Hardware

The display here is a massive 540 x 960 pixels on 4-inches of space, putting this device at 275 pixels per inch. That’s quite impressive when it comes down to it, it being not quite as rich with pixels as the Galaxy Nexus (at 316 ppi) but certainly ready to contend with the DROID RAZR whose same resolution sits on a slightly larger display, putting it at just 256 ppi. At this close range you wont notice the difference unless you’re holding these devices up next to one another, but the difference is there.

Other than that you’ve got what’s actually a slightly larger device than the DROID 3, this bulk coming from the additional plastic around the edges, seeming to have been added here for stylistic purposes instead of necessity. The device is almost exactly the same height as the previous DROID QWERTY and the keyboard is similar, but quite a bit nicer when you’ve used it for a bit. While the older DROID keyboards did seem excellent when they were first brought forth on the first couple of units, the age started to show harshly on the DROID 3. Here there’s a new amount of space and a sensor-activated light surrounding the keys.

The processor is the same one that’s in the DROID RAZR and several devices that’ve been released in the past few months, that being the Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 dual-core 1.2GHz SoC. This chip will get you where you need to go and will allow you to play essentially any game you’re hankering for on the Android Market without a hitch. Consider these Quadrant Advanced results – Total 2747, CPU: 6957, Memory: 2586, I/O: 3046, 2D: 283, 3D: 862, and note the comparatively powerful results when you consider the rest of the Android devices released with this same OMAP processor very recently – looking quite similar.

Software

Inside you’ve got your regular suite of Motorola, Google, and Verizon apps, no real surprises in the mix, and all of it comes complete with Webtop. Motorola devices released inside the last year have all had their proprietary desktop-like software installed aboard, this working through your HDMI-connected display with the device itself acting as an intermediary. If you’ve got any of the suggested docks you can turn your DROID 4 into a standalone computer with your HDTV as your monitor and a USB-connected mouse and keyboard as your controllers. Alternatively you can use the DROID 4 as a trackpad to control your cursor on the display. Check out a demonstration of how this all works in our review of the Motorola Lapdock 100.

Motorola devices are connected with a series of basic cloud-connected services such as My Music which connects you to your computer at home via the web. This and the rest of the cloud suite on the DROID 4 are connected via MotoCast, a service which connects all of your Motorola devices via an interface you download for your desktop machine at MyMotoCast.com. Also prominent in the apps drawer is an instant link to your MOTOACTV, a device which acts as both a music player and a fitness tracker which you can attach to your arm, your wrist, or wherever else you’d like to carry it.

Camera

Motorola is back to having a decent beast of a camera here with 8 megapixels on the back along with 1080p video capabilities. Though it’s not the most perfect setup we’ve seen with such specifications, it certainly out-does its predecessor. Have a peek at some demonstrations of the DROID 4′s back-facing camera here and behold the loveliness.

Phone and Battery

The battery on this beast is a full 1785 mAh placing it right beside the original DROID RAZR in battery rating and capturing just about as much time in the wild as well. When you’re using this device for streaming video you’ll get a few hours out of it – enough time for about a full movie and a half. If you’re using it heavily throughout the day, you’ll get something like 6-8 hours. If you’re using it lightly, for email and web browsing exclusively that is, you’ll be getting 10 hours or more no problem. One charge a night should be good for most users.

Wrap-Up

The DROID 4 is the bulkiest device on the Verizon network here at its launch, yet at the same time it’s got the nicest keyboard Motorola has ever offered on a smartphone. If you’re so in love with the basic QWERTY DROID line that you’ve sworn off all other smartphones, it’s time to upgrade to this model. If you’re looking for the best Motorola device on Verizon, I’d recommend the RAZR MAXX. It doesn’t have a QWERTY keyboard, but it does have a battery that’ll last you until kingdom come, and you’re working with essentially the same innards as this device otherwise.

This device certainly deserves to have a spot amongst the high-end line of Android devices at its release, but will be forgettable within a few months at the dawn of the quad-core smartphone and the start of the Ice Cream Sandwich having Androids being released in bulk closer to the middle of the year. You’ve got the option of grabbing the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung on Verizon right now as well if you want the newest Android software – DROID 4 is still stuck on Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread – but that would require you to leave your beloved Motorola and go Samsung’s way, a very different beast indeed.

Hardware

Aesthetics are secondary for a standard desktop, but as they go, the AM3970 is decent. A steel chassis is surrounded by glossy black panels on the front and top, with only two subtle blue LEDs for power and drive status – a plus in my book. The power button is placed oddly on the upper left corner of the right side, making seeing and using it tricky if you place your computer on the floor or to the right of your monitor. On the floor is certainly where it’s intended to be, with four USB ports plus a headphone jack and line in on the top of the computer. The eject button is also on the right side, implying that the computer is intended to be beside or below the user’s desk and to the left, and leaving little choice otherwise. Once placed there, using the SD/MicroSD/Compact Flash/XD/Memory Stick card reader becomes a chore, thanks to the black-on-black inlaid slots.

Move around to the backplate and you’ll find all the standards, with a generous helping of USB ports. The four ports on the top are paired to ten (count ‘em, ten) on the back, leaving all but the most compulsive of plug-and-players well covered. Two of these ports use the new USB 3.0 standard – a nice touch. A pair of standard PS/2 ports are present for all you old-school Model M and Intellimouse enthusiasts. Our review configuration (AM3970-UR11p) came with discrete graphics and the on-board integrated VGA and HDMI ports disabled, with a DVI port and another HDMI taking their place on the expansion slot. Just below that you get a WiFi PCI adapter to compliment the gigabit Ethernet port, complete with detachable antenna.

Moving on to internals, the AM3970 comes with a 3.0Ghz Core i5 2320 CPU, 8GB of DDR3 memory (2×4 DIMMs) and a 1TB traditional hard drive. When compared to similarly priced desktop models from Dell and HP, Acer gives you identical components with an extra 2GB of memory. Along for the ride are a standard DVD-RW drive and a discrete AMD Radeon HD 6450 graphics card. Popping the access panel off requires a screwdriver (no thumbscrews) and while pre-built desktops like this one aren’t often made with expansion in mind, a reinforced back panel and a decent amount of room inside should make that easy enough for those who want to upgrade components later on.

A mouse and keyboard are included, naturally. It’s hard to mess up an optical mouse, but the keyboard deserves special attention – and not in a good way. Long travel on the keys combined with a glossy backing will make cleaning a nightmare, and the mushy feedback had me reaching for my spare Microsoft model almost immediately. This is rather disappointing, especially when compared to the quite respectable keyboards Dell tends to include.

Software

Acer includes the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, the better to take advantage of that 8GB of RAM. Bloatware on basic desktops can be a problem, but on the AM3970 it’s better than I’ve seen elsewhere. Acer seems to be favoring static and easily deleted desktop shortcuts for a little promotional cash, which is fine by me. You still get a few extras that aren’t strictly called for, including the obligatory Microsoft Office trial and Bing bar, Norton Backup, Nook and New York Times readers, Evernote and Skype. With all that in there it would have been nice to see Chrome or Firefox, saving me a download.

With the exception of McAffee’s nagging reminders, auto-starting software is blessedly limited and mostly silent. The rather superfluous MyWinLocker encryption software, Norton Backup and Acer’s Clear.fi sharing service are the only other hangers-on in the Startup tab. All things considered, it shouldn’t take much for even intermediate Windows users to get the AM3970 running exactly as they want it, with a minimum of tinkering – though I note without surprise that neither an OS install disc or or restore disc is included.

Performance

The combination of a Core processor and plenty of RAM makes standard tasks basically effortless on any modern machine, and such is the case here. But thanks to a little extra memory and the discrete Radeon HD 6450 card, the AM3970 is slightly more capable than its competitors who lack one or both. It should handle processor-intensive talks up to and including some light video editing with ease, and HD video playback is smooth in both local and online playback.

That Radeon 6470 won’t get you very far with the latest PC games, unfortunately, and the combination of a single DVI and HDMI jack means you’ll have to get creative with cables and/or adapters if you want have more than one monitor. That said, less demanding games like Team Fortress 2 and such should function just fine.

Wrap Up

While there’s not much demand for the product category, the AM3970 definitely stands out in its limited field. Generous memory and discrete (if only just) graphics give it a performance boost that will satisfy most, and a ton of USB ports and a roomy interior make it suitable for hardware enthusiasts looking to expand. Software load is relatively light, and Windows regulars will feel right at home and unusually unburdened. The odd ergonomics of the case and downright awful keyboard are an issue, but should be easy enough to adjust to (or in the case of the keyboard, replace). All in all the Acer is a solid choice for those needing desktop-class power without breaking the bank.

This pair of earbuds is one of several created in collaboration between thinksound CEO and acclaimed Audio Engineer Aaron Fournier and a set of musicians all aiming to create a pair of earbuds with nothing less than a full range of sound and acoustics worthy of their end price. At $99.99 a pop, we’d expect nothing less than the best for our ears constantly bombarded by the evil of lesser sound-blasters. That’s just what thinksound delivers, thankfully, and in the video you’re about to see you’ll hear just that.

What you’re listening to in the back half of the video there is a new single from Jack White, a fellow you might recognize from the White Stripes, this music played from the audio jack of an iPhone 4S through the ms01 phones and the camera I’m using here: a Lumix GF1. So what you’re hearing isn’t exactly what you’ll hear in the end, but you’ll get an OK idea of how lovely the sound does hum. That said, you’ll only really know how excellent these buds sound once you’ve got them on yourself.

These 8mm drivers inside the phones are working at 18Hz to 20kHz frequency response, and when the buds are in your ears you’ve got passive noise isolation working for you so the sound you want to hear is basically all you’ll hear. The first time I tried the ms01 buds out, the music I’d been listening to for months before came through in a while new way, at a whole new level of warmth and depth. These buds are without a doubt the finest set of in-ear earphones I’ve experienced thus far. I’ve not had this quality sound since I first set up my own pair of gigantic speakers to a record player from the 1980′s – there’s just something there that you can’t get anywhere else.

As far as the actual hardware in the buds besides the buds themselves, the whole setup is lightweight, the cords are PVC-free and “tangle resistant,” and you get a pair of Active Lifestyle Ear Hooks to keep these phones in your ears if you’re the type to have your head jamming around on a regular basis. If you’re in the gym quite often, you’ll also be glad to know that these buds are sweat-resistant.

The plug is 3.5mm large and gold-plated, while the buds have four different sets of flexible silicon ear inserts for all your different kinds of holes. You get a cord clip and a cotton carrying pouch as well as a 1 year warranty to keep your brain at ease. As with all thinksound phones, these buds are made with a tiny eco-footprint and “green” in mind, the phones made of real wood taken from renewable sources, the packaging is made of recycled materials, and the packaging is completely bleach-free. There’s no plastic bubbles, PVC, or gigantic packaging here.

You can pick your own pair of these beasts up right now at the thinksound shop online at store.thinksound.com and check out the rest of their products while you’re at it. You’ll be dropping $99.99 for this set, then you’ve got the option to get extra buds and accessories along with them for a few extra bucks as well. Have at them!

Hardware

While LG does still have one of my favorite devices ever in the G2X released last year, this device feels a bit large for the average citizen. Certainly consider whether you need all the extra space in this gigantic four and half inch display before you go purchasing it, especially since your thumb wont be able to reach the other end of your screen without assistance of your other hand. When playing games and watching video though, this display is top of class. The camera also has us dazzled and is certainly up there in the top 10 cameras thus produced on a smartphone.

The onboard speaker system is fairly excellent, though still pointing out the back of the device as too many smartphones and tablets these days are, still working perfectly well if you’ve got it up against a wall from whens it can reflect. Plug in some headphones and you’ll have a great time all around. This device has a slightly odd look to it with the three button selection below the display, but therein proves its readiness for Ice Cream Sandwich – that’s not a menu button, it’s a multitasking button.

Software

LG has chosen to continue to use their slightly unintuitive user interface over Android 2.3 Gingerbread here, showing how little it trusts in the original build of Android especially in the apps drawer with row after row of titles for app collections. While it all may appear clunky in comparison to the basic build of Android, it does all move super slick, and even offers a selection of themes at the bottom of the home screen with which you can make profiles for yourself. These aren’t the sort of themes like you get with an HTC device with color changes and backgrounds and all that – instead you can set up which apps you need where for Work, then make another for Home, and etcetera. Functionality here is what’s being pushed, made for people with a need for different environments for their smartphone indeed.

Camera

I can’t say enough about how nice the camera in this device is. Though the interface isn’t my favorite in the world (I’m much preferring the stock Ice Cream Sandwich interface at the moment), this skinned version of the Gingerbread shooter certainly gets the job done right. LG has reminded us why it’s 8 megapixels, not a speedy 5 megapixels, that does it best on Android. Have a peek at some photo and video examples here and in the gallery below to get a good idea of what we’re dealing with.

Phone and Battery

The phone quality is perfectly legitimate, like most smartphones these days running on Verizon’s network coming in and sending out clear voice anywhere I roam inside the Twin Cities here in Minnesota. The battery is surprisingly powerful, lasting at LEAST one day with medium to heavy usage and two days (as you can see here) with light usage. Play some streaming video with your built-in Netflix app and you’ll see considerably degrading excellence at something like 6 hours total.

Wrap-up

This is certainly one of the top five LG smartphones ever to be released, and definitely beats out the LG Revolution released last year with LTE as the best LG device on Verizon right this minute. It’s relatively sleek, light, and has a fabulous camera, all this aside from the fact that if you live in an LTE area, it’s very, very fast data-wise. The decision you must make now is whether you want to sacrifice Ice Cream Sandwich as found on the Galaxy Nexus in exchange for the nicer camera on this device – if that’s not a great tradeoff for you, stick with the former.

In-use

The quality you’re getting here is top-notch, and since this isn’t the first version of these little beasts, you know good and well that V-Moda has once again further perfected the art. Your hearing will be protected by the Faders working to filter noise up to 12dB. They do not BLOCK the noise, they filter it – this meaning that your mids and your high-range audio is still there and still very clear, while the damaging low-end noises galore are plugged up. You can adjust the amount you filter by changing the bud size, also.

The versions you’ll get in the store come with a lovely little shell case, while these early versions show just the buds — you’ll know the 2012 versions from the older ones from the slight difference on the box face, the newer ones having a bright ORANGE splash around the “METAL” bit. The newest versions also come with detachable cords. Otherwise they’re the same fabulous sound-blocking masterpieces.

Verdict

These monsters are certainly worth what you pay for them. If you want throwaway plugs, go ahead and pick up a pack of them from your local grocery store. These plugs will stopper up the sound to the degree that you like and will do it in a fashionable way – so very lovely. Pick up the gunmetal versions (like we’ve got here) for ultimate anytime wearability.

These buds will be available SOON, and when they are, they’ll be $15 USD plus shipping unless you can grab them from your local audio-conscious record store. Grab em online sooner from V-Moda!

The recently announced P4 from AAXA is a big step up from previous models such as the AAXA P2, and many similar priced projectors from the competition. Offering extremely crisp colors, great brightness, and being fully portable with a built-in battery makes this a perfect companion for any business minded individual.

Hardware

While many competing projectors might have better battery life its the 80 lumens of brightness and array of options that sets the P4 apart from the pack. Being labeled the “worlds brightest pico projector” gives it some big shoes to fill — and it didn’t disappoint.

The AAXA P4 Pico Projector is powered by a 750 MHz Windows CE mobile processor, and is plenty bright too. It gets an 80 lumen high-contrast optical engine by way of Texas Instruments DLP. It features AAXA’s vibrant color technology and the LED should last for up to 20,000 hours. Some of the other specs that make the P4 special include: 2GB of built-in memory, 1280×800 VGA input, micro-SD slot for extra storage (up to 32GB), composite video input, 1-watt stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack, and even 720p video support.

Included with the projector AAXA has provided a mini tripod as well as your usual charging and USB cables. The box also provides a mini to full-sized USB, VGA and AV input and more. The included remote (as seen in the video below) is a nice touch but is extremely cheap and gives off a bad impression.

The actual projector itself is very durable and feels great. It’s covered in a soft-coat matte black design and all the ports and buttons are extremely durable. Nothing feels cheap about this premium projector — and it shouldn’t for $399. The buttons on top make navigation easy and simple but the remote is a much better option. I would love to have a better included remote but that’s just me.

AAXA P4 Pico Projector unboxing

Software

Now the software side of things will be completely based on the buyers overall needs and usage. With Windows CE 6.0 on board we have plenty of options with mobile applications. With Office Mobile, Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, and tons of Windows CE based games the options are fairly open. With the P4 AAXA doesn’t recommend you enter Windows too much unless needed and has a basic overlay to keep things straightforward and simple.

Setup is basically non existent unless you need to use Windows CE apps. The standard media player for pictures, and video is simple to navigate — although is pretty bland. From the start screen you can stream any movies from internal or external storage within seconds, the input settings are easy to access and dead simple. Those needing to start presentations will need to launch Windows CE and that takes a bit longer with a warning you must agree to on every start-up seems extreme.

Performance

While I’ve only used a few cheaper and much dimmer projectors in the past, everything about this projector was impressive in terms of performance. The 80 lumen engine is extremely powerful and is by far the brightest portable projector I’ve seen to date. the 750 MHz processor churns out 720p video with ease and my demo shows some impressive output watching AVATAR on a good 40″ size. Fast forwarding through videos or presentations is extremely fluid and there seems to be zero stutter or lag. The only downside to the performance is only about 75 minutes of battery life. To make things worse there isn’t a notification or indicator and once the battery is up you get lights out — no warning.

I can explain performance but instead I’ll just let you all watch the hands-on video demonstration. I start off showing the basic UI in a fully lit room before turning out the lights. The 80 lumens keeps things bright enough that a dark room isn’t required — but sure makes it nice. You’ll be able to use in a lit room with zero problems should the situation present itself.

AAXA P4 video demonstration with light/dark room

As you can see from the video preview the output is extremely bright and impressive, even from a good 6 ft away from the wall. The manual focus makes things very easy for quick adjustments and changes. From the AVATAR scenes in the clip to my Modern Warfare 3 trailer screenshot below you can clearly see just how great the colors are. Thanks to AAXA’s vibrant color technology the colors are exactly that — vibrant.

Wrap-Up

I’ve seen this projector in action for over 2 weeks now. I used it to stream a few clips while visiting family for my extended holiday vacation and everyone was pleasantly surprised by the sound and image output. With 1 watt stereo sound its nothing special but gets the job done. You wouldn’t expect such an incredible bright and vivid picture from this small pocket-able unit — but it does impress.

Battery life is rated for 75 minutes of usage but while outputting 720p video that time dropped significantly and it lasted around 60 minutes for me. While that isn’t very long, completely battery powered is the key here. Being small and weighing under a pound, being fully portable and battery powered makes this perfect for business situations where a full fledged projector isn’t possible. To conduct a full presentation with this quality all on the go with no wires is what sets this apart from the others. For those needing a bigger, longer lasting device for those weekly earnings reports AAXA also has some larger micro projectors to suite all needs.

For a fun toy the pricing is a bit steep but for the on-the-go businessman or professional it should find a place easily in your laptop bag of gear.

The AAXA P4 Pico Projector runs for a pretty penny at around $399 but it’s currently on sale for $339 for a limited time. Get your own today by clicking here.

As long as it beats the competition in the NVIDIA GTX 580 while not being too power hungry and heating the entire house like the dual-GPU GTX 590 I’ll be happy — and I’m sure the enthusiast gaming crowd will be too. Below are a few of our favorite reviews for the new AMD Radeon HD 7970 for everyone to enjoy. We’ll start with the all popular Anandtech.

AnandTech’s Ryan Smith says at the end of the day this graphics card is geared to be a gaming workhorse — but being their new flagship GPU I wouldn’t expect anything different from AMD. He goes on to mention in most gaming scenarios the power consumption was lower than the competing GTX 580 while offering 20% better performance and sometimes more. He does mention being priced much higher than the last-gen 6970 could be a potential drawback for some.

Tom’s Hardware explains that this is a big improvement and a step in the right direction with the new, smaller 28 nm fabrication and called it “Fast, Forward-Looking, But Not Fully Baked.” Saying that NVIDIA’s upcoming Kepler GPU is still months off so they’ll still retain the fastest single-GPU title for now, but without further testing they didn’t want to give a recommendation just yet.

HardOCP is known for breaking things down very thoroughly and have came up with some decent overall numbers. Claiming the 7970 is at least 30% or more faster than the previous generation while offering 10%+ performance increases over the current GTX 580 competition making this definitely worth the price for giving increased performance across all available games.

Bit-Tech said the HD 7970 by AMD “has certainly thrown down the gauntlet. The HD 7970 3GB is a huge improvement over the HD 6970 2GB and GTX 580 1.5GB” They also mention overclocking — something many enthusiasts and water-cooling fans do daily was a huge surprise. Squeezing around 20% more performance from the card without even tweaking the voltage.

While you are at it don’t forget to check out the review from HotHardware, and Hexus who claim it’s a great graphics card but wont win and Bang4Buck awards. Guru3D also mentions the huge overclocking potential before and after overvolting — making this a great graphics card with plenty of potential.

So the question is: Will you be buying the AMD Radeon HD 7970? And if so will you be tossing this bad boy under a DangerDen waterblock or going all out with some LN2?

Hardware

In the Galaxy Nexus we’ve got Samsung’s newest effort, and depending on who you’re talking to, their greatest effort in a handset yet. You’ll find benchmark tests winning out on Galaxy S II devices over the Nexus here, but no device on the market anywhere has such a brilliant display. Comparatively, you’ve got essentially the same device here in the Verizon version as you do in the international edition, it’s just a tiny bit thicker — the difference is so small you’d have to hold them both to see the difference, basically. The materials are the same, the display is the same, the camera bits are all the same. There’s also an increase in battery size, which depending on who you ask, you’ll be needing down the road. Check the battery section of this review for more info in that regard.

“While LTE is amazing, just make sure to have three batteries, one in your Galaxy Nexus, one in the external charger and the third one with you in your wallet.” – Vincent Nguyen

Compared to the Galaxy S II, the obvious improvements can be seen instantly: there’s a bit more curve in the design for those of you who found the Galaxy S II to be a bit flat, the display is one step up in resolution over the Galaxy S II (original and AT&T versions, that is,) and there’s a notification LED on the front face! The software differences are essentially like night and day inside the Android world, but not all THAT different when considering the rest of the non-Android software choices out there. The Verizon Galaxy Nexus is also notably heavier than the Galaxy S II (again, original and AT&T versions we’re talking about here,) but much lighter than the rest of the LTE-laden devices on Verizon.

There is no comparison to any other device on Verizon’s LTE network in the hardware department except to the Motorola DROID RAZR, a device that’s recently fallen on some hard favor because of the rabid Android hoards out there driven nearly mad by waiting for the Galaxy Nexus to be released while the RAZR sat on the shelves laughing. Now there’s two versions of the RAZR on the shelves (original and “white”), and the Galaxy Nexus is the bottom-heavy warrior who only has that one hardware-similar device out there, and if you ask me: the RAZR has suddenly found itself beaten. While I did at one time call the DROID RAZR the ideal smartphone for our mobile environment, it would seem that purely on a hardware level, the Galaxy Nexus simply feels better to handle. There are other elements that could be mentioned such as the vast superiority of Ice Cream Sandwich over the RAZR’s current Gingerbread-based Motorola user interface, but those should be a given.

The Galaxy Nexus here on Verizon is the version of the device you’ll be able to get the fastest connection speeds on in the most places here in the United States. The reason this version of the device is going to be more significant than past Nexus release devices is that should a person want to use a version of this handset here in the USA that’s not Verizon, they’ll have to order internationally and pay a hefty sum. Verizon has Android developers in their grasp right at this very moment – because of its exclusivity and Samsung’s hardware, there’s certainly a lot of cash about to be exchanged in the coming weeks between Android lovers and the big V.

This device has a size that will make you strain your adult male thumb just a tiny bit if you’re going to want to reach the whole space of the display with only on hand, and the vast majority of your phone’s functions can be activated relatively easily with that one hand by itself. The volume button (up and down) sits in the upper left-hand side of the device while the power button sits opposite and above three metal circles which will allow you to connect to the Galaxy Nexus drop-in dock. Note here that you’ve also got plenty of options for accessories you can pick up, including but not limited to an extended battery, screen protectors, and a battery charging unit — check this collection out here:

The outer rim of this device is a hard plastic not unlike what you’ll find in most Galaxy S II units in stores today, with a battery cover that’s an interesting piece of flexible textured plastic. You’ve got one microphone at the top right of your battery cover (a tiny hole), and another at the bottom of the device on the right. The bottom of the device also houses the microUSB port and headphone jack, while the back bottom is the location of the main external speaker for speakerphone, games, videos, music and etcetera. The battery cover you’ll find has SAMSUNG near the bottom and Verizon 4G LTE near the bottom, right below the capsule-looking camera setup which includes a higher quality than average 5-megapixel camera and a single LED flash below it.

The entire front of the device, save for the earphone grille, is a single sheet of fortified glass. Like I mentioned before and will mention again, the display is the most magnificent interface you’ll encounter on smartphone today, and the LED notification light is like a secret firework, or one that fires off much later than the main set as if to accent their loveliness. This device is not perfect for one-handed use, but for those of you willing to pull out both sets of fingers, you’ll find that this is amongst the most comfortable devices to use on the market as well.

Software

While there are several hardware elements that make this device a full package, it’s not without Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich that this equation becomes complete. We’ve got a full review of Ice Cream Sandwich from when Vince had a look at the international edition of the Galaxy Nexus, if you’d like to take a look, or follow along here for a slightly more basic vision of the same set of applications and settings, down to the processor and up to the font.

“Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is a platform that continues to deliver interesting tidbits each time you use it. A lot of the appeal is in the animations, such as when you tap the new on-screen home/menu/back buttons or swipe between panes, and which help to make the OS feel more consistent and thorough.” – Chris Davies

In this Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus, you’ve got TWO different applications in place that aren’t in place on any other version. These apps are Verizon apps and, contrary to those who would cry witch at the situation, they’re both pretty helpful and I’d even go so far as to say necessary for a Verizon-based device. Don’t forget to check your data or you’ll be ringing the bill bell.

Then there’s applications that you’ll find changed relatively significantly such as Gmail and the basic Email app, both of them showing off such Ice Cream Sandwich gems as the vertical three dots that signify the button that’ll lead you to your settings, or at least a list of shortcuts that includes your settings for the specific app you’re in. Have a peek at the Email app and the Gmail app here, and make sure your speakers aren’t too loud.

Then there’s the phone app which again will let you in on the cool nature of the blue/cyan lines that make Ice Cream Sandwich exciting and, again, aesthetically smooth. The actual functionality inside the Phone app hasn’t changed all that much compared to the Gingerbread version of the Phone app, but integration with the lovely update to your People (Contacts) app. All of this of course connects with your Gmail contacts and your Google+ contacts and your Facebook contacts and whatever other lists you want in the world. All of it gets cut down to this simple interface in your Phone:

For the rest of the Ice Cream Sandwich interface, you’ve got a couple of choices: you can look at our full review of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as it exists on the international version of the Galaxy Nexus. Again the only difference between that version and the one you’ve got here on the Verizon version is the hardware working with 4G LTE and the addition of those two Verizon apps. You can also take at our big Verizon Galaxy Nexus hands-on review supplement which just so happens to be right here:

As for connection speeds over LTE, you’ll find them to be fairly adequate, but depending on what side of the argument you’re on, you might be seeing slower speeds than you’re getting on other relatively new LTE-capable smart devices. For now what I can offer you is the speeds I’ve gotten here in the heart of the Twin Cities in Minnesota: Minneapolis and Saint Paul, these speeds looking pretty darn good. I’ve not had the connection problems others have been speaking about since the release of this device.

Benchmarks and Gaming

This device is meant to be a place for developers to run wild with the testing of apps in the most pure version of Ice Cream Sandwich. This tied with the Texas Instruments OMAP4 dual-core processor, one that’s found quite a bit of popularity here at the tail end of 2011, you’ll find yourself in a really smooth environment, flipping through screens and starting up applications without an extended wait in any regard. Tied to a display as massive in its pixels as this, though, you’ll find the benchmarks to be less intense than similar devices:

When your display is Super AMOLED HD with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution over 4.65 inches of screen, things like this are bound to happen. What you should be looking at in addition to the numbers above is a couple of games running on the device. First have a look at the jetski racing game Riptide GP:

Then have a glance at the third person shooter ShadowGun and see how nice it is to have that additional screen real-estate so your thumbs have somewhere to go:

Look rather nice, or seem terrible to you? Compare this to the iPad 2 with its dual-core Apple A5 processor running Apple’s newest mobile operating system iOS 5 as well as the ASUS Transformer Prime tablet running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, it also running the world’s most powerful mobile processor in the Tegra 3 quad-core superchip. You’ll certainly see some interesting results as well as a bunch of eye-candy for your efforts.

Camera

The camera has been promoted primarily as an extension of the abilities of Ice Cream Sandwich, and certainly that is where most of its power lies, but note also that this camera hardware isn’t half bad either. Have a look first here at a few photos of various objects to get a general idea of what you’ll be able to shoot. Note also that your software/hardware combination here allows you to take photos one after another almost instantaneously: see this speed in the hands-on video below.

This can lead to blurry photos if you’re not in a position where you’re actually holding the device still and tapping the shutter to capture something ELSE that is moving, something other than the device itself. There’s also a panorama mode for photos in this build, this aside from photo mode and video mode — in other words, Google is promoting the idea that yes, it’s good enough to need its own category in this case. Head to the gallery at the end of this post to see some examples of panorama photos big enough to see their inconsistencies.

“The final results can be great, but it’s not a home run. With sufficient light, images look natural and exposure is handled well, though colors are more muted than other recent Samsung Android phones we’ve used. Indoors, the Galaxy Nexus generally held up well in terms of avoiding too much noise, though occasionally the reduced shutter-lag technology actually proved something of a hindrance rather than a boon, with slight blurring showing up in the final shots.” – Vincent Nguyen

Above you’ll see the camera application in action and below you’ll see some fabulous examples of photos and a video showing everything.

Then there’s the video, which paired with the most advanced facial recognition software Google has at the moment, allows you to create some strange things right out of the box. What you’re about to look at is a video both shot and edited on the Galaxy Nexus itself, using the basic video camera and Movie Studio, an app that also comes with the smartphone right out of the box. The first part of the video shows the quality of the camera with a plain 1080p pan, then there are a few effects shots as they appear immediately after shooting, then some odd effects added in post in Movie Studio for the last few seconds or so. Titles also added in Movie Studio:

Battery

There’s definitely been some mixed reports on the battery life here, even amongst the staff here at SlashGear, so heed this: like all devices, it depends on what your “real world” use schedule is like. If you’re a person who when not playing high-needs video games is using their LTE connectivity to download hundreds of songs all day, you won’t get more than 6 or so hours out of your device. If on the other hand you have a knack for saving batteries though turning your display brightness down and your data connection off when you’re not using your device, you’ll have a fine full 10 hours of time on your hands. Get really creative and get more than that!

I should mention here that right out of the gate there have been some problems reported with battery time by early purchasers of the Galaxy Nexus, likely owing to a software glitch of some type or another. Your humble narrator saw no such glitch, but it was (and possibly still is) there. What seemed to be happening with these users was that their device remained “on” even when their display was turned off, this resulting in, believe it or not, low battery life. The problem will probably not exist by the time you pick up your device.

Wrap-Up

With thunderstorms of anticipation surrounding this device and a stack of specifications that didn’t seem to be all that much of a jump from the current top tier of smartphone devices in the market already, I was skeptical that this Nexus would impress my day to day mobile life the way the Nexus S did. I’ve also got the greatest smartphone I’ve ever used sitting here, that being the Galaxy S II, also made by Samsung, so how on earth could a device with a lower-clocked processor and what appeared at first to be a facia that’s slightly too big for my hand have any chance of being the new best?

The culmination of the display, the comfort in using the device with two hands (especially in gaming situations), and the undeniably smooth and high-powered software experience have convinced me. This is the new hero for Google and Samsung, and not just because it’s running Ice Cream Sandwich. It’s worth the cash you’re going to pay for it hardware-wise, it’ll get updates to its software first when it comes time for Google to update, and the whole Android development underground will have their fingers busier on this device than on any other for the coming year or so – or between now and the next Nexus from Google running Jellybean, that is.

On the other hand, if you’re the sort of person that wants to be absolutely sure that all the applications you’ve already got working on Android are able to work here right out of the box, buyer beware. While the biggest of the big and the most basic apps are working already, there are quite a few apps that won’t be compatible with this device until some months into the future. Now that the Galaxy Nexus is released here in the USA, development for most of these apps will be quicker than its been already, but the fact remains: I can’t play Grand Theft Auto III yet.

Other than that, you’ll find this to be the best Android smartphone on the market today. The power of the software is backed up by the loveliness of the hardware and this is as close as you’re going to get to a single Android device with a community following the same way iPhone commands the hoards of iOS users and developers. You probably wont see any diamond-encrusted cases or custom hand-cut wood battery covers, but the guts will be sufficiently messed with to fulfill any mobile device lovers desires.

This is the next step in the Motorola like of devices, and not just in the tablet lineup, in the dual-core and above lineup as well. Starting with the Motorola Atrix at the start of 2011, the dual-core processor-toting handset craze began, and with it Motorola started their lineup of dual-port-toting smart devices that continues to this day. The XYBOARD is the latest Motorola tablet to fit into this puzzle.

The Atrix and the Motorola XOOM were the first to have a microUSB and a microHDMI port at the bottom of them, and starting with this most recent wave of Motorola devices including the Photon, Atrix 2, Droid RAZR, Droid 3, and the XYBOARD tablets, the ports are equally spaced, allowing you to use basically any Motorola accessory with any Motorola Android device. Without getting too in-depth on that wavelength, this is a device that Motorola considers part of its own evolving family, one that does not necessarily need to compete with the rest of the Android world.

Hardware

This again is the smaller of two XYBOARD tablets, and in its international form is called the “XOOM 2 Media Edition” because it’s got an improved speaker setup and is supposedly better for listening to music and watching videos than the larger tablet. I’ve not personally found the experience to be all that different between the two in that regard – the difference, instead, in an everyday sense, is that these two tablets are different sizes physically. The DROID XYBOARD 8.2 at first seemed to me to be overpriced and under-improved when compared to the original XOOM, and I still do feel that way about the 10.1 version to a degree, but here in the 8.2 you’re going to find a rather nice package for a tablet, and one sized and shaped in a way that puts it up in the top 5 Android tablets on my list currently.

At this very moment, no tablet comes near the ASUS Transformer Prime for quality, price, or power in any way at all. What you’ve got here in the XYBOARD 8.2 is one of the three nicest tablets carried by Verizon right this moment, and the best 4G LTE tablet for what you’d find me needing one for in my line of work. I should remind you that I have no need for a tablet, and that’s the truth, but for the time that’d I like to have one around – like on an airplane ride to the next Motorola product release, for example, I’d bring this perfectly sized unit along.

For the full specifications on this tablet, head to our listing over at DEVICE.AC’s Motorola DROID XYBOARD 8.2, and note again the alternate XOOM 2 title. This tablet is extremely light, very well made, and amongst the thinnest tablets in the world.

Software

Inside you’ll find a very basic build of Android 3.2 Honeycomb, complete with Motorola-made app icons you’ll recognize from everything starting at the Droid 3 forward. The apps themselves aren’t as changed as you’ll find them on a recent Motorola smartphone – for instance the gallery for photos and video isn’t the slightly less than appealing media center you’ve got on the DROID RAZR, it’s the lovely stock Honeycomb (or something close) gallery we know and appreciate. Use this tablet on its own or connect it to your HDTV to watch some high definition movies without a skip – or even play some Sonic CD on that gigantic television with pixels large as life.

Have a peek at the HD Dock being released with this and the other XYBOARD here in a hands-on video to see how well the software works as a team with its holder. All it really does is stand the device upright and keep it plugged in to power and your HDMI port if you like, but because it’s adjustable and lets you use the tablet essentially like a control panel, it’s worth it. And it’s adjustable for use with the rest of the recent Motorola Android devices as well.

Battery and Camera

While the 4G LTE does have a bit of an effect on the battery, you’ll find that you’ve got at least a full day’s use on this tablet of basic functions like email, web browsing, and the like. If you’re doing nothing but playing high-demand games and streaming video, you’ve got closer to 6-8 hours on your hands. Very comparable to handsets not being drained by the strain of the connection speed.

The camera is so-so. No worse than the original Motorola XOOM, but certainly no better than the rest of the 2011 lineup of Android tablets what with their similar 5-megapixel cameras, the lot of them. Have a peek at some examples in both photos and video here and in the gallery below:

Wrap-Up

This tablet is nice, and if you rule out the facts that it’ll cost you an arm and a leg to first purchase it then pay each month for 4G LTE connectivity, you’ve got a nice tablet on your hands. I find myself very skeptical that there’s a real need for data-connected tablets on today’s market outside those people who’ve got specific use-cases in mind, so if you’re just an average lady or man out there thinking of picking up a tablet for fun, I still suggest you look into a wifi-only tablet instead. That said, if you do have a need for mobile data on a tablet, this is certainly one of your better choices.

I’d rate this tablet slightly higher than the Samsung choice on LTE simply because I like to have HDMI connectivity right out of the box, but lower than the iPad 2 also available on Verizon simply because the iPad 2 STILL seems like a more complete package. For those of you looking for the best Android tablet overall, go for the ASUS Transformer Prime. For those of you looking for an Android tablet specifically on the Verizon LTE network, don’t rule the XYBOARD 8.2 out.

Hardware

Before we begin, note that we’re having a look at this 10.1-inch model XYBOARD first here in this post, then the 8.2-inch version later this week! Now here in the DROID XYBOARD you’ve got Motorola’s second and most third most confortable to use tablet on the market, the 10.1-inch version only trumped by the surprisingly lightweight 8.2-inch version we’ll be reviewing later on also here on SlashGear. The 10.1-inch tablet here has a relatively bright LCD display at a standard 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. It’s covered up by a layer of reinforced Gorilla Glass, while the innards of this device share the same splash-resistant coating that the DROID RAZR does. You’ve got a microSIM card slot here, but no microSD slot like the XOOM does, the rest of your ports consisting of the standard headphones jack on top and a standardized Motorola setup of microUSB aside microHDMI ports next to one another on the bottom. This means you’ll be able to use the full rundown of Motorola devices in this current season, even though most of them are basically meant for handsets.

This tablet is only .02 inches than the thinnest tablet on the market right now, and at 599g it beats out the 730g of its predecessor, the original XOOM, by a healthy margin. In other words, you can tell the difference even without having both in your hands. You’ll have a much easier time gripping this tablet than most other tablets on the market today (if you have any trouble with any of them, that is), and the sharp-curve of the corners makes for a nice differentiation point from the rest of the world’s slates.

Software

You’ll be running Android 3.2 Honeycomb out of the box with some very BASIC additions by Motorola to make it their own. You’ll have the same Honeycomb Vanilla gallery, same camera, same interface on the whole, it’s just the icons a handful of applications that are coming from the manufacturer and Verizon. Most prominent is the MotoCast app sitting right there on your main home screen just begging you to get into Motorola’s extended world of devices via their rather nicely crafted software ecosystem – check out the DROID RAZR and the Motorola MOTOACTV reviews we’ve got to get a better idea of what it means to be part of this bigger family Motorola is promoting here.

Then it’s all about the built-in games like Madden 2012 which is, admittedly, the first sports game I’ve enjoyed on the mobile platform thus far, and that “Let’s Golf” game we’ve seen on essentially every Android device since early this year — someone did some GOOD promotion deals, I’ll tell you that much. You’ve also got Evernote which works just fine with your included sylus pen for hand-written digital notes, GoToMeeting for group chatting, and Quickoffice HD which you’ll find works more than good enough for editing your Office documents on the go. Slingbox, Skitch, VideoSurf, Dijit, and even Netflix begin to look like the devil word: “bloatware” when they’re all stacked up on two screens of unremovable apps that come with this talbet straight from the store, but they’re certainly not the worst quality apps when it comes down to it for someone looking to avoid the Android Market entirely.

You’ll find that the dual-core processor from Texas Instruments is the 1.2 GHz OMAP4 you’ve been seeing on a lot of devices with Android under the hood lately, it appearing in title to out-do the most common dual-core processor of 2011 the NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz, but having a look at our Quadarant Advanced benchmarks here you’ll see the increase isn’t the most fantastic in the world, but is certainly something to have a look at – pay attention to the individual numbers for a wild bit of difference:

You’ll notice one big difference: I/O has had the doors blown off between the two of these machines. You’ll not notice the difference in real life usage unless you’re REALLY attuned to the functions of the device – the ladies and gentlemen in the audience won’t be able to tell the difference. Have a peek at the device in action here in the hands-on video and know the truth:

Camera / Battery

Just like the original XOOM and the rest of the greater Android tablet family, the XYBOARD 10.1′s up time is several days strong if you’re not using it for heavy activities like streaming video. If you ARE streaming video non-stop, you’ll probably be plugged into the wall anyway, but just supposing your not: you’ve got something like 6-8 hours streaming via LTE. For those heavy users playing nothing but HD games and playing music via Google Music at the same time, you’ve got just about the same amount of uptime ahead of you.

The camera on this device is not especially good. It’s a 5-megapixel shooter, but don’t expect much better than what you got with the original XOOM. This tablet is certainly not made to be the master of the 5 megapixel shooters that the Galaxy Nexus is, nor is it ready to take on the big guns in tablet photography that the HTC Jetstream and the ASUS Transformer PRIME are, the both of them. Have a peek at some examples here and in the gallery below.

Wrap-Up

The question that’ll be popping up on most XOOM owners minds at one point or another now is this: should I upgrade? With a tablet that’s got such a similar processor and a display that’s not especially improved over the original XOOM, it’s essentially only the chassis and the fact that you can no longer use a microSD card that should sway you in one direction or the other – not to mention the money you’ll have to drop to move from one model to the next. If you’ve already got a tablet, I’ll say, this probably isn’t going to seem like much of an improvement over the model you’ve already got.

If on the other hand you’ve never used an Android tablet before, this is as good a place to start as any, as believe it or not, most Android tablets aren’t all the different from one another, regardless of their manufacturer. The biggest difference between Android tablets at the moment can be found in the ASUS Transformer Prime — therein lies the next generation of Android tablets, complete with keyboard dock that turns the thing into a laptop and a quad-core processor that beats down the whole rest of the Android world with ease. But if you’re not quite into that world yet and would like to remain in this fully connected LTE world (the Prime has no carrier affiliation as of yet), then by all means try out the XYBOARD 10.1 and Motorola your way to victory. Feel free to ask any additional questions below and I’ll do my best to answer, and another reminder: we’re reviewing the 8.2-inch version of this tablet here on SlashGear as well, soon!

The complete specs rundown and official release can be found here but I’ve also got all the details for you. The Honor takes things up a notch from previously released Huawei (pronounced Wha-whey) products and shows that they do in fact have some awesome hardware and great performance to offer the mid and high-end smartphone buyer in this crowded Android market.

Hardware

The hardware and general feel of this device is a definite step up from what we’ve seen thus far from Huawei. They’ve provided a bright and crisp 4.0″ 480 x 854 resolution display on a thin and not so wide chassis that comes in around 10.8mm thick. Covered in Corning Gorilla Glass it will also hold up to daily abuse. The good stuff comes with the innards and the camera though.

Hauwei’s equipped this smartphone with a Qualcomm 1.4 GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM (only downfall) and 4GB of internal storage. With micro-SD and micro-USB ports we should be fine with adding additional storage. The good news doesn’t end here either. The Honor has an awesome 8.0 megapixel camera on the rear and a much better than most 2 megapixel front camera for video chat. All of this is powered by Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread and a huge 1930 mAh battery under the hood.

For a device rocking a 4″ display the entire phone is small and pleasant to hold. Being average in size compared to most 4″ offerings Huawei decided on a thinner and longer screen. The device being so thin actually gives it a very small footprint and makes it seem much smaller than other phones I’ve recently held. I like this approach and makes it unique but at the same time the thin design made the on-screen keyboard slightly cramped.

The hardware is some of the best I’ve seen from Huawei and if I had to gauge it I’d say it fits neatly between the superior hardware of HTC and the lightweight plastic of Samsung. The back and battery cover is a thick glossy plastic that feels both lightweight and durable giving it an overall favorable build quality. The call and speaker volume was exceptionally clear and loud too.

Software

Powered by Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread any past experience with Android users will feel at home. Other than a few visual changes with the home screen, launcher, and a few menu’s the entire UI is the same. Similar to Samsung’s approach they’ve made a few things better while not tackling the entire OS like HTC does with their Sense UI. We do have a custom home launcher that makes the icons and general scrolling through screens and applications different than we’re used to but nothing overly crazy. Performance here was great.

We have a Ice Cream Sandwich style unlock screen and while our unit was running pre-production software the entire build seemed very stable and extremely smooth and fluid. The writing on the lockscreen should be ignored in the video. As far as bloatware apps we have TouchPal Keyboard (that helped on the thin screen), Security Guard, App Installer for third party apps, and Documents to go. Much less than we’ve seen from others. The video demonstration below will go over the few small changes to the OS including the launcher and their custom multitask/task manager they’ve included.

Performance

From the video above you can clearly see there is no slowdown or lag present with the Honor. In a world of dual-core smartphones this 1.4 GHz single-core device is the highest end of what we now call a mid-range device — and the performance backs it up. In terms of benchmarks, because we love benchmarks, the Huawei Honor came in quite average although for a stock single-core system the results were higher than expected.

Scoring well over 2600 in 3 different Quadrant Advanced tests that was more than enough for me. I’ve seen multiple older dual-core smartphones score lower (think Motorola Photon, Droid X2). We also ran Vellamo for good measure and its result has me questioning its validity. Beating every single and dual-core smartphone or tablet available but one. This was quite a concern but I’ll just share the results and conclude in saying performance was excellent from gaming to web browsing so take these results as you will.

Camera & Battery Life

The battery life has been amazing thus far, putting the Honor up near the top of my list. Having a single-core processor and no overly huge screen the 1930 mAh battery kept this phone running well throughout a single days use. If you want a phone that wont require being attached to a power outlet or car charger this would be a decent place to start.

The Huawei Honor packs an 8 megapixel HDR capable camera on the rear with LED flash and for this phone being a cheaper and contract-free smartphone I was extremely pleased with its performance. Most budget devices supply users with a crap camera but that isn’t the case here. Its shutter speed puts even the DROID Bionic to shame. Check out this sample photo here with even more in the full gallery below.

Wrap-Up

Huawei might not be as popular or widely celebrated as the HTC’s and Samsung’s in the mobile world, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be. If Huawei continues to put out great hardware like this here phone and the award winning Huawei Vision I see no reason to think otherwise. The Huawei Honor is launching in parts of Asia this month and is said to be coming to Cricket Wireless stateside as the Glory fully unlocked and contract free for $299. This is bringing high-end to the contract free budget smartphone market.

Hardware

This machine is nowhere near as light as the MacBook Air, and is not nearly as unique looking as the Alienware M17x (or the smaller 15), but you’re not in this for Apple or for light-up keys and gaming prowess, are you? You want a Lenovo laptop, and because you’ve been more than satisfied with the U260 IdeaPad you purchased at the start of 2011, you assume that this new much more powerful device will bump you up in every way. What you might want to consider though, in that case, is that the casing on this device isn’t the same super soft rubbery-like plastic you got with the U260 series, instead its a cold, smooth, silvery aluminum that’ll stick to your tongue if you’ve just gotten it in from the UPS truck – that’s a true story right there – believe it!

You will notice though that the same styling is essentially here, what with the slightly extended top and bottom around the sides toting a couple of USB 2.0 ports, one 3.0 port, DVD drive, HDMI, headphone jack, OneKey Recovery button, ethernet port, and power port. In this way, the whole notebook looks like a real paper and pages notebook, if you’ve never seen a modern Lenovo laptop before, and the feel of holding said computer is ever-so-slightly unique. As for the rest of the specifications, have a look at this readout and know the truth:

The full metal jacket on the outside and the in is a welcome change from the plastic interiors of past Lenovo notebooks, feeling much more like a high-end notebook than ever before. The “Intelligent” glass touchpad is both responsive and easy to use, and the keyboard is spaced in a way that allows typing at high speeds, especially if you’re used to using either an Apple notebook or another Lenovo. Like all keyboards both attached and detached from their computers, I suggest heading to your local Best Buy (or other store that might have this device out for demo use) to see how the unit feels as your fingers fly across it with the greatest of ease.

Software

You’re using Windows 7 Home Premium here out of the box, but with the Intel Core i5 chipset sitting on the inside of this beast, you’ll be fine running whatever system you like as well as whatever set of games you like, no troubles. Of course this isn’t the absolute top of the line machine when it comes to godly gaming (again, that’s the Alienware machine seen above), but it’ll have no qualms with running each of the big-name games announced throughout this holiday season we’re in here at the end of 2011. There’s a row of shortcut buttons that work with Windows 7 to do things like turn your microphone off and on and grab instant access to display options, each of these working just as well as the rest of the hardware, without a hitch.

Have a peek at this Geekbench benchmark and note how it racks up against the rest of the laptops we’ve reviewed recently – for example the Acer Timeline X AS5830TG-640 which has a Core i5 processor, a 15.6-inch display, and a $799.99 price tag. There’s also the Toshiba Satellite P745-S4250 14-inch display having Core i5 toting notebook for $779.99, complete with a big ‘ol TOSHIBA brand across the back. Don’t forget the 13-inch MacBook Air with a Core i5 processor and the thinnest profile on the market for a cool $999. And if you’re in the market for one Lenovo or the other, there’s also the IdeaPad Z370, a Core i5 processor toting 13.3-inch notebook for $622. Again remember the price on the 14-inch display toting Intel Core i5 chip equipped IdeaPad we’re looking at right this second runs in at $1,299.00 USD. Have a look at the Geekbench results from this big shooter:

Usability

After a full charge and some streaming video playing a bit before some everyday average gaming, this computer lasted somewhere around 4 hours without needing a boost, just like Lenovo quotes in their promotional material for this device. While this would seem a bit disappointing to those of you out there in super battery land on your MacBooks, it should be noted that the time is far expanded should you choose to do normal “student” activities such as word processing and web browsing – more than enough to get you through a class or two.

Because the build, look, and feel of this and a wide variety of notebook computers on the market right this moment largely run right alongside one another, it’ll really come down to your preference in details such as key shape, materials in the case, and weight in this unit. While you won’t find just one whole heck of a lot of difference between this and the rest of the so-called “ultraportable” classification of computers on the market today, I will let you know that this isn’t the least likely notebook I’d think about bringing with me to a coffee shop, classroom, or a press event where I’d have to rely on it to move quickly and act no less than perfectly responsibly.

Wrap-Up

For those of you with a specific use-case in mind, be sure to comment below and I’ll let you know if I think this computer is the one for you or not. For me, it’s simply not the perfect combination of thin, light, and powerful. While it does have the awesome power of the Intel Core i5 chipset, it’s not going to beat an Alienware notebook at home for gaming for a rather comparable price. For heading out of the house to publish some stories or work with video, I can’t imagine replacing me MacBook Pro with this – even though the 15-inch Pro I’m working with weighs more and has more bulk in it in the end.

If you’re looking to upgrade from another Lenovo notebook, this is your winner. Like I said earlier in this review, if you’re coming off of one of Lenovo’s rubbery-topped models like the U260, you might find yourself wishing you still had that grip on the outside – but inside you’ll be glad you’ve now got the class that comes with metal. This computer is by no means less than classy when it comes to the whole package, exterior aesthetics and all, and with results in benchmarks that top the whole first half of 2011′s collection of notebooks made by all manner of manufacturers, this notebook certainly isn’t a bad buy. For the $1k+ cash I’d drop on this machine though, I’d rather just have another Apple.

First I’ll direct you to our Nitro HD hands-on and unboxing to get the two of you more acquainted with one another but also let you know we have an extended hands-on video below too. The LG Nitro HD has impressive specs, a pretty screen, fast 4G LTE speeds and everything else you’d want from a top of the line Android smartphone. We’ll go over some hardware and software today to help you decide if this is the phone for you, or if another 4G LTE offering like the Galaxy S II Skyrocket would be more fitting.

Hardware

LG has delivered with the Nitro in terms of design and hardware specs but when you actually get up close and personal the phone seems to be pretty average in regards to its looks. With phones like the DROID RAZR or the Galaxy S II looking all sexy the Nitro leaves a little to be desired. It is by no means an ugly phone and still has a sleek and good design and feels great in the hand.

The Nitro offers an AT&T first 1280 x 720p HD display measuring 4.5″ in size while being powered by an LG H-IPS panel. The viewing is excellent outside or in sunlight but the colors still can’t quite match that of the AMOLED’s from Samsung. The pixels are extremely sharp and pictures or video playback was excellent, especially the included HD video samples on the device. We also have a powerful 1.5 GHz Qualcomm processor under the hood, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. The Nitro comes with an additional 16GB micro-SD card in the device too, so that was nice.

Around back is the 8 megapixel camera with LED flash and a goofy looking but well purposed soft touch battery cover. The texture is unique but will keep you from dropping the device anytime soon. We have a 1.3 front camera for video chat and then the usual array of buttons around the phone. A lone volume rocker occupies the left side while nothing is around to the right. Up top is the 3.5mm headphone jack, power/wake button, and the micro-USB port for charging. The charger cover is unusually large too, in case you didn’t notice.

Software

LG’s software customizations are a bit similar to Samsung’s while taking a few hints from iOS (if you feel my drift) and while they aren’t all that different from standard Android 2.3 Gingerbread you do notice the differences. They’ve also added the same motion controls for moving icons and widgets but I found it to be highly difficult to control and actually disabled it first thing. Personally that should be an option, not enabled by default.

Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread is stable and everything we Andy fans have come to know and love. I personally have a strong craving for Ice Cream Sandwich lately but I’m sure this will get the update in due time. For an AT&T phone bloatware was actually pretty minimal other than the usual AT&T stuff. We have Navigator and barcode scanner, AT&T Map, and a few other carrier apps. Bloatware consists of MOG Music, Qik Lite, Twitter, YP, and my personal favorite — Zynga Poker HD.

Below is our extended hands-on showing you a little more about the phone and the software that was not covered in our initial hands-on coverage. Enjoy the video below followed by a full gallery of images.

LG Nitro HD Extended hands-on and speedtest results

Performance and Benchmarks

Having a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor we had to run a few benchmarks to see where she sat. I was actually quite impressed with the Nitro considering the larger screen and pixel count. Performance is stable and smooth and while a few slowdowns were most likely related to LG software-side changes the overall experience was stable and fluid — especially for a powerful dual-core device.

Quadrant wasn’t the best we’ve seen but when compared to average at best results from other 1.5 GHz dual-core phones from HTC I was actually pleasantly surprised. I managed around 2600-2900 in Quadrant Advanced. The real show was Vellamo where the Nitro acted more like nitroglycerin (fight club style) and blew up the scoreboard. Vellamo tests browser performance device-wide and while I had a few random freezes and one force close with the Nitro Vellamo seemed to love the phone.

AT&T 4G LTE results

Currently AT&T’s 4G LTE network is still in its infancy, most areas are still waiting for the update but here in Las Vegas it’s moving along plenty fast and stable. I rarely see more than two bars of service but I’ve not experienced the in and out 4G/3G drops that I’ve seen from Verizon phones. That is a big plus for AT&T and will probably save some precious battery life too. Without talking it up here are my speedtest results.

Battery Life and Camera

LG’s equipped this phone with a large 1830 mAh battery to help out with the drain from the large screen and 4G LTE and while it seems to hold its own quite well compared to many from Verizon, I still would love better battery life. The picture below is better then what most users will see, but was how a mildly light day of usage went. At least standby performance is suburb here right?

The LG Nitro HD’s 8 megapixel camera was actually very impressive if you ask me. While 1080p video was a little choppier than I’d like the picture quality was excellent. Motorola needs some serious help here and should maybe look to LG for direction. Shutter speed was quick, flash was accurate and not over the top, and natural lighting shots were great even for close-ups. Here is a sample and more are in the full gallery below.

Wrap-Up

So did the LG Nitro HD deliver? Sort of. I’d say this is a good top tier smartphone for those on AT&T while having a little bit of compromise. Yes the screen is amazingly crisp and 720p but the Samsung Galaxy S II colors are better and brightness outshines the Nitro. The changes to Android aren’t my favorite but I’d hardly call them a con. Battery life could be better, but that goes for all 4G LTE devices so you should know that before hand.

If you want one of the best devices from AT&T while having one of the best camera’s on a smartphone I’ve tested in a while the LG Nitro is a great choice. Pair that with the highest resolution display available for the carrier and truly excellent call quality and speakerphone this is a pretty hard phone to pass up. If I had to choose one of the three from AT&T it’d be a hard call. The Vivid has the best build quality, Nitro has the screen resolution but the Samsung Galaxy S II might be the ideal package. If you’re a pixel counter the LG Nitro HD will suit you amazingly well and you wont be disappointed. It is available right now from AT&T for just $249 by clicking here.

Hardware

Like its predecessors the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 7.7, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is monumentally thin, and just as it was when we first laid eyes and hands on the pre-production build back at CTIA spring 2011, this tablet is a winner when it comes to industrial design. It’s simply lovely in its form, feeling like Samsung wanted to knock the tablet game out of the park with a simple set of matte black plastic along the back and silver plastic around the edge, with the entirety of the front being a tough layer of glass and a 1/2-inch border of black under the glass around the 8.9-inch display. This display is a PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen at 800 x 1280 pixel resolution and the whole device sizes in at 230.9 x 157.8 x 8.6 mm.

The display is no AMOLED, to be sure, but it is relatively bright and will suffice for your everyday indoor activities. This tablet is in a class with the iPad and the top-tier Androids when it comes to overall quality, and you’ll know good and well where your $479.99 (with a free phone) went when you’ve purchased it. This tablet is the ideal size for those of you wishing for a tablet that’s both compact but not so small to fit in your pocket, and certainly light and thin enough to keep in a purse. You’ll want to think about purchasing a case for the tablet if you’re carrying it around in your daily satchel, especially since you don’t want the screen to get all nicked up by keys and coins.

Software

Again take a peek at our review of TouchWiz UX for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to see what this device is running more in-depth, otherwise feel free to see the hands-on video we’ve got here to check the size difference. This version of TouchWiz is running a bit more smooth than it was on the 10.1 when it was first launched, and it’s certainly nice to have the screenshot feature at the bottom of the screen, but that bar sitting around at all times can get rather annoying. Where Android’s tablet-specific operating system version Honeycomb and the soon to be prevalent tablet and handset-based Ice Cream Sandwich both have the feature where these buttons fade down to nearly invisible when you don’t need them, Samsung has found it necessary to remind you that they’re there at all times with a dedicated bar. This takes away a bit of your screen space for taps as well as for viewing space, mind you, so you may well want to consider this when looking for that perfect tablet.

That said, if you’ve never used Android on a tablet before, you’ll probably not notice the difference as compared to even the most massive smartphone, this display will seem like a monster. That’s of course also assuming you’ve never held a tablet of any other kind either – you’ll want to compare this tablet to a set of other Samsung devices to choose your true size (for 8.9-inch displays and smaller, of course): Galaxy Note vs Galaxy S II vs Galaxy Tab 7.7. For my own personal use, I’ll stick with the Galaxy S II unless I’m playing some games, in which case I won’t need an internet connection and will of course want the Wi-fi version of the 8.9 instead of this LTE-connected slate we’re looking at today.

Camera

The shooter on the back of this device is decent for the 3 megapixels it packs. You won’t be collecting the same masterpieces your Galaxy Note and your Galaxy S II are rolling with, but for Facebook images and sharing on Google+, you should be ok. Have a peek at a couple examples at 3 megapixels for photos and 720p for video below.

Battery and Speed Test

Like most tablets these days, the battery on this device appears to be doing quite well. You’re working with a 6100 mAh lithium ion non-removable unit here, and since that’s pretty massive and you’re not going to be using this device nearly as much as you do a smartphone, you’ll be good for AT LEAST a full day’s work and play. When you’re running streaming video, you’ll be slightly less successful with around 7-8 hours. Enough for a few movies on a long car ride. Playing high-demand games will yield similar results, but in the upper 9-10 hour area if you’ve started with a full battery.

Have a peek at the LTE speeds as recorded in a real live AT&T 4G LTE city, one of the few in the united states today. Note that this device can also access AT&T’s much larger HSPA+ network which also goes relatively quick.

Hands-on Demonstration

What you’ve gotta know right this second about the first hands-on your humble narrator did on this device is that I was a complete idiot and made the device look like a wanker because I didn’t realize it was downloading a ton of apps all at once. You can head back to that post and leave some incendiary comments, or have a look at a much more accurate hands-on demonstration here. No bugs found!

Wrap-Up

Samsung appears to be trying for every single size device here in the smart mobile world, with 10.1-inches, 8.9, 7.7, 7, 5.3, 5, 4.65, 4.52, 4.5, 4.3, and the list goes on and on. No matter what you want, Samsung has you covered in AT LEAST the display size department. The Galaxy Tab 8.9 is the nicest size I’ve seen for playing games – not too big, not too small, but I must admit I’ve not personally held the 7.7 in my hands yet, so we’ll see how that ads up when it does.

As far as connections go, Samsung doesn’t seem too concerned with allowing you to hook up to anything but your personal computer via the USB cord they include – and note, this isn’t a microUSB cord, it’s one unique to Samsung’s tablet line. You can purchase peripherals like the USB connector you can see in your humble narrator’s review of a wireless gamepad controller on Android Community, but they all come separate. You can also plug in a headphone cord at the top of this tablet, but other than that, you’ll be picking up extra converters to connect. Then it all comes down to size when deciding, otherwise it’s the same great Samsung tablet you saw with the original Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Storyline

The storyline here is one that takes place some months after the prison madness of Batman: Arkham Asylum, the first game in this series. What’s gone on since then is the city government of Gotham City has created a walled-in miniature town in which all the criminals that would otherwise have been sent to the asylum for the criminally insane have been confined – this city is called Arkham City. This and the fact that a set of corrupt police officers under the orders of the fellow who’s been left in charge of the city have tossed Bruce Wayne in the city to fend for himself make this storyline appear rather familiar.

This is a re-written version of Escape from New York (or Escape from Los Angeles, if you prefer), and Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, is Snake Plissken. Once you’ve been pulled into the city by the sinister Hugo Strange, who is running the city in this storyline, your goal is to continue the investigation you started before you were captured – and with your endless arsenal of gadgets, abilities, and skills in both the combat and detective arenas, you’ll have more than an engaging time doing so. The story does aim at making this a quintessential Batman game as it does appear to try to contain each and every one of the main villains, but of course its unlikely nature is easily trumped by the vastness of the environment and your complete freedom in exploring all of your possibilities.

This is a Batman story, and because it takes on the story started in the first Arkham game and expands upon it by literally turning the asylum into an entire city, it’s great. And not only do you get to move through the main storyline, there are side-stories and tasks you can attain as well. And of course, what good game centered around a city would be complete without Grand Theft Auto free-play, your ability to explore nearly without limit!

Gameplay

When you play this game, you are Batman. You’ll want to put on your movie-quality Batman mask and put on the sharp gloves because you’ll feel like you’re the real deal. You play the part of the real detective Batman, the one with vast sets of maps, decoding tools, and your trusty pal Alfred Pennyworth (aka Bruce Wayne’s butler and Batman’s most valuable helper, for those of you unfamiliar). You also play the part of the fully equipped Batman, complete with every little Bat-tool you’ve ever heard of. Fly to the tops of buildings with your Line Launcher pulling you from the ground all the way up, glide around the town with your cape-cum-Bat-Glider, and traverse the landscape as you discover the ever-changing set of situations in the whole of Arkham City.

You’ve got levels on top of levels of ways to interact with your environment, from punching a bad guy in the face to attaching a line to a horizon scaffold to lower yourself down on top of the enemy head-first. You can attack a villain from above, flipping down to knock him out with your boot. You can make a glide-attack from a half-mile above a group of gangsters directly to a fellow’s face. Toss your Remote Controlled Batarang and make it flip and fly from your hand down the aisle, around the corner, and under a table to hit a notorious fellow in the kneecap. You will know the meaning of a diverse set of views and controls when you work here in the city.

You’ll want to choose your controls wisely. The folks who make the game have some special edition Batarang controllers you can use, but know this: there are many ways. When you see the demonstration video you’ll see your humble narrator using the keyboard on the laptop and a plain ol’ two-button and a scroll wheel mouse. You’ve got many choices, to say the least.

Graphics

Again I must say that this is far and away the most aesthetically voluptuous video game I’ve ever played, and with the setup I’ve got running here there’s no waiting for anything. Flowing cape, purple haze, and masses of bats haunt your vision as you move through a very real (yet virtual, believe it or not) world of Arkham City. You’ll walk across a collapsing set of poles over motel metal, gaze over the masses of buildings complete with weather, and move in and out of cinematics without even a moment’s delay.

When you fight a set of gangsters, you’ll know you’ve beaten them all because whichever ends up being your final punch or kick is swiftly zoomed in on shown in ultra slow-motion. It’s just lovely. Have a peek at the enhancements you’ll be working with should you play this game with the same GPU we’re having a look at here – lots more floaties!

Hands-on with Batman: Arkham City on an Alienware M17xR3

The 3rd Dimension

I played this game in 3D with the NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 wireless 3D glasses you see in the hands-on video. Notice in the video that you’re not seeing in 3D — that’s not because the 3D glasses don’t work, its because the camera can’t translate the effect. What you’re seeing instead is one of two frames that the glasses would otherwise send to your two eyes for the full 3D effect. And that effect is good. Where I’m by no means a fan of the 3D era we’re in right this moment, these glasses fit my face, the lenses cover my eyes adequately, and I don’t get a headache like I did with the ol’ blue and red glasses or these no-glasses 3D effects we’re seeing with some smartphones this past year.

Those are nasty, this is undeniably good.

Wrap-up

This game is the one rig giants will be using as their go-to for “look at how amazing this machine is” for quite some time, without a doubt. The folks at Rocksteady Studios have done a fantastic job of both developing and delivering the game, this including promoting the game with several offers on each different iteration of the game – like Gamestop where you’ll find the reviews sitting at 10 out of 10 almost without end. This game is out now for several platforms including Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, but as this PC version is without a doubt the most aesthetically powerful, this is the one you should get. Suit up now.

And know this – as with all of our reviews here on SlashGear of products like smartphones, tablets, computers of all types, and even the tiniest of remote control vehicles, you’re welcome to continue to ask questions throughout the future that your humble narrator (or whoever did each particular review) will do their best to answer. In other words – what else do you want to know?

So here’s what you do – you open the box, you take the base station and you plug the upright USB stick into it. You plug that base station in with the cord that powers it up, connect it to a power socket that is, then you connect it to your TV with the HDMI cord that’s included with the package. Next you pop the CD from the box in your Windows PC, and click through the installation process which takes less than 5 minutes, and you plug in the other USB stick and hit “OK” for all the drivers which instantly get installed without trouble. From here you click which mode you’d like to be in (I like extended display mode), and BAM. You’re in business.

Now all you’ve got to do is pull that window with Thor playing in it to the extra large and awesome display you’ve got in your HDTV, and you can have a great time continuing to browse your Thor-loving forums in the meantime from your couch. I’ve really truly been looking for such a simple solution to this first world problem of having to get up click a mouse each time I want a new file to play ever since I first got into the wild world of media centers. This means having a computer of some sort control what’s displayed on your television rather than using the cable and a remote control. Take command of your programming!

What you’ve got now is full access to anything you can pick up from the internet, displayed instead on your gigantic television, all controlled from your laptop. Or if you prefer, your PC sitting across the room. Think about this situation: you’ve got a couple of kids that want to watch a new YouTube video every time the last one has ended, but you want your PC to yourself. All you’ve got to do here is move your mouse out to the second display (your TV) and hit the play button instead of having to turn your display around and around per Johnny and Sally’s request. Freedom at last!

Have a peek at all the components above and below and pick the device up right this second (or grab it for your fun-loving PC owner friend or relative for the holidays, they’ll love you for it.) You can purchase the StreamHD at Warpia online for just $159.99 right now!

And your dog won’t be the only one watching the action go down, your cat and your kid will have a fit as well. What you’ll see in the hands-on video is the device running on one of its automatic modes, registering what’s in front of it to make turns and back up and flip out squawking and beeping and flaring up lights, and that’s not the half of it! This little beast gets a full 15 minutes of use per 40 minutes of charging, and the charging might be the cutest part of the whole equation. See that action up in the main picture? That’s the tank plugged in with its fold-out USB stick into the side of our laptop PC. When it’s charged to the top, it lets you know with a successful “blerp!”

In this case, the device is autonomous and does seem to enjoy pestering the pets, as it were – here are explanations of each of the three control modes:

Mode 1: In obstacle avoidance mode, the Tankbot searches for obstacles and does not travel in a straight line. If no obstacles are found, it spins around and goes to sleep. Waving an object within a few centimeters in front of the product will wake it up. If a climbing angle of Tankbot is too steep, it will reverse turn.

Mode 2: In light and sound mode, if a climbing angle of the Tankbot is too steep, it will reverse turn.

Mode 3 Control: iDeskPet Universal Remote must be aimed at the Tankbot from a distance of 1m to 3m and towards the front black screen of the Tankbot and not from behind. If the item is not controlled for more than 60 seconds, it spins around and goes to sleep.

This device can run on its own artificial intelligence via sensors dictating its path, or you can control it with your smartphone. A simple download and setup process will have you rolling around in no time, just a simple dongle deal with a couple of lights plugged into your smartphone’s headphone jack has it connected with great ease. You’ll notice in the official app that there’s a small family of these vehicles growing as you tap, catch them all as the group expands! Now we’ve only to wait and see how long it is before these little beasts learn to fly or run in the water – boats and spaceships ahoy!

You can head over to RadioShack right now for the least expensive place to pick one of these up: $19.99 and a perfect stocking stuffer you shall have. Know what I mean?

Hardware

You’ll immediately have a bit of a smile on your face with a status identifying colored set of lights around the power/sleep button in the center bottom front of the unit. This button is able to put your whole machine asleep, turn it off and on, and will let you know what mode your machine is in at any given time. The entire machine is ready to go out of the box on the hardware side, but will require that you click through a set of yes, ok, ok, yes updates once you turn it on for the first time. Once you’ve got the whole thing set up, you’ve really got the whole machine here in one, and if you’re not the kind of person who minds the most basic set of controllers (mouse and keyboard) on earth, you won’t even need those as they’re contained in the box as well.

That said, the keyboard and mouse are the most basic of the basic, clunky keys and lightest plastic available contained within. These should be assumed to be only for the setup of the machine unless this is your first personal computer, in which case you’ll have a great time upgrading when the time is right. The display does not leave one wanting, brightness and viewing angles superb and top of the line, and the built-in speakers are certainly enough to tide over a single person using the machine for movies, music, and other media on their own. You’ll need some 3rd party speakers if you want to use this device as a media center for parties and movie showings, if you know what I mean. That said, the entire unit works perfectly with the Warpia StreamHD unit we also received this week, an few clicks in a couple of setup screens and we had 720p video feeding into the HDTV without trouble. Read more about this situation in our full review of the StreamHD.

This computer certainly is not the king of gaming, but it’ll play all your favorites with basically no hitches in the least. The only drawback here is that you’ll have to use regular old 15-pin cable connector if you want to go up to a larger display — but again why would you want to when this computer will roll out with as much high definition on its own lovely display anyway?

Above take a peek at what we’re working with, then head down to the benchmark score chart from Geekbench and get your comparison on.

Software

You’ll be running whichever version of Windows (or Linux, or whatever other oddball OS you’ve got in mind) with total success, and as this machine does come with Windows 7 pre-loaded, you’ll be off and running right out of the box. Inside the set of applications you receive will be sufficient for word processing and any and all of your homework or basic office needs, and as this computer runs a perfectly sufficient set of hardware bits behind the scenes, you’ll be able to run whatever other 3rd party applications you need without trouble as well. For you gamers out there, NVIDIA is under the hood, so you know good and well that you’ll be able to roll out with any of the top games in the market right now with a top of the line graphics experience.

The interface is swift, never once have I had to force an application to close, and running multiple monitors with the methods we’ve got available here has been perfectly successful.

Versatility

For those of you that are wondering, I’ve not been working on a desktop computer now for several years. It’s a testament to the quality that Acer has cultivated here that I say that this all-in-one PC could easily continue to sit at the end of my desk and see daily use, even though I use my 15-inch notebook computer for most of my everyday work. The computer is by no means light, and certainly isn’t mean to be carried around with one to and from the office on the daily, but as the back bracket does fold down and the entire unit can be carried with two hands (cords and all), this isn’t the least transportable desktop computer on the block.

It’s an impressively designed computer that attains cleanliness and an overall nice look without the display even being on that attains such accolades without falling into the same trap many manufacturers often do these days: ripping off Apple. Instead Acer continues to keep their PC heads high making a modern machine which will impress even the most steadfast desires to look as good on the outside as it does on the in. That said, the inside does, again, work quick and nice, so no worries on that front.

Wrap-Up

This computer was out of the box and up and running inside 30 minutes, and I’m no brilliant mastermind when it comes to non-Macs. I use a MacBook Pro for my daily activities because it does exactly what I need it to do and I’ve been using OS X for coming on 10 years in a row now — but Acer, what have you done? You’ve played a part in convincing me that Windows machines, the ones that turned me off of the idea that owning a desktop computer was a good idea for what I thought was forever, have now come to a point where I don’t even really care what operating system I’m running, the hardware being enough to leave a good impression on its own.

While I’ll be waiting until Windows 8 until I can really give the whole Microsoft world another shot as a day-to-day primary OS, this machine is already at the forefront of my mind as far as how I’ll be running with the devil when the time comes. It’s too bad this computer doesn’t have a touch screen or I’d never give it back — Acer, can you outfit it? Windows 8 on the horizon!

UI and Widgets

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then Ice Cream Sandwich is a whole lot closer to heaven than previous iterations of Android. Google has comprehensively reworked the Android interface, borrowing elements from Gingerbread and Honeycomb and combining them into a UI that’s distinctive and cohesive.

Android ICS and Galaxy Nexus Review

A liberal use of black elements – including the status bar, menu shortcuts and app launcher background – helps ICS blend in with the display bezel on the Galaxy Nexus (and also potentially has battery benefits, given OLED panels use more power to show bright colors). Bright blue highlights mix with grey and white for less important elements along with text, and the new Roboto font looks great. The dedicated menu button of prior versions has been replaced by a more straightforward menu shortcut – it took us a little while to get used to its new position, usually up in the top right corner of an app – and Google has squeezed in a slightly smaller row of persistent icons for common features so that you spend less time digging.

The homescreen consists of five swipeable panes, each with room for a 4×4 icon grid, a selection of widgets or a combination of the two. The Google search bar – with a voice search shortcut – is now persistent at the top, and a quick-launcher bar of four shortcuts (phone, people, messaging and internet by default) is fixed at the bottom, flanking the app menu shortcut. At the very bottom are the new virtual back, home and app-switcher buttons, automatically rotating to suit landscape-aspect software, and minimizing/disappearing at times to maximize the screen real-estate on offer.

Homescreen shortcuts are now dragged in from the app launcher, rather than added after a long-press on the pane – doing that allows you to change the wallpaper, but not add icons or widgets. Instead, widgets get their own gallery alongside apps in the launcher, though we found some third-party apps don’t yet show preview thumbnails but only the size each widget variant will take up. Some of Google’s own widgets – like bookmarks and calendar – can be dynamically adjusted in size once you place them. Dropping one icon onto another automatically creates a pop-up folder, which can be renamed by tapping its title.

For the first time there’s native support for screenshots – hold down the power button and volume-down button simultaneously, and after a second the screenshot is taken and then flagged up for easy access in the notifications bar – and you can capture the OS in various states. We were able to fire off a screenshot while simultaneously holding the notification slider halfway down the display, for instance.

Lock-screen options include the usual PIN and pattern unlock, as well as the new Face Unlock system covered later in the review. If you avoid a lock altogether, then you can load straight into the camera app by dragging the unlock-slider in the other direction. Unfortunately that option disappears as soon as you add some type of security.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich first hands-on [Hong Kong]

Multitasking

Honeycomb’s thumbnail-based app switcher is borrowed for Ice Cream Sandwich, and it works very well. The multitasking button gets a dedicated spot on the screen, rather than being triggered by a long-press on the home button, and now shows a convenient small preview of each app’s status.

As well as tapping to re-enter the app, you can swipe it off to the right to close it down; alternatively, a long-press offers the option to remove it from the list or open its info page, showing storage use, permissions and other details. Altogether it works brilliantly, and we were soon whipping around from app to app.

Notifications

Android’s notifications system has always been reasonably comprehensive, but ICS introduces new levels of granular control over alerts. As well as clearing the entire list in one fell swoop, you can individually swipe away each notification: that’s particularly useful when several apps have just updated, and you want to get rid of the confirmations without losing, say, a calendar reminder or new SMS alert just yet. There’s a handy Settings shortcut in the notifications drop-down too.

Keyboard and Voice Input

The Galaxy Nexus’ capacious display certainly doesn’t hurt typing accuracy, but there’s plenty of improvements going on behind the scenes in ICS. Responsiveness and auto-correction accuracy have each received a huge boost, while errors are highlighted with red underline and can be easily picked through when you’ve got your email, SMS or other text down on the screen. Double-tapping a word highlights it – with easily dragged selection nubs – and offers a “Replace” option with suggestions from the dictionary. Alternatively you can teach ICS new words, and there’s a choice of auto-correction “aggressiveness” to suit how slapdash your typing is.

Active Voice Dictation, Unlock to Camera, and more

Voice input, meanwhile, has been improved to support up to real-time transcription, though obviously you need a live data connection for Google’s server-side processing to work. Accuracy proved better than previous versions of Android, though still – like Siri dictated messages on the iPhone 4S – required some tidying up before it was ready for prime-time.

Phone and People

Android supports SIP VoIP natively, with the potential for several such accounts to be registered and picked between for outgoing calls. Incoming VoIP call support is optional, with ICS warning that it will have a detrimental affect on battery life. Of course you can also use Skype and other VoIP apps from the Android Market.

The other new addition to the phone app is “quick response”, a list of preset and custom text messages that can be used to reject an incoming call. If you’re in a meeting, for instance, you can fire back an “I’ll call you later” message to explain why you’re not picking up.

Android’s contacts app has been gradually getting more complex since the first-gen release, with Google borrowing OEM ideas for integrating social networking updates in with individual contact records, and including that in the core app itself. In ICS the People app is more of a hub than a simple address book: it will obviously show individual records, pulled in from your various Google, Exchange and other accounts, but also synchronizes what groups you may have organized them into.

Tap an individual – or a group – and you see their thumbnail picture, assuming the social networking services they’re using, like Google+ or Twitter, have one, along with their contact details. Swipe to the right and you see a summary of their recent activity, including how many +1 or comments they have on Google+ posts; tapping within the activity list opens the relevant app. Finally there’s a favorites pane, allowing you to pin your most frequent contacts to the top of the list, as well as showing those you get in touch with – either by phone, email or some other method – most often underneath.

Browser

Mobile internet access is, along with email, one of the most common uses for a smartphone, and happily the ICS browser is an excellent way to get online. Performance of the WebKit-based app is a particular highlight, with pinch-zooming and panning both silky smooth. However, it’s also fast under the hood: we ran SunSpider, the test of JavaScript performance, and the Galaxy Nexus came up with a score of 1,987.3ms overall. The Acid3 test of standards compatibility scored a cool 100/100.

Tab previews are carried over from the multitasking UI, with the same thumbnail style; you can have up to 16 open at once, and side-swipe to close them down. Meanwhile, under the “Labs” features there’s a useful semi-circular menu that can be dragged on-screen with a thumb-swipe gesture from the right or left edge. That offers quick access to the browser tabs – with a list of them floating next to the menu while your thumb is on the button – as well as the address bar and options menu, but otherwise leaves more screen space for the browser itself.

The option to save webpages locally for reading later – even if you have no connection – is present, complete with images, though unlike with some offline reader apps there’s no way to specify a number of links “deep” to follow and locally cache as well. Try to navigate beyond the saved page and you’ll need to go online again. More useful perhaps is the “Request desktop site” option which attempts to bypass the slimmed-down mobile pages many websites now offer, and head straight to the full-fat version.

One topical omission is Flash Player support. ICS has launched without a version of mobile Flash, and we had no luck attempting to install the old version. Adobe has confirmed that it plans to have an updated version for Android 4.0 ready by the end of the year. Until then, figure you’ll be spending more time in the dedicated YouTube app, which has been updated to prioritize higher-quality videos.

Gmail

Android’s Gmail experience has always been the best of any mobile platform, and ICS raises the bar again. Commonly accessed controls have been shifted to the fore, like managing archiving and tags, along with marking emails as read/unread and trashing them. Rather than small arrows to move through messages in order, swiping takes you forward and back, though unfortunately there’s no pinch-zooming on offer. You do get offline sync though – set by default to 30 days, but user-adjustable – which keeps a cache of the most recent emails for browsing when you’re without a signal. Best of all is the speed, though: hardly any lag when opening even the busiest of inboxes, while messages themselves load in short order.

Calendar

Swiping and pinch-zooming make themselves known in the Calendar app, supporting all the various agendas from your Google, Exchange and other accounts, with the new ability to – webOS style – pinch to expand or shrink how much of the day/week/month is on-screen at a time. That’s useful for flipping between an overview and getting to grips with the specifics of a busy morning, for instance. Color coding is obviously supported, and there are day/week/month/agenda views.

Camera

Google’s new camera app introduces zero shutter lag, with the ICS promise being virtually no delay between opening the app, firing off a shot and then capturing subsequent images. In practice, it’s certainly quicker than previous iterations of Android, though we’ve found some of our images have ended up showing blur simply from the movement of tapping screen.

Touch focus works well, though we’d prefer to see both the digital zoom and settings options on-screen simultaneously, not toggle between them. There’s certainly enough space for it. Alternatively pinch-zoom would be a welcome addition, as on the iPhone. For stills there are five scene modes – auto, action, night, sunset and party – along with adjustable exposure, white balance settings and flash control – auto, on and off – while for video there are white balance and LED light options, together with time-lapse shooting (ranging from 1s to 10s). Cleverly you can tap the screen during video recording and save an image, without pausing the video capture.

Video also gets a range of digital effects. Face-tracking is used to morph your subjects in real-time – squeezing their face, giving them oversized or undersized eyes, mouth or nose – or digitally change the background behind them. Having chosen your background (either a preset or an image from the Gallery) you then step out of frame, and when you return you’re digitally overlaid on top. It works, just about, though is more gimmick than anything useful.

Finally, there’s panorama mode, which allows you to create a wide image pieced together automatically from multiple frames. It’s certainly easy to use – hit the button and then pan around, with an on-screen gage showing your progress and pop-up warnings telling you if you’re going too fast – though the end results aren’t always equally impressive. Sometimes ICS seems to struggle pasting the different frames together neatly.

Once you’ve taken shots, there’s on-device photo editing, including Instagram-style filters, red eye reduction, color tweaking and various effects that can be applied. Edited shots are saved as separate copies, leaving the original intact. Sharing is made simple, with a drop-down menu of all the options and Gmail a dedicated button at the top.

Data and Battery Monitoring

As more people get to grips with the capabilities of their smartphones, carriers seem to be taking backward steps with their data networks, reducing monthly allowances and following through on expensive out-of-bundle overage fees. ICS introduces granular monitoring of data use, with the option to set global limits – custom to your own particular tariff – as well as investigate which apps have been chomping through megabytes. If you find a particular culprit, you can choose to curtail its background data access altogether. The whole thing could be overwhelming, but Android 4.0′s straightforward draggable guidelines over a graph of use makes it somewhat more approachable.

Similar insights are available for battery use, with a breakdown of which apps or services are most demanding – the core Android OS and the screen were the most gluttonous in the Galaxy Nexus, unsurprisingly – though there’s obviously less flexibility over what to do with power-hungry software. Basically, your choice is to shut it down or use it less, though at least seeing which are the worst culprits can help you eke out more runtime when you’re running low.

Face Unlock

Is a phone that recognizes your face a gimmick or the next step in biometrics? Right now, though certainly eye-catching, Google’s Face Unlock feature in Ice Cream Sandwich is more toy than dependable security feature. The concept is clever: you teach your phone what your face looks like, and then next time you go to unlock it it merely looks at you and lets you in.

Facial Recognition, Battery Life, GPU Rendering, and more

Unfortunately, reliability proved patchy. The recognition rate is fairly decent – as long as the lighting is good – but we still experienced more than a few occasions where the Galaxy Nexus would claim either not to recognize us or, even more insulting, that it couldn’t even find a face in-shot. If you’re wearing sunglasses or a hat, that can also confuse the system; we’d like to see multiple profiles supported, so that we could show ICS what we look like in a few different ways and hopefully boost recognition accuracy.

There’s also a reasonably pregnant pause in-between waking the phone up and Face Unlock starting: time within which you could easily have swiped out a traditional security pattern or punched in a PIN. That’s before you get to the well-publicized fact that you can fool the system with a photo of your face. In short, it’s a cool trick for (well lit) parties, but not something we’d entrust anything legitimately confidential to.

Android Beam

Google is already pushing NFC as a mobile payments system, but Android Beam uses the short-range wireless technology for data transfer instead. Given the speed and proximity limitations, it’s being positioned as a way to quickly exchange links – such as to webpages, apps, YouTube videos and the like – along with contacts and directions between two phones.

Obviously each phone has to support NFC, which meant we were unable to test it on our Galaxy Nexus review unit, though if we had a Nexus S we could apparently transfer the data as a collected tag. However, having tried it during previous press access, we know it works: simply hold two phones back-to-back, tap the “share” button on-screen, and the data zips across.

Android Market

Google’s download store looks just as we’ve seen in recent updates on older devices, with a refreshed block-based UI that’s more engaging than previous iterations. Unfortunately the actual content of the Android Market isn’t entirely up to speed with ICS: as well as the obvious Flash incompatibility, we’ve spotted a few other apps that aren’t included in search results as they’re not yet supported. The official Tumblr app doesn’t work, and several games were also missing.

We’ve also noticed some issues with widgets, though that could also be connected to the font change. Most obvious is the Facebook widget, the “What’s on your mind?” text no longer fitting into its usual space. These problems are likely to get addressed as more developers get access to Ice Cream Sandwich.

Wrap-Up

Good software does its job in a clean, consistent way. Great software does all that, but then delights you with its usefulness, the thoughtful moments peppered throughout by developers who really care about their work. That’s the level Android has been elevated to with Ice Cream Sandwich.

Core apps, like the browser, calendar and Gmail “just work” while the UI around them feels tailor-made for multitasking. Google has pared down unnecessary lists and, for the most part, extra button-taps, replacing them with clear iconography, easily learned gestures and bold graphics. It all looks great, certainly better than any manufacturer skin we’ve seen.

Google’s Nexus range always raises the bar for Android OEMs, laying out the company’s expectations for the next generation of mobile devices. With Ice Cream Sandwich, Google has done the same for Android software developers: set a standard by which it – and users – will judge their apps. If Android coders can live up to that challenge, Ice Cream Sandwich will mark a huge turning point in the platform’s lifecycle. Android has always had huge promise: Ice Cream Sandwich delivers on it.

Chris Davies contributed to this Galaxy Nexus review.

Hardware

The Galaxy Nexus’ Samsung lineage is clear. The bowed fascia – which Samsung calls a “Contour Display” and claims makes for easier one-handed use and more comfortable calls – is carried over from the Nexus S, while the rest of the design is strongly reminiscent of the Galaxy S II series of handsets. That does mean a plastic rather than metal body, here finished in matte silver, though the battery cover – while as flimsy as those on other recent Samsung phones – does have a semi-soft finish that’s easily gripped.

The curved profile emphasizes the taper, the top edge being pleasingly narrow and then swelling to a speaker bulge at the bottom complete with the microUSB port and 3.5mm headphone jack. On the left edge is a volume rocker, easily found with the finger and with enough button travel to leave you certain you’ve pressed it, while on the right edge is the power/lock button and, further down, three charging contacts for the various docks Samsung and Google plan to eventually release. For the moment, though, official accessories amount to the microUSB charger, wired handsfree-kit and microUSB cable found in the retail box.

Behind the fortified glass is arguably the Galaxy Nexus’ crowning glory, a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD touchscreen running at 1280 x 720 resolution. That’s almost the same number of pixels as Samsung fits into the 10.1-inch display of its Galaxy Tab 10.1, which gives you an idea of the sort of density we’re talking about in the Googlephone. Much has been made – and significant worry voiced – over Samsung’s use of a PenTile display, but in practice colors are bright and vividly saturated, viewing angles are broad, and blacks ink-rich in their darkness.

Galaxy Nexus boot-up screen

The only visual aberration we’ve spotted is a slightly apparent texturing of blocks of pale colors when the backlight is low, almost as if the screen was printed on fine-grained paper. It’s little noticeable, and disappears when the backlight is turned up. Samsung has opted for a draconian auto-backlight setting, keeping things as dim as possible, which can somewhat emphasize the issue. Make no mistake, though, this is a very minor caveat in what’s otherwise a fantastic screen.

Although the display measurements might lead you to expect an oversized handset, Google’s decision to make the persistent Android controls part of the on-screen UI meant Samsung could extend the panel deep into the Galaxy Nexus’ chin. It fits the hand neatly, the curved corners leading to a device that feels more like the 4.3-inch Galaxy S II than you’d believe.

Inside, there’s a 1.2GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 processor, paired with 1GB of RAM and, in this HSPA+ version, 16GB of storage (which can be freely used for either user-data or apps). The LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus has up to 32GB, and since neither has a microSD card slot that’s your lot. There’s also a 384MHz PowerVR SGX540 GPU. Connectivity includes pentaband HSPA+ (capable of up to 21Mbps downloads and 5.76Mbps uploads, network depending) meaning the phone can work on both AT&T and T-Mobile USA’s networks, along with quadband GSM/EDGE, WiFi a/b/g/n (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 3.0+HS, NFC and MHL HDMI support with the right adapter cable. The LTE model will support Verizon’s 4G network and be on sale before the end of the year.

GPS, an accelerometer, gyroscope, digital compass, proximity and light sensors, and a barometer round out the main sensors. A 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and a single LED flash – capable of 1080p 30fps video recording – is on the back, while 1.3-megapixel camera for up to 720p video calls is on the front, above the display. A multi-color notification light hides in the Nexus’ chin.

Overall, it’s a handsome and distinctive device, that manages to squeeze in a large display without sacrificing the ability to drop it comfortably into a front trouser pocket. More metal in the construction would be a treat for the fingers, perhaps, but the Galaxy Nexus is still flex-free and feels sturdy.

Software and Performance

Hardware is only part of the story with the Galaxy Nexus: software – specifically Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich – is a considerable part of the smartphone’s appeal. We’ve separately reviewed Google’s new software platform comprehensively here, but will pick through some of the highlights on the Galaxy Nexus.

ICS’ predominantly black interface blends seamlessly into the Nexus’ screen bezel, particularly effective when it comes to the virtual back/home/app-switch buttons at the bottom. Google’s new Roboto font looks brilliant, but the most significant improvement is the consistency throughout. Where Android once felt heaped together, a framework for Google’s various apps to gain traction, the platform as a whole feels far more connected and uniform. Introducing third-party apps will obviously take its toll on that, but we’re hoping developers use ICS’ style as a guideline when they bring their software up to speed.

Although the TI dual-core is capable of 1.2GHz in the Galaxy Nexus (the chip itself is offered at up to 1.5GHz in other devices) during our testing it spent less than 5-percent of its time at that speed. In fact, over 85-percent of the time the CPU was running at just 350MHz, with the remainder somewhere around the 700-850MHz point. That aggressive throttling – and the fact that the phone never felt slow – is testament to Ice Cream Sandwich’s frugality and refinement.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich first hands-on [Hong Kong]

The Galaxy Nexus doesn’t support USB Mass Storage mode, though that’s a limitation of the phone – because of the absence of a memory card slot – rather than Ice Cream Sandwich. Instead, you get MTP support, which means basically the same plug-and-play access on Windows systems and, with the free Android File Transfer app installed, on Mac computers. There’s also a PTP camera mode, allowing for access by camera software.

It’s worth reading our full Ice Cream Sandwich review for all the details on Google’s new mobile OS.

NFC

Near-Field Communications (NFC) hasn’t quite come of age in cellphones yet, but that’s not for Google’s lack of trying. The Galaxy Nexus is the second in the Googlephone series to support NFC, the Nexus S already being put to work supporting Google Wallet for wireless payments.

On the Galaxy Nexus, however, NFC is initially being positioned as a peer-to-peer networking technology. Android Beam, a new ICS feature, allows for straightforward swapping of contacts, webpages, YouTube video links, directions and apps, simply by holding two NFC-enabled handsets back-to-back. A sharing dialog pops up, you tap it and the on-screen content is blasted across to the other phone.

Obviously both devices need to have NFC and they need to be running Ice Cream Sandwich for it to work seamlessly; the Nexus S will apparently receive the data as a collected tag. That’s going to be a sizable limitation, certainly while the Galaxy Nexus is the only ICS device around, and even after the Nexus S gets its promised ICS update. So far, Android OEMs have proved generally reluctant to fit NFC because of the limited number of applications for it; indeed, we were unable to try Android Beam during our testing, as we only had a single Galaxy Nexus. From previous experience, however, we know it works, and it’s likely to encourage manufacturers to include NFC as a basic element of the Android experience moving forward.

Camera

5-megapixels doesn’t look like much on paper – after all, Samsung has been pushing out 8-megapixel handsets for some time now – but as many spec-chasing manufacturers have discovered, there’s far more to creating a good picture than just the sensor’s raw abilities. The Galaxy Nexus is still capable of 1080p Full HD at 30fps of course, and even its front-facing camera is good for 720p HD.

ICS’ camera UI introduces an extra tap before you can switch between still photos, panoramic photos or video recording, whereas flipping between the main and front cameras is a single tap away. We’d rather see those reversed. A side-scrolling settings menu offers five scene modes – auto, action, night, sunset and party – along with adjustable exposure, white balance settings, flash control – auto, on and off – and a digital zoom. Google is particularly proud of the zero-lag shutter, with tap-autofocus and actually grabbing still images considerably faster than on previous Android phones.

The final results can be great, but it’s not a home run. With sufficient light, images look natural and exposure is handled well, though colors are more muted than other recent Samsung Android phones we’ve used. Indoors, the Galaxy Nexus generally held up well in terms of avoiding too much noise, though occasionally the reduced shutter-lag technology actually proved something of a hindrance rather than a boon, with slight blurring showing up in the final shots.

Video, meanwhile, can be recording in 480p, 720p or 1080p resolution, with control over white balance and whether the LED flash is used as a video light. However, there are also some more complex features, like time-lapse, which allows you to create a movie clip consisting of snapshots at various intervals (ranging from 1s to 10s), and a range of digital effects. The latter can either use face-tracking to morph your subjects in real-time – squeezing their face, giving them oversized or undersized eyes, mouth or nose – as well as digitally change the background behind them. As in Apple’s PhotoBooth app, you choose your background (either a preset or an image from the Gallery) and then step out of frame, and when you return you’re digitally overlaid on top. It works, just about, though is more gimmick than anything useful.

Thankfully video quality itself is far from being a gimmick. Given plenty of light, 720p/1080p HD clips are crisp and very watchable. Less light and things begin to suffer, with noticeable noise in darker areas of the frame. Google is rightly proud of its continuous focus system, however, which generally had no issues grabbing and clinging to a subject when lighting was good, and only suffered the occasional moment of hunting when things got darker.

Panorama mode, finally, is options-free: hit the shutter release and pan the Galaxy Nexus to the left or right, with a guide frame showing your progress at the bottom and warning messages if you move too fast. At the end, ICS cobbles the whole thing into a wide photo, though the end-results proved a mixed bag in our testing. Sometimes the joins were neatly fashioned; other times there were duplicated elements and it looked more like the Nexus had simply blurred the edges together.

Phone and Battery

Samsung fits the Galaxy Nexus with twin microphones for active noise-cancellation during calls, and that – along with a tenacious grip on a mobile signal – added up to above-average call performance. Incoming audio was crisp and loud, while those we spoke to had no problems hearing us even with street noise in the background. The rear speaker could have ramped up louder than the current maximum for our liking, however.

As well as regular voice calls, Ice Cream Sandwich supports VoIP, both from third-party services like Skype and native SIP support. If you have one or more SIP accounts you can direct your calls over that VoIP network rather than through your carrier’s voice network, as well as optionally receive incoming calls too (ICS warns this could have a detrimental affect on battery life). It’s important to remember that we were testing the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus, not the LTE model which will arrive on Verizon by the end of the year.

That LTE model will have a slightly larger battery than the HSPA+ version: the Galaxy Nexus we tested has a removable 1,750 mAh Li-Ion pack, whereas the LTE model increases that slightly to 1,850 mAh (with an ensuing increase in bulk, albeit relatively minor). Samsung quotes up to 12hrs of talktime or 270hrs of standby time on a full charge , though obviously typical smartphone use consists of a far broader range of tasks than just voice calls.

It’s certainly easy to run down the Galaxy Nexus’ battery in relatively short order. The big screen, usability of Ice Cream Sandwich and general performance meant it was hard to keep our hands off the phone: with above-average use, push-email turned on, using both 3G and WiFi at various times, we had to top up before the day was through. However, with more typical use – some browsing, push email, Google+, Facebook and Twitter, a couple of voice calls and SMS, some photographs and Google Maps use – and with WiFi turned off all day, the Galaxy Nexus went from full to around 25-percent in just under 15hrs.

We’ll have to wait until we can test the LTE version to see if Samsung and ICS have been able to address the issue of 4G’s prodigious hunger for power.

Wrap-Up

Make no mistake, this is the best Android phone around today. It’s impossible to divorce Samsung’s hardware from the Ice Cream Sandwich experience, for the moment at least. That may change as more manufactures offer Android 4.0 phones, but for now it’s tough to think of going back to a Gingerbread or earlier device. ICS’ finessed software works beautifully with Samsung’s hardware and – with the exception of the camera, perhaps, which can be a minor blot on the Galaxy Nexus’ score sheet – the sum of the two parts is massively compelling.

Ice Cream Sandwich will spread, but even then the Galaxy Nexus’ hardware will likely prove a strong argument to go with the Googlephone rather than something else. The 720p HD display is incredible, the dual-core processor swift and the HSPA+ connection fast; that speed will only increase when the LTE version arrives. Those addicted to photography may want to look elsewhere, but everyone else can be reassured that the Galaxy Nexus is one of the finest devices on the market today.

Chris Davies contributed to this Galaxy Nexus review.

Before we go into the photos and the dropping of the knowledge on why you should or should not purchase this device in detail, have a peek at this hands-on look at the DoubleTime aside several other Android devices – compare and contrast time!

Hardware

This little stormtrooper of the device has the oddest set of design cues, starting with the fact that it’s got pink accents on the physical Android menu buttons. Very strange choice by Samsung if I do say so myself. There’s a silvery plastic bar above the keys, Samsung and AT&T logos on the front, earpiece, and both proximity and light sensors. The device opens up like a clamshell the long way and sits at either a 135 or 180 degree angle when opened. Inside you’ll find the second of two 320 x 480 pixel displays on one side, a full QWERTY keyboard on the other side with what you’ll find is the reason for the pink accents on the outside: pink accents on the inside.

So thought it may be politically incorrect of me to assume that this device is aimed at the feminine ladies and gentlemen amongst us, I must say that a Star Wars fan looking for the perfect smartphone to go with his or her stormtrooper outfit should think twice about choosing the DoubleTime. That is of course unless they’re one of those fancy pink-painted troops, then this is the device for you!

Otherwise the device is certainly cute, and dare I say it does feel relatively tough despite its mainly plastic chassis. One thing is certain, the whole rig is streets ahead of the Samsung Gravity Smart, a rather irritably low-quality device currently housed at T-Mobile. It just feels like Samsung put a bit more effort into the DoubleTime, if you know what I mean.

Software

You’ll be running Android 2.2 Froyo with essentially no changes made from its original form – the only additions that either the manufacturer OR the carrier has made is a couple of AT&T applications that appear on the vast majority of the handsets released by them. Samsung has essentially abstained from adding anything in the way of software here, so it’s basically all Google. That means just two screens of apps out of the box with all the more space for you to fill the device up with your own apps from the Android Market.

Inside you’ll also find a 600 MHz single-core processor from Qualcomm that may seem quick to you if you’ve never so much as laid a hand on a smartphone before, but not so perfectly hot if you’re moving from any other Android, BlackBerry, or Symbian device. I won’t even mention iPhone because everyone knows that there’s essentially just one model, and it only goes one speed: quick. You’ll be able to play quite a few basic games on this device and yes, stream some video, but you’ll primarily want to stick to things like social media, web browsing, texting, and calling. Call quality is just fine, by the way. Gone are the days of tin-can calls and bad reception, no worries here.

Camera

Not many nice things can be said about the camera here, especially since there’s only one and it’s a mere 3.2 megapixels, so I won’t say much at all. Instead here are a couple of examples of what you’ll end up capturing with this shooter which sits at 320 x 280 pixels for video and wont afford you much more than OK photos for your wallpaper on the device itself. Don’t expect many keepers here, is what I’m saying.

Battery

The battery should give you around 8 hours regardless of if you’re using the outside or the inside display since they’re essentially the same exact thing for drain and you can only have one on at a time. If you decide you want to watch video streaming from the internet with YouTube or any of the few streaming video apps available for the now-old Android 2.2 Froyo like Netflix – get ready for the death drop in battery time. We’re talking less than 2 hours, a couple of TV shows if you’re lucky.

That said, normal activity like texting your pals, updating Facebook and Google+, and playing a tiny game or two will give you enough battery life that you’ll only have to charge it when you go to sleep and again when you’re in the car.

Wrap-Up

While this smartphone is far and away, not even in the same ballpark, basically not even the same sport as the top tier smartphones also made by Samsung such as the Galaxy S II or even the top of middle-tier devices like the Samsung Captivate Glide (also pictured below), it does hold some sway in its own lower level of internet-capable handsets. This device looks rather unique with its mostly white and black chassis and pink accents, and the double touch displays are certainly a nice touch.

Get this phone if you’re the type of person who only plans on using this first-timer smartphone for email and Facebook posting. If you plan on racking up the data with a more costly plan per month, do yourself a favor and spend a bit more money at the outset so you don’t end up crying when you’re dropping loads of cash per month on a device that’s nowhere near the quality that the data costs should provide.

Hardware

This device features a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, meaning it’ll be very very bright and has 480 x 800 pixel resolution. This crushes the mid-range competition for brightness and in most cases for resolution as well, but doesn’t quite match the Galaxy S II for either energy efficiency or, again, brightness. Thus is the difference between Super AMOLED and Super AMOLED Plus – though you won’t likely notice it unless you’ve got both phones in your hands at once.

This device has a relatively solid construction throughout, but when you do handle the phone often you’ll notice the slide-out action happening a little TOO readily, the power button’s placement on the side of the device making a strange bit of accidental flipping happening for your humble narrator more than once. Similarly there is a bit of a downfall on the back cover as it’s easily the thinnest piece of plastic Samsung has ever produced for a smartphone. Once it’s on though, you may well forget about how light it is. This device won’t win any awards for perfect toughness, let’s just say that.

The keyboard is OK, certainly not on the same level that HTC has gotten to with such hits as the recent T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide, but not quite as tightly knit and difficult to type with as the Motorola DROID 3. It lights up for nighttime typing, and as with all extendable keyboards, the whole unit becomes much easier to play racing games with – racing games such as the greatest racing game available for the mobile platform today, Asphault 6, and what do you know – there it is pre-installed!

Software

While the fact that this device does have a pretty decent display and a keyboard for those of you not quite ready to take the plunge with on-screen keyboards just yet, the real power lies in the fact that this handset employs the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor. While this processor may seem less powerful than some of its competitors as it is clocked in at 1GHz per CPU core, you’ll see the results in these benchmarks say otherwise.

The Tegra 2 processor also affords you access to an elite set of games otherwise not available to those without said processor. These games can be found in the NVIDIA Tegra Zone as seen both online and on device as well. This means you’ll be able to play Zen Pinball when its eventually released – yes!

As for the user interface, you’re using one of the newest versions of Samsung’s TouchWiz as introduced back when the Galaxy S II lineup was revealed for the USA. This is Samsung’s finest user interface over Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread yet, and your humble narrator has no complaints. Software is your usual set of Samsung and AT&T added applications as well as the Google standard fare including the Android Market, Gmail, and of course Maps.

Pro-tip: as with essentially all recent Samsung handsets, you can take a screenshot by holding down your home key and tapping your power key. Slick!

Camera

The camera is 8 megapixels powerful and capable of 720p video, and while it doesn’t have the massive amount of editing software built-in like HTC devices do, it does get the job done with some lovely results. Have a peek at a photo or two below and some 720p video as well, and mind the Target:

Battery

This device has a 1650 mAh sized battery inside and hasn’t lasted any less than 10 hours on a single charge for me thus far while using the device for email, web surfing, and playing the occasional game. Playing streaming videos fares not nearly so well at 4-6 hours, but you’ll likely be doing so with your MHL/HDMI converter cord (that you do have to buy separately) to output to your HDTV. That will have you charging at the same time as playing, so no worries!

Wrap-up

This device is surprisingly high quality. There were only two moments when I had my doubts, one of them being when I put the battery in for the first time since the back cover is so very very thin, and the other when I first started to hit the power button and realized I’d have to find a new way to hold the handset because the slide-out keyboard wasn’t held nearly as tight as it was on other recent keyboard phone models from other manufacturers. That said, once I got going, it all went well.

This certainly isn’t the Galaxy S II, but it’s pretty darn nice. Take a look at the brief comparisons in the videos above to other devices on AT&T right this moment, then see if you’ve got any other questions you’d like to ask and ask them in the comments below – we’ll be sure to answer!

Hardware

HTC’s unibody design language is getting, dare we say it, and a little old now, and though the Rezound is arguably the best implementation of it we’ve seen in some time. The combination of textures and almost cartographic layers, along with the splash of red around the main camera lens, the earpiece and backlighting the touch-sensitive fascia buttons pick up on themes from the Sensation XE, Incredible 2 and other recent HTC handsets, and while this isn’t a small phone (measuring 129 x 65.5 x 13.7 mm), it’s one that feels sturdy in the hand.

Up front there’s a 4.3-inch S-LCD display running at 1280 x 720 resolution, like the Galaxy Nexus but even more pixel-dense. It’s a brilliant screen, bright and colorful, and best of all there’s no squint-worthy text or graphics in Android 2.3.5 and Sense 3.5 to spoil things. Viewing angles are broad and the panel as a whole is a joy for browsing, video viewing and snapping shots with the 8-megapixel camera (that’s 1080p HD capable, and paired with a dual-LED flash). Up-front a 2-megapixel camera serves for video calls.

Inside there’s Qualcomm‘s 1.5GHz MSM8660 dual-core, paired with Adreno 220 GPU, 1GB of memory and 16GB of storage; a microSD card slot – helpfully pre-loaded by Verizon with a 16GB card – extends that. Connectivity includes LTE, obviously, along with EVDO Rev.A to fall back on when you’re outside of 4G coverage. However there’s no UMTS/WCDMA support, since the Rezound isn’t a World Phone: go abroad and you’re stuck with WiFi a/b/g/n to get online and use VoIP. Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, an accelerometer, digital compass, gyroscope and light/proximity sensors round out the main features, though you also get an FM radio with RDS. Pair the Rezound’s microUSB port with an MHL HDMI adapter – sadly not bundled in the box – and you can hook it up to your HDTV.

Although LTE and the 720p display are headline grabbing enough, HTC has also made the Rezound the first of its devices for the US market to offer Beats Audio, the music-centric spoils of its partnership with Monster. As in Europe, where we’ve already seen the HTC Sensation XE launch, the Rezound uses a combination of hardware and software for its Beats implementation: in the box you get a pair of special “beats” in-ear headphones, complete with matching red cords and a carry pouch, while a custom tuning profile automatically loads when they’re plugged in.

Beats Audio is known for its love of bass, and unsurprisingly the preset EQ profile is keen to emphasize the low-end. Since you can toggle it on and off easily, using a control that appears in the notifications menu, it’s straightforward to audition your favorite tracks to see if they benefit from the audio crunching. Expect increased loudness and a broader soundstage, but don’t forget that music benefits anyway from the higher-quality headphones versus the usual dire offerings bundled with most phones. We’re not entirely convinced that the Beats Audio processing is the be-all and end-all of music quality, but offering more capable headphones as standard is definitely welcome.

Software

While the target audience for the Rezound and the HTC Rhyme may be relatively different, HTC Sense 3.5 makes an appearance on both devices. It’s still the most cohesive and consistent of the Android smartphone UI modifications, straightforward for entry-level users to get to grips with but – with apps like the media-streaming HTC Watch – not leaving behind those who are familiar with smartphones and want to make the most of that excellent display.

Otherwise it’s Android as we know it, which means the usual suite of Google apps – Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, etc. – along with access to the Android Market. Verizon does its usual job of preloading a range of apps, both free and premium – including Polaris Office, Slacker radio, NFL Mobile, VZ Navigator, V Cast Music and V Cast Video, among others – and we’ll have to wait until unofficial ROMs to get rid of them since there’s no uninstall option.

Performance is silky-smooth and everything you’d hope for from a fast dual-core chip. Apps open with no lag, multitasking is smooth and webpages render, pinch-zoom and pan with no jitter to be seen. HTC’s custom UI can sometimes stutter, especially if you pan between homescreens too quickly, but the Rezound shows no such issues.

Camera

Eight megapixels is – with a few notable exceptions – become the baseline for top-tier smartphones of the moment, and the Rezound doesn’t disappoint on paper. We’ve criticized HTC’s optical abilities on previous devices as falling short of what rival phones from Samsung and others can deliver, but the Rezound borrows the f2.2 backside-illuminated (BSI) sensor of the well-received MyTouch 4G Slide and generally holds its own.

Daylight shots are unsurprisingly best, with strong colors and great contrast. There’s little graininess, though once you step into low-light conditions we did find the usual degradation. The BSI tech does mean you don’t have to reach for the dual-LED flash quite so quickly as with other cameraphones – which generally results in over-exposure – and darker areas of the picture aren’t as crunchy as other recent HTCs have delivered.

Full 1080p HD video recording, meanwhile, prefers slow-moving or stationary objects, with some blur introduced in fast-changing scenes or over-enthusiastic pans. Still, it’s definitely good enough for some impromptu sharing on YouTube or via the MHL output.

Phone and Battery

Verizon’s voice network didn’t let us down, with the Rezound putting in a solid – if not outstanding – performance during our testing. We experienced no dropped calls or problems connecting, though in-call audio quality wasn’t the strongest we’ve heard. Mono and stereo Bluetooth support is present.

LTE has generally meant dire battery life, so we were wary of the Rezound’s 1,620 mAh Li-Ion pack and exactly how long it would keep us mobile for. Still, we couldn’t resist the lure of 4G, given just how fast Verizon’s data speeds are: we’ve seen download highs of 15-23Mbps and uploads from 4-5.5Mbps in our testing. The Rezound allows you to share the 3G/4G connection via its Mobile Hotspot app to up to 10 WiFi-tethered devices, though Verizon will add an extra $20 fee onto your data plan for the privilege.

Battery life, with LTE turned on and regular use of push-email, browsing, navigation, IM and some media playback came to 8hrs. Turning LTE off and only enabling it when needed pushed that out to the normal nightly-recharge cycle most smartphones can achieve. We’re still yet to see an LTE phone that can deliver both runtimes and data speeds without demanding a car battery scale power-pack, but the HTC Rezound does better than others we’ve seen.

Wrap-Up

There’s a risk in trying to attempt too much with a smartphone: you can end up delivering a number of mediocre experiences rather than standing out in any one place. HTC skirts that challenge with the Rezound, and while battery life with LTE enabled and in action still isn’t up to scratch for the everyday user, it’s definitely getting there. The phone may not be as skinny as the DROID RAZR but the screen is better and the unibody chassis feels solid and comfortable in the hand.

Beats Audio is one of HTC’s big promotional drives with the Rezound, though to our mind the superlative dual-core performance and immersive 720p display are better selling points. With 3G it would be a great Android smartphone: LTE demands you make use of the manual power toggle if you want to go from dawn to dusk on a single charge, but Verizon’s 4G performance leaves us glad to have the speedy option.

We’ll keep this short and sweet just like the phone itself, not to mention most Windows Phone devices have all been pretty similar thus far, especially those from Samsung. The Focus Flash may not be a top of the line device but it does offer a 3.7″ AMOLED display and a speedy 1.4 GHz single-core processor. First off lets look at my hands-on and unboxing then well get started.

Samsung Focus Flash WP7 hands-on and unboxing

Hardware

Like we mentioned above the hardware isn’t really anything special or new, but then neither is the software with Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. We’ve seen it before but it does come in a decent package that is at least somewhat impressive when considering the price it’ll be — just $49 with a new 2-year contract. We have a 3.7″ Super AMOLED display (no plus), a 1.4 GHz single-core Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, along with a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash around back and a 1.3 front for video chat. Sadly we only have 8GB of internal storage and no micro-SD slot, 6GB is all that is available to the user and will probably pose a few problems for the media heavy user.

It’s not the thinnest device we’ve seen but certainly not the fattest. The overall design is a lightweight black plastic with a small area of brushed aluminum on the back that gives it a quality feel. It comes in around 0.40″ thick so still quite decent in that regard and the rounded edges on the back give this phone a comfortable feel in the hands — even though the front has a very squared design.

All four sides have a port or button of some sort but that shouldn’t concern most users. We have the power button and dedicated camera buttons dressed in black on the right side, the micro-USB port for sync and charging on bottom along with the microphone pinhole as shown above. Then around to the left and top we have the volume up/down rocker and the usual 3.5mm headphone jack. A very standard design, but one that users will be both familiar and comfortable with.

While the display isn’t as large as some we’ve seen, or the Focus S launched at the same time. We do have 3.7″ of Super AMOLED beauty and the 800 x 480 resolution looks just fine with the bright and crisp Samsung display. We have no complaints with the hardware although we wouldn’t mind a slightly bigger screen, not to mention maybe a louder speaker around back. Then again, you can’t really complain for $49 can you?

Software

If you’ve been following along with WP7 you should be well aware of the software here. Running on the latest Windows Phone 7.5 Mango the Metro UI is smooth, stable, and very fluid. Many might argue the fact that we only have a single-core processor here, but things are plenty quick with what’s on board on the Focus Flash. We won’t focus on the software much as you probably already know what to expect, if not here is our comprehensive WP7.5 Mango review. Everything is exactly the same here and runs great. Here’s a video tour of WP 7.5 Mango on the original Samsung Focus.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango Review (on Samsung Focus):

Sliding around and customizing tiles on your homescreen remains a bit touchy and the quickest of movement can throw it off. Being able to customize everything is a nice touch that users of WP7 have been enjoying since its release. I wont hammer this point too hard but the obvious weak point here is the WP7 marketplace still. Although we have some popular games such as Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and many others it just can’t complete with iOS or Android.

AT&T Radio worked well on the 4G (HSPA+) signal in my area and while its no Spotify you do have some great choices for music and radio stations.

Camera & Battery Life

The Focus Flash comes equipped with a 5 megapixel camera on the rear with an LED flash. We didn’t get an 8 MP shooter here but the camera does quite well for what Samsung is offering in this mid-range smartphone. It is capable of shooting 720p video like most these days and was fairly average. The dedicated button was a bit tough to press down and gave enough resistance to actually help photos become out of focus, but you’ll get the hang of it. We quickly snapped a few photos with the 5 megapixel camera and were pleasantly surprised with the overall quality when held still. I’ve seen much worse for this price point — below are some samples.

We have a mediocre 1,500 mAh battery included but it was able to get me through an entire day of moderate usage. Any day of heavy usage you’ll probably need a charge near the end of your evening but that is to be expected with smartphones. In the WP7 battery bench test it lasted almost 4 hours, better than many WP7 handsets we’ve seen lately including the Nokia Lumia 800. Expect to charge it daily if you use your phone as much as me. Light users may be able to squeeze two days from this petite little Mango powered device.

Wrap Up

The Samsung Focus Flash may not be the best WP7 device on the block, but it doesn’t try to be either. You get a great overall phone for what you pay for — if Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is your sort of thing. The specs wont have people benchmarking and comparing this phone but it has enough power to keep the masses plenty happy during daily use. It may not be the biggest, fastest, prettiest, or the best but for just $49 it should capture a few hearts from the budget crowd.

If you’re on AT&T and have been eying a budget Android handset or maybe an old iPhone 3GS consider trying the Samsung Focus Flash. The few letdowns like the weak market and short list of apps may run some users away. If you are just looking for a budget smartphone that is easy to use and will let you check the occasional email and update your Facebook, this might just be for you.

Hardware

Netgear’s chassis is sober but sturdy, with a blocky metal casing that’s larger than some rivals thanks to its use of regular 3.5-inch desktop hard-drives rather than smaller – generally more expensive and lower capacity – 2.5-inch mobile drives. Up front there’s a USB 2.0 port with a dedicated “backup” button that pulls the content of any removable storage plugged in off and to a preset folder, along with a power button, activity and drive lights.

As the Duo name suggests, this particular ReadyNAS supports a pair of HDDs which are hot-swappable. Storage can be set up as either RAID 0 “striped” for speed without redundancy, or RAID 1 “mirrored” for data redundancy but half the capacity. However, extra capacity can be added using the two USB 3.0 ports on the back of the ReadyNAS, a welcome update over the more typical USB 2.0 connections.

Inside, Netgear has updated the processor to a 1.6GHz Marvell chip paired with 256MB of RAM. The company reckons that makes the Duo v2 twice as fast as its predecessor, with file transfers and higher-bitrate media streaming each said to benefit from the extra performance.

Netgear will offer three versions of the ReadyNAS Duo v2. Cheapest is the empty, barebones shell, intended for those wanting to use their own hard-drives, and priced at $199. Then there are 1TB and 2TB versions – each with a single drive – at $269 and $299 respectively. Our review unit was supplied with two 1TB Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 7K1000.C SATA 3.0Gb/s drives, spinning at 7,200 rpm with 32MB of cache.

Software

Backup isn’t really sexy, and so a home NAS needs to be easy to use if owners are going to stick with it through not only setup but taking advantage of the various value-adds Netgear and others throw in. The ReadyNAS Duo v2 gets a double-whammy: Netgear has updated its RAIDiator 5 setup software to reduce complexity, and throws in a three year warranty too. For the first 90 days users get access to 24/7 customer service to help them set the NAS up; after that, three years of 24/7 support and hardware replacement is $99. If that seems too rich, three years of hardware replacement alone – within seven business days of a fault being diagnosed – is $29.

We didn’t need to call for help, however, and we doubt most reasonably confident home users would need to either. Once the ReadyNAS boots for the first time, a simple browser-based setup wizard walks you through formatting your drives in either RAID 0 or 1, and then drops you in a straightforward GUI.

As well as access to documentation and Netgear’s online support, RAIDiator 5 consists of various panes for setting up user accounts and shared folders, monitoring the “health” of the NAS including temperature and fan-speed, and checking which “Add-ons” have been installed. For most, the latter will consist of ReadyNAS Remote, which allows you to use Netgear’s iOS and Android apps to log in from your smartphone, browse through folders and download content, and ReadyNAS Photos II, for hosting your own Flickr alternative directly from the NAS.

The Remote app works well, though since you’re accessing your files from your own “personal” cloud – i.e. through your home broadband connection – the speed at which they filter through to your smartphone (or indeed the standalone OS X and Windows software) depends on your home upload speed. That’s less of an issue for photos and most documents, but may make accessing video and higher-bitrate music files a struggle. Still, being able to remotely grab a missing file while you’re at the office or in a meeting can be a very useful thing.

ReadyNAS Photos II bills itself as a free, more controllable alternative to Flickr: since the storage is all on your end there are no hosting fees, and it’s entirely private. Only those you share the link with can access them, and there are various options for limiting visibility to those with accounts or opening them to unregistered guests.

Finally there’s native UPnP/DLNA streaming support, meaning the ReadyNAS Duo v2 can send multimedia across your network to an Xbox 360 or PS3, your digital TV set-top box streamer, iTunes, SONOS kit or Logitech’s Squeezbox platform. Netgear has over 100 different Add-ons – some of its own creation, others from third-party developers – to download, allowing owners to enhance the capabilities of their NAS. Power users may prefer the more advanced “desktop” layout of Synology’s DSM software, which allows multiple add-ons and other windows to be seen simultaneously, but home users will likely find the simple panes of the Netgear interface easily navigable.

Performance

We started off testing the ReadyNAS Duo v2 with a single drive installed. Transferring a single 5GB file to and from the system saw 36.5 MB/s write rates and 100 MB/s read rates. Transferring 5GB worth of 20MB files saw write speeds stay the same, at 36.5 MB/s, but read rates dropped to 85.6 MB/s.

We then installed the second drive in a RAID 1 “mirroring” array, which basically provides drive redundancy. With the 5GB single file, write speed rose slightly to 39 MB/s, though read speed dipped to 94.4 MB/s. For the 5GB of 20MB files, writes took place at 36.2 MB/s and reads at 84.8 MB/s.

Finally, we used the two drives as a RAID 0 “striped” array, which bypasses data redundancy in the name of speed. In this setup, the 5GB single file wrote at 41.3 MB/s and read at 90 MB/s, while the 5GB of 20MB files wrote at 40 MB/s and read at 79.4 MB/s.

Given the relative price and capacity of 3.5-inch drives (compared to 2.5-inch drives) we’d recommend most home users opt for RAID 1 with as big a pair of drives as they can afford. That will provide the best balance of data security and speed.

Wrap-Up

Persuading home users to invest in backup can be difficult, and so the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo v2′s sub-$200 – albeit drive-free – sets the NAS off to a good start. The company’s home user focus extends to the straightforward setup and the reassurance of the helpdesk support, and those looking for more sophisticated functionality, such as remote access, can have that too thanks to the iOS and Android apps.

The only real potential pain-point is the speed, with the ReadyNAS Duo v2 falling behind what we saw from the Synology DiskStation DS211 (With Diskstation V3.x). Still, Synology’s barebones DS211 is around $100 more expensive than the Netgear, and for general backup and media access many home users won’t particularly notice the difference.

Compromises, then, but acceptable ones when you consider the overall package. Small business and more advanced home users may want to look elsewhere where more expensive NAS offer stronger performance, but for its balance of usability and accessibility the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo v2 hits the consumer spot.

Clip

The clip is the most basic accessory, it being included with the MOTOACTV when you purchase it, made just to give you the option to clip the device on to your belt, shirt, coat, or any number of other clothing items. Definitely made for the belt. Made of plastic and a thin layer of aluminum.

Wrist Strap

This accessory is my least favorite and is undoubtedly the least comfortable of the accessories, and that includes the clip which doesn’t touch your skin. The wrist strap fits around your wrist like a watch would, but because of the tough nature of the hard plastic, it’ll take a lot of breaking in before it isn’t a bother to wear.

Arm Band

The accessory that makes the device twice as nice. This accessory is made of a fine, strong material and a metal loop at the end of it. There’s a very low-level velcro on the outside of the strap that holds the device tight but doesn’t attract massive levels of hair and fuzz like velcro’s original form did. The strap is entirely comfortable and fashionably bright red and flat black.

Bike Mount

Simple to attach and because the attachment bit is made of rubber, it stays in place while you’re using it. No complaints – if you’re going to use the MOTOACTV with your bike, definitely pick up the Bike Mount. If you’re not going to use your bike, skip it.

SF200

Made to wrap around the ear and fit inside with a number of interchangeable rubber bits, it’s only the bright red and black that you’ll be judging with this set of buds. The microphone works well, and there’s an on-wire control for your music as well. These headphones are included in the full MOTOACTV pack, pictured here:

Accessories Hands-on

Wrap-up

Get the Arm Band, and possibly the bike mount, but skip the arm band. You’ll be better off adjusting your arm band than working with the wrist strap as the latter is made mostly of stiff plastic – heavy duty, but uncomfortable. Try out the device by itself before purchasing an accessory, then find yourself wishing you could attach the device to your arm, believe it! Grab everything from the [Motorola store online], noting that the mount, strap, and armband are each $30 and the SF200 headphones are $49.99 and the clip is $19.99, the last two items being included with the MOTOACTV when you purchase it – aka purchasing these would only be incase you lose your own.

NOTE: For those of you that’ve never used the device before, have a look at everything you could possibly want to know about it in the [Motorola MOTOACTV complete users guide] yours truly wrote for the device last night. You’ll know more about the device than you ever thought you’d need to know about a smartphone, much less an exercise device, and you’ll have no trouble understanding the ins and outs of the beast in the following review.

Hardware

Let’s not fool ourselves, this device is made for a very specific crowd of people, those who love to be healthy or drive themselves to be healthier. It’s a sad state of affairs that it’s not the larger part of the world that wants to be healthy for their own good, but there it is: this device is not for everybody. The people that WILL be using it will not be disappointed by the hardware, and here’s why: it’s tough, it’s high quality, and it does exactly what it says it can do.

The device isn’t certified for Army action by any means, but its both sweat and rain resistant. Motorola says it’ll be fine if you’re taking a run in a rainstorm, and if you’re in the gym and you drench it with sweat it’ll be fine, and from what I’ve seen here giving it a quick dunk in the sink, it’ll be just fine for whatever you happen to be using it for. The device is also not quite indestructible, but it’s got some tough plastic around most of the casing, there’s a big metal panel on the back, and the front is Gorilla Glass – can’t bust it!

The accessories you can purchase for the device are similarly constructed, no sign of wear here. Full disclosure: I’m not a hardcore exercise fiend, so I’ve not put the device or the accessories through a hammer-crusher amount of pain, but there’s no sign of a possibility of breakdown from what I’ve seen.

Speaking of things I’ve seen, I can see the display no matter what the lighting conditions are due to the 1.6-inch LCD capacitive display is transflective, this meaning that where a normal display just shows up impossible to view in the sun, here you’ve got a bit of a transformation going on — check the photos:

The controls are simple to use, there’s both buttons galore and a fully functional touchscreen that doesn’t skip a beat and is both bright and sharp enough to handle your day to day, no doubt.

Accessories

There are a number of accessories, several of them photographed and shown in the gallery below and here, most of them available in the MOTOACTV Motorola store. Your basic MOTOACTV device comes with a clip with which you can attach the device to your belt or your shirt sleeve and some basic headphones – I recommend picking up the arm strap as well. It’s very easy to attach and whenever you want to start a new Workout, you’ve only to pop your MOTOACTV out and hit the Start button essentially, popping the device back in around your arm where you can dismiss it until you’re done. High quality stuff. Check out our full MOTOACTV accessories review for more information.

Software

The user interface you’re working with here is a modified look at Android, and I’m pretty sure, though I’m still waiting on an answer, that this is Android 2.3 Gingerbread, this guess based on the fact that the display snaps off when the power button is tapped – signature move by the big G. The interface is tiny, but intuitive, and both swift and well put together. It’s not often that I’ll praise a user interface sitting on top of the basic Android as made by Google, but here Motorola’s done a rather nice job not only fixing up Android to work in a non-traditional way, but in a way that suits this device nicely.

Non-smartphone users will have a bit of trouble getting used to how the device functions, but to be fair, these same people I’m speaking of will have the same amount of trouble working an iPod Touch. If you’re a smartphone user and an exercise enthusiast, this will be a fabulous gift to receive for the holidays, I guarantee it.

Exercise

Here of course is where the device shines. You can do the following, if you’re no big exercise fanatic: get up in the morning and strap the device to your arm – or just put it in your pocket. Provided the device is charged up, it records the number of steps you’ve taken throughout the day and tells you how many calories you’ve potentially burned without you even asking it to. It uses its own accelerometer and GPS to track your movements. Once you get to a place you know you’ll be walking or running extensively, pop the device out and start up a Workout.

Tap through to an indoor or outdoor walk or run and hit the start button. Once you’re done, hit the start button again and end the Workout – your information will be displayed instantly, and if you’re connected to your smartphone for data or you’re near a Wi-fi area that your device is connected to, your information will be automatically uploaded to the MOTOACTV.com site (provided you signed up for an account.) This information is not publicly available (unless you want it to be) and you can access it from any web browser. See a planning calendar screen here, straight from my MOTOACTV.com account:

What I’ve found myself doing is working with the device in the same way I would with check-ins on any number of smartphone applications. Using the MOTOACTV and its interactive on and offline setup becomes a game in which your own health is the reward – imagine that!

Smartphone Interactivity

When you get a call or a text message or an alert of most kinds on your smartphone, (your Android smartphone, mind you, running the MOTOACTV app,) you will see it pop up on your MOTOACTV. Again check the [Motorola MOTOACTV complete users guide] to see how it all works, but know the following: this functionality is a bonus. Do not purchase the MOTOACTV just for this feature unless you’re also purchasing it either for it’s ability to help your exercise or MAYBE just for its ability to play MP3s – it does that simple task pretty darn good as well.

Wrap-up

This device was a pleasant surprise to me. I’m by no means a healthy person, definitely someone who could benefit from a regular run outside in the summer or inside the mall in the winter, and what do you know, this device has me wanting to do it. In that I’ve not been a regular exerciser for at least the past few years now, the motivation I feel to get busy is a testament to how well the device does its job.

I’m not one to sign up for accounts, and in fact I’m loathe to enter my email into any field other than the ones I’m already in, but after I signed up for MOTOACTV.com, I got into the greater project right away. Obviously I’ve not yet been able to do any exercises in competitions with people on the site yet as noone else really has the device at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll try it a few times before I have to give it all back to Motorola. It’s fun! And let me tell you, I don’t often find exercise fun.

This device will be found helpful, or interesting at least, to both exercise enthusiasts and those who want to casually watch how many calories they’re potentially burning throughout their regular day. Provided you trust that the one-time cost of either $249.99 or $299.99 (for 8GB or 16GB) is worth it to get you up and at-em in a whole new way you might never have experienced otherwise, I assure you, it is most certainly a good time had by all.

Hardware

This device is certainly part of this year’s HTC device design family, but hold it up next to any one of the other HTC smartphones released in the last 11 months and you’ll find yourself wondering if the crew is thinking about going in new directions. There’s flat edges! There’s a single flat metal slide-out panel on the back! It’s almost as if someone from Motorola came over and slid a few pages of their smartphone ethos into the HTC packet. That said, it’s a refreshing cut from the pack, and said panel does make the whole package feel extra high-quality.

I’m not entirely sold on diverging from the soft-plastic setup HTC devices have had throughout 2011 and continue to have on smartphones such as the recently revealed HTC Rezound. Of the devices you’ll see in the video review below, it’s the HTC Sensation that feels the most naturally confortable in the hand, while the HTC Vivid feels like a more stark set of panels made to look reduced and perhaps even bauhaus-esque. This device is made to look different, that’s for certain.

The device feels light but substantial enough that you won’t feel like it’s going to float away on you, and though its not nearly the thinnest device on the market, it’s certainly not fat either. On the front is a 4.5-inch S-LCD 540 x 960 pixel resolution display, this meaning you’ll have some awesome detail, this beating out the 480 x 800 Super AMOLED Plus 480 x 800 pixel resolution display on the Samsung Skyrocket (also a Galaxy S II device, mind you) in amount of pixels but not necessarily in brightness. Unless you’re holding both devices together, you’ll not notice the difference.

Hands-on Video Review

Software

Inside you’ll find Android 2.3.4 out of the box and Sense 3.0, here having the ring unlock screen (with app shortcuts) and all the custom HTC-made widgets your heart desires. HTC for those of you that don’t know have one of the most lovely looking yet deeply integrated custom user interfaces of all the Android device manufacturers – this means two things: one, that you might not have Ice Cream Sandwich until later in the year 2012, and two, that you’ve got an interface that HTC created to work and function exactly as they intend. If you’ve never owned an Android device before, be sure to check out both an HTC device and a device made by a different manufacturer just to see the big difference.

Apps consist of your regular AT&T added apps and your HTC added apps which include several media-purchase libraries for things like full-length movies, and Google of course has their full range of apps like the Android Market, maps, and Gmail. Essentially what you’ve got here is an HTC device that’s not unlike the rest of the HTC devices that’ve been released recently, no real surprises.

Camera

The camera is pretty awesome. HTC has stepped up their game in recent devices and isn’t letting go of the idea that image quality in their on-board shooters is as important as any other element on the device. In the review video you’ll see how quickly the camera snaps a shot – less than a second by my reckoning. And have a peek at the results here and in the gallery below as well.

Battery

The battery on this device does not seem to be all that fantastic. Have a peek at the battery usage screenshot and note how we’re not doing all that fantastic for under 8 hours of usage, and it’s not from heavy use, I assure you. Note in the hands-on video looking at the battery as well, not looking too fantastic. NOTE that this is after having made no adjustments to the settings right out of the box.

Wrap-Up

The real bang for your buck in this device is that you’re getting an 8-megapixel camera with HTC’s camera software that has many different filters, scenes, and an ultra-quick tap-to-shoot speed, LTE connectivity (if you live in one of the few places in the USA where this network is deployed), and the unique physical form of the handset. This device is made to push AT&T’s new LTE network and is HTC’s first stab at AT&T’s new network, and like their first attempt at an LTE device for Verizon, they’ve created a smartphone that’s certainly up to the task of downloading media quick (again, if you’re in one of AT&T’s already deployed LTE areas), and working nicely with a dual-core processor.

If you want an LTE device on AT&T’s network that’s made by HTC, you’ve got one other choice, that being the HTC Jetstream tablet we had a look at a few weeks ago. If you want an LTE device on AT&T’s network that ISN’T HTC, you’ll be going with the Samsung Skyrocket, another device which you’ll be able to find a review of here on SlashGear immediately if not soon!

Hardware

This is the 5-inch Galaxy Player, one of two, the other having a 4-inch display. This device has a WVGA TFT LCD display, this meaning it has 480 pixels across and 800 pixels down. This means that it’s got the same amount of pixels that several Samsung devices out on the market have already, all of them with smaller screens. This means that the pixels on this display are spread over a larger space rather than being tightly packed as its family members display’s pixels are, making the display on this device appear comically large. Notice the amount of icons on the screen on the Galaxy Player compared to these other Samsung devices, each of them with the same amount of pixels across different sized displays: Epic 4G Touch 4.52-inch, Galaxy S II from AT&T 4.32-inch, and Stratosphere 4-inch:

Of course these displays have different technology behind them, the Galaxy Player with a TFT LCD, the GSII devices with Super AMOLED Plus, and the Stratosphere with a Super AMOLED. That said, the image above showing each of these devices at full brightness says a lot. I’ll be posting more on the comparisons between these devices in a future post here on SlashGear, but for now know this: this device isn’t simply larger, it’s essentially taffy pulled to a larger size, stretched if you will. That said, just like any other device, if you’ve not got each of the devices next to one another or your not used to a higher definition device, you won’t know the difference.

The Galaxy Player 5.0 is a total of 11.9 mm thick, meaning that it’s thin compared to your laptop, but not compared to your smartphone. This media player isn’t exactly meant for sticking in your pocket unless you’ve got absolutely nothing else in your pocket and you’ve got 141.3 x 78.2 x 11.9 mm left over. It’s basically the size of a stack of dollar bills large, but of course much more precious.

Inside you’ve got 8 GB of storage with a microSD card slot along the top so you can expand by 32GB, a single-core 1GHz processor made by Samsung, and two cameras: one VGA on the front for video chat, and a 3.2-megapixel shooter on the back. This device might not play some of the highest-powered apps of today, but it’ll play most of them, and HD video and audio play fine, without a hitch. The only drawback here is that you’ll only be able to play the video files on the device itself where most modern smart devices worth their salt these days have either a microHDMI or an MHL port so that you can use a converter to output to HDMI. Of course since the display is much smaller than your average HDTV and has an amount of pixels that’s much greater than your average TV, you’ve still got a superb picture – and with two speakers on the back that sound rather nice, you’ve got a movie player for any occasion.

Hands-on Video

Software

You can play DivX, Xvid, WMV, MPEG4, and H.264 videos, MP3, AAC, WMA, Ogg, and FLAC audio files, and essentially any app you can imagine. Of course again this device only has a 1GHz processor where the top smartphones on the market have dual-core processors (at least twice as powerful,) there are some selections that wont run superbly. For these you’ll want to wait for the Samsung Galaxy Note, the slightly larger and much more powerful new sibling of the Player. That said, your stock video player showing off some video on the WVGA TFT LCD doesn’t look half bad, and be sure to check out the hands-on video again for a better peek.

The Galaxy Player uses a version of TouchWiz that’s been replaced since its original release earlier this year by the versions on the Galaxy S II as well as the in-between version on the Samsung Stratosphere. You’ll notice the difference in that you have none of the perks outlined back in August and there’ll be that memorable “candy coating” around your icons in the apps drawer.

Have a peek at a couple of benchmarks here for good measure:

Camera

The camera is OK but by no means a replacement for the camera you’ve already got on your smartphone or your point-and-shoot. It’s a 3.2-megapixel camera, that being comparable to many of the tablet-sized devices that’ve come out this year, and it’s capable of 480p video recording. Have a look at a photo here, a few more in the gallery below, and a video recording demonstration to see what we’re dealing with here.

Battery

There’s a 2500 mAh battery in this device, and you’ve got no phone signal to bog you down, so you’ll be running in at least a full day’s use if you’re using it in a medium to heavy way. If you’re watching videos all day or downloading or watching streaming movies for hours at a time, expect much less.

Wrap-Up

This review is just one part of a series we’re doing on this device as part of our new initiative to give you a better look at the value of a reviewed product as compared to its competition. The devices we’ll be looking at have been listed in this review earlier, those being the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Samsung Stratosphere, the Apple iPod Touch, and of course th