Archive for December, 2010

New 7inch Android Tablet

Lately it seems that we have been attacked by Android tablets from all angles and with rocketing sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, it’s quite easy to understand why everyone wants a piece of the action. Out of the large pool of Android tablets one of my favorites was the Viewsonic gTablet with its 10 inch display and very good specs overall (I mean it was powered by a Tegra 2 and I’m a sucker for Nvidia products so it’s quite understandable why I enjoyed it so much) but with poor software support. There is also the upcoming Motorola Tablet which will be boasting Android 3.0 Honeycomb, or apparently Android 2.4 Honeycomb according to different sources, the luxury edition of the Galaxy Tab by Samsung and dozens more.

This time around it’s time to check out the latest product from a rather unknown manufacturer, the tPAD-780 made by Polish manufacturer Trak Electronics. I do apologize if the manufacturer is known or anything like that, but considering I stay indoors and read newsletters and write articles I don’t go out much J. Either way, the tablet got a first hands-on by the guys over at www.tablet-online.com which unfortunately didn’t give us more to work with than the manufacturer released on their webpage.

First things first, the tablet is equipped with a 7 inch resistive touchscreen which I can’t say I enjoy, this being also the main reason I’m not too excited about Creative’s Ziio tablet series but which does boast a 10 inch display. The screen has a resolution of 800 x 400 WVGA and the tablet comes equipped with a stylus. Under the well designed exterior, because in my opinion the device does look very clean and stylish, we have an 800 MHz Telechips TCC8902 ARM11 processor, 256 MB of RAM and 4G of flash memory.

Storage can be extended via a micro SD/SDHC card up to 32 GB of storage. It can playback 1080p videos via HDMI and comes equipped with a micro USB/OTG adapter. On the “holes in my device” chapter we find a 3.5 mm audio jack and that pretty much ends it. Connectivity is achieved by WiFi, Bluetooth and the tablet also supports external USB 3G modems for GPRS/3G. Running on it we have Android 2.1 while all of this is kept alive and moving by a Lithium-polymer battery which can offer up to 50 hours of battery life in stand-by, 4 hours of movie playback or 6 hours of Internet browsing, according to the manufacturer.

The tPad-780 weighs in at 372 grams or 13.1 ounces. It’s measurements are 192 x 121 x 11 mm (7.6 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches roughly) so it isn’t as small as one would expect, yet considering the weight and the reduced thickness I do consider that it will fit even in larger pocket. But until I don’t get some hands-on myself I won’t be able to give you a sure answer on this one. By comparison the Samsung Galaxy Tab weighs in at 380 grams and measures 190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98 mm, so you can get a rough idea that size-wise these two tablets are pretty similar. The big selling point would be the really low price of this device which will have an approximate retail price of 299 US dollars. Until next time, I’ll be moving to Poland to see for myself.

[Images via www.tablet-online.com - give them a visit]1

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December 18th, 2010 Catalin Mengheris

Posted in Android News

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

With a wide range of devices available nowadays it has become rather difficult to find the right one for you. Considering that top end devices have very similar specs it comes down a lot of times to how good software support is, what version of the Android OS it’s running. Price and special offers again do come in when you are in the position of deciding what device to choose. I always did enjoy Sony Ericsson’s products as they always did manage to surprise me. Just thinking back at my Sony Ericsson K550im and I can already remember the fun of taking pictures on the 2 MP camera even in poor lightning conditions, the good and stable software support and the works.

Still this seems to have become an issue as of late for the Xperia series, with Android 2.2 coming out late for this device and a lot of users complaining now about the latest Android Market update in which users with an Xperia X10 would experience certain issues. As such the market doesn’t load and users with an X10 can’t get online to browse or buy anything from it. Sony Ericsson did try to act quickly on this one addressing the issue, but all they could tell us was that for the time being just uninstall the update, but considering Android Market is set to auto-update, this only sends users really in an endless loop. The problem seems to be that the user is forced to wait endlessly as the page simply won’t load.

Trying to find some more information on how to fix this, Sony Ericsson or anyone for that matter, gave no other comments and all one can do is hope that a software update will be released by SE and it would finally fix this issue. Thinking that you might have paid good money for your device and now have one of its key features removed is somewhat annoying indeed.

Still not trying to be all negative on this one, I do recommend for anyone is wants to go from their mid-range device to a high-end model, the X10 is a high end model by any standards, you can check out the offer AT&T has running. As such the X10 goes for the buy one get one free deal at AT&T until the 1st of January. Other than the issue mentioned before I can truly recommend the device as it does boast a 4 inch display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels, does have 1 GB of internal storage with the ability to get a micro SD in there, 384 MB of RAM, while the main camera is a 8 MP LED flash cam. All of this is again powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD 8250 processor and the only drawback would be that in most stores it still comes with Android 1.6 running on it.

In case the specs didn’t convince you, AT&T ‘s offer might be what it takes to convince you on upgrading or simply going Android if you aren’t already one of us J. Until next time, I’ll be busy uninstalling the update, again and again.1

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December 18th, 2010 Catalin Mengheris

Posted in Android News

HTC myTouch 4G

I’ve been browsing through some of my posts and just realized that it’s been a while since anything got reviewed really so I remembered my promise of doing justice to HTC for their recent success in sales and whatnot. As such I did say I was going to do some review on a HTC Android smartphone and that time is indeed upon us.

Today I’ll be taking a look at T-Mobile’s myTouch 4G, a great high end HTC Android phone. So without any delay let’s get into it all. The first thing that pops into the eye of anyone glancing at the myTouch 4G is the design – for me at least it was that. It just looks good and feels great in the hand. The materials have a nice feel of quality and the 4 front facing buttons have a nice feel to them. The access to the battery is easy and the metal back which has a really nice feel to it. I have to give HTC credit for this device, since it’s been a while since I have seen any smartphone with such build quality, except for my great love, the Motorola Milestone 2.

Moving to the front, we have a 3.8 inch capacitive touch screen with a resolution of 480 x 800 which does get the job done, yet it doesn’t really feel as crisp as Samsungs Super AMOLED screens. Despite that, viewing angles are good and image quality is high, so pretty much what you would expect from a device in this category. Now that we are on the front of the device, we have a front facing camera, the 4 buttons which are real buttons something which brought me thinking about some mid-range LG models. Don’t get me wrong, they are nice and work just fine, yet I do like my buttons to be capacitive and this sort of ruins the premium feel you get when initially looking at the handset. Another element which might put some people off is the optical trackball, a reminder of the good old trusty HTC Legend, which does increase your ability to use the smartphone with one hand. The big difference between this one and most other Android smartphones is the lack of a search button which can get annoying at times. This has been replaced by a “Genius” button which can’t do anything an app or two would have done.

Under the hood of this new HTC Android phone we find a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor,  4 GB of internal memory and an 8 GB pre-installed micro SD card, this can obviously be swapped with a 32 GB one. I did not like the option of putting the card beneath the battery for a lot of Android devices have already opted for setting you up with easier access to it on any of the devices side, without you having to remove the back cover and the battery to get it. A pretty ok 5 MP camera with LED flash is also on-board capable of recording 720p HD videos. Connectivity wise the device has WiFi, Bluetooth, it works on HSPA + 3G, so again things which you would expect from a high-end device.

To wrap this one up if I were to choose the good and the bad of this device I would say that its biggest point from my part is the build quality which truly is top of the notch. HSPA+ speeds are very good when you get coverage for it, video-chat works great while the device runs very smoothly overall. There is no lag when browsing through the home screens, loading any web pages or watching videos. Call quality is good and the custom UI tweaks put in by HTC and T-Mobile actually improve the experience unlike other devices – yes MotoBlur I’m looking at you. All in all, if you do wish to get on-board with T-Mobile, this little gadget comes to your doorstep for roughly 200 US dollars, so it’s pretty affordable, but considering the offers which are out there, the competitions is pretty though for this share of the market. Until next time, I’ll be deciding between the myTouch and the Desire Z. Which one would you choose?1

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December 14th, 2010 Catalin Mengheris

Posted in Android Phone

What is the best Android Phone out

Don’t jump on me just yet, but instead keep on reading because we might be dealing with the best Android phone out to this date.

Lately we’ve been assaulted really by a tsunami of new generation smartphones ready to take on the world and whatever users could throw at them. A lot of promises here and there, a lot of letdowns and some serious major disappointments, but as an Android OS fanatic I’m ready to overlook any of those issues which might pop up, while always keeping hope alive for any new device which does deliver everything the manufacturer is claiming and very rarely, even more than that.

The LG Optimus 2X (also known as the LG Star) is the newest offspring from the Korean manufacturer. This smartphone has seen more leaked videos than the Nexus S itself and now that it is finally out, we kind of understand why exactly. As such most rumors were about it being equipped with a dual-core processor and now that it has been launched in South Korea, the rumors can be transformed into facts and when talking about this device, very swift facts. It does come equipped with a dual-core CPU, the Tegra 2 to be more accurate, a rumored 4-inch display which according to the first few videos up on YouTube is handling itself quite nicely even when compared to the Retina display on the iPhone or the Super AMOLED on the Galaxy S. The resolution of this display is rumored to be 1680 x 1050 which is seriously huge, thus explaining the clarity of the display even on grainy 360p videos on YouTube.

Regarding the operating system which is running on this small beast, no information is yet available, but one can only assume that it is running Android 2.3 Gingerbread in order to help backup the horse power hiding behind the 4 inch display. Some of the best features were already shown in the videos, as the device manages to overtake the current competition with ease. Page load time, application load time and video load time are all extremely reduced and it’s great to see a smartphone of this caliber finally out on the market. When tested against the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S, the LG Optimus 2X SU660 (apparently this is the complete name of the device) managed to overtake the two devices with ease. A benchmark video features the LG Star matched against the Samsung Galaxy S and the results speak for themselves as the LG Star managed to achieve an average Frames Per Second of 158 while the Galaxy S managed to reach an average of 55.

HDMI works excellent as there are more videos showing the handset’s performances even in full 3D gaming and again it seems to handle those effortlessly. Also  the device comes equipped with an 8 MP camera which will truly make it a media and gaming powerhouse. For the time being we will have to settle for videos showing off the smartphones performance and hope that LG will be unleashing the device in Europe and the US as well. Until next time, I’ll be watching more videos featuring this handset, will you?1

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December 14th, 2010 Catalin Mengheris

Posted in Uncategorized

Creative and eLocity Android Tablets

I feel like I am a little in over my head this holiday season as I’m getting assault from newsletters and reports from all sides. As far as this goes, I would really enjoy some quiet moments of relaxation in the company of a nice full glass of some refreshing beverage. Some might think it is alcoholic, but I do enjoy my tea quite a lot as of recently and I seem to be moving further away from the point I’m trying to make. Some of you might have read or skimmed through the latest bit of news posted on the page, but in any case you got a glimpse at what is coming to our humble homes within the near future. I’m talking about the yet unnamed Motorola Tab running Android 3.0 Honeycomb along with the Samsung Galaxy Tab Luxury Edition.

This time around it’s again time to look at some new tablets which will be reaching the shops pretty soon. To be more precise one is already available through online orders and will reach major retailers in a week or so while the other one is still lurking at the FCC.

Getting right into the action the first tablet is the eLocity A7 Android tablet which is the one launched already. This little device sure packs a punch as some might note the dual-core Tegra 2 T-250 processor hiding bellow it’s calm and peaceful appearance. It will be running Android 2.2 Froyo which is the only real downside, so to speak, I could find on the A7. Would a delayed launch be so bad? Android 2.3 Gingerbread is more or less out. But then again I’m no company manager, CEO, owner or any of the sorts so I’ll resume giving you some of the stats. It’s equipped with a 7 inch capacitive multi-touch display, 4 GB of flash memory and all the usual ports. The official statement said it will have a USB port and thus storage can be increased by up to 64 GB which can only make my spider senses tingle. I also enjoyed that fact that is has 1080p HDMI video output and that its overall size is rather reduce, with 8.2 inches in length and 4.8 inches in width, while weighing in at a little over one pound. All these numbers have made me quite dizzy, but I must say that spec wise this device has some serious muscle under its shiny hood. Still, on to the next contestant.

The Creative ZiiO 10 tablet is the next tablet in the lineup. For the time being those who would be interested in one and live in the US will have to wait as this is still in the hands of the nice people down at the FCC. For those living in the UK however, the device is already up for sale. The ZiiO 10 tablet is coming in with either 8 GB of internal storage or 16 GB, the latter version being available only from Creative themselves. All of this is powered by a ZiiLABS ZMS-08 HD Media-Rich Applications Processor, which clocks in at 1 GHz and 512 MB of RAM. The storage can be expanded with a 32 GB micro SD card, so nothing new on this front. The display is a 10 inch 262K color TFT, resistive touch-screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, while all of this weighs in at 650 grams ( which is about 23 ounces). There are some big issues I have with this model from Creative, as they are marketing it as a multimedia tablet which is all fine, but there are other tablets out there which can do the same things this one can and for less money. There is also the “problem” of the resistive touch-screen and most importantly the fact that it’s not yet available.

All of these considered I leave the choice obviously all to you and don’t get rushed because of the upcoming holidays when purchasing any Android device, may it be a tablet or a smartphone. The holidays pass in a few weeks, you’ll be stuck with a device which doesn’t suit you at all for at least another year. Until next time, watch out for those offers which seem too good to be true because most of the times, they are.1

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December 14th, 2010 Catalin Mengheris

Posted in Android News
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