The best laid plans can so easily go awry, and while Samsung’s DualView TL225 digital camera – which has a second, front-mounted display – seemed like such a great idea, the end result is actually tipped as more than a little disappointing. Wired have been putting the TL225 through its paces, and they’ve concluded that not only does the second screen cause its own share of problems rather than solve them, the underlying camera itself is a let-down.
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 may have been making the Android headlines this week, but it’s not the first smartphone running Google’s open-source OS to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. That honor goes to the Acer Liquid A1 – though the company have apparently underclocked the CPU to 768MHz – set to be the first Snapdragon Android phone to reach consumers’ hands. Arne from the::unwired has been playing with the Liquid and has put together a “preview” review.
Should we be surprised that Peek’s TwitterPeek messenger has pretty much fallen flat in its first review? The dedicated Twitter messenger has been official for less than 24 hours, but already PC Mag have slated its speed and functionality, not to mention questioning its very purpose. Among the TwitterPeek’s flaws are poor displaying of messages and mediocre handling of user profiles.
Samsung caught our Android attention with their Galaxy, a slender smartphone with a gorgeous AMOLED touchscreen, and now they’re back with the keyboard-toting follow-up. The Samsung Moment on Sprint is a phone with a few firsts of its own – the first QWERTY Android device to offer an AMOLED display, the first to have an 800MHz processor – but it seems the company stopped their innovation before reaching the software: unlike other Android handsets we’re seeing, there’s no reworked UI and no expansive social network integration. Can a well-turned spec sheet make up for it? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
There’s no doubting that multitouch is a key buzzword of today, and with the arrival of Windows 7 PCs gain at least software support for two-fingered control. Lenovo have responded by updating their well-esteemed ThinkPad X200 Tablet with Windows 7 and a new, multitouch-friendly display, the former as standard and the latter a paid option. Has the technology come of age, or is it a case of hype overtaking substance? Check out the SlashGear review after the cut.
Having gone in sale in Europe this week, the initial reviews of the Nokia Booklet 3G netbook are beginning to show up. The Wall Street Journal have shared their impressions of the 3G and GPS toting ultraportable, praising its battery life but immediately dampening their enthusiasm over what they describe as a “tiny keyboard”. Meanwhile Engadget Spanish are yet to review the Booklet 3G, but they have taken the time to unbox it.
Unboxing and hands-on videos after the cut
We liked the original Iomega StorCenter ix2 back when we reviewed it roughly twelve months ago, but the rest of the home NAS market has advanced in the intervening period and the ix2 is looking a little stale. To address that fact, Iomega have launched the StorCenter ix2-200, their second-gen version of the dual-drive backup station, now boasting removable storage and more. Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
By now we know that the Verizon Droid not only looks good, but has plenty of technical promise too, and BGR have followed up their preliminary hands-on with a more comprehensive preview of the Android smartphone. The Motorola Droid gets praised for its “sharp, vibrant, bright and really, really responsive” 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen, while the keyboard may lack travel and feature closely-packed buttons but it’s good enough for “efficient” typing and is better than the T-Mobile G1. Meanwhile the charging dock/multimedia station (which you can see in a video demo after the cut) automatically turns the Droid into a weather station.
Droid feedback, plus news on AT&T’s Droid and a whole Droid army after the cut
We’ve looked at other reviews of Sony’s VAIO X ultraportable, but while they’ve waxed lyrical over the notebook’s styling we’ve yet to see the hard performance stats that the X’s frequent-flyer target audience will demand. Thankfully LaptopMag’s review covers not just processor benchmarking but battery testing, pitting Sony’s claims of “a full day’s use” against a harsh, stopwatch-toting reality.
The Nokia 5230 is the Finnish firm’s attempt to cash in on the success – and shape – of the 5800 XpressMusic with a more budget-minded entry-level version, and going by gsmhelpdesk’s hands-on preview it sounds like they may be on to a winner. The 5230 gets praised for its ease of use and sound quality, happily using a standard 3.5mm headphone socket rather than anything unpleasantly proprietary.
JP
