It’s not just the Zune HD that Microsoft dropped off; they also sent a bundle of the new accessories for the touchscreen OLED PMP, including the Zune HD AV Dock, Jam Jacket’s CordSaver and Action Jacket cases, and Incipio’s underground case. Check out our first impressions of the accessories after the cut.
Lenovo have announced two new ThinkPads, each with multitouch-capable touchscreens. The ThinkPad T400s and ThinkPad X200 Tablet can recognize four and two finger touches respectively, and come with Lenovo’s new SimpleTap control panel that offers chunky, fingertip access to volume, system settings, applications and bookmarks.
If you’re looking for a 13.3-inch ultraportable with some style, reasonable performance and a sub-$1,000 price tag then, according to NetbookLive, you should immediately be wiring your money to ASUS. They’ve been reviewing the ASUS UL30A, and reckon it’s actually the best ultraportable on offer in its price-bracket.
Garmin-ASUS’ nuvifone has been a long time coming, and in fact if it’s the original you’re waiting for then you’ll have to hold on a little longer. If, though, you’re willing to make do with the nuvifone M20 – the collaboration’s Windows Mobile 6.1 model – then phoneArena’s review will be of interest. They’ve been putting the compact PND/smartphone hybrid through its paces, to see if you’re better off putting all your eggs in one basket or not.
HTC’s Touch2 was a strange little smartphone injection into the midst of Nokia World last week, but the entry-level Windows Mobile 6.5 handset still has some charm with its new Sense-inspired UI. Perpetually-premature Mobile-Review have managed to score an early model to review, and have been putting it through its paces.
While expensive ultraportables may get the bulk of online attention, the real battle is going on at the budget end of the market, where netbooks, CULV ultra-thins and cheap notebooks are fighting it out for a slice of the lucrative back-to-school audience. Into the fray steps Gateway, no stranger to the segment, and they’ve brought along their NV5214u, very much the desktop-replacing notebook rather than a slick but underpowered netbook. With an MRSP of $499.99 it certainly ticks the budget box; check out the full SlashGear review after the cut to see if it can tick any others.
Where netbooks go, their deskbound nettop brethren eventually follow, and as NVIDIA’s Ion GPU has made its impact on the graphics capabilities of budget ultraportables, so it has its sights set on compact desktops too. ASRock and NVIDIA worked together on the ION 330-BD, a Blu-ray toting nettop that pairs Intel’s Atom processor with NVIDIA’s ION platform, and sent one over to prove to SlashGear that just because the footprint is small, it doesn’t mean the performance is too.
We’re still waiting to see a real, working model of Sony’s new Reader Daily Edition, announced earlier this week, but until then we’ll make do with a video review of another of the company’s recent ebook devices. MobileTechReview have been running through the functionality of the touchscreen PRS-600, and as we’ve already heard hint of it’s a blend of decent new functionality but middling text quality compared to its predecessor.
Video review after the cut
This fall will see the introduction of new operating system releases by the two major vendors in this space. For the first time in recent memory, Apple and Microsoft will go up against each other head to head with the newest versions of their platforms, released within weeks of each other. First up is Apple with Snow Leopard. Originally announced for a late September release, Apple surprised the market with an early ship date. Users will be able to pick up their copies starting on the 28th. Pricing for the release is $29 for Leopard users looking to upgrade. For Mac users still on Tiger, Apple offers the Snow Leopard box set which includes Snow Leopard along with the latest versions of iLife and iWork for $169.
We knew the Nokia N97 Mini was only mildly smaller than its full-sized sibling, but Mobile-Review’s Eldar Murtazin has – thanks to his early access to the QWERTY smartphone – confirmed it with a full review. Unfortunately for Nokia, he’s not impressed: a combination of insufficient price differentiation between the N97 Mini and the N97, mediocre looks and, most damning, a keyboard that’s actually worse than that of the original add up to a handset that’s yet to answer the original question of “why bother?”
JP
