There has been lots of hype over the last few months, especially since the release of HTC's acclaimed HD2, regarding the next evolution of Windows Mobile phones. With Apple not straying far from their proven OS with its latest iteration, and with Android hitting the market in a big way (and across multiple manufacturers), Windows Mobile users have had to be content with Microsoft's 6.5.x OS.
However with the latest round of leaks from the Redmond giant, perhaps there is cause for the rumour mill and the hype to be ramped up to a whole new level. Eldar Murtazin over at Unwired View states that not only does he know the requirements for a device to run Windows Mobile 7, but has a WM7 device and is currently testing it!
Some of the requirements he mentions are below:
* 1GHz processor
* 3.6 inch WVGA display
* G-sensor and compass
* 8GB of onboard memory
* 5MP camera
Link - UnwiredView
From these hardware requirements it seems Microsoft have set their sights on going after the power user market like never before. With the ever increasing hardware take-up of Qualcomm's speedy 1Ghz Snapdragon processor and the increasing size of touchscreens on devices however it remains to be seen what the battery life will be like after a Microsoft Windows Mobile OS layer is added to the mix.
Microsoft will however, be hoping that these requirements entice some of the Manufacturers which have been courted by Google's Android OS in recent months, back into the fold and make itself a stronger player and a more credible alternative to Apple & co.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Toshiba Satellite Pro U500 review
The Satellite Pro U500 is part of Toshiba's Performance Mobile range, which also includes Portégé and Tecra models (with screens sizes ranging from 12in. to 14in.). Prices for the Satellite Pro U500 start at £599, rising to £699 (ex. VAT). It's a slightly chunky 13.3in. notebook with a flashy aspect to the design that won't appeal to all.
Design
We generally expect a 13.3in. notebook to be a compact and lightweight system. However, the Satellite Pro U500, at 31.7cm wide by 23cm deep by 3.19-3.88cm thick and 2.2kg, is on the chunky and heavy side. On its web site Toshiba says the Satellite Pro U500 is a 'thin and light portable laptop', but we'd really rather not carry more than 2kg unless absolutely necessary.
The Satellite Pro U500 isn't the lightest or most compact 13.3in. notebook: it weighs 2.2kg and is nearly 4cm thick at the back.
There is some good news on the build front, as the casing is very solid. There is minimal flex in the lid section and the base seems very tough. The chassis has a mostly matte finish (unlike the shiny plastic of the recently reviewed Satellite Pro T130), but there are some telltale signs that this notebook also has a consumer alter ego (the Satellite U500).
Two speakers sit above the keyboard and deliver reasonable volume and fair quality. They lack the rich bass tones that music aficionados require, but should be fine for delivering multimedia presentations to small audiences.
Between the keyboard and the screen is a pair of speakers and a strip of touch-sensitive buttons.
A strip of touch-sensitive buttons provides media playback controls and access to the notebook's power-saving Eco mode. Several places on the keyboard section have bright white backlighting, including a strip atop the wrist rest and the strip of touch buttons. You can turn these off by hitting one of the touch buttons, and they're automatically turned off in Eco mode.
The touchpad incorporates vertical and horizontal scroll zones and supports pinch-to-zoom. You have to make very definite contact for the latter to work, and we never really got comfortable with it. An alternative zooming feature, involving the Fn key and spacebar, you accesses two full-screen zoom levels. A button sitting just below the spacebar disables the touchpad — a feature that more notebooks should adopt.
The touchpad supports pinch-to-zoom and can be disabled at the touch of a button.
The keyboard could be better. There is a fair amount of flex and the keys do not feel as solid under the fingers as we would like. Reaching normal touch-typing speed was not a problem but we are not fans of the design.
The 13.3in. screen has a native resolution of 1,280 by 800 pixels — an aspect ratio of 16:10, in contrast to the 16:9 1,366 by 768 display seen on the Satellite Pro T130. For professionals, those few extra pixels of height may be a help when it comes to document creation.
A TrueBrite coating on the screen boosts clarity and brightness for media viewing but is quite reflective. Whether or not you like this kind of screen finish will be a matter of personal taste.
There's a webcam above the screen, and a slide-out menu on the left edge of the screen gives access to its various features. These include face-recognition-based login. The camera shoots stills and video resolutions up to 1,280 by 800 pixels.
Sony Ericsson Aspen Pictures
The Aspen will be available in two color options Iconic Black and White Silver starting Q2, 2010. The price is yet to be announced.
Here are some images of the phone:
Here are some images of the phone:
Sony Ericsson Aspen runs latest Windows Mobile
Sony Ericsson announced the latest addition to its Green Heart series of eco-friendly phones, the Sony Ericsson Aspen. The Aspen is the first smartphone to run Windows Mobile 6.5.3.
The Aspen will be available in certain countries in the second quarter of 2010, in either black or silver.
This update to Microsoft's mobile operating system brings additional enhancements to the user interface, including more finger-friendly menus and touch controls, plus support for capacitive and multitouch gestures. In addition, Microsoft has made improvements to the web browser, which promise faster page-load times, smoother gestures for panning and flicking, and better memory management.
Nexus One Gets Multi-Touch
Don't get me wrong, it's great that at least one more Android phone is getting pinch-to-zoom gestures, and it's never been clear why certain phones don't include the feature. Rumor has it Apple requested that Google avoid multi-touch back when the companies were cozy, but Google may no longer want to comply now that the relationship has soured.
We don't know the terms of the arrangement -- or whether it actually exists – so it's unclear whether Google could ever add multi-touch to older phones. For all we know, there may be issues with the Droid and G1 that preclude Google from releasing a simple update, regardless of whether Apple's involved.
Whatever the reason may be, the Droid and the G1 lack multi-touch for core Android apps, even though the hardware in both phones supports multi-touch gestures. This doesn't seem like an issue of older vs. newer versions of Android, because HTC's Droid Eris, which runs Android 1.5, supports multi-touch, as does Motorola's Milestone, the European version of the Droid running Android 2.0.
Nonetheless, the Droid's and G1's missing multi-touch is a clear example of Android's fragmentation. Android phones aren't all on the same page, with different hardware, user interfaces and versions of the operating system. A similar issue came up with Google Maps Navigation, which at first was supported on Android versions 2.0 and higher. Droid Eris and G1 owners eventually got the update that makes navigation possible.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Apple's Tablet Computer May Be Launched in January
The most eagerly awaited tablet since Moses delivered the Ten Commandments may be only weeks away from launch. Speculation about Apple's touchscreen reader and viewer -- essentially a big iPod mated with a Kindle -- exploded after the computer giant rented the Yerba Beuna Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the site of previous product launches, for a few days in late January.
Because new versions of the iPod and iPhone were released in the past year, analysts expect the January event will showcase a brand-new product.
"We believe there is a 75 percent likelihood that Apple will have an event in January and a 50 percent chance that it will be held to launch the Apple tablet," wrote Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster in a widely quoted research note. "If Apple announced the tablet in January, it would likely ship later in the March quarter."
While there are reports that a fourth-generation iPhone is being tested, Apple's handset launches have typically been slated for June or July, said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret.
Hard To Predict
Published reports say an "iTablet" will likely have either a seven-inch or 10-inch display, and the device could break new ground with a color display that rivals the appearance of printed photos, which would require a lot of battery power.
But Gartenberg noted that in 2006, rumors about the iPhone were as persistent as the current chatter about the tablet, and most of the details about its features didn't pan out.
"Apple may or may not have a tablet planned, but most predictions will likely be wrong in the ways that matter," Gartenberg said.
But even without any significant details, Gartenberg said the unseen iTablet is a sensation. "Apple, without announcing any feature, service or price, garners more mindshare about a tablet than competitors with shipping and announced product," he said. "If Apple does indeed get into this game, the competition should be worried at just how much a center of gravity Apple has around this concept."
Gartenberg noted that the iTablet buzz has already overshadowed the annual Consumer Electronics Show to take place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas, where multiple new gadgets are introduced.
The new iTablet would likely take advantage of an increasing supply of digital content from newspapers and magazines that are trying to adapt to electronic formats with rich photos that increase the appeal of glamor-driven magazines.
Apple has reportedly been in discussions with everyone from Disney and CBS to Time Warner, Conde Naste publications, and various book publishers to make deals for content. Apple also wants to launch a TV subscription service through iTunes.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Samsung HMX-U10 review
Samsung is the latest entrant into the booming mini camcorder market. Its HMX-U10 follows in the footsteps of Sony's MHS-PM1, but goes one step further. The PM1's video resolution of 1,440x1,080 was a big step up from the 720p sensors found in most mini camcorders, but the U10 tops this with a Full-HD resolution of 1,920x1,080 (1080p).
Before you get too excited, however, it's worth noting that higher resolutions don't necessarily result in drastically improved video, as the MHS-PM1 showed. The HMX-U10 has the biggest sensor we've seen, measuring 1/2.3in, but the 10 million pixels packed on to it suggest that it was originally intended for a digital camera rather than a camcorder. All those pixels are useful for taking stills in good lighting conditions, a task the HMX-U10 manages better than any other mini camcorder, but for generating two-megapixel video they're redundant and can generate unwanted noise.
In decent lighting conditions we were impressed by the amount of detail on offer; certainly more than you'll see from any 720p camcorder. Colours looked natural, without the tendency to display overly vibrant shades that some other models suffer from. In poor lighting conditions we were again impressed by the quantity and accuracy of colour, but it was marred by lots of fine noise.
We were stunned to find that the bit rate of our test footage averaged a massive 20Mbit/s. Even given the quality of the resulting video this seems unnecessarily large, making the files as unwieldy as those from serious AVCHD camcorders. It also means you'll get less than an hour of footage on an 8GB SDHC memory card. There's no built-in memory for storing files on the HMX-U10, and no card is supplied.
It's worth considering where your footage will be watched. The success of mini camcorders is linked to the popularity of video-sharing sites such as YouTube. YouTube does now support 1080p HD uploads, but our early tests show that the limited bit rate doesn't make the most of a Full-HD resolution. You can shoot at 720p with the HMX-U10; this doesn't reduce the picture noise issues, but it does reduce file sizes to a more manageable 10Mbit/s.
There are plenty of other settings available, from silly video filters such as sepia to fun extras including slow motion and time lapse photography. It's the polar opposite of the simplified options found on Flip's UltraHD. Thankfully, the extras don't complicate basic operations.
There are three proper buttons for recording, playback mode and taking digital stills, with everything else relegated to the touch-sensitive controls below. The U10 is both slender and lightweight, being small even by mini camcorder standards. Its subtly curved outer casing means it more comfortable to slip into your pocket than the Flip UltraHD.
Samsung's Intelli-Studio software is built into the U10, and launches automatically when you connect it to your PC via USB. It's a little fiddly to use at first, with multiple windows, but you quickly get used to the layout and can then upload videos to YouTube or photos to Flickr. You can also quickly copy new files to your PC and make basic edits. It's fine, but not as streamlined as Flip's equivalent.
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