Samsung have obviously been using the Royal Mail to shuttle their corporate updates around the globe, as three weeks after Samsung Russia officially announced the Galaxy Spica I5700 the company’s Korean HQ have pushed out their own press release. As before, they’ve confirmed that the Android-based Spica has an 800MHz processor, 3.2-megapixel camera and 3.5mm headphone jack, all in a casing measuring 13.2mm thick.
Following speculation earlier this month that the CrunchPad web-surfing tablet had been held up – or potentially canned – after mounting production costs, project head Mike Arrington has reconfirmed that the slate is on course for release. Speaking as part of the Gillmor Gang videocast (which you can see after the cut), Arrington said that “CrunchPad is steamrolling” and that “costs keep coming down”; however, he also said that the “something between three and four hundred dollars” price tag would be supported by “soft revenue” from “sponsorships”.
While we may continue to blast Qualcomm’s FLO TV standalone streaming TV handheld, we have no problem with manufacturers integrating mobile TV into their cellphones. Nokia’s latest, the 5330 Mobile TV Edition, does exactly as its name suggests: packs a DVB-H digital TV tuner into a media-centric handset, complete with hardware music control keys, a 2.4-inch QVGA display and a 3.5mm headphones jack.
A week ago we described HTC’s HD2 as the poster-child for Windows Mobile 6.5, despite HTC having to replace, rework or generally junk a lot of the Microsoft OS’ native functionality and replace it with their own. One such change – and a particularly welcome one at that – is multitouch support, but HTC have limited its use in the final build to the browser and a few other apps. Now there’s a nifty app which unlocks multitouch support in every app system-wide.
Zooomer for the HTC HD2 will work with any .exe executable file on the Windows Phone, and basically add in multitouch control. That’s going to be of mixed use, of course, since not all apps will really benefit from it, but we’re glad to at least have the choice ourselves. The functionality is selective, too, which means you can turn off Zooomer’s multitouch on an app-by-app basis if you’re experiencing problems or just find the zooming frustrating (such as in certain games, perhaps).
It’s no ThinkPad netbook, but Lenovo’s latest IdeaPad ultraportable – as helpfully previewed by our camera-fumbling friends at the FCC – does at least have an unusual CPU to maintain our interest. The FL5-B3 – which we’re guessing is not going to be the netbook’s final name – uses a 1.66GHz Intel Pineview processor, presumably the Atom N450, paired with 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard-drive. While they’re still minimal specs in the notebook world, after what seems like a lifetime of half that memory and a meager 160GB of storage they’re very welcome.
Here we go with another week in review. Monday IDC released their data on the number of CPUs shipped for Q3 2009. The number of CPUS shipped grew 23% for the quarter compared to the previous year. ZiiLABS unveiled its new ZMS-08 Blu-ray quality media processor this week. The processor promises to be full 1080p HD video support and more for portable devices like tablets.
I wrote this column on the Nokia Booklet 3G which is, in my opinion, the most luxurious looking netbook on the market. And for its $600 ($299 with a pretty expensive 2 year AT&T contract) it sure as heck should be. The aluminum unibody design feels as solid as a freshly pumped up tire, and its brushed metal palm rest isn’t only minimalistic but is also smooth on the hands. The plastic coated keys are soft to the touch and the higher 1280 by 720 resolution screen is sweet on the eyes. And don’t forget the built in AT&T 3G that kept me connected as I wrote in different coffee shops around New York City.
Aesthetically the Booklet has got the goods, but performance wise not so much. While using the Booklet for the last week or so I had to get used to the netbook taking at least a minute to boot up Windows 7 Starter (thanks to its slow 4,200 rpm hard drive), and stalling at times when trying to open an application or simply loading a Flash video (thanks to its sluggish Atom Z530 processor). The Booklet 3G is like the stereotypical blonde — pretty but slow.
It used to be that only the smallest, most frugal of netbooks – paired with huge, 9-cell batteries – could offer the reassurance of a full day away from an outlet. Now, with the advent of Intel’s consumer ultra-low voltage processors, notebooks that wouldn’t look out of place on a regular desk can now boast lengthy run-times too. Into the fray steps the Gateway EC5409u, distinguishing itself not only by virtue of healthy battery life predictions – up to 8hrs, Gateway ambitiously suggest – but a reasonably-sized 15.6-inch display. Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
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Room in your heart (and on your end-table) for another Android tablet? Non-Japanese geeks need not apply, but sometime between April and September next year NTT will push out this 7-inch touchscreen Android slate. The Hikari iFrame is being positioned as one part digital photo frame and one part web tablet, with WiFi for internet access along with various widgets for weather, calendar, news and even recipes.
Video demo after the cut
Dell’s Mini 3i may only have been official for a few hours, but already the first unboxing is upon us. PConline have taken the glossy Android smartphone from box to bench, and there are a few surprises to be had; firstly, Dell have ignored the swathe of popular opinion and not bothered including a 3.5mm headphones jack, and secondly they’d dropped a stylus into the box.
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Hey, Premium Notebooks or Netbooks, Get the Basics Right!
SlashGear Japan
