To take part, we’re looking for your earliest computer and tech memories. Seagate’s very first product was a 5.25-inch hard drive in 1980, and with 5MB capacity after formatting you could keep a single MP3 on there (or at least you would’ve been able to if MP3s had been around in 1980). In contrast, the Seagate 640GB FreeAgent Go can hold thousands of MP3s and still have room to spare.

Head over to this SlashGear forum thread to tell us about your computer and tech memories, and we’ll pick one at random to take away the FreeAgent Go HDD. Ten runners up will get Seagate t-shirts. Entries will be accepted until midnight EST on Thursday December 10th – good luck!

Rules

Competition is open to residents of the US over the age of 18. Family members of Seagate and SlashGear are not permitted to enter. Competition entries are only accepted via the specified SlashGear forum thread; entries left in the comments section of this or any other post will not be recognized. Entries should be submitted before midnight eastern time on December 11th 2009; one entry per person (and yes, we check).

The winners will be announced on SlashGear and contacted via email (make sure to use a real email address!); they will be expected to respond within 24 hours else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected. Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winner agrees that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to, SlashGear.

Prize consists of one Seagate 640GB FreeAgent Go USB hard-drive, and ten runners-up prizes of Seagate t-shirts. There is no cash alternative. Should this prize become unavailable, SlashGear and Seagate reserve the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value.

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Early in the week Roku unveiled its new open content delivery platform along with its first ten channels of content. Roku expects that the platform will be picked up by more developers as time goes by.

A Microsoft roadmap was spied this week that showed Microsoft has Windows 8 set for a 2012 delivery. If it can hit that delivery date, it would be back on its every four-year major release schedule. A cool digital Etch-a-Sketch was spied this week with real analog knobs with resistance and shake to clear. The real knobs actually control the onscreen drawing.

The HP Pavilion DM1 was reviewed and found to be a decent notebook with respectable battery life. The catch was that the notebook has a cramped keyboard.

If you are a big fan of HTPC machines and have one in your living room, you have probably wished for an easier control method than a normal mouse and keyboard. A cool mini QWERTY keyboard with a track pad built in turned up this week that may be perfect for HTPC duty. The Nintendo DSi LL has received the obligatory teardown online. Other than the larger screens, the thing seems to be more of the same the DSi already offers.

Word came in this week that some Core i7 iMacs were showing up DOA and with cracked screens. The cracked screens are being blamed on shipping and seem to happen on the lower left corner. UPS guys hate gadgets I think. Android phones running OS version 1.6 have been gifted with the Google Maps navigation beta pack that 2.0 users received a while back. The free app turns Google Maps into a turn-by-turn GPS device. Google’s new Chrome OS has been benchmarked and found wanting. The new OS came in dead last in a recent test of other open source OS’.

We reviewed the Nokia E72 this week and declared the device in one of the best messaging handsets this side of a Blackberry. However, its design is pedestrian and not very appealing next to devices like the iPhone. AT&T announced that it will offer DataConnect Passes this week. The passes will be offered for 3G service by the day, week, or month without a contract.

Klausner Technologies sued RIM and Motorola this week over alleged patent infringement on visual voicemail technology. The case was filed in East Texas court infamous for siding with patent holders. MSI unveiled the X-Slim X430 notebook computer this week with an AMD Athlon Neo processor inside. The X430 has the super slim design that the X-Slim line is famous for.

The Motorola Milestone is rumored to be hitting the UK on December 7. The device can already be preordered for the equivalent of $731. Amazon unveiled a firmware update for the Kindle DX this week that increased battery life by 85% with wireless turned on. The new update also adds a native PDF reader to its bag of tricks.

Industri Repro announced a new enclosure for the Xbox 360 that allows the user to put the game console into an AV rack. The case is called the XBEE, the chassis should keep things cool with three 120mm fans. That super cool Kohjinsha DZ dual-screen netbook is set to start shipping in December. I am still very curious what the battery life for the device is like.

The Lenovo IdeaPad U150 ultraportable showed up in the US this week at a price starting from $649. The machine has processor options and lots of other options in an 11.6-inch screen notebook. The MSI Wind 12 U230 running the AMD Congo platform debuted Friday. The rig has a 12.1-inch screen and 4GB of RAM. The most notable feature is the very thin profile of the notebook.

Late in the week the Viewsonic N01 MID was spied in the wild. The small tablet device uses Windows XP and a 1.1GHz Atom CPU. Another week in review is in the bag, thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving!

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To understand the N97 mini, you have to put it into context with the original N97 it’s a “miniaturised” version of. The Nokia N97 practically epitomises the difficulty in balancing hype, consumer anticipation, cutting-edge hardware and delivery schedules: when it was first announced in December 2008 it promised a compelling package of the latest in smartphone technology, but by the time it hit reviewers’ hands in June 2009 it proved to fall well short of expectations.

Since then Nokia have pushed out a significant new firmware release that addressed many issues with the original smartphone, and of course they’ve also delivered the N97 mini, a more compact version of the N97 intended to address many of its shortcomings. We pulled no punches in our N97 review, so the N97 mini has plenty of work to do in order to impress us.

Physically, as you might imagine, it’s a smaller phone. The original N97 is 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm, tipping the scales at 150g, while the N97 mini is 113 x 52.5 x 14.2 mm and 138g. That means there’s less room for the display – which slips from 3.5- to 3.2-inches, though sticks at 640 x 360 resolution – but it also means it’s a far more pocket-friendly handset. Interestingly, there are minimal hardware concessions involved elsewhere: the N97 mini doesn’t have a sliding lens cover, but it does keep the 5-megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual-LED flash, together with a front-facing camera for video calling. The GPS and A-GPS are still present, together with ambient light, orientation and proximity sensors, and connectivity doesn’t fall short either: the N97 mini is packed with quadband WCMDA 850/900/1900/2100 as well as Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, WiFi b/g, a microUSB 2.0 connection and a 3.5mm headphones socket.

Nokia N97 mini unboxing video:

You also still get the unusual form-factor, with a sliding-tilting display that is strongly spring-loaded. That reveals the redesigned keyboard, the biggest change of which is the removal of the D-pad on the left and the introduction of four regular arrow keys. We were scathing in our feedback of the N97’s keyboard, criticising its lack of travel and poor finger-feedback; the N97 mini’s ‘board is better, with buttons that are certainly more responsive than on its bigger sibling, while the missing D-pad means there’s less reaching to be done with the left thumb. Still, it’s not a home-run by any stretch of the imagination and there’s a sluggishness to the response that makes typing feel slower than on other hardware keyboards. Nokia have increased the size of the spacebar – which is still offset, and sits just underneath where your right thumb rests – and the function key is better placed on the far left rather than the far right.

Unfortunately you’re still stuck with the one-position screen angle, which is results in plenty of hand-tilting as you try to thumb-type and see the display at the best angle. The touchscreen itself uses a resistive panel rather than the currently fashionable capacitive, but is reasonably responsive and accurate nonetheless. OS is S60 5th edition, Nokia’s attempt to bring finger-friendliness to Symbian, and it remains a mixed bag. The recent firmware 2.0 update for the N97 also applies to the N97 mini, and addresses many of our original complaints, particularly in terms of the visual appeal and the introduction of “kinetic scrolling”.

It’s still not as attractive as, say, Palm’s webOS or the iPhone, and many of the menus still seem to merely be bigger – i.e. finger-sized – than they were before. Lists continue to respond differently to taps depending on whereabouts in the OS you are: settings, for instance, usually respond to a single tap, whereas lists of items (such as email messages) take one tap to select and another to open. We can partly see the logic in this, but when other platforms use the more intuitive press-and-hold to deliver the same, Nokia’s system begins to look unnecessarily fiddly.

The display aspect is less than ideal too, particularly when you’re dealing with emails. We can’t find any way to show the email list with sender and subject split across two lines, and as such you get both a sharply truncated name and very little of the subject line. It’s difficult to triage your inbox without actually going into the message itself, which adds a few unwanted steps to the process. On the plus side, the N97 mini does have extensive email account support, including the basic POP and IMAP together with Mail for Exchange, and where the E72 dropped the ball in dealing with our Exchange-like Kerio Mail Server, the mini handled it with no problems whatsoever. We did experience a couple of odd connection issues, however, where the smartphone would “forget” by which method it was meant to pull in new emails; we wish Nokia would make things a little more straightforward, using whatever the active connection is (whether WiFi or 3G) without the user needing to be so prescriptive.

Like the E72, the N97 mini’s browser supports full HTML with in-page Flash video, which means no separate app is required to play back YouTube content (among others). Of course there’s still no multitouch zooming, and instead the N97 mini uses double-tap to zoom; unfortunately webpage text doesn’t reflow accordingly, and despite the accelerometer the screen orientation doesn’t flip even if you turn the phone on its side, you have to push out the keyboard in order to get a landscape view. Still, pages render pretty much as you’d expect from a desktop browser.

Firmware 2.0 also brought with it the latest version of Nokia Maps, and as with the E72 it’s been a pleasing experience seeing what the rivals of Google Maps have come up with. The N97 mini includes a digital compass and locks onto a GPS signal quickly, while the app itself does a better job than its rival in presenting that data on-screen. Various map-types are provided, including a traffic overlay, and it’s just as easy to pull up walking directions as it is driving (though once the trial licence of pedestrian directions runs out, you’ll need to pay for the functionality). There are still no spoken guidance prompts, however, unlike the Google Maps Navigation beta for Android in the US.

Nokia have won many admirers over the past year or two with the quality of their cameras, and the N97 mini’s 5-megapixel autofocus shooter is reasonable. Our general dislike of LED flashes – which we find have a very narrow “sweet spot” outside of which they either over-saturate the subject or prove hopelessly lacking in power – is tempered by decent low-light performance with the flash switched off. Give the N97 mini an outdoor shot however and you’ll find acceptable results; we were also particularly impressed by the macro close-ups, with the phone automatically switching into the necessary mode to keep nearby subjects in crisp focus. The onboard 8GB of memory is less than the original N97’s 32GB, but slot in a microSD card and you’ll have up to 24GB to play with. You can find sample shots in the gallery below.

The camera will also shoot 30fps 16:9 aspect video in MPEG4 640 x 360 resolution, which turned out to be smooth and reasonably watchable. You can switch on the LED flash to act as a video light, though autofocus no longer works. Once you’ve shot a clip you can upload it to various media sharing sites, including Flickr and Nokia’s own Ovi gallery.

As for consuming media rather than producing it, the N97 mini has the same audio app as on the E72 only with larger, finger-accomodating icons. The interface is lacking in comparison to something like the iPhone, but it’s serviceable and there’s a link directly to Nokia’s Music Store (though not Comes With Music, which the company don’t offer on this handset) for on-device downloads. As with the N97 there’s an FM radio (which requires a wired headset be plugged in) but no FM transmitter; Nokia say the short-range transmitter – handy for in-car use – couldn’t be squeezed into the N97 mini’s reduced casing. Video playback is in a separate app, and consists of a simple folder-browsing UI for local content together with a Video Feeds browser which allows you to access streaming content.

Access to all of these apps is usually through the main menu, called up no matter where you are in the phone by pressing the single hardware button on the fascia. However, like its sibling, the N97 mini’s homescreen is made up of six rectangular widget panels which can be rearranged and edited. Among the options are standard shortcut bars – each offering room for four icons linking to your commonly-accessed apps – as well as frequent contact shortcuts, an AccuWeather forecast widget, Mail for Exchange widget and a clock with links to the alarm settings and calendar. There’s also a Facebook widget which ties into Nokia’s somewhat sluggish Facebook app. This shows galleries, wall posts and offers one-tap access to the camera and on-device gallery so as to make uploading shots easier, but is tardy in its responsiveness – especially when updating the Facebook wall – compared to similar apps on rival platforms.

Phone performance was strong, with the N97 mini tenacious with a signal. We experienced no dropped calls in all of our testing, and both parties reported clear and crackle-free audio. Battery life has proven slightly better than what you’d expect from a current-gen smartphone, capable of going two days with regular use (and judicious use of the peak/off-peak push email settings). Nokia quote up to 430 minutes of GSM talktime (240 minutes of WCDMA) or up to 320 hours of GSM standby (310 hours of WCDMA).

Build quality is better than the N97, with a sturdy case and touches of metal in the screen fascia and battery cover; we’re also quiet fans of the “cherry black” finish (though you can also get the N97 mini in “garnet”). Less impressive is the flex in the plastic screen surround up above the earpiece, though to be fair that’s our only real point of concern about the N97 mini’s construction.

Overall, then, we feel a whole lot warmer toward the Nokia N97 mini than we did toward the original N97. Its slimmed-down design and improved software have taken much of the sting out of ownership, and the compromises – the absence of an FM transmitter and the smaller onboard storage – are minor in comparison to the far better keyboard and sturdier build. Still, none of what it offers is quite a home-run in the smartphone game right now; the OS is improved but still feels drab and mildly clunky in comparison to rival platforms, and the QWERTY ‘board is a long way off the best we’ve played with in recent months.

Bizarrely, if they’ve beaten anything, Nokia have killed off enthusiasm for the N97; the two handsets will go on sale alongside each other, and the UK store even has the N97 mini at £429 and the original at £449. Having lived with the N97 mini we’re not sure why anybody would plump for the original, frankly. As for the mini itself, we must admit to being more enthusiastic about the Maemo OS and its potential than we are about this current device. Nokia obviously have some good ideas left in them, but the N97 mini feels like what the original N97 should have been, rather than a new product in its own right.

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The E72 is certainly a handsome handset, and reasonably compact for something offering a full QWERTY keyboard. It measures in at 114 x 58.3 x 10.1 mm and weighs 128g, and Nokia have been lavish with their use of metal trim: both the fascia surround and the battery cover are fingerprint-collecting chrome. Up top there’s a 3.5mm headphones socket and the power button, while the left side has a microUSB port and microSD slot hidden behind fiddly plastic covers. On the right there are volume keys flanking a voice-command shortcut button; unlike other Nokias there’s no camera shortcut. Around the back lurks the 5-megapixel camera and LED flash.

Nokia E72 unboxing video:

Of most interest to frequent messagers, however, is the keyboard, and we’ve been surprise at just how usable the E72’s QWERTY actually is. The keys are small – around the size of a tictac, in fact – but their pronounced domed pads and practically perfect tactile feel add up to a ‘board that’s incredibly satisfying to use. We’ve been switching between using the E72 and the Nokia N97 mini, and the key layout of the Eseries device is far preferable; commonly used punctuation, including @, ? and ! don’t require a shift or function modifier, and while the space bar is only double-width it’s broad enough in context.

Across the middle of the phone there’s a row of control keys, borrowing the layout we’ve already seen from the Nokia E55. Home, calendar, contacts and messaging shortcuts are sandwiched in-between the left and right softkeys and the call/end buttons, while in the middle there’s a four-way D-pad and center-select button. New to the E72 is an optical trackpad, however: brushing your finger across the center pad is recognized as directional control. We’ve had middling success with such navigation systems on other handsets but the E72’s system is reasonably useful, being neither too sensitive nor too blunt in its responsiveness. Still, you can dig into the settings and turn it off if you find it offensive.

Up top there’s a glass-covered 2.36-inch 320 x 240 QVGA display, and we’re disappointed that Nokia didn’t squeeze in something more impressive. The panel is capable of 16.7m colors, though the default business theme – which makes heavy use of coffee-shaded browns – does little to show that off. We’ll lay part of the blame at the S60 3rd Edition FP2 (3.2.3) OS; while we don’t subscribe to the increasingly common attitude that S60 deserves to be consigned to the junk heap, we do wish Nokia had put in some more effort to give users the impression they’re dealing with a modern, up to date platform.

Part of that experience is hampered by usability confusion, likely a non-issue to those staunch Nokia addicts who are upgrading to the E72 from its well-esteemed E71 predecessor, but which presents stumbling blocks to those fresh to the platform. Little things, like managing WiFi network and cellular connections, were less obvious than Android, webOS and the iPhone OS make it; mockingly obvious to those familiar with the ways of S60, but a headache to everybody else.

Since messaging is the name of the E72’s game, there’s plenty of account type support onboard. Basic POP and IMAP4 are of course accounted for, together with Nokia Messaging, ActiveSync, Lotus Notes Traveller and Mail for Exchange. Several accounts can be active simultaneously, including using different poling settings – your personal email account, for instance, can be set to check every few hours, while your corporate account is pushed – and you can pin different accounts to the homescreen depending on whether you’re viewing the “business” or “personal” layout.

In general it all works well, though we did have some issues with our Kerio Mail Server system (which usually smartphones – including the N97 mini, curiously – simply handle as an Exchange server) and the E72’s Mail for Exchange app. Unfortunately it seems this is an issue with Nokia’s implementation, rather than something Kerio can change, and we ended up using IMAP instead. If you’re planning to use the E72 with your corporate email account, it’s worth checking out what exact setup they have to avoid headaches down the line.

The E72 isn’t short on connectivity, with quadband GSM and three versions of the handset covering various combinations of WCDMA HSDPA/HSUPA. There’s also WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, together with UPnP and PictBridge support. Flash is supported in the browser, which means you can view streaming YouTube videos, and while the UI might not be as streamlined as on Webkit-based rival devices, page layouts were rendered pretty much just as on a desktop browser. Nokia Maps also has a few usability differences to the Google Maps app many are used to from their cellphones, but once you’re past the UI it’s a strong navigation offering. Copious keyboard shortcuts keep menu-surfing to a minimum, and features like easy map-panning are things we’ve longed for in Google Maps. It’s also possible to grab screenshots of the current map view, which can then be sent in emails or MMS messages. GPS locks were speedy and accurate, and there’s a digital compass with a more useful in-map display than, say, Street View on Android devices.

Nokia have squeezed a 5-megapixel camera into the E72, and the optics slightly protrude from the rear panel of the phone. It lacks the Carl Zeiss lens commonly found on Nseries handsets, but there’s still an LED flash and autofocus. Normal photos in natural light are good, if a little on the cool side with regards color balance, but with reasonably fine detail and no odd fringing or the like. However despite the close-up mode setting switched on, macro shots proved blurry and disappointing. The LED flash is bright but prone to washing out nearby items; we do like being able to use it as an impromptu torch (by holding down the spacebar) however.  There are full-sized camera samples in the gallery below.

Media playback is functional if not especially appealing, with the native PMP app filtering tracks by artist, album, genre and composer (and the microSD card hot-swappable), while sound quality is reasonably once you plug in a set of aftermarket headphones. There’s also Bluetooth A2DP support, for wireless headphones, but you’ll need a wired headset plugged in to use the FM radio (it uses it as the antenna). Access to the Nokia Music Store (though not Comes With Music) is preloaded via a shortcut in the media menu (though browser based) and you can download tracks over 3G or WiFi connections. Video playback is via a separate app, which also supports streaming video feeds, and though the UI is basic it’s nonetheless functional and reasonably loud through the built-in speaker.

You’d hope a business-centric device like the E72 would perform well at voice-calls, and happily it puts in a strong showing. Basic calls revealed decent audio for both parties, while there’s a front-facing VGA-quality camera for video calling and SIP VoIP 3.0 support for compatible internet-based services. A Skype app is also available in the Ovi store (which is reasonably well populated but falls short of the iPhone App Store when it comes to ease of navigation and accuracy of search results). The voice dialling works well for a non-trained system, picking out our intended contact each time then moving through the default communication method with pauses to allow you to scroll through the list and pick something or someone different.

Battery life is rated as up to 12.5hrs GSM talktime (5hr 54m of WCDMA; 13hr 42m of VoIP) or up to 492hrs GSM standby (576hrs WCDMA; 110hrs VoIP) from the standard 1,500mAh battery. While we didn’t quite see those sort of times, we were impressed by the E72’s longevity. We’re used to charging smartphones nightly, lest they expire midway through the following day, but the E72 could happily go a couple of days in-between rejuicings. That’s with regularly polling email and both WiFi and 3G switched on; you’ll be able to eke out even more runtime by adjusting the peak/off-peak messaging settings and shutting off the various wireless radios when you’re not using them. When iPhone (and other device) owners are crossing their fingers that they’ll get through a whole day without resorting to a Mophie-style battery case, the E72 makes a strong case for itself merely on its relative frugality.

Still, we can’t imagine many mainstream users bypassing the iPhone or other eye-catching handsets in favor of the Nokia E72, and that’s a real shame. It’s one of the most successful messaging devices this side of a BlackBerry when it comes to hardware keyboard performance, pushing even successful onscreen keyboards with killer auto-correction into the shade. There may not be as much screen-space for the browser or Nokia Maps to shine, but each performs well; we wouldn’t buy the E72 for either, certainly, but neither will we particularly criticise them. The camera is a mixed bag, and falls short of the promise of Nokia’s recent Nseries cameraphones, while media handling is serviceable but not especially inspiring.

If you prioritise messaging above all else, though, and want a compact but highly usable device with a strong QWERTY keyboard, the E72 makes an excellent case for itself. We’re not convinced that S60 requires retiring quite yet – though we wouldn’t argue with a usability refresh – and spend a little time setting up VoIP and you’ve got a decent internet phone that hardly needs to step near a cellular network. Niche? Certainly, but we’ll be comparing hardware cellphone keyboards to the E72 for some time to come.

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With no wireless to consider, the spec list for the EZ Reader is pretty straightforward. The 6 x 4.1 x 0.4 inch device is smaller than the average paperback novel, and just leaves room for a 5-inch 600 x 800 E Ink display and a few rows of shortcut buttons. Onboard storage is 512MB but there’s an SD card slot content with up to 16GB cards (and a USB 2.0 connection to make transferring files straightforward). The underlying OS is Linux, running on a Samsung ARM 9 400MHz processor; it’s certainly nippy enough that any page navigation delay is a side-effect of the e-paper rather than the system itself. Battery on the unit is user replaceable and provides roughly two weeks of reading time.

As you’d hope, there’s a broad range of format support for ebooks (and other files). The EZ Reader will display ADE, PDF, TXT, PDB, DOC, HTML, FB2, LIT, EPUB and PRC ebook files, together with BMP, JPG, TIF, PNG and GIF images, while there’s also a mediaplayer that will load MP3 files and play them in the background as you read. Astak have also built in some fancy text reflowing technology which handles PDF text reasonably well, even when the original document wasn’t really intended for ebook reader use, and there’s text-to-speech which is as clunky as you’d expect (but no doubt interesting to some users).

There’s no QWERTY keyboard or touchscreen, but given you’ll only be using the hardware controls to navigate files already on the EZ Reader, rather than accessing some sort of wireless ebook store, that’s less of an issue. Both right- and left-handed use is accommodated, using either page back/forward keys (on the left) or a scroll-wheel (on the right). At 6oz it’s easy to hold in one hand, and to do so for reasonably extended periods.

What sets the EZ Reader apart from some rivals is in its reading flexibility. Not only does it come with multiple language support – including English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and more – you can install your own fonts to use rather than the default set. At least three zoom levels are available, and the E Ink panel seemed to boast better contrast than Amazon’s second-gen Kindle, with text looking blacker and more defined.

Amazon have spent big money on their Kindle UI, and the shortcomings of the EZ Reader are obvious after even a brief play. Lists are navigated via the numbered keys under the display (you bizarrely can’t use the jog-wheel on the side to scroll through them) and there’s more digging through menus than we’d like. Still, we’re guessing the sort of audience who’ll buy something like this Astak will be slightly more tech-savvy than, say, a Kindle buyer; they’ll need to understand how to side-load content, after all.

It’s easy to knock ebook readers that don’t include wireless connectivity; after all, an integrated 3G hook-up means you’re more than halfway to an eye-catching headline. Still, what it actually means is that there’s no one-click way to wireless spend money at a specific ebook store, and for many users that’s not something they actually want or need. In fact, there are plenty of reasons – cost being just one of them – where relying on the flexibility of side-loading content makes perfect sense.

The Astak EZ Reader doesn’t exactly grab the eye like a Kindle or Barnes and Noble Nook, but it’s reasonably flexible. The display may be compact at 5-inches, but that allows the device as a whole to be particularly portable; after all, just as the best camera is the one you have with you, the best ebook reader is the one you always drop into your bag as you leave the house. Our biggest disappointment is that Astak haven’t done some extra work to bring the price down: at $199 it’s close to Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s ebook reader offerings, and we reckon if the company undercut those by $100 or so then they’d have a decent competitor on their hands.

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Physically, the Booklet 3G is bordering on Apple-levels of attractiveness. The brushed aluminum chassis is solid and the plastic side-inserts feel high quality. We’re still not convinced by the plastic top plate on the outside of the lid, and would prefer plain metal, but that’s a minor aesthetic issue with a generally very good looking netbook. As you can see in our unboxing video, ports include power, one USB 2.0, SIM and SD along the right-hand side, together with power and a speaker, and HDMI, two USB 2.0 and a headset socket along the left-hand side, together with the second speaker. Underneath there’s the large removable battery and four rubber feet, with Nokia showing admirable restraint in their labelling.

Nokia Booklet 3G unboxing video:

Open it up, and there’s a 10.1-inch 1,280 x 720 LED-backlit display behind a glass panel. There’s no anti-glare coating to the glass, but it does have – on our review unit at least – a slightly fuzzy finish that’s absent on other glass-fronted laptop displays. Given the size of the lid and the aspect ratio of the LCD – which Nokia tell us is specially made for them – the panel does look a little dwarfed by the black surround; there’s a little too much blank space underneath it for our liking.

Above the display is a 1.3-megapixel webcam, while below it is a moderately cramped keyboard. The chiclet keys aren’t the most comfortable on a netbook that we’ve tried, but are still usable for pecking out emails and editing documents. The trackpad feels unnecessarily cramped, however, and the mouse buttons feel cheap and overly clicky. Integrated into the screen hinge is a row of status LEDs indicating – left to right – Bluetooth, WiFi and 3G activity, together with sleep, battery and mains-power status. Nokia have also been pleasantly lavish with their shortcut buttons, with the F-keys doubling as music track controls, volume, brightness and wireless connectivity toggles.

OS is Windows 7 – either Starter or Home Premium – and Nokia have tried to bring a little cellphone magic across too. The Ovi Suite app download store and Social Hub networking app are both available (though you need to download them separately) while tapping the power button while the Booklet 3G is powered on brings up a status window showing battery level, performance mode and shortcuts to standby, restart and power-down. An accelerometer is also embedded inside, though the most we’ve observed it doing is throwing up shake-warnings and parking the hard-drive.

You can’t knock the Booklet 3G’s connectivity. There’s the usual WiFi b/g/n together with Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, as well as GPS/A-GPS and a standard 3G modem. This last element is key to Nokia’s sales strategy, as it means they can tap into carrier subsidies; without it the Booklet 3G is around $600. Opt for a data-plan commitment, however, and in the US you can have the netbook for more like $300, assuming you’re content paying around $60 to AT&T every month for two years for their wireless data package. On the upside you can hot-swap the SIM (i.e. take it out or reinsert it without shutting down the netbook) between phones and other devices.

It’s one of the reasons the Booklet 3G is reasonably contentious, and another is Nokia’s choice of processor. Since they want to promise all-day battery life, Nokia have had to choose an especially frugal CPU, and so have picked Intel’s Atom Z530. While it runs at the same 1.6GHz as the more common Atom N270 it does promise lower power draw, hence the company claiming up to 12 hours use from the 56.8Wh battery. Unfortunately Nokia have paired it with just 1GB of DDR2 memory and a meagre 120GB 4,200rpm hard-drive, both of which fall well short of what we’d like to see on even an entry-level netbook.

It adds up to particularly uninspiring performance, and perhaps the biggest disappointment of the Booklet 3G. Out of the box, running only the 30-day trial of F-Secure Internet Security 2010, Internet Explorer 8 (which is preloaded with Windows 7) is sluggish and frustrating. Navigating even a few tabs is slow, and moving between apps in general is ponderous. Simple things – like adjusting the screen brightness with the shortcut keys – see the backlight respond and then, seconds later, the on-screen meter belatedly pop up. Trying to copy music across from another system highlighted the hard-drive’s woeful lack of speed, while 720p video could – bitrate depending – prove juddery. Considering Nokia bill the Booklet 3G’s display as ideal for 720p HD content, that’s a significant issue. We plugged in a 1080p HDTV via the HDMI connection and were impressed to see the netbook could support (with its own display shut off) Full HD; however 1080p video was a different matter, being pretty much unwatchable.

GeekBench faired no better, with the Nokia Booklet 3G’s raw benchmarking being less than impressive. The netbook managed 773 points overall, over 100 points behind Atom N270 based year-old netbooks such as the ASUS Eee PC 1000H or the MSI Wind U100.

As for battery life, that’s the Booklet 3G’s saving grace. Unsurprisingly we never saw Nokia’s 12 hours, but with WiFi switched on and the display at medium – and comfortable – brightness we saw around 8 to 8.5 hours use before needing to reach for the compact AC adapter. Media playback (with wireless turned off) varied depending on how much CPU crunching was required (there’s no discrete GPU); watch solely lightweight clips and you might see closer to 10 hours. However Flash video – even standard resolution YouTube clips – was tardy to load and chugged through power.

The subset of users to whom the Nokia Booklet 3G is suited is relatively narrow, then. While the wireless connectivity is certainly there in spades, the actual browsing experience is slower than on some smartphones we’ve tested. Meanwhile video playback is acceptable only with certain clips, which is the sort of suck-it-and-see limiting factor that makes low-power devices particularly frustrating. If you do little more than browse with one or two tabs open at most and generally need your notebook to churn out text and emails then the Booklet 3G certainly has the battery life for you; however then it’s the keyboard that rankles.

We want to love the Booklet 3G, if only because it looks so good. Problem is, once you turn it on you’re stuck with performance that even the first-gen netbooks generally exceeded, and if that’s frustrating when the Nokia is box-fresh then imagine how you’ll feel when you’re into the second year of your data contract. The downside to that clean, unspoilt chassis is that doing some DIY upgrading is almost certain to invalidate your warranty; no core part of the Booklet 3G is intended to be user-accessible. It’s tough to imagine a user who would be satisfied for the next 24 months with the Booklet 3G’s abilities, and we’re left hoping Nokia sell just enough of them to green-light the next-gen model that will hopefully up the performance.

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The ORNL updated its Jaguar supercomputer with new 6-core Opteron processors recently. The newly updated rig grabbed the top spot on the list of fastest supercomputers in the world. The Samsung Go netbook is coming to the AT&T Wireless network as a subsidized offering. The machine will hit November 22 for $199.99 after rebates and a new agreement.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 smartphone was spied on video this week. The snapdragon speed that the prototype spied previously lacked was in effect this time around. A paper claims that the Dell Streak MID will be hitting the AT&T network in 2010. I’m not sure that a MID will really make the grade; most of us want smartphones today.

A job listing over at Apple is looking for a game engineer. This has rumors swirling that Apple is set to develop first party games for its rumored tablet and the iPhone/iPod touch. We heard this week that the fix for the camera autofocus woes of the Droid may be as easy as wiping the lens well. Other reports claim that an unannounced software patch was pushed out to fix the issue.

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile hit WinMo 6.0 and 6.1 smartphones early in the week. The store had previously only been offered to those running WinMo 6.5 devices. The Malata R108T Windows 7 convertible touchscreen netbook broke cover Tuesday looking familiar. The rig has a 10.1-inch screen and Intel Atom processor, standard netbook fare.

MSI debuted the Wind Top AE2220 AIO 1080p computer mid-week with multitouch and a 21.5-inch display. The machine can be had with Intel Core 2 Duo power and Ion graphics. ATI unveiled the Radeon HD 5970 dual GPU video card this week. The thing is very powerful and has a price tag to match.

A report came in Wednesday that had Nokia using mostly Maemo rather than Symbian on its N-series devices by 2012. Nokia later came out and said that the announcement was premature. The sexy Dell Adamo XPS went on sale this week at $1799. It’s expensive; by man do I want one.

Vizio again grabbed the top spot on the LCD shipper list in the US for the quarter. People are flocking to the firms lower priced LCD TVs rather than the more expensive big names like Sony and Samsung. Sony Ericsson has confirmed that the Xperia X1 will not be getting a WinMo 6.5 update. A ROM hinted previously that such an update might be coming.

A new version of the ever popular Flip camcorder is coming in the first half of 2010 that has a sliding screen and WiFi. The WiFi will presumably allow you to send your movies directly to your computer without connecting a USB cable. The Sony Reader Daily Edition is available for preorder now for $400. The device has wireless access to the Sony eBook store.

Olive debuted a new 4HD Hi-Fi music server this week. The thing offers audiophile grade sound quality at a steep price of almost $2000. This is a strange report, the Apple tablet is said to be delayed until the second half of 2010 to get OLED and LCD versions. The odd part is how can a device be delayed when it was never officially announced?

Thursday we detailed the Chrome OS on video. The OS has been anticipated for a while and could replace Android in devices like netbooks. The Archos 9 PC tablet has been delayed with preorders shipping in December and the full retail launch pushed until 2010. You should be able to pick the thing up at retail locations once it launches.

Imation unveiled the world’s first wireless USB external storage solution Friday called the Pro WX. The HDD has a 30-foot range and enough speed for data backups sans cable. The Motorola Motus was spotted in a particularly blurry pic this week and promises an unusual form factor. The device appears to fold back.

The Pantech Impact is now avaialbl on the AT&T network for $99.99 after rebates. The device has haptics feedback for the touch panel front keypad. That’s it for this week, have a great Thanksgiving!

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Video overviews after the cut

There will be no local applications, only web apps using HTML5, but Google are working on giving them access to the sort of system resources – such as GPUs for hardware Flash acceleration – that local software currently have.  There’ll also be more extensions for the Chrome browser itself.  Google will be able to better manage the spread of malware, since everything is installed remotely rather than locally (in fact Chrome OS can’t actually change files on your netbook’s hard-drive, since the boot partition is read-only), and users should be able to log into another Chrome OS system and instantly have their regular work environment.  Similarly all the tabs from the previous session are maintained.  Google use a “verified boot” system whereby Chrome OS’ cryptographic signature keys are checked to make sure no malware has infected the system; should something still get through, however, there’s an automatic recovery procedure to fix it.  The entire OS will automatically update as improvements are developed.

The UI is still subject to change, but will consist of tabs and various app menu panes, together with so-called persistent windows for things like Google Talk.  Rather than being able to drag windows pixel-by-pixel, they will either snap against the edges of the screen or each other, be shown in split-screen mode, or in full-screen.  Across the top of the display are five pinned application tabs, which currently link to things like Gmail, Facebook and the like.  In the top left-hand corner is the primary apps menu, with a search box, the ability to create new tabs, windows and bookmarks, together with the sign in/out functionality.  While at present it is a pull down menu, there’s talk of switching it to a full-screen tab or partial-screen overlay.

Plugging in peripherals, meanwhile, such as USB drives, webcams or cameras, opens up a new tab with the contents or functionality of that peripheral.  Google are still optimizing the code for even faster boot times (the shipping netbooks using Chrome OS will use solid-state storage for speed gains), as well as producing more webapps; currently there’s Hulu, PicasaWeb, YouTube, a Google music app, Notepad and more.  As for the platform itself, Google Chrome OS is expected to come out fully in around a year’s time, with machines from the top OEMs on the market before the 2010 holiday period.  As for the hardware itself, it will only use SSD for storage, and in fact Google have produced a reference design for manufacturers, with specific WiFi cards and other components supported.  Netbooks will be the first wave, either x86 or ARM based, but Google are not counting out Google Chrome OS powered notebooks and desktops at some point in the future.

Google Chrome OS overview:

Google Chrome OS fast-boot:

Google Chrome OS security:

Google Chrome OS & Open Source:

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Being based on the 1GHz Snapdragon chipset, the Mangrove is around as powerful as the Quanta Smartbook; however, and as we’ve seen with the HTC HD2 Microsoft’s smartphone platform can certainly whip along when it has that many spare CPU cycles to play with.  In use it certainly felt snappy, but we missed the HD2’s capacitive touchscreen – C-motech have used a resistive panel – and the resolution appears to still be WVGA 800 x 480 so you’re not really gaining a huge amount display-wise for the extra inches.

What you do get is a pair of USB ports which turns the Mangrove into a pretty decent netbook-alternative, plus integrated WiFi, 3G and WiMAX.  Niche is certainly our lasting impression of the C-motech slate, though we’ll need to know final pricing before we can give a final judgement.

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Video demo after the cut

The Quanta machine looks ostensibly like a regular netbook, but it’s considerably thinner – helped by the fact that it’s based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset and thus requires no active cooling fan.  Its display isn’t a touchscreen – we left fingerprints all over it trying to find out – but Quanta have reworked the keyboard to offer one-touch access to not only the homescreen (which still offers three customisable panes) but the slide-out programs menu, key apps like the browser, and individual control over WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth.

This particular model didn’t have a SIM card inserted, but we booted up the WiFi connection and managed to do a little surfing.  In terms of speed, it’s as nippy as a netbook is, and moving up and down the webpage is actually better with the arrow keys since it automatically jumps from link to link.  Slightly less impressive was keyboard flex, with not only the QWERTY itself bouncing and twisting during typing, but – as you can see in the video – the whole base of the Smartbook bending under the weight of the screen when held at the palmrest.  Still, this is a prototype after all; Qualcomm say Lenovo’s will be thinner again, with more pronounced curves at the corners.

As for the concept Smartbook/Tablet hybrid, Qualcomm have demonstrated it before but say they’ve been surprised by the ongoing positive feedback.  The idea is to have a touchscreen display panel with integrated stand that can be used with a wireless keyboard/mouse peripheral on the desktop, with that keyboard slotting into a nook on the back for in-hand use.  Like the Quanta machine, it would offer all-day battery life and WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity.

Quanta Android Smartbook prototype:

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Although the prototype ebook reader is currently only a non-functional mock-up – albeit one using a real 5.7-inch mirasol display – Qualcomm are hoping to stress that they don’t see the display technology as being solely for e-readers.  Instead, given that it displays color and is capable of smooth video (as you can see in the video below, which shows a demo 2.2-inch panel at work), your ebook reader could just as easily serve as a mobile gaming handheld, with wireless connectivity for multiplayer titles and – keeping everything in the family – a Snapdragon chipset for the necessary grunt.

Of course, it’s up to OEMs themselves to push out actual hardware, with the current attachment merely a proof of concept.  However Qualcomm’s mirasol team did tell us yesterday that it wasn’t just ebook readers that are on the cards: they’re envisaging touchscreen tablet-style handhelds, UMPC-style computers and more.

Qualcomm 2.2-inch mirasol display:

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mirasol borrows the same elements that allow a butterfly’s iridescent wings to shimmer, using tiny flexible membranes that react to electrical charges, overlaid onto a mirrored surface. Light reflected back out through those membranes is refracted so that interfering wavelengths create colors, and because the membranes used are bistable, once they have been set to display a certain color they require virtually no power to maintain it, only if it needs to be changed. The system also needs no color filters, no strong backlighting to be visible in direct sunlight and no polarizing lenses.

It’s important to point out that the device you see here is merely a mock-up the mirasol team have put together, and while non-functional overall the 5.7-inch display panel is from their fab plant and an actual, working unit, its bistable pixels locked into a color image. Qualcomm are working with multiple OEMs – the names of which they wouldn’t disclose – on a variety of ebook reader devices, and while they couldn’t confirm any particular form-factors, they did say there are plans for units with and without QWERTY keyboards, together with touchscreen and non-touchscreen models.

Where mirasol shows its strength is in battery performance. A standard ebook reader – such as the Kindle – could last for roughly 20-percent longer if its monochrome e-ink display was switched for a mirasol panel, assuming the same sort of use. As the mirasol team explained, however, once you start pushing traditional e-ink panel refresh rates, up to the point you can display smooth video, and introduce color, power draw can actual go beyond that of a regular LCD display. A color e-ink video-capable Kindle would last roughly a day using the same battery; meanwhile the same unit with a mirasol panel would last around a week.

While they wouldn’t be drawn on specific figures, the mirasol displays – and the end products set to arrive from OEMs – are apparently roughly equivalent to what current e-ink panels and ebook readers cost now. Wireless connectivity is pretty much guaranteed, that’s certainly the model Qualcomm are pushing OEMs toward (and little surprise, given their wireless heritage), and while 5.7-inch panels are the current sweet spot, there’s no theoretical limit to larger displays.

There’s also no limit to the sort of devices we’ll see; if it has a display and a battery then you can use mirasol. The team there expect ebook readers to evolve into tablet-style devices, only this time with the sort of battery life the first generation of tablets lacked. With touchscreens, optional keyboards and integrated wireless connectivity, they’re betting users will more readily pick up a device they only have to charge weekly rather than every few hours. The 5.7-inch panel in the ebook reader mock-up is an ideal size for a MID or UMPC style handheld, and it’s worth noting that the runtime estimates Qualcomm have been making are based on a Kindle-style battery around 1,500mAh in size.  Smaller panels, meanwhile, could take the pain out of preview displays on digital cameras or camcorders.

As for image quality, like e-ink the mirasol panel performs best in bright lighting, though that’s not to say it’s tough to read in regular conditions. Our photos – which are of a working mirasol panel, remember – were taken in both direct natural light (on an overcast London day) and with halogen lighting, and the colors really popped. Text is crisp and readable, with the 5.7-inch panel running at XGA 1,024 x 768 resolution and around 220ppi.

Best of all, this isn’t some pipe-dream or research project. mirasol have Qualcomm as a parent company and LG as a key hardware partner, and their target of having devices ready and on sale by the end of 2010 seems eminently possible. The company recently won a Wall Street Journal prize for innovation, based on the fact that the mirasol technology is a completely fresh and unique approach to displays, rather than trying to eke color out of e-ink or ween LCD or OLED off their hefty power supplies. As they told SlashGear today, “imagine an e-reader with color and video, but no battery sacrifice”.

Update: Check out the gaming attachment here.

2.2-inch mirasol demo:

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The X510’s case is pretty much the same as that of the EX487, which means a compact tower unit with a full front door that reveals four 3.5-inch drive bays. There are three USB 2.0 ports on the rear panel (one on the front) together with an eSATA (which will now work as a port multiplier, rather than with just one external drive) and gigabit ethernet port, and as with the EX487 the OS is Windows Home Server. Perhaps the biggest difference is that HP offer three configurations of the X510 Data Vault: a 1TB model (with a single 1TB hard-drive), a 2TB model (with two 1TB drives; this is the unit HP have sent us for review) and a 3TB model (with two 1.5TB drives). The packaging is plain cardboard rather than the Home Server’s retail-friendly color box, and inside you get the power cord, CAT6 ethernet cable and quick-start guide, together with media for software installation server recovery and PC restore.

Where the EX487 got a 2.0GHz Intel Celeron 440, the X510 steps up to a faster 2.5GHz Pentium dual-core along with 2GB of RAM. Setup is straightforward, though frustrating since it requires a Windows PC – that’s despite Windows Home Server being compatible with Windows, OS X and Linux machines once everything is installed. The software is pretty much identical to that of the EX487, though HP have tweaked the UI to focus more on the sort of functionality small businesses might prioritize.

That means there’s less emphasis on media streaming and sharing – though of course that functionality is still present – and more on remote access, securing data and backing up. HP refer to this as “Store it. Secure it. Share it.” and the X510 does all three, though it’s worth noting that some of the methodology is different from how a regular, less intelligent backup system might do things.

For instance, Windows Home Server will do RAID-style spanning of drives for increased data security, but it’s not the same RAID as you’ll find in regular backup systems. Instead you’re pretty much buying into the Microsoft way of doing things: new drives (either replacements or, since there are at least two bays empty, additions) are automatically installed and managed by WHS. It’s a more hands-off solution than many will be used to, and while that might strike fear into the hearts of more advanced system admins, the sort of target audience in the market for the X510 Data Vault will find it music to their ears. We’d recommend reading our original EX487 review for a run-down of exactly what WHS is capable of.

As we were with the MediaSmart EX487, we’re impressed with the StorageWorks X510 Data Vault. It’s quiet in operation, straightforward to install – assuming you have a Windows PC to hand – and, with MRSPs of $699, $859 and $999 for the 1TB, 2TB and 3TB models respectively, is priced pretty much in line with other four-bay backup servers. In fact, given the faster processor and more capable eSATA port, if you can find the X510 for a decent price we’d plump for it over the EX487, even as a home user. The packaging may be plain, but the X510 Data Vault’s functionality is anything but.

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Rumors tipped up early in the week that Samsung might be considering moving heavily into Android as an OS for its smartphones and away from Windows Mobile. One analyst claims that in 2010 Samsung will decrease the use of Windows Mobile to 50% from 80% of its smartphones today. Moxi pulled the wraps off its slick new three tuner HD DVR this week and slashed the price on some of its other gear. If you have wanted to record three shows at once while watching a fourth, this is the DVR for you.

The Nokia N900 shipped Tuesday and we offered up a video demo of the device. The phone even ships with a video out cable ready for watching content on your big screen right out of the box. Bang & Olufsen offered up a new BeoVision 7-55 HDTV mid-week that carries a MSRP of $18,000. You could get an entire home theater setup for that much money and way less if you shop right.

Withings added an update for its WiFi Body Scale that adds the ability to automatically Tweet your weight if you want. The feature if off by default so you don’t have to worry about accidentally showing your weight online. Details of the number of DROID handsets Motorola sold the first weekend the device was available tipped up this week. According to unofficial numbers Verizon sold 100,000 of the handsets the first weekend.

Netflix streaming went live on the PS3 Tuesday and we found out the reason for the Blu-ray disc was that Netflix uses BD-Live on the PS3. That is a slick way to get around any streaming agreements with Microsoft. Details on the launch of the motion capturing Project Natal camera for the Xbox 360 leaked Wednesday. Project Natal is said to be hitting store shelves in November 2010.

Strategy Analytics reported this week that Apple was the most profitable handset vendor with $1.6 billion in operating profits. Nokia was second with $1.1 billion. The Amazon Kindle app for the PC launched this week. The app allows readers to access the digital bookstore and their previous purchases on their notebook.

Intel released its Reader for users with learning disabilities like dyslexia this week. The thing has a camera built in that snaps a pic of the text and the Reader then converts the text to speech. Axitron announced Thursday that it was lowering the price of its Modbooks. Both new machines and conversions of your notebook have seen prices slashed with new systems for $1,599 and conversions for $649.99.

An Apple patent app turned up this week that was for some new tablet input tech. the patent app has thrown new fuel on the fires of rumor speculation that an Apple tablet is coming. Intel and AMD settled their long running litigation against each other this week. The results were Intel giving AMD $1.2 billion and a new 5-year licensing agreement between the two firms.

We got hands on with the Nokia Booklet 3G this week with a video unboxing and first impression of the netbook. The screen is incredibly glossy raising concerns for comfort in bright rooms, the final verdict remains to be seen in our full review. The PS3 has an update inbound that will add support for Facebook. PS3 owners can get their social networking fix soon.

Lenovo and Qualcomm have unveiled a new smartbook that will hit the AT&T network eventually. Exact specifications for the machine are unknown at this time. Dell unveiled the Zino HD in America this week. The little machine can be optioned with Blu-ray and will make one heck of a nice HTPC. Dell is also set to launch its Mini 3i Android phone in China soon and in Brazil before the end of the year. We still expect the handset to hit AT&T early next year in America.

Panasonic introduced its new MW-10 digital photo frame this week with a full audio system inside compete with AM/FM tuner and CD player. The screen is 9-inches and it has a USB port and internal memory for photos. ICD showed off its cool looking 15-inch Vega Android 2.0 tablet this week. The big 15.6-inch screen has a resolution of 1366 x 768 and uses NVIDIA Tegra chipset. It should hit in the first half of 2010.

Friday we reviewed the Gateway EC54 15.6-inch notebook. The verdict is if you want power over long battery life shop elsewhere. However, if you want a moderately powerful machine with all day run time this is the rig for you. The $80 Menq EasyPC E790 Android netbook was spied on video Friday. As you expect for $80, the machine is no powerhouse.

We heard on Friday that Google’s Chrome OS might be set to release in the next week. The new OS should find its way onto notebooks, netbooks, and desktop machines that are designed for low cost. That’s it for this edition, thanks for reading!

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Given that Acer acquired Gateway back in 2007, it comes as little surprise that the EC54’s hardware design and build quality are pretty much on a par with Acer’s recent Aspire consumer notebooks. It’s a reasonably stylish, if not especially eye-catching notebook, with a glossy lid that’s guaranteed to pick up fingerprints. While the majority of the chassis is solid, the keyboard does feels a little flimsy; happily the trackpad is pleasantly smooth and responsive.

Inside, Intel’s CULV processors make an appearance, in this case the 1.3GHz Pentium SU4100, paired here with 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 320GB 5,400rpm hard-drive; it comes with Windows 7 Home Premium. While we’re used to seeing the CULV chips show up in 11- to 13-inch ultraportables, it’s a little unusual for them to crop up in a 15.6-inch machine which might more regularly have a mainstream CPU. As a result, the Geekbench benchmarking results aren’t especially impressive: with an overall score of 2105 the EC54 lags slightly behind the 1.4GHz Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T we reviewed four months ago.

In use, however, the SU4100 manages to keep things moving at a reasonable pace, and while we wouldn’t want to tote the EC54 as our video crunching machine it’s nonetheless capable of simultaneous web browsing, media playback and email. Gateway have squeezed in a reasonable amount of connectivity, too, with three USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, multiformat memory card reader and audio in/out, along with a DVD drive. Still, we’d like to have seen eSATA, either as a dedicated port or a combo option with one of the USB 2.0. Wireless is standard WiFi b/g/n, but Bluetooth is an option.

The EC54’s 15.6-inch LED-backlit display runs at 1,366 x 768, and while you would be wise not to expect dramatic things from the GMA 4500MHD graphics chipset, we were at least impressed by the brightness of the panel. While it’s not specifically an “outdoor” screen, we were able – at the higher end of the brightness scale, at least – to use the Gateway outside with no visibility problems. Speakers are reasonably loud and crisp, but as you might expect lack bass.

Gateway rate the EC54 at up to eight hours runtime from the 6-cell 5,600mAh Li-Ion battery. In practice we managed around seven hours of mixed usage, made up of around two hours internet surfing, an hour’s worth of online flash video playback and four hours of Xvid video playback. That’s a decent showing for a 15.6-inch machine, and with more cautious use – or a diet of simple typing rather than video playback, along with shutting the WiFi off and dimming screen brightness – we don’t doubt that you could hit and potentially exceed Gateway’s predictions.

Overall, the Gateway EC54 squeezes into a reasonable niche among CULV notebooks, offering the extended runtime we’d expect from a smaller machine with the larger display from a regular laptop. If you’ve found yourself squinting at 14-inch or smaller models then the 15.6-inches on offer from the Gateway – while not exactly overspilling with pixels – should give your eyes a rest. With an MRSP of $649.99, meanwhile, the impact on your wallet should be pretty painless, too; however, if you err toward performance versus prolonged time away from an outlet, we’d suggest shopping around for more powerful machines that sacrifice a little battery life.

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The N97 mini is, obviously, a smaller version of the original N97, a device which while laced with promise actually failed to quite deliver when we reviewed it.  In this incarnation – which will go on sale alongside, rather than replacing, its sibling device – Nokia have slimmed down the whole handset, dropped the large D-pad and ousted the FM transmitter.  They’ve also improved build quality and preloaded the new S60 5th Edition 2.0 firmware, which N97 owners are already finding makes a significant difference to usability.  We’re still not 100-percent convinced by the keyboard, but the OS does feel more responsive.

As for the E72, that’s a more traditional form-factor with a non-touchscreen display and compact but highly usable QWERTY keyboard.  Successor to the well-considered E71, it might only measure 10.1mm thick but it still packs a 5-megapixel camera and dual-band HSDPA.  It’s the keyboard that really makes the E72 special; we’ve only had it for a few hours but already we’re faster at typing than we are on the N900.

We’ll be putting both handsets through their paces for a full review, so until then enjoy the unboxing videos and gallery below.

Nokia N97 mini unboxing video:

Nokia E72 unboxing video:

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The Booklet 3G get Intel’s Atom Z530 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB 4,300rpm hard-drive, Windows 7 and a 10.1-inch 1280 x 720 display.  As well as 3G, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth there’s an HDMI port, three USB 2.0 ports and a battery Nokia reckon is good for up to a full day’s use.  We’ll be putting that claim to the test in our review.

As for availability, AT&T and Best Buy are already taking preorders for the subsidized and non-subsidized versions (at $299 and $599.99 respectively) with shipping expected to begin sometime next week.  In the video you’ll also see us mention the Nokia N97 mini and the E72; stand-by for their respective video unboxings too.

First impressions are pretty good, certainly when it comes to the physical build of the Booklet 3G.  The whole thing is sturdy and compact, with only the plastic lid insert – black on our version, but available in different (though not user-interchangeable) colors – letting things down slightly.  The keyboard is compact but the keys seem to have decent tactile feedback; we’ll have to see how frustrating the incredibly glossy glass display ends up.

Nokia Booklet 3G unboxing:

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Video demo after the cut

In their vision, neither the device nor the “cloud” services are totally responsible for the mobile experience. Rather than viewing the handset as a “window” onto the cloud, or as a standalone device, the system always uses the most efficient method of computation available to it. In an area overspilling with wireless bandwidth, that might mean using remote servers to crunch streaming video and pick out individual faces; while on a plane – assuming there’s no WiFi available, or airlines of 2015 have raised their prices so high we can’t afford to access it – the device would be self-sufficient.

It’s important to remember that, as a concept, we shouldn’t necessarily expect to see any of the functionality in the video arrive in shipping devices. Still, Nokia have told us they’re targeting 300m active service users by the end of 2011, and to reach that figure it’s going to take some serious selling of the benefits of not only innovative devices once every two years, but services that establish an ongoing relationship.

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