Ode to the Nano, V to the izzA

I was once stranded in Amsterdam for more than a week with my iPod nano and only 4 albums of music. I started the week at a Microsoft Mobius event, from which I got to visit Amsterdam coffeeshops with some fairly interesting and important people from Microsoft, Qualcomm and some of my other favorite tech blogs. After that event ended and most of my compatriots went home, I stuck around for a while to try to crash Nokia World, to which I was not actually invited or approved. In between, I had to wander the city and avoid getting into trouble.

I was using an ultraportable laptop at the time, and all of my music was kept on an external drive left behind at home. Because of a sync error the night before my trip, only one playlist was synchronized properly, and none of the rest of my library made the trip abroad. If I’m remembering correctly, the list included Radiohead’s “Kid A,” Saul Williams’ “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust,” M.I.A.’s “Kala” and Regina Spektor’s “Begin to Hope.” I listened to music a lot, all the time while riding the tram or walking the canals, but not while I was sitting in cafes, which play their own eclectic mix, or wandering through museums.

I had no iPod cable on me, and I wanted to avoid the Euro premium on buying a new one, so I decided not to charge my iPod. At the end of my 10-day trip, I was already tired of M.I.A. before her songs became sampled rap anthems, I had come to strange conclusions about Radiohead lyrics and autoerotic asphyxiation, and I still had plenty of juice left on my nano.

I loved that nano. I bought the iPod nano while I worked for the Apple Store, using the modest Apple employee discount. It lasted years until it was lost in a quick series of cross-country moves. I had owned an iPod mini before, and I liked the mini, but there is something so thin and so perfect about the form of the iPod nano, the two are more like cousins than long lost siblings.

Via : slashgear

Is Microsoft Ceding the Tablet Market to Apple?

Someone should let Microsoft know that waiting to join the multitouch tablet game, a year and a half after Apple revolutionized it, just isn't going to work this time.

This news isn't coming from Microsoft itself, so a healthy dose of salt should be applied. The source is Jeffries analyst Katherine Egbert. She has been speaking to Microsoft's General Manager of Investor Relations, so the estimate is pretty close to the horse's mouth (and may, if anything, be a little optimistic).

The problem is Windows 7, which is absolutely not optimized for a tablet's touchscreen interface--particularly in a world of multitouch gestural interfaces. To see proof of this, look no further than Steve Ballmer's fumbling demonstration of HP's slate PC prototype from January of 2010. Ballmer's fingers repeatedly skitter past the tiny finger-unfriendly icons on windows.

This doesn't chime well with recent noises about a Windows tablet from HP, however. Does that mean HP won't deliver its Windows-based effort for another nine or 10 months? Egbert does claim that Windows 8, rumored for a 2011 release, is intended to be far more tablet friendly. So perhaps MS is pinning all its tablet hopes on this new OS, on the understanding that delivering a sub-par user experience really isn't going to be a good strategy. That slow-moving strategy has worked for Microsoft in the past--consider Internet Explorer, which emerged many years after Netscape, or Windows itself, which post-dated the original Mac OS.

It may not work this time, however. A tribe of Android-powered tablets is due very soon, even from big Windows-supporters like HP. And the iPad, which has already defined the entire market, is expected to sell 21 million units next year. Plus the updated is probably due for a reveal in the first months of 2011, and may well go on sale in April, months ahead of the predicted arrival of Microsoft-powered tablets.

MS is coming so very late to the game that it's going to have to come up with something astonishingly revolutionary if it's to make any sort of impact. Dare we hope for elements of the impressive Courier slate to show up? Sadly, it's a long shot.

Via : fastcompany

Samsung discontinuing Symbian support as of December this year

Samsung has laconically announced that it would discontinue Symbian support at the end of this year (December 31, 2010).

This pretty much means we won’t see any new Samsung Symbian smartpohnes in the future.

In other words, although the company is still a board member of the Symbian Foundation, Samsung is ditching Symbian – like we’ve heard before – thus its last Symbian smartphone will likely remain the Omnia HD i8910 (pictured below).

Naturally, Samsung’s smartphone efforts will concentrate on Android, Bada OS and Windows Phone 7 from now on.

Sony Ericssson seems to be uninterested in Symbian, too, this leaving Nokia as the only important handset maker to bring us smartphones based on Symbian^3, Symbian^4, and future iterations of the refreshed OS.

Via : unwiredview

Nokia N8 review

The bigger they come, the harder they fall. Indeed, it's hard not to hear the sound of phone giant Nokia's face slapping on the pavement when you play with the N8, despite its sleek aluminium case, insane plethora of features, and 12-megapixel camera.

It's available SIM-free for around £430. You can also get it for free on a £25-a-month, 24-month contract.

Symbian monkey business

We don't like to point fingers, but we blame Symbian for the N8's problems. This is the first phone with the latest version of the operating system, Symbian 3, and, although there are improvements, it's just not good enough.

If you've ever used a Nokia before -- and who hasn't? -- the N8 will feel very familiar. On the plus side, there's now multi-touch zoom support in the browser, email and photo gallery. And you no longer have to double tap options to open them, a welcome change that makes moving around the phone feel faster. Also, the capacitive touchscreen on the N8 is miles better than the resistive screen on earlier phones like the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic -- it's pleasingly responsive.

On the down side, you'll still have to wade through heaps of screens and pop-up notifications to do anything. These have been reduced, but we still had to log into our Ovi account twice to add our Facebook and Twitter accounts to the N8. After being prompted to load the Ovi Store -- it really should be ready to go, right out of the box -- we then had to approve a secure connection, approve the download, and approve the installation.

Also, when setting up email for the first time, a message popped up saying that we couldn't use email on the phone unless we were registered for Ovi Mail, although that actually turned out not to be the case. And why the unnecessary prompt telling us to 'contact our operator'? We hope that people who buy this phone on a contract won't be troubled with this nonsensical warning.

It's not uncommon for mobile phones to sport a few grammatical mistakes here and there, but, since Symbian is a more established OS, we expect better than to be asked if we want to 'log in automatic'.
Keyboard hell

The on-screen keyboard on the N8 also feels like an afterthought. In portrait mode, it's the 12-key alphanumeric kind, which takes ages to use and is an unwelcome blast from the past. We've seen usable Qwerty keyboards on touchscreens that are narrower than the N8's, and we wish Nokia had given this kind of keyboard a try.

We also hate the fact that, when typing, the screen is totally covered by the editing area and keyboard -- there's no sign of the original screen that contained the typing field. This means that, if you forget which field you're typing in, you'll have to approve what you've typed -- since there's no cancel or back button -- to go back and refresh your memory.

Both the iPhone and Android phones have long, scrollable menus of icons that let you access your phone's features and apps. Nokia prefers a single non-scrolling page of icons for its main menu, with plenty of sub-menus and nested options. That means options can be harder to find on the N8 than on its competitors.

We spent ages searching for the option to turn off the haptic feedback, but it wasn't under 'touch input' under 'settings' in the 'phone' menu -- instead, you have to change this option individually several times in each of the phone's profiles. You may love haptic feedback -- we think it feels like there's a small cockroach living in your phone -- but, whatever you're looking for, the N8 makes things too hard to find.

We also missed having a back button, since the on-screen navigation system isn't always crystal-clear. We were often faced with a pop-up box that had two buttons -- one labelled 'cancel' and one that was blank. You'll see this unhelpful box when, for example, you click an album to play a song in the music player. The solution is to click the song name that appears in the box, rather than either of the buttons, but that's not obvious, and it's not good design policy to have a blank button anywhere in a user interface.

This isn't anything new for Symbian phones, so, if you love your Nokia handset now, you won't find anything to complain about with the N8. But, as Nokia's new flagship phone, we're comparing the N8 to its competitors, such as the iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy S and the HTC Desire. Although Symbian 3 offers some improvements, the operating system isn't getting better quickly enough to keep up with Android, which is getting slicker and more fun to use with each new release.
Twelve angry pixels

The N8's software may have a whiff of a retirement home about it, but the hardware is cutting-edge. The aluminium body is sleek and modern, and we love its metallic good looks. Nevertheless, its appearance did divide opinion in the office, mainly due to the raised camera on the back.

But what a camera it is -- the N8 packs 12 megapixels of goodness. There's a reason for that raised area too -- it gives the sensor more space to focus. There's also room for a xenon flash, which we found very bright and fast to respond.


Via : reviews.cnet.co.uk

disgo Tablet 6000 to Cost £179.99

number of companies are trying to get Android based tablets launched on to the market. Some make it, some don't. This next one aims to lower the price by introducing the tablet at just £179.99.

The tablet is called the disgo Tablet 6000 and has a 7 inch screen in a WVGA format. The OS running on the tablet is Android 2.1.

Features on the disgo include Wireless 802.11b/g/n as well as a miniHDMI port and USB port. Inside, 2GB of storage can be found.

256MB of RAM is available for apps. Storage can be increased by using microSD cards.

Unfortunately it doesn't have access to the Android Market which is a downer for some. It does have access to the SlideMe Market instead though.

As for a launch date, we can expect it to arrive here in the UK this month!

Via : gadgetvenue

disgo Android Tablet 6000 runs Eclair

£180 burning a hole in your pocket and a desire for a 7-inch Android tablet? disgo have outed their latest budget offering, though a glance at the specs show the disgo Tablet 6000 doesn’t necessarily only do budget functionality.

For instance, there’s WiFi b/g/n and a miniHDMI port, as well as two USB ports (one Host, one Device) and, according to disgo, a separate 2D/3D graphics chip capable of HD. It runs Android 2.1, though sadly lacks Android Market access, and is available this month for £179.99 ($285).

Via : androidcommunity

Netbook Navigator Nav 9 Slate PC

It's been over nine months since Steve Ballmer whipped out the HP Slate at CES and divulged that there'd be Windows 7 "Slate PCs" hitting the market. It sure was a memorable keynote, but since that fateful day all we've got to show for actual Win 7 tablets are a slew of leaked videos of HP's elusive device as well as information / trade show sightings of lots of similar products. Until now that is.

A small company, interestingly and rather ironically called Netbook Navigator, has managed to get its act together slightly ahead of the rest with its Nav 9 Slate PC. Starting at $599, the 8.9-inch resistive-touch Windows 7 Home Premium tablet is powered by an Intel Atom N280 processor and can be configured with up to 2GB of RAM and 32GB of flash storage.

Yep, it sounds a heck of a lot like your first generation netbook with its keyboard cut off... and, well, that turns out to be just one of the Nav 9's major problems. You'll want to see what we mean in our full review after the break.

Read More @ engadget

Samsung WP10 Review

The Samsung WP10 (also known as the Samsung AQ100) is a 12 megapixel waterproof digital camera. Samsung’s first waterproof model, the WP10 can be used in up to 3 meters / 10 feet of water and has a dedicated Aqua mode for underwater photography. In addition the WP10 offer a 5x optical inner zoom lens with Digital Image Stabilization, a 2.7 inch TFT-LCD screen and can record 720p HD video complete with a HDMI port for easy connection to a HDTV. The Samsung WP10 / AQ100 is available in a range of different colours for an official RRP of £179.99 / $199.99.

First impressions of the WP10 are pleasing. The eye-searing aqua blue colour of our review model aside, this is a well-constructed camera with a high-quality plastic body that looks and feels more expensive than its budget price-tag would suggest. Officially measuring 93.8 x 61 x 18.5mm and weighing just 120g, the WP10 is a very conventional and compact digicam that won't confuse the beginner audience that it's likely to attract.

The front of the WP10 is quite sparsely populated thanks largely to the internal 5x lens, which sits neatly in the top-right corner and provides a focal range of 35-175mm in 35mm terms. The 35mm wide-angle lens makes this one of the more limited compacts around in terms of focal range, especially compared to some of its main rivals which offer a wider field of view. On the plus side the telephoto end is more versatile, with the 175mm setting providing an angle of view that allows for candid close-ups, especially as the non-extending lens gives the impression to the casual observer that you can't zoom in that far. The WP10 only offers a Digitial Image Stabilisation mode rather than a more effective mechanical system, using in-camera digital techniques (increasing the ISO speed up to ISO 800) to ensure that your images remain sharp.

Also located on the front of the camera are an AF-assist light/Timer lamp and the built-in flash unit, which offers a range of 0.2m - 3.0m and recharges in around 4 seconds. The top of the WP10 is similarly uncluttered, with a small recessed button for turning the camera on/off - a little too small for reliable use underwater - and a raised and responsive shutter release button. There's also a small opening for the mono speaker.

Read More @ photographyblog

BlackBerry Curve 3G (T-Mobile) review: Aaron's First Impressions

T-Mobile was kind enough to send me a BlackBerry Curve 3G for review, and outside of some design changes, it's very similar to the Curve 8520. That said, I noticed the following things in my initial impressions:

* The Curve 3G ships in the same small box as the Torch, and comes with an AC adapter module, USB cable, earbuds, instruction manuals, and a 2 GB microSD card.

* Design-wise, it's nearly identical to the Curve 8500 series, save for a revised bottom lip that's similar to the Curve 8300 line and non-partitioned navigation buttons. Personally, I'm a fan of the non-partitioned layout.

* The Curve 3G has a low-resolution screen, and after working with high-end devices like the iPhone, DROID Incredible, and even the Bold 9700, it's a noticeable difference. It's grainy, and a bit washed out.

* It's capable of running BlackBerry 6, which is a good thing, but it ships with the relatively outdated BlackBerry 5 operating system. Expect to see the new OS sometime this year, pending carrier approval.

* Otherwise, you get the usual array of messaging options with the Curve 3G - push e-mail, AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). It is still shocking to me that RIM isn't installing BlackBerry App World out of the box.

* Call quality has been good thus far. Earpiece volume is loud, and reception has been strong in both the Charlotte and San Francisco Bay areas. When testing the device in a T-Mobile dead spot, I was able to make a call, though quality was extrememly choppy.

* The thing that improved the 8500 series battery life - the lack of 3G - is obviously not present in the Curve 3G. As expected, the additional connectivity options take a toll on battery life - I was able to make it through a day with moderate use including calling, text messaging, e-mailing, and browsing the web, but die-hard users will probably need an additional battery to make it through the day.

Read More @ phonedog.com

The BlackBerry Curve 8520

A phone is a phone, right? Wrong. Well, sometimes.

It used to be that you chose a phone purely on design, then slowly technical superiority started to come into the equation (better media players, cameras etc). Then it was memory, connectivity and a whole bunch of other stuff. But still, it was all essentially about a phone being a phone, with a few nice little extras.

Now, thanks mainly to Apple, your choice of mobile can actually be a way of life. I have a friend who hates the Apple iPhone, but doesn't want to move away from owning one because the competition just can't compete on apps: she'd rather have a phone she doesn't like than live without them. Nokia is trying to do it with Ovi and BlackBerry has arguably been doing it the longest, thanks to the way one of RIM's smartphones integrates email.

You see, you don't just buy a BlackBerry to use it as a phone (although you can, but why do that?). Instead, you tend to have to sign up to a special BlackBerry tariff, where you have to register your specific handset, which then (in simple terms) gets you onto its email servers. This means all your emails come through almost like getting a text, and you can even delete them from your email account via your handset.

And of course, BlackBerry maker RIM also has its own app store. It's not as massive, and is more geared around business than 'fun', but it's yet another way to buy into the BlackBerry brand and get yourself hooked into a certain way of doing things.

I've been using the BlackBerry Curve 8520 recently (check out my full review of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 here) and, while I would be happy to give up the phone, when it comes to work I really want to replace it with another BlackBerry - not an Apple or a Nokia or a HTC. I've definitely got the BlackBerry bug.

Finally, this and a couple of other nice smartphones were donated to us by Orange for us to review - and then give as prizes to you lot! We're still deciding how exactly to give them away, so if you want to be sure of hearing about the competition why not sign up for our newsletter? Don't worry, it only goes out twice a week and we won't send you any spam or share your address with anyone else.

Via : broadbandgenie.co.uk