Neil Berman

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First impressions of the Samsung WEP301

The first Samsung headset I ever used was the diminutive WEP200, which was a seven gram marvel of miniaturization way back in the day. The WEP301 feels just as light, although its construction feels less premium. From a distance the WEP301 doesn’t look cheap with an attractive silver color finish, but when you get up close it’s clear that the headset was made with a price point in mind.

I don’t have a problem with that, as long as you buy the WEP301 expecting a silver color plastic finish rather than a metal exterior.

Speaking of the exterior the WEP301 ships with a selection of patterned plates that can be affixed to the headset to create a personalized look, which is a fun addition by Samsung.

The other notable item in the box is the power adapter for charging the WEP301′s battery. Unfortunately the headset does not use the standard mini-USB charging port that the likes of Plantronics and Aliph have adopted along with so many cellphone manufacturers. So no brownie points to Samsung for this decision.

The WEP301 sports a multi-function button that acts as a on/off control, plus there are also dedicated volume controls. There is also a light that indicates connection status and reports when the headset is in pairing mode.

Using the Samsung WEP301

Pairing was straightforward with my BlackBerry Bold 9700 and I never found re-pairing to be necessary. Sound quality was very good indoors using the Samsung WEP301. I really didn’t feel like I was using a budget headset when making calls in a quiet controlled environment. Unfortunately there’s no fancy noise canceling technology that the more expensive Bluetooth headsets boast, so call quality on the WEP301 does suffer outdoors as with many other headsets.

There is a detachable earhook which I found to be a necessity as the WEP301 would not securely in my ear without using it. The earhook can be fitted for use on either ear and swiveled to fit different ear shapes. As with the construction of the headset itself, the earhook feels cheap. However it just about does its job; the headset never fell out of my ear but it didn’t feel super-secure either. The Plantronics 395 we reviewed recently does a better job of ensuring a secure fit, although it is slightly more expensive.

One excellent feature of the WEP301 is its long battery life. Samsung quotes 5 hours of talk time for the WEP301 and I did get close to that number in real life usage. I certainly found myself reaching for the charger less frequently than with many other headsets, but that doesn’t forgive the omission of the standard mini-USB charging port.

Does the Samsung WEP301 stand out from the crowd?

Overall the Samsung WEP301 is a good choice as a budget headset and the custom design plates are a fun touch. Those with a little more to spend should also consider the Plantronics 395, which is on a higher level in terms of both build quality and comfort.

Neil Berman

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Why is this happening?

The easy money is on iPhone or, less likely, iPad adoption within businesses encouraging IT departments to move into the Mac space. While this may be happening in small companies, I doubt that this is a significant driver for adoption in large corporations.

I believe the answer lies with virtualization and the cloud. Increasingly more enterprises are moving to virtualized desktop environments, where end user Windows environments are hosted on remote servers and accessible through a web browser. Therefore they can be client-side agnostic, meaning that just like when accessing a website, the user can happily tap away on a Mac or PC. Cloud services like Google Docs work the same way of course.

Large companies still prefer to manage end user computers using a limited number of vendors for ease of support, but Apple is now one of those vendor options for enterprises that have fully virtualized their end user computing platform. Issues regarding uncertainty about Apple’s Mac roadmap remain, but in a virtualized environment the end user hardware roadmap becomes less important since minimal horsepower is needed at the client side. Accessing a virtual desktop can work just fine on a netbook after all.

Neil Berman

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At first glance the 3rd gen iPazzPort looks similar to previous iterations, but this version has some significant enhancements.

The keyboard design and layout has been completely reworked. Keys are now closer together and with better ergonomics. Whereas the previous gen iPazzPorts had keypads arranged with flat horizontal key rows, the new model is far easier to type on if you’re used to typing on a BlackBerry-style smartphone.

The keys themselves offer slightly better feedback than previous versions of the iPazzPort, although the experience is still far from a BlackBerry for example. I was able however to type far more fluently with this iPazzPort compared to previous ones. The backlight is still present which means typing in a dark home theater living room is no problem.

The key layout is also a big step up from the previous model, with media keys now included as well as all the useful secondary keys such as Ctrl, Tab and Fn 1-12. There are also dedicated page up & down buttons that make webpage navigation much easier. Most of the important keys now feel like they’re in the right place, although I’d love to see standalone up & down keys or support for two finger scrolling, which leads me to…

The trackpad – no changes here unfortunately. There’s nothing specifically wrong with the trackpad; it works perfectly well, is a good size and support tap to click as previously. However in a world of multitouch trackpads it would be great if the iPazzPort offered two finger scrolling for effortless webpage navigation. There might be a hacky way to enable this, I’ll let you know if I discover anything.

The third gen iPazzPort now has a red laser pointer built-in, which makes it ideal as a presentation device. The pointer light is bright and is easily viewable in well-lit rooms. It also doubles as the most amusing toy my cat had ever seen, he chased the thing around the apartment non-stop for an afternoon.

The build quality of the iPazzPort seems largely unchanged. It feels light and well put together but lacks the premium feel of something like the Logitech diNovo Mini. It also costs a fraction of the price, so that needs to be taken into account.

The iPazzPort retains the mini-USB charging port and internal lithium-ion rechargeable battery of its predecessor. It comes with a USB charging cable. The iPazzPort goes to sleep after a few seconds if not used to save battery, and consequently the device gives plenty of use between charges. Whereas the 2nd gen iPazzPort used Bluetooth, the 3rd gen model goes back to RF transmission. This might also contribute to the good battery life of the device.

Overall the 3rd generation iPazzPort represents a bigger leap than the changes between the 1st and 2nd gen models. The redesigned keyboard, inclusion or media keys and laser pointer now make the iPazzPort even more compelling as a great HTPC or presentation controller. Now if EFO can get two finger scrolling going in the next version and reverse engineer the key feel of a BlackBerry Bold, this will become a truly great product.

The EFO iPazzPort 3rd generation costs $45 and is available here.

Neil Berman

Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530

Last month we reviewed the Virgin Mobile LG Rumor Touch and concluded it worked well as a smartphone for newbies or light data users. We suggested at the time that Virgin Mobile’s BlackBerry 8530 might be a better bet for those looking for a more rounded smartphone experience and promised a review, so here it is.

We covered Virgin Mobile’s Beyond Talk plans in our review of the LG Rumor Touch, but the one difference with the BlackBerry 8530 is that Virgin Mobile asks for an extra $10 per month. This is presumably due to costs associated with

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BIS usage and the higher volume of data that the BlackBerry 8530 will likely consume compared to the other Virgin Mobile data phones. This extra amount brings the base Beyond Talk plan to a still very reasonable $35 with unlimited data, texts and 300 minutes, or $50 for 1,200 minutes. The unlimited minute plan becomes $70 including data and texts. At the time of writing the same situation still applies regarding taxes which is that, in New York at least, the only tax applied is sales tax.

Now back to the BlackBerry 8530. While being a new addition to Virgin Mobile, the BlackBerry 8530 has been on the wider market for a while now. At $299.99 it’s the most expensive phone in the Virgin Mobile line-up, and twice the price of the LG Rumor Touch. So is it twice as good?

First impressions of the Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530

When the 8500 series was announced I was skeptical about it during a BerryReporter podcast. My feelings at the time were that BlackBerry already had the 8900 Curve series and should have made the 8500 Curve series more teen orientated with a more obvious social networking focus and fewer traditional BlackBerry menus. RIM chose not to do that and released the 8500 series with the same OS as the rest of the range. While I remain unconvinced of this strategy on most carriers, I think it works well on Virgin Mobile since the 8530 is the only BlackBerry available on that network. More on the software later.

Battery, micro SD and camera

Looking at the hardware, the BlackBerry 8530 comes in any color on Virgin Mobile as long as it’s black. I was somehow expecting a red option since that is the color I associate with Virgin Mobile and I thought that would be a distinctive tell for the carrier but black it is. The casing is shiny black at least and does look smart. There’s a small, subtle Virgin Mobile logo beneath the keyboard.

The keyboard is a similar design to the 8900, with mildly ridged keys in the standard BlackBerry layout. The 8530 has the optical trackpad of the newer BlackBerrys, rather than the trackball which was famous for needing regular cleaning art best or occasional replacement at worst.

Above the trackpad is the screen, which is one of the newer dazzlingly vivid BlackBerry screens. Unfortunately the resolution is only 320 x 240, so it lacks the stunning pinpoint resolution of the higher end BlackBerry models. The result is that small OS text can look a little pixelated although still perfectly readable.

The left side houses a standard 3.5mm headphone socket, micro-USB charging port and assignable button. The volume controls and a second assignable button are on the right side.

On the top of the 8530 there are track skip and play/pause buttons, the latter of which also serves as a mute button.

There is a two megapixel camera on the back without a flash and a micro SD card slot hides under the battery cover. Thankfully the micro SD card is accessible without needing to remove the battery.

As with the rest of the BlackBerry range, the 8530 feels very well built. It might not ooze the enterprise class quality of the Bold 9000 or 9700, but it feels like it’s built to last.

Using the Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530

The Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530 runs version 5 of BlackBerry OS, which is pretty vast so I’ll concentrate here on some of the main features.

BlackBerry App World

The Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530 is able to access BlackBerry App World, which is RIM’s equivalent of Apple’s App Store. There is a wide range of BlackBerry apps available now, and since the OS is able to multitask it’s perfectly possible to have Facebook and IM or RSS apps running in the background while you’re watching a YouTube video or writing an email.

On the subject of YouTube, the BlackBerry 8530 was easily able to stream YouTube videos over the Virgin Mobile network, which actually uses Sprint for cell service. I preferred using the Player for YouTube app which I downloaded from BlackBerry App World, to browse and stream videos rather than the YouTube website but that’s purely a matter of personal preference. The message here is that while I struggled to stream YouTube videos consistently with the LG Rumor Touch, the BlackBerry 8530 worked perfectly every time.

The BlackBerry 8530 has 256MB for app storage, which is a decent amount since BlackBerry apps are generally pretty small in size. The micro SD card can only be used for media files, so if you run out of space for apps you’ll need to clear some out before installing more.

Speaking of media files, the media player on the BlackBerry 8530 is good to use. Videos look fine using the onboard player, although I missed the crystal sharp resolution of the screens on the Bold 9000 and 9700. Pictures can be browsed using a finger swipe across the trackpad.

Music is easily searchable and searches are instant. Playlists can be created on the phone itself and skipping within tracks is simple. There are repeat 1 and All settings as well as shuffle. The speaker is decently loud, although completely

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lacking in bass definition; it’s better suited to spoken podcasts than music playback. For music the headphone socket delivers excellent sound quality and the top-mounted playback control buttons are a useful feature.

Something I always look for in a smartphone is whether it supports Bluetooth A2DP stereo audio streaming and AVRCP playback remote control. The BlackBerry 8530 supports both of these and happily streamed music to a Plantronics BackBeat 903 stereo headset with full remote control capabilities. Incidentally this streaming also works fine with downloaded apps that are enabled to use it, such as Pandora and Stitcher, which is handy to know.

The web browser on the BlackBerry 8530 is okay, although nothing special.  It is able to render pages fairly well but lacks Flash and any sense of speed.  It is usable however for basic web surfing and the trackpad serves adequately as a mouse.  Serious surfers may want to look at a downloadable browser such as Bolt.

If you’re considering the Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530 over the LG Rumor Touch it may well be to take advantage of the renowned BlackBerry messaging capabilities. The 8530 does not disappoint in this regard offering an excellent keyboard, BlackBerry Messenger and downloadable clients for the major IM platforms. Virgin Mobile includes a Twitter app straight out of the box. The BlackBerry 8530 also supports multiple email inboxes and handles email far better than the LG Rumor Touch.

Photos taken on the BlackBerry 8530 are passable for occasional use, although Halo looks unimpressed

The two megapixel camera of the BlackBerry 8530 is passable but a weak point of the device. By modern standards the resolution is too low, with five or at least three megapixels now being the minimal standard. The camera does take decent shots though and is good enough for occasional use, but with its lack of flash don’t count on using it in low light environments.  There’s a second photo below taken at close range which reveals issues for macro shooting.

Many of the other drawbacks of the Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530 are common to the whole BlackBerry range. The 8530 takes a long time to boot up if it crashes, so we’re thankful that the platform is relatively stable. You will probably need to reboot once every couple of weeks though to give the 8530 a fresh start if you typically have a lot of apps open simultaneously.

The screen of the BlackBerry 8530, like most other BlackBerrys, is not touch enabled. However the BlackBerry 8530 is very quick to navigate using the optical trackpad. If you’re dying to get a touchscreen phone though, look elsewhere.

Call quality of the BlackBerry 8530 was good with no significant issues. It was able to pair with Bluetooth headsets if you prefer to talk hands-free. Battery life was fine, with two days being achievable with light voice and data use. Heavy users will probably want to juice up the BlackBerry 8530 every night.

Summing up the Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530

Overall the Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530 is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a proper smartphone for a low monthly cost. It’s definitely worth the extra over the LG Rumor Touch if you’re planning to be a heavy data or want a more robust messaging experience. There is the extra $10 monthly to consider above the normal Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk plans plus the initial outlay for the phone is high, but it works out favorably over two years when compared to buying the same phone on a contract with some other carriers. However the market is no longer standing still and MetroPCS has also recently launched the BlackBerry 8530 at a lower device price point but a higher minimum monthly cost. As ever, check out all the deals in your area before you jump in!

Neil Berman

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The look and feel of Windows Phone 7 is distinctive; its ‘Metro’ UI, carried over from Windows Media Center and Zune and augmented by the home screen tiles is modern, angular and sharp. Unfortunately the early prototype demo devices shown so far have failed to capture this exciting aesthetic in their hardware design. That’s ok for now of course; these devices were created to test and prove the software with reference internal hardware specs, rather than being intended for retail sale.

We’re constantly seeing that the bar is being raised in the smartphone space. Nokia, RIM and Microsoft have all been victims of the sector-leading hardware and software design combinations from Android and Apple. It’s only August, so there are still a few months to go until we see Windows Phone 7 devices hit retail channels. Please Microsoft, encourage OEMs to deliver us phones that go beyond the specs to look as stunning as the OS promises to be.

Neil Berman

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BlackBerry Torch 9800 slide-out keyboard

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 has been eagerly anticipated by BlackBerry fans for a long time, but early reviews have left some disappointed.  After getting some hands-on time with RIM’s latest smartphone, here are my initial impressions:

BlackBerry Torch 9800: Build quality and looks

The BlackBerry Torch is small and well formed.  This smartphone could have been a large brick, but it’s almost the same size as a Bold 9700.  The Torch is slightly thicker but at a glance the two BlackBerrys share very similar dimensions, which is remarkable when you consider that the Torch has a slide out keyboard.  The Torch feels as solid as one would expect from an enterprise class BlackBerry.  Fit and finish seems to be top notch and the sliding keyboard has a satisfying click when it engages.

BlackBerry Torch 9800: Keyboard

BlackBerry Torch 9800 alongside Bold 9700 keyboard

A BlackBerry is only as good as its keyboard, and the one on the Torch is okay.  Since it has to slide under the main body of the device, the keys cannot be raised as high as the Bold 9700 or 9000 and consequently it can be hard initially to type quickly.  The Palm Pre and Motorola Droid have the same issue and each of those smartphones handled the problem in their own ways; the Pre has little bobble keys and the Droid went completely flat.  The Droid 2 has adopted slightly raised keys, similar to the Torch 9800.  I did find that typing became fluent after a few minutes but the edges of the chassis, as with the Palm Pre, do sometimes get in the way of quick typing.

There’s also an on-screen keyboard, with which I really struggled.  I couldn’t get into any kind of fast and accurate typing rhythm with the on-screen keyboard, and always reached for the hardware keyboard when I became too frustrated.

BlackBerry Torch 9800: Touch screen and general speed of operation

The Torch has a regular glass touch screen, unlike the Storm which has SurePress to register screen inputs, and for general navigation and opening apps I found the touch screen to be perfectly responsive.  Much hasbeen said about the Torch being slow due to the extra demands of OS 6, but in my limited time with the Torch I didn’t really experience slowdown issues.  I don’t feel that the OS makes efficient use of touch in the same way as Apple iOS or Android, but RIM has created that issue for itself by releasing the Torch with an OS that is also destined for its non-touchscreen devices like the Bold 9700.  So the touch efficiency of OS 6 only goes so far before it feels like an add-on.

Neil Berman

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ITV subsequently announced that it has “vigorously defended” its IP in the past, which signals that it may be ready to do so again if necessary.

Let’s look at this another way: Business is all about money. While customers often become emotional about products, the Mac vs PC phenomenon being a recent example, companies are more concerned about maximizing shareholder value.

There is intangible value that can be crystallized out of brand IP in the form of goodwill, estimated loss of future opportunity and rebranding costs. If Apple does choose to go ahead and use the iTV name for Apple TV then any discussions with ITV about taking over the brand name would most likely include a quantification of these items. The outcome of those discussions would probably be determined by whether each party felt satisfied by the investment required (Apple) and compensation received (ITV) to make the trade.

So while ITV has made comments about its IP, I expect these are probably aimed at setting a starting point for negotiations if Apple elects to make a play for the iTV brand name rather than an outright dismissal. Everything has its price.

Neil Berman

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Halo, you geek!

Neil Berman

So will Verizon use that keynote to announce a CDMA iPhone? If so, surely Steve Jobs would be on stage to enjoy the moment? I’d love to say “stay tuned to find out”, but you’d need one heck of an attention span – CES is still five months away. But if this all comes together, you heard it here first!

Neil Berman

While other platforms tend to rely more upon less secure cloud services for content, the BlackBerry platform routes email, BBM and some other traffic through RIM’s network. This has the advantage of keeping it safe from prying eyes, but some governments are worried the internal security issues of not being able to view that data.

Without its strong data privacy and encryption, RIM’s BlackBerry would be a far weaker platform in the Enterprise space. Ironically in some of those emerging markets where governments are challenging RIM, having data privacy at an Enterprise level is all the more important since there might be fewer internal corporate controls regarding information dissemination, compared to more developed economies.

So while Enterprises in those countries are likely to be highly reliant upon privacy to guard their internal knowledge and competitive advantage, they are likely to lose some of that privacy if a country’s security is believed to be at risk.

What does this mean for RIM? Tough times ahead. I’d say it’s pretty certain that as more countries jump on this one it will become increasingly difficult for RIM to maintain lock and key over its data network. That doesn’t bode well for RIM’s competitive advantage at all.

Neil Berman

Indoors the blue shirted Apple folks are getting their final pep talk inside in preparation for tomorrow’s frenzy. So if you’re in London and ready to splurge on a new Apple-thing, head on over there tomorrow. The excitement of splurging at a store opening event sometimes help to ease the wallet pain!

Btw, is it rude to say I snapped this shot with a BlackBerry?

Thanks for the tip Dave.

Neil Berman

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While the local Sprint, Verizon and AT&T stores are packed at lunchtime with deep-pocketed office workers trying out those carriers’ latest smartphones, the nearby T-Mobile shop assistants look lonely.

In the universe of silly ideas this sounds like a biggie; I mean what kind of mainstream consumer is going to switch to T-Mobile if they can’t even try the goods before they buy.

But then on my current visit to London I wandered through Brent Cross shopping mall and the stores there had dummy models too! What the heck? Even worse, although there was a dedicated Android feature at one store with real smartphones, the devices were half-covered in tape, were totally unusable and looked super-ugly!

This situation is all the more painful for Android because it is a new platform that should be encouraging consumers to give it some hands-on time. The growth rate of Android is clearly phenomenal but, with some more polish around the sales technique, the unit volumes would surely be higher.

Of course this was happening right next door to a busy Apple store full of iPhones that were switched-on *gasp*, fully functional *shock* and beckoning customers to play with them.

So if Apple is able to have working iPhones on display why is it so hard for dedicated cellphone shops to have Android phones on display, and why do Android handset manufacturers allow stores to turn their latest hero device into a non-functioning dummy?

Neil Berman

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Down: The price of the Kindle hardware looks to be in a race to the bottom with the Nook and every other eBook reader out there. I’d say that’s just fine for Amazon, and I reckon the Kindle’s selling price is almost inconsequential to the e-tailer. Kindle is all about wrapping the consumer up in its online store, after all Amazon is perfectly happy for you to read Kindle books on your compatible smartphone or computer. The overriding priority is probably to ensure that consumers choose Kindle over competing ecosystems, and in the standalone eBook reader market I’d say that means selling the Kindle hardware as cheap as chips if necessary.

The iPad has created some downward pressure since its perceived value as a multi-function device is significantly higher than that of the Kindle, which is designed to do one thing well. It’s nice that Kindle 3 will have a Webkit internet browser and some other candy on the side, but its core competency is presenting books from a huge library, which leads me to…

Across: Well, “Smooth” might be a better word. One of the things that makes companies like Netflix attractive is their smooth and partially predictable revenue stream, due to their subscription model. I think Amazon may move to offer an x-books-at-a-time tiered subscription model for Kindle alongside the existing buy-once model. This would be perfect for pulling bookworms into an unlimited plan, while Kindle newbies could experiment with a one or two books per month plan. Plenty of similar models exist for digital content distribution; Zune Pass, Rhapsody and of course the aforementioned Netflix.

Perhaps the most compelling example is the cellphone contract model. Consumers buy a cellphone for a fraction or sometimes 0% of its full MSRP and the hardware cost gets recouped by the carrier over the life of the contract. Whether Amazon would follow a contract or no-contract model is a pointless discussion since this whole article is pure speculation but, if you’re waiting for a $99 Kindle, I think it will come. Heck by my logic it may end up even cheaper than that.

Thanks to Eytan and Charlie for helping to trigger my thoughts about this.

Neil Berman

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So it was bizarre that Steve Ballmer’s press conference produced less certainty around Windows 7 tablet delivery than his CES keynote. At least in Las Vegas he was actually holding a tangible prototype device that seemed like to come to market. The message this week was that Windows 7 tablets are coming but we don’t know when.

To my mind this there are two things wrong with this message. Firstly, the lack of timeframe is severely problematic since the iPad holds the consumer mindshare in this sector. Android is poised to bite a chunk out of that near-monopoly as demonstrated by recent demand for the cheap (but unfortunately not cheerful) Augen GenTouch 78. So as consumers in this small market buy an iPad or Android tablet, Microsoft’s first generation sales become smaller by the day in this sector without a meaningful product. I mean when people need convincing to buy one first gen tablet, who needs two?

Secondly, as I’ve said before, Windows 7 feels like the wrong platform for a tablet and Windows Phone 7 feels like the right one. Just as Apple successfully ported iOS from the iPhone to the iPad, Microsoft should do likewise with Windows Phone 7. The OS is already touch optimized and is designed to run on low power touchscreen devices delivering sustained battery life and fun interactions.

Every Windows 7 tablet device I’ve used suffers from slow start-up times, poor battery life and has been challenging to use without a stylus. They’re essentially netbook-speed devices with a touchscreen and no keyboard; the Archos 9 is a case in point. The market has clearly demonstrated that this is not what it wants, as we can see from the success of the iPad.

Microsoft has admitted to missing a cycle in the smartphone market. It should review its tablet strategy to avoid missing another one.

Neil Berman

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Simple: It has a sunlight readable Webkit browser with free 3G. As regular readers may have picked up, I enjoy my time in the sun and I sometimes choose my gadgets based on their sun-tolerant capabilities. My Dell Latitude ATG is a case in point. The iPad unfortunately doesn’t fare quite as well. While being great for indoor use, it’s just okay outdoors. The screen is viewable as long as you have a sun shade but contact with direct summer sunlight sends it into a heated frenzy.

The Kindle is an entirely different proposition. Designed to be used for hours in the sun, it’s e-ink screen has no glare and its battery life is measured in days. On the downside e-ink has notoriously slow refresh rates and the Kindle’s display is grayscale rather than color. That’s fine by me since most of my web surfing when I’m lazing outdoors is text based, so I can live without video-capable refresh rates and vibrant technicolor.

Now that the new Kindle 3 will have a Webkit browser, which is the foundation of Chrome and Safari, it should render web pages pretty well. I’m not expecting pages to be works of art, like I said I just want to read the text content. Having that browser available on 3G without a subscription in such a lightweight and daylight readable package was too compelling for me to refuse. If the browser is good enough I may even cancel my monthly data subscription for my iPad 3G.

I’ll let you know if that’s really a viable option on August 27th, when the Kindle is released and delivered into the ‘wild’ a.k.a. My Messy Apartment.

Neil Berman

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Once I learned how to control menus, which is not immediately intuitive, I had a blast with Kinect.  The Xbox 360 responded to my movements instantly, and there was no perceptible lag at all.  After an energetic session my previous concerns about Kinect remain that we might all be too lazy to turn it into an enduring success.  However, just like with the Wii Fit under my sofa, plenty of us will buy one.  I can see Kinect being a big hit for parties and fitness, sports or dance aficionados though.

The Kinect is due to be released on November 4 in the US and is available for pre-order now for $149.99.  The bundle pictured above will sell for $299.

Neil Berman

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Fast forward a year and a bit and we’re blessed to have a new and improved Sony Vaio P. This time it’s running Windows 7, but the Intel Atom remains *sigh*. I think the world’s moved on from the Atom unless you’re spending under $300, but the Sony Vaio P VPCP111KX asks for $799.99 in return for spending its life with you.

For that significant amount of money you get a stunning looking ultraportable with the power of a netbook and, as with the original Sony Vaio P, a widescreen at such high resolution that you need super specs or fighter pilot vision to comfortably use it. There’s a 64GB SSD in there too along with WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth. But for me none of those now unimpressive additions compensate for the fact that I was straining over the screen to see what I was doing.

The keyboard is comfortable with well sized and spaced keys, while the trackpoint feels awkward just because it’s sitting in a cramped space for bending your arm. Engineering a well placed mouse pointer on such a small device is always going to be a challenge though. I closed my eyes, prayed a little and the reached out to touch the screen hoping that perhaps the trackpoint was not required, but alas, the screen just stared back at me unresponsively. On second thoughts controlling Windows 7 by touch on such a high resolution screen would probably be one of the least enjoyable computing experiences I could imagine.

Overall the new Sony Vaio P VPCP111KX looks stunning, but look at your friend’s one instead. For the same money an iPad and a regular netbook is a better way to spend that $800.

Neil Berman

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Sitting all over America today are people who yearn to upgrade to a smartphone without paying through the nose on a monthly basis for the privilege. Meanwhile sitting in various Virgin Mobile warehouses is the LG Rumor Touch smartphone. Tying these two things together are Virgin Mobile’s Beyond Talk unlimited data and text plans, which start at a very reasonable $25 per month with 300 voice minutes. So is this the disruptive force that will make smartphone adoption ubiquitous?

First impressions of the Virgin Mobile LG Rumor Touch

The LG Rumor Touch is a new addition to Virgin Mobile, offering a 3 inch touchscreen with slide out keyboard, email/web/social-networking integration and downloadable Java apps. It runs a proprietary LG operating system that supports touch throughout. Other notable features include a regular 3.5mm headphone socket, Bluetooth, a micro SD card slot and a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability.  There’s no fancy OS here or App Store, but the specs are a good match for social-networking-cash-maximizing-wanna-get-something-that-works-and-doesn’t-break-the-back people.

Speaking of dosh, the LG Rumor Touch costs $149.99 and you then have a choice of no-contract pay monthly unlimited data, web, text and plans that have different voice minute allowances. The $25 plan buys you 300 mins, $40 gets you 1,200 mins and $60 buys unlimited talk time. Even better, while there is sales tax applied to the monthly cost, there are none of those pesky hidden charges that can take a $70 monthly contract cost up to around $80-90 when the bill arrives. The Beyond Talk sales tax, at least in New York, takes the $40 plan to just under $44 at the time of writing. And since there’s no contract you can cancel at any time or go up/down plan levels. So when compared to typical voice+data contracts over two years these Virgin Mobile plans can deliver significant savings.

While that all sounds great it’s clearly only useful if the LG Rumor Touch is any good, so is it?

Using the Virgin Mobile LG Rumor Touch

The LG Rumor Touch feels good in the hand. It appears to be well made and the slide out keyboard feels like it has a solid locking mechanism. The whole device is reasonably light at 4.59 ounces and is compact enough to hide in a pocket with ease.

The social networking and email integration works well enough, although I had difficulty getting new email notifications to come through willingly from online email services.  I found that generally had to load up the email app each time I wanted to access my email, even though I had told the Rumor Touch to run the app to the background when not in use.  This would probably not be an issue for a light user who might only check their email once or twice a day, but I found it annoying to have to wait the few seconds for the email app to load each time I wanted to check my mail.   There’s Facebook integration out of the box and apps like Google Maps and Opera Mini can be easily downloaded.  I was impressed with how quickly the Rumor Touch downloaded and rendered Google Maps data, including satellite images.

On the subject of web content, Opera Mini is definitely a worthy download for the LG Rumor Touch as the built-in web browser is fairly weak. It tends to display information in more of a WAP format compared to how a state of the art smartphone would fully render a page. The Rumor Touch does download information fairly quickly though, as Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint 3G network to provide its service. However one online issue I encountered frequently was that the LG Rumor Touch often failed to play YouTube videos. I have to assume the issues were due to network congestion because while on some occasions YouTube video streaming worked fine, trying to stream the same videos on other days failed. Even when YouTube playback was successful the LG Rumor Touch often thought about the task for upwards of 30 seconds before starting to play the video clip, which is too long in my opinion.

The music player and camera can both make use of the LG Rumor Touch’s micro SD card slot, so with a high capacity card installed it’s possible to carry a large amount of media. The music player works well enough but unfortunately does not play in the background when other apps are in use. That was surprising, especially since most other apps on the LG Rumor Touch can be sent to run in the background.

The camera is decent for general use, although its 2 megapixel resolution lags behind some of the competition. It’s fine for occasional snaps though. There’s also video camera functionality offering QVGA resolution, which is only 320×240.  It records video, but not to a high standard and is no rival for the HD-capable cameras on high-end smartphones.  Nevertheless the feature is useful as long you keep its limitations in mind.  It will play back at acceptable detail on a screen the size of the one on the LG Rumor Touch, but larger computer screens will not flatter the output of the video recorder.

The touchscreen does its job, but it’s resistive rather than the capacitive technology found on the likes of the iPhone and some other touchscreen smartphones. This means it’s more responsive to fingernails or stylus input than broad finger flings. Once you get the hang of it though it’s perfectly passable but don’t expect pinch-to-zoom or any of that funky stuff. The screen colors are vivid and the display is bright.

If touchscreens aren’t your thing, the LG Rumor Touch has a fully featured slide-out keyboard. The keyboard includes a dedicated row of number keys, which is a welcome feature, as well as button for instant access to emoticons. The keys themselves are easy to press and offer good feedback. I found it was easy to type with the LG Rumor Touch with good accuracy.

Battery life was good on the LG Rumor Touch. I managed to get almost two days of general usage between charges, which I consider to be perfectly acceptable for a data phone. I find that current smartphones need a daily charge (some even need an intra-day fill-up) so it’s always nice to know that a phone has some leftover juice if I forget to charge it overnight.  Kudos also to LG for adopting the standard mini USB charging port for the Rumor Touch.

Call quality on the LG Rumor Touch was good, and these days we expect nothing less from a modern phone. Callers heard me fine and I heard them fine in New York City. I did not experience any dropped calls during my time with the LG Rumor Touch.

Is the Virgin Mobile LG Rumor Touch a good buy?

For a smartphone newbie or light data user, the LG Rumor Touch is a good choice at an excellent price point. It provides enough functionality to enjoy social networking, email and basic web browsing on the move in a compact user-friendly package. While it trails the better featured smartphone market leaders by some margin in many areas, its price point is also stratospherically lower than most competitors over a two year period.  If you’re considering buying the LG Rumor Touch as a genuine iPhone contender though, you will be disappointed.  More demanding users who want better smartphone functionality on a budget might prefer to consider Virgin Mobile’s BlackBerry Curve 8530 which sits at a slightly higher price point.  Stay tuned, our review of the 8530 is coming soon…and as promised here is our Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530 review.

All details, including monthly plan features and costs are accurate as at the time of writing and may change in the future.  Consult Virgin Mobile for the most up to date information.

Neil Berman

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I still haven’t come across anyone who says the iPhone 4 antenna issue materially impacts their usage of the phone and it wouldn’t stop me buying one. I did just buy a BlackBerry Bold 9700 however and can’t replicate the ‘disappearing bars’ trick on-demand that Steve demo’d. Perhaps that’s because I’m in the AT&T network stronghold that is New York City. Wait…wha?

Neil Berman

If you recall, this is the issue where iOS devices were incorrectly reporting levels of signal strength. Fixing the calculation means that the larger bars are likely to go dark more often leaving just the smaller bars lit, like on most other phones. As part of the fix, Apple has made the smallest bar larger, it’s now about 40% the size of the largest bar at a glance.

You might be forgiven for thinking this is misleading, after all one bar means your phone can’t do much, right? Well here’s the thing about digital cellphones…if a good phone has one bar, that means it has locked into a digital signal. That in turn means that it can probably make a call. I’ve encountered many situations where one bar on my BlackBerry is fine for calls and data, as long as that low signal level is consistent.

The consistency is the crux of the issue. Imagine you’re at a WiFi hotspot; if your laptop only reports a connection speed of 11MBps, that’s probably fine for most needs as long as the link quality is upwards of 75%. Likewise if you have one bar, you’re probably doing ok as long as that low signal level is being received consistently. A single bar that sporadically flashes on and off is the one you really need to worry about because it means the signal is fading in and out.

So I’m cool with Apple making that smallest bar bigger. I actually think it’s the most important bar of the five since it’s the digital on/off indicator for your phone’s reception, so it needs to be easily visible. In fact now I think about it the small bar on my BlackBerry is too small to be easily seen at distance so I would be happy for RIM to follow Apple’s lead on this.

Neil Berman

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My trusty BlackBerry Bold 9000 has an almost dead trackball having recently acquired an unplanned taste for coffee, and this summer has seen an abundance of smartphone releases.

Like many people, I have some generic and some specific use cases for a smartphone, which guide me towards certain platforms.

Firstly, I need something that is enterprise friendly. In my case this roughly narrows down the range of acceptable platforms to BlackBerry, Android and iOS (iPhone). Not to get too deeply into the relative pros and cons of each of these at an enterprise level, for my needs these platforms are either natively enterprise ready or can provide secure email functionality through add-on apps. Winner: Used to be BlackBerry hands down but these days it’s a tie.

Secondly, the ability to type quickly and accurately is important. The iPad has certainly taught me that software keyboards are not an impediment to fast typing, but accuracy becomes challenged as the virtual key size reduces. It goes without saying that BlackBerry hardware keypads are excellent but software keyboards on the larger smartphones like the Evo 4G are also easy to use accurately in landscape. I’m 50/50 on the iPhone keyboard, and find that I need to make a correction every couple of sentences. Winner: Tie between BlackBerry and large-screen Android smartphones.

Thirdly, I need my smartphone to work reliably in year round temperatures. New York City summers are hot and humid, so my phone needs to function well under direct sunlight with plenty of environmental moisture in the air. There’s sufficient anecdotal evidence on the web to suggest that the iPhone copes poorly under sustained sunlight, with temperature related shutdowns being commonplace. I have had that very experience on my iPad after just five minutes of direct sun exposure. My BlackBerry Bold 9000 has never given me a heat warning, even after hours of use under the sun, plus the screens of most of the current BlackBerry range, such as the 9xxx series, are viewable in daylight. It’s difficult to assess the situation with Android phones as there are so many models. The Evo 4G does seem to have some heat issues although it sounds like these are more connected to signal strength with the device getting hot as it searches for a signal in weak coverage areas. Winner: BlackBerry.

There are a host of other considerations of course, such as Internet browsing, media playback and size/weight. For my use case, the web browsers on most smartphones are good enough for my occasional usage with the exception of the BlackBerry which has a disappointingly poor browser. Media handling is good on most modern smartphones, although the iPhone has the disadvantage of having to be tied to a specific computer for mass media transfer. The iPhone also has an incomplete Bluetooth implementation for stereo headset usage. For size and weight, the iPhone and BlackBerry devices win over the 4+ inch Android smartphones that are less pocket friendly.

For now I’m torn between the Evo 4G, Samsung Captivate and BlackBerry Bold 9700. The BlackBerry 9800 slider may also get onto my shortlist if we ever get a release date. Even though the BlackBerry platform has much to do to catch up to the user experience of iOS and Android, its reliability continues to make it a compelling platform as a daily workhorse.

Neil Berman

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Color screen technology with good refresh rates that is genuinely viewable in direct sunlight is starting to make its way into laptops.  Pixel Qi, which has been showing off prototype screens for some time now, recently launched a DIY kit for certain netbooks that sold out almost instantly. While Pixel Qi’s screens provide poorer color reproduction than leading Super AMOLEDs and LCDs, they are far more usable outdoors. So does it make sense for this technology to become available in smartphones too?

The answer is actually not crystal clear.  Yes it definitely makes sense for people who live primarily outdoor lives to not have their use-cases restricted by their smartphone screen.  However on the other side of the coin, those who love watching videos and playing games on their smartphone are likely to enjoy a richer experience from a Super AMOLED or LCD, even if that means a compromise in daylight.

There are also other players in this game.  When we step into the shoes of a retailer or manufacturer that wants to sell devices in a store, other considerations come to light.  Their marketing departments want a product that sells itself in a controlled retail environment, and a vibrant screen is part of that “wow” factor. We’ve seen this already in the laptop market with glossy screens which, placed next to more practical matte displays, look shiny, attractive and probably sell in higher volumes as a result.

Even if Pixel Qi echoes its laptop strategy by releasing DIY kits for smartphones, that would be a great start. This is a revolution that would need to start at grass roots to gain enough traction to win mass market mindshare and consequent retail implementation.  By that time hopefully the indoor capabilities of Pixel Qi’s screens may even rival current Super AMOLEDs and LCDs.

If this dream does become reality of course only solves half the problem; the smartphone itself must be built to sufficient tolerances that it can survive intense heat without shutting down. Some manufacturers are better at this than others, but perhaps having Pixel Qi’s screen technology in the smartphone market could be the push manufacturers need to improve their hardware engineering.

Neil Berman

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Neil Berman

a.k.a. The phone that’s so cute it took me five minutes to figure out how to make a call;
a.k.a. The teen phone that’s as expensive to run as an iPhone;
a.k.a. Right product, wrong price: MBA case study…

…is on it’s way out.

This is really sad. Kin is an exciting product marred by pricing that just doesn’t make sense for its target market, and that’s a shame for all those who have invested their blood, sweat and now tears in it.

Neil Berman

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Oh sweet Hulu, ’tis a sad day, for thine rating is already down to 1.5 stars in the App Store. Over 1,600 out of 2,237 previewers so far have rated the Hulu Plus a measly one star, many citing the charging as the crime. iPad owners need not decommission that MacBook just yet, why pay when it’s free on the larger screen?

Neil Berman

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I recently purchased an LG Rumor Touch for $149, which is a 3″ touchscreen smart-feature-phone with a hardware keyboard and put it on a Beyond Talk plan to see what all the fuss is about.  I’ll fill you in on my experiences shortly but, as I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s hard to say no to unlimited data plus 300 minutes for only $25 or 1,200 minutes for $40…just as long as you can live with the limited phone selection.

Update – here’s the review: Virgin Mobile LG Rumor Touch review

Neil  Berman

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I narrowed down the issue to being a power management problem and by disabling the power management features of the 5300, my faith in the Latitude E6400 ATG’s general awesomeness was restored.  I’m assuming that the card was being too aggressive at saving power and, by entering a low power state whenever possible, it was inadvertently disconnecting from some routers.

My Latitude E6400 ATG is running Windows Professional 32-bit and here are the changes to the settings I made to resolve the issue, your mileage may of course vary:

1. In the Change Advanced Power Settings within the Power Options section of the Control Panel, I set the Power Saving Mode of the Wireless Adapter Settings to Maximum Performance for both On Battery and Plugged In.

2. In the Properties of the Intel 5300 AGN in Device Manager I went to Power Management and un-ticked the box next to “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.

3. In the Advanced tab of that same Properties window I also changed the 802.11n mode from 20MHz to Auto.  This allows for faster connections if your router supports them.

The steps resolved the connection dropping issue for me, if you’re experiencing something similar I hope this helps you too.  As a more severe solution, I have had a good experience with a Dell 1510 WiFi card in my Latitude E4300, so I was about to try that card in the E6400 ATG.  Fortunately following the steps above made that unnecessary.

Neil Berman

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Fairly consistent reports are filtering through the media about iPhone 4 reception issues, most notably when the phone is held in the left hand with the user’s palm covering the lower left corner of the side antenna. It seems that while Apple tried to do the right thing by being creative to improve the reception issues of the iPhone 3GS, the new design is a problem for many who like to hold the iPhone 4 in their left hand.

Apple has suggested that to alleviate this problem people should hold the iPhone 4 differently which, while being a valid suggestion, doesn’t really get to the root of the issue which seems to be a design problem. Apple did used to suffer from design issues plaguing first generation products but that reputation has recently been set aside with the largely successful designs of recent products with the exception of some overheating issues.

I would love to say this is just a temporary problem for the iPhone 4, but since the antenna is a specific hardware design feature it is unlikely to be fixable through an OS update. Will it hurt sales? I would say almost certainly not. The original iPhone, the iPhone 3G and 3GS all suffered from reception issues and Apple still managed to sell enough of those! It’s probably worth a trip to your local store to make a test call before you hand over your hard earned cash though, just in case your handiwork drops you into the reception dead zone and you can’t bear to change your style.

Rumors are circulating of a forthcoming iOS update that will fix the problem, I think we need to see that in reality as I’m intrigued as to how this could be fully resolved through software.  More likely we may see an updated design same time next year, with the antenna placement shifted somewhat.  A good testing cycle should identify errors such as these, so if anyone notices a sudden uptick in job specs for Apple testers we could infer that either the department is being beefed-up, or the unfortunate folks who missed this gaffe  have left the building.

Neil Berman

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What doesn’t seem to be so well known outside of enthusiast circles is the fact that 4G is only available in limited areas. Sprint has certainly publicized this limitation and has said which US cities currently enjoy, or will enjoy 4G coverage during 2010.

However the anecdotal conversations I have had suggest that, at least in New York City, some people trying out the Evo 4G make the logical assumption that they are experiencing 4G speeds. Of course in reality they are not because Sprint is still only at 3G in NYC. Unfortunately this shows when using the Evo 4G.

I’m concerned this is a potential perception issue in the making for Sprint. Most of the people I have spoken with in NYC who have tried out the Evo 4G have come away disappointed with what they perceive to be Sprint’s 4G network. They’re surprised to see slower than expected page and Youtube loading speeds. Of course they’re actually experiencing a 3G network on a phone that has 4G in its name.

They walk away perceiving 4G to be no different to 3G and question why they are being asked to pay $10 extra when AT&T just very publicly lowered their data plan costs (albeit with a 2GB cap).

The question is, when Sprint’s 4G really does come to New York City will the Evo 4G pick up steam or will local inhabitants already have formed a false impression of Sprint’s 4G speeds?

Neil Berman

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That’s a fair and logical assumption to make, but here’s the thing about the Wii. After a few weeks most gamers seemed to retreat to the sofa, realizing that standing up for prolonged periods is tiring and the Wii could be enjoyed sitting down with wrist flicks. Let’s not forget that the more sensitive and active Wii Motion Plus never really caught on.

So while I love the idea of Kinect and am guaranteed to buy one, I’m curious about how often I will reach for a Kinect game above a more sedentary experience. That might be a poor reflection upon me, but I reckon that playing a full soccer game using Kinect might just get a little tiring.

Without doubt though it will be great for casual gaming, fitness and a new inspirational yet-to-be-invented gaming craze which I’m already looking forward to seeing.  Who knows, if it really picks us up off the sofa for good it might just fulfill the Wii’s initial promise as a panacea for obesity.

Neil Berman

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Apple partially added this capability to the iPhone 3G and the iPod Touch, but failed to allow them to support the AVRCP remote track control protocol. This means that although these devices will stream music to A2DP enabled Bluetooth headphones, you have to pull out your iPhone if you want to skip a track. Unfortunately the iPad suffers form the same incomplete Bluetooth implementation.

Worse still, since the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch’s volume control is suspended when connected to a stereo Bluetooth headset, some headsets which rely on the sending device for a base volume control just don’t work properly with these Apple devices. For example I find the Plantronics BackBeat 903 is too loud even at it’s lowest volume level when connected to the iPad (see update below), yet it works perfectly with the BlackBerry Bold or any non-Apple smartphone I’ve tested it with.

Hopefully Apple will implement stereo Bluetooth properly on the iPhone 4, bringing it in line with most BlackBerry, Android and Windows Phone smartphones. If it fails to do so then those latter platforms remain a better option for those who like to listen to music wirelessly.

Update: Plantronics just sent a replacement BackBeat 903 and the minimum volume on that newer unit is fine with the iPad.  It appears the unit we had previously was faulty.  Of course, as with all stereo Bluetooth devices which support AVRCP, the Apple iOS AVRCP issue remains and we live in hope that Apple will one day resolve this.

Neil Berman

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Yet that’s exactly what happened during England’s first World Cup game today, in which they faced a spirited Team USA. Four minutes into the game, while over on this side of the pond we were depressingly watching England score the opening goal, the English were enjoying a Hyundai commercial on ITV HD.

I haven’t seen an explanation for what caused this monumental blunder, which is akin to getting no signal during the first touchdown of the Superbowl. Whatever the cause, I’m sure there will be some changes in the control room before the next game.

How about installing War Games style double keys which would have to engaged before the ‘Go To Commercial’ missile button can be activated?

Neil Berman

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Way way back in the old days of 2006, smartphone processor speed was a big deal. That continued through 2010 but in a gradually diminishing way as more smartphones became blessed with fast processors, allowing customers to focus more upon the software experience than hardware specs. Nokia stands out as a cautionary tale in this regard, whose N97 had superb specs but failed to enjoy success largely due to its below market leading software quality.

The processor arms race has temporarily shifted to Android devices, with 1.5GHz models promised soon and now we hear 2GHz by the end of 2010. While this may sound cool, there are a couple of caveats which are worth noting.

Firstly, CPU cycles eat battery power, and without good power management faster processors will require a corresponding increase in battery technology.

Secondly, a 1GHz processor in a cellphone should make that puppy trot along at a decent clip. So if more horsepower is needed, there’s probably some work that needs to be done on the software. I would prefer a 1Ghz processor running fluid software over a 2GHz processor running inefficient software but giving the same user experience.

Thirdly, now that iPhone 4 has addressed most of the key hardware gaps between the 3GS and flagship Android devices, the differentiating factor between the two platforms is now really only in the software rather than hardware specs. So if I was planning an Android smartphone launch, my main focus would be upon getting the best possible software build onto it, rather than pursuing a processor speed race.

I’ll leave you with this thought: How many people know the processor speed of their iPhone? Hardly anyone, because the end user software runs so fluidly. Correspondingly Android will genuinely be successful when its consumers don’t care about the speed of their phone’s processor.

Neil Berman

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Update: The World Cup games are also live online for US viewers at Univision, regardless of your ISP, so on a personal note it’s been great practicing my Spanish again!

Neil Berman

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We have had low bandwidth ads on websites for a long time now, and that will likely remain for a while to come.  The difference with iAds, if the Leaf demo is a guide, is that they could start eating up significant chunks of data.  I have no idea how much data was being pulled by the Lead ad yesterday, it was a 30 second hi-res video introduction into a mini-app, so let’s imagine the whole package was 5MB.

That’s not very much, unless you have the new 200MB Data Plus plan in which case it’s 2.5% of your monthly allowance.  To put it another way if you pull one 5MB iAd daily over a month, you would be close to using up half of your monthly data allowance on the 200MB plan.  You’ve basically paid a lot to view ads.

The solution sounds simple: don’t pull any ads if you are worried about your data usage.  Not so fast.  Since these ads can be designed to be so sophisticated many will likely have carrots to make us pull the whole ad and watch it to the end.  For example at the end of the Leaf demo ad Steve was taken to a screen where he could enter a competition to win a new Leaf.

Perhaps I’m being a bit picky with this example; after all it’s based upon a demo iAd and I’ve speculated on the amount of data ii’s pulling.  There is a similar impact upon iTunes, Netflix, Pandora and the like.  Even though those are apps which the user wants to get data from, usage patterns may change unfavorably if users start to get nervous about incurring overage charges.  I guess what it comes down to is the idea that once data consumption starts to be rationed, users will start to be much more wary of how they use their phones.  This phenomenon will not be unique to the iPhone because other smartphones pull a lot of data too, but it is currently unique in the US to AT&T and hey, the iPhone is only available here on AT&T.

There’s always WiFi of course but while AT&T is moving towards a rationing model for cell network data, Sprint is moving ahead in the speed game and offering totally unlimited 4G usage.  With its reliance upon iTunes, the App Store and selling media over the air, the last thing Apple wants is for iPhone owners to think twice about buying music on the move while Evo 4G owners have the freedom to pull whatever they want.  Expect Sprint’s marketing department to capitalize upon this.

Neil Berman

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Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 4 today will have a significant impact upon this dynamic. Here are my thoughts on today’s announcement, and in the interests of full disclosure I am an Apple shareholder.

iPhone 4: The new screen

While some competitors have chosen a bigger is better approach to screen size, Apple has chosen to stay put at around 3.5 inches diagonally. I’m undecided on whether a larger 4+ inch screen, and therefore a larger phone, is a good idea. Time will tell if the public adopts the sizable form factors of the Dell Streak and HTC Evo 4G en masse. Personally I would have liked to see Apple stretch the iPhone’s screen towards the top and bottom edges of the face plate.

The resolution of the screen looks to be a quantum leap forward, and something which I would love to see added to the next iPad. For gaming and web surfing, the extra detail on offer is likely to be a superb addition. Hopefully it will also be bright enough to be easily daylight readable.

iPhone 4: The new camera and HD video recording

This was one area where the iPhone 3GS was lagging badly behind competitors and while Apple has not put the iPhone to the front of the pack in specs, it may still have done so in quality.

Apple went with a five megapixel camera, which lags the leading phones that have eight. However it sounds like Apple has paid careful consideration to the quality side of the hardware by including a backlit sensor, which should deliver excellent results.

HD video recording is also a welcome addition, with the new iPhone offering 720p 30fps and a tie-in to iMovie which will be a $4.99 download. The iPhone is already the most used camera on Flickr, and this improved hardware could hasten the always likely death of the traditional digital compact camera and camcorder. Flip beware.

iPhone 4: Battery life

Perhaps more than any other large scale device manufacturer, Apple has been making battery life a core selling point of recent products. MacBooks and the iPad boast significant battery life, and this had been lacking in the iPhone. To be fair it is lacking in many other smartphones as well, with the HTC Evo 4G being the most recent release to suffer from short battery life.

Apple sought to address this today by claiming that the new iPhone 4 will have up to 40% better battery life than the current 3GS. That sounds like a step in the right direction, I’ll hold judgment until we see how it performs in real life situations.

iPhone 4: Video calling

I’m not wild about this one, purely because it’s restricted to WiFi usage only. It’s a cool addition, but I believe it will only truly change our communication habits when it is available over the carrier network. I also think that while occasional video calling is welcome, many people prefer to conduct conversations without video so they can multi-task. But aside from individual preferences, having the option is great.

iPhone 4: Multitasking

We’ve known about this one since January, and it will be a feature of iOS4 devices that support it, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless. I like Apple’s implementation, which similar to Microsoft’s plans for Windows Phone 7, freezes an app and then revives it from the frozen state when the user returns to the app. Other specific apps are able to genuinely operate in the background.

What’s nice about this is that it does not give all apps free reign to constantly spin in the background, which would unpredictably eat up processor cycles and battery life. There are not that many use cases on a phone where this would be useful, so I prefer the idea of preserving battery life. Of course, the current iPhone push notification paradigm is at the other extreme and is very intrusive, so this will be a welcome change.

iPhone 4: Netflix

This in itself may reason enough to convince TV loving fence sitters to make the switch. Having Netflix streaming content accessible anywhere is a major plus and the app looks great. Netflix continues to go from strength to strength.

Is the iPhone 4 worth buying over an HTC Evo 4G?

That’s a tough question, mired in all kinds of considerations such as existing carrier tie-ins and 4G availability, so I’m not even going to attempt to answer it. What’s clearly the case now though is that if you’ve been holding off of owning an iPhone because of hardware limitations, like the below par camera, resolution and lack of HD video recording, then I think that issue just went away.

Now it’s really only about the software, and that is where Android is still playing catch-up.

Neil Berman

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Apple iPad running iPhone OS

Since the death of the Newton a long time ago there have been rumors that Apple was developing a new tablet. Steve Jobs finally announced the iPad earlier this year which, in case you’ve been on an extended remote vacation, is available now running iPhone OS. It is available in WiFi only or WiFi+3G, the latter being a smart choice to get the most out of the iPad (pictured). The iPad uses the same App Store as the iPhone and iPod Touch. The iPad can run iPhone apps but dedicated iPad apps look best.

We now either own one, want one or don’t know what it’s for. Personally I didn’t know what it was for, then wanted one and lined up on launch day to own one. I now know exactly what it’s for, which is around 75% of all my Internet and media consumption. The chances are that if a website doesn’t work on the iPad, I’ll find another website or better still, an app.

Limitations include the iPad’s lack of Flash support, no easily accessible file explorer and a beautiful screen which is difficult to read outdoors. Strengths include ten hour battery life, loads of great apps and the ability to enjoy good Internet content without having to trawl the whole Internet to find it.

PC tablets running Windows

Windows tablets have existed ever since the release of Windows XP Tablet Edition years ago. These early tablets were typically ultraportable laptops with touchscreens that swiveled to convert the device into a tablet. They used resistivetouchscreens and required a stylus for input, or a very precise fingernail.

The current crop of Windows 7 tablets, spearheaded by the likes of the Archos 9 (pictured), are certainly far lighter than their ancestors but the weaknesses remain. Notably the resistive screens and stylus or trackpad input method. Unfortunately there are just too many aspects of Windows 7 usage that require precise interaction to allow tablets to really exploit the OS.

Multitouch gestures have been built into Windows 7 but as soon as you try using an application like Microsoft Office on a Windows tablet, it is beaten in usability by iWork for iPad which was created from the ground up for tablet usage. Battery life is also an issue on Windows tablets which mainly now use the Intel Atom processor. This is a very power efficient CPU but real life battery usage on these tablets tends to top out at 2-3 hours.

Android

The Google and Open Handset Alliance backed Android OS is making a big play for tablet market share. Or perhaps I should say lots of little plays, because like the Windows tablet market the Android one is made up of a gazillion of emerging models. Unlike the Windows market however, the Android devices we’ve seen so far are all running slightly different versions of Android.

Personally I feel that while Android will overcome the obstacle of fragmentation in the smartphone market, I believe it will greatly hinder the platform in the tablet market. Most users ultimately don’t care if they can’t run this or that app on their phone as long as the device runs a core set of important apps. With tablets it’s different because they are perceived as far more capable devices than phones due to their screen size. If a user tries to download an app which only works on Android 2.1 onto a 2.0 device she purchase that day, frustration will mount. The fragmentation of Android builds on tablets may hold back the rise of the platform if left unchecked.

In terms of actual Android tablet devices in the marketplace, we have seen the JooJoo come and be poorly received. That was the most high profile launch until the recent Dell Streak (pictured above), which is a small tablet and large smartphone wrapped up in a heavy, less than pocket friendly chassis. There was a ton of Android tablets announced at Computex last week running various builds of the OS, which seemed to reinforce the idea that fragmentation is the biggest issue facing this platform.

Web OS by Palm

HP recently acquired Palm and the jury is out on whether the HP Slate, which was due to be launched imminently running Windows 7, will be shelved in favor of a HP Web OS tablet. Those who have used a Palm Pre (pictured) or Pixi may feel that Web OS could be the foundation of a very useful tablet interface. We’ll just have to wait to see what HP has in store for us on this front.

Neil Berman

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But walking into the Sprint store, that might not be immediately apparent to casual observers. There were two Evo 4Gs on display sitting alongside the rest of the Sprint range, with nothing particularly shouting their presence.

One was almost out of battery and the other was switched off because its battery was dead. A Sprint salesperson came along and plugged a charger into the dead one after I asked him to do so. I asked him about the battery life of the Evo 4G and he said that they were recommending customers to buy a spare battery together with the phone. Oh, I said. He suggested that the Evo 4G’s battery drained so quickly because the phone could do so many things. Funny, I thought, how frustrating it would be to own the ‘best’ car on the market if it only got 5 mpg. Best might not be the most appropriate word.

Both phones had the customary restraining alarm attached to the back cover, with a clasp across the phone. This attachment, which annoyingly cut across the middle of the screen, stopped the Evo 4G from switching to landscape. So nobody exploring these Evo 4Gs would be able to enjoy their crowning glory, the 4.3 inch landscape view. Consequently websites were stuck in portrait looking awful with minuscule text, photos were tiny and the narrow keyboard was the only one on offer.

A few people walked in during the time I was there and seemed unimpressed, and given the way the Evo 4Gs were setup it’s really not surprising. The Evo 4G is a flagship device with tremendous capabilities, but when a customer tips it on its side to view a web page and the image remains in portrait, it unfortunately presents the perception of a second rate device which doesn’t work properly.

I asked the Sprint salesperson about stock levels and he said I could walk out the store with one immediately. I wasn’t about to do that because I don’t feel like paying an inflated 4G data plan price when New York only has 3G available, especially when AT&T just announced a reduction in data costs for the majority of users. However I wasn’t too surprised that stock was available, given the demo experience I had witnessed.

Personally, apart from the battery issues which is a biggie, I really like the Evo 4G and would consider buying one when Sprint brings WiMAX to New York City. But I’m different to all those smartphone buyers who would just go shopping for a new phone, play with an iPhone and a few others and buy one.

Speaking of which, the world is talking about a likely new iPhone coming out shortly. While Apple should worry about phones like the Evo 4G stealing some of its thunder, it seems to me that retail experiences like this one may reduce the severity of that storm. With an ever growing number of people interested in smartphones, there’s really no excuse for that.

Neil Berman

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An innovative new site called Oyster has sprung up which seems to do a address these two problems. Offering visitors the opportunity to “See the Hotel Truth”, Oyster actually sends its own employees to hotels to snap real life shots and write professional reviews. Oyster claims to have more than 200,000 undoctored photos of  hotels, most of which are in the US or nearby. Some of the photos are flattering while others are, let’s just say, useful to see before you book.  So it’s a must-use resource for travelers wanting to get an honest opinion before they buy.  In gadget-speak it’s kind of like the CNET of travel websites, and visitors can actually book hotels after sorting through the reviews and photos.

With all the product review websites out there, it’s amazing that the concept of online professional mass reviews of hotel ‘product’ has taken so long to appear. We’ve always had travel guides which give brief comments about hotels, but the consistent depth and no holds barred approach of Oyster really make it shine. Even if you never book a room, just perusing some of their real life shots makes for a great staycation.

Neil Berman

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Nice one Steve, I’d love to think you enjoy theONbutton on a daily basis and that we’ve shared some IE9 screen real estate on the Windows 8 pre-Alpha we imagine you’re playing with on a mythical Core i7 ULV ultraportable. The reality, however, is probably just that you’re seeing things in a like-minded pragmatic, logical way.

We should bear in mind that such an evolution would not necessarily be a bad thing for Apple. I continue to believe that iPhone OS devices are a more profitable play for Apple than Mac. With the rumored update to Apple TV, which might see it reappear at $99 running iPhone OS, the company’s continued focus upon this operating system would give the App Store and iTunes even greater reach and profitability.

Of course this may all get turned shockingly upside down if Apple announces in its Q2 results that the iPad created a scintillating halo effect around Mac sales!

Neil Berman

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The new plans, due to take effect for new contracts starting on June 7th, offer a low usage 200MB monthly data plan for just $15 called Data Plus, and a second plan at $25 monthly for 2GB called Data Pro. Additional gigabytes cost $10 each if you have the 2GB plan. The 5GB ‘unlimited’ $30 plan is gone, unless you’re already on it. Tethering will also be offered for an additional $20 per month, as long as you have the 2GB plan – and importantly this option will cover the iPhone as well as other smartphones. The new 2GB plan will apply to the iPad as well, replacing its genuinely unlimited plan, unless you’re already on the unlimited plan or sign up before June 7th.

What does this mean? For low data users, who probably represent the majority of smartphone customers, the cost of running a smartphone on AT&T is about to get a whole lot more attractive. For example my wife, who has a smartphone and uses it for daily email, Google Maps and occasional surfing burns through a massive 50MB on a typical month. The new pricing will chop her monthly data plan cost in half. A different user who pulls a lot of video and busts through the 2GB ceiling on a regular basis would likely pay more than currently.

I expect that this pricing will attract a boatload of new smartphone customers to AT&T, due to the lower cost of entry. But hey, guess what? June 7th sounds awfully similar to the date of the rumored announcement of the new iPhone, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we actually see Steve Jobs and AT&T announcing the lower cost plans on stage together. This would be a real coup for Apple as it would surely attract a whole new demographic to the iPhone, who previously rejected it due to the cost of the data plan. The same goes for AT&T’s other smartphones of course, but I just have a feeling that Apple may be the primary beneficiary of this new pricing scheme. Enterprises could also potentially save money by moving low data users to the new 200MB plan.

So I expect this to increase in smartphone market share at the expense of non-smartphones, since the lower cost entry point will encourage fence sitters to jump on the bandwagon. This is good news for AT&T because they should be able to increase average revenue per customer while adding people who will place minimal demands upon their data network. I also think the majority of mid level data consumers will be unaffected apart from enjoying a reduced plan cost down from $30 monthly to $25. The heavy users and those who use tethering will probably see an uptick in monthly cost.

I would expect other carriers to follow suit, although those choosing to continue offering an ‘unlimited’ plan could clearly differentiate themselves in this fiercely competitive market. I’m talking about you, Sprint 4G.

For iPad 3G owners, the situation is a little different. It would be pretty easy to go through the 2GB monthly limit on the iPad 3G if you enjoy Netflix and other data-intensive media streaming services on a regular basis. So if you fall into that category it might be worth signing up for the current genuinely unlimited plan before June 7th to get grandfathered in. Once that 2GB limit comes along, owning an iPad 3G could become a whole lot more expensive.

Wireless carriers and home broadband providers have been toying with the idea of scrapping unlimited plans in favor of charging based more upon usage. With AT&T’s new plans, this is becoming a reality, which will surely help smartphone adoption rates. If you’re a heavy data user however, prepare to spend a little more each month to feed your habit.

Neil Berman

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The iPad suffers badly from glare and overheating outdoors

There is plenty to like about the iPad, and plenty to get frustrated about as well. Apart from the lack of Flash and spontaneously crashing live on the BBC, the iPad’s difficulty outdoors is a real thorn in its side.

As is often the case with Apple products, overheating reports surfaced quickly following the release of the iPad. I myself suffered shutdowns after only a few minutes of outdoor use on a sunny day. Now, I don’t live in a crazily hot city, but New York does get pretty warm. We’re already into the 80′s for a few days a week, so I needed to find a solution.

But hold on, even if there’s a way to get the iPad to work outdoors without breaking a sweat, the screen isn’t exactly daylight readable. In fact it’s a glare magnet, which severely limits its usability outdoors.

So here’s what I’ve discovered over the last few weeks, hopefully these simple suggestions will allow you to enjoy your iPad in more places.

Enjoying the sun while keeping the iPad’s screen in shade

The Apple iPad case can be used as a sun shade

It sounds like an impossible task, but if you want to sit in the sun you must keep it from shining directly onto the iPad’s screen to have any hope of avoiding an overheating shutdown. The glass screen seems to act as a greenhouse and amplifies the sun’s rays making it almost too hot to touch after just a few minutes of exposure.

The best solution I have found for this is Apple’s own iPad case, whose protective flap can be held over the screen easily with a thumb to act as a sun-shade. Other cases with a flap cover should be able to be used in this way as well.

Allowing the iPad to expel heat

Although I love the ad-hoc sun-shade properties of Apple’s own case, its glove-like fit ensures that heat from the iPad’s back plate has no escape route. This helps to bring on shutdowns that little bit quicker.

So in addition to using the main flap as a sun-shade, opening the interior flap if you’re using the iPad horizontally will allow some heat to dissipate upwards. Make sure that you are holding the iPad with the internal flap at the top, to avoid the iPad falling out of the sleeve.

Raise the case cover slightly to allow trapped heat to escape

Also, when you are not using the iPad it will cool down quicker if you prop open the main flap by an inch or so. This will provide shade to the iPad while allowing heat trapped in the screen to escape.

Reading the iPad screen outdoors

The glare from the screen makes viewing it extremely difficult in daylight. There are a couple of ways to best this. The first is to use one of the many anti-glare screen covers now available. These do have the downside of adding a tint to the screen and reducing clarity however, and are also difficult to take on and off if you only need them once a week or so.

My preferred option is to use sunglasses with polarized lenses. These are available cheaply and mine do a fantastic job of destroying glare from the iPad’s screen.

If these tips aren’t enough to stop your iPad from showing an overheating warning and shutting down, thenmove it to a cool place and allow it to properly cool.

I used the polarized sunglasses with Apple case sun-shade technique to survive a week of use in Las Vegas, in very warm and bright conditions. The 3G reception on AT&T was lousy, but hey, trying to fix that one is a whole other story!

Neil Berman

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Compression HD just got a whole lot better with the addition of a new Blocked play mode, which adds metal blocks and bombs. It’s ten times more fun than the regular game, which was already ten times better than most games out there. So by my math, that makes it a hundred times better than…oh whatevs. If you haven’t tried Compression HD yet, it’s a free download from the App Store. The new Blocked play mode costs just 99 cents as an in-game download. Now I have to get back to to it!

Update: I have the 14th highest Blocked score in the world!!

Neil Berman

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I’m really looking forward to WiMAX arriving in New York, but the idea that a repeater is required to deliver good service within a retail store sets off alarm bells in my mind about quality of service. Many early adopters have noted that WiMAX works great outside near to a repeater and rapidly deteriorates compared to 3G when the receiving device moves indoors. This is due to WiMAX operating at a higher frequency than 3G, making it harder for the signal to penetrate buildings.

With New York being the city full of skyscrapers that it is, I’m starting to fear for the success of WiMAX here unless there repeaters all over the place. We’ll just have to wait and see what the quality of service is like when it goes live. I really hope it works out though, as it would be a shame if 3G ends up being faster than 4G in many real-life usage scenarios.

Neil Berman

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It looks like Google TV seeks to aggregate content from various delivery channels and offers the end user multiple options for viewing said content.  For example during the presentation a portal page for House was shown offering episodes from Fox HD, USA HD, Bravo HD, and online from Fox, Hulu and Amazon.

While this kind of optionality is great from the point of view that the market can choose which delivery mechanism it wants, I’d say that most people want to flop in front of their TV, press a button and watch their favorite show.  The idea of presenting a regular viewer with so many viewing options, might just end up being too much choice for a simple end user decision.  I think the platform will ultimately need to prioritize certain delivery channels, either through configuration by the user or through agreements between Google and its content partners.

Of course we have all of this choice today and power users would probably love what Google TV looks like today by offering these myriad options through one remote control and one interface.  Windows Media Center provides a similar service but without a usable TV interface for browsing the internet, unless you have a wireless keyboard and a large screen for viewing small text at a distance.

So definitely five stars to Google on this one from the likes of me, I just hope that it’s straightforward enough for the average consumer to control when it hits Best Buy on Main Street.

Neil Berman

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Two months ago I would have agreed that is an absurd idea, especially for a product without a proven market. After a few weeks of daily use with my iPad 3G however, I believe with more conviction than ever in my recent article The emergence Of Appleiance.

If the iPad really is selling so strongly, it all just makes perfect sense for Apple. While I won’t rehash the whole piece, which you can read at your leisure, I am pretty sure that in a few years the Mac will be a different beast compared with what we know now. There will likely be fewer in the range and those which remain will be at the periphery of the Apple world rather than the center.

Why am I so convinced? It’s simple; the iPad is now my main computer. Imagine that! Here I am, a total geek with an abundance of computing equipment and within a few short weeks the iPad has gone from being an object I viewed with cynicism to the one I use most of the time when not at work. I’m not a super-demanding user, but for my usage pattern of content consumption at home and on the move, the iPad is just great. It’s more appliance than computer – Appleiance – and for most of my use-cases I like that. In fact for the first time about an Apple product, I can genuinely say it just works…except for the times when an an app crashes; which happens quite a lot!

Many commentators have said that the iPad is a spare device; a discretionary device. It no longer is for me. I still need my Windows 7 Media Center hooked up to an unreasonably large screen and I need a laptop for work. But for almost everything else, my iPad rocks.

Neil Berman

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I had been looking forward to seeing if HP could develop its Touchsmart software to bring a viable Windows based competitor to the tablet market.  Recently however my time with the Apple iPad have left me grave doubts that Touchsmart advances could bring the HP Slate anywhere close to its most prominent competitor.  Even major enhancements to HP’s software would most likely lead to a HTC Sense over Windows Mobile 6.5 situation where a pretty, and functional, front end covers a less touch friendly but useful operating system.

HP’s acquisition of Palm obviously point towards development of both phone and tablet platforms using Palm’s WebOS software so, personally, I would be surprised to hear of HP engaging in significant further tablet development using Windows 7.  Speaking as a Windows 7 user since January 2009 and someone who attended its CES launch event, I simply do not see it as a strong competitor to the iPad for mainstream users.  This is different to OSX vs Windows.  Tablets need a completely finger friendly user environment, for all operations.

Even though Windows 7 offers so much more power than WebOS, Palm’s offering offers more relevance for mainstream tablets at this time.  Similarly Windows Phone 7 in my view looks likely to be a better fit for tablets as well.  There is really no need to squeeze all of Windows 7 into a tablet for Main Street.  The result is a large amount of unusable applications for most use-cases, poor battery life and long startup times.

Just in case there’s any confusion, the current market benchmark is thousands of high quality touch only apps, ten hours of real life battery duration and instant-on startup.  These are not nice-to-haves, these are the qualities of the best selling device in this sector.  Aspiring competitors who are considering entering this market must believe that they can improve upon these qualities, or they should not waste shareholder value in developing a competing product.

If the rumors of HP laying its Windows 7 based Slate to rest in favor of a WebOS based ‘Hurricane’ come to fruition, that’s probably a good thing.  It’s also not necessarily a bad thing for Microsoft.  Windows 7 is a great desktop, laptop and netbook operating system; probably the best I’ve used, all things considered.  Microsoft should look to preserve that reputation and produce the right products for the right platforms.  That could mean giving OEMs the right to use Windows Phone 7 in tablet development to avoid WebOS taking hold alongside Android as the viable competitors to the iPad.

Neil Berman

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So with Netflix coming to the iPad and transmitting account details to Netflix’s servers out of operational necessity, some people have been concerned about the implications of using the app at a public WiFi hotspot.  I put this question to Netflix directly and here is the answer supplied by their VP of Corporate Communications:

“Netflix account information for the iPad is sent over https — so Netflix members are assured of the same level of security that as with the PC Website.”

Good to know.

Neil Berman

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Some HDTVs leave a black border around an HD 1920x1080 image

There seems to be an issue affecting many people whose HDTV does not display a full screen 1080p image when connected to a computer over HDMI.  It goes something like this…

• Excited person buys 1080p HDTV with dreams of experiencing PS3/Xbox/PC/Mac 1920×1080 viewing heaven
• HDTV duly arrives and gets setup
• HDTV connects happily over HDMI and displays 1080p but with a black border around the edge of the image
• Excitement fades as the 42 inch TV is only displaying something like a 38-40 inch image

I’ve seen this on many LCD TVs, and not only those offering 1080p resolution.  I used to have a 32 inch screen with a native resolution of 1366×768 and it would do this.  My current 42 inch LCD screen, which is a Vizio SV420XVT1A does this too.

If you have spent hours playing with video card or game console setting to no avail, do not despair – there may be an easy solution!

The image now fills the screen

Most LCD panels have settings buried in their menu which allow the user to move and stretch the image being displayed.  These menu settings are sometimes described as Horizontal and Vertical Size and Horizontal and Vertical Position; often in the menus the orientation words are reduced to H and V, which helps to save space but not confusion.

In both of my cases I have found that by increasing the horizontal and vertical size of the image I was able to fill the panel with a pin sharp full screen image.

Some TVs have zoom settings which allow the image to be resized in broad steps, but I find the small increments of horizontal and vertical resizing can deliver a more accurate image fit to the panel.

Check out the gallery below for the steps I followed on this Vizio SV420XVT1A.

Neil Berman

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Gizmodo seemed pretty convinced that they were looking at the real 4th generation iPhone and the legal actions of recent days could be taken to lend further credence to that view. If true, that would mean we might witness an iPhone release this year lacking some of the wild anticipation of previous events. That’s bad news for Apple since the column inches generated by that anticipation normally reach so many people who don’t follow tech news. People will still know, but the scale of speculative excitement is likely to be smaller.

On top of that, since Gizmodo’s coverage exploded out of the tech bubble into mainstream media many potential iPhone buyers are now more likely to delay their purchases. Sure, in the tech industry we all expected a new iPhone this year but most Main Street consumers were blissfully aware. Not anymore. That’s potentially problematic for sales targets and stock inventory planning of both the current and future models which makes life difficult for Apple and its suppliers. We know from the iPad delays how new devices can cause issues for bespoke component production. I’d anticipate that we may see now supply failing to meet higher than planned demand if the new iPhone does launch this summer.

The biggest concern for Apple however might be far more visible than stock inventory planning. Now that these iPhone images are in the wild I fully expect to see copies launched in parallel or prior to the next iPhone launch. While these are unlikely to come from mainstream giants such as HTC or Dell, that doesn’t really matter. Apple likes to set the design agenda and that is normally a strong competitive advantage for the company over its competitors. Now there are potentially months of lead time for smaller manufacturers to design and deliver similar looking devices. Meanwhile the larger OEMs have an advance scoop on what they are potentially up against.

Neil Berman

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Warning, this post contains stuff which will almost certainly void your warranty if you repeat it.  If you like that kind of thing, read on!

This morning was a minor disaster. My BlackBerry Bold 9000 seemed damp to the touch as I threw it in my pocket, I thought nothing of it since I had just washed my hands. I did however get concerned ten minutes later when I tried using it.

The trackball was spewing liquid when spun, key presses resulted in random “hl” and “ou” garbage and the call buttons were ineffective.  The growing knot in my gut tightened as I caught the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee, and I wasn’t walking past Starbucks.

How did my BlackBerry get bathed in coffee I wondered? A quick call to my wife resulted in a sheepish admission of guilt.  She explained how she had tried to conceal the crime by wiping down the exterior surface; little did she know that some phones are designed with an accessible underbelly.

I took off the back cover hoping that a battery pull would solve the problem and as I did so, what seemed like a stream of black liquid poured out.  Coffee can do wonderfully destructive things to computing equipment, especially when sugar is mixed in, so I feared the worst as I embarked upon a frantic drying effort.

A few tissues later (for the Bold, not me, I wasn’t an emotional wreck…yet) and I went for the battery pull. A couple of times. It was consistently booting properly into the home screen but the wacky “hl” and “ou” characters were still showing up, the Escape key, call buttons and trackball button were useless, and many of the letter keys were calling up unpredictable actions.

This was not the first life threatening event that my BlackBerry has faced.  Last year’s throwdown in a rowdy New Orleans bar was far worse in terms of sheer force, but the Bold’s  recovery was instant once I had reassembled it.

On this occasion things seemed more serious.  A quick call to AT&T led to some helpful diagnostics followed by a check of the moisture indicator.  ”What color is it?” asked the AT&T rep.  ”Kinda pinkish”, I replied as the indicator appeared to grow redder by the second before my horrified eyes.  The AT&T rep then proceeded to declare my warranty null and void but did offer to take me through the master reset procedure, which I politely declined since I had other plans.

Rice.  Of all the drying agents available to me its starchy thirst for moisture was the first thing that jumped into my mind.  I amassed a BlackBerry bath worth of rice and submerged the Bold, sans battery, which had its own bathing corner.  Three hours later I shook out the grains, reseated the battery and let the Bold reboot.  Naturally by this time I was visibly shaking from BlackBerry withdrawal, so some kind of medication might be required if this didn’t work.

Just like before it booted up fine, only this time the call buttons had life in them too!  The Escape button had gone from dead to mildly erratic and only a few of the letter keys were still misbehaving.  Time for another rice bath.  I let another few hours pass and after that all was good except for the trackball button which still has no effect, although the scrolling motion was working perfectly.  Hopefully in time the trackball button will recover too.

While I continue to believe that in the next five years the BlackBerry platform will be ultimately overwhelmed by Android, iPhone OS and Windows Phone 7, I can’t help but marvel at the resilience of this BlackBerry Bold 9000.  Now what can I throw at it next…?

Coffee and rice are bad for your BlackBerry.  Repeating the events described in this post could void your warranty or cause your BlackBerry to stop working.  I think the rice bath photo is cool.

Neil Berman

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The magazine found that during their testing on athe new MacBook Pro Core i7, the laptop became so hot that they could no longer keep it positioned normally on a desk.  Instead they had to turn it up on its end, which might make Final Cut Pro editing a bit of a challenge.  How hot is hot you ask?  101 degrees Celcius.  That’s a mighty hot product.  It surely flames a previous MacBook which could allegedly cook an egg.  By way of comparison PC Authority ran the same tests on a Fujitsu Lifebook SH 760 with the same Core i7 processor and it peaked at a comparatively frigid 81 degrees Celcius.

So although the new MacBook Pro Core i7 might reduce your winter heating bill, we don’t recommend this approach.  In fact quite seriously based upon the PC Authority experience, we’d advise observing a a sensible amount of caution when using this laptop if you own one.  If you notice it getting hot, put it somewhere safe and away from your lap to cool down.  It’s nice to have a pretty laptop, but it’s not worth burning your lap for one.  Hopefully Apple will work some magic into the design of this particular model to improve its heat dissipation.

Neil Berman

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Brando wireless keyboards 800M-BRF (top) and 2392M-BRF (bottom)

Brando makes a lot of keyboards, mice and all manner of computer accessories. Within that arsenal of gadgets are a selection of wireless keyboards, some of which also have a trackball or trackpad. This makes them good candidates for the Home Theater PC (HTPC) market or other use-cases where portability is important, as with the EFO iPazzPort which we recently reviewed. So here we have are a couple of Brando’s wireless controllers under review, let’s see if they’re any good.

First impressions of the 800M-BRF

The 800M-BRF is a mid-size wireless keyboard with trackball.  It is a black plastic design with a large number of silver quick launch buttons flanking the keyboard.  There is also a scroll wheel and two mouse buttons on the opposite side of the unit to the trackball.  The 800M-BRF is powered by two AA batteries and is supplied with a USB RF transmitter which requires a one-time quick frequency pairing to the keyboard.

Using the 800M-BRF

The 800M-BRF is light enough to hold for extended periods both hands.  The keys are slightly too small for comfortable desk typing so it seemed to be easiest to type by gripping both sides and using it as a large thumb-board.  Since the keys are densely packed with flat tops and little separation between each one, I occasionally pressed two keys at once but overall the experience was good.  The width of the 800M-BRF meant that typing in this way gave my thumbs plenty of exercise and those with smaller hands might struggle to reach the middle.  This would mean trying to use it in a more traditional desk typing orientation.

Brando managed to squeeze most of the important keys into the 800M-BRF without requiring a secondary key press.  I say most, because the direction arrows require a Fn key press to activate them.  While the scroll wheel takes care of up and down movement, I did miss not being able to use the horizontal arrows to quickly navigate through text for cursor positioning.  The trackball can of course be used for this purpose.

Since the mouse buttons are on the left side of the keyboard and the trackball is on the right, the 800M-BRF must be held in two hands for almost all activities.  Again this is not a major problem, but it would have been nice to have the buttons at the corners like with the 2392M-BRF to enable one handed for web surfing.

The quick lunch buttons around the sides and above the main keyboard are a mixed bunch.  Some of them such as the media buttons on the left worked perfectly, whilst the application launchers seemed to have no effect.  These launchers include dedicated buttons for Word, Excel and Powerpoint as well as copy and paste functions.  I was unable to get any of these buttons to work in Windows 7.  The ones on the top which mainly control web functions did work however.

In terms of tactile response, the main keyboard is fairly soft while the silver buttons are overly resistant and need a good press to be engaged.  The scroll wheel feels perfect.

I’ll conclude on the 800M-BRF at the bottom of the review after covering the 2392RF, but I will say right now that both of these gadgets need better names!

First impressions of the 2392M-BRF

Like the 800M-BRF, the 2392M-BRF is finished in black and silver although it looks a bit smarter with its silver surround.  The 2392M-BRF manages to pack in much larger looking keys than the 800M-BRF as they are raised and separated similar to a traditional keyboard.  The trackball on the 2392M-BRF is at the upper right corner of the controller and its left and right mouse buttons are at the front-facing corners.

The underside has a thoughtful cut-out for storing the unit’s RF transmitter, which requires a frequency pairing upon first use.  In fact the transmitter looks identical to the one supplied with the 800M-BRF.  If you’re wondering, the transmitter can only pair to one device at a time, it is not a Bluetooth transmitter.

The silver buttons on each side of the keyboard provide media controls, the top buttons are for the web and the ones below the trackball are Word, Excel and cut/copy/paste.

Using the 2392M-BRF

The keyboard on the 2392M-BRF is just about big enough for brisk lap typing.  Sine the keys are well positioned and almost a full keyboard set is present without requiring secondary key presses, I was able to work up a decent typing rate with minimal errors.  Do be aware though that some of the keys, such as Tab and the top row are small so they need to be targeted.  Overall though the 2392M-BRF gave a much better typing experience than the 800M-BRF, with superior key action, sizing and spacing.

I also liked the positioning of the mouse buttons, since swapping the primary and secondary button actions in Windows enabled one handed web browsing on the 2392M-BRF.  My thumb was on the trackball and my index finger was on the right corner button which was now switched to act as the left click.  This arrangement worked well, although the mouse buttons are fairly stiff which meant they were harder to press than I would have liked.  In fact as with the 800M-BRF all of the silver colored buttons were a little too stiff for my liking.

The web buttons performed as expected but, as with the 800M-BRF, the application launchers and cut/copy/paste buttons had no effect in Windows 7.  The media buttons worked well and look like they’re conveniently positioned on the sides of the 2392M-BRF.  However in day-to-day usage I instinctively held the 2392M-BRF in both hands and by doing so it was easy to press down on one of the media buttons by mistake.  I should also note that for a while the track forward button on the 2392M-BRF stopped working, although it then recovered after a couple of days.

A couple of issues common to both the 800M-BRF and 2392M-BRF

There is a power saving feature on both units which puts them to sleep after what feels like a few seconds.  While this does an excellent job of preserving battery life, it felt to me like the sleep function engages too quickly.  For example if I was reading a lot of of text on a webpage, by the time I wanted to move the mouse pointer it had fallen asleep.  This quickly became frustrating because both devices took a second or so to wake up.  I’d prefer a time delayed sleep of, say, five minutes or so.

The build quality on both the 800M-BRF and 2392M-BRF is not quite up there with the keyboards produced by the likes of Logitech, Microsoft or Apple.  Both controllers do feel solid, but some of the silver colored keys were occasionally unresponsive and feel cheap when pressed.  Nothing popped off but as I mentioned earlier one button on the 2392M-BRF failed for a day or so.

Brando wireless keyboards 800M-BRF (top) and 2392M-BRF (bottom)

Additionally one omission from both controllers is that neither is backlit.  This makes them difficult, although not impossible, to use in a dark environment.  HTPC owners who enjoy watching movies or web surfing in low light rooms might prefer the Logitech diNovo Mini or EFO iPazzPort if a backlight is critical.

Are the 800M-BRF and 2392M-BRF worthwhile investments?

There are actually remarkably few good portable wireless keyboard and mouse controllers on the market.  Those which do exist are often a compromise; some have a large keyboard but are too difficult to hide on the coffee table, while others are too small to provide a good typing and navigation experience.

The 800M-BRF and 2392M-BRF sit somewhere between these two extremes and are both good attempts to answer the HTPC controller question.  While I preferred the selection of buttons and key separation of the 2392M-BRF over the 800M-BRF, the latter was easier to hold due to its button placement.  I certainly look forward to seeing version 2.0 of these in the future when some of the build quality concerns have been addressed and I do feel that they would benefit from a backlight.  In the meantime I’m sure both of these will find many willing buyers as they are both usable and unique solutions for either an HTPC owner or someone who needs to carry a controller between many computers.

Link to the product page of the 800M-BRF

Link to the product page of the 2392M-BRF

Neil Berman

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What’s under review: Plantronics Explorer 395 Bluetooth headset, MSRP $49.95

What rocks: Good call quality, simple to use controls, comfortable snug fit

What’s rocky: Earhook is unobtrusive but non-removable, lacks A2DP for listening to audiobooks or podcasts

Verdict: An excellent mid-range contender

We recently reviewed the Aliph Jawbone ICON and BlueAnt Q1, which are high end Bluetooth headsets.  Time for something more affordable we thought, which coincided perfectly with Plantronics launching its new mid-range headset, the Explorer 395.  So they were kind enough to send us a sample for review, and here is what we found…

Plantronics Explorer 395: First impressions and controls

The Plantronics Explorer 395 ships in sealed plastic retail casing, which we eagerly cut open.  The box contains the headset, its charger and manual.  The Explorer 395 also has a non-removable earhook which can be rotated to fit either the left and right ear.  There are no multiple ear fittings included with the 395 but its earpiece is small and the earhook is designed to ensure that the headset stays put.  The Explorer 395 weighs in at just 11 grams.

The construction quality of the Plantronic Explorer 395 feels excellent and outwardly it looks like a premium headset.  The color scheme is black with chrome-style accents.  The earhook is transparent, and almost invisible when worn so the 395 resembles an earhook-less design to casual passers-by (see photo of devilishly handsome guy modeling it in the press shot).  As a note, presumably for security in transit the earhook was fixed to the side of the headset with a good size glob of removable sticky stuff.  This did not leave any marks on the Explorer 395 and hopefully it was just a case of someone pulling the glue trigger a bit too hard that day.

For a modern Bluetooth headset the Plantronics Explorer 395 is positively brimming with controls, boasting a large multi-function button on the main external side of the device, dedicated volume controls and an on-off switch.  There’s also a status light and a micro USB charging port, although the power adapter lacks the detachable USB cord of some more expensive headsets.  So although the Plantronics Explorer 395 can be charged from a computer’s USB port, those wanting to do so will need to provide their own cable.  A full charge takes two hours.

The Plantronics Explorer 395 supports voice dialling, redial, call transfer to and from the phone, and a combination of button presses allows the battery level to be indicated by the status light.

Plantronics Explorer 395: In use

Pairing the Plantronics Explorer 395 was straightforward; the headset entered Plantronics’ QuickPair mode when I switched it on for the first time and it connected extremely quickly to my BlackBerry Bold.  Although we’re only talking seconds here, the Explorer 395 completed the pairing process notably quicker than most other headsets I’ve used recently.

Wearing the Plantronics Explorer 395 for the first time involves positioning the earhook to the correct orientation for your preferred ear and then slipping it on.  The fit on my head was snug and none of my ear bits felt like they were being strained, which is always good sign for something that might need to sit on your ear for hours at a time.  In fact after a two hour call the Explorer 395 felt comfortable enough to let me go the same distance again if necessary.

Call quality was good overall, with indoor conversations being crystal clear while outdoor ones were more variable depending upon the amount of wind and street noise.  The Plantronics Explorer 395 has an onboard DSP which is designed to reduce wind noise and echo.  This is not the audioiQ2 technology of the Plantronics 975 but the DSP certainly does as admirable job, and while it’s bested by the finest headsets on the market it did perform well given the Explorer 395′s price point.

The Plantronics Explorer 395 has a dedicated on/off switch

If we have a criticism of the Plantronics Explorer 395, it’s that some owners may prefer a design with a removable earhook.  However on the plus side, the earhook does make the 395 does feel extremely secure on the head which is a plus for those who have lost headsets to busy sidewalks.

Less importantly the Explorer 395 also lacks the nice-to-have A2DP profile which allows music, podcasts or audiobooks to be streamed to the headset.  While few mono headsets provide this functionality it would be great to see it implemented more frequently, especially since spoken voice podcasts and audiobooks tend to sound fine through one ear.

Is the Plantronics Explorer 395 a sound purchase?

For $49.95 the Plantronics Explorer 395 is an excellent choice as either a first headset or for someone looking for a good quality solution which doesn’t break the bank.  It might not have the bells and whistles of the more expensive Plantronics headsets, but for many people the 395 will give them everything they need.

Link to the Plantronics Explorer 395 product page.

Neil Berman

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What’s under review: Callpod Fueltank Duo, MSRP $69.95

What rocks: Reduces travel stress, lighter than expected, simple and effective

What’s rocky: Nothing, unless you live in a world with no electronics in which case it could be a handy paperweight

Verdict: Essential travel accessory for gadget lovers

These days we all travel with so many gadgets that the security X-rays of our bags probably look like wiring spaghetti. There is the work phone charger, non-work phone charger, iPod charger, camera charger, headset charger, spare headset charger, Nintendo DS charger for Kid One, PSP charger for Kid Two (er, you) and so it goes on…

Cue the Callpod Fueltank range

Callpod heard the cries of the traveler and took pity, nay even created the Fueltank Uno and Duo to solve this horrific situation.  We have the Fueltank Duo here and as its name implies it can juice two devices from an internal rechargeable battery.  Tiny adapter cables are available to provide compatibility with more than three thousand devices.  The idea is to simply charge up the Fueltank, throw it in a bag with the adapters needed by your devices and you have a spaghetti-less charging solution on-the-go.

First impressions of the Fueltank Duo

The Fueltank Duo feels and looks solid, but at 7.3oz it’s not particularly heavy considering most of its mass is a large battery.  At one end is its own battery charging port and a battery check button, while the other end houses the ports used to charge two devices simultaneously.  The black strip on the top of the Fueltank Duo hides the battery meter which lights up when the battery check button is pressed.

Three charging adapters are included with the Fueltank Duo, which provide compatibility with the iPhone, iPod, mini-USB and micro-USB devices.  There is also a voucher included to redeem one free adapter, which might mean you can be fully covered without needing to buy any extra ones.  Additional adapters are $9.95 each.

Using the Fueltank Duo

After giving the Fueltank Duo a full charge, it’s simply a matter of plugging devices in using the charging adaptors and enjoying the experience of not having to carry power bricks around.  The Fueltank Duo works just as expected, which means staying quiet, reporting its remaining capacity when asked and juicing many devices on a single charge.

Callpod claims the Fueltank Duo can provide typical devices with seven charges.  Over a week of testing I did manage to get close to that number and I’d say it’s definitely feasible to take a charged Fueltank Duo on a weekend away to charge multiple devices.  It would even survive a light week, although I’d probably take the Fueltank’s power adapter to charge it up for serious activity.  Still, taking one power adapter sure beats taking five or maybe more.

The Fueltank Duo comes with a soft carry pouch, which helps to keep the small adapters in one place when in transit.  The unit itself can also fit into a typical coat pocket, but probably not a jeans pocket.

Will you and the Fueltank become a dynamic Duo?

Overall the Fueltank Duo is an excellent gadget for travelers which I can recommend without reservation.  At its full retail price of $69.95 it’s worth the money and diligent online shoppers can currently find it at e-tailers for less making the Fueltank Duo a great deal.  If you have lesser charging needs the Fueltank Uno does a similar job but provides around half the capacity and only one charging port.

Click here for more information about the Callpod Fueltank Uno or Duo.

Neil Berman

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EFO iPazzPort: What is it?

We reviewed the EFO iPassport last year, which was the predecessor to the newer and subtly renamed iPazzPort. We liked the overall concept of the iPassport, especially for the HTPC market, although we did have some reservations around the look and feel of the device as well as some hopes for version 2.0.

As a refresher in case you haven’t read or are too darn lazy to read our iPassport review, the device was a backlit and wireless thumb-board with trackpad. It offered the essential functionality of a keyboard and mouse combo in a small, easily portable frame.

At first glance the iPazzPort looks remarkably similar to the iPassport. Once you look a bit closer though there are changes to the key placement, trackpad and transmission technology which has switched from RF to Bluetooth.  There’s also now a newer iPazzPort which we’ve reviewed here.

EFO iPazzPort: In use

The change to Bluetooth certainly improves signal reliability, and as a bonus the tiny supplied Bluetooth dongle is a useful thing to have around. For example I was able to use it to drive both the iPazzPort and a set of Bluetooth headphones simultaneously.  I did notice that the responsiveness of the iPazzPort reduced occasionally when its Bluetooth dongle was driving more than one device. That’s kind of acceptable since buyers of a wireless keyboard probably don’t expect the transmitter to work with other devices apart from the keyboard it’s packaged with.

One of my issues with the original iPassport was the lack of scrolling on the trackpad. EFO has now added this essential feature to the iPazzPort, which is great. The scrolling works fine, just like on a typical laptop. For the next version it would be great to see a multitouch trackpad on the iPazzPort to enable two finger actions and other gestures.

EFO has also relocated many of the key characters on the iPazzPort. Numbers are now directly accessible with needing a secondary key press and overall I prefer the key configuration the this version.

The excellent backlighting is still present in the iPazzPort, which makes the controller perfect for dark environments.

However I still find the overall form of the iPazzPort to be more difficult to type on than a typical BlackBerry. I think the reason is because it is a very flat device and slightly wider than ideal for a thumb board.

Ideally I’d actually love EFO to take something like one of the larger BlackBerrys, say the size of a Bold 9000, put a trackball where the screen is and place the left and right buttons where the call buttons normally live. Portrait smartphones are a great size for quick typing because people are now very familiar with using them. So replicating this in the living room seems like a plausible idea.

Since the iPazzPort is a Bluetooth keyboard it should also work with the Apple iPad although I haven’t tried it with the iPad yet. The trackpad won’t work but if the keyboard does then the iPazzPort could be a handy solution for iPad owners who have an iPad table stand and need a more portable hardware keyboard than the Apple’s iPad dock keyboard.

EFO iPazzPort: The perfect HTPC controller?

Overall as with its predecessor the iPassport, the iPazzPort remains a very useful living room controller whose Bluetooth, trackpad and key position improvements increase its convenience. There are still some ergonomic and design issues, which may deter fast typists and design purists, however I don’t know of any competing products which combine the iPazzPort’s price and functionality into such a tiny package.

Click here to go to the product page for the EFO iPazzPort.

Neil Berman

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Apple recently delayed the European launch of the iPad, but the recent air chaos may well set that May date back unless supplies are leaving the US by sea.

Perhaps they were always destined to be a sea cargo, but if they weren’t I wouldn’t be surprised if they are now!

Neil Berman

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NASA image showing the ash visible to the eye (left) and through infrared (right)

Much of Europe is currently a no-fly zone due to volcanic ash but, more worryingly, volcanologists are suggesting that Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull could continue erupting for months or years to come.  This could have a disastrous impact upon the airline industry as travelers will be reluctant to make advance bookings for flights, since many insurance companies do not reimburse for cancellations caused by “Act of God” events.

So at dinner last night my good friend Charlie proposed that this could be the event which finally tips the balance of international communication towards video conferencing and away from air travel.

In the short term I certainly agree with him.  If technology and science fiction has taught us anything however, it’s that there are always options.  So let’s look at the ones out there and then collectively weep about our lack of modern day research into most of them.

The Transporter (Star Trek)

Being able to act upon one of William Shatner’s most famous lines “Beam me up Scotty” would save us a lot of hassle right now.  In fact scientists in Copenhagen did manage to transport some matter 18 inches a few years ago but let’s be honest, that’s just going to get you from one part of the ash cloud to another.  18 miles would be more promising, and 18,000 is frankly what we need right now.  Gene, the world misses you more than ever now.

The FTL Drive (Battlesstar Galactica)

The BSG take on instant point to point transportation is the FTL drive, which requires huge computational effort but can’t possibly take as long to prep for as a typical traveler getting ready to pass through airport security.  The FTL drive has to be fitted to a craft, so individual transportation is not supported unlike the Star Trek Transporter.  However for today’s needs that’s just fine, we’d fit one to a 747 and FTL our way across the Atlantic in an instant.

The Holly Hop Drive (Red Dwarf)

Holly’s hilarious effort to transport Lister and the Red Dwarf crew back to Earth was one of the finest moments of this BBC comedy sci-fi masterpiece.  I think I’d feel safer manually navigating a rowing boat across the Atlantic to Europe than trusting Holly to Holly Hop me there through an ash cloud.  Check out this all-time classic show on Netflix, where it’s available to stream instantly to your PC/Mac/Xbox/Wii/PS3/iPad whatevs.

Hyperspace (Star Wars and many others)

For some reason the often unreliable Millenium Falcon was faster than anything Vader or the whole Imperial Empire could manufacture.  I’m sure that many would even be happy to sit out the journey in the prisoner block of an Imperial Destroyer if it meant saving them from another night of sleep deprivation in a departure terminal.  After all, the duration of the cross Atlantic voyage at hyperspace would take less time than the blink of an eye.  Alas it’s just one more technology brought to the silver screen but never quite mastered in real life.

Helium filled light airship

Back to reality, the Excelsior from Archer (Skytanic, Season 1) could actually become useful if the jet engine is temporarily doomed over European skies.  It might be super slow but it sure looks comfortable and hey, this one actually exists!

Neil Berman

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So for those of you with iPad in hand along with the lock of hair you just yanked out from sheer frustration, don’t smash that pretty glass screen just yet.  There is still hope for your iPad to magically hold onto a WiFi connection.  Unfortunately nobody seems to know the exact reason for the iPad’s WiFi problem but there are a gazillion creative ideas and hacks out there.   So move your hand away from your head and check out these links, they might just save you from an impromptu haricut.

Apple 2.0

Discussion thread on official Apple forum

Support article from Apple

PC Magazine

Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll return to praying that Apple fitted a different and better WiFi chip into the iPad 3G.

Neil Berman

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So here’s the challenge: For the price of a decently spec’d MacBook Pro can a one bedroom apartment be kitted out with home entertainment tech including a similarly spec’d Windows 7 laptop?

First, the rules.  Pretty simple really, no refurbs, coupons or member-only offers.  We’ll also assume that in both scenarios we’ll buy the same wireless router.

The Mac option

Let’s start with the MacBook Pro.  We’ll take the 15″ with the standard Core i7 processor and 4GB RAM.  In fact the only upgrade we’d make is to dump the slow 5400RPM 500GB drive in favor of a faster 7200RPM unit, which we think should be standard on anything labelled “Pro”.  That’s a cheap $50 upgrade.

That gives us a grand total of $2,249 on Apple’s site.  Let’s see what we can get ourselves for that kind of money.

Our apartment has a bedroom and living room, so we’ll need to take care of both.  In the living room we’ll need a TV, surround sound audio system, something for gaming and of course Blu-ray.  In the bedroom a small TV would be nice along with a simple sound system.  And of course we need that Windows laptop too, so let’s start with that.

The one bedroom apartment

Keeping it simple we can pick up our laptop from the local Walmart.  They have the HP Pavilion DV6-2190US with almost identical specs to the MacBook Pro for $898.54.  There’s the Intel Core i7, 4GB RAM and 500GB 7200RPM hard drive, all being powered by Windows 7 Home Premium.  The DV6 packs a GeForce 230M in  place of the 330M on the MacBook Pro but in day-to-day tasks like surfing and typical comupting, most people wouldn’t notice the difference.  The big 2010 performance leap comes from the Core i7.

We definitely need a nice big TV, so let’s go for a 40″ 1080p from Toshiba for $579.99.  It’s rated 4.6 out 5 from 91 reviews on Tiger Direct, so that’s a solid endorsement.

For the games console we’d choose an Xbox 360 for $199.99, but a Wii would do just as well for the same money if you prefer it.

We definitely want to be watching that 1080p TV and playing our games in full surround sound, so how about adding a Sony Bravia surround system with speakers for $229.99 from Newegg.

We’ll pair that Bravia surround system with a Sony Blu-ray player for another $139.99 from Newegg.

That gives us the kind of super duper living room setup that we’ll never want to leave, but that Mac Book Pro is so expensive that we still have $400 to burn!  So let’s go into the bedroom…

The iPod Touch is a great device to have around as a flexible media player and second web device, so we’ll have one of those of Apple’s site for $199.99.

We need  to get some noises out of that so we need a dock.  Altec Lansing’s well regarded IM310 sounds good for $59 from J&R.

Finally we’ll complete the bedroom tech setup with a 15″ TV.  This one from Coby comes in at only $129.99 but still delivers 720p resolution.

That total home entertainment setup, all from major brands including a Core i7 laptop comes to $2237.49.  That’s still less than the MacBook Pro, but I think we’ve bought enough virtual stuff for one day.

So can you setup a whole apartment for the price of a MacBook Pro?

So one the one hand you could buy a HP Core i7 Windows 7 laptop, Toshiba 40″ HDTV, Sony BluRay deck and Bravia surround sound system, Xbox, iPod Touch, sound dock and a bedroom TV…or you could have a MacBook Pro.  The choice, as ever, is yours.

Prices accurate as of the time of writing, but as always in the tech world if you’re slow they’ll change!

Neil Berman

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The 13″ models are still saddled with Core 2 Duo processors, while the 15″ and 17″ models have finally made the jump to Core i5 and i7. The astute geek readers among you will recall that Dell and HP hit the market way back in 2009 with Core i7 laptops. That means Mac releases are now in danger of falling significantly behind Intel’s roadmap if newer processors come out this Fall.

The base price of the 15″ model has gone up by $100, the base 17″ is down and the base 13″ is holding steady.

GPUs have been upgraded across the board to the Nvidia GeForce 320 and 330, missing out on the top of the range GeForce 340.  There’s intelligent switching between integrated and discrete graphics and inertial scrolling is now built into the trackpads.  4GB RAM is also standard on all models.

While today’s updates are probably disappointing for Mac fans hoping for more market leading hardware, theONbutton readers shouldn’t be too surprised. These updates really fall in line with my post last month about how Apple seems to be focusing away from Mac in favor of iPhone OS devices.

Expect more of this to come as I expect Apple to continue developing its strategy in this direction.

Neil Berman

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Neil Berman

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While the iPad is not the first large screen touch device to hit the market, it has brought the technology into mainstream focus.  So does touch on a large device beat out a mouse and keyboard or is it just a passing fad?

I’ve spent time recently using a touchscreen equipped Dell E6400 ATG running Windows 7.  I was initially unsure of how much use I would really get out of touch on Windows 7, especially since the ATG’s screen is resistive rather than capacitive.  This means it lacks multi-touch support but does allow on-screen typing, clicking and scroll bar pulling.

The ATG has a useful 14 inch screen, so I setup Windows to enlarge all of the key touchable elements such as the taskbar, general text and scroll bars.  The scroll bars are now the width of a finger and the primary interface elements have effectively been supersized.

As I started reaching out to launch programs, navigate the web and perform general Windows operations, the experience became completely natural.  The ATG was resting on lap like a regular laptop and I was simply driving the computer with my fingers instead of using a mouse.

I expected my arms to tire after a while, but they stayed in good shape because they were able to rest on the ATG’s keyboard surface when I was reading a page.

The Windows 7 virtual keyboard can be expanded to produce very large keys so casual typing also becomes easy.  The physical keyboard and trackpad always remained available in case I wanted to do something more serious like writing this article.  In fact this article is a case in point.  I’m writing it using the physical keyboard and whacking the screen when I want to navigate to different points within the article to do some editing.

What I’m describing here is not a device in competition with the iPad, but rather an example of how touch works well in different ways on different platforms.

My Windows 7 experience has tangibly improved since the arrival of the ATG and its touchscreen.  I’ve recently caught myself reaching out with my hand to the screen of my other computers on several occasions now and it’s because interacting with the screen using touch just seems so natural.  On the ATG’s Windows 7 platform, it still makes sense to use the physical keyboard and trackpad in certain scenarios.  That’s because Windows 7 works best when you have both input methods available.

The iPad on the other hand is completely touch optimized, which is not necessarily a better or worse model but an example of how using only touch can work well for certain use cases.

What it comes down to is that touch is all about the software implementation.  The software implementation on the iPad is superb.  The ability to setup Windows 7 to be touch friendly makes the experience on the ATG faster than using a trackpad in most scenarios.  It would be even further enhanced by the addition of a capacitive touchscreen, but the ATG ships with a resistive one as its more resilient technology sits better with the laptop’s all-terrain ethos.

It seems pretty clear that touch is set to become an ever-increasing part of everyday computing.  Following my experiences with the iPad and Dell ATG, I welcome that with outstretched arms.

Neil Berman

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Firstly when consumers purchase an iPhone on launch day in 2007 they were committing to spend in excess of $2,500 over two years, whereas Saturday’s iPad buyers were committing to a one-time spend  of $499-699.  This is obviously incomparable from a financial perspective.

Secondly a purchase timing constraint existed with the iPhone on launch day which is was not present with the iPad on Saturday.  iPhone buyers commit to a two year service contract and are only likely to do so upon expiration of their existing cellphone contract.  Otherwise they suffer early termination fees or have to pay for two lines simultaneously.  iPad buyers on the other hand were purchasing a device free from such a timing constraint.  Even the 3G iPad presents no timing constraints, since the 3G service agreement can be started and cancelled at will.  So owners are not restricted by existing 3G data contracts on their netbook or laptop.

So while sales figures comparisons are nice to make, those made between the iPad and iPhone provide minimal value.

On a funnier note, one analyst estimated first day sales at 700,000, which I found pretty bizarre having spent Saturday afternoon in a New York Apple store with good stock availability and easy access to display units. Apple announced that total sales, including a month of pre-orders and launch day retail sales, amounted to 300,000 iPads.  There is speculation that around 150-240,000 of that number was for pre-orders, which would imply around 60-150,000 retail sales on launch day.  That seems sensible given the light demand for actual sales I saw during my afternoon in the Apple store.

Many have also pointed to long lines outside some stores as an indication of launch day demand.  Again, this is an cloudy conjecture as the lines were actually made up of those waiting to collect pre-orders purchased in the preceding weeks as well as those who chose not to pre-order.  Pre-order customers could choose to either receive their iPad by UPS or come to a store to pick it up.  So although the line represents those picking up their iPad on launch day, a significant percentage of those people placed their order over a period of weeks leading up to the release date.  Therefore perhaps it makes more sense to view some of these sales as demand spread over a longer period than just launch day.

The app download statistic of one million downloads also needs to be put into context.  While book reading was a major marketing point of the iPad, Apple forced iPad owners download the free iBooks application if they wanted to use it.  So it’s quite possible that say 250,000 of the 1,000,000 launch day app downloads were for the iBooks app, which really should have been included out of the box but had to be downloaded.  So while the statistic is certainly impressive, the iBooks impact should be taken into account when interpreting the one million number, as well as future iPad app download stats until iBooks is part of the out-of-the-box iPad app collection.

Neil Berman

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Apple iPad: First impressions

When switched off the iPad looks awesome although mildly featureless, with its simple front and limited connectivity around the edges.  There’s a volume control, screen orientation lock, dock connector and headphone port.  That’s it; simple design which we have come to expect and admire from Apple.  The headphone socket is curiously placed at the top of the device, which means the cable needs to stretch behind the iPad to avoid obscuring the screen.  However the screen can rotate to all four orientations so in practice this is not really an issue.

While the iPad weighs only around 1.5lbs, it does get tiring in the hand after a few minutes.  Holding it in mid-air with one hand and typing with the other becomes uncomfortable pretty quickly, so a stand or some kind of resting place in use is necessary.

Switching on the iPad, I found the screen less impressive than early reviewers had suggested.  I was expecting an exceptionally stunning screen and in reality even at full brightness it looked like a typical LED backlit laptop screen.  Colors were good, but under the sky-lit glass roof of the Apple store it was clear that the iPad would be less than ideal outside on a sunny day.

Apple iPad: The best Internet experience?

Let’s tackle the Flash issue right off the bat.  While I was expecting the worst, the lack of Flash was not as disastrous as I had feared.  The iPad delivers a fast Internet experience, subjectively rendering pages over WiFi about as quickly as using Google Chrome on a mid-range Windows 7 PC.  The message is that pages load quickly.  In particular I was pleased to see that pages with YouTube videos embedded rendered correctly, with the HTML5 version of the video being presented instead of the normal Flash version.  This is thanks to YouTube’s HTML5 development work.  For example the front page of theONbutton with its YouTube videos in the right hand column rendered and also played back correctly.  While I was expecting the lack of Flash to be a complete nightmare, in reality it was only noticeable occasionally.

Finger scrolling was liquid perfection, pinch-to-zoom worked instantly to blow-up text or images and page content was easy to read thanks to the crisp screen.

Apple iPad: The app experience

This is where the iPad makes up for its lack of Flash and takes the fight back to the netbooks.  Many of the sites which fail to fully work in the browser have a dedicated app to deliver their content.  This is also the case on the iPhone but the iPad goes further by offering dedicated apps for ABC, the YouTube and Netflix (which apparently is also be coming to the iPhone).  The advantage of this approach is that the dedicated apps look great and work beautifully.

Like the iPhone, good apps on the the iPad take the device way beyond a netbook experience; providing amazing looking content tailored specifically to the iPad.  Take a look at the screenshot of the MLB app for example.  We should also expect the already huge selection to continue growing at a significant pace.

The iWork suite also looked great, its one big issue being the lack of an easily accessible file system when trying to save and manipulate files.  The on-screen keyboard in portrait form is very usable when holding the iPad in both hands.  I was able to type almost perfectly from the get-go.  The landscape keyboard was a stretch however.  Apple could have benefitted from taking on the Dial Keys implementation of the Samsung Q1, which is an elegant solution to the landscape challenge.

Unfortunately there’s still no multitasking so apps work one at a time.  If you’re watching a YouTube video you cannot have an IM conversation going at the same time.  iPhone users will be familiar with this restriction already, but netbook switchers may be frustrated.  This really should be basic functionality on a device in this price range and is a glaring weakness of the iPad.  It actually makes it difficult to use the iPad as a truly powerful Internet device as so many online services such as Facebook, email and YouTube work best when the user can move seamlessly between each application to perform quick interactions.  For example it would be very challenging to blog effectively using the iPad as having to be in and out of applications manipulating photos, doing research and referencing web links would just be too much of a schlep.

But for those happy to do things one-at-a-time the iPad app model works great, just like the iPhone one does.  The problem is, the iPad is a large and expensive device which we expect to be capable of multiple simultaneous activities.

Apple iPad: iBooks

The iPad delivers a fantastic reading experience through iBooks.  Page turning is stunningly animated and the limited content will surely expand once content deals are struck with other publishers.  However the screen is so reflective that I could not envisage reading with the iPad outdoors.  As you can see from the photos indoors, every reflection is picked up by the screen.  The Kindle, while a grayscale device, is definitely more suitable for reading on a sunny vacation.  For those reading indoors iBooks provides a screen brightness control within the app, which is a useful touch.

Apple iPad: Music, video and photos

As with the iPho