward the average consumer who likes to eat media for breakfast and get cool games and apps while Facebooking and Google searching the latest Taylor Swift concert. For the first time that I can remember, an Android handset is stepping up to the plate and squaring off directly with Blackberry, the best business phones in the world.

It wasn’t perfect, but the Droid Pro can definitely hold its head (if it had one) high, confident that it does a good job keeping up with the Blackberry powerhouses for the most part. There are just some things that the Blackberry has always done better and, for the near future anyways, continue to be great at: Email is one example, superior data encryption is another. But what the Droid Pro does more than anything else is show everyone there are more options available for keeping your data safe on business phone than just Blackberry.

Including a 1 GHz processor was a smart idea, because there is very little to no lag or delay with the Droid Pro. With how important it is for a phone to run smoothly these days, the Droid Pro was even more important due to its particular calling of being a business device.

Call quality was average and the speakerphone was loud enough to hear from a different room. Battery life is rated at 6.5 hours, among some of the best Android phones out there. Most likely this is due to the screen’s resolution and screen size, which are usually the biggest power suckers in the phone if high enough and large enough.

I recommend the Droid Pro because of its emphasis on the needs of the business customer, and it’s done well. While I was rather disappointed in how similar the keyboard looks to the Blackberry, that’s one thing that I can easily get over as long as the phone performs as well if not better. One thing that you’ll want to make sure of before you buy is that it fits exactly what your particular company needs. Does everyone at your company use Blackberrys for a reason, or is it something you can branch out on and still keep everything completely secure? Most likely, the Droid Pro will fit all of your needs while allow you to have a social life on it at the same time. It’s a great multi-purpose device.

The thing is, even if you aren’t into business, the Droid Pro is still going to be a great phone for you. I do think that there are going to be better phones at a comparable price (at launch, the Droid Pro is $179 with contract, after $100 mail-in rebate) that may fit you as well, and it’s good to do your shopping around, but the Droid Pro will still be a top-notch performer.

You can now get Verizon Motorola DROID PRO for FREE on Amazon.com

My video below shows the Droid Pro in action, and then peruse the vast gallery of pictures and screenshots that show off the Droid Pro in all its business-centric glory.

• Unboxing the Moto Droid Pro on Verizon
• Verizon introduces prepaid data packages for Droid Incredible, Droid X, Droid 2 and other smartphones
• Verizon’s Motorola Droid 3 to be announced on July 7?
• New Motorola Droid HD coming soon to Verizon?
• Motorola “mini Droid” for Verizon caught in photos and on video?

Which brings us to the Motorola Defy, a new Android device that has launched on T-Mobile’s network. It’s a rugged device, which isn’t anything special. Except it’s a special kind of rugged, the kind that withstands water at a much higher level than any other phone on the market today, including the Motorola i1 Android that was billed as the very first rugged smartphone device to come out.

I was incredibly excited to begin reviewing the Defy, because it meant I would be able to dunk it in water. How often can I take my phone and just throw it in the kitchen sink and let it swim around for a while, and not get in trouble for it? Not very often at all, so I definitely wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to put the Motorola Defy to the test.

But even though I will spend a decent amount of time discussing the merits of dropping the Defy in the city pool and yet surviving, let’s keep in mind that it’s still a regular phone inside that rugged physique. Indeed, a phone that withstands being immersed in water doesn’t do any good if it’s a terrible phone in performance. Thus, without further adieu, here are my findings and observations on the Motorola Defy after some personal time with it.

Hardware and Design of the Defy
The first thought that popped into my head upon hearing that the Defy is a rugged device was “big and bulky”. It seems as though it should be a requirement. But I certainly was surprised when it finally showed up at my doorstep. It’s easy to mistake this phone for any regular ol’ Android: weighing in at 4.2 ounces and with dimensions o4.21 x 2.32 x 0.53, it’s completely average. It even throws in a 3.7″ capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. It even feels smaller than expected when handling it.

Phones of this nature are never the prettiest ones either, though Motorola tried very hard to make this one the exception rather than the rule. The touchscreen takes up most of the front with little room for anything else besides speaker, sensors and the touch-sensitive buttons on the bottom. There are two bands of rubber, one black and one white, that stretch around the entire phone’s side that gives it a softer look, though there are six tiny Torx screws bolted into the black band that end up making the Defy look more like a tank, and it doesn’t do the Defy any favors in the looks department as a result.

At the bottom of the white band comes the back of the phone, decked out in black rubber just like the top side band. The Defy is designed in such a way that the front is wider and taller than the back; I believe this was done as a way for us to get a firmer and more solid grip on the device, as I do find the Defy to be easy and comfortable to hold. On the back itself, we see the 5 MP camera and accompanying LED flash. LED flash is absolutely crucial to have when considering a phone camera 5 MP or higher, because a camera at that high quality should have every luxury available to it that digital cameras of that caliber have. If phone cameras are replacing standard digital cameras, give them the same abilities so they can truly become competitive.

Lastly on the back, we can find the latch to take the battery cover off. This latch is the main part of the phone that keeps the water outside. Essentially the latch is a gasket that seals the phone shut from the surrounding water, and can only be opened by using a slider that has to be slid open to detach the cover from the phone. When using the Defy you need to make absolutely certain this latch is completely locked so as to ensure all of the Defy’s insides stay dry at all times.

The front is decked out with Gorilla Glass, which is meant to be a more durable material than the glass most other touchscreens are made out of. While it doesn’t prevent the screen from cracking, it does help keep the screen from getting so scratched up that you can’t see your phone’s display as a result. The touch-sensitive buttons on the front are the usual ones for most Android devices of late: menu, home, back, and search.

On the sides, there isn’t much, and for good reason. The more components that can be accessed on the outside of the phone, the more likely water damage can occur. So Motorola has kept everything to as minimum as possible. All we have on the left side is the port for MicroUSB charging, and the right side plays host to a volume up/down rocker. Up top we find a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a screen lock button. On the bottom, nothing.

Internally the Defy holds 2 GB storage, but an expandable MicroSD card slot gives you the option of sticking up to 32 GB extra in the Defy if you want.

All in all, I was impressed with the hardware and design of the Defy. Motorola did a great job of making a rugged device that fits well in your pocket and has a cool modern look to it. And it does the job that it was designed to do: keep water out.

Software and OS of the Defy
The Defy runs on Android 2.1 Eclair and is loaded with Motorola’s famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) MotoBlur User Interface. As it is a Motorola device, however, this is to be completely expected. The UI is the same as can be found on Motorola’s other Droid devices such as the Droid 2 Global, Droid X, and Droid Pro. The only difference you will see between the Defy and the Pro/Droid 2 Global is that the latter is supported by Froyo, aka Android 2.2. This is the newer version that is able to run at faster speeds and supports Flash Player. Being that the Defy debuted at roughly the same time period, it’s unfortunate that the Defy is already considered outdated compared to these other phones.

But moving past the concern of which version of Android is on which phone, Motoblur in and of itself has many good intentions. The whole goal of the UI is to integrate all of your social networking together, such as your Facebook and Twitter status updates, and attach them to one singular account that you can access even if you move from one Moto phone to another. The UI makes use of several different kinds of widgets to continuously stream new updates in at your convenience. However if these widgets get in the way, or prove to be unuseful to you, they’re easy to delete.

The problem I have with a UI attempting to integrate all of this social networking capability into one account is that the latest versions of Android already have decent social network integration built into any phones that have been updated to the latest version. So I just think it’s somewhat cumbersome to push all of that aside in order to replace it out with your own solution. That’s the double-edged sword of an “open source” OS; it’s too easy to go in and throw in your own flavor to an already proven platform.

As the Defy is a slate phone that has no physical keyboard, a heavy emphasis must be placed on the phone’s on-screen keyboard itself. At least this is an area where the Defy did not disappoint. Fortunately the Defy is equipped with the Swype keyboard out-of-box, which makes me very happy. I always love having different keyboard choices, but Swype is starting to become my default keyboard if available. With Swype you can just slide your finger from one letter to another until you complete the entire word, and it’s smart enough to tell what you are trying to type. If the word isn’t recognized then you can manually type it in the old-fashioned method (I do find it rather odd that I’m called a regular on-screen keyboard “old-fashioned”). This keyboard style has increased my typing speed dramatically.

Besides these factors, there is not much out of the ordinary on the Defy’s OS that you won’t find on any other MotoBlur device, especially those that have come out over the last few months.

The Motorola Defy’s Water Tests

Let’s not waste any more time. I know you want to know how the water testing went, so I’m happy to tell you exactly how it all worked out.

This video footage was taken on my Defy as I dunked it in water:

This was my favorite part of the entire review. It’s not too often I get permission to test out a phone’s durability to such extremes, so I lept at the opportunity to throw the Defy into water and see exactly how it would last. Having heard a few horror stories about Defys being water-damaged because a plug wasn’t actually sealed correctly, I was very cautious and meticulous about making sure everything was properly sealed. When it came time to put the phone in water, I was trying to keep myself from physically pulling myself and the phone away from it, just out of natural paranoia on my part.

But once I let my inhibitions down and threw the Defy in water, I watched (and recorded video) as it lay at the bottom of the tub of water, and realized that the screen was still on, and I could even make phone calls to the Defy while it was immersed. Granted, due to the nature of capacitive screens I could not actually answer any incoming calls (or do anything else with the screen for that matter), but it was neat to see the phone actually working when any other phone would be completely frying and going nuts in every way possible.

I kept the Defy in a tub of water (which was less than a foot deep, but deep enough to completely immerse it and get the point across) for roughly 2 minutes, took it out again and dried it with a rag. As soon as the screen was dry, I could use it normally as if nothing had happened at all. So I dunked it again. And again. I dunked it 4 times overall, each time for at least 1-2 minutes. So in a very short time period the Defy stayed underwater for roughly 5-10 minutes total. That’s definitely long enough to determine how well a phone can hold up to water, that’s for sure. Under the sealed gasket, there was a small amount of water on the top and bottom, but there were walls around the battery cavity that prevented any water from seeping in. In fact, after so many minutes of underwater adventuring, the liquid damage indicator was still completely white (when exposed to water, it becomes red as a telltale method for OEMs to determine if the warranty is void).

So my experiments were a success. The Motorola Defy can officially Defy water. There are a couple disclaimers, however:

First, you need to make absolutely certain that every plug and gasket is completely sealed. You shouldn’t be able to pull it away without digging into it with your fingernail or a finger and thumb combination. Second, even though it protects against water, it will only protect up to certain depths before the pressure becomes too much for the phone to handle. Motorola has claimed that the Defy can handle up to 10 minutes in water 3 feet deep. In other words, it’s still a very good idea to be cautious with your phone, though the Defy at least gives you some wiggle room if an accident occurs. Drop it in the sink? No problem. Drop it in the toilet? Please don’t tell us, but also no problem (unless you flush first).

In my full video review I show what it’s like dropping the Defy into water for a couple minutes, so keep an eye for that at the bottom of the review.

Camera and Camcorder

The Motorola Defy offers up a now-standard 5 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash. These are must-haves for top of the line smartphones in my opinion, and it’s a huge plus to me that a mid-range Android device has these capabilities.There is no physical camera button, likely due to concerns adding more buttons into a rugged and water-resistant phone; thus it makes it more difficult to actually press the right place on the phone screen and touch-to-focus on the screen itself is non-existent.

The one area that I felt is lacking is the video resolution. For any Android device that is at least 2.1 or higher, and has a 5 MP camera or better, I want to see 720p HD video resolution  offered. In the Defy, however, the max resolution I could bring up was 640 x 480.

Referring to the video I took above that shows the camcorder of the Defy while underwater, the above-water section of the video will be a good representation of the video quality on the Defy. For its max resolution, the quality is just fine. The problem is that it should be a higher resolution.

Multimedia on the Motorola Defy

Listening to music on the Defy is a neat experience. It took me by surprise a little, actually. Even sideloading and syncing media from the computer to the Defy is an easy and flawless process: plugging the phone into my Windows 7 PC prompted a new media sync screen supplied directly by Motorola. This screen is called the Motorola MTP Interface, and shows on my computer screen all of my missed calls and texts, and gives me options to import pics/videos and manage my media such as music and movies. It’s a very clever display and doesn’t require any additional downloading, so it pops up quickly and easily.

Once my music was loaded onto the Defy, I checked out the music interface. It’s nothing spectacular; just a blase Android interface. Except for one thing: lyrics are included! This means that as I was rocking out to Rock Lobster, the lyrics (powered by tunewiki) came up and put the proper sentence in bold as if I were trying to sing karaoke. And it was able to pick up some rather obscure songs, in addition to the standard top 40. Anytime I can find lyrics to songs I like, I’m happy and impressed. Another thing of note was that the lyrics didn’t take very long to load into the system; in fact, it was a rather speedy process.

I used my Skullcandy headphones to listen to the Defy, and the audio quality was wonderful. Absolutely no popping, hissing, or static of any kind. An equalizer helps offer the right audio flavor to go with the right genre that you’re listening to.

Performance of the Defy

My experience with the Defy’s performance overall was average. I didn’t have any problems making calls, hearing people on the other end of the line, and vice versa. The phone’s volume was loud enough for me, as well as the speakerphone volume as well.

The Defy’s 800 MHz processor also worked without many hitches or complaints, but I did notice that there was a tiny bit of lag in certain areas. For instance, as I would scroll up and down through the menu or contacts, I could tell that the list I was scrolling through had to catch up with me . It just seemed to be following me around, if only just a fraction of a second behind. But when compared to some of the 1-1.2 GHz processors out there, this is definitely a noticeable difference. I do wonder if any of this is related to the MotoBlur UI, as many times a phone’s user interface will actually slow the phone down. I didn’t experience any delay going into programs, however, and the pinch-to-zoom functionality of the Defy performed fine. So the processor was definitely average, but wasn’t bad enough to be a hinderance to my enjoyment of the device itself.

Battery life is rated at 6.6 hours constant talk time, which is amazing for an Android phone. I found that the battery would last me throughout most of the day at moderate usage (mostly texts, emails and apps) and would need to be charged up in the early evening. Stretching out my use by limiting what I did on it, I could make it last all the way until bedtime. But if you’re a heavy user on the Defy, you’re going to want an alternate method of charging it up mid-day just to be on the safe side.

It’s easy to be confused on what to do with the Motorola Defy. Obviously its major strengths are in its rugged design, and it does exactly what it’s supposed to, but what else stands out about the phone? Not a whole lot. Essentially it’s a mid-range Android device that just happens to do very well under extreme wet conditions. Motorola did a great job designing the hardware of the phone, to make it look like a softer phone even though it’s not supposed to be. It doesn’t feel rugged, and that’s the whole point. They also did a great job in making it feel comfortable to use. With a large screen and average processor, the phone itself runs smooth enough to do the job. I do wish a few specs were bumped up, such as adding in Froyo and HD video, but 2.1 still works just fine (sans Flash) and the video could potentially benefit by updates in the future.

The bottom line is, if you’re with T-Mobile and are looking for a heavy-duty smartphone, the Motorola Defy is the best choice by far on the network right now. I definitely was not disappointed in using it. It is not a high-end smartphone, nor should it be marketed as such. It’s a simple and average Android device and that’s all it was ever meant to be. And for what it’s meant to do, the phone receives high marks.

You can now get T-Mobile Motorola Defy for $49.99 on Amazon.com

Here is my full video review of the Motorola Defy as well as a beefy gallery of pics and screenshots.

• Motorola Defy to be launched on October 21 in Europe?
• Rugged Motorola Defy with Android 2.1 coming to Europe
• Motorola Defy coming to India on January 24?
• Motorola Defy+ with Android Gingerbread to be launched in September in Germany?
• Rugged Android-powered Motorola Defy now available from Telus in Canada

So with that said, is this new device something you should feel stylish packing around with you? UnwiredView is here to answer that question plus many more in our full-scale review of the Blackberry Style 9670 on Sprint.

The Style runs for $99.99 with contract, and is one of the first phones (besides the Blackberry Torch) to run the new OS 6 out of the box. I was very intrigued to play around with a Blackberry phone that runs OS 6 with no touchscreen, and see how it’s different.

My first thought in seeing the Style was the fact it is a clamshell smartphone. We don’t see too many of these out there mainly because it’s so hard to pull it off well. Clamshells with full physical keyboards tend to be either too wide (wide is okay for some sliders or slate phones, but it looks too large for comfort on a flip), or the keys tend to be too small in order to decrease the phone’s width.

Blackberry has had many years of experience to find a way to pull it off, and they succeeded this time. I can’t exactly say the same thing about its clamshell predecessor, the Pearl 8220 (it was cheaply made and flimsy, and used the Pearl SureType keyboard instead of full QWERTY), but a lot of lessons were learned and the Style was born as a result.

Box of the Blackberry Style

Just like many of Sprint’s recent offerings, the Style came in the usual gray-and-yellow box with the random person doing a random thing right next to a phone that by scale is actually taller than the person in the picture. Very inaccurate representation of a phone, of course, but in this case it appears to be a stylish woman just standing up and admiring the phone. I guess it can be assumed this is supposed to be a business professional, as that is usually the typical demographic RIM aims for nowadays.

Inside the box itself, I found the standard 3.5 mm headphone set, USB cable with wall module, as well as all the fun documentation. The user tools are located on a mini CD, which will include user manuals and desktop manager for Blackberry. Underneath all this there is a “get started” guide, which is supposed to help assist you in getting everything set up, especially if this is your first time using a Blackberry.

Hardware and Design

Earlier I made mention of clamshell smartphones being too wide. I came away from my review of the Style very impressed because not only is this phone not too wide, it’s actually the same width as the iPhone and Nokia N8, and narrower by a slight margin than the Torch, its older brother. It feels like a hockey puck to a certain degree, and has a certain level of awkwardness when gripping it, but it still is mostly comfortable to hold in my hand.

I noticed that whenever Blackberry steps outside of its comfort zone by experimenting with a form factor different than the standard candybar (a la Curve and Bold, for example), the company goes to great pains to ensure that each and every one of its phones still maintains the same Blackberry look and style. In other words, while the Style is a clamshell, it still has the shape, size and design of any other Blackberry made over the last two years. It’s made of the same material, the keyboard looks identical to that of the Bold or Tour, and the sides have a very smooth feel reminiscent of several other Blackberry phones made this year.

My review unit is black, and the Style is available in purple as well, though the decision of which color to choose seems irrelevant since both colors look highly glossy and pick up fingerprints, smudges, and grease incredibly easy.

On the outside, The front display has a 240×320 pixel resolution, which is one of the best I’ve seen for the front display on a flip phone. By default it shows off an analog clock with vital stats (such as battery life, internet connection, reception level, etc) and mentions any notifications you may have. Currently I see my emails and SMS, Facebook and Twitter updates. Here’s how it works: use the volume keys, up or down, to move from one notification to the next; to select and view more details about that particular notification, hit the convenience key (both volume and convenience keys are located on the right hand side of the Style).

The external display isn’t perfect. It only shows a preview of each message, so in order to view longer texts or emails you’ll need to flip the phone open and read them the old-fashioned way. Still, this offers a great opportunity when you’re busy to see if it’s even worth opening the phone to read it in the first place. If not, obviously it saves you time not having to worry about it until later.

The back sports a 5 MP camera with LED flash and not much else. The battery cover is a little flashy with what looks like a bit of brushed gun metal to give it the modern classy look. Looking at the right side there you will see a volume rocker and convenience key, the same shortcut key you’ll see on any and every Blackberry made in the last few years. Over on its opposite end, there is a MicroUSB charging port and 3.5 mm headphone jack if you want to shun the headphones in the box in favor of your own personal set.

Flipping it open it’s easy to notice the same kind of keyboard you would find on a Bold 9700 or Tour; the keys on the Style are ever-so-slightly smaller and more crowded in comparison, but not by much. The set up is pretty much the same across the board: gracing the topside of the keyboard is the call button, menu, trackpad (I love the trackpad so much more than the trackball!), go back button, and end call/power. The rest of the keyboard is stretched out over 4 rows in the same fashion we’d see any other keyboard. Blackberry opted for more of the raised-key look on the Style, which will be very close to the Bold, Tour, and even 8800 series. All of your typing will feel incredibly familiar and shouldn’t take long to get accustomed to. Even though the keys on the Style’s keyboard are raised, they still seem flatter than most Blackberry keyboards. It does make it a little more difficult to type on.

The trackpad is really sensitive by default, but I turned down the settings on mine to around 60 and it really limited the number of apps I normally open up by accident simply because the slightest touch on the trackpad would whisk the cursor away to the other side of the screen.

Flipping open the Style feels smooth and unhindered. There is no difficulty in opening the Style, and never feels like it’s going to fall apart. This is a huge plus to me.

Once flipped open, take a look at the hinges. The hinge on the Style looks very solid, like it will last a long time with moderate or heavy use. To any hardcore Blackberry user, this will not come as much of a shock since Blackberry tends to make their devices more durable than others. As the phone gets opened, the screen’s top half of the phone will actually partially duck beneath the keyboard half, only enough to tuck the screen out of the way when the phone’s in use.

The main display is a 2.7” LCD using a 360×400 pixel resolution. This means the display is going to be very similar to the Torch and Bold, which looks fine for being a smaller 2.7” screen. It is still disappointing to see that no progress has been made by RIM in improving the display. Certainly I have a feeling that the Style began its development stage around the same time as the Torch, which would explain why the screen resolution is the same. But the question continues to loom: when will the screen quality get any better on a Blackberry than it has been over the last two years straight? In this industry, if you aren’t moving forward, you’re moving backward.

So in terms of the phone’s design, does it live up to being full of “Style”? Maybe for 2008 or 2009, it is, but I just feel as though it’s already dated in some ways. The question is, has any of RIM’s devices in 2010 actually felt completely fresh and modern? Probably not. But just like most other Blackberrys in existence, the Style does throw in a look of class. And quite frankly, Blackberry prefers that design over trying to look hip and stylish any day of the week.

Software of the Blackberry Style

The Style takes advantage of Blackberry’s new OS 6, still in its stages of infancy. Having played with OS 6 on a Blackberry Torch, I first thought that this new OS would work out well only on a touchscreen device, due to the types of gestures that are used to navigate through the several different home screen panels and minimize/maximize those screens. But since the Style lacks a touchscreen interface, and the OS looks almost identical to its Torch brother, Blackberry has to find different ways to perform the same kinds of functions.

My favorite improvements of the new OS in general are the inclusion of a webkit browser, a full HTML browser much similar to what Android and iOS use; a universal search option that allows me to look through all my email accounts, social feeds and applications to find what I am looking for; and a universal inbox that mashes together all emails/SMS messages with my social feeds such as Facebook and Twitter. It’s nice to just have one folder with all of my updates, instead of having to search through 5-6 different folders to get the information I need.

OS 6 also splits up the usual one-size-fits-all app tray and organizes many of the special apps into several sections or categories, such as “all”, “frequent”, “recent”, “media”, and “downloads”. This is especially helpful when you have dozens of apps and hate having to search your entire app tray to find what you need. Rather, either use the universal search to find it or filter it in one of the other app tray sections.

Some elements of OS 6 on a non-touchscreen device are just as easy as on the touchscreen Torch, some are not. Most gestures can be done through the trackpad; instead of swiping your finger up or down on the screen itself to easily open/close the app trays, you need to scroll the trackpad down all the way to the bottom to get the tray to open up. To get it to close, hit the back button or go up to where it says the name of the tray’s category and click the trackpad once. Or, just double-tap the menu button to open it and double-tap again to close it. Easy enough. Moving back and forth from one screen panel to the next is also easy, only requiring a swipe of the finger left or right over the trackpad.

Features of the Blackberry Style

The Blackberry Style’s camera is 5 MP with autofocus, LED flash, image stabilizer, and plenty of different scene settings; in other words, it’s precisely where it should be for a new Blackberry of the $99 price range. It also records VGA video, which is somewhat of a sour point for me on any modern smartphone with a camera of 5 MP or higher. I believe that any phone with a camera of that caliber already should also invest in better camcorder capabilities.

A huge flaw in the Style camera is its placement on the device. It’s located on the back of the phone, which normally is not a large concern by any means. However, on a device like the Style that has a rather short back, almost every single time I turned on the camera I discovered that my fingers were covering up the lens. The way I grip the phone normally, it feels very unnatural to move my hand even further down the phone to take video, not to mention how top-heavy the rest of the phone feels as a result.

Overall the camera is not very impressive for a 5 MP resolution, and I wanted to see better video capture quality than plain VGA. Below are a couple sample shots and one sample video I took with the Style camera/camcorder to show off the quality. The pictures can be somewhat blurry even with image stabilizer technology built in. My only guess is that the pictures would be sharper if I could use the camera holding it the normal way, but this will have to do. The video records at VGA 640×480 res, and takes 20 fps. The sample shown below is a bit choppy and I can’t make out as much detail as I’d like, but it sure does get left in the dust being behind other smartphones with 30 fps rate and even some with HD recording.

The Style comes with 512 MB of internal flash memory and includes a 8 GB microSD card. If you need more space, the Style will handle microSD capacity of 32 GB. I like to see phones come with a large enough microSD card to remain competitive in memory to most other major phones on the market.

Since we are talking about a Blackberry device, it’s probably a totally obvious statement to mention email and messaging is one of the Style’s biggest strengths. But it’s been stepped up a notch with OS 6. Earlier I talked briefly about how OS 6 integrates the mailbox with Twitter and Facebook updates without any real effort. The only concern I have about Blackberry’s messaging services is the lack of real exchange support for regular customers. It becomes frustrating for me when I want to sync my Google contacts, calendar, and other email accounts wirelessly using the Exchange server, and find that I cannot do so without downloading a special app that takes extra time to sync everything, instead of doing it in real-time.

Sprint throws in some of its own services in here, which may all sound very familiar since they are included with most Sprint smartphones. Sprint Zone, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV, Sprint Music Store and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile. Those are the largest portions of bloatware on the phone, but if you feel like adding in your own special flavor to your new device, check out the App World directly on the Style to find the latest and best apps for it.  App World has a long ways to go when compared to every other app store in the US market today. You’ll find a larger variety of apps to choose from when using Android or iOS, but on a Blackberry you not only have the few thousand apps in the App World to pick from, you can also choose some from third-party sites if it fits your fancy.

The Style also comes with Twitter, Facebook and MySpace all preloaded as separate options, and you can also combine them together in the Social Feed, a new OS6 improvement that puts all your updates into one feed, and even includes the option to subscribe to RSS feeds as well.

Another unique feature that was briefly mentioned in my review of the Blackberry Torch and OS 6 was the new ability to sync music over WiFi. When I’m on the same WiFi network as the computer that holds all of my music, I can have the two devices see each other and sync with each other easily. It will be essential to get the latest version of Blackberry Desktop Manager in order to do this. Not only will you be able to back up your phone, you can sync many types of information with it as well, such as calendar, contacts, and messages.

I also found a hidden nugget in the phone app: when in the middle of a call, hit the Menu button and you’ll find an option to enhance your call audio. A popup window shows up asking if you want to boost the bass and/or treble. I’ve never seen this before on any phone.

Performance of the Blackberry Style

This is where Blackberry shines every time. Anytime I use a Blackberry, I can count on it being consistent with all of its other products; the antenna is strong, the battery life is long, and call quality is excellent. The voices on the other end of the line are crisp and loud, easy to hear, and vice versa.

While the Style is packing a sub-par processor that’s estimated at 600 MHz, I noticed a large contrast between this phone and the Sanyo Zio. Both phones have roughly the same speed processors, and the Style benefits from Blackberry’s efficient and speedy UI. No matter what processor speed, the Style is going to outperform its brethren in terms of overall lag experienced (or not experienced).

My call quality on the Style was great, and never had any concerns from anyone I talked to on it. This has never come as much of a surprise to me given Blackberry’s reputation of making a solid device that can handle a lot that you throw at it.

I enjoy the battery life on the Style. Talk time is rated at 4.5 hours, average for smartphones, but I got it to last roughly around 5 hours straight talk time. More realistic to my usual routines on a smartphone, I got almost a day and a half out of moderate use.

If there’s any reason to get a Blackberry, it’s going to be performance. RIM knows how to design a properly executed phone with great messaging features, and now are branching out to other areas such as multimedia. They’re on the right track for all the other stuff, but as long as Blackberry still retains its solid reputation for making a reliable smartphone, it still has a future.

Still has a future so long as they do start catching up with the rest of the smartphone gang. Using the Style made me feel as though I were using a state-of-the-art phone from 2008, which made me realize that Blackberry hasn’t made anything state-of-the-art in a very long time. The Style feels as though it began the design process around the same time as the Torch, which is why they both have very similar specs.

But being top of the line isn’t the reason to get the Style. Get it because it’s a reliable phone and a relatively comfortable fit as a clamshell smartphone. Get it because the price is right on it, not too high and not too low. Get it because it’s a solid phone that doesn’t feel flimsy as if it’s going to fall apart any moment.

Here’s the don’ts: Don’t get it if you want the best quality camera or multimedia experience. They’re decent on the Style, but not fantastic. Also don’t get it if you’re looking for a world phone, as it only sports dual CDMA 850/1900 bands. It also doesn’t have the fastest processor, HD video recording, or any touchscreen interaction.

Overall, in looking at all of the recent offerings in Sprint’s lineup around the $99 range, the Style outshines most if not all in that category. If you like the flip form factor and don’t care about having the nicest bells and whistles, it’ll be a good buy for your money.

Oh – I almost forgot the most important part – is it really very stylish? Will it make you cool just for having it? It’s not quite THAT hip or cool or whatever term you want to use. But it’s classy. The glossy look on the front and gun metal on the back help add to the aesthetic appeal. It’s not a hipster device, but still a good device for professionals.

What do you think about it, based on what you’ve seen and read so far? Leave a note in the comments for us. Also check me out on Twitter at http://twitter.com/phonewisdom. Below you’ll find a two-part video (a full 20 minutes of Blackberry Style goodness) and picture gallery. Enjoy!

You can now get Sprint Blackberry Style for $19.99 from Amazon.com

Part 1:

Part 2:

• Sprint’s BlackBerry Style 9670 (Oxford) gets official: $99.99 starting October 31
• New BlackBerry Torch 9850, 9860 and 9810 officially announced
• Verizon BlackBerry Torch 9850 launch date leaked
• BlackBerry Torch 9810 revealed on AT&T’s website
• Verizon to launch the BlackBerry Torch 9850 soon

So far only a few players have stepped up to the plate to take that risk. LG is one of those players, introducing the Quantum and Optimus 7 handsets as its primetime investments. Today I will be reviewing the Quantum, now available in the US on AT&T.

While Microsoft has set a very specific criteria for OEMs to follow in making WP7 handsets, the LG Quantum still has been able to stand out of the crowd by offering the only horizontal slideout QWERTY keyboard in the US as of this writing (The Dell Venue Pro is the only other handset in the US with a physical keyboard, but uses a vertical slideout keyboard instead).

To note, I love the choice of the phone’s name. Hearing Quantum always makes me think of quantum mechanics/physics and Quantum Leap. No matter which way you think of the word, it signifies a rather large jump forward in one way or another. This is incredibly symbolic of the goal Microsoft is attempting to achieve with WP7.

Thanks to our friends at LG we have been given the opportunity to review the Quantum for a couple weeks, and it’s time to share our thoughts with you. How does the LG Quantum act and feel, and how does it hold up against its WP7 brethren? Find out in this full review of the LG Quantum.

Hardware and Design of the LG Quantum
In the worldwide launch of WP7, it’s almost as though all the phone companies got together and drew straws to decide which form factor each company would design; there are so many different types of Windows Phones out there that you really have your choice of whatever style fits your needs. LG chose to include a full-sized physical QWERTY keyboard in designing the Quantum and threw it in as horizontal slider.

Doing so does mean that the phone itself weighs 6.2 ounces and spans out at dimensions of 4.7 x 2.34 x 0.60, making it heavier and thicker than its competitors. Fortunately it does not sacrifice style points or even comfort points in the process. When I held the phone in my hands I did not feel like it was too heavy for it to be comfortable. On the contrary, I actually felt that the LG Quantum is the most solidly built of all three AT&T WP7 devices. The Quantum is built primarily with rubber and metal materials. Instead of being the primary ingredient, plastic is only thrown into the mix as a secondary material. Not only does the rubber and metal give it a more solid feel, it also makes the Quantum more aesthetically pleasing. For instance, the back cover is all brushed metal and adds a very classy look to the device. The rubber sides make the phone already feel like it has a case on it, even though it doesn’t.

The Quantum uses a 3.5″ capacitive TFT touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. This is small compared to the larger touchscreens of its WP7 brethren, but it does help the Quantum feel more compact than it really is. The touchscreen does not feel too small; on the contrary, it’s just right for the phone’s design. Any larger would cause the Quantum to be a behemoth as a whole that wouldn’t even fit in your pocket comfortably. Fortunately, LG used the right blend of decent screen size with keyboard size and made it work rather well.

Microsoft requires the same 3 buttons be used on the front of every WP7 device: back, home, and search. Both back and search are built into the screen display and are only touch-sensitive, whereas the home button is a lonesome physical button down all by itself, down below the screen. This is a special design technique that LG used, and having a physical home button works very well.

Touring around the sides of the phone, on the right side you will find a volume up/down rocker and camera button. The bottom has absolutely nothing. On the left side there is a micro-USB charging port that is covered by a plastic flap that can be peeled off to reveal the port; most phones use the flap as a standard to keep dust and moisture out, though I worry that it may be easily torn off if not careful. On the top you can see a standard 3.5 mm headset jack and a power/screen lock button.

The back of the phone has a brushed metal battery cover that displays the LG and Windows Phone logos on it, and you can also see the 5 MP camera and LED flash accompanying it. Seeing this kind of battery cover along with the neighboring rubber shows me that LG was very concerned about making their phone to last long enough to get your money’s worth out of it, and to make it a more enjoyable experience using the phone overall.

In my reviews, one huge deal maker or breaker is the keyboard. If it’s not comfortable enough to use, it’s almost impossible to recommend since the chances of that phone’s keyboard becoming miraculously comfortable over time are slim to none. Thankfully I had a great experience using the keyboard on the LG Quantum. The sliding mechanism is incredibly solid and built strong. There is no looseness whatsoever but yet the slider is easy enough to slide open without considerable effort or strain.
The Quantum keys are comfortable to type on with my average-sized fingers and thumbs. Each key has been separated out and ever-so-slightly raised as to make the keys easier to press. Looking more closely at the keyboard itself, there are four rows; the bottom row is dedicated primarily to the space bar, direction pad and emoticon button, while the remaining 3 rows are for the letters. The number row is partnered up with the usual top row of letters, meaning the Q is also 1 and so forth. There is no .com button. Curiously the “fn” button, the button responsible for shifting your typing over to the blue symbols such as numbers or punctuation marks, has been pushed off to the left side to hang out with the upper arrow button. This took some getting used to, since pressing that button so far to the left doesn’t feel natural to me. It just seems out of place, as if it was just an afterthought.

We don’t see anything new or out of the ordinary on the LG Quantum’s hardware or design; it’s just built to last and knows its primary purpose, and fulfills that purpose well.

Firmware and OS on the Quantum

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the LG Quantum uses the brand new Windows Phone 7 OS. I will be giving a full review of WP7 shortly. In short, the WP7 interface is what will either get you interested in the Quantum to begin with, or cause you to be uninterested in it and be looking for a different phone. Microsoft took a few lessons from Apple and tightened down the restrictions on what its phones can and cannot do, which means the UI you see on the Quantum is the same as you’d find it on any other WP7 device. There are only a few minor differences between the two, which I will cover in another section, but mostly your experience with WP7 on the Quantum won’t be any different at all than on its competitors.

Overall I have been very pleased in using Windows Phone. As a first-generation OS, Microsoft has out-performed the first-gen version of any other smartphone OS ever made, including that of the iPhone (which when it first came out did not have apps, couldn’t send MMS and lacked several key features any self-respecting smartphone would automatically come with). The screen is incredibly responsive; no matter how I swiped or touched the screen with my fingers there was no delay whatsoever. Pinch-to-zoom worked beautifully on the browser and maps.

I was happy to see that the Quantum comes included with 16 GB internal storage space inside the phone. This memory is not expandable, unfortunately, because Microsoft chose not to give users access to the MicroSD slot on any WP7 device (with the exception of the Samsung Focus; even though the MicroSD slot is accessible on the Focus, however, AT&T has acknowledged that no current microSD card is fully functional until new ones can be produced that are Windows-certified). On the Quantum this particular slot is covered up with a secured silver plate and unless you are paying attention to it, you won’t even know it’s there.

Using a sideways sliding keyboard on the Quantum, I quickly noticed another interesting aspect of the Windows Phone OS: landscape mode is limited and not universally used in every application. I definitely could open the keyboard and be warmly greeted by landscape mode on Internet Explorer and Messaging, but several other native and third-party apps could not function in landscape mode even though the keyboard was slid out. For instance, I attempted to go into Slacker and had to type in my user name and password while turning my head sideways to look at what i was typing in portrait mode. This may become more universal with the introduction of new WP7 updates, but currently is rather frustrating. It’s a Microsoft limitation, not LG, but just having a horizontal QWERTY keyboard makes that limitation painfully obvious as you begin to use the phone on a regular basis.

The Quantum is full of great features that aren’t unique to the WP7 world: 1 GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, GPS, 5 MP camera with 720p HD recording . But the fact that these aren’t unique to Windows Phone 7 is a compliment to the cutting-edge nature of the new OS. No slowpokes or “budget” devices allowed; each device has to include these kinds of specs, if not even better than these, in order to use WP7. This is admirable simply because it shows Microsoft only wants its phones to be high-performance. This will greatly reduce the possibility of a bad phone hurting the OS’s reputation. Wanting to be cream of the crop, LG’s Quantum definitely fits the bill as a high performing device. I will go into more detail on how LG stands out later in the review.

Multimedia/Internet Capabilities
Microsoft has integrated Zune into all of its phones in attempt to give each device the richest possible multimedia experience. Whether it’s watching videos or listening to music or podcasts, Zune is tightly woven into the Music+Video app on the LG Quantum. If you plan on using any sort of multimedia on the Quantum, it will be essential to download the Zune application on your PC (or for Mac users, a beta version of Windows Phone 7 Connector is available for download as well). Plugging in the Quantum you will be able to move music and video files to it from your computer easily, not to mention pictures or videos from the Quantum to your computer. Once I loaded my music onto the Quantum via my PC, the phone automatically started searching through the Marketplace to find artist info, bios, album covers, and other related information to the music I loaded in.

The Zune pass is also available to use on the Quantum. For $14.99/month you can choose to subscribe to Zune pass, which gives you unlimited streaming of your favorite songs and 10 free downloads that you can keep each month. It’s definitely recommended to get the Zune pass and use it directly on your Quantum. Zune access is tied into the phone’s marketplace so that you can search not only for applications, but games and Zune songs and artists as well. Zune also offers support for podcasts and radio as well. One additional option AT&T throws in (again, for a monthly fee) is AT&T radio, which is essentially another streaming internet app along the same lines as Pandora or Slacker. Frankly, Slacker is already available for free through the Marketplace, so it’s hard to argue the need to shell out extra money each month for a similar service.

One cool feature that you’ll find on Windows phone 7 is the ability to automatically upload any picture or video you take directly to your online Skydrive account, which will already be setup for you since you had to create a Live account to begin using the Quantum in the first place. The Skydrive will offer you plenty of space to store and backup all of these pictures taken on your phone so you — or any of your friends — can check out your latest pics. If you don’t want to share your pics with anyone, you have the ability to keep them private or just not upload to Skydrive at all if preferred.

Video playback is great on the Quantum. Taking advantage of the above-average screen resolution I was impressed by the image quality of the videos loaded onto the Quantum. Most major video formats are supported, so there is no need to worry about what type of format to put your movies into prior to loaded it in your phone.
Internet Explorer was fast and easy to use, both through AT&T’s 3G network and WiFi. IE supports multiple open tabs and landscape mode, and the pinch to zoom functionality works flawlessly on it. There is no delay, no catching up. It’s incredibly responsive and quick. I also didn’t have any problem downloading pages or even apps using the Quantum.

I enjoyed using the camera on the Quantum as well. With a 5 MP camera, it’s on par to compete with the other top players in the market like the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S. The pictures (and HD videos also) turned out just as crisp and the colors just as vibrant as the aforementioned devices. Definitely right on track to be a top competitor here. Here are a couple pics taken with the Quantum’s camera:

Marketplace Apps on the LG Quantum

Microsoft gives each manufacturer the opportunity to place their own app store into the Windows Phone Marketplace. That way when you use the Quantum to check out the marketplace, LG App Store is one particular option to look at. Inside, LG has developed several exclusive apps that can only be used on the Quantum or Optimus 7. Here are some of the apps LG features in the store:

Play-To: This app is DNLA-based, which means you can connect your Quantum with your PC, Xbox 360, or TV through your local WiFi connection. Through this connection you can stream any movies or music from the Quantum onto any of these other devices, effectively turning your Quantum into its own remote control of sorts.

Look n Type: If you walk and text at the same time, it’s a good idea to be safe and look where you’re going. With Look n Type, it turns your camera app on and overlays your messaging functionality on top of it. This lets you type while seeing the ground in front of you. Clever idea — now only if someone could come out with a Drive n Type app, we’d be set! (disclaimer: texting and driving is very bad. Don’t do it.)

Tool Box: A handy 7-apps-in-one app. It offers a flashlight, level, unit converter, and world clock, amongst others.

Panorama Shot: Just as it sounds, this is a camera app that automatically puts your pictures into a 360-degree panoramic shot. Great for scenic pictures.

Photo Stylist: Much like Photoshop.com, this takes your phone pictures and lets you add extra filters and effects to them, to add style and coolness to them.

A?ll of these apps offered in the LG apps store are free and easy to download.

Performance of the LG Quantum

The shining star on the Quantum is its battery life. We’ve noticed much improved battery time on Windows Phones in general, but after playing with the Quantum for a week I was quite impressed by how long it really does last. I typically start the day with a full charge at around 9 AM and use the phone regularly throughout the day: meaning I make random calls, do texts and emails, use Twitter and Facebook and search around all of my other apps on the phone, and still end the day with around 20% charge. So even though I still charge the phone every night, this is a huge improvement in battery life over most iPhones or Androids that I’ve used in the past.

Making and receiving calls ended up being a great experience, as the audio quality was excellent on both sides of the conversation. I always understood everything on the other end of the line because the calls were crisp and static-free, the speaker on the phone is sufficiently loud, and I never had any concern dropping calls.

As mentioned earlier, the high standard of top-quality specs in any Windows Phone will help it be a good performer, but I was still impressed by how quick and responsive the LG Quantum is. I never had any delays getting into apps, or even moving back and forth through the menus of the phone.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised using the LG Quantum. The only frustration I had with the phone was the on-screen keyboard just simply because it felt too tiny to use; however, this would always prompt me to just slide open the keyboard and take advantage of faster typing that way. Any other frustrations I had were based off the Windows Phone OS (which I will cover in my full WP7 review) and not the phone itself.

If you are looking for a Windows Phone that uses a full physical keyboard, I recommend the LG Quantum as a great option for you. To get more details on the Quantum, check out my full video review below as well as the complete photo gallery that shows off the Quantum.

You can now get AT&T LG Quantum for FREE from Amazon.com

• Win 3 AT&T LG Quantum and 2 LG Optimus 7 WP7 handsets with us
• Unboxing the LG Quantum: Brad’s First Impressions
• Microsoft Zune / Pink phone coming in two months, WM7 included?
• “Zune phone” references coming straight from Microsoft
• Windows Phone 7 actually requires 6 hardware buttons, not 5

This past month at CTIA Sprint announced the arrival of the Sanyo Zio. I saw this same exact phone in the flesh at March’s CTIA, but under Kyocera branding. So when I heard about a new Android phone being put out by Kyocera, I already start judging it. The Kyocera brand is popular among Cricket and Virgin Mobile customers here in the US simply because they’re meant to offer an inexpensive option without worrying about a contract. They’re meant to be cheap. So how will an Android phone under the same branding pan out?

The Box of the Sanyo Zio

Sprint boxes tend to all look the same — with white and yellow color schemes, and a picture of a random stranger doing some random activity on the front next to the phone itself (in this case, a woman is running with headphones). That isn’t a concern, as Sprint has its method of branding and it fits them well. Inside the box we find, in addition to the phone and battery, a regular AC charger module that comes with female USB port (this is rather standard with smartphones now, and I absolutely LOVE it), USB data transfer cable, microSD card with full SD adaptor for easy reading, and the “getting started guide”.

Lastly, it brilliantly comes with a recycle bag to put in any batteries or other wireless materials you need to get rid of. This isn’t something that is seen too often, but should be included in every single phone (let alone smartphone) made today. Whether you need to get rid of an old phone or if you hang onto the bag until your Zio bites the bullet, either way you have a method of disposing of that phone safely and easily.

The Sanyo Zio’s Design

It can be hard for an Android phone to stand out of the crowd. There’s so many of them out there, all the good unique design ideas seem to be taken (not to mention the bad unique ones as well — I’m looking at you, Backflip). The Zio doesn’t stray too far away from the usual Androids that don’t have full physical keyboards, but Sanyo/Kyocera did throw in a few design quirks that will have a significant impact on the outlook of the phone.

The Zio uses the standard candybar form factor, opting for a onscreen keyboard as a method of keeping the device as thin as possible. It packs in a 3.5” WVGA capacitive screen with a 480×800 resolution. The screen is the same size as that of an iPhone, which makes it easy to manage. Until you try to use the keyboard or any sort of multitouch. I’ll cover that later in this review.

Lining the bottom of the screen we find four touch-sensitive buttons that can be found on virtually every Android device: Home, Menu, Back, and Search. There is absolutely nothing groundbreaking in this particular aspect of the design. However, below these buttons is where it gets interesting, since we are graced with a physical call/answer button, a trackball that is reminiscient of Blackberry devices made pre-2010, and a physical end/power button. Both buttons are physical on the very bottom, yet made to be completely flush with the rest of the front panel. The trackball is also flush.

The trackball is the most curious design quirk to me. I respect the concept that Sanyo is trying to convey in that having a trackball is an alternate way of navigating through different parts of the screen — especially in situations where finger touch does not work, such as when you are wearing gloves. However, there is a reason Blackberry ventured away from the trackball and opted to go with an optical trackpad: because they had nothing but problems. Anyone who used a Pearl or Curve 8xxx with the trackball understands (and usually can relate to) frustrations experienced when dirt or grime makes its way underneath the ball and renders it useless. The trackball is old news, and is rather surprising to see it in a new device.

A design quirk that I really like is the smooth edges of the screen. Instead of having a screen end abruptly with an elevated edge, the Zio’s screen just rounds off the side of the phone, allowing incredibly fluid finger swipes. It’s easy to start swiping before your finger even reaches the actual screen, and your finger is given extra room for follow-through (as if finger swyping is like shooting a basketball or something?). Plus, it just helps make it appear thinner, even if it actually isn’t.

The right side of the Zio features a MicroSD card slot and camera button, while the left side boasts 3.5 mm headphone jack, volume rocker, and MicroUSB charging port. No buttons on top or bottom. Personally I prefer having headphone jacks on the top of my phone because the cord doesn’t catch on as many things, and it just looks nicer. So I was disappointed to see that my headphones will need to poke out of the side of my Zio at least an inch or so, instead of out of the top.

On the back we find the 3 MP camera sans LED flash, and a rather large speaker. The battery cover itself is easy to take off, but offers some challenge putting it back on.

Lining the entire outside of the phone is a nice solid silver, which adds a good touch that complements the black front and back on the Zio. It looks good, and is a sleek device altogether.

The Sanyo Zio is quite light weighing in at 3.7 ounces, but it comes at a cost. Any time a phone is that light, there’s a good chance the whole thing was made with cheap and lightweight plastics. At least that’s how the phone feels. It just lacks the good solid feeling I like to have when holding a phone; you know, the feeling that it won’t actually break into a million pieces when dropped. Perhaps it isn’t that unstable, but the lightweight and plastic material makes it feel that way. Having a phone like that does have its pros, though; for anyone who likes to put phones in their pockets, it does fit in pockets very easily. And you can barely even tell it’s there.

So in terms of overall design, the Zio has its good and bad points. Frankly, most mid-range or lower phones will have flaws, simply because some elements of great design have to be sacrificed in order to keep the price low. It makes sense, but it does force potential smartphone customers to decide which things are worth sacrificing, and which things they can live without. If you like the $99 price tag of the Sanyo Zio, will you have too much concern with the phone feeling cheaper? Especially if the phone does everything else you would need it to do?

There are a few other items of note here, though. One is the lack of multitouch. When I first began using the Zio, one of the very first things I tried to do was open up the web browser and use pinch-to-zoom, as I am accustomed to using this feature instinctively, without even thinking about it. It took me 2-3 failed attempts before realizing that this is unique to the design of the Zio and not just a figment of my imagination. I had to double check the firmware, but it indeed uses Android 2.1; multitouch typically comes standard in Eclair. But Sanyo/Kyocera cut some corners, and this was one of those corners that got left in the dark.

Also intriguing to me was that even though the Zio’s screen is a normal 3.5” capacitive touchscreen, I found the keyboard incredibly frustrating. Even for my skinny fingers, I was still typing the wrong keys and feeling like my fingers were mashing. I had to take full advantage of the word suggestions offered just between the message body and the keyboard, and I also found myself switching over to landscape mode just to have the larger keys. For anyone with larger fingers, this may be a huge point of concern.

Features of the Sanyo Zio

The Zio was announced in concert with the Samsung Transform and the LG Optimus T. Besides all being on Sprint and all being midrange Androids, what was the other real tie-in of all 3, the thing that they all had in common? They all feature Sprint’s brand-new Sprint ID service.

Recently I gave an in-depth review of Sprint ID, but here’s what it does in short: Sprint ID offers several different themes that you can switch back and forth to and from on your Android. Each theme comes with its own pre-packaged apps, tones, and wallpapers; some of the first ID’s out of the gates are geared towards the socialite, the business owner, the gamer. And if you are all business for most of the day but then want to go out and party that night, it’s easy to switch from one ID to another that will fit your specific needs. It’s highly customizable, and is a good idea in theory. We just need to wait and see how it will turn out after we see a good number of developers write enough ID’s to make it worthwhile.

The Sprint ID shortcut button is featured on each home panel, as one of three buttons on the bottom, to the right of the phone app and app tray. Beyond that, Sanyo seems to have gone for stock Android 2.1 UI elements everywhere else.

Internal storage space is limited to 256 MB, a drop in the bucket compared to other Android powerhouses like the Samsung Galaxy S series, but does come included with a 2 GB MicroSD card already. If that’s still not enough, throw in a MicroSD of up to 32 GB so that way you have plenty of music and movies to keep you entertained.

The Zio’s camera is 3 MP with no LED flash, and the camcorder inside uses a WVGA resolution, equivalent to 480p. Not terrible for video, but certainly you do get what you pay for when it comes down to overall specs. On the still camera, the colors do look somewhat washed out and unnatural. The shutter also delayed, so I felt as though my arm was going to fall off after holding the camera perfectly still long enough. I took a couple pics with the Zio camera to give you a little better idea of how it looks.

It also comes included with GPS, WiFi, USB/PC Syncing, bluetooth, music player, miscellaneous organizer functions, and most other standard features that Android Eclair has to offer.

Performance of the Sanyo Zio on Sprint

If you’re looking for a powerhouse Android smartphone on Sprint’s network, this is not the one for you; I would suggest the EVO 4G or Epic 4G instead. The Zio is definitely made to be a mid-range, given its specs and overall feel. With this in mind, I will compare the phone’s performance to that of a comparable Android. In this instance I am comparing with the LG Optimus T because I have recently reviewed that device as well.

The Zio runs with a CPU speed of 600 MHz, which is on the low range for brand new Android phones coming onto the market these days. Fortunately there are no custom UI designs trying to slow the phone’s processing power (aside from the Sprint ID packs), not to mention a slimmed-down version of Android 2.1 (limited multitouch and no HD video recording are the biggest examples). But even with that in mind, the screen was less responsive than I would like to see, when compared to other Androids with the same processing power.

Call quality was good, as the volume was sufficient to hear the people on the other end, and vice versa, with no hissing or static. The speaker quality was wonderful, most likely due to the size of the actual speaker on the back.

Battery life is rated on the Zio at roughly 6 hours of constant talk time, which is above average for an Android. And it was just as good if not better than most Android phones I’ve used. With moderate use, it lasted all day and I charged the Zio every night.

Conclusions on the Sanyo Zio

Hate to say it, but my overall impressions of the Zio are based on how much I would be willing to pay in order to buy it if I were shopping for a new smartphone. I would be tempted to buy the Zio myself if it were offered for free with contract, but the current pricing of $99 is a little too much to bear; there is simply no “wow” factor involved in the Zio, and there are plenty of other Android phones available for the same price (or close enough to it) that I would prefer to buy instead.

I loved that the Zio was extremely lightweight and had a nice display with smooth edges that allow for easy swyping, I also was not impressed by the plastic feel of the phone overall, the lack of screen responsiveness, and the specs are decent enough but still nothing to write home about in considering the cost. The inclusion of a trackball is puzzling, and even though I think the point of it was to help the Zio stand out over other Android phones, the simple fact is that trackballs are difficult to handle and maintain properly without them going out on you.

Overall, there are many other Android handsets being launched on a regular basis that use roughly the same specs and have similar pricing (or even less) that would be a better buy for your $99. The Zio is okay, but not anything spectacular.

Please check out my video review of the Sanyo Zio below, as well as a full gallery of pics.

You can get Sprint Sanyo Zio for FREE from Amazon.com

You can also purchase the phone contract-free through Cricket for 139.99.

• Sprint launches new rugged Sanyo Taho phone
• Kyocera Sanyo Innuendo QWERTY phone launched by Sprint
• Kyocera Shows Off Android-Based Zio at CTIA 2010
• Sprint intros Android-based Samsung Transform, LG Optimus S and Sanyo Zio
• Sprint intros Kyocera Milano with Android Gingerbread and Kyocera Brio

Enter the LG Optimus T, the little Android phone that could. By simply looking at the specs and seeing some basic hands-on pics of the device, it doesn’t seem worth any sort of consideration. That’s because it’s meant to be a lower-end Android phone geared toward the first time smartphone buyers that are on a strict budget. But it doesn’t feel or look like it, by a long shot.

The Optimus T — we presume the T stands for T-Mobile, since the Optimus S will be on Sprint — is awfully hard to read into at first, since it’s supposed to be a budget phone but yet feels as solid as an HTC Incredible or Nexus One. It has a slow processor but compensates for it by running version 2.2, aka Froyo. It’s an underdog that packs a lot of punches with it. But the more we play with this handset, we begin to realize that there is a lot more than meets the eye with the Optimus T.

Join with us as we put the LG Optimus T to the test and see how it comes out.

First Impressions of the LG Optimus T

It’s hard to discuss our first impressions of the phone without first mentioning the box itself. We expect the latest phones to come in sexy packaging, or at least aesthetically pleasing. The Optimus T box does not disappoint, as it shows off a minimalistic approach yet exudes a humble elegance at the same time. The mostly white-and-green box is not too large or too small; it’s just the right size to fit everything it needs to. Inside the box we find the usual accessories for smartphones nowadays: user information, wall charger with USB cable, and headphones. The phone itself includes a 2 GB MicroSD card.

Placing the phone in our hands was a very nice experience. With a 3.2” touchscreen, It’s roughly the same size as a HTC Aria and smaller than an iPhone’s screen. It’s incredibly comfortable to handle, and it never feels awkward using the screen or the physical buttons, and grips so well that we never feel like it’s going to fall out at any point.

The humble elegance shown off on the outside of the box does a very good job foreshadowing what we see in the device once the box is open. The Optimus T has a professional look and feel, only includes outside buttons for the absolutely necessary features, and is made of materials that feel as though it will last for longer than the first few months. The back is smooth and polished.

Check out my unboxing video below.

Design of the LG Optimus T

The designers of the Optimus T did a wonderful job. The phone feels comfortable and natural in my hand as I use it. There are many minimalistic tendencies that shine through, keeping the emphasis in the right places and lowering the amount of distraction when playing with the phone. Only essentials were added to the outside of the phone, cutting down on pointless buttons that don’t save that much time and simply don’t matter.

The Optimus T is an open-faced Android candyshell phone with a 3.2” HVGA capacitive touchscreen and no external QWERTY keyboard with physical buttons. I worry about the deadly combination of small screen and on-screen keyboard that could cause conflicts for those with larger fingers, but I will spend more time on that later in the review.

It’s small enough to handle well. The official dimensions register at 4.47 x 2.32 x .52 cm, and weighs 129 grams (or, 129 paper clips).

Time for a virtual tour of the outside of the Optimus T. On the front we find 4 physical buttons lining the bottom: Menu, Home, Back, and Search. We really like how the buttons are pushed up and elevated above the rest of the phone, making them easier to press — and making accidental presses more difficult.

On the right side of the Optimus T all we have getting our attention is the volume adjustment rocker, and even that is hard to notice. On the left side there’s nothing. Absolutely nothing. As mentioned before, however, this minimal approach actually seems to work well for the device, since it’s geared toward basic smartphone users who may not require the use of so many extra bells and whistles.

One takeaway I had from looking at the sides of the Optimus T was how similar the chrome bezel that lines the outside of the phone is to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, which features a bezel lining the outside that has a very modern and cool curvy style to it.

The 3.5 mm headphone jack and a tiny kpower/screen lock button keep the top of the phone from getting lonely, and the bottom only features the microUSB charging port.

Since the screen uses a 320×480 HVGA resolution and supports 262k colors, the images are slightly pixelated and nothing on the screen looks quite as sharp as a phone such as the Galaxy S. I didn’t have any problem seeing text and the display still shows off colors in high-contrast, but it’s still easy enough to tell the difference between this display and that of a Droid X or Galaxy S. The screen itself is not made of glass as some higher-end Androids are; it’s plastic, and I discovered I could push the screen in a little bit. This isn’t normally a deal breaker, but it does cause the screen to be less responsive to my gestures, such as finger swiping and pinch-to-zoom, until you spend some time to get the screen broken in (note I said broken in, not broken!).

LG chose to throw in its own custom version of Froyo, with a few minor changes to the stock version by adding some widgets, 2 extra homescreens (5 is still default), and . As the Optimus T is geared towards the budget-friendly crowd that like messaging and social networking, we can’t expect this phone to be the fastest, though the 600 MHz processor seemed quite speedy. We’ll get more into that later.

In this UI there are just 3 permanent soft keys at the bottom: phone, app tray, and messaging. I have no problem with this setup, simply because those will always be heavily used by any Android user.

Features and Functionality of the LG Optimus T

Speaking of the little Android that could: the Optimus T would have been top of the line a couple years ago, and now it’s considered the low-end Android device that works wonderfully when considering the $30 price point. It’s amazing how quickly devices can evolve over just a couple years, but here we are, looking down at the specs of the Optimus T because they’re sub-par.

But don’t take that to mean the Optimus T is a bad choice. It just means that you get what you pay for. But even to that extent, this phone is still a great value. Not one part of the Optimus T feels cheap, and that definitely helps make the phone lustworthy.

In this section we’ll talk more about the pros and cons of the Optimus T. While the phone deserves praise for being a high value for low cost, it’s not without its flaws and shortcomings.

Even though the Optimus T came with Froyo, by no means should we assume it comes with the entire Froyo experience. For instance, it’s common to assume Froyo always comes with Flash 10.1. Flash tends to be the number one bragging point for anyone with a Froyo phone, but a little-known secret is that it’s not actually installed on every phone that has Android 2.2. The Optimus T is one such phone. After several minutes of trying to figure out why I couldn’t load any Flash content, I did some research to discover that it doesn’t actually come with support for Flash, nor can it be officially installed (as I learned the hard way also).

In every other sense, the internet appears just fine. I didn’t see the websites load up any faster than usual, but it wasn’t dead slow either. Pinch-to-zoom still works, but this was one area where I could see evidence of the slower processor. Otherwise, the internet surfing experience was exactly as expected. If you’re in a 3G area you’ll find HSPA speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps.

One part of Froyo that holds true with the Optimus T is the included tethering and hotspot feature. Other Android devices have had tethering and hotspot features, but it comes natively on the Optimus T. Just go into settings, wireless and network, and there you’ll find the ability to turn these features on and off.

The Optimus T only holds 170 MB of actual internal memory, but compensates for the low amount by throwing in a 2 GB MicroSD card; if this isn’t enough to handle all of your music and movies, it will support MicroSD cards up to 32 GB, so there will be plenty of space.

Also clinging onto the low end of the smartphone totem pole is the 3.2 MP camera. This was standard for smartphones two years ago, but now most Android phones don’t come with anything less than 5. Nor does it come with LED flash, either. The camcorder videos record at VGA resolution, which is okay but nothing like the HD-resolution videos taken from Galaxy S, Droid X, etc. The camera does offer autofocus at least, but this isn’t much solace to anyone who’s looking at the top of the line specs.

Adding to the specs list you’ll find the LG Optimus T features Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, WiFi b/g, accelerometer and compass. It also comes included with FM radio, which is one option that should be standard but still isn’t found on every smartphone yet.

I mentioned the small keyboard earlier. One danger of relying solely on on-screen keyboards when it’s a small screen is that your fingers typically mash together and make for a more awkward typing experience. Fortunately LG was wise enough to include the Swype keyboard as its default instead of the stock keyboard. This turned out to be a great decision that will make a huge difference in typing. Without it, there is certainly more crowded space in there, even when in landscape mode.

Apps Included on the LG Optimus T

Most Android devices sold in the US come with a boatload of crapware. While they may at times be more useful than the term implies, more often than not US carriers will throw in a whole bunch of extra preloaded apps that nobody wants and seldom needs. This crapware often comes in the form of game demos that only allow you to play one level and then pay the big bucks to continue, though plenty of Android devices will come with random multimedia, entertainment and productivity apps that can actually come in handy every once in a while.
First off, T-Mobile throws in AppPack, which is the company’s own version of the Android Market. Ultimately, AppPack apps are just Market apps that are “recommended” by T-Mobile, so when you go into AppPack you’ll find it eerily similar in looks and feel to the normal Market. Forget not that when you enter the Android Market, there’s still an entire section dedicated to T-Mobile’s top picks.

The LG Optimus T comes with a few bloatware apps out of the box: Diner Dash 2, PacMan, Doodle Jump, ThinkFree Office, Twitter, DriveSmart, and YouTube.

Performance of the Optimus T

We tested the LG Optimus T in the areas of call quality, audio quality, battery life, processor power, and overall experience.

Call quality was mostly fine. Callers didn’t have to ask me to repeat myself, nor was there any issue on my end hearing anyone I called. I did notice, however, some hissing in the background. It sounded much like a steady static that was never overbearing but yet was something I didn’t have to strain too hard to hear.

The speakerphone wasn’t super strong. While sufficient to fit my needs in a quiet room, the same couldn’t be said about a noisy environment, where I was softer on speaker and got drowned out.

With more entry-level specs I noticed the battery life lasted longer than a usual Android device. The 5 hour talk time estimate is actually a couple hours shorter than what I got, and my phone stayed turned on in standby mode for 2 days. It’s hard to say that many Android phones have stellar battery life, but the Optimus T didn’t fit the usual mold.

Part of this may be due to a slower processor. At 600 MHz it’s nowhere near the same level of processor as its older Snapdragon-laden brothers, but in reviewing for a budget phone, I need to make sure it’s fast enough for anyone who many need or want to use a smartphone. It is. Sluggish speeds are only noticed from time to time, such as when using pinch-to-zoom in the web browser (I imagine this could have a lot to do with why Flash isn’t included — the processor just can’t handle it). But every other routine task seems to whisk by rather fast and smooth.

As an avid user of smartphones, I was pleasantly surprised with the LG Optimus T. It’s a great budget Android device that feels incredibly solid and it’s built to feel like it’s much more spendy. While I was hoping to see better specs inside, this is the only way to keep the price of the phone so low up front; if you want better specs, the G2 or MyTouch 4G will be much nicer choices for you through T-Mobile. It’s comfortable in my hands, I didn’t have a problem accessing my necessary information such as emails, web and messages, and it’s designed to make you feel like you got a steal of a deal on a brand new phone. I recommend the Optimus T for first-time smartphone goers or students on a tight budget.

Check out my full video review below, in addition to the picture gallery. Please feel free to check me out on Twitter at twitter.com/phonewisdom.

You can get T-Mobile’s LG Optimus T for free from Amazon

• LG Optimus Chic shows up in the wild again, this time joined by the Optimus One
• Adobe Flash 10.2 Now Available For Download on Android Market
• LG Optimus 2X Gets Hands-on Preview at CES
• LG’s Optimus One line apparently won’t get Android Gingerbread
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for select LG Optimus phones coming starting Q2 2012

Sprint ID lets you customize your Android handset by managing different ID’s, or profiles, each of which using the 5 home screen panels on your Android to focus on particular experiences or needs you may have as you go throughout the week. Each Sprint ID has its own package of apps, tones and wallpapers onto your home panels that fit your differing preferences. But it does even more than that; it will also include preset email settings and widgets. Perhaps during the work week you are focused on business, but Friday night you want to be completely social. No problem, just load a specialized business-centric Sprint ID for the weekdays. Become a socialite over the weekend? Choose the Social Connections ID and watch as your home screen panels change from everything business-centric into Facebook, Twitter, and other apps that fit you for the weekend instead. It’s just that easy.

Accessing Sprint ID is rather simple. On the bottom right  of the screen you’ll find a button specifically for ID. Press that and you’ll be taken into a home page that gives you several options of ID’s to choose from. If there’s something new you don’t have, click “Get New” and you’ll be able to find ID options from several different categories.

It’s a rather clever idea, but I can’t say it’s completely original;  I seem to recall Scenes on HTC’s Sense UI doing the same thing.

So how is it different then? The biggest difference I can see is that instead of only a few preset Scenes to choose from, Sprint ID is more open to developers and each individual ID is available from multiple Android phones, not being limited to one specific manufacturer. The preset email settings are also a nice touch; chances are you don’t always want to have your work email accessible — especially if you’re not getting paid to read them at home — so at night after work you can choose an ID that has that email account turned off, then change your ID back in the morning. One downside is that only 5 can be available for use at the same time, but it’s easy enough to just delete one of your Sprint IDs in order to choose a different one you’d use more often.

At launch, Sprint planned to have Sprint ID available on 3 different models: the Samsung Transform, Sanyo Zio, and LG Optimus S. The first two are now available in Sprint stores, just leaving the third to materialize sometime soon.

I do like seeing companies work hard to think outside the box and come up with a unique solution to having the same ol’ Android. But I do have some concerns about Sprint ID up front.

When I download a new ID it takes several minutes to load because it’s downloading all of the prepackaged apps, wallpapers and tones, and then installing them. Once it opens up for my perusal, I find an amazingly large number of apps that I don’t use, have never heard of, or the apps are eerily similar to the usual crapware or bloatware that we catch carriers doing from time to time. Bloatware haters, fear not: when managing individual ID’s, it is possible to go through each one and check off a list of the apps you never use and don’t want; once submitted, it wipes them off your phone.

Not only does it take several minutes just to download each ID, the apps that are “installed” as part of each package aren’t actually installed at all. Upon installing a fresh ID I attempted to go into multiple apps, only to find that I was actually being rerouted into the Market, with that particular app being the only download option. This makes it even more difficult for me to enjoy prepackaged themes when most of the available material still has to be manually downloaded anyway.

While I’m not a huge fan of prepackaged themes, many people who are new to Android have a difficult time making sense of what to do with their new phone, especially with 100,000 apps available for download in the Market. And if you are brand new to Android, Sprint ID is a stellar idea that will help you get the most out of your phone as quickly as possible.

I also attempted to download and install a new ID, but to my amazement discovered that I could not do so since I was connected to WiFi. It would only let me do this when connected to Sprint’s 3G network. I tested this on both the Samsung Transform and the Sanyo Zio just to make sure I wasn’t doing something incorrectly, but no matter what I did to troubleshoot the problem I could not get it to work. I can only theorize that this was done by design, but am unsure as to why it would be limited in such a fashion.

Lastly, if you don’t want the Sprint ID button showing up on the bottom of your screen, tough luck. Without downloading a different launcher via the Market, it’s impossible to get rid of it. It’s not difficult to get out of the program if you accidentally hit the button, but I prefer having the extra space to use for other shortcuts.

So overall, how was Sprint’s latest attempt to drive the Android-buying masses into its stores? It isn’t a good enough reason to switch carriers, that’s for sure. While it is a creative way to make Android handsets more customizable, it also slows down the phones, adds in a button on the screen that not everyone may want to have, and doesn’t necessarily add much more to an Android phone than is already available without it. While Android users that are new to the whole experience may enjoy having developers tell them what to download and how to use your phone, I have always preferred to just learn as I go and make the Android phone my own.

Check out below for a video on Sprint ID as well as a screenshot gallery.

• Android Market Web Store Review
• App Review: Google Reader for Android
• Sprint starts taking pre-orders for the dual-touchscreen Android-powered Kyocera Echo
• iPhone App Review: EasyWriter
• Sprint’s Kyocera Echo Hands-on at CTIA 2011

Whatever the reason is, the Fascinate was finally released quickly and rather quietly. But we noticed, and Samsung graciously sent us a unit to check out and play with for a few days. The unfortunate part of the matter for the Fascinate is that by being the last of the four devices in the lineup to be released and reviewed, it has to endure comparisons to all previous 3. How does this one hold up? Is it as good as the others? Or, is it just exactly the same as all the other ones and thus, nothing special? Either way, the Fascinate has a long way to go to actually live up to its name. It’s hard to be fascinating when it isn’t anything special compared to its siblings.

So, we will explore how the Fascinate is different, how it’s the same, what I liked and didn’t like. Let’s take a ride through the world of the Samsung Fascinate.

First Impressions

In the unboxing, I noticed that Verizon was trying to stand out from the crowd by setting the Fascinate up in a completely different style of box. For one, it was bigger. Also, it didn’t come with extra accessories that I have come to expect in most smartphone boxes such as headphones. All it came with, besides the obligatory user manual, was a wall charging module and USB cable to attach to that module. Nothing else.

It did come with a 16 GB MicroSD card included, but that’s not extra since all other Galaxy S phones come with 16 GB, either internal or external. In the Fascinate’s case, there is hardly any internal space included so it all comes in the form of MicroSD. Frankly, I don’t like this idea. If the GSM models like the Captivate and Vibrant are coming with 16 GB built into the phone directly, you have the option of expanding that memory even further to 40 GB total with a MicroSD. Instead, the Fascinate only contains 2 GB of internal space. Adding on the MicroSD does give you 18 GB total; that means the max memory you can have is 34 GB (and that’s in place of the 16, not in addition). All frustration aside, it still has more internal space than the Epic 4G, which has 460 MB.

Needless to say, that didn’t leave a great taste in my mouth right up front. But otherwise I enjoyed the look of the Fascinate. It did remind me a lot of the Vibrant’s design and look, since Verizon chose ultimately to go with the same rounded corners and peel-off battery cover. The back itself, however, does look a little different. We’ll get into it more in the next section, but overall I liked how good the Fascinate looks.

The Samsung Fascinate’s Design

Verizon opted not to have a full keyboard like the Epic 4G, so at 10.5 mm the Fascinate has the same thinness as the Captivate and Vibrant, right? Wrong. The Vibrant is 9.9 mm thin, while the Captivate is 10.4 mm. Perhaps there’s something about the CDMA models that requires extra internal space, but the Vibrant is still the thinnest of the four. The Fascinate, however, does win the title for lightest Galaxy S at 116g; the Vibrant is a close second place at 118g.

It does come as some of a surprise to me that the Vibrant is the thinnest, since it comes with a protruding battery cover that’s supposed to aid the user in holding the phone comfortably. The Fascinate, with all of its similarities to the Vibrant, does not have that protruding back — the whole battery cover is entirely flat. It’s all plastic too, so it’s still just as easy to smudge with fingerprints. I personally prefer the Fascinate with its flat back. Not everyone will agree with me, but I just didn’t find the protruding back cover as handy as other people might.

The Fascinate comes with all of the same buttons on the outside: volume rocker on left, screen lock/power button on right, and 3.5 mm jack with microUSB charging port (complete with the same awesome sliding cover, which just makes complete sense and should come included on every smartphone). The button setup is the same on the front as well — four touch-sensitive buttons for options, home, go back, and search. The back shows off the 5 MP camera with LED flash, another welcome addition. Only the Epic and Fascinate make use of LED flash for some reason; the GSM versions opted not to have it for some unknown reason.

As mentioned earlier, the Fascinate’s closest-looking sibling is the Vibrant because of the rounded corner look on both. I must admit that it is indeed a very slick looking and feeling device, and is easier to grip in my hand than the Captivate and its sharper edges.

Unique Features on the Samsung Fascinate

After reviewing three versions of the same kind of product, it can be a little difficult finding new things on the phone to talk about, but there are a few interesting differences with the Fascinate worth pointing out.

Let me start with the most important difference, which is the use of Bing as the search engine of choice. Normally Android phones, being based on Google, will offer the Google search engine as the default. Only in a few instances has this not been the case, such as the Motorola Backflip on AT&T utilizing Yahoo. Bing is a curious choice, but even more so is the fact that it’s the only available search engine to use. While Verizon has mentioned that a OTA firmware update would eventually allow Google search, Bing is currently forced upon you for now. Many people probably don’t even care about it, as long as it does its job and finds the right information. I, however, am not a Bing user simply because I have found Google to be more fitted to my liking. So of all the big differences on the Fascinate, this is the only one I can see being a decision breaker.

When playing with the home screen panels on the Fascinate, I noticed a settings button near the top of the screen. This takes you into a program that allows you to change the order of the home screen panels, and even change the default home screen. That way, if you prefer your Buddies Now panel or Feeds and Updates panel to be the go-to every time you hit the home button at the bottom of the phone, you’ll be much happier than hitting home and then having to scroll over 1-2 panels to find what you use the most. Small change, but I love it and wish it were available on the others.

Also included in the Fascinate is a task manager. This is different in that Verizon has thrown this in as a true native application. As with any Android device, several Task Managers/Task Killers are available through the Android Market, but it is nice to see something official from Verizon. I like this particular Task Manager because it shows me exactly how much RAM and CPU is being used by each open app, which in turn helps me know how much battery is being used by these background apps. It also includes an easy Kill switch for all open apps, or I can go in one by one to turn off the apps I am not using. The Task Manager also has a summary page that lets me know how much RAM and storage space overall is being used currently, and a page that quickly uninstalls programs that I simply don’t want on my phone any longer. So even though I don’t see much point in having yet another task manager available (especially one that can’t be removed from the phone if you don’t want it), this particular one is built very well.

I was intrigued by two new programs on the Fascinate called Car Cradle and Desk Cradle. Both of these cradles are best fit for use with the optional desk cradle ($29.99) and car dock ($39.99), and are meant to offer the most used programs for each situation. For instance, while in the car you may need quick and easy access to your navigation/maps, or contacts for calling. The Car Cradle offers these apps in an easy to find user interface. Same with Desk Cradle, only the difference is in the apps featured. Desk Cradle offers a large display showing date and time, and has apps for things such as an alarm clock, daily briefing, voice search, and music player. Certainly these are apps more likely used when placed on a desktop next to your computer. I don’t have much use for either cradle, but I do like the unique line of thinking for them.

Here’s a detailed video I took discussing these same unique features.

Performance of the Samsung Fascinate

One thing I noticed and was concerned about with the Captivate and Vibrant was how long it would take for both phones to read through the memory upon first booting up. I didn’t have to wait as long with that Fascinate, as it read through the entire 16 MicroSD card in an incredibly brief period of time. It turns out that a new update for the Captivate speeds up the process, but it was nice to see the Fascinate come this fast already out of the box.

When it comes to viewing video files, Android typically allows for MP4, H.264 and AVI; the Fascinate, however, adds in DivX and Xvid support as well. I’ve maintained that the Galaxy S’s Super AMOLED screen is one of the finest displays that you’ll find on a mobile device currently, only shadowed by the Retina Display of the iPhone 4. With the 4 inch screen, it makes for a gorgeous screen.

While I did not publish a video I made on the Fascinate, I found the 5 MP camera and 720p video recording resolution absolutely wonderful. Having tested out the Motorola Droid X and its 8 MP, I actually enjoy using this camera much more; for one, it’s much easier to take a picture that’s in focus, and the pics turn out just as good if not better when actually in focus. In comparison with the other Galaxy S, it’s right on par.

The 1 GHz Hummingbird CPU is present in the Fascinate, and definitely moves along quite speedily. There were a few occasions in which there were slight stalls between my touch and the intended reaction. Even just scrolling from one home screen panel to another, there is a slight delay that gets a little annoying. This is definitely a finicky statement, as it still is rather fast when compared to an Android with a slower processor, but I compare it to other Android devices all running at 1 GHz; while the processor is the same speed, other factors — such as the Touchwiz 3.0 UI — come into play. The Touchwiz is a decent and easy UI for Android but has a dark history of slowing down any devices it has appeared on.

I was hoping all GPS woes that plague the Galaxy S line would be fixed on the Fascinate. The GPS does work better, but it just takes a longer time for the GPS to find the exact location. For the first few minutes after loading the native maps app, it looked like I was actually 2 miles away from my real location; but after patiently waiting a few more minutes the GPS did finally catch up with me.

No issues to report on phone call quality or data performance.

Overall View of the Samsung Fascinate

Don’t you love how phone manufacturers are now naming their phones after adjectives that are supposed to tell us how to feel? The Fascinate is just one example (the Droid Incredible is another), but I always try to measure up the phone’s performance in comparison to the name when this happens. Is this phone fascinating? Not necessarily, when compared to the other Galaxy S phones. It’s pretty much the same, in fact. But it’s a good performing Android phone that is up to par with Verizon’s other current Droid offerings such as the Droid X and Droid Incredible. And once it gets an update to Froyo, it’s going to be even better.

I don’t have any reasons why not to get this phone, unless you’re an absolute hater of Bing’s search engine. I really do wish other search engines were at least available as alternatives; after all, Android is supposed to be all about how awesomely open it is, right? I’m starting to realize that just because it’s open source doesn’t make it as flexible as it keeps bragging itself to be.

The only other thing besides Froyo that I would like to see on the Fascinate is a front-facing camera. The Epic 4G remains the only Galaxy S in the US to offer it, which is disappointing for every other carrier besides Sprint. Other than that, the design is great on the Fascinate and the phone’s specs (in total) are among some of the best devices out on market today.

I also want to see more accessories included with the Fascinate. Though I understand that no smartphone nowadays will come included with a car charger, I feel that the box was more empty than it should be. No additional cables or headphones, just a wall USB plugin with a USB cable.

Just like any of the Galaxy S phones I’ve reviewed, the Samsung Fascinate is a fine version of the lineup and is worth considering for a future purchase.

And, if you don’t want to shell out $199 at Verizon, you can get Samsung Fascinate with new Verizon contract for free from Amazon.com here

So now is your turn to let us know what you think. Have you checked one out at a local store? Are you seeing the videos and pics for the first time and trying to make a decision? Do you think I’m wrong on everything? No matter what, we want to hear your comments! Check out the gallery below.

You can follow Brad on Twitter at twitter.com/phonewisdom.

• Verizon Samsung Fascinate now available for pre-order at Best Buy
• Verizon Samsung Fascinate Galaxy S launched, BOGO deal included
• Samsung Captivate only $0.01 at Amazon. Samsung Vibrant now $69
• Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant and Captivate to get Android 2.2 Froyo in mid-December in Canada
• Verizon Samsung Fascinate (Galaxy S) available online tomorrow, in shops Thursday – now official

In terms of Android, AT&T has brought out a decent selection in the Samsung Captivate, HTC Aria, Dell Aero, and now the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. The X10 almost feels as though it was launched due to a last-minute decision for AT&T to appease Sony Ericsson in some way. After all, the phone has been discussed for nearly a year and officially launched for around 7 months. Why is the X10 arriving to the US so late to the party? With the same exact specs, no less?

Nobody really knows the answer, and it really doesn’t even matter that much. What does matter is if the X10 was worth the wait, and if it is a respectable addition to AT&T’s slowly growing Android lineup. Does it compare to the Captivate or even the Aria?

Design of the Xperia X10

One of the strongest points of the X10 is its overall look. The X10 is a gorgeous phone, and is sleek in every way. It sports a large 4” capacitive touchscreen display. While it’s not the thinnest phone offered on the market today at 13.3 mm, it doesn’t feel any more bulky than is necessary. If it were any thicker than this, however, that thickness should be justified by throwing in a full QWERTY. Overall the phone felt okay in my hand.

There aren’t any crazy designs on the back; the back is almost completely flat although the edges curve out in order to meet the sides. This still gives it a very elegant feel. I can tell that the back is made of a type of plastic that reminds me of the back of the Microsoft KIN phones, using a non-glossy charcoal gray material. A chrome bezel races around the sides with some curves thrown in, I assume to give a little extra originality to the design.

Sony Ericsson opts for a more minimal design approach overall. The back is certainly one example with its simple look, the front utilizes the large screen and has three physical navigation buttons underneath that screen, and the sides don’t employ use of a lot of buttons – the right side only has a volume rocker and camera shutter; the left side doesn’t have any buttons at all. And it really doesn’t feel like anything crucial is missing as a result, either.

The top of the X10, from left to right, includes a power/screen lock button, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and MicroUSB charging port covered by the usual plastic that feels like it could break off whenever it darn well feels like. After witnessing the Samsung Galaxy S “trap door” method of covering ports, it’s hard to feel good about this kind of cover on a phone. With that said, the cover itself still blends in with the design of the phone rather well, so at least it has its good point.

Underneath the hood there’s room for a large 1500 mAh battery that claims an excellent talk time (we will talk about this later) and slots for SIM and MicroSD cards. The X10 already comes with a 2GB card which is necessary given only 400 MB included memory.

Software and User Interface of the X10

Sony Ericsson has preloaded the X10 with its own UI overlay of Android 1.6, which at the time of the phone’s global launch was still a common occurance among many Android devices coming out, but fast-forwarding to fall 2010, 1.6 is considered archaic software. The only devices that are using 1.6 are either obsolete or low-end. Sony Ericsson has officially stated that an update to 2.1 is coming out, but I just feel that 6 months is more than enough time to get that update pushed out before it graces AT&T’s shelves.

Some of you may be wondering why this is so important. What exactly is missing on a phone running 1.6? Multi-touch, for one. Having become used to a full multi-touch experience on other smartphones, I get rather frustrated trying to use a program like Google Maps and not be able to pinch-to-zoom or use other multi-touch gestures. You are also limited to just three home screens in 1.6, which gets expanded out to five screens in 2.1. One last major improvement 2.1 will bring to the X10? A camcorder with 720p HD video capabilities, compared to its current WVGA offering.

In addition, there are several other smaller improvements that are thrown into version 2.1 that cannot be utilized in the X10 as of yet. It’s unfortunate to Sony Ericsson since this is considered to be a huge competitive disadvantage to most of AT&T’s (and everyone else’s) lineup.

Sony Ericsson knows this just as well as anyone else does, so to make up for the lack of 2.1, the company added its own UI overlay that is supposed to enhance your user experience. New programs such as Timescape and Mediascape are added to the home screen as a way of throwing in additional visual improvements, and add a decent amount of original thought into its design.

If you ever miss using a Rolodex (or secretly still use one when nobody is looking), you’ll find the idea of Timescape very appealing and quite familiar to you. Timescape takes several different streams of information, be it Facebook status updates, Twitter feeds, SMS/MMS, email, or call logs, and displays it in the form of vertical carousels called “Splines”. Each piece of content is shown on a card, all the cards are stacked vertically on these splines Rolodex-style, and it’s easy to scroll up and down through the available content, and sideways to switch streams. When you choose a card, that card will pop out of the stack and show off a small portion of the card’s information. Tap the card again and you’ll be transported into the proper application (choosing a text message would send you to the messaging app, for example). While it does take some getting used to, I must admit that Timescape is much easier to use, more visually stunning and less annoying than Motoblur’s method of displaying social networking streams.

Speaking of visual enhancements, Sony Ericsson also has thrown in some actual color into its backgrounds. Where most other Android handsets use nothing but black backgrounds and white text, the X10 is set apart in a large way with its baby blue background in most menus. It definitely makes the display more interesting to work with.

Next up is Mediascape. This application uses a similar style to that of Timescape, but without the vertical splines. Essentially, Mediascape takes all of your music, photos and videos and puts them all together in a user-friendly app together. All the content does seem to go horizontal instead of vertical, however. Again, it all looks great because of Sony Ericsson’s efforts here. While playing music in the media player, I found a button with the “infinity” symbol on it. This takes you into other music from that artist already on your phone as well as showing off related YouTube videos. I really like the look of Mediascape and find it rather handy to use. But it’s not perfect; I do loathe the idea of the X10 not including an Equalizer, which I feel should just be a standard feature included in any smartphone since such a heavy emphasis is placed on the music experience.

Features of the Xperia X10

The X10 is loaded with a lot of nice features. Granted, most of them are exactly the same as most of the Android handsets currently being released to market, but a few of them do stand out. One such feature is Sony’s typical Cybershot 8.1 MP camera that comes included with LED flash and autofocus. There are a lot of great phones out there right now that don’t feature a LED flash, and it just puzzles me. Sony Ericsson, however, makes it known that the camera is one of the company’s strong points and will usually push the focus on its hero device to that strength. In this case, Sony played its strength well. Below are some outdoor and indoor shots I took at high-res. Colors were incredibly vibrant and every image looked incredibly sharp.

There may be times you don’t need to take advantage of the highest-resolution pics possible because you are looking to conserve SD card space or for other random reasons. If this is the case, it’s easy to adjust the resolution down to 6 MP or even 2 MP if necessary. You can also adjust the focus settings, such as macro and infinity. Many smartphones neglect these types of settings but is something you can find on most standard point-and-shoot digital cameras. Another unique setting that isn’t found on many other phones is face recognition. This technology lets you take a picture of someone, tag it, and then the phone stores that tag. Thus, when you take a picture of somebody the phone has previously tagged, it will tag that same person again.

Now I must make the confession that when I first recorded video using the X10′s camcorder I was a bit perplexed as to why HD video recording wasn’t included, and that will show in my commentary for the video below. Simply put, the hardware is good enough to support high-res videos but the software is not; 720p video recording will be available on the X10 as soon as the Android 2.1 update comes out. In the meantime, the WVGA/VGA resolution currently available as of this writing is okay. It’s hard to like it when compared to any of the Galaxy S phones, but it’s still average. When panning across my back yard I was disappointed in some choppiness.

Sony Ericsson chose to use a stock Android browser on the X10, which I find to be a moot point since several other browser options are available through the Android Market. No Flash available, but there’s really no shocker there.

Another limitation on the X10 is that only three home screens are available. When compared to HTC’s Sense UI, Samsung’s Touchwiz, or any Android handset running 2.1 or higher, this is extremely inconvenient. Many widgets I like to use tend to take up a lot of space on the screen, so it severely limits what kinds of widgets (and how many) I can put on my X10. While most people don’t use all 3 screens, this is still a very important thing to take note of when comparing handsets to purchase.

Though other Android devices that shall remain nameless are having large issues getting the included GPS to work properly, the X10 didn’t have any problems with GPS at all. I was able to find my location quickly and reliably each time I used it. If you rely on navigation services in any way, this certainly will be a good reason to go with a Xperia X10. Especially with many of the AT&T services available, such as Navigation, AT&T Maps, and AT&T Family Map (a service which helps you locate other handsets on your account, which is very helpful for parents).

Performance of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

The strongest performance factor on the X10 is its battery life. Rated at nearly 7.5 hours, this almost sounds too good to be true for an Android device; Android tends to be notorious for terrible battery life. If any company can do it, however, Sony Ericsson can — it consistently rates some of the best battery life times of any phone on the market. The X10 is no different; while my Droid X and Epic 4G were dying within just 4-5 hours of moderate use, the Sony Ericsson did last its rated battery time.

Timescape and Mediascape, while being clever new apps that deliver enhanced visual coverage to the X10, seem to slow the device down a little bit. The X10 does feature a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and is fast enough for my taste, it’s not as fast as the Hummingbird processor featured on the Galaxy S lineup, or the Droid X. Of course, the use of version 1.6 may have an effect on processor performance as well.

Call quality and sound were perfectly fine on the X10, and people sounded clear and loud. No noise cancellation mics on the X10, though, so the only relief here is to use a noise-canceling bluetooth earpiece.

Final Thoughts on the X10

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, simply put, is a phone that is meant to have Android 2.1, and won’t feel all the way complete until the outdated OS 1.6 is refreshed. The X10, in fact, feels somewhat crippled because it’s  not able to achieve its ultimate potential, being limited in several ways.  But while we wait for that update,  it is still a very sleek and good-looking phone with a decent processor and huge screen with good resolution. If you don’t absolutely have to have multitouch, extra screens for widgets, or HD video recording (but wouldn’t be opposed to getting it down the road), I think the X10 is still at least worth looking at for a possible purchase to see if it fits your needs. It is available at AT&T for $149 — a nice discount when compared to the Captivate or iPhone 4 — with contract.

Look below for an incredibly comprehensive look at pictures and screenshots of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

Get Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 only for $29 with new contract from Amazon

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Hands-On, Confirmed Not to Have Android 2.4
• Spotify integrated into SE Xperia X10′s Mediascape and Timescape
• Android 2.1 coming to Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro in Q4
• AT&T’s Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 gets official, will be available on August 15 for $149.99
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo previewed in the UK

When first learning about each of the phones at the Galaxy S press event, I originally expected the Samsung Epic 4G to be the king of the Galaxy S phones for several reasons, and I was right. Though most of the key internal specs are the same, the Epic 4G has an edge on its siblings in that it sports a full physical QWERTY keyboard hidden underneath the same 4” touchscreen display, packs in Sprint’s 4G network, and also tosses in a frontward-facing camera for kicks and giggles.

The Epic 4G is the second WiMax-capable device to launch on Sprint so far, beat out nearly 3 months ago by the HTC EVO 4G. With the 4G capability being combined with the other Galaxy S specs, though, there are a lot of nice perks that make it just as attractive — if not more so — as the EVO.

Note: For more of an introduction on the Galaxy S lineup in general, please read my other Galaxy S reviews so I don’t repeat all the same exact stuff today. It’s time to get nitpicky and go through as much as I can about the Epic 4G, so I want to get straight to the meat and potatoes of the phone.

Design of the Epic 4G

The Epic is definitely the black sheep of the Galaxy S lineup in terms of design. For one, it comes with a large physical QWERTY keyboard that tucks underneath the usual touchscreen on a horizontal slider. With that, it makes the phone bulkier than the other phones in the lineup (at 5.46 ounces, it’s 1.2 ounces heavier than the Vibrant). In fact, I’d venture to guess it’s bulkier than a lot of smartphones on the market today. It measures out at 4.9 inches x 2.54 inches x 0.56 inches.

I wonder if Sprint has a “go big or go home” mentality when it comes to devices utilizing its state-of-the-art high-speed network. First the EVO with its 4.3” touchscreen, so big that it has its own kickstand to hold it up; and now the Epic 4G with 4” screen and full keyboard. So far we haven’t seen any plans by Sprint to launch any small smartphones or even feature phones on 4G at this point, so we’ll see what changes over the next couple years WiMax is offered.

Looking directly down at the Epic 4G I am reminded of the soft curves of the Vibrant’s design, more so than the abrupt edges and sharp corners of the Captivate. I have a feeling that the curvy look was how Samsung intended the entire Galaxy S lineup to look like, and AT&T’s Captivate shook the design expectations up a little bit. But I digress. The Epic took cues from the Vibrant in look and feel, and actually improved on it.

The front looks the same with same size screen and same exact four touch-only buttons at the bottom of it to signify options, home, previous, and quick search. The only exception is the inclusion of a frontward-facing camera on the top right. The side differs in that the Epic has three layers to deal with instead of just one or two: the top is all black (the Vibrant has a chrome bezel around it), the middle layer which features the top of the keyboard is chrome, and the bottom is also black.

Curiously, I’ve noticed that the power/screen lock button on the upper right is always placed at a different spot on each phone. For the Epic, it’s snuggled up very close to the top side of the phone, closer than the Captivate and Vibrant for sure. It also has the camera shutter button on the bottom right, volume rocker on the left, and the top has 3.5 mm headphone jack and same MicroUSB connector port complete with the clever sliding door that keeps the port hidden and safe from dust and moisture. I love the sliding door idea that’s been implemented on Galaxy S, and hope other companies will follow suit with similar designs.

The Epic’s backside also appears to be made out of a different material than its brethren. The Captivate used a brushed metal back while the Vibrant opted for a glossy plastic that showed fingerprints like no other. The Epic’s back is still plastic, but at least Sprint chose to use a textured matte style that keeps fingerprints away and adds a small degree of gripability. Interestingly enough, the front of the Epic is glossy while the back is matte. To the critics of plastic in regards to expensive smartphones, it would be hard to imagine Sprint using metal as its primary material of choice here since the phone is already heavy enough as it is.

I also noticed the battery cover snaps off and on, which is more like the Vibrant than the Captivate. This method is okay, but I much prefer the Captivate’s style with the sliding mechanism that helps keep the battery cover from budging whatsoever.

Finally, the keyboard is one of the most important aspects of the entire phone and frankly is under much more scrutiny because it is the only Galaxy S that decided to go against the mold and throw it in. The keyboard, I feel, needs to be darn good to be called worthy of the extra weight and bulk it’s adding on. I’d say it’s mostly there.

It’s hard to recommend one single keyboard for every person because everyone has different-sized fingers and thus different preferences. I like my keyboards to be spaced out somewhat, with slightly raised keys and a dedicated row of numbers so I don’t have to become intimately acquainted with the Fn key unless I absolutely have to. The Epic hits all of those points on the mark. The buttons are all spaced well and provide sufficient room to type without smashing my fingers on multiple letters simultaneously. I do wish that the buttons were slightly more raised on top; the keys are raised currently, but the tops are completely flat. I do love the dedicated row of numbers, as well as the d-pad and various Android keys (same keys as found on the bottom part of the front screen) around the outside. Samsung did a great job of taking advantage of all available real estate.

Another interesting point to note is that the backlight of the keyboard is set to be separate from that of the main screen. This way, you can be done using the keyboard for the moment but still be able to finish up a task on the landscape screen without worrying about battery life being sucked by the keyboard, of all things.

The keyboard’s slider mechanism itself is well constructed. It’s spring loaded when it’s slid open and never feels loose when in use. The more solid the sliding feels, the more likely I feel the keyboard will hold up over the test of time. It’s not a measurable type of evidence, but I always go with my gut feeling on such matters.

Other significant design differences between the Epic and the other Galaxy S phones are the inclusion of LED flash and a frontward-facing camera. Every smartphone of this caliber should have both of those features, and truly helps the Epic stand out even more from its Galaxy S relatives. But at $249.99 after rebate on a new contract, it’s easy to see why the Epic 4G is so much more expensive than the Captivate and Vibrant, both starting at $199.00.

Features of the Epic 4G

The Samsung Epic 4G appears to be in the running for one of 2010’s top smartphones just in the included specs alone. It not only contains all the same internal specs as the other Galaxy S phones — 4” capacitive touchscreen with Super AMOLED, 1 GHz Hummingbird CPU, 16 GB included memory, 512 MB RAM, and let’s not forget the HD 720p video recording capability — it also throws in extras like LED camera flash, keyboard, and use as a 3G/4G mobile hotspot (more on this later). And it holds up well against the competition, since there really aren’t too many smartphones in the market today that can beat the Epic 4G in specs.

4G is incredibly nice to have on the Epic. Just using 4G alone would net me speeds of around 4 Mbps on average, though we’ll get more specific on speedtests later. Most phones I review are 3G seem to be sufficient for me throughout the course of my usual workday; 4G is even better. And Sprint has definitely found ways to make it worth your while to have it, too. One example is the Epic’s ability to broadcast as a mobile hotspot, allowing up to 8 other devices to take advantage of these 4G speeds no matter how fast they go natively. When the EVO 4G came out, Sprint boasted that unlike AT&T, they could actually make the iPhone go 4G speeds. Sprint knows it has an edge with 4G only for a little while, and it’s trying to take every opportunity while it can.

Another perk that goes along with the 4G speed is video calling capability. Certainly, one of the Epic 4G’s crowing jewels is the frontward-facing camera that can be utilized for video conferencing. As it is only available on a select few devices, this is still a huge novelty and selling point for the Epic 4G. I was disappointed to find out, however, that there is no way to access the front camera through the actual camera app itself; it turns out that the camera is only accessible to third parties such as Qik. This definitely makes the iPhone 4’s front camera more appealing as it can be used via the camera app in addition to several video-conferencing services already available. Even though I personally don’t need to record myself, it at least is nice to use the camera just as easily and frequently as the backside camera. I hope Sprint and Samsung will release some type of update to allow this.

I also discovered Quick Launch on the Epic, which enables you to assign each key to a different application, making it much easier to find hard-to-find apps hidden deep in your expansive app tray. Some are preset; for example, hit search + b to get to the browser, and search + c to get to contacts. Makes sense, right?

For bloatware, the Epic also throws in a few preloaded apps of its own that the Captivate and Vibrant don’t have. The included Qik app is a no-brainer since this is the only Galaxy S that uses video calling. Sprint also pitches in with its obligatory apps such as NASCAR, Sprint Football, Navigation, TV, Sprint Zone, as well as the Sprint hotspot app.

Another key difference in the Epic is the unlock screen. On the others, all that’s required to unlock the touchscreen is a simple swipe of your finger any which way. However, on the Epic 4G the only way to unlock it is to press a small lock button in the middle of the screen and drag your finger up. It’s a minor irritation, one that can be overlooked in light of the other improvements the Epic has. I’m also wondering what happened to the puzzle lock screen, which was prominent on the Captivate and Vibrant. The Puzzle Lock shows up anytime you have a missed call or text message you need to read (as opposed to the standard swipe if all is normal), and appears as a stray puzzle piece that you need to drag and drop in the proper hole in order to unlock the phone and immediately jump to the messages screen.

With the Galaxy S phones, Samsung has introduced a syncing program called Kies — not sure how it’s pronounced or what it means — that when plugged into the computer, the Galaxy S can interface with it in order to back up all of your data as well as transfer files, contacts, and music. While it doesn’t automatically come with the Epic 4G, it can be found on Samsung’s site, and once installed on your computer it will automatically start up anytime you connect the Epic to your computer.

Speaking of pictures, here are a few that were taken using the Epic 4G.

And I also captured HD video on all three Galaxy S phones using my backyard as the background. Here’s the video outlining all 3:

Performance of the Samsung Epic 4G

Finally, we discuss the Epic 4G’s performance.

For 3G usage, the battery life is comparable to the Captivate and Vibrant, and with moderate use will easily last all day. Full use, whether you are calling, web browsing, emailing or playing games, you should expect to see roughly 4 hours of battery life. 4G is a different story because it is an incredible battery hog. Once I used 4G and kept it on, even barely using the phone, it was lucky to reach 4 hours at best. If you plan on using 4G on a consistent basis, I will strongly recommend being close to a power source like car charger or USB cord if you’re at your desk.

When I tried using the GPS without the assistance of WiFi, I had struggles. Some of the time I would get an error message that tells me “your location is currently unavailable”, but then would go back into the maps app 5 minutes later to get a much more accurate reading. This leads me to believe the Galaxy S line is still feeling the effects of a defective aGPS unit inside. I would’ve figured the Epic 4G would feature a improved and fixed aGPS, but it must have already been on the production line by the time the bug was discovered and broadcast through the media.

As mentioned earlier, the 4G network can achieve decently fast speeds, especially compared to the 3G norm; many times my speedtests would indicate speeds up to 4 Mbps, instead of the typical 1-1.5 for 3G. With that said, however, I did indulge myself by using the mobile hotspot service on the Epic 4G (which is available to you for $29.99). I made sure I was in a 4G zone and was getting a healthy signal, activated the hotspot, and hooked my iPhone 3GS up to it as a WiFi connection. When I ran a new speedtest I was shocked by what I saw: 1.4 Mbps download and .3 Mbps upload speeds. But when I ran a speedtest directly on the Epic itself I was seeing 3.7 Mbps download. I have no clue why this is the case, and perhaps it was just a fluke. Sadly I didn’t have another opportunity to try it out on a different device, but this completely confused me as to why there is such a large difference. If that’s normal, I do not want to be paying $30/month for that kind of service difference.

I didn’t notice any difference in processor performance from previous models. They all run the same 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, which certainly offers fast transitions and program loading times. Any differences in performance in this regard will be minor, at best. I also saw no difference in call quality or volume on the phones, either.

Final Thoughts on the Epic 4G

If you’ve read my Captivate and Vibrant reviews, it’s no secret that I love the Galaxy S series of smartphones. I feel they combine style and comfort with state-of-the-art and modern design. The Epic 4G is no deviation from that, though there are a few extra things to love and a few to hate. I love the addition of the full keyboard, especially the feel of the keys, dedicated number row and clever use of available real estate,  though I don’t like the extra weight and bulk that comes as a result. I love the 4G but don’t like that I have to pay an extra $10 for the privilege, even though my house is not in a 4G zone (I need to drive 15 minutes into town to get my 4G results).

I’m also not a fan of the Sprint mobile hotspot seemingly giving less than satisfactory speeds when compared to the device that’s actually running the 4G itself. They should be the same speeds, especially when only one device is connected. I can understand lower speeds with multiple devices being connected all at once, but that doesn’t explain the huge difference in performance when it was only one device.

I am also sad that the GPS is still not satisfactory, but will reserve ultimate judgment until the official bug fix is released sometime this month.

So the Epic 4G is, I feel, the most feature-packed Galaxy S device and the better of the two Sprint 4G phones out on market today. But you will need to decide for yourself if that makes it worth getting the extra data services involved with 4G and the hotspot ability. Not to mention the additional features mean the phone is more expensive than its comparable brethren at $249.99 with contract and after rebate.

You can also get Sprint’s Samsung Epic 4G from Amazon.com for $99

Take a look-see at my gallery of pics below.

But I can’t get ahead of myself in recommending the Epic 4G as the number one Galaxy S phone yet, because I’m still anticipating the release of the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon, also sometime this month. Once I have reviewed all four devices, I can better share a direct comparison between all of them.

• Samsung Epic 4G now available from Sprint
• Samsung Epic 4G (for Sprint) appears in promo video
• Sprint Samsung Epic 4G (Galaxy S Pro) to launch on August 11th
• Samsung Galaxy S Pro announced as Sprint Epic 4G
• Sprint Samsung Epic 4G to be launched on August 20?

RIM knows this, and is finally starting to fight back with a brand-new OS complete with new hardware designed to feel much more like its thriving competitors. The main concern is, however, that this new push to retain relevancy in an ever-changing smartphone universe might be coming too late.

Sure, there are still millions upon millions of Blackberry users that have subscribed to the “Crackberry” mentality — one that has been likened unto an addiction by some psychologists — and will continue to use Blackberry products no matter what comes out. But the problem is that very few people shopping for a new smartphone are actually choosing Blackberry over iPhone and Android option.

So with a new flagship product in the Blackberry Torch 9800 along with a large marketing campaign (large displays covered and shrouded in secrecy, for instance), RIM aims to take back its rightful spot in market share that it has enjoyed for so long. Many in the tech industry claim that the Torch is RIM’s last-ditch effort to get back in the game; that the company is looking at the Torch to save it from disappearing off the map completely. After all, RIM execs have labeled the Torch as the best Blackberry so far. That’s certainly saying a lot.

I don’t believe the Torch is RIM’s last shot. If the Torch fails, Blackberry products are still everywhere, and they’re still beloved by millions. The issue, however, lies in the fact that if Blackberry products aren’t moving forward in innovation (and if RIM can’t be future-thinking), they’re going backward. Android, iOS, WebOS and even Windows Phone 7 are all updating at a faster rate than Blackberry is. And yes, the argument can be made that Blackberry doesn’t update as often because it’s built on a solid OS and thus doesn’t need fixing. But the masses also want the latest and greatest device with the most modern stuff, and RIM isn’t viewed as having the “latest and greatest”. So if the Torch fails, RIM needs to be ready to follow it up with an even better, more forward-thinking flagship product. It needs to progress.

The Blackberry Torch 9800 is the most forward-thinking handset that RIM has put out in quite some time. The Blackberry Storm was the last major attempt at revolutionizing its lineup, throwing in a unique touchscreen with its SurePress technology, but was not loved by everyone. So with that, we dive into a closer look at this so-called “make it or break it” device, the Torch 9800, and the new Blackberry OS 6.

Unboxing the Blackberry Torch 9800

RIM has built a solid brand in its Blackberry lineup ever since it was first created. No matter how new or old it is, it’s easy to tell a Blackberry apart from any other phone. The company prides itself in keeping a trademark look and feel for all of its devices, and the Torch is no exception. The crazy thing is that this is the first slider phone that RIM has ever made, so it doesn’t look exactly like any other Blackberry, yet just at first glance you can tell it’s made by the same company.

The Torch is presented in a small all-black box that looks like it wouldn’t be large enough to fit all of the accessories Blackberry phones usually come with. Everything is packed in very nicely; each box comes with a 3.5 mm stereo headset, charger/USB cable combo (the charger is just a wall module with USB port, which is the same style being used by most smartphones nowadays; I absolutely love this new trend), battery, 4 GB MicroSD card to complement the 4 GB internal storage, cloth to clean fingerprints off the screen, and included software CD and various quick start booklets. The only thing missing is a standard case with belt clip. I’m curious as to why, since the Bold series came with one. My theory is that it was left out to make room for the MicroSD card which did not come included with the Bold series.

Not only is everything packaged in a classy manner, the phone itself looks very classy as well. Just by looking at the exterior I can tell there was a lot of care put into designing it. But we’ll get into the design in just a moment.

Hardware of the Blackberry Torch

My main concern at first was how a slider phone would hold up, given the type of demands a Blackberry user would have for it. Obviously it has to be a large enough touchscreen to make it worth having, slid on top of a keyboard just about as large as its predecessor, the Bold 9700. But RIM has mentioned that this phone has been 3 years in the making, and I can tell that there has been a lot of preparation involved on this one.

The slide itself is incredibly solid. It doesn’t feel loose at all while sliding, and when slid open it doesn’t feel like it is just randomly going to fall apart. This is always a good sign when using a slider — not having to worry about whether or not it will run right off the slider’s tracks. One other key that shows how solid the slider mechanism really is becomes evident as I try to open the slider with one hand. Unless I grip onto the screen itself tight, it’s practically impossible to open with just one hand. The easier it is to open one-handed, the less comfortable I feel about the phone’s durability. Once the slider opens, you can hear and feel it click into place. One final note on the slider: it doesn’t feel off balance or top heavy when slid open. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The Torch utilizes a 3.2” capacitive touchscreen that does not involve Surepress. Sorry if you are a Surepress fan, but most people I’ve talked to much prefer the ease of use on a full capacitive screen instead.

Colors are black on both front and back, with chrome on the top and bottom and on the sides. The battery cover for the Torch has a very classy look in its display that I’ve been told is like a brushed aluminum. I love the look of all the lines on the back, though whether it adds to the robust nature of the phone has yet to be seen. It just looks tougher.

The keys on the phone very similar to most, if not all, of the Blackberry devices on the market: on the front, underneath the screen, we find the call button, menu button (affectionately called the “freckle button”), trackpad, go back button, and call end/power. The volume adjustment keys on the right side of the phone, right next to the convenience key (which by default is the camera, but I much prefer the voice command feature as my favorite shortcut). The left side only boasts a MicroUSB charging port, and the top part of the phone has screen lock on the left and mute on the right.

When looking at the keyboard, I find it incredibly reminiscient of the Tour and Bold 9700, both in look and feel. The buttons I think are a smidge smaller, and uses the same style where there is no separation between keys and instead opts for slightly raised edges on each individual key. On the first few uses I noticed I wasn’t quite used to the smaller size, thus causing me to smash my fingers on different keys than intended. I adjusted after a short while and got used to the keyboard well enough to make it enjoyable.

If a physical keyboard isn’t your thing, the Torch gives you access to an on-screen keyboard as well. On a 3.2” screen, the buttons aren’t very large; I definitely recommend going to landscape mode if you are doing any heavy typing and refuse to use the physical keyboard for some reason.

Other aspects of the phone’s hardware design are a mixed bag. Some are huge improvements to the Blackberry lineup (the 512 MB internal flash memory doubles that of the 9700) and remain competitive with the other big boys; some aspects are downers in that they stay the same as older devices. No progression equals a loss of significant ground to Android and iPhone.

For instance, much has been said about the Torch’s lackluster screen resolution. At 480×360, it’s not terrible. But when compared to Retina Displays and Super AMOLED screens available en masse now, the Torch’s screen doesn’t hold a candle. To me, this could be a major disadvantage of planning 3 years out; obviously in 2007 the Torch’s screen quality would have been rivaled by none other. Now, it’s just mediocre. Still lovely to look at, but there’s no “wow factor” there. And these things may seem little, but are in reality important enough differences that will likely affect the decision of many customers.

Let’s go on to Blackberry’s new OS 6.

User Interface of the Blackberry Torch

Blackberry devices have always had a reputation of being one of the most complex devices to master. I believe that if you can learn to use a Blackberry (especially OS 4 and 5), you can learn any phone on the planet. It may be a small exaggeration but the bottom line is that RIM has, up until now, been focused squarely on the business and enterprise user instead of the average consumer. The company has been quite successful with this until recently, when Apple and Google began finding ways to make phones that appeal to Joe the Plumber in terms of user experience, yet throw in all of the necessary functionality for Richard the CEO. So the point of OS 6, especially when you see the commercials and teasers for the update, is to try finding a solid middle ground where plumbers and CEOs can frolick together in perfect harmony, blending ultimate functionality with an easy UI. Can it be done?

OS 6 certainly has the same cool modern look to it as its predecessor, and is optimized to work well on a touchscreen like the Torch. Everything on it is just as customizable and much easier to access your favorite apps and settings since everything you need is on the screen in front of you.

When first turning on the screen you’ll notice the usual date/time and profile information on top, with a whole lot of nothing else underneath with the exception of a arrow at the bottom of the screen pointing up. Clicking the arrow (or sliding your finger up) reveals a full app tray. The kicker is that this app tray is actually one out of five panels you can choose from; sliding your finger left or right ala iPhone or Android style will show the other four panels. The panels are broken down to Favorites, Downloads, Media, Frequent, and All. Each panel takes up the majority of the screen real estate, but you can slide your finger downward part of the way to minimize the panels down to your top selections (Remember how every other Blackberry uses the basic screen with just the top row of apps and you have to hit the menu button for the rest of the apps to show up? Same kind of idea for this one).

Get tired of the menu button that Blackberry users have grown to rely on so heavily over the years? Try holding down your desired icon and a little pop-up menu will appear, giving you options such as move, hide, mark as favorite, switch app, and more. This makes a huge difference to me in how I personalize and access various items on the Torch.

The notification bar is located between the date/time section and the app tray, and is a large improvement over the previous method of notifications. On earlier OS versions, you could see a notification showing that you have a new message, but spend a half hour looking through all sorts of subfolders trying to find a random browser service message that you never knew you had. OS 6 eliminates this hassle by letting you click on the notification bar, and a new tray slides down underneath showing off every detail of each one and letting you access that notification directly from that screen. What kind of notifications can you see? Messages, calendar appointments approaching, Facebook and Twitter updates, and more available from other apps. I absolutely love this feature.

Blackberry has also improved its search capabilities by introducing “Universal Search”. The concept is simple enough: touch the magnifying glass on the top right, start typing in whatever you’re looking for, and you’ll find search results from anywhere in the device. For example, by typing in “Bob” you’ll find all of your contacts by that name, any web search history with the word Bob in it, music from your Bob Marley collection, your friend Bob’s Facebook account, and more.

Speaking of Facebook, OS 6 also features extra social networking opportunities by including a Social Feeds app. In it you can peruse your favorite RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook, and many more types of social networking. You can also opt to use the dedicated Twitter, Facebook and MySpace apps instead. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it is refreshing to see Blackberry jump on the Social bandwagon and offer it to its users.

Included on the software CD, Desktop Manager 6 is a very robust piece of syncing software and is my favorite DM so far. The interface has a very minimalistic look to it and syncing contacts, applications, organizer and media couldn’t be easier. It’s almost as though the DM team took a few notes from iTunes and other third-party software. One interesting feature I haven’t seen before on a Blackberry is syncing over WiFi; by having the DM pulled up on the computer I can use my WiFi connection to wirelessly sync over fresh music without having to plug the Torch into my computer directly. With the WiFi sync enabled, in fact, my computer’s entire music library shows up listed on my Torch with all unsynced music grayed out. It’s easy enough to click on one of the grayed-out icons and the Torch will automatically sideload it into the phone’s library for you.

Features of the Blackberry Torch

One huge feature that should not go overlooked on the Torch is its included WebKit browser. Anyone who has used a web browser on a Blackberry knows how much of a pain it truly is to navigate and surf with, and has probably become well aware of easier browsers like Opera. Browsing no longer has to be a pain in the neck because WebKit allows true HTML browsing complete with tabs and pinch-to-zoom. In fact, the Torch is actually named after the company RIM acquired in order to develop WebKit capabilities on its new devices.

Blackberry devices are well known for ease of email setup and use, and the Torch follows the tradition well. When I booted up the Torch for the very first time, I was greeted with a setup screen that gave me several choices, including email setup. I point this out as another improvement in OS 6 that replaces the old style that forces you to go through each individual setup screen before finally letting you skip ahead to using the phone.

Email also works wonderfully on the Torch using touchscreen gestures. When in an email, using a left or right sliding gesture will navigate you through all of your emails, and it’s easy to get HTML emails to show up as well.

The music player performed well. The player has a nice interface that keeps everything minimal but still manages to throw in all the necessities. For instance, the music player shows the cover art with album and track info as well as the controls on the bottom of the screen, but the cover art is displayed in a fashion very similar to Cover Flow on the iPhone. It’s easy to scroll back and forth to whatever other songs you want to play. Options available via menu button will allow for different EQ settings. Using my Skullcandy headphones I was able to get great audio quality out of the music player.

We find a camera with 5 MP resolution and VGA video recording abilities. One thing I enjoyed on the Torch was the included LED flash. I think the flash should be included on every handset that offers a higher-end camera, even though I don’t use it a whole lot. It’s difficult to use in darker areas just because every picture turns out over-exposed, but typically it looks great in medium to low light situations instead. Video VGA recording is rather disappointing when you consider all of the newest powerhouse phones are equipped with 720p HD video recording. Still, the video recording is decent at 23-24 fps and is one of the best for Blackberry devices, but not for the competition.

I like the newly included Podcast app in the media section. I found it to be easier to use than the native iTunes app located on the iPhone, because it was simpler UI and I could find most podcasts that I normally subscribe to on a normal basis. I enjoyed how pleasant it was to download the latest podcasts that I have subscribed to.

The address book and calendars can be synced wirelessly through Google Sync if preferred, though you can take advantage of AT&T’s new Address Book service which allows you to back up your address book into AT&T’s servers and have it available to you if you begin using a different phone. Fortunately you have several methods at your disposal, as you can use these options on top of the typical Exchange or Enterprise accounts.

App World has been updated to 2.0, which has several improvements. The major difference between the two  is the opportunity to set up new Blackberry login codes, much like iTunes accounts; but instead of being restricted to PayPal payments only, credit cards are now accepted when downloading a paid app. It also throws in a top 25 section, showing off the most popular paid and free apps in the App World currently. Not finding what you need in App World still? It’s easy to download third-party apps through special websites or other related means. Don’t ask me why this can’t be done with Android phones on AT&T, but Blackberry phones can use third-party apps anytime.

Performance of the Blackberry Torch
As Blackberry devices are planned out years in advance, it’s no surprise that we still haven’t seen one crack the 1 GHz CPU barrier yet. The Torch, with as top-of-the-line that it is, still runs a 624 MHz processor. This doesn’t mean it’s slow. Far from it, in fact; I would argue that RIM’s excellent memory management definitely helps keep the Torch speedier than most smartphones packing the same processor. The CPU worked plenty fast for me, quickly and easily getting me into all the apps and using all the gestures I would need.

Battery life is a well-known strength of the Blackberry lineup, and continues to delight us with the 1,300 mAh battery in the Torch. Heavy users will notice the battery lasting most of the day, even with constant emailing, texting, calling and using the phone for other various activities such as Facebook or Twitter. Light users? Definitely two full days of use. It’s better than most Android phones out there, and outlasts the iPhone 4.

The signal was great on the Torch, as it’s also another Blackberry advantage (notice a trend here? Turns out the Blackberry is great for performance, overall). I didn’t drop any calls, I consistently noticed it getting 1-2 bars better service than my iPhone 3GS, and sound quality was above average. I do wish the speakerphone was louder, however.

My Final Thoughts on the Blackberry Torch

I had a very enjoyable experience on the Blackberry Torch 9800, especially in comparison to most of the device’s predecessors. I think RIM did a great job putting together a solid phone with decent components and a fresh OS that seems to make a large difference in the user experience.

It doesn’t have the best components or specs compared to the other powerful smartphones coming out this Summer. It’s hard for Blackberry to compete with the HTC Incredible or Samsung Galaxy S series or any of the other juggernauts we’ve seen this year because it’s not releasing the Torch with the state-of-the-art specs as we would all hope for. But let’s get something straight: RIM knows darn well how to make a good smartphone that performs great.

If you are looking for a fresh new smartphone with full physical keyboard, I fully recommend the Torch. The real competition there is in the Palm Pre Plus, but the Torch outshines the Pre Plus in overall performance and has a much nicer keyboard to use as well. For a touchscreen, though, it’s not any different than any other smartphone on the planet.

The Torch will mostly draw loyal Blackberry customers that won’t turn to anywhere else, and perhaps a small few will consider the Torch over the other powerhouse phones. It’s not going to turn heads or immediately put Blackberry back on top, but it’s a huge step in the right direction, one that can only be followed up with another, more powerful step. And if RIM keeps going at this pace, it may find itself back in the race for market share. The Torch alone won’t do it, but it’s a start.

Get BlackBerry Torch 9800 Phone (AT&T) from Amazon for FREE

• Verizon BlackBerry Torch 9850 launch date leaked
• BlackBerry Torch 9810 and 9860 now available in the UK
• BlackBerry Torch 9810 revealed on AT&T’s website
• BlackBerry Torch 9800 available in India starting tomorrow?
• BlackBerry Torch 9800 shows up in AT&T stores

Enter Clear’s latest 4G puck of WiFi goodness, called the iSpot. With the “i” in the front of the name, everyone naturally assumes it has something to do with Apple. If you assumed this, you would be absolutely correct! The iSpot differs from all of its predecessors in that it’s only supposed to connect to devices running iOS: iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch (note I used the word “supposed”, but I’ll get to that later).

What’s the big deal? Wouldn’t a 4G hotspot be more effective if it could connect to any device capable of using WiFi? Only if price isn’t a factor. Restricting WiFi access to only iOS devices actually enables the total cost of the service to be a lot lower than other related products. For example, the iSpot costs $99 up front for the device and $25 for Unlimited 4G data access. Compare this with other 4G hotspots from Clear that require contract and cost upwards of $40/month.

Here’s why this is so appealing to me. If I’m considering an iPad purchase, normally I would choose to get one with 3G. Using 3G off of AT&T’s network would cost $25 per month and be limited to only 2 GB monthly data usage. With the help of the iSpot, however, it makes more fiscal sense to buy the WiFi-only version for less, get the iSpot for a lower cost than an upgrade to iPad 3G would, and pay the same $25 per month but instead get unlimited access to an even faster 4G network. Now you can see why iSpot is such a big deal.

So in theory the iSpot 4G is a clear winner (forgive the pun) if you only need it to connect to iDevices. Certainly if you need 4G access for your laptop or other device, it will be important to look around for other products that take advantage of the same network. But how does the iSpot hold up in real life?

Design of the Clear iSpot 4G

Upon looking at the iSpot, I am immediately reminded of an Apple Mighty Mouse. It’s all white with the exception of some writing on the front for the Clear logo as well as some LED lights that indicate if WiFi is turned on and how good your reception is to the nearest 4G tower. These lights are in 3 different color settings as a way of more accurately describing how good the service is in your area. When I turned it on at home, the 4G light kept flashing red to indicate it was still searching for 4G because I live just a few miles outside 4G coverage. Naturally this changed when I drove closer into town, when all of a sudden the 4G indicator lit up yellow and then green (the strongest setting).

The iSpot maintains a very minimalistic design. There’s only one button on the device, located on the right side, which powers it on and off. On the bottom there is a Mini-USB charging port, which took me by surprise given that Micro-USB is the charging standard for most new devices coming to market now. This tells me that this product has been in the works for quite some time before actually hitting store shelves.

On the back we find instuctions on what the different LED lights mean, and offers the default WiFi password for your device. This made the WiFi setup on my iPhone incredibly easy. I was relieved to see this information directly on the iSpot just because I originally wasn’t sure of where to find it.

The battery can be taken out — ironic, given its target devices don’t have removable batteries — and is guarded by a standard battery cover that just blends in quite well with the rest of the device.

Performance of the iSpot

Battery life on any 4G device gets sucked up in no time, and the iSpot is no exception to that. We did happen to get the promised battery life of 4.5 hours, but barely. Clear wasn’t joking around on its battery life estimate. The crazy thing about that? It’s a 2700 mAh battery, twice the size of some of the largest smartphone batteries on the market today.

I had no problem connecting my iPhone to the iSpot, and enjoyed using it when I was out and about. After doing some speed tests, however, I couldn’t determine any consistency regarding the internet speed even though I was in a green area the entire time. The best speed test I ever saw from the iSpot’s influence is a download speed of 4.3 Mbps, but typically averaged around 2-3 Mbps. Not a lot for a 4G network, especially when compared to the forthcoming LTE networks that are supposed to consume that at a much faster rate, but still marginally better than the average 3G speeds. Upload times were laughable, though — I averaged around 500 kbps, seeing only a max upload speed of 829 kbps. I do find it somewhat unusual for there to be such a large range of differing speeds, especially given the fact that I hadn’t moved anywhere, and some of my tests were all within a few minutes of each other.

The iSpot can also connect with up to 8 different devices simultaneously. Not owning eight iOS devices, I couldn’t test it out easily enough. But I didn’t have any problem hooking it up to both mine and my wife’s iPhones at the same time, at least.

Also of note is that you can interface with the iSpot via your web browser. You can change the default passwords and settings through this website; you can even adjust power settings to preserve battery life (you can trim down the distance the iSpot can be picked up from)

Earlier I mentioned that I don’t live in a 4G coverage zone. This is a deal breaker for me, as the iSpot is not capable of falling back onto 3G speeds in the absence of 4G. If I have to travel 5 miles just to be in a 4G zone, I can’t justify paying $25 per month for that privilege, no matter how good a deal it really is. With that said, it doesn’t work for me in my unique situation but if you are consistently staying within the bounds of your local 4G network and not straying too far from the beaten path, the iSpot 4G will work great for you.

I love the idea of the iSpot and I love the price. As long as you are in a area of good 4G coverage and are constantly using iPads and iPod Touches, this is a must have accessory. For the iPhone, it’s still a great add-on but it is a lot harder to justify the extra monthly cost when you’re already paying between $15 and $30 per month to use it on 3G. It just depends on if 4G access is a must have for your iPhone or not.

(There is one side note to the iSpot restrictions: they can be hacked. It is technically possible to spoof your other wireless devices to make them appear to be iOS. Doing so does void your warranty with Clear, and there’s always a small amount of risk of malicious content being involved, so unless you know exactly what you’re doing and are willing to get on Clear’s naughty list, I’d recommend to opt instead for the Spot 4G service which works for all WiFi-accessible devices.)

• iOS Devices on 4G? Clear’s iSpot is to Thank
• Apple to launch iPad internationally on May 28
• O2 to offer free iPhone 3G in UK
• Apple offers “commonsense pointers” for extending iPhone 3G battery life
• China Mobile wants both Apple’s iPad and iPhone

Without writing a review that feels almost identical to what I wrote about the Captivate, my goal is to use the Captivate review as a foundation and use the other Galaxy S devices to add upon that foundation. In general my review today will be on the differences between the Captivate and Vibrant, and will throw in other thoughts as I go along.

Samsung is certainly making a smart move in releasing this as a series for every carrier. Why? Because so far, both the Captivate and Vibrant are the best Android phones offered on their respective carriers, and the Epic and Fascinate will at least be one of the top 3 offerings when released. Thus, Samsung receives all the visibility it could ever want, and has a top-notch product to offer every single smartphone consumer in the US, not just a small portion of them (by being limited to one carrier, that is).

Another great move is that if you are loyal to one specific carrier, you don’t even have to think about moving to someone else just to get a Galaxy S phone. It’s right there, waiting for you, if you want it.

Unboxing: First Impressions of the Samsung Vibrant

I looked at the Vibrant, then looked at the Captivate, and back to the Vibrant again. If it weren’t for the Galaxy S logo on the back, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that they are essentially the same exact phone. While the Captivate has a elegant, brushed metal look with sharper edges, the Vibrant is more plasticky in look AND feel and is much more rounded. I’m talking rounded corners, sides, and even has a small protruding lip on the bottom of the back cover that reminded me much of the Samsung Omnia II design. In fact, it looked almost like the Omnia II in most ways, but with Android and better specs overall.

My opinion of the Vibrant’s look and feel compared to the Captivate is torn; I love the Captivate because it feels much more solid and just simply looks more elegant. I didn’t get the feeling that I was just holding a large hunk of plastic. However, I didn’t quite like how sharp the edges of the phone were, so I did wish for the sides at least to be rounded to make it more comfortable. And while the Vibrant satisfies me in that sense, I just can’t stand the fact that it feels plastic. Not to mention it appears to be much more prone to fingerprints as a result. The rounded corners of the Vibrant are very iPhone 3GS; it almost looked as though T-Mobile was trying to copy that look.

Also when unboxing the Vibrant, I noticed that it came with a few extra items not included in the Captivate’s box. Both phones come with the standard-issue stereo headset and micro USB cable, with a small USB charger (which by the way, I absolutely love this because I can use this type of charger to power up any device of my choosing as long as I have a USB cable for it). The Vibrant also throws in a 2GB microSD card (for Avatar, which I will get to in a moment) as well as MicroSD-to-SD adapter, always handy to have around just in case you can’t find the USB cable to connect to your computer. I love it when carriers throw in extra stuff beyond the usual charger/headset duo.

How the Vibrant Differs From the Captivate
Rounded or sharp edges. Plastic or metal components. These physical traits are some of the most blatant differences between the two, but not the only ones. It’s been determined that all of the internal specs are the same, but AT&T and T-Mobile have gone out of their way to make these two phones as unique as possible without venturing too far away from what the Galaxy S is meant to be about.

Here are a few other things I noticed when comparing the two devices.

Battery Cover. The Vibrant uses a standard battery cover that is an opening on the bottom that you can use your fingernail to prop open with, but the Captivate’s battery cover is a very clever idea that I hope will be utilized again. Instead of the fingernail option, the Captivate opted for a new method that involves pushing down the bottom part of the back with your thumbs, which detaches the bottom from the rest of the back and gives enough space for the cover to come off easily. To put the cover back on, nestle it in the proper spot and then push that bottom part back into place.

Power/lock button. The Vibrant’s is located further down on the right side of the device than on the Captivate. Not a huge change, but a noticeable one given the fact that I was constantly locking and unlocking my devices. I personally prefer the Captivate’s lock button being closer to the top because it feels a little more natural in my hand, but this is certainly a personal preference.

Camera. Even though both camera lenses and resolutions are identical, there are still some slight differences in each device’s UI and even photo quality. We have no idea on why they don’t offer the same exact quality on both, but it is assumed that it has something to do with the software itself that could be causing it.

I have taken pictures and videos with both cameras at identical spots in identical situations, and compare them here so you can judge for yourself which one you like better.

Here are my video comparisons:

For photo comparisons, the ones on the left are Captivate and the ones on the right are Vibrant:

The UI seems to have the same settings available, but the buttons are in different spots. In addition, the Vibrant camera requires pressing one extra button to bring up the settings menu in which I can switch between camera and video; the Captivate has a handy button available anytime I touch the screen that lets me switch easily. Below are a couple shots from the Vibrant camera UI.

UI differences. Speaking of UI, the Vibrant also throws in a few minor tweaks to the Touchwiz UI to make it unique, such as different widgets on the notification bar, subtle differences in the camera’s UI, the addition of a “Home” button on the Vibrant’s bottom apps when in the app tray, and other small tweaks that wouldn’t be noticeable unless you actually are comparing both phones right next to each other.

Bloatware. Every company does it, and nobody likes it. It’s called bloatware, and is eerily similar to a lot of the junk that gets placed on our brand-new desktops and laptops whenever purchased at a big box store. The idea is for the phone to come included with several preloaded apps that may or may not benefit the everyday consumer. Usually this bloatware is annoying and unwelcome, and frankly is stuff that could easily just be placed in the Android Market and be quickly downloaded if the consumer does indeed want it.

While most of the apps that come preloaded on these two phones are the same, AT&T and T-Mobile do like to add in some special stuff of their own. For instance, T-Mobile put in a MicroSD card with the Vibrant that has James Cameron’s movie Avatar preloaded. I found this to be a terrific addition to the phone that easily shows off the beautiful Super AMOLED display and its capabilities, and shows it off well. I spent a good portion watching the movie and just admiring how great it looked on the screen, knowing fully well that it was only in 2D and on a 4” display (obviously Avatar is best viewed in 3D and on a much, MUCH larger display). And that’s saying something.

Here are some of the apps preloaded on the devices:

Captivate: YP Mobile, Where, Mobile Video, and a full suite of AT&T services such as FamilyMap, Maps, Radio, Music, etc.

Vibrant: Avatar, Slacker, The Sims 3, Layar, My Account, Kindle, Swype Tips, ThinkFree Office, Visual Voicemail, GoGo, Audio Postcard, Amazon MP3, Add to Home.

It can be argued that many of these apps are incredibly useful. While this is true, I believe that all of these can easily be thrown into the Android Market and downloaded as a freebie. I don’t need or want GoGo on my phone, and would just prefer to get rid of it.

Third Party Apps. Another huge difference is that the Vibrant gives you the option of allowing third-party applications to be downloaded, whereas the Captivate is restricted due to AT&T policy. This isn’t a feature that everyone cares about, but there are many people who find it useful to be able to download apps in other less conventional ways besides the Market. There’s a lot of extra stuff available out there that can’t be found in the Market, and if you are looking for a Galaxy S phone that lets you explore that extra stuff, don’t go with the Captivate.

Keyboards. Both phones have Swype, but only the Vibrant has it as the default keyboard. When I first used the Captivate I was puzzled as to why I couldn’t find it, but a quick exploration through settings solved that problem awfully fast. If Swype isn’t for you on the Vibrant, however, it’s easy enough to change this in “locale and text settings”.

GPS. There’s no difference here, but I do want to note that the AGPS on both devices have been given a bad reputation since it didn’t work at all on either device out of the box. Samsung has been working on this issue and all Galaxy S phones will be fixed by September. I have heard rumors that an update has already been pushed out to the Captivate, but cannot confirm it. Can any Captivate users comment on this and let us know?

Internet speeds. Another obvious difference here will depend on the networks in your area. AT&T already has an established 3G network in most places (yes, San Francisco excluded of course) but T-Mobile is not too far behind in its buildout of HSPA+. Where I live, I get AT&T 3G but only T-Mobile EDGE (see my screenshot below); I have to go into town to get 3G. So naturally at home I noticed a large difference in the network speeds. AT&T is much faster for me, but your experience could quite possibly differ from mine. I invite anyone who has either phone to post their SpeedTest results in our comments.

Performance. Perhaps it was something in the settings that I didn’t notice, but I found that the Vibrant had the ever-so-slight advantage in CPU performance. I felt that the Vibrant didn’t take as long to get in and out of programs, though the difference would only be one second at most. To me it’s not enough of a factor in deciding which phone to choose — my factors here are in design and carrier differences — but interesting to note nonetheless. Battery life was the same on both, provided all the settings were the same (for instance, the Vibrant’s default screen brightness was much higher than the Captivate’s).

In the end, I was a bit surprised by the number of small details that made each phone, both Galaxy S phones with identical specs, completely unique. It’s nice to see Samsung coming out with fresh versions of the same phone on each individual carrier that adds extra pizazz to the lineup. If it were the same exact phone across the board, it wouldn’t be hardly as exciting. But the Captivate and Vibrant clearly have distinct personalities that allow them to stand out from each other.

And honestly, there aren’t enough distinctions between the two to make a clear winner of one over the other; both the Captivate and Vibrant are great quality smartphones that do a fine job sprucing up a carrier’s lineup. In terms of overall design, I prefer the Captivate for its look of elegance and solid feel of brushed metal over the Vibrant’s plastic look and feel.

Final Thoughts on the Vibrant/Galaxy S

I want to share a thought on the Galaxy S series in general. When announced at CTIA 2010 in Las Vegas, it only had a few hours to be in the spotlight before the craze for the HTC EVO 4G took over. After having played with these two phones (so far; the Epic 4G and Fascinate are still to come) I feel that the series is up to par with the world’s best smartphones at present time. Everyone has their own opinions on what makes a smartphone so great, but I have come away from my Galaxy S experience rather impressed by what I’ve seen.

That doesn’t mean these phones are perfect by any means, but there are a few factors I find much more important than others in a smartphone: usability, comfort, and user experience. A smartphone needs to feel good without awkwardness in my hand. I need to be able to access every bit of information I require, and I need to access it easily without hassle. Those are the biggies to me. I understand phone reception is important, as well as screen size, battery life, etc etc. And the better they are, the happier I will be with the phone. But I don’t make too many calls, and I’m always near a charger of some sort. And screen size only matters to an extent; For instance, I prefer screens between 3.5” and 4”. There is such a thing as too small and too large.

This is where the appeal of the Galaxy S comes in. The HTC EVO 4G on Sprint had more buzz because of screen size and inclusion of 4G, but the Galaxy S is “just right” in many more categories — especially in usability, comfort and user experience — and I believe will outsell every other Android device in the market because it’s a top-tier product and will be available on all four major US carriers as well as globally.

I look forward to also reviewing and comparing the Samsung Epic 4G and the Samsung Fascinate, the last 2 Galaxy S phones to be released in the US. I will certainly find it interesting to see which one is my favorite to use. So keep posted on UnwiredView, and don’t forget to let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

In the meantime, if you decided to get Samsung Galaxy S phone for yourself, here’s some good deals at Amazon for them:

Samsung Vibrant Android Phone (T-Mobile) now $99 on contract at Amazon

Get Samsung Captivate Android Phone (AT&T) for FREE from Amazon

Below are several pictures and screenshots I took, some highlighting both Captivate and Vibrant, and some that are primarily for the Vibrant. Don’t forget to check out my review of the Samsung Captivate for more pictures geared specifically toward that specific phone.

• Samsung Captivate only $0.01 at Amazon. Samsung Vibrant now $69
• T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S T959) shows up
• Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant and Captivate coming to Canada this month
• AT&T Captivate and T-Mobile Vibrant Galaxy S phones store unlock codes inside
• AT&T’s Samsung Captivate and T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant can now be rooted

It was assumed at the first announcement that the Galaxy S was just one particular phone that during this summer would have a heyday of a marketing campaign and would launch on all four major carriers in the US. What we never expected at that show, however, was that the Galaxy S would turn into a series of phones; each phone in the series appear to have the same specs but have a different look from the rest.

It was a stunning concept, and a marvelous one at that. Very seldom will all four carriers come out with an identical phone. The only ones in recent times that come to my memory are the Motorola RAZR V3, and Blackberry Pearl/Curve. Back then, it wasn’t the phone itself that played a major role in which carrier you chose to be with — it was the network itself. Boy, were those the days. But now, it’s all about exclusivity. Consumers choose AT&T because of the iPhone or Sprint because of the EVO 4G, not as much because of the network. The roles have completely reversed.

Enter the Galaxy S series. Samsung feels so strongly that this series should be its flagship that it’s investing millions of dollars in ensuring it’s available on every major carrier as well as marketing this series to the entire country. And as a result, this will be the first attempt of any phone maker in at least 3 years to bring every carrier together in unison with one phone.

It’s my quest to discover each US member of the Galaxy S family, and find out exactly how they differ and how they compare with each other.

First up on the list is the Samsung Captivate for AT&T. The Captivate was the first of the four to show up at my door, even though it’s the second to be released. I’ve spent a full week using the Captivate as my primary device and would now like to share my feelings about it.

First Impressions of the Samsung Captivate

With the exception of the no-subsidy Nexus One, AT&T has lacked a relevant Android offering. I figure that due to the company’s investment in the iPhone, it didn’t want to introduce a true Android handset that would possibly be looked at as an iPhone competitor. For the first time we now see a true Android device that has the same types of specs and price as the current 16 GB iPhone 4.

At first look, I notice that this is a phone I could be proud to show off to friends and family as my device of choice. Huge screen with beautiful and vibrant display, easy-to-use UI, classic look, and is incredibly thin, just to name a few things.

But don’t think that this review is going to be a Captivate lovefest, because the honeymoon is over and it’s time to tackle the nitty-gritty. No handset is perfect and thus there are certainly some things about it I would like to change. For me, my primary handset of choice currently is the iPhone, so there will be some things it does better and, naturally, a few things it does worse. We’ll dive into that more.

Design of the Samsung Captivate

The Captivate captures the spirit of the original Galaxy S phone released in Europe and Asia, though it may have a slightly different design. Much like the other Galaxy S variants, the insides of the phone and the stuff you see on the screen are all the same with few differences.

I enjoy the look of the phone, though I’m still getting used to the feel. Just staring at the phone gives me an impression that Samsung knew what it was doing in making the Captivate — a large squared-off front that transitions into a softly-curved back with a metallic look on top and bottom, with textured back panel that does not feel cheaply made at all.

Not everyone is going to dig the squared edges and corners on the front. I found that having the harsh edges made it difficult at times to handle with just one free hand, especially when using the Swype keyboard or other more mundane tasks that work just fine when using a smaller phone. With that said, I personally liked the look of the phone and found it to have an elegant style to it.

The Captivate takes an incredibly minimalistic approach to its outside design. There are only two actual buttons on the entire handset, one on each side, and nothing eye-catching on the back besides the camera lens.

On the front we find a 4” capacitive touchscreen. The screen is easy to manage; I only rarely experienced a time that I pressed the wrong button or link, and those times were because they were so close to each other.

Also directly underneath the touchscreen are four touch-sensitive buttons: options, home, back, and search. To me, these are really the only buttons I need in order to get by.

The one button on the left is volume control, while the one button on the right is the power/handset lock button.

Samsung got creative up on top of the Captivate. Located next to the 3.5 mm headphone jack is a MicroUSB power charging port (which by itself is not new or innovative) that cleverly uses a tiny sliding door to cover and uncover the port whenever you need it. As simple a concept as that sounds, I’ve never seen a phone that uses the same method to cover its ports when not in use. It’s better than the traditional plastic or rubber plugs that most phones use as covers, because it can’t be ripped off and it doesn’t get in the way when you get ready to plug your charger in. Not to mention that when closed, the cover blends into the rest of the phone seamlessly. Just skimming over the phone you may never even realize the charger port is there. I absolutely love it.

I also briefly mentioned the back. The upper and lower portions have a metallic look and feel, and overall don’t feel plasticky at all. On the upper part I see the 5 MP camera lens, and that’s it. Again, it’s integrated into the design so well that if you don’t look closely the first time, you could look right past it without noticing. The middle portion, the back cover, takes up the majority of space and has a black/grey checkerboard look.

A couple notes on the screen itself, which features Samsung’s new Super AMOLED technology. Super-AMOLED is meant to give a much higher resolution at a lower energy consumption and lower amount of sunglare. After putting the Captivate’s Super AMOLED to the test, I can tell you I absolutely love the screen res. Perhaps the iPhone 4’s retina display is technically better, but when comparing the two it’s very difficult to notice a huge difference. The Captivate screen is incredibly bright and the colors are very vibrant. With the exception of the iPhone 4, it has the most beautiful screen I’ve seen in a phone yet (disclaimer: I have not yet reviewed the other Galaxy S phones, but I imagine the screen res will be identical. I’ll let you know.).

However, it doesn’t do so well in bright sunlight. I still had a large amount of glare and found it difficult to see. Super AMOLED technology is supposed to reflect 80% less sunlight, which normally is what causes the glaring effect. So perhaps the 20 other percent was present in such bright sunlight (noon on a hot summer day), and that for lower levels of sunlight the screen performs okay.

In regards to the screen’s power consumption, I’ll defer comments until the performance section.

TouchWiz 3.0

The Captivate features Android 2.1 in connection with TouchWiz 3.0 UI. In the past I have not been a fan of TouchWiz, especially on Android; for instance I felt that it bogged down the performance of the Behold II, but that was an earlier version of TouchWiz built on an earlier version of Android. So it’s a completely different ballgame now.

TouchWiz 3.0 feels a lot more solid than its predecessors ever did. It offers seven main screen panels instead of the default five, and offers several different types of widgets: Buddies Now, Feeds and Updates, and Daily Briefing are the highlighted widgets (more about this later). The app tray is also completely revamped to look more — dare I say — iPhoneish? It starts out with three different screens with several preloaded apps, and increases as you add more apps. These apps even have a look similar to what you find on an iPhone. Soon you can slide your finger multiple times left or right to satisfy any iPhone hunger you might have. You can also edit the app tray so instead of all apps appearing alphabetically, you can drag your apps around and put them wherever you want. This is a feature missing from most Android phones, though I must admit that if I use an app enough times, I drag it onto my main screen as a shortcut (or at least put it in a folder with like-minded apps for easy access). So it’s nice to be customizeable in every area of the phone to satisfy the nastiest of critics, but I prefer not to use the app tray this way since it’s a bit redundant to me as it is.

Another welcome improvement in TouchWiz 3 is the notification bar. On top of the standard-issue notifications you’d find on any Android, is the presence of shortcuts for toggling different modes: WiFi, Bluetooth, vibrate mode, and music playback. I love having toggle buttons for all these, because they are so frequently used on my phones.

When in your address book, the Captivate allows for easy calling and messaging by simply swiping your finger across the person’s name; swiping left will start a new message, while swiping right will dial their number for you.

I’d love to say that TouchWiz doesn’t sluggishly drag the processor behind with it, but I did notice that in spite of using a 1 GHz processor, there was still a delay going into and out of certain apps. For instance, pressing the home button usually causes a short 3-4 second delay before it actually takes you to the home screen. Same with deleting emails out of my inbox. I just come to expect an even snappier performance from a 1 GHz CPU in a mobile device, so it was disappointing. At least TouchWiz 3.0 did a much better job of integrating with Android this time around.

Features of the Samsung Captivate

Swype just recently became available for the Android platform, and in a very timely manner Samsung managed to have Swype offered on its Galaxy S lineup as a preloaded option. It doesn’t come up by default, but is easy enough to switch to by going into the phone’s settings.

I have reviewed Swype once before, in my review of the Samsung Omnia II. I enjoyed the concept of a texting keyboard that enabled me to move my finger to each letter in my desired word without even lifting that finger, and loved that it was smart enough to understand what you wanted to type with few errors.

For the most part the Android’s Swype worked fine — it’s supposed to be a new improved version, after all — but I became frustrated the more I texted with it turned on. Anytime I texted a standard word that was easy enough to guess, the keyboard interpreted my message just fine. But anytime I had my own custom word or typed something not found in a dictionary (or at least buried deep within it), the keyboard couldn’t recognize what I was trying to type, and it ended up taking twice as long as a result.. Other little annoyances happened, such as when I was typing “an” and Swype predicted “Obama” as the primary alternative instead. Keep in mind, folks, that practice does make perfect on a new style of keyboard like the Swype, and it just takes some extra time to get used to the nuances that come with it. And if you can’t get used to it, the Captivate also comes preloaded with Android and Samsung keyboard versions instead and it’s easy enough to switch over to them.

Multitasking worked perfectly fine on the Captivate. Samsung set up the phone so that by holding down the Home button for a couple seconds, a multitasking screen would pop up, showing the 6 most recent apps used. I found this especially helpful when toggling back and forth between Pandora, email, and my Twitter client. On the flip side, however, several apps can remain open in the background without you knowing it and can drain the battery rather quickly as a result. For that I recommend finding a decent task manager that can kill all active and unwanted apps.

The Captivate also features a few different widgets, presumably integrated into the TouchWiz 3 UI. Buddies Now is a widget that is slightly akin to speed dials, or even a Rolodex. Add some contacts, and then with each contact you are presented options to call or message them. Daily Briefing can give weather updates, AP breaking news and Yahoo! Finance as frequently as you would like. And finally, Feeds and Updates is the TouchWiz way of letting you easily update and keep track of your social networking.

Another strength of the Galaxy S series is the camera, capable of taking 5 MP images and 720p video recordings. When taking pictures it’s easy to just tap the area of the screen you want to focus on before actually snapping the shot. I think there is a little skill involved in it, though, since I took several pictures of my 10 month-old daughter and only had a couple turn out really well. The video, on the other hand, turned out great. I had no problem hearing the audio from it and the videos I took of my daughter were smooth and crisp. No choppy bits, no drag, no pauses. Here are a couple pics taken with the Captivate.

The Captivate can hold up to 16 GB internal memory plus as much as 32 GB more when using a MicroSD storage card. Because of this, I took advantage of the memory and loaded up a good portion of my MP3 collection. I downloaded the DoubleTwist player, which scanned all of my iTunes files in and began loading them into the Captivate automatically. The Galaxy S series is also capable of accessing Samsung’s latest PC Studio software, called Kies, which gives you full access to all of your files and allows you to back up everything — including text messages, photos, videos, and others.

Once I got into the music player, I found it to be very user-friendly. I didn’t have any problems navigating through the different albums, artists and playlists that I had set up. I noticed that my album art had also been loaded in for me. However, no matter how user friendly a music player can be, the only thing that truly matters is how it actually sounds. And the audio quality is excellent. I experienced the music player using both a pair of Skullcandy headphones and a Jabra Cruiser connected to my car stereo. My Skullcandy set produced some incredibly rich bass, while the Cruiser allowed me to listen to my music comfortably in the car (my car doesn’t have the best stereo system ever, but is sufficient). If you are listening to different genres of music, take full advantage of the EQ in the Captivate’s music player in order to get the best possible sound.

The Captivate also features AllShare, which gives you DLNA media-sharing access. DLNA allows you to play files (stream multimedia) from your Captivate wirelessly on another media player, play a file from the server on your phone, or use the phone as a remote, all courtesy whatever local WiFi network you are connected to. I haven’t had much of a chance to play with this feature yet, though it looks as if it has a lot of possible benefits. I will try to focus on this in a future review.

Performance of the Samsung Captivate

WiFi generally worked fine when I was connected, but it had a few issues recognizing my home WiFi network whenever I came back within range. On several occasions it couldn’t automatically connect with my router until I went into the settings and manually asked it to connect. Once connected, the WiFi worked great.

I also noticed a few random bugs in the Captivate which I am not sure is prevalent in every phone, but sure was in mine. The biggest bug that I replicated on a regular basis was in the web browser. In doing research for an article I was writing, the browser crashed on me on multiple occasions. After crashing, I would go into the app again only to find that all the open windows had disappeared and the site I was looking at was gone. A couple times, the windows would just come back in magically all by itself, only to disappear again a few minutes later. In frustration, I figured it was an issue with the default browser so I downloaded Dolphin and used it with the same exact results.

The accelerometer worked good; almost a little too good. It was incredibly snappy, but that meant it would be triggered with the slightest twitch. There were many times that I had to adjust back to portrait mode because I had moved somewhat, causing the screen to switch to landscape mode.

Voice command works well. I tried it on both calling and Google searches, with a few easy mistakes on the phone’s part at first. I quickly learned a few tricks to get the software to recognize my voice more easily, and so it wasn’t a huge problem as time went by. This is a good tool to take advantage, since there are increasingly more and more speech-to-text apps becoming available for us.

When making and receiving calls, I had no problem hanging on to the call and hearing the people on the other end of the line without hassle. I didn’t have any static in my calls, and I could talk and be heard clearly. The speakerphone was a decent volume, but not the loudest I’ve ever heard before. Dropped calls were a rarity.

I mentioned earlier that I felt that TouchWiz makes the Captivate a little more sluggish than a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor should feel. There are more delays and pauses than I’d like to see, though it’s only really a difference of a couple seconds from where it should be. Yes, we reviewers can be picky sometimes, but that’s why we’re here!

With that said, I was impressed with the Captivate’s battery life. Android is a notorious battery sucker due to all the extra constraints it gets bombarded with in even regular daily use, but the 1500 mAh battery, new processor and power-conserving Super AMOLED screen contribute to a better battery life than I expected. Typically in normal use (push email, notifications, multitasking) there was no sweat in the phone lasting all day, if not longer. For today’s smartphone, this is rather top-notch.

Conducting tests on AT&T’s 3G network, I had good results running the SpeedTest.net app several times. I averaged 2.1 Mbps down and 270 kbps up. Certainly these results could be different depending on location, but at least the Captivate gave a solid performance in an area with strong 3G.

Overview of the Samsung Captivate

So is the Samsung Captivate well enough off to topple the iPhone 4? After all, the specs are eerily similar to each other. It’s hard to say — certainly, the iPhone is the winner in display, OS updates (and performance, for that matter), and has a front-facing camera for FaceTime. But the Captivate has the support of Android 2.1, soon to be updated to Froyo, with the open-source goodness it entails; it has the larger screen; and it has the MicroSD capacity for music and app lovers. Frankly, I feel it’s more a matter of personal preference of OS and brand.

Whichever floats your boat, I know that my experience with the Captivate was a pleasant one. All the bells and whistles I need are there, plus a lot of extra ones that will satisfy any gadget junkie like myself. It performs flawlessly as an actual phone, with only slight lags in the processing power.

Overall, for $199 with contract and no mail in rebate on AT&T, the Captivate is a worthy handset and is poised to be the best Android competitor to the iPhone on AT&T’s network, at least for a few months. It’s definitely a phone that I feel proud to show off to friends and family.

Enjoy the gallery of pics below. I will have a video uploaded for this review shortly.

Get Samsung Captivate Android Phone (AT&T) for FREE from Amazon

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• Samsung AT&T Eternity Review
• AT&T’s Galaxy S, the Samsung Captivate, arrives on July 18th for $199

When I finally was able to look at the Pursuit up close and personal, pictures were not available. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of it, though I could play with it as much as I wanted to and write up my thoughts and some specs on the device. You can find those thoughts and specs here.

My first impressions of the Pursuit were very positive. With both the Link and Pursuit it appeared as though Pantech were progressing well in the quality of its handsets, as both were built as solid phones that looked like they would hold up for a long period of time. Not all of Pantech’s phones have felt the same way in the past (read: Slate) so this was a welcome sight to see.

With some extended time with the Pursuit, have my thoughts changed or were they reaffirmed? Read on for my review of the Pantech Pursuit.

Design of the Pantech Pursuit

Pantech has been known for making smaller-sized devices (remember the C300?). Even though the Pursuit has a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard with fairly sizable keys as well as a touchscreen, it could never be considered bulky by any stretch of the imagination. It measures at 3.6” long, 2.5” wide, and .6” thick.

It’s meant to be a petite, mid-range feature phone. When I first saw it, I was actually reminded of the Motorola PEBL clamshell that had a soft rounded out design. There is definitely nothing square about the Pursuit; all of the edges are curved, sleek and fashionable. One drawback to this design is that the keyboard can be difficult to slide out because it’s completely flush with the top half of the phone.

When closed, the Pursuit feels decently comfortable in hand. The only awkwardness is that it’s a bit shorter than most typical phones, due to its small size. So in some ways it does feel as though there should be a taller phone in my hand.

Typing on the keyboard when open has a natural feel, with keys slightly raised like little bubbles and thus easy to type on. However, I would mash my fingers when typing keys on the top row, since there’s very little room left between the top row and the screen. This does throw off my typing groove ever so slightly, but not enough to be a huge concern to me. Besides that little annoyance, I enjoyed typing on the Pursuit’s keyboard.

I love that the keyboard has its own dedicated .com button, which adds convenience when emailing or surfing websites.

Pantech is attempting something it never has in the US: a touchscreen UI. And for a first attempt Pantech didn’t do half-bad, emphasis on the “half”. The interface itself is clean, simple, and set up in a similar fashion to what you’ll find in iOS or Android (though much, much more basic). Your main screen encompasses three front panels and has room for shortcuts, and along the bottom you’re provided with 4 soft buttons for dialpad, contacts, messages, and main menu.

When you slide the keyboard open, that main screen transforms into what already looks like a menu, albeit in landscape mode. The difference is that you only have the one front panel, though it has additional icons.

The main menu itself is similar in style to the iOS. Several preloaded apps are located here and sprawled out over three different pages. Scroll to those pages and click on the icons the same exact way you would on iOS.

One extra note on the touchscreen itself is that it uses a 2.8” resistive screen, thus forcing you to apply more pressure than the typical capacitive screen. As I am used to using capacitive screens normally, this is a rather large adjustment for me. But if this is one of your first touchscreen phones, it shouldn’t be much of an issue. Not to mention that if you are using the Pursuit for messaging — the main purpose for this device — you likely won’t be using the touchscreen for much more than screen navigation and random information anyways.

Available in both light green and sky blue, the Pursuit is designed primarily as an ideal messaging and social networking phone geared towards young adults.

There are no physical buttons on the front; just touch-sensitive call, end and go-back buttons. With a resistive screen, I really would have preferred these to be physical buttons because they can sometimes take two or three attempts to register a touch.

On the sides we have a microSD slot and volume up/down on the left, and the right offers a camera button, power/screen lock, shake control/multitasking, and port for proprietary Pantech charger.

The back has the lens for 2.0 MP camera and uses a similar rubbery-like material that Pantech put on the Link.

Features of the Pantech Pursuit

I just mentioned my impressions of the touchscreen itself, but there are a few nice unique features built into the Pantech Pursuit that are of interest. The first is the sketch pad, found in the tools folder. This is exactly what it sounds like: a doodle pad. Check out the masterpiece I drew on it!

Needless to say, though I’m not the most artistic guy,  it’s not going to let you draw the Mona Lisa by any means (especially with resistive display), but it does the trick when you’re bored or you have bored children that are getting restless.

The second touchscreen feature thrown into the Pursuit is Drawing Commander. This gives you the ability to create your own gestures to launch certain applications. So you draw an “a” for address book if that’s what you want it to do.

Truly unique to the Pursuit is the Shake Control feature. Press the multitasking button located on the right side of the phone and then shake the phone once, twice or thrice. Each number of shakes will launch a phone function of your choice. For instance, customize it so one shake will launch messaging, two shakes will launch music player, and so forth. It’s definitely a fun way of accessing shortcuts.

Interestingly, the Pursuit has apps preloaded for Facebook and MySpace already. Since I don’t use MySpace, I could only access Facebook and could tell it was based on the service’s mobile website. Most basic things were accessible enough on it — status updates, walls, photo galleries, etc. — but don’t expect to be playing Farmville on it.

AT&T also has new services mainly based on its new Quick Messaging Devices, such as AT&T Address Book, SocialNet and Online Locker. You can read more about these services in my review on the Pantech Link.

Also included in the Pursuit are voice command, calendar, alarm clock (by the way, the snooze can be used as part of the shake control feature), music player, bluetooth, voice memos, and pretty much any other basic feature you’ll find in any phone. Its MicroSD slot will support up to 16 GB. Not bad for a small messaging phone.

The Pursuit also has an HTML browser based on AT&T’s newest att.net service. The touchscreen definitely has an added benefit in this browser in that you can easily scroll up and down when navigating websites. The downside is that everything is smaller, and not every website pulls up the same way you would see it on most smartphones, as you can see in the picture below.

It also features a 2.0 MP camera, which will be good enough to satisfy most youth-aged users of the phone. The camera takes real good pictures for a mid-range messaging phone, but it’s not going to be the best on market. For the target age group the Pursuit is going after, however, this camera will work out wonderfully. Especially compared to most of Pantech’s previous offerings. It adds nice features like smile detection (which even just a year or two ago was reserved for only higher-end phones), blink detection, and panorama shots. The camera also has video recording capabilities available in two different resolutions.

Performance of the Pantech Pursuit

I’ll spend the least amount of time here, because it performs precisely how you would expect a small, mid-range and youth-centric messaging phone to act: pretty decent. Call quality was good, the speakerphones were loud enough for me though a little tinny-sounding, and battery life will last you up to 5 hours in talk time.

While the touchscreen was responsive enough for my needs, the performance of the processor seemed sluggish at times. Naturally, the processor isn’t going to be top-notch like you would find on a smartphone, but I still found myself having to wait for a few seconds after certain tasks. It took way too long to navigate through the Facebook app as I tried to look through a friend’s profile, and whenever I needed to press the back button I had to either wait for a few seconds or try pressing it again to actually register the action.

Overview of the Pantech Pursuit

All in all, I had an enjoyable time using this phone. The Pursuit was designed very cleverly, had all the necessary features plus a few unique ones that add extra value, and performed rather well. Frankly, the Pursuit is meant to be a good messaging phone with a few extra bells and whistles thrown in, and I think Pantech did a great job putting it together.

I loved how Pantech designed the keyboard, cramming it in a small space but raising the keys enough to make the keys feel bigger than they actually were.  I enjoyed the touchscreen as long as I didn’t have to rely on it heavily. It was great for light scrolling and accessing random information, but the more I relied on its touchscreen, the more frustrating the resistive screen style became to me.

Some other annoyances I had with the Pursuit were its sluggish processor (again, to be expected given the phone’s target demographic, but still) and placement of the touch-sensitive keys on the front as well as the keyboard’s top row.

Most of all, I appreciated that I found the Pursuit to be as exciting to review as it was to preview when I saw it at CTIA 2010. The big difference is that at least this time I was allowed to take pictures of it!

Get Pantech Pursuit Phone, Blue (AT&T) on Amazon.com

Speaking of pictures, below is a gallery showing off the Pursuit in all its glory.

• Pantech Pursuit For AT&T Peeks Out and Says Hello at #CTIA 2010; Specs Included
• BREW-based Pantech Pursuit II will be available at AT&T on July 17 for $49.99
• AT&T intros Samsung Strive, Samsung Sunburst, Pantech Link, Pantech Pursuit, new services
• First Hands-On With the Pantech Link (photos and video)
• Pantech C790 Aladdin confirmed for AT&T

This was precisely the case with the LG Ally, the phonemaker’s first Android device in the US. Being promoted alongside “Iron Man 2”, I couldn’t get through a commercial break, it seemed, without seeing it. Obviously LG and Verizon wanted the Ally to be on everyone’s minds, and it worked for a while.

So now that the hype has died down, I decided to take a good look at the Ally to see if it was worth the millions of dollars spent on marketing alone. The Ally is a modest mid-range smartphone that was never meant to be the top of the line at time of release. Does it get lost in the ever-growing forest of Android devices, or does it light a smoke signal in order to help it stand out of the crowd?

Here are some of my impressions of the LG Ally.

Design of the LG Ally

The Ally isn’t state-of-the-art. It doesn’t have the same specs as superphone giants like the HTC Incredible or Droid X, but it was designed that way. It’s meant to be a good quality mid-range Android smartphone for those who want to have access to Android but aren’t looking to spend as much.

Nothing really stands out as wholly unique when looking at the Ally for the first time. Packing a 3.2” capacitive touchscreen display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard with direction pad, at 5.6 ounces it’s not the lightest phone on the market, by a fair margin. Nor does it have any innovative design that we haven’t seen before. In fact, it’s probably the closest to blocky that you’ll come across on an Android these days.

On the front there are 4 physical buttons (Dial, Home, Options and Screen Lock/Power/Hang up) at the very bottom and above that you can find 2 touch-sensitive buttons (previous and Google search). Having become accustomed to handsets with dedicated screen lock buttons, I found it rather awkward to switch back to one that uses a multi-purpose button instead. While this isn’t enough to sour my experience with the Ally, it’s one that just takes some getting used to.

Continuing on with the exterior tour, on the left side is the usual volume up/down as well as MicroUSB port. The top contains a 3.5 mm headset jack, and the right sports the MicroSD slot and dedicated camera button. On the back, only the 3.2 MP camera and usual Verizon/Google logos are found.

The keyboard, I think, is the most unique part of the whole phone. It’s a 4-row QWERTY with the number keys on the top row, alongside dedicated buttons for search, previous menu, home and options keys (which I found very handy to use, by the way — much better to use those than having to rely on those same keys on the front), as well as a direction pad on the bottom right for navigating through menus. Naturally this doesn’t get as much use on a touchscreen-based phone, but I still like having the option, especially when the 3.2” screen feels so small that it’s a nuisance at times.

Typing on the keyboard is easy enough to do, but the only real beef I have with it is the layout. In using only 4 rows (with one of those rows dedicated to numbers), the space bar is on the bottom row in between the V and the B, and it throws me off every single time because I have to look down to figure out which button is B and which one is N. They’re just in different spots than I’d like them to be. I would also have liked to see a dedicated .com button, especially given the vast amounts of emailing and social networking I do.

After reviewing countless Android devices with their own UI (Touchwiz, Motoblur, Sense UI), it’s a little weird playing with one that just comes with the stock Android 2.1. While LG may not have its own UI to overlay Google’s version, it does come with its own theme that you can choose to implement. The creatively-named LG Theme differs from the stock version in that there are a few icons at the bottom of the screen for dialing, contacts, messaging and web browsing. I prefer having these buttons available in order to save space on the rest of the screen for other apps I’d rather use.

One last note on design of the Ally before moving on. I was impressed by the solid feel of the device. Though I could tell the Ally was made out of plastic, it didn’t feel cheaply built. Sliding the keyboard out was a very solid process, not shaking or shimmering about in anyway. I could tell that the slider mechanism was built to last a few thousand slides or so, give or take.

Features of the LG Ally

There are a lot of mediocre specs and standards present on the LG Ally that I just won’t spend too much time talking about. Since the Ally is Android, many of its features are based upon that OS. So I will focus more on some unique things I haven’t found on any (or many) devices before. That being said, this may end up being a rather short section of my review, because not a whole lot of stuff is unique on it. It really is meant to be a standard Android 2.1 device without many of the extra bells and whistles.

I love that LG opted not to include most Verizon-based apps such as VCast as mandatory. Normally Verizon likes its devices to have the obligatory Verizon apps that can’t be deleted.The great thing is that if I still want those apps, all I have to do is go into the Market and look at the Verizon apps section, and it’s quick click of a touchscreen button to actually download the app.

LG chose to include its own app called Socialite, which is its own connection to the social networking world. Nevermind that countless apps already exist — LG most likely figures that if there is already a social networking app preloaded onto one of the main screen panels, users won’t waste time going to hunt for any other ones out there.

With that said, I don’t mind phone manufacturers including their own social networking stuff, but I only really like it when included as part of the UI itself; I find it a lot more handy to have a steady and regularly updated Twitter stream as one of my main panels (and only when there are more than the standard 5 screens in the UI, so as to not use up crucial real estate). And for anyone who chooses to opt out of it, they’re typically widgets that can simply be removed. Socialite, to me, is nothing more than one more social app lost in a sea of social apps.

I enjoyed the camera app on the Ally. It has all the essential features I need in a basic digital camera (read: not DSLR), such as digital zoom, autofocus, brightness adjust, and even a macro setting. But that’s not what really impressed me: I was intrigued that once I had signed into my Google account, my photo gallery included stuff from all of my Blogger sites. Even old sites I don’t maintain anymore. It turns out that all of the pictures I had ever uploaded into those sites are now accessible. Certainly this could turn into a huge negative for some, depending on how many pictures are being loaded into the phone, and how much memory it takes. But for me, I felt this option is very intuitive and could become very handy.

Speaking of camera, the Ally has a 3.2-megapixel with video capabilities at 26 fps and 640×480. If you don’t need max resolution on your pictures, you can adjust it to one of 5 different resolutions, as well as 3 different quality settings. Pictures were rather good, especially when using the autofocus feature. The colors were well distinguished. The images weren’t as sharp as hoped, but are what you’d come to expect on a 3 MP camera. Here are a couple different shots taken in my house with the Ally camera.

The Ally does have some pinch-to-zoom functionality, but is more laggy than is necessary. For instance, when using the Ally’s default browser, pinch-to-zoom will work only as long as I am pushing firmly on the screen, and even then will act sluggish when zooming. Also one thing that drove me nuts when surfing the web was that pinch-to-zoom would not allow the text to fit to screen. The only way I could activate the fit-to-screen was to double tap the area I wanted to read, and then it would finally auto-adjust.

A 4 GB microSD card is thrown in for good measure, but there is room for a larger card if preferred. Aside from the card, only 126 MB of internal memory is included; if it weren’t for the included external storage, this amount of internal storage space would be laughable even for most higher-end feature phones.

Other than these few things that caught my attention, the LG Ally also features GPS, WiFi (with 802.11n support, by the way), EVDO Rev A data support, accelerometer and stereo bluetooth, to name a few. Emailing with the Ally is just as much a breeze as it is on any other Android, with support for Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, and many others. I do wish the Gmail app would allow multiple Gmail accounts, but it is at least possible to access other Gmails through different apps. It’s just not as convenient as I would like.

Performance of the LG Ally

Battery. Battery life is rated at 7.5 hours of constant talk time and almost 21 days of standby. Frankly, this can almost be hard to believe given Android’s track record of sucking up battery life, but various tests have shown talk time to be around 6-7 hours, depending on the test. Still, this is much better than most feature phone batteries.

Calls. All my calls sounded clear and without static. The speakerphone was also loud enough for me, where I didn’t have to get my ear any closer to the phone than I wanted it to be.

CPU Speed. At 600 MHz, the processor speed isn’t terrible, though today’s standards consider it on the lower end, compared to 1 GHz Snapdragon powerhouses like the Incredible and Nexus One. But that 400 MHz difference between these devices are quite evident. I noted on several occasions that there appeared to be a small amount of lagging when switching from one task to another. Activating live wallpaper slowed it down even further. Pinch-to-zoom, as mentioned earlier, also appeared sluggish. It’s as fast as expected with a smartphone at its price range ($99.99 with contract at time of release), and will be sufficient for most, but I personally prefer using faster devices.

Internet Speed. I ran several tests using Xtremelabs’ Speedtest app on the Ally, and most tests ranged between 750-1000 Kbps download and around 100 Kbps upload.

All in all, I feel the LG Ally makes a great Android alternative for anyone that may be more budget-conscious and is looking for a nice phone at a lower price. It doesn’t rank well when compared to monsters like the Droid Incredible or Nexus One, but it’s not meant to be in direct competition with these devices anyway.

Get LG Ally Android Phone for free with Verizon Wireless contract on Amazon

Here are more pictures taken of the LG Ally for your enjoyment and perusal.

• LG Aloha (Ally) and LG Fathom coming to Verizon in May. Sprint might get the Aloha, too
• Verizon LG Ally Upgrades to Android 2.2 Froyo
• Windows Phone 7 actually requires 6 hardware buttons, not 5
• AT&T’s Pantech Pursuit. Quick review
• LG Ally launch details revealed, pre-order to begin on May 13th

This was my first impression upon hearing about the HTC Droid Incredible. If HTC feels like its best marketing strategy is to name it something as extravagant as the Incredible, chances are I will come out of the review feeling the exact opposite. Samsung employed the same strategy with the Impression; these kinds of names make the manufacturer sound cocky.

The difficulty in the Incredible was that, according to the official specs sheet, it really SHOULD be Incredible. Everything about this Android 2.1 smartphone just appeared great on paper. But how did it hold up after using it for a week and a half? All in all, it turns out that the device lived up to its name in many categories. Let’s dig deeper.

Verizon HTC Droid Incredible video overview

Design of the HTC Droid Incredible

Heard of One & Co.? Don’t feel ashamed if you haven’t; it’s a design firm acquired by HTC near the end of 2008 in an effort for HTC to change its image and come out with fresh and innovative-looking handsets. If you remember the crazy design on the back of the HTC Touch Diamond, then you’ve seen some of One & Co’s craft. The Incredible is another example, and its unique design is clearly evident.

There are several aspects of the Incredible’s design worth noting and commenting on, so we’ll start with the basics. Upon viewing the Incredible we were graced with a 3.7? capacitive touchscreen that, upon using, feels very responsive. Most activities were done rather smoothly and without issue, with one exception: I noticed that the touchscreen didn’t seem properly calibrated when I would try to click on a small link; even though my finger would be touching the correct spot it would at times register my touch just a few millimeters below that spot. This became annoying when looking up certain sites on the web, such as Google Reader. Beyond that small inconvenience, however, the touchscreen worked wonderfully.

The Incredible is a very natural fit in my hand. It doesn’t feel too bulky or out of place in any way. It sizes up at 4.63 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.47 inch thick and weighs 4.59 ounces. The device itself is narrower than the iPhone, making the screen feel a little more cramped from left to right, but that didn’t present any sort of problem to me. In fact, I thought it fit even more comfortably in my hand than the iPhone does.

I loved how the thin the phone is. There is no bulky feeling when handling the phone, whether I’m talking or just scrolling through various screens.

I would say the most unique aspect of the phone’s design is its back. Like the Touch Diamond, the design is unlike anything we’ve seen before on a phone. The back is a bit bumpy and actually has three different levels, with the highest part of the back taking up the most space in the middle. This is where the 8 MP camera and accompanying flash are found, as well as the obligatory HTC and Google logos. Since a picture says a thousand words, the picture below will be the best way for me to describe its shape.

The cover can be opened up from a narrow notch found at the bottom of the phone. It’s not the easiest cover to take off, presumably because of the back’s design. The best method is to start at the notch and detach it clockwise, a little at a time. Removing the cover can be almost blinding, as the entire back (including battery) is bright red. We find a 1300 mAh battery and MicroSD slot (fortunately accessible on the side of the phone, and not under the battery itself), as well as camera.

In terms of other outside componentry, we find a 3.5 mm headphone jack and power button on the top (acting as both screen lock and full power on/off), and simple volume up/down and MicroUSB charging port on the left.

In attempt to maintain simplicity, the bottom and right side have absolutely no buttons whatsoever. On the front there is an optical joystick and four buttons that are touch-sensitive instead of physical — home, menu, previous screen, and search. These buttons will only be accessible when the screen is turned on. The optical joystick is also a nice alternative for navigating screens, as you can use the joystick by simply brushing your finger across it in whichever direction you need to.

Since there is no physical keyboard, extra consideration of the on-screen keyboard must be given. HTC opted to throw in its own keyboard instead of relying on the stock Android. The keys vibrate by default when touched, indicating you are actually typing something. Fortunately, if you’re not a fan of that feature or just trying to conserve battery life, this can be turned off in the phone’s settings. Overall the keyboard was comfortable to use, though I found it rather easy to touch the wrong keys from time to time. Because this is always bound to happen, even if you are the best on-screen typist, the keyboard includes a predictive text feature that gives you 3-4 other ideas for words that you may have been trying to type. It also predicts certain words before you type the entire thing; for instance, typing “are” gave me an option to type “aren’t”. This capability allowed me to type faster than I could on a typical Android keyboard.

The touch screen itself can be somewhat picky. Even after calibrating the touchscreen to my own style and method, I still found at times that I would try to touch a certain link but the screen thought I was touching a different link that was nearby. After a while I got used to this happening and adjusted my method of using the screen, but I would prefer to see it adjust to me, not the other way around.

An extra note about the screen: it looks more narrow than other competing phones such as the EVO 4G or iPhone, but that didn’t hinder my experience or make it uncomfortable in any way. I still felt that scrolling and pinch-to-zoom (among other things) were just as easy on the Incredible as it is on phones with wider screens.

User Interface of the HTC Droid Incredible

The HTC Sense UI appears to be universally accepted as the best custom Android UI on the market, and I enjoyed my experience with it. Most custom UI’s tend to make the Android OS worse, usually due to being slower and buggier, adding in unnecessary screens, or limiting the types of activities you can do with Android. Sense offers a UI that’s more user-friendly and has better integration with those features that the OS already has.

After turning on the Droid Incredible, I was treated to a lock screen that I need to slide my finger down in order to unlock it. The device comes with a default UI “Scene” though Sense gives you several different scenes to choose from. Each scene is different in what is offered on the 7 home screen panels. This amount of customization is important to me, because I like the ability to change the look and feel of the UI to adjust to my tastes. If there’s a certain widget or screen I don’t like, I want to have the opportunity to get rid of it or at least change it to something else. Fortunately the Sense UI gives me full control of that customization.

The Droid Incredible uses the new updated Sense that was announced in February at Mobile World Congress. So far we’ve seen this UI update show up on the Legend and Desire, both of which were also announced at MWC as well, but this is the first we’ve seen it on a device sold on a US carrier.

The update adds in weather animations to illustrate the current weather in your area, whether you’re at home or traveling. If it’s cloudy, wispy clouds will pass over the screen when it’s first unlocked. From the main screen I can either scroll left/right to other screens, or I can use the new Leap option. By hitting Home or doing a pinch-to-zoom, I was treated to thumbnail images of all 7 home screen panels. Touch whichever panel you want, and you “leap” to that screen instantly.

Other updates include Group Contacts, which frankly puzzles me that this hasn’t actually been available on most smartphones in the first place. Group Contacts gives me the option of separating all of my contacts into separate groups, whether it be friends, family, work, etc.

The new Sense also throws in a feature called Friend Stream, which takes all of your social networking updates and combines them into one feed.

I love having the ability to make my own folders in which I can put whatever Market apps I want. One of my favorite customizable features, however, is adding widgets. Many of my most-used apps or features can be accessible on the main screen with widgets. For instance, I can put toggle switches for things like Bluetooth and WiFi on one of my home screen panels, instead of having to dive through 3 settings menus to do the exact same thing. This is a huge difference-maker to me.

Features of the HTC Droid Incredible

Diving more into the actual specs and features of the phone, I have determined that the Droid Incredible offers top-of-the-line specs while keeping the cost competitive with other smartphones that can’t keep up with what the Incredible has.

The Incredible uses a Snapdragon 1 GHz CPU and throws in 512 MB ROM and 512 MB RAM, turning the device into one of the fastest and most responsive smartphones I have ever used. I rarely had to wait longer than 1-2 seconds when switching screens to check email, texts, Twitter updates, or even going into the internet. Simple activities such as using pinch-to-zoom were amazingly smooth with the faster CPU inside, which just helped solidify the user experience.

Another top-notch component is the 8 MP camera with dual LED flash and autofocus.

I took several pictures both inside and outside and for the most part the pictures came out crisp and sharp. Sure there was the occasional fuzzy picture that didn’t look quite right, but generally one or two quick retakes would resolve that problem. Below are some examples of pictures taken by the Incredible’s camera.

There is also a lot of available memory up for grabs. 8 GB is included in the phone already, and has MicroSD expansion that potentially can add up to 32 GB more. Not only does this give the vast majority of Droid users more than enough storage space for music, movies and apps, imagine how much better it will be once the Incredible can be updated to Android 2.2 Froyo, when it will have the support of Simplify Media’s streaming media services.

One of my absolute favorite features in the Incredible is the speech-to-text capability. The keyboard that pops up when composing a message features a key on the bottom left that resembles a mic; simple press the mic and start speaking, and include words to describe punctuation. For instance, to say the phrase “hi, how are you?” you just need to say “hi comma how are you question mark”. I found this very handy to use. And frankly, it’s easy enough to hit backspace once to delete the whole thing and just try again.

Emailing is a breeze with the Droid Incredible. Multiple email accounts can be set up in a universal inbox and virtually every type of email account is supported. This includes Exchange, POP3, and IMAP. I was able to sync my Gmail exchange calendar and contacts easily and without incident, and added in an extra Gmail account as well as Yahoo and Hotmail.

HTC has a few apps integrated with the Incredible that help enhance the Android experience, such as Footprints. This app adds geotags to your photos and lets you add other relevant information to each photo. Essentially the goal of Footprints is to turn each photo into its own digital postcard. I also noticed Peep, a HTC-developed Twitter app. Peep was actually rather nice to use, though I still prefer using other third-party Twitter apps through the Android Market. With Peep on, this would give me double notifications whenever somebody responded to one of my tweets or sent me a DM. Naturally this got a bit annoying for me, so I had to limit my Twitter apps to just one.

The Incredible also throws in FM radio on top of support for most music and video file formats and codecs (MP3, WAV, WMA, MP4, 3GP, WMV, to name a few).

I was glad to see threaded conversations for text messaging. The threads aren’t designed in any creative or peculiar way; no comic speech bubbles as on the iPhone, for instance. It’s just a simple list view of each text in the conversation. It does show the pictures of those who you’re interacting with, however.

The default internet browser is Webkit-based, and uses pinch-to-zoom. As noted before, the pinch-to-zoom was incredibly smooth on the browser and was very convenient. When text is zoomed in, it wraps to fit the screen. In other words, if I have to zoom in to view sites that use smaller text, it doesn’t force me to scroll left to right just to read the entire text; all I have to do is scroll up and down because the new size of text fits in the screen no matter what. The one downside to this, however, is that pictures aren’t fitted to screen when zoomed in and just causes the pictures to look more pixelated and fuzzy.

Fortunately speech-to-text capability is built into the web browser as well. When touching the search soft key on the bottom right of the phone itself, you’re presented with a google search bar and a mic button to its right. I said “unwired view dot com” and sure enough, I was offered a Google search results page complete with unwiredview.com as the number one option. This was actually much faster and easier than if I had to go into the browser separately and type it in.

Note that I mentioned this is the default browser. There are several alternatives available through the Android market, so don’t hesitate to check all of them out in an effort to find your favorite.

Last but not least, the phone app itself should be mentioned. Sense UI puts the phone app conveniently on a large button on the bottom of the screen, and then opens up to show address book on the top and number keypad on the bottom. The keys are huge and should not give you any concern about dialing the wrong number. For added assistance, smart dial is featured in the app. This enables you to start typing the call recipient’s name and the address book will filter it for you. This is nothing new, but is always welcome. The Droid Incredible also has 3-way calling, speed dials, voice command, and speakerphone.

An extra phone-related feature is Verizon’s new Skype mobile service, offered front and center on Verizon’s very own Android Market channel. Skype can be used on 3G as well as WiFi, and any Skype-to-Skype calls won’t count towards your monthly minute allotment. Skype also offers some great international rates, so we highly recommend using this service instead of calling international long distance using just Verizon’s network.

My major beef with the Incredible is the native multimedia support. The music player is only featured as a home screen panel on one or two scenes, and otherwise needs to be brought in to the main screen as a widget, which seems a little weird to me. The fact that I have to download 3rd-party apps just to enable the device to sync up with my computer seems absurd to me. While I can still connect to my computer via USB and do drag-and-drop, it seems as though Google or HTC would have a better alternative than this.

Performance of the Droid Incredible

Running on Verizon’s network, I never had any doubt that the Droid Incredible would make good quality calls. Obviously Verizon is known for its coverage and call quality, so that’s a given on almost every phone the network offers. The one exception to this, however, was that of the Incredible’s antenna. While I hardly dropped any calls or had any interrupted service, the low reception on the Incredible sure made me nervous at times. Checking with others who have reviewed the phone and some who use it as their primary device, I know that I wasn’t the only one who had the same concern. I NEVER saw the reception on my Incredible go above 2 bars. Regardless, though, I still didn’t have any obvious static or fuzziness in my calls. Quite frankly, it was rather bizarre. My opinion is that the phone showed lower reception than it was actually experiencing.

Battery life was okay. Rated at a talk time of 5.2 hours, the Incredible lived up to the rating. I could go a full day without charging it up, provided I was only using it moderately. Whenever I used it for constant emailing, web surfing, and doing other random tasks on the device, it definitely did not last all day. This will be an important thing to keep in mind if you plan on using it nonstop throughout your workday. Expect the talk time to last roughly 5.5 hours, and mixed usage to last anywhere between 15-20 hours.

One limitation of the Verizon network is that you cannot use both voice and 3G data at the same time. You’re fine if you are connected to a WiFi network, so try to find one nearby if at all possible.

I loved the quickness of the device due to its Snapdragon processor. Everything was speedy and snappy, and I felt the same about Verizon’s 3G internet speeds as well. On 3G I achieved speeds of 1.15 Mbps down and .41 up; over my home’s WiFi connection I got 2.0 Mbps down and 1.02 Mbps up. Was it 4G fast? No, but the phone still did a good job of accessing most websites as quickly as I needed.

Streaming radio and video was a breeze both on WiFi and on Verizon’s network. I was able to use apps like Pandora and Podkast without having to wait for the music to buffer. I used my Skullcandy in-ear headphones on the Droid Incredible to listen to podcasts, music, and YouTube, and was impressed by the audio quality.

Even without the headphones in, the phone’s speaker was rather loud when making calls and listening to music. I never had to worry about not being able to hear my calls in a noisy environment.

Final Thoughts on the HTC Droid Incredible

My final thoughts on the Incredible are similar to my first impressions. I was very satisfied in the using the Incredible. It was quick, snappy, used a intuitive user interface that made it incredibly easy to use and customize, and had top-of-the-line specs that were out of this world. I couldn’t find anything that was truly lacking on the Incredible, and feel that HTC was able to make a product that lives up to its arrogant name.

This is the third phone in the Droid series and far surpassed the first two in specs and overall performance. It has been my favorite Android handset to review so far (I am still expecting a review of the EVO 4G soon). This doesn’t mean it is without flaws, as there isn’t a phone on this planet that doesn’t have something to improve on. For instance, the multimedia could have a better presence on the home screen panels and should be much easier to sync up with my computer without having to search around for a third party app.

To me, though, that is a small gripe when compared to the capabilities of the phone otherwise. HTC is clearly doing a wonderful job of establishing a successful Android presence in an incredibly competitive market, and that will help the company go a very long way.

Get $100 off at Amazon on HTC DROID INCREDIBLE Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

• Verizon: Froyo update for Droid Incredible starts today, new Droid Incredibles will ship with Froyo
• Verizon’s HTC Incredible with Android 2.1 appears in photos, video
• HTC Adds Incredible S, Desire S and Wildfire S to Android Lineup at MWC
• Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 2 press photos leaked
• Verizon HTC Droid Incredible Froyo build leaks, official update starts tomorrow

When Pantech first emerged in the US market it was a no-name player with no reputation. Since that time, the manufacturer has come out with some really good quality phones and some really bad ones; thus making it hard to tell what kind of reputation it has made for itself. The Pantech Slate was an example of a phone that was nice in concept but overall the execution could have been much better. It was boxy and too large, made of cheap plastic, and was missing 3G. Not a lot of things were going its way.

The Pantech Link, coming to AT&T on April 18, is exactly what the Slate should have been in the first place. It’s thin, made of sturdy material, comes with a 3G antenna, and just by looking at the phone I can tell it will be a large success. It will be sold at AT&T stores for $9.99 after mail-in rebate with contract, making it a very affordable phone for the young texters out there.

It’s not like the Pantech Link has thrown in anything completely new. But frankly, that’s perfectly fine. Not every single new phone coming out has to be a game-changer so long as it’s packed with all the necessary features that its targeted demo is looking for. The Link definitely passes that test with flying colors, and with a large deal of affordability.

AT&T Address Book, or “Mobile Backup for free” as I like to call it, is now a feature showing up in new devices but unfortunately is not available in previously launched models. I love the concept of being able to use a small piece of AT&T’s server to back up all my contacts just in case I need to get a new phone, be it through upgrade or warranty replacement. It’s a very simple idea that sadly has taken telecoms a long time to figure out. The other wonderful part of this is that I can manage those contacts online using my PC or Mac in addition to using my phone. I find this handy if I ever need to change to a phone that doesn’t have the Address Book feature but still need to access all my numbers.

To login to Address Book from your computer, go here.

The Link also features AT&T’s Online Locker and Mobile Share services, giving you the opportunity to easily upload images and videos and share them with friends and family via social networking services or a dedicated website that features your collection. Having 3G on the Link definitely helps speed up the process, and it only took a minute or two whenever I uploaded images. The Online Locker is not a service that comes with your unlimited data plan, however; expect to shell out another $10 monthly for the privilege.

Another key feature in the Link that doesn’t show up in most other phones is the call recording. During the call it’s very easy to access a menu on the right hand side of the screen, and call recording is one of the options on that menu. Simply press the down nav key during the call until you reach the record button, and then record as much as you want (or as much as memory will allow, whichever comes first). Once the recording is finished, feel free to access the file in My Stuff, under Audio > My Voice. The file will be stored in WAV format, and from there you can save them on MicroSD or send them as MMS.

Messaging is also nicer on the Link now that your messages come in the form of “conversations” and show up threaded. This allows you to read all of your texts back and forth to the same person as if it really is a conversation, much like on an iPhone or other smartphone. One part that doesn’t make sense is that MMS pics still show up separately; they aren’t a part of the same conversation.

The camera, as mentioned earlier, is a 1.3 MP resolution and offers both still shots and video. I won’t spend a lot of time putting down the image quality of the Link because, well, it’s a 1.3 MP camera. Every picture I took came out exactly as I would expect on a low-end camera. And I get it — Pantech was keeping the camera low-end in an effort to make the Link as inexpensive as possible. I just have a hard time believing it would cost much more to opt for a now-standard 2.0 MP res. But even so, the 1.3 MP camera and video performed precisely as I would expect.

Another curious thing is that Voice Command was touted as one of the key specs on the press sheet I received, but I looked all over the phone and could not find it. I certainly hope it is just hidden somewhere or perhaps is accessed as an unknown shortcut.

I did like the fact that the Pantech Link does use MicroSD and has music player options. It even allows for stereo bluetooth, which is a saving grace for the phone considering the Link uses a proprietary jack for wired headphones that are hard to find in a store and will not let you charge the phone while you listen to music. This little oversight is painful on any entry-level device that does not use a 3.5 mm jack, and the Link is no exception to that.

I could also tell that AT&T had a significant involvement in a lot of the software, as it does with most of its QMDs. AT&T Music, GPS, AppCenter, and att.net were all front and center on the main menu, and it’s impossible to customize the menu to whatever order you want.

Finally, the internet browsing experience on the Link is confusing. There are actually two different browsers that can be used to access the internet. The one that’s easiest to access takes you into att.net as the home page, which tries to be an all-encompassing type of browser much like Opera is, that offers web search, bookmarks, and even local and social networking options. It is possible to access regular websites, but you have to find the right box to type the URL into before it actually takes you there. As an alternative, the standard Pantech browser is hidden away in My Stuff > Applications, and is found at the very bottom of the applications menu. Not exactly the most convenient option, but once you find it, it will give you the ability to go directly to your desired URL or choose a bookmark.

Performance of the Pantech Link

The Pantech Link is not a powerhouse, and does not pretend to be. What it does do is all the simple things, and does them rather well. Calls made with the Link were very easy to hear. The audio quality was great. No static, no dropped calls, no failures of any kind. The dedicated speakerphone button is wonderful to use, and the speaker is incredibly loud. Battery life on it is rated at 5 hours of talk time, and I never had an issue regarding the battery draining too fast.

Overall, the Link is my favorite Pantech phone thus far, and is well worth the $9.99 price tag with contract. But this doesn’t make it perfect. While I loved the hardware and most of the included features, I could tell that AT&T had a big hand in the software, and some features were sacrificed to cut the price. Frankly, I could understand most of the quirks of the device were due to it not being a smartphone or powerful phone of any kind.

For what it is meant to do — being a Quick Messaging Device with some internet surfing capability — the Pantech Link excels. If you’re looking at getting a device that can do half the stuff any smartphone can do, you will not be interested in this one. But if you are a large-volume texter that wants to listen to music or do some simple web browsing, this will work great for you.

Get Pantech Link Phone (AT&T) on Amazon

Below is my video of the Pantech Link, as well as a hefty gallery of images I took.

• First Hands-On With the Pantech Link (photos and video)
• Pantech Pursuit For AT&T Peeks Out and Says Hello at #CTIA 2010; Specs Included
• AT&T intros Samsung Strive, Samsung Sunburst, Pantech Link, Pantech Pursuit, new services
• QWERTY fiesta from AT&T: Pantech Matrix, Samsung Propel, Pantech Slate and AT&T Quickfire
• AT&T’s Pantech Slate available now – only 9.9mm in thickness

We’ve been waiting for the Omnia II almost as long as we’ve had the Omnia I; since this past June, to be precise. The delay was mainly, we suspect, in order to accomodate the inclusion of Windows Mobile 6.5. The included features sounded much more promising than the original, so I was incredibly hopeful that this particular handset would not disappoint. Let’s find out if it did or not.

Unboxing the Omnia II

My first impression upon unboxing the Omnia II was that it is an incredibly attractive phone; especially when compared to the first Omnia. Where the first was rather boxy, this one certainly has a few more curves to it. The screen is a fair size larger, though the entire device itself is a smidge larger as well. Overall the phone feels comfortable enough in your hand, though a bit slippery because of the plastic material.  The box itself comes included with AC adapter, USB cable, a microphone/FM radio antenna, stylus, a software CD, and reference material. All in an average-sized box.

Design of the Samsung Omnia II

When looking down from above, the Omnia 2 is roughly the same size  as the iPhone 3GS; however, the Omnia is indeed thicker, even when the iPhone has an average hard-shell case on. In other words, the device is definitely substantial. But it appears that Samsung had a reason in mind when designing the phone this way.

I suspect the larger size is because Samsung has included a 3.7″ AMOLED screen with 480×800 WVGA resolution support. The screen is absolutely gorgeous and large enough to make you forget that a stylus is even a possibility on such a device. Frankly, I never used the stylus, nor did I need to. It was a great move for Samsung to use this large and beautiful screen, because it truly defines the user’s first impressions of the phone. It’s hard to notice anything else when you turn it on for the first time. I ended up just staring at it for a few minutes before even venturing off to other parts of the device.

One thing I wasn’t happy about on the screen was the type of touchscreen used. The Omnia II is a resistive-based screen, which means it’s harder to press. I found myself experiencing difficulty at times, especially when using the keyboard (we’ll get to that shortly). One thing I always look at when first reviewing a touchscreen device is whether or not there’s any type of give to the screen. Generally any screen with any give or cushioning will be tougher to register touches on.

The Omnia II is made primarily of plastic, and you can tell. It’s a bit lighter as a result, but definitely be more cautious when handling the device.

Besides the touchscreen display, the front of the Omnia II offers a call and end button, as well as a central Main Menu button (akin to the typical Start Menu button found on most WinMo devices) that takes up the most real estate of the buttons.

On the left, we find a 3.5 mm jack, volume adjustment keys, MicroSD slot, and an OK button to get out of current programs.

On the right side you get a MicroUSB charger port, screen lock button, and camera shortcut. The included stylus is found near the top right corner of the device.

Then there’s the back, which is a clever and unique 3D-ish looking design with faded red backing. The red color will appear and disappear depending on which angle you hold it at, which adds a creative element to the overall design of the phone. Here’s a picture of the cover as well as what’s underneath. The 5.0 MP camera is shown off here with flash. The top and bottom of the cover curve outwards as if to add a more ergonomic feel (make it more grippable, perhaps?) when you are holding it in your hands.

Features of the Samsung Omnia II

Let’s go over some of the new features of the phone. First off, the Samsung Omnia II is indeed Windows Mobile 6.5 with TouchWIZ interface combined. In fact, most of the whole 6.5 element is missing from the phone because Samsung redesigned the main menu (start menu) as well.

Whether or not the redesign makes the experience easier for the user remains to be seen, though for me it was more reminiscent of iPhone and WebOS. It actually makes me feel as though I’m not even using a Windows device. You get to start out with 5 menu screens full of various apps, but as you download more and more apps from the Marketplace, you can expand the menu to 10 screens. Essentially this gives you a grand total of 120 possible icons at the same time. Also much like the aforementioned OS’s is the ability to remove or move icons by pressing and holding down an icon for a couple seconds.

As you can see in the pictures, there’s an easy button for the Task Switcher. This is incredibly efficient to have when you’re trying to go back and forth between different tasks and applications.

With the Omnia II comes a couple brand new features never before seen on any device, let alone a Samsung device. First off we find the Widget Store, enabling you to download and/or purchase brand new widgets that can be added to the TouchWIZ sidebar. This adds a whole new level of customization to TouchWIZ, and is a welcome sight.

The other unique addition to this handset is the Swype-capable keyboard. Instead of having to peck at each individual button on the keyboard, thus potentially missing a couple letters in the process, Swype allows you to start with the first letter and then DRAG your finger over to the next, and so on, until you complete the word. The phone is smart enough to figure out what you’re trying to type, and will offer suggestions to possible words if it can’t figure it out for you. Then, once you’re done with the word, it automatically inserts a space for you as you continue through your sentence. The point of the Swype is to cut down on how much time is spent hunting and typing. Whether it truly is successful on this claim can only be found out with longer than a weeks worth of practicing. I did find it pretty easy to use, and simply put, it was much easier to use than the traditional touchscreen keyboard on the Omnia II.

I had an incredibly difficult time typing on the Omnia II’s keyboard, even in landscape. The issue to me was the fact that I had no idea which letters I was typing at the time. Other smartphones I’ve used in the past would have the letter pop up next to your finger in response to your touching it; no such luck on this one. I absolutely hated trying to type passwords into the Omnia II because I couldn’t tell what letter I actually typed! Usually it took me 3-4 tries just to get the right password in, because I would sadly keep typing the wrong letters without realizing it. Sure, the keyboard comes with an option to do xt9 for word prediction, but it doesn’t do much good when typing passwords.

That was really the only major frustration I had with the Omnia II. Besides that, using it was a pleasant experience. I forgot several times that I was actually using a Windows Mobile smartphone, because Samsung did a good job of erasing most major WinMo UI elements from the device and just going with its own style. Even the calendar, contacts, and settings are all Samsung-ized. Opera Mobile is also included in the Omnia II, in addition to the standard IE.

Opera Mobile is pretty much the same standard browser as can be found on any other smartphone, with one exception being the new Samsung-ized zoom option, which I found to be more convenient than the standard Opera zoom. Instead of touching the magnifying glass, just long-press the screen and then slide up to zoom in, slide down to zoom out. Not too shabby. Pulling up Unwired View on the browser was beautiful because of the large screen; I could see so much more of the website at normal zoom than on any other device. I rarely had to zoom out just to get to a different section of the site.

Bluetooth is 2.0, allowing for stereo as well as mono. WiFi is also included on the Omnia II.

There’s the cube feature that is present on many of Samsung’s latest devices. When I reviewed the 3D Cube interface on the Behold II, I wasn’t all that impressed. It was graphically nice, but redundant. It was easier and faster for me to get to the same apps a different way. However, the Omnia II added a new bar at the bottom of the Cube screen this time, featuring all 6 apps without having to move the cube around at all. This was a definite improvement.

The camera on the Omnia II is a 5.0 MP with flash and video capabilities at 720×480 resolution and 18 fps. The videos were slightly choppy because of the frame rate; I always prefer something higher than 18 to guarantee a truly smooth video. In comparison, the Motorola DROID is 25 fps. The camera app is the usual Samsung fare, with the ability to change ISO and MP res, as well as panoramic mode taking up to 8 shots. Anti-shake is also available.

Video playback is wonderful on the Omnia II, as it allows for DivX playback as well as XviD, WMV, and MP4. FM radio is possible, and an antenna was included in the box; just not a set of headphones. The party is BYOH this time (Bring your own headphones).

Another included feature on the device, which frankly should be on every single smartphone no matter what, is the voicedial. This app is powered by Nuance Communications, the same company that uses the Dragon transcription software. Nuance seems to do voicedial for most smartphones out there, so this one is essentially a standard version.

Performance of the Omnia II

The Samsung Omnia II has some major bells and whistles under the hood. It’s running a 800 MHz processor, with 512 MB ROM and 256 RAM, not to mention a full 8 GB of internal memory capacity along with 16 GB MicroSD expansion on top of that. It did lag at times, however. Not a lot, but it went slower than is expected on a 800 MHz processor. It seems to happen this way on most TouchWIZ devices, so I’m assuming that is the culprit. And who knows, maybe that’s why Samsung opted for a faster processor; because it knows the UI slows the rest of the device down.

Another shining aspect of the phone is the 1500 mAh battery which allows for 10 hours of rated talk time and 18 days of standby. For a WinMo smartphone, 10 hours is absolutely wonderful and a nice breath of fresh air.

Audio quality in both calls and music was crisp and clear, and loud enough to hear without issues.

As far as I’m concerned, the i920 Omnia II is a worthy successor to the i910 Omnia in almost every way. It certainly improved on performance, as well as overall features and level of comfort with the device. The only concern I truly had on the Omnia II was the keyboard and how much of a pain it was to use, though the new Swype keyboard concept is a very welcome sight, and it’s good to see the engineers coming up with new ideas to combat a known problem.

For more details on Swype, please watch my video below.

• WiTu AMOLED and OmniaIcon – Samsung Omnia II’s names for Russia and Australia
• Samsung Omnia Pro with QWERTY keyboard to come in July
• Samsung Omnia HD i8910 now with 1GHz processor?
• Samsung Omnia Pro B7330 now official; all Omnia phones to get WM 6.5
• CDMA Samsung Omnia confirmed for Canada

From playing with both units I could find pros and cons on each one. Keyboard, processor, camera, form factor, software update, screen resolution, and voice search are some of the key points of difference that we’ll get into in this review. The question, as always: how well does the Moment hold up in a rapidly expanding sea of Android handsets?

Design/Hardware of the Samsung Moment

Looking around the device we easily find the decent-sized keyboard hidden underneath an average-sized 3.2″ touchscreen display. The keyboard itself is spaced out well enough, though the keys are flush. I found it easy to type on this keyboard though, with the small exception of the bottom row. Smartphone keyboards can be tricky in terms of how to cram all the keys in without adding too much space; key placement is critical on a smartphone, and I felt like it would take a lot of getting used to where exactly these keys were in comparison to any standard QWERTY keyboard. For instance, the space bar is part of the bottom row of letters, smack dab between the V and the B. Then you have the backspace, enter and navigation keys on the right side, all of which are placed awkwardly.

The touchscreen itself is designed in a unique way. First off, Samsung elected to make the screen AMOLED, always a great idea in my opinion. AMOLED screens simply take the cake because of the brightness and clarity of the screen. It’s incredibly easy to see the entire screen, and there’s no mistaking how beautiful it looks as a result. The Moment is officially the first Android QWERTY device with AMOLED included.

The Moment’s touchscreen has two parts to it; one is the normal touchscreen as you’d find on any average phone, but below the screen are touch keys that take up valuable “touch real estate”: the Home, Menu and back buttons. The keys are easy to use, but I get the suspicion that those keys could’ve been moved to the very bottom of the phone’s front, nestled in with the call and end buttons. In the middle is the optical navigation pad. The pad’s good to have in general — it sure beats not having anything at all — but I preferred to just navigate using the touch interface instead.

One other note about the screen. On many phones, I find the touchscreen to be hard to use simply because there’s a small layer of cushioning, or “give”. I feel that the screen isn’t as interactive because of this, as it takes a much more firm push in order to initiate apps or scrolling of any kind. The iPhone, in contrast, has no give on its touchscreen, which I prefer because it allows for easier touching and scrolling. Many people may disagree because having extra cushioning makes you feel like the screen won’t break easily, but this isn’t a huge concern for me personally. The Moment does not have any kind of give, which is a huge bonus in my book.

Pressing the end button typically locks the phone; pressing the same followed by Menu will unlock it.

On the left side you can find the volume adjust keys, a little section to put a lanyard, and on the top is the 3.5 mm headphone port.

Going to the right side of the phone reveals dedicated camera and voice search buttons as well as the MicroUSB charging port.

The back doesn’t have a whole lot, especially compared to the worldwide map located on the back of the Behold II. Frankly, I prefer the minimal approach on the back. All that can be found besides the name of the phone is the camera with flash and mirror.

Now let’s talk about what’s under the Moment’s hood. The ARM 800 MHz processor that was packed in is the most significant part of the whole device. This is one of the best processors we’ve seen so far in an Android handset, and I could definitely tell in just a few minutes that it had a huge performance advantage over the Behold II. For one, the Moment doesn’t have TouchWiz installed on it which bogged down the already-sluggish Behold II’s performance. This was a huge sigh of relief for me when I began using the Moment.

My overall view of the Samsung Moment’s design is rather grim. While it does have strengths such as its beautiful touchscreen, the keyboard leaves a lot to be desired. It’s also thicker than most people like, so it doesn’t feel as natural in the hand as other Android devices. While weighty, though, it is certainly a good solid phone.

Below is a good side-by-side photo comparing the size of the Moment to the Behold II.

Features of the Samsung Moment

Software: Samsung opted for Android 1.5 stock on the Moment at time of release, which with a lot of recently released Android phones is a point of contention. It’s just hard to understand why one handset gets 2.0 while another gets 1.5 when released at roughly the same time. But let’s move on. I was happy to find that the Moment did not have the TouchWIZ interface as the Behold II has, as I felt that interface just slowed down the processor that much more.

As on many Android handsets I noticed there were 3 home screens to put apps on (outside the normal app bin, of course). A couple of the screens had some Sprint add-ons and other bookmarks thrown in for good measure. Sprint added on SprintTV, NFL, and NASCAR apps, as well as Sprint Navigation. I didn’t spend too much time in these features.

Camera: 3.2 MP camera with flash; not great, not terrible. Video recording is possible, and the app allows you to adjust the resolution of those videos. The Moment is also capable of geotagging photos. Samsung always goes over the top with bells and whistles on the camera, and the Moment is no exception. I wanted higher res photos on a device of this caliber, but 3.2 seems to still be standard in most smartphones released nowadays.

Mail and messaging: With Android, email accounts are very easy to set up, especially if you primarily use Google and Gmail anyway. If not, it is still quite easy to get any other type of mail, POP and IMAP included, on the Moment. Exchange mail support is accessible via the Moxier Mail app. Everything is pretty much stock Android in this category. The one thing hard to get used to, again, is the actual keyboard itself. But frankly, using the touch keyboard works out a little better. Which begs the question: why get a thicker and bulkier phone with physical keyboard if you prefer using the touchscreen keyboard anyway? Seems a little odd.

Internet: Using Sprint’s data network, the Moment is capable of EVDO Rev. A and also carries WiFi. It’s good to see WiFi included, as Sprint has been on a crusade as of late to ensure all future smartphones will have it. The browser itself is Webkit, aka the standard browser. It comes with a zoom bar, so sadly there is no multitouch option.

Multimedia: Much like mail and messaging, multimedia features on the Moment are essentially all stock Android. Nothing new that we haven’t seen before, so we’ll move on.

Voicedial: The Moment does have this capability, supported by Nuance. Nuance is carried on several different handsets, such as the Samsung Omnia II, so it’s a popular choice. One thing I noticed when comparing this phone to the Behold II was that the latter phone had voice-enabled Google search on the homescreen, whereas the Moment only has a regular search bar that you must type in, opting instead for the voice search button on the side of the phone.

In explaining the features of the Samsung Moment, there really isn’t anything new or unique that sticks out. It looks as though Samsung really just cranked out an Android for Sprint as quickly as possible, without much regard to innovation. I’m not saying this is a problem, because it is still a very good performing phone, but there’s nothing about the Moment that would make me want to pick it over, say, the Hero or the Droid.

Performance of the Samsung Moment

I felt like the Samsung Moment is a solid device. At 5.67 oz, it’s certainly weightier than the average smartphone, but at least it doesn’t feel like a cheap plastic piece of junk just waiting to fall apart in your hands. There’s nothing about this phone that would make you feel like it’s not durable enough to withstand normal wear and tear (by that, I’m not saying you can drop it at will and have it be okay, but you get my drift).

Call quality was excellent across the board. The internal speaker as well as speakerphone on the device were plenty loud for me to understand what others were saying, and vice versa.

Battery life is better on the Moment than most other Android devices. It’s rated for 5 hours of talk time on a 1440 mAh battery, and that’s just about what I was able to squeeze out of it on a normal-use day.

The processor, at 800 MHz, was much faster than most Android devices out there, and I could tell a difference. Perhaps it wasn’t as huge a difference as it should be, going from the standard 528 MHz, but it was noticeable. It seems to be a general consensus among Android reviewers that for whatever reason anything less than a 2.0 Android device seizes a large chunk of processing power. It just isn’t as zippy as you’d expect a 800 MHz handset to be, and it’s likely due to the Android 1.5 OS.

My feelings on the Moment are so-so. The device has an awkward QWERTY keyboard that doesn’t allow the user to type naturally (like if they were using a computer keyboard, in other words), but Samsung seems to make up for it by throwing in a beautiful AMOLED screen that’s easy to scroll and type on. But quite frankly, the Moment is a stock Android device that doesn’t add much spice to it. You certainly get a good enough experience, but nothing out of the ordinary when compared to its competition.

• Samsung Moment (InstinctQ) with Android announced by Sprint
• Leaked: first photo of the Samsung Moment 2 M910 for Sprint
• T-Mobile’s Samsung Behold and Samsung Gravity now official
• Samsung Acclaim r880 shows off its Android interface and QWERTY keyboard
• The Samsung Behold II is now available on Cincinnati Bell

And, with a few hours of sleep interrupt,  I’ve been playing with it ever since. For about 15 hrs. now. So I think it’s time to put it away for a while, and share some first impressions I got from playing around with Nokia N900.

The bottom line – I’m impressed. Very impressed. Really, really impressed.

On the other hand, I know understand why Nokia is insisting that N900 is more of a work in progress, “step 4 in a 5 step program”, that it’s a niche device and should be sold mostly to early adopters, who like to push the limits, but won’t mind  a bug or two, or some common elsewhere, but missing in N900 feature.

And Nokia N900 is certainly not a phone. While you can feel that most Nokia smartphones are designed as phones, with “smart” functions added on top and around, N900 feels the opposite. Like a small screen computer with a phone functionality added on top.

I will also mention, that the device I have is a pre-release handset, and Nokia is still ironing out minor bugs, so there’s a good chance that quite a few of the bugs/shortcomings I noticed, will be fixed/resolved by the time N900 hits the streets in a week or two.

Nokia N900 first impressions. Starting-up

Just like any new handset, when you boot it up, you are greeted with a screen to enter the things like time, date, language, regional settings, etc. After that, N900 launches, with a screen looking something like this:

and lets you play a “Get started” video, which does what it says pretty well, and quickly takes you through the main features and functions of the device.

Then it’s time to actually start exploring and playing with the handset. The 4 available desktop panels on Nokia N900 are somewhat filled up with the preinstalled widgets and shortcuts.  To find my bearings around N900, I just started sliding from panel to panel with a swipe gesture, tapping around and checking out what each shortcut or widget does.

The problem is, I managed to, unintentionally, but  very quickly, wipe out all the preinstalled shortcuts and widgets away from all the panels. I did it by simply by deselecting and then selecting again the active panels in “Desktop set-up”–>”Manage views” menu.

Which left me with a screen like this:

Completely empty spaces, without a single shortcut, widget or any other indication what to do. And remember, there is not a single physical or soft  key on the front of the device. Which, at first, confused and pissed me off a bit, but then turned out to be for the best.

Filling things back was pretty intuitive and easy. Just tap at the top of the screen a couple of times to get  to “desktop settings” menu, and start adding things back. Doing that without any hints and pre-conceptions of Nokia engineers of what’s important to me, allowed me to customize the 4 available desktop panels of Nokia N900, exactly the way I wanted.

Nokia N900 first impressions. Touchscreen, navigation and usability

It’s a conventional wisdom that resistive touchscreen will always be inferior to the capacitive one. Nokia N900 has a resistive touchscreen, so,  no matter what, it can not be very good.

And, like most conventional wisdoms, this one’s is also dead wrong. The touchscreen on Nokia N900 is very responsive, fast and easy to use. I did not have any problems with it so far.

Overall phone navigation is pretty well thought out too.

You have 4 desktop panels, where you can place any installed widgets, shortcuts to various apps, functions, or contacts. You can move through panels with a swipe gesture.

At the top left corner of the screen there is an “Applications menu”.

Tap on it once and it brigs up a dashboard where active/running  application thumbnails and notification about missed calls, messages, e-mails, etc; are displayed.

Tap twice, and you are taken to the application menu.

In the first open window of app menu, only main default N900 apps and functions are displayed. And the non scrollable area contains only 15 icons, so it can be a bit confusing at first - I got an impression that there’s only very limited amount of apps available. However, when you press the bottom right “More…” icon, another , bigger/scrollable page opens, where various installed and ready to be installed apps are displayed.

Tapping anywhere at the top of “app menu” screen, takes you back to active app dashboard. Taping anywhere outside active apps, takes you to the main desktops panels. Tapping on an active up,  of course, brings up that app.

Overall, it took me between 15 to 30 minutes to get used to it, and then I was able to navigate anywhere in the device extremely fast, with a few intuitive taps and swipes.

Next to the “Applications menu” you have a “Status bar” , where relevant connectivity/phone status symbols are displayed. Things like  – on-line offline, connected to 3G Networks, Wi-Fi data connection, remaining battery power, time, etc;.

Tapping on a status bar, brings up “Status menu”, where you can quickly adjust things like time/alarms, internet connection options, availability status on IM services, phone profile, Bluetooth, USB, etc;

Tapping anywhere else at the top of the touchscreen, brings up the set up options/menu for the active Window. If it’s the main desktop panel, options to add, delete and move around various icons and shortcuts, change background and themes,  appear. If it’s a browser window – you get various options for the browser, in phone app – telephone app set-up and so on.

Nokia N900 First Impressions.  Phone, SMS, VoIP/Skype and IM integration

Contrary to most of the other traditional smartphones, Nokia N900 is not centered around the phone function. There are no “Answer”/ “Hang up” buttons or menu keys on it, no default/compulsory phone access from the home screen. On Nokia N900, telephony is truly just another application. Not much different from Skype, Google Talk, Jabber and other instant messaging clients.

In fact, Google Voice, Skype, Nokia IM, Jabber and SIP clients are natively integrated in the phone  app. For now, I had a chance to try only Google Talk and Skype on N900. But those two worked like a charm inside the main phone/contacts app.

To get GTalk and Skype running on N900, I only had to add  them as “New accounts” with my login details. That’s it. All the contacts from both services were imported into my address book and the services are active whenever I am online.

When I want to contact a person, I just select a person and decide how I want to go about that: make a phone call, send an e-mail, send Skype/GTalk instant message or make a Skype call. There’s no functional difference, friction or difference in the telephony/contact app between any of these options. So you just select whichever is the most convenient mode of contact at this particular moment, and do it.

I already see my Skype (both free and paid) usage going through the roof with this, while at the same time reducing mobile phone bills too.

Well, there was one small inconvenience with all those multiple accounts merged into the phone book. Since I’m not too careful or diligent in maintaining contact lists on those services, the merged phone book got kinda messy, and required some manual cleaning and record merging. But it was worth it. And, also, with the option to delegate a desktop panel or two exclusively to the contacts I communicate with the most, I’m now in touch with them much better then I was before.

Nokia N900 first impressions. Internet browsing and multi-tasking.

Internet browsing and multitasking are probably the coolest features of Nokia N900.

For now, I think, the internet browser and overall Net browsing experience on Nokia N900 ,is probably the the best one among the mobile devices of similar size.

It is almost a full fledged, touch optimized Firefox browser with complete HTML,  Flash, Javascript and other  Web standard support. Simply put, websites on Nokia N900 look  the same (if only with a smaller symbols and elements) as they would look on a desktop PC with 800 pixel wide resolution display.

It takes a little time to get used to Nokia’s strange clockwise/counterclockwise finger rotation gesture for zooming. But once you get used to it, Internet browsing experience on N900 becomes the best,  compared to any other device around (iPhone included). Of course, it is still not a complete desktop experience, there is only so much you can do on a 3.5 inch screen. But it is the next best thing for now.

And Nokia N900  does a true, almost PC level multi-tasking without breaking a sweat.  Here’s a screenshot of of Nokia N900 dashboard with 6 open browser windows, 9 active applications (File manager, Phone app, Conversations app, Ovi Maps, E-mail app, Chess and Blocks games, PDF reader with an e-book open, Gallery app) and an mp3 podcast playing in the background.

And, with all that stuff running,  there was no significant slowdown in overall speed of the device.

Well, this first impression thing starts running pretty long. I think I’m gonna take a brake for now and will be back tomorrow with part 2. Today was all praises of Nokia N900, tomorrow I’ll talk about the things that piss me off about it and some conclusions.

Stay tuned.

• Nokia will integrate Skype into its handsets
• Nokia offers Skype for Symbian via Ovi Store
• Skype app for Nokia Belle (Symbian) available for download
• Skype for Windows Mobile removed from Skype’s website
• Careful with contacts on Nokia N900: deleting can remove them from your Skype, GTalk and other IM servers!

The Samsung Highlight T749 is one such phone. On T-Mobile and sporting the same Touchwiz UI as its older brethren Behold and Memoir, the Highlight doesn’t have much new stuff to bring to the table. But what it does bring to that table is rather solid.

For the Behold and Memoir the major focus was the camera. Samsung seemed to be in a competition with rivals LG and Sony Ericsson to see who could cram the most megapixels into a phone first. But the Highlight is a little more modest in its 3 MP camera as the focus appears to be on the phone as a whole, rather than on one specific feature.

Design of the Samsung Highlight

Samsung is on a roll with touchscreen phones, so it’s only natural that a lot of care and emphasis was put into the screen on the Highlight. I enjoy the 3″ LCD touchscreen that comes on the Highlight with a flavor of 240 x 400 pixels. The screen is bright and text is easy to read; colors are well-defined.

The sensitivity of the touch screen by default is perfect for me. My experience was good, as the screen itself offered enough flex when being pushed that I don’t feel like my fingers are being jammed into the screen every time I type on it.

As with most touchscreen phones, the presence of physical buttons is kept to a bare minimum. After all, what’s the point of a touchscreen if there are enough physical buttons to do the same job? Just under the screen we find the usual send and end call keys, as well as a go-back/clear key.

On the right side there is the unlock button on the top, charger port in the middle and camera button at the bottom end.

The only thing that clutters up the left side of the Highlight is the volume adjust button.

Under the battery you can see the SIM card and MicroSD slots; I still find it curious that so many phones continue to put the MicroSD under the battery itself. For me it’s okay to include it under the back cover as long as it’s still accessible without being forced to turn the phone on and off.

Speaking of back cover, the Highlight’s has a unique look with its blue criss-cross pattern, but it adds rather than detracts from the overall look and style of the phone.

Dimensions are incredibly similar to other Touchwiz phones; just as thin and as wide as the Memoir and Behold.

Features of the Samsung Highlight

Without going into large detail that would be identical to that of the Behold and Memoir, there were a few things that caught my eye on the Highlight that are worth mentioning.

One is the handwriting option when creating a new message. I always find this option intriguing when included, especially on a touch phone that does not utilize a stylus. I just don’t think it recognizes my handwriting very well, and half the time the screen doesn’t get the entire character I’m trying to write. After some time and practice I got better at it, but I just don’t see the point because typing on the full keyboard is still much faster for me.

GPS is present on the Highlight, and Telenav Navigator does come pre-installed on the phone when you purchase it. It still requires a monthly subscription to use, but it can come in quite handy for business and road trips.

The camera is 3 MP, which is becoming just nearly standard among midlevel phones. The interface on the camera is the same as the other Touchwiz phones, and offers the option to switch to camcorder as well. While there are five resolutions to choose from on the still camera that range from 400 x 240 to 2048 x 153, the max resolution for video is 320 x 240; not exactly the sharpest resolution for taking videos.

Certainly it’s easy to incorporate media into the Highlight with the ability to use MicroSD cards with up to 16 GB capacity. The same media player is used here as on the other phones so there is nothing different to report.

Games preloaded on the Highlight are limited — only Brain Challenge 2 and Midnight Pool 2, and even those are just the demo versions. Getting the full version will require purchasing the game.

While not a smartphone, you still get to see most websites in all their HTML glory. Because of the way the browser is set up, however, you still need to scroll left to right to see the full site.

Performance of the Samsung Highlight

The most irksome part of using the Highlight was the processor. I noticed delays when attempting to scroll through simple menus; while these delays were only a second each, this added extra time when looking through multiple screens. The transitions into apps were also a bit slower than I was expecting.

Battery life was above average for a touchscreen, as it was rated at an impressive 6.5 hours of talk and 432 hours of standby time. Moderate use of the phone went on for 3 days without needing a recharge; most standard phones are out within 1.5 days.

Call quality was excellent on the Highlight and I had no other problems with any of the device’s performance on any level.

Overall, the Samsung Highlight was an enjoyable experience. Good battery life and call quality, the Touchwiz UI is quite familiar to anyone with an Eternity or Behold, and doesn’t sway too far from the quality of its brethren. The design had its pros and cons but overall I was satisfied.

However, is that enough to justify getting the lukewarm Highlight over the Behold, especially if they are similar in price? I doubt it. It’s been seen and done before, so there’s nothing new being brought to the table in this particular Touchwiz incarnation.

Final thought? It’s worth buying if the price is right. When first released on T-Mobile it was being sold for $149, which was actually more than the 5 MP Behold. It just logically doesn’t make sense; thus when the price begins going down it will be worth keeping an eye on.

Check out the picture gallery below.

• Samsung Highlight to hit T-Mobile USA on July 15
• Samsung Highlight t749 available from T-Mobile USA
• T-Mobile’s Samsung Behold and Samsung Gravity now official
• Live pics with Samsung Highlight for T-Mobile USA
• Photos: Samsung T669, T479 (Gravity 3) and T359 for T-Mobile USA

And it’s a pretty impressive update, with a new smoother TouchFlo 3D interface, more responsive touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, bigger and better 3.2” WVGA (480×800 px) display.

For now HTC Touch Diamond 2 runs on Windows Mobile 6.1, but as soon as WM 6.5 is out, free upgrade for this handset will be made available.

For those who prefer viewing video to reading, here’s a video review of HTC Touch Diamond 2:

For those who prefer text to video, read-on.

HTC Touch Diamond 2 design

The overall look of HTC Touch Diamond is in the current touchscreen phone tradition – a keyboardless candybar with most of the front surface used by the touchscreen display.

Only in this case HTC stayed true to the original Diamond design with the wholly rectangular shape, instead of a more rounded corners on most of the other touchphones.

The back of Diamond 2 is a bit different from the original – HTC decided to stay with traditional smooth back cover, instead of faceted diamond like  surface on the First Diamond Touch.  Less visual effect, but much more usable.

The touchscreen display and the zoombar at the bottom is covered with the protective plastic. The bottom part, including the front keys are from metal. The sides of the handset are metallic too. The backcover of Diamond 2 is made from the glossy plastic.

As mentioned before, the largest part of the front side is taken up by the touchscreen and the zoom touchbar below it. The latter is used for zoom function in maps, pictures, camera and other apps.

Touch Diamond 2 has 4 keys at the bottom- “Answer”,  “Windows/Start” key, “Back”, and “Cancel/Home”.

Interestingly enough, HTC decided to forgo the trackpad or joystick control on Diamond 2. I guess the reasoning was that this feature is not necessary on a full touchscreen phone and the space would be better used for a bigger display and zoombar. And, IMHO, the resulting combination works pretty well.

At the top of the front side there’s a power/message LED indicator, phone speaker, ambient light sensor and front camera for video calls.

On the right side of the device is a speaker, on the left side – volume controls. The top of the Diamond2 houses “on/off” power button. On the bottom of the device there’s  a mini USB port, that is used for charging, data/sync and headphones,  and a mic. On the bottom right side of the device we have a stylus.

The back of the device features 5 mpx camera with autofocus.

Opening the back cover we find a 1100 mAh battery, Inside of the device there’s a battery, with USIM card slot beneath it. On the right side of the device, next to a stylus is a microSD memory card slot.

The size of HTC Touch Diamond 2 is 107.85 x 53.1 x 13.7mm, weight – 117. gr. It fits comfortably into your hand or  pocket, is easy to hold and carry around.

HTC Touch Diamond2 Display

The display on HTC Touch Diamond 2 is really a good improvement over it’s predecessor (Original Dimanond). While 0.4” difference (3.2” vs 2.8”) doesn’t sound big and is not that important for normal phone operations, it gets noticeable when browsing or watching video.

The display itself is really bright and has a good WVGA 480×800 resolution. It fades some when in bright sunlight, but still remains readable.

HTC Diamond 2 Touch Interface and Software

HTC Diamond 2 features traditional TouchFlo 3D user interface with some minor updates.

The main difference from previous devices is a zoombar at the bottom of the display. By sliding the finger up or down on it you can zoom in and out in apps where these this functionality exists – e.g. browser, gallery, maps, camera. It works pretty well  most of the time, though we noticed some lagging in some instances when using gallery and maps.

HTC Touch Diamond has a nicely designed contacts and calling app. Among interesting featres of this app are nice 3D effects, name/picture integration, grouping of  messages and calls for each contact under  a single tab, integration between contact address and Google maps.

For Internet browsing, HTC  D2 comes with Opera browser and supports full HTML browsing, with zooming, panning and scrolling functions well optimized for finger touch interface and small sceen.

It also comes with auto screen rotation feature, native for multiple apps and has a full QWERTY on-screen keyboard that works pretty well.

For a more detailed overview of HTC Diamond 2 software check out the videos above.

HTC Touch Diamond 2 Camera and Gallery app

HTC Touch Diamond 2 comes equipped with a pretty good (for Windows Mobile devices) 5 megapixel camera. Of course, 5 megapixels is nothing special nowadays, but it’s really noticeable improvement over 3.2 mpx and allows you to take perfectly adequate pictures, similar in quality to those of lower end digital still cameras.

Here are some sample pictures taken by HTC D2:

Another improvement in Diamond 2 camera, over the one we had in original diamond is it’s speed. The camera on D2 is really fast and you can only barely notice any shutter lag time at all.

HTC Diamond 2 camera comes with autofocus, it also allows you to adjust the focus point manually. Just tap a finger on a part of viewfinder (touchscreen display) and the camera will focus on that point.

Digital zoom in camera app, controlled via zoombar,  works well and is pretty responsive in this case.

The gallery app in D2 is pretty nice and optimized for touch interface. You can slide through pictures in a gallery with a swipe gesture both in landscape and portrait modes. You can also zoom in and out and then move the picture around with a finger. The interface is really fast and responsive.

And, of course, if you need to quickly browse through a large collection of pictures, you can switch to a grid mode with pictures displayed as small icons.

HTC Diamond 2 Navigation

HTC Diamond 2 comes equipped with GPS sensor. It does not have it’s own Nav software, but is well integrated with mobile Google Maps app. The phone can plot your position on the map via GPS sensor and Google Maps functions, including search, directions, Google Latitude, etc; are available too.

Google maps are also integrated with a  contact app on Diamond 2, so when you press a map link in an address book, it will show you location of your contact on the map.

If you need something more, like turn-by-turn voice navigation, you’ll have to buy and install Windows Mobile compatible 3d party navigation software. But there’s plenty of those available in most markets.

HTC Diamond 2 Multimedia

Though it is more a business, then a consumer phone, HTC Diamond 2 has a pretty good multimedia features.

The music player is accessible directly form the home screen and is easily navigable. The song layout is a traditional for most music players and can be classified by artist, album, genre or playlist.

The sound quality is not excellent, but OK for a handset that is not primarily a music phone. The only problem I have is the lack of a standard headphone jack. If you want to use something else then a headset provided by HTC, you’ll have to get a miniUSB adapter for that.

HTC Diamond 2 has a built-in FM radio that you can access via FM Radio app. Nothing very interesting here, standard FM app interface with scan and radio pre-set functions. It works both in headset and speaker mode.

Built in video player can play WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI files. Video player interface is pretty traditional and video playback is good.

HTC Touch Diamond 2 review. Conclusions

Overall I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of my experience with HTC Touch Diamond 2. If you never used a Windows Mobile or HTC device before, it can take few minutes to get used to it.

But HTC is getting really good with full Touch interfaces, and HTC Touch Diamond 2 was a pleasure to play with. Adequate 5 megapixel camera, easy Wi-Fi connectivity and good multimedia performance make this a pretty good choice in mid to high end full touch smartphone category.

This review was made in cooperation with Dawid Gatti from Pda.pl

• #MWC09: HTC Touch Diamond2 preview video
• #MWC09: LG Arena preview video
• HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro (Raphael) and HTC Touch Dual Pro coming
• HTC Touch Diamond2 announced for India
• HTC Touch Diamond is here

Verizon is one of those carriers that has been convinced. As such, the company with the most wireless subscribers in America has released the Verizon Wireless Network Extender.

Femtocells act as miniature cell towers within the walls of your home or office. They work by connecting them to any available wireless router; customers get much better wireless reception because the femtocell uses WiFi and GPS connections to attach to the network, instead of nearby towers.

This is especially helpful for any customers that live in areas of weak cell signals, or work in buildings that towers have a difficult time penetrating. It’s also helpful to the network because it takes strain and traffic off those towers.

Sprint and T-Mobile have already released similar services, with AT&T also coming out with its MicroCell femtocell solution sometime soon.

I recently had the opportunity to test Verizon’s Network Extender, made by Samsung, and found it to be a pretty interesting experience.

Design of the Verizon Wireless Network Extender

The Extender is a big black box that stands vertically, and is about twice as large as my wireless router. So by no means is it handy and portable. There are three different places to plug something in; power, router/ethernet connector, and a plug for the GPS receiver.

The GPS receiver is removable so that in case you can’t get the Extender to reach a window, you can install the included 23-foot extension cable to help get close enough to a window to pick up a signal. As far as I can tell, the purpose of the GPS is to ensure the device is not being used outside the US (which certainly would’ve been a nice workaround to the expense of international calling) and tracking you down for E911.

One area of design the Extender gets poor marks on is the lack of wireless connectibility. I would’ve preferred to have the Extender hooked up on my main floor for maximum GPS signal instead of the basement, where my router is currently located.

Using the Wireless Extender

I’m the kind of person that loathes reading user manuals, but I had to read it this time. With this being the first time I’ve hooked up a femtocell to my router, it was better to be safe than sorry.

There’s really not much to the setup process, however. Once all the cords are connected it takes around 15 minutes to start working properly. It was a lot easier process than I was expecting, and realized after a few minutes I didn’t even need the manual.

Once connected, I used the Samsung Sway to make some calls. Before the phone started ringing, I heard a double-tone indicating the Sway was connected to the Extender instead of the network.

It is recommended to be within 15 feet of the Extender for it to work well, but I found it to work from a longer distance. I didn’t try going next door to see if I got a signal, but it worked all over the house perfectly. In fact, I could hear a noticeable difference in sound volume and quality when I was using the Extender.

Up to three phones can use the Extender at the same time, with a fourth channel reserved strictly for emergency calls. Any other phones will be redirected to the nearest tower. If you leave the Extender’s range during a call, you will also be redirected to a tower if available. However, the vice versa doesn’t work; you cannot start a call outside range and then pick up the Extender signal during the duration of the same call.

An additional perk of using the Extender over the network is that since it is much closer to your phone than the tower is, much less power is used, thus saving a bit of battery life in the process.

Sadly the Verizon Wireless Network Extender does not support EVDO, so when connected to it you are limited to 1x data speeds if EVDO is not available in your local area.

Overall Impressions of the Extender

It’s nice to see devices like this on the market now. While my area is not hurting for Verizon coverage and thus is not a must-have for me, there are some parts of the country where this could come in very handy.

One other frustration in the use of the device is that you don’t get unlimited calling. It still uses up your regular minutes, even though you’re not using the network specifically. Perhaps this will change over time, but for now, don’t expect this to be a solution to get out of high bills.

We liked the improved cell reception and quality, increased battery life on the phones themselves, and the fact that you don’t have to pay a monthly fee like you do on the phones. We did not like the fact that it lacks wireless accessibility, does not include EVDO, and uses up regular minutes. We were also not fond of the size of the Extender, though we won’t complain too much about that.

If you’re in a area of fringe reception, the Extender is a life-saver, especially if you are in a situation where you need Verizon service for work, mobile-to-mobile calling, or any other reason. It will certainly save a lot of bottled-up frustration due to bad coverage. If, however, you’re in an area that is just fine in cell reception, there’s probably no urgent reason to get it.

The Verizon Wireless Network Extender hardware costs $249 and there is no monthly fee to use it.

• Verizon launches Network Extender device for enhanced indoor wireless coverage
• #CES2010: Sprint Announces 3G/4G Router That Eats MiFi For Breakfast
• Verizon expands, buys SureWest Communications for $69 million
• Apple on iPhone 4 reception. It’s better then fine. We only had a bad bar calculation formula…
• AT&T’s 3G network upgrades cause 2G customers to suffer

Samsung Ultra Touch has quite an interesting mix within it – 8 megapixel camera, full touchscreen interface and physical T9 keypad.

It is not the first TouchWiz UI equipped Samsung phone – they have already  been selling like hotcakes throughout 2008.

But this kind of feature combination is the first for the Korean vendor. In a closed position, you may never guess that UltraTouch S8300 is not just another touchphone – the sliding keypad does not significantly alter the overall size of the device.

Slide it open and you get a normal feature phone with a familiar keypad, which is a really nice bonus. You can easily get by  without ever opening the slider, but the keypad comes in handy quite often - actually, I found myself using  it a lot. Even answering calls by opening the slider is a much more intuitive thing than tapping a touch button.

The construction of Samsung Ultra Touch is not the only thing that sets it apart from other handsets. New generation of widgets, photo contact application, great video capabilities…  I could go on and on, but let’s dive into the details already.

Samsung Ultra Touch Design

Both the inside and the outside of Samsung S8300 Ultra Touch are very good. The overall design is pretty striking, but not too flashy, and gives the Samsung S8300 almost a premium look.

When closed, UltraTouch looks like any other grey-metallic  Samsung phone,  the nice red bezel being its only distinguishing feature. Open the slider and its colorfulness emerges. The colors are bright, but not too much so they don’t transform the Ultra Touch into a girly phone. It’s a fully “unisex” handset, that both you and your girlfriend can carry  around.

The chassis of Samsung Ultra Touch combines metal and plastic, with the prevalence of metallic parts and some plastic elements. The upper sliding body is fully metallic, while the keypad and battery cover are made from plastic. Samsung has used good quality materials to make the UltraTouch S8300, thus the handset has a nice tactile feel overall.  It also does not get any smudges or dust, even after extensive use.

Well, except for the display, but the screen is very easy to clean as well.

Samsung S8300 UltraTouch Display

Samsung S8300 UltraTouch’s display is one its distinguishing features. The S8300 is one of the few handsets today that comes equipped with an AMOLED screen. The pictures on it look very good, with really bright and lively colors. Even in bright sunlight the display dims only a bit, and can be easily viewed. The display has 2.8 inches and a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels, which is common for Samsung’s latest handsets.  It might feel a bit small for Net browsing, but most multimedia needs are served nicely on a display of this size.

User Interface, Usability & Ergonomics of Samsung S8300 Ultra Touch

From the usability point of view, I cannot find any beef with it. By now, Samsung has got the TouchWiz UI working pretty well and it’s very easy to use.

On the UltraTouch,  Samsung has made its desktop area  span beside the actual visible area of the device’s screen. By swiping a finger you can scroll up and down through it to access additionl widgets.

One of the most interesting applications on the Samsung S8300 is PhotoContacts. It allows you to associate people in the pictures with contacts in the address book.  After doing that, you only need to click on a contact’s photo to make a call or send SMS to a particular person.

Any problems inherent in full touchscreen phones, on Samsung S8300 Ultra Touch  are easily remedied by the physical keypad and numerical navigation options. So even when wearing gloves (capacitive touchscreen does not work with covered fingers), the phone is pretty easy to use. The only thing that I found to complain about is a separte unlock key, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

Samsung UltraTouch camera

So what does this beauty have inside of it?  Well, tons of very nice things.

Let’s start with the camera on Samsung UltraTouch. Maximum resolution on it is 3264 x 2448 pixels, which gives you a total of 8 mpx. The pictures at this resolution are pretty “heavy” – 2 megabyte a piece, so be sure to use a big memory card if you plan to take a lot of them.

The camera settings are quite extensive and should fit the needs of most of the creative types. You can set white balance, autofocus parameters (macro, face and smile recognition, panorama focus), manual ISO (100-1600) settings and digital image stabilization.

Samsung S8300 has a GPS chip inside and is able to use EXIF geotags on the photos, so you can sort your pictures by location on most of the popular photosharing sites and applications. Samsung UltraTouch can manually or automatically upload your pictures to Flickr, Picasa, Facebook and other services.

The camera of Samsung S8300 also has pretty good video shooting capabilities. It records at 30fps, 720 x 480 resolution, and has 3 different compression modes.

Samsung UltraTouch’s camera is operational only in open slider mode, with the slider mechanism serving as a lens cover too.

Multimedia on Samsung Ultra Touch

The music player on Samsung S8300 is pretty good and easy to use. The only problem is the lack of a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, but that should be remedied by the adapter.

The videoplayer cand play all major video formats, including DivX at VGA (680 x 480 pixels) resolution and 1.5 Mbps bitrate – which is really great for a mobile phone.

Samsung UltraTouch has a built-in accelerometer and switches between portrait and landscape mode automatically both in video and browsing modes. Unfortunately, it does this only in one direction – left. If you turn the phone on its right side, you still get the landscape mode, but picture will be upside down.

Conclusions

When Samsung UltraTouch S8300 was first announced, it looked like just another 8 megapixel slider. This time from Samsung and, again, with its TouchWiz UI.

But a closer look at the phone left me impressed. Great design, some interesting new approaches, and a very good usability makes the Samsung S8300 UltraTouch a very good choice if you are in the market for this type of feature phones.

• Samsung S8300 UltraTouch gets a new Onyx Gold version
• IFA 2007 Report: 5 megapixel Samsung SGH-G600 cameraphone
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What does this mean for the mobile phone industry? Up until now, phones have featured sub-par cameras with okay quality.

Since the Memoir is sporting a camera with better better megapixel count than my own personal digital still camera, and actually takes better pictures, it means phones and legitimately good point-and-shoot digital cameras can all be merged into one device.

And this is just the beginning. Sony Ericsson is quick on Samsung’s heels by announcing 12 MP Idou, set to be released in the second half of this year. LG is planning one as well. This means we can expect to see a lot more phones with really high camera resolution in the near future.

Of course, megapixel count ain’t everything, and may not even mean much beyond certain point. Though every little bit helps. Your camera phone probably won’t ever be as good as even average DSRL, but that old point-and-shooter you’ve been bringing to trips and parties? That may well be coming with you in your phone very soon, if not now.

In the meantime, the spotlight is all on the Memoir, so let’s focus on that!

I was genuinely excited to see the Memoir show up at my doorstep. The buzz on this new phone has been overwhelming and is a great offering for T-Mobile, which (with the exception of the G1) seems to get passed by on many hyped-up phones.

T-Mobile Samsung Memoir User Interface

The Samsung Memoir features Touchwiz UI. Touchwiz is an easy to use interface which is largely defined by its customizeable drag-and-drop widgets. The widgets are meant to work as convenient shortcuts for the user — pick which widgets would be used the most, and then simply hold your finger over it and drag it onto the main screen and place it wherever you would like.

Examples of widgets include Bluetooth, Web, calendar, voice dial, and SMS, though there are around 15-20 different types of widgets you can choose from. You can use all or none of them, if preferred.

I did not have any problems finding my way around the Memoir because of the Touchwiz. My one frustration is that Touchwiz, without the right OS to back it up, does not have much of a selection of applications. This could potentially be a large concern since many rival manufacturers are announcing methods of downloading apps. I even tried to download Google Maps and discovered this was not possible. While it doesn’t have to be a smartphone, I would find it much more beneficial to have extra options available.

Design of the Samsung Memoir for T-Mobile

In many ways, the Memoir is essentially a Samsung Behold with 3 more megapixels added to the camera. But there are some differences in outward appearance. For instance, the Memoir was designed to look more like a digital camera. Touchscreen phone on front, 8 MP camera on back.

When compared to other touchscreen phones the screen size of the Memoir is average. I sized it up next to the HTC Touch Pro and iPhone 3G, both well-known touchscreen powerhouses. The Memoir’s screen was larger than the Touch Pro but smaller than the iPhone.

Also, the camera lens on the back is a bit bulky. In fact, the Memoir won’t even lay completely flat because of the camera bulging out the back. It’s not a noticeable difference unless the phone is laying on its back.

In addition to the touchscreen, the front of the Memoir offers 3 physical buttons — send, end, and previous.

On the left I find a charger port and expandable memory port.

The right side has the volume, lock, and camera buttons.

Ultimately the phone design is unique in that the back almost doubles as a Samsung digital camera — which is the whole point. The front of the phone itself does look somewhat boxy, with the Behold featuring more of a curvy design than the Memoir.

The Memoir was a bit lighter than I expected, weighing in at 4.4 ounces and is sized up at 4.17″ x 2.11″ x 0.55″.

Features of T-mobile Memoir

Camera — Certainly the camera was the whole focus of the Memoir. The 8 MP camera is no old-school offering. Here is an example of a picture taken with the Memoir camera.

The camera also features a spectacular Xenon flash. Pictures taken in pitch black still turn out really well.

Needless to say I came away very impressed by the quality of the flash. Also, red-eye reduction helps, especially for a guy like myself that wears contacts or glasses.

The camera comes loaded with 16x digital zoom, video recording, auto focus, multi-shot, panoramic mode, self-timer and support for uploading all your pictures directly to Flickr or Snapfish from the phone (without having to email or other apps). Lastly, the camera features antishake — meaning, the camera won’t actually take a picture while the phone is moving. This prevents you from having to retake the same picture over and over again just to get one that isn’t fuzzy.

So, how good is the video recording on such a nice camera? The camcorder takes 30-frames-per-second video plus it has a slow-motion mode to capture 120-frames-per-second video. Not too bad at all, I’d say.

Here are some of the pics I took with the Memoir; one of the pics of me was taken in complete darkness, but I’m sure you’ll figure out which one it is. (click on thumbnails to see full sized image)

The pics of the mountains were shot in landscape scene, whereas the pics of me were shot in portrait scene (the one of me on the left looks a little creepy). There are several different scenes for different styles of photography.

This next pic is a zoomed-in version of the first pic I showed off.

One hesitation I have about the Memoir’s camera is that it’s a bit on the slow side. It takes 3-4 seconds to start up, and 6-7 seconds between taking pictures. Also, the shutter lag is somewhat slow as well; I noticed that when taking pictures it took a couple seconds to actually take it after pressing the button. A couple times I attempted to press the shutter a second time because I thought I hadn’t pressed it well enough.

Is the camera good enough to get rid of your digital camera? The jury’s still out on that one. It’s a great camera but, any way you look at it, it still is a camera in a phone, and will have its limitations as a result. The technology will improve over time, and phone cameras will continue to get better and closer to digital camera quality. The Memoir is certainly a good start.

Multimedia — Another strong point of the Memoir is its multimedia capabilities. In fact, there is a widget specifically made for the media player that you can put on the main screen, rather than having you going through the main menu.

I watched Ice Age on the Memoir with no complications. While the movie itself didn’t cover the entire screen, it was still refreshing to be able to watch a movie with the .avi format on a non-smartphone. Very convenient for keeping the kids busy or relaxing when the kids are asleep. Or if no kids are involved whatsoever. We’re not picky!

Speaker sound quality was excellent when watching the movie, and I did not require headphones to aid the sound.

Keyboard — Choose to have the QWERTY style in landscape mode or alphanumeric style when in portrait.

Email — The Memoir supports T-Mobile’s Mobile Email application, which gives access to Gmail, Yahoo, Windows Live, AOL, and support for many smaller companies such as Juno and Earthlink. I must emphasize that this does not provide push email; rather, it is a style of pull email that notifies you when a new message has popped in your inbox, at which point you hit the link to the Email app. Really it just adds an extra step to retrieving your email.

The Memoir will not support corporate email.

Internet — The internet browser on the Samsung Memoir is actually a HTML browser. I was able to look up several websites and have them look almost identical to how they would appear on Firefox or IE. It was nice to be able to switch from landscape to portrait if the website looked better that way; the only negative about browsing on the Memoir is that with the screen being smaller, not the entire website will fit. This is something easy to get used to for a tech geek such as myself, however, that uses mobile internet as much as I use it on my computer.

Fortunately T-Mobile chose to add 3G service into the Memoir to allow for faster internet and email downloading, but unfortunately for me my local area does not have T-Mobile 3G yet. Thus I could only judge internet speeds by T-Mobile’s EDGE network. It still wasn’t terrible, but I would love to hear comments from anyone who does live in a 3G area.

GPS — Since the Memoir has a-GPS built in, it is easy to get Telenav set up on the phone. I was able to utilize the Navigation system and get step-by-step directions spoken to me as I drove around to different places.

Memory — The Memoir holds 100 MB internal memory and has support for up to 16 GB external memory via MicroSD. There is a 1 GB MicroSD card included in the box, but if you are buying the phone mainly for the camera, I strongly recommend getting a larger card to hold more high-res pics and videos as well as put a little music on there if you want.

Performance of Samsung Memoir

Battery life — On a standard battery the phone is rated to get 5.5 hours of talk time and up to 300 hours standby. I would say that is a rather accurate estimation, as the 3G network and high-res camera will suck up a lot of juice. Again, if you are using the camera religiously, get a car charger just in case; chances are you’re going to need it often.

3G – The jury’s still out on this one as I did not have the opportunity to play around with the 3G network. EDGE worked decently, as expected.

Sound quality – I love the speaker on the Memoir. The calls I made came out very well and quite clear.

Touchwiz UI — It does take a little getting used to the new UI. It performs well, with only a slight half-second delay between screens. I do wish that Touchwiz offered more widgets, perhaps as a downloadable update. But that’s really my only complaint.

Overall I was impressed by the Samsung Memoir. The camera is of course the most notable feature and, with it being better than my own digital camera, made my mouth water. The thing is, though, that Samsung did not just slap a phone onto a camera; I feel that Samsung did a great job fusing two of their best consumer electronics together into one. It really isn’t a surprise though, since Samsung has already done this on several phones prior to the Memoir and has had plenty of time to get it right.

The Memoir is now available on T-Mobile for $249.99 with two-year agreement. For a phone and 8 MP digital camera together, that’s still a pretty good price. Please let us know your thoughts on the Memoir in our comments section!

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