HTC One V Review

At a glance

+Solid Exterior
+Decent Camera
+Beats Audio
+Excellent battery life
-A faint yellow tint on the display
-No front facing camera

In the Box:

-Transceiver
-Headset
-Charger
-USB Cable

12 April 2012 – The HTC One V is the third member of the One family, which was announced at MWC 2012. However, HTC Malaysia only brought in the One X and the One V into the market. The One V positions itself as a mid-range Android smartphone and we are here to discover more about the phone.

Exterior, Screen and Controls

At a quick glance, the HTC One V shares a close resemblance with its older cousins, the HTC Legend and Hero. All three phones have a unique curve at the bottom of the phone. Despite being a mid-range phone, we are impressed on the amount of effort that HTC spent on the Design of the One V. The Taiwanese company uses a tough and light aluminum unibody design instead of plastic for the exterior of the phone. As a result, the entire phone feels sturdy and solid.

On top of the phone you will find the power button on your right and a 3.5mm audio jack on your left. Right beside the audio jack you will see a LED notification slit across the exterior. It would blink in amber when the battery is running low and in a solid green when the battery is fully charged.

Next, you will see the volume rocker located on the right side of the phone and the microUSB port on the left side of the phone.  There is a camera and LED flash situated at the back of the phone, as well as the speaker grill situated at the bottom. The speaker grill is strategically located at the curve, so the sound is not muffled if you place it on a soft surface like on a bed or a cushion. There is a rubber back cover on the curve which can be easily removed to insert your SIM card or microSD card.

The One V has an impressive 3.7-inch LCD display with 480 x 800 resolution pixels. The screen is bright enough for outdoor legibility and great viewing angles. The only drawback we noticed is that it has a faint yellow tint on the edges of the screen. It is visible when you view a white background on the display. We are not sure whether it is a manufacturing defect or if the issue only happens to our review unit. There are three capacitive buttons (Back, Home and Recent apps) located below the display. At the edge of the device, there is a pinhole for the microphone.

Software

It is running on Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich or ICS) with HTC Sense 4.0A, the lite variant of HTC skinning. We certainly favor the Sense 4.0 user interface over the version 3.x that is found in the EVO 3D and Sensation models. That is because HTC has reduced the amount of bloat ware and the new user interface somehow blends well with the Ice Cream Sandwich user interface. Our minor irk is that you have to long press on the recent app capacitive buttons to view the menu on certain apps.

The HTC’s dialer would be the best I ever seen among all other Android’s iterations. On the dial pad itself you can either type the number you wish to call or simply search the contact you want to call. For example, you can call “Tony” by typing “8669”. Plus, HTC also include a series of power widget toggles that allows you to turn on or off WiFi, WiFi Hotspot, mobile Internet, Bluetooth, GPS and Airplane mode on your home screen.

The device is powered by a 1GHz processor bundled with 512MB of RAM. We do not notice any notable lag while using the One V.

In addition, it has an excellent battery life. In this battery test, we have turned on WiFi, mobile Internet and GPS. We have made approximately 60 minutes of calls, running common apps like the web browser, music and YouTube. Occasionally, we have switched on WiFi Hotspot and snap a couple of photos and videos. The phone lasts about 17 hours, which is quite impressive for its class.

Camera, Video and Audio

The One V is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera and a LED flash. However, the photos took by the One V are little overexposed to my likings. The camera is excellent on taking far distance objects but it is a hit and miss when comes to macro shots. We appreciate that HTC has bundled a variety of camera filters and effects, which is quite fun to experiment around with your photos. The device does not come with a front-facing camera, but it is not a big deal unless you perform serious video chats frequently.

As advertised during the launch, the One V has a dedicated imaging chip, which allows you to record 720p HD video and take photos simultaneously by tapping on the shutter button while you are recording. Continuous shots are also possible with this device, and HTC claimed that it is able to handle two frames per second.

Of course, the One V is integrated with Beats Audio that is able to enhance your listening experience. We notice that the bass is a little stronger and solid with Beats Audio switched on. However, the software enhancer only works on some of the apps, and the apps that works are the stock music app, gallery app, YouTube and TuneIn Radio. Unfortunately, the handset does not come with a pair of Beats earphones.

Connectivity and Storage

It is a quad-band device, and supports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. Overall, we noticed that the call quality over the phone is crisp and clear. It has 4GB Internal storage and accepts microSD cards up to 32GB. HTC is also providing free 25GB cloud storage from Dropbox for two years. After two years, you can still access your contents stored in the cloud, but you may not upload any additional content.

Verdict

The One V may look small in size, but it has everything you will need in an Android smartphone – an impressive display, a decent camera, a good music player and ICS. For RM 999, we think it would be the most affordable and feature packed ICS smartphone in the market for now.

Conclusion: A rugged mid-range Android 4.0 smartphone for the budget conscious.

Nokia Lumia 710 Review

The Nokia Lumia 710 was announced together with the Lumia 800 back in October 2011. Both the devices are running on Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. So what are the features that the Lumia 710 could offer? Read on to find out.

At a glance:
+Responsive UI
+Simple control
-Limited themes
-Requires Zune software to transfer data
-Limited apps available

In the box:
-Nokia Lumia 710
-Charger
-Micro-USB cable
-3.5mm headset

There are few things missing out here compared to its sister, the Lumia 800. We do not have the USB power adapter and a protective cover for the phone. The USB power adapter is, however, replaced with a classic three pin plug charger.  Depending on your preference, you may find this three pin plug charger more convenient compare to a USB power adapter. Not too much of an issue on the charger, but the absence of a perfect-fit protective cover for the phone is a letdown.

Exterior, Controls and Screen

The Lumia 710’s appearance is more of an adoption from the Nokia 603. Nokia has included a polycarbonate back cover on the phone. Its oddly-curved rectangular shape gives you a better grip on the device. Despite the bigger form factor than its cousin, the Lumia 710 is actually lighter (125.5grams vs 142grams) than the Lumia 800. There is a micro-USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an unlock button situated on top of the phone. Both the volume rocker and the camera shutter are on the right side of the phone. At the bottom of the display screen, you will find the three Windows buttons - Back, Start, and Search. These are physical buttons unlike the capacitive buttons from the Lumia 800. For the micro-SIM slot, it is located at top right of the battery slot. So, it requires you to remove the back cover along with the battery to reach it. The 5-megapixel camera is located at the back of the phone, right beside the LED flash. The speaker is located at the bottom of the device.

As for the display, it sports a TFT capacitive touchscreen with 400 x 800 pixels and Nokia ClearBlack technology. It shares the same 3.7-inch display size with the Lumia 800. We hardly spotted any differences on the display, even when both models are using their respective display technology (TFT vs AMOLED).

Software, Application and Games

The device is running on Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, which offers an intuitive Metro style user-interface (UI). There are only one homescreen which contains the shortcuts to the most common applications; messaging, hotmail, and games. You can view all the apps installed in the device by tapping on the arrow on the top right corner of the screen. The apps are arranged in an alphabetical order that makes it easy to spot what application you need.

Also included in the device is Microsoft Tellme, a voice recognition assistant which works similar to the Siri voice recognition on the iPhone. So you can just speak out what loud you want the phone to do. The voice recognition also works for typing out SMS.

As for apps, Nokia has included their Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive for your convenience. Other than that, there is also Microsoft Office bundled in the phone.

For social networking apps, the phone is preloaded with People app and Me app which connects you to Windows Live and Twitter to get your latest social feeds.


 At the time of writing, the “mobile hotspot” update for the Lumia 710 is currently not available. No official date has been announced for the update yet, but we will update you as soon as it is released.

Camera, Video and Audio

The Nokia Lumia 710 is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera that is capable of capturing images up to 2592х1944 pixels. The camera is equipped with autofocus and LED flash. The Lumia 710 could be at the disadvantage when compared to the Lumia 800’s higher megapixel camera with Carl-Zeiss lens. In addition, the Lumia 710’s camera is also capable of recording 720p video.

The video playback on Lumia 710’s 3.7-inch display offers a great visual experience. The display screen has around 252 ppi pixel density, the same as the Lumia 800 and the Nokia N9. The speaker at the back of the phone pumps up a pretty good sound quality.

Verdict

In terms of pricing, the Lumia 710 is priced at RM999, while the Lumia 800 is priced at RM1650.  It is obvious that the Lumia 710 would be an economical choice over the Lumia 800. Plus, the Lumia 710 also offers the same simplistic OS (Microsoft Window Phone 7.5 Mango) and it comes with decent specs as well.

Asus Eee Pad Memo Review

Seven inches and a bit

TABLET phones had always struck us as odd little creatures; by attempting to combine the power of Tablets with the functionality of mobile phones, these devices put themselves in a very strange place.

Specifically, Tablets need to be large to benefit from a wide surface area, but mobile phones needed to be small to, well, remain mobile. We could never get around the awkwardness of constantly handling such large "mobile" devices to answer calls, not to mention the trouble of carrying such a big piece of hardware in our pants.

Asus must have shared at least some of our sentiments, because they released the Eee Pad Memo. This is a 7in Tablet phone that tries to resolve its existential conundrum with a very creative solution - by coming packaged with another, smaller phone.

You can practically hear the Xzibit Yo Dawg meme kicking in here - "Yo dawg, I heard you like phones, so I put a phone in your phone so you can call while you call" - but in all seriousness, it's a very interesting way of making Tablet phones much more comfortable to use as phones.

If you want to know whether the Memo's 7in and a bit measures up to the competition, then have a seat, and let us share our notes with you.



Tablet flavour
The Memo runs on Android Honeycomb (version 3.2.1), although it can be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich. The main device is about 20 x 12cm wide, 1.3cm thick and weighs in at about 400g - or, to put it roughly, about half an iPad.

With a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB RAM, the Tablet phone's performance can best be described as par for the course, at least in comparison with other Android Tablets such as the Asus Transformer TF101.

There were slowdowns when we attempted to rapidly switch between apps but we never found the occasional bits of lag detrimental to the overall user experience.

Take that statement with as many grains of salt as your blood pressure allows, however - this reviewer is an avid Android user and is acclimated to the performance of mid-range Android devices.

Our Apple-loving colleagues frequently did complain that the Memo was not consistently as fast or as responsive as the iPad.

In its aspect as a Tablet, the Memo fit nicely into our hands, and its clear 1,280 x 800-pixels capacitive touchscreen allowed us to enjoy the apps we've been using on our mobile phones at a significantly higher resolution. Like Draw Something, for example.

The 1.2-megapixel front and 5-megapixel rear cameras perform well enough in capturing pictures, even though the device lacks a camera flash.

As a phone, well, all we can say is that it works. As mentioned earlier, we never got used to answering calls by placing a 20 x 12cm slab of electronics next to our face, but that's precisely what the Memic - the Memo's "mini handphone accessory" - is for, and we'll get to that later.

As it is, we're actually more excited about the fact that the Memo comes with a thick, soft-nibbed stylus that slots neatly into one end of the device.

It also comes preinstalled with several features that maximises the use of the stylus, such as the SuperNote app (which lets you write notes by hand instead of typing them), MyPainter (which is ideal for sketching) and the built-in "print screen" feature that lets you take a snapshot of whatever you're looking at on the screen or camera, and scribble notes onto it.

Of course, we mostly used the stylus to try to gain an advantage in Draw Something, but we did note that the soft nib - while great for brush strokes in MyPainter - didn't allow for very precise illustrations.

Mini me
Now, let's talk about the Memic - the Memo's bluetooth accessory that acts as a mini-phone.

The Memic is a small device - approximately 10 x 4cm wide and 1cm thick - that lets you make calls, read messages and play music through the primary Memo device, provided that the two items are within a reasonable range of one another. (In practice, this means that as long as they're in the same room, the Memic works fine.)

The mini-phone features simple controls and a semi-transparent screen that packs quite a reasonable amount of information on its roughly 1.6in display.

The simple black-and-white screen has a limited backlight that lets you see what's on display in most conditions, but the lower the light level the harder it will be on your eyes.

The Memic is technically one of the main features of the Memo and something that distinguishes the Tablet phone from its peers, but after spending nearly two weeks with the Memo we're pretty sure it's not the package's best feature.

Don't get us wrong - the Memic works perfectly well as a "handset" that makes answering calls via the Tablet much less awkward. The issue is that the accessory comes with its own set of complications; it creates as many problems as it solves.

For one thing, you now have an additional piece of hardware that you'll need to take care of, and the Memic needs to be charged separately from the Memo. (Although to be fair, both devices have reasonable battery lives - we only plugged them in once every two to three days of regular use.)

More importantly, the addition of the smaller phone doesn't eliminate the fact that you'll still need to carry the larger Tablet phone everywhere with you.

As a friend of ours pointed out, if we were living in colder climes, this Tablet-phone-and-mini-phone arrangement might have made more sense. In that scenario, we'd always have an overcoat in which to store the larger Memo, while we carried the Memic in a more accessible shirt pocket.

However, since wearing an overcoat in Malaysia is an invitation to death by heat stroke, we had to make do with lugging the 7in Tablet phone in a sling bag/man purse most of the time.

On the upside, we looked fabulous while doing so.

Conclusion
Our overall impression of the Asus Eee Pad Memo is positive, but we're still not fully sold on the concept of the Memic.

The primary Memo device serves very well in its role as an Android Tablet phone, but its mini-phone accessory has as many disadvantages as it has advantages.

Frankly speaking, we liked the Memo's stylus and illustration-friendly functions more than the additional (albeit entirely optional) mini-phone.

If you're wondering if we'd recommend the Memo to you, then the first thing we'd ask you wouldn't be "would you like your phone to come with a phone?"

Rather, we'd ask you this: "would you like to attend meetings or lectures carrying a professional-looking Tablet phone with which you can look like you're studiously writing notes, but are in fact doodling cartoons of Captain America fighting Iron Man?"

If you said yes, then the Asus Eee Pad Memo is definitely something you need to take note of.

Pros: The stylus and built-in illustration app lets you do a lot of doodling; decent battery life for both devices.
Cons: Memic accessory is largely superfluous.

Eee Pad Memo
(Asus)
NETWORK: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 900/2100
OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 3.2.1 (Honeycomb)
DISPLAY: 7.0in WXGA (1,280 x 800-pixels) capacitive touchscreen
PROCESSOR: Qualcomm 8260 1.2GHz dual-core
STORAGE: 16GB built-in, 8GB online storage
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
CAMERA: 1.2-megapixel (front ), 5-megapixel autofocus (rear)
SENSOR: G-sensor; e-compass; light sensor, gyroscope, proximity sensor, GPS
INTERFACES: Micro USB port (client), combo audio/microphone jack, card reader, micro HDMI, SIM card slot
BATTERY: Li-polymer Battery 4400mAh
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 200.5 x 12.85 x 118mm
WEIGHT: 400g
RATING: 3.5 stars

Apple New IPad Review

It’s the new iPad, and it’s in our offices! Apple has taken away the numerical designation for the device but we will call it the iPad 3 for brevity sake. Name changes aside, the device looks very similar to the old one, but did receive upgraded hardware, a 4G LTE receiver and an upgraded camera. But the main and arguably most noticeable upgrade must be its display, where Apple managed to one-up everyone as far as tablet screens are concerned. So should you buy it? Let’s take a look.

At a glance:
+ Retina Display
+ Tried and true design
+ Good Battery life
- No LTE for most of us
- No major changes

In the box:
- Apple iPad
- USB Dock Connector
- Charger
- 3.5mm headphone

Exterior, Controls and Screen

As we mentioned before, there are not much significant changes in terms of design, but the moment we hefted it we could feel that it is heavier than last year’s model. And it is, at 662 grams, that is 55 grams heavier than the iPad 2. It is also slightly thicker at 9.4mm compared to the 8.8mm thick iPad 2. But we can still work with the iPad 3 with one hand. That aside, the edges of the iPad 3 does taper off compared to previous models.

Speaking of which, the iPad 3 has its ports and buttons are where they used to be - a home screen button, a sleep/wake button on top, a volume rocker and a mute/orientation lock trigger on the right side. The lock trigger will fix the screen at either the horizontal or vertical orientation.

The major and the most noticeable upgrade here is the 9.7-inch display which gets a Retina display which has four times as many pixels compared to the iPad 2. That is 2048 x 1536 pixels on the Retina Diplay, and Apple touts the display being as fine as print. With 264ppi crammed on the display, it is hard not to notice how clear everything is. Colours are brilliant, and watching 1080p videos are very enjoyable. With the IPS display, your friends can enjoy the same display from an odd angle.

Apple boosted the performance on the iPad 3 - there is a boosted A5X chip which is a dual-core chip similar to the one on the iPad 2, but with a quad-core GPU to help boost graphics while gaming.  Apple also worked on the RAM, it is a full 1GB now. According to benchmarking tests, its performance is similar to the iPad 2.

Battery life is similar to the iPad 2 which stands around 10 plus hours, however with the Retina Display and improved internals, we are impressed that Apple has manage to maintain the same lifespan in the battery.

As usual, they are three versions of internal memory on the iPad 3 - 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. With the powerful camera capturing 1080p videos and Apple nudging developers to create Retina Display apps, we think you have to be economical in terms of your apps on the 16GB version.

Software, Application and Games

Out of the box, it comes with iOS 5.1. There are not major changes from iOS 5, but for the iPad 3, you get the ability for dictation - meaning you can take notes and write text messages all by speaking into the onboard microphone. It is surprisingly accurate with words and our accents, but you have to be attached to the Internet for dictation to work.

However, there is no Siri support for the iPad 3. So you will still have to rely on good old fashion gestures and flicks to get things done. iOS 5 supports multitasking gestures and so does the iPad 3, with four or five fingers - swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, pinch to return to the Home screen, and swipe left or right to switch between apps.

But for intents and purposes, most of the iOS you haveve come to know is unchanged. There is still that easy to use interface, and apps like iMessages and iReminder that comes with the update. Apple also threw in a few new apps for iOS 5.1 called iPhoto for $4.99, which is essentially a scrapbooking app with geotagging support.

Apple’s iWork, GarageBand and iMovie should cater to the more productive or creative amongst us. Photo Booth is back too, which allow simple photo tweaks.

As before, the iPad 2 retains its use as an e-book reader and with Apple trying its best to turn it into a device for learning – you will notice a new Textbooks section, which is organised like the rest of iBooks. It integrated seamlessly inside iTunes so there is a Featured section, and a New York Times bestseller list.

Connectivity 

You have a standard medley of connectivity options here, we say standard, because aside from  AT&T and Verizon in the US, most LTE networks in the world are either non-compatible or unavailable as in the case in Malaysia. That said, the iPad 3 still works with HSPA + networks in Malaysia. There is also Bluetooth, and WiFi support. As usual, you cannot make voice calls.

Camera, Video and Audio

Apple gave the 0.7-megapixel on the iPad 2 a boost to a 5-megapixel imager similar to the camera on the iPhone 4. And while we will rant on about how hefting up a tablet to take a photo is wrong, the iPad 3 does take some nice looking photos with that f/2.4 aperture.

It records 1080p video and that looks very nice too. Video stabilisation is noticeably helpful for our shaky hands, or if you are moving and recording.

Upfront there is still that VGA lens for FaceTime, but prepare to look blurry when speaking to your family and friends. And if you really want to, you can take still shots with it.

Verdict

The iPad 3 still lays down the benchmark of what a tablet should be, and improves on a proven design with an upgraded processor, Retina Display, and a better camera. But with the iPad 3, we would reiterate something you may have heard before. If you own the iPad 2, then the iPad 3 is not that much of an upgrade. This is especially true if you do not mind sticking to the iPad 2’s already impressive screen, and will not need a 5-megapixel shooter.

How about the price? Presumably it will be the same price as the iPad 2 when it was initially released which starts at RM 1499 for the WiFi version, and starts about RM 2399 for the WiFi + 3G version.

At this point, we sound like a broken record, but if you are in the market for a new tablet or jumping from another platform, then the iPad 3 is for you. One new thing we will say about the iPad 3 is how Apple managed to make the iPad 3 more attractive than last year’s model and its display alone should win you over.

Acer Iconia Tab A200 Review

An overshadowed icon
IF THERE is one thing you can say about the Iconia Tab A200, Acer's offering in the mid-range Android Tablet space - is that it appears to be the forgotten sibling.

Released as the successor to the Iconia A500, yet overshadowed during this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by its Tegra-3 quad-core touting brother, the A700 - the A200 made its appearance well under the radar.

The looks

A first glance, the A200 is a nondescript piece of hardware, featuring a non-slip, textured metallic grey back and modest curves leading up to the bezel.

It is certainly much cleaner looking and more elegant than the A500 though at 710g, it's heftier than many other Tablets in its class.

It's nice to hold in portrait orientation but in landscape mode, it was a little uncomfortable due to its flat edges and awkwardly positioned dual speakers at the bottom of either side of the Tablet.

Inside, it houses a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor with 1GB RAM and 16GB of on board storage.

What's nice about the A200 despite it's girth (or because of it), is that Acer has managed to cram in multiple input and output ports, in addition to a covered microSD slot and micro USB port, there's also a standard USB port.

Personally the standard USB port was a highlight, as it's not often an option on Tablets.

For all the talk about cloud-based computingwhich Tablets are supposed to spearhead the shift to,, having the option to plug in my trusty thumb drive to get a file was a relief.

Especially since I couldn't retrieve said file remotely as I happened to be right smack in the middle of a WiFi dead zone at the time (the A200 is a WiFi-only Tablet).

If you look at the A200 and get the feeling that's something's missing, well that "missing" thing would be a rear-facing camera, as there is only a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chats.

But considering Tablets aren't the first port of call for photography (yet), it's no real loss for now.

If there is one major issue with the A200, the screen would be it. First of all the glass Acer used on this is highly reflective, which is bad enough outside on a typically sunny afternoon.

However even when in the office, I found I had to re-angle my hold on the Tablet so it escaped the direct gaze of any overhead lights.

Secondly, it's a massive fingerprint magnet (emphasis on the magnet part) as a simple wipe with a cloth didn't completely erase the evidence of my touchscreen typing history.

User interface

The A200 is an Android Tablet, which means it comes pre-installed with the Honeycomb operating system out of the box, with the option to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich.

As the update for that appeared on the last day of the review period, the focus here would be on Acer's tweaks to an otherwise standard Android experience.

The highlight of the user experience on the A200 would be Acer's "ring" interface.

There's a button made out of two yellow, concentric rings in the middle of the status bar that pulls up a menu with three customisable shortcuts, a volume control bar and a rotating, 3D carousel of your Browser bookmarks.

It's very snazzy and quite convenient for quick access to frequently used functions and webpages.

There's also a nice option to take a quick screenshot and while it can lag a little at times, it certainly adds a nice usability layer to the Android OS.

The shortcuts on the lock screen are also a nice touch - you can drag the lock icon to the left into four customisable shortcuts to directly unlock into that particular app.

Another highlight would be the battery life on this Tablet, as the power management capabilities behind it is quite good.

For example, if the Tablet falls asleep, upon re-awakening, you'll notice that WiFi has been disabled. Great for energy conservation, not so great for those that live on constant notifications.

On a full charge, with medium-level usage such as constant web browsing and note taking, the A200 survived for the entire day.

Loading desktop versions of any sites would be a little slower than what many would be accustomed too but to the A200's credit, the browser is also set up to automatically load the mobile versions of any site, if available.

Conclusion

To sum it up, with a much-improved brother around the corner, the A200's claim to fame would be it's status as one of the few mid-range Androids with the Ice Cream Sandwich update already available.

This is one of those, "get it if you love it at first grip" scenarios and if you are not in the market for the top-of-the-line Android Tablet.

Pros: Acer UI is good; great battery life; USB slot.
Cons: Screen is too reflective and a fingerprint magnet; slightly too heavy for comfort.
Iconia Tab A200
(Acer)
Android Tablet computer
CAMERA: 2-megapixel (front)
PROCESSOR: nVidia Tegra 2 dual-core (1GHz)
MEMORY: 16GB
EXPANSION: MicroSD slot, micro USB
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY: WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, infrared
PLATFORM: Android 3.2 Honeycomb (upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0)
DISPLAY: 10.1in WXGA (1,280 × 768-pixels) screen
BATTERY: Lithium-polymer 3,260mAh
CONNECTIVITY: Micro USB, headphone jack
DIMENSIONS (W x H x D): 260 x 175 x 12.4mm
WEIGHT: 710g
WEBSITE: www.acer.com.my
RATING: 3

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet Review

The brand new enterprise Lenovo ThinkPad tablet has been released in Malaysia, it is a big, heavy device aimed at the enterprise crowd. It is derived from Lenovo’s ThinkPad laptops, so let’s see what the ThinkPad tablet is all about.

At a glance:

+ Accurate stylus
+ Enterprise-friendly
+ Tough
- Heavy and bulky
- Poor camera

In the Box:

- Tablet
- Charger adapter
- MicroUSB Cable

Exterior, Controls and Screen

The ThinkPad tablet has a 10.1-inch design that displays 1280 x 800 pixels. The touchscreen is protected by damage-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. The screen’s resolution looks pretty good, but the brightness could be higher.

It certainly swings its weight around at 715 grams and it is bulky too at 14mm thick, and despite its 10 inch display, it much taller and wider than a Samsung Galaxy Tab. A clear homage to their black, red rubberised ThinkPad laptops, it certainly holds like a laptop without the keyboard attachment. And like those laptops, the ThinkPad tablet is best operated when laid flat on the table. The 10-inch device feels solid though, and with that solid magnesium chassis with rubberised back, it sure looks like it can survive some serious drops.

Hold the tablet in a landscape mode, and the power/standby button is located on the top right side. The bezel has four physical buttons - an orientation locker, a quick internet button, a back button and a home button. On the left side there is a volume rocker.

The right side of the Thinkpad has plenty of ports - there is the 3.5mm jack, HDMI-out, microUSB, docking connector, a SD card slot and a 3G SIM card slot. Plus, ThinkPad comes with a USB port, which worked with our mouse to navigate the ThinkPad.

There is a capacitive pen slotted in there too, powered by an AAA battery. Speaking of which, the stylus is accurate when moving across the screen or writing. It is sensitive enough you don’t have to press hard for it to register. The docking port also supports tool like the Keyboard Folio case and the Wireless keyboard and mouse for increase productivity.

Encased inside the chassis there is an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. We have the 32GB internal memory tablet on hand with the aforementioned SD slot. It also comes in 16GB and 64GB versions.

Lenovo is claiming a modest five hour battery life, but in the course of our tests, the standby time lasted up to two days with a little juice left in the tank, meanwhile there is more or less of eight hours of power with WiFi turned on, the occasional gaming session and web surfing.

Software, Application and Games

It is powered by the Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) OS skinned with Lenovo’s customised skin and collection of widgets. The touch buttons are skinned white too. Honeycomb’s multitask bar is merged together with Lenovo’s task-killer, so when you tap the big red X, the app goes to sleep. Lenovo has promised that it is upgradable to Android 3.2.

Lenovo also placed their Launch Centre on the home screen, which has four zones or customisable shortcuts. The default settings will allow to access to your music, videos, email and read e-books. There is also a browser shortcut inside the widget and a settings menu. The settings allow you to change the shortcuts, for example in the music section to set it to a music service (like mSpot) or the music player of your choice. Or you can change it to a quick launcher for apps.

So expect Honeycomb features like a zero physical button experience. The system bar will display additional buttons when it is required. It will also auto hide when you are viewing photos in the Gallery app or playing videos. Need more shortcuts? Lenovo’s UI comes with a carousel of six of the top apps you use at the bottom of the screen (it looks like a talk bubble). Tap it and you can scroll through and quickly use recently closed apps.

Lenovo added some enterprise-orientated tools like remote administration in case the tablet gets lost or stolen, support for Cisco VPN, and full device encryption. To add to whole enterprise outlook, apps included like Documents to Go that’ll allow you to create and edit work documents, and PrinterShare that allows wireless printing for the tablet.

If you need more storage, Lenovo threw in a Cloud-base service called Arc Sync that offers 2GB cloud storage after you sign-up. Users can access their file in both tablet and PCs, along as they install the required Arc software in the computer. As for taking notes, there is an application called Notes Mobile that works with the stylus.

It’s not all serious and business though, the ThinkPad has music and video players. There is access to both Lenovo and Android marketplaces so there are plenty of apps to get. There are a number of pre-installed games too.

Connectivity

There is a good amount of connectivity options for the weekend warrior - HSPA 14.4Mbps downlink, WiFi, Bluetooth and Bluetooth. Lenovo threw in GPS functionality and the microUSB port supports data transfer between your PC and the tablet. If you have a HDMI cable, the tablet outputs 720p video too.

Camera, Video and Audio

The ThinkPad has rear 5-megapixel camera, and shooting with such a hefty tablet isn’t the most practical thing to do. Shots aren’t as sharp and we noticed the ‘halo effect’ when lighting conditions get a little skewed. It records 720p video, and the quality is similar to still shots. There is a front-facing two-megapixel camera too, but it is hampered by the tablet’s large form factor.

Verdict

The 32GB ThinkPad tablet is priced at RM2199, and while it’ll appeal to enterprise types, its hefty weight and business apps may make it difficult to appeal to the average consumers. And while Lenovo tried to find the middle ground here by installing a variety of apps, serious Android users that the tablet is catered to may find it obstructive.

That’s not to say the ThinkPad doesn’t have its strong points, there are enough enterprise applications in there for business users and the sheer amount of ports (we especially like the full fledged USB) that will rival a netbook.

Will your average tablet user make the jump to the ThinkPad, we suppose not. But serious Android fans that are keen to get security and productivity together in a package may opt for a tablet instead of a bulkier laptop.

Conclusion: Appeals to enterprise types looking for a tablet to replace their much heavier laptops

Apple IPhone 4S Review

At a glance:
+Siri is a novel application
+Camera rivals point and shoot devices
+Retina Display still good after a year
-No local Siri support
-Similar design

It looks like the same phone, certainly feels like the same phone, but the iPhone 4S’ changes are under the hood - an upgraded dual core processor, a new camera and more which we will elaborate in the review.

Apple has made a number of changes in iOS, from iReminders to iMessages. There are certainly a lot of new things to chew over for users. Additionally, we will look at iCloud and Siri, which are both big additions to the new iPhone 4S.

The phone has already broken the iPhone 4’s sales records, but will it be worth the upgrade? Read on the find out.

In the box:
-Apple iPhone 4S
-Power Plug
-USB cable
-3.5mm Headset
-SIM eject tool

Exterior, Controls and Screen

As we said earlier it is has the same sleek Apple one piece design, it still has a glass front and back, and a band of aluminium wrapping around the phone. And while there were many enthusiasts who were disappointed with the design, we say it aged pretty well. After 16 months, its design is still one to beat.

There is still a 3.5-inch Retina Display, that one home button, its left spine still comes with a mute button and a volume rocker. It has that nice, dense feeling that iPhones usually come with. This year’s iPhone 4S is a tad heavier compared to the iPhone 4, but the extra weight didn’t register in our hands though.

Underneath the exterior is where the hardware upgrades are most noticeable, it is a dual-core 1GHz processor now with 512MB of RAM, which is the same amount of RAM as the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S feels a little snappier when launching apps and the camera’s processing is noticeably faster too.

Apple also threw in a dual-antenna design to counter the effects of last year’s ‘death grip’. There is also the matter of the new iPhone 4S being a world phone, where it works with CDMA and GSM networks around the world.

The iPhone 4S has a rear 8-megapixel camera with a slew of software upgrades, but the front is still a standard VGA camera. Apple also introduces a 64GB internal memory version in addition to the original 16GB and 32GB.

During the course of our test, the days with the heaviest use included web browsing, phone calls, listening to music and more. The phone lasted a full day with little juice left in the tank before we charged it again.

Software, Applications and Games

Apple has traditionally released a major update to iOS whenever they release a new phone, and as such the iPhone 4S comes preloaded with the latest iOS 5. And this update builds on the previous iOS, so while it is similar to the iOS4, iOS 5 comes with quite a number of improvements of its own.

And right off the bat, we swiped down our touchscreen and found the brand new Notification Centre, there are no longer intrusive pop-ups when someone sends you an email or text message.  It comes with built-in weather app and a stock ticker. From the Notification Centre you can deal with app notification individually, and if there are any notifications, it will also show up in your lock screen and swiping the lock screen will immediately allow you take action.

iOS5 supports wireless syncing now, so you can sync apps, music, video and settings over your local network without (technically) plugging in. You will still need to plug-in the phone to a power supply and latch onto the same WiFi network as your desktop before starting. Software updates are pushed over-the-air now, and Apple is only pushing essential files (iOS 5.0.1 is 55MB), so updates are quicker and less tedious now.

Taking heart from BlackBerry Messenger, Apple introduced their own free messaging service called iMessages, which is integrated within Messages app. It works over WiFi and 3G, plus it is free and you are able to send to anyone on iOS 5. Messaging is instantaneous, and you can tell when someone receives your message and when someone is typing via Ellipsis point (they are little periods that blink). You can also send photos, videos, contacts and locations.

iOS 5 sees its first dedicated Reminders app, and it supports locations too. If you were to set a reminder to attend a meeting at the office, once you reach the office you will receive a reminder to attend said meeting. Reminders will automatically update calendars too.

Safari now has the Reading List allowing you to save articles to read later, allowing you to bookmark specific pages. But the ‘Reader’ functionality was the one that really improved our reading experience. Tapping the Reader button on the URL bar optimises the webpage, chucking out ads turning the text into something you would see in iBooks. As long as we are on the subject of reading, the Newsstand app is dedicated to magazines and newspaper, like iBooks. Log on to App Store to purchase newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Newsstand will alert you when there are new issues.

Twitter integration allows you to tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube or Maps. The integration pulls up a textbox so you can add text or do @replies to your friends. You can add locations to tweets too.

Siri, iCloud

There is plenty of talk about Siri already, the intelligent assistant on the iPhone 4S. It is certainly a novel design, combining text-to-speech with logic processing and voice recognition software, allowing the Siri interface to understand requests and perform simple conversations. You can ask Siri to play a certain song, call a friend, wake you at a certain time, search the web, and more.

It not only does requests but understands the contexts of your request. If you ask Siri to play a song, then you can immediately tell it to play, pause, shuffle and more, which it will do without you reiterating the sentence again. Siri is able to understand personal requests such as ‘call my mother’ or ‘text my wife’ once you assign a contact to a specific designation.

Unfortunately, Siri is unable to support locations out of the US that means we can’t ask it for directions and local services here in Malaysia. Plus, it is exclusive to the iPhone 4S and you will need a data connection for it to work.

Siri pushes voice recognition to another level, and while there are some kinks to iron out, like the software mangling up some of our words, we felt that it was more than just a gimmick and could actually help us speed up day-to-day routines on our smartphone.

iCloud is an extension to Apple’s MobileMe and you can back up your email, contacts and calendar along with entire contents of your iPhone. You get 5GB storage for free, and iCloud will take your camera roll, accounts, documents and settings back into the cloud. You can retrieve them from your phone, iPod touch or iPad. You can upgrade that storage for an annual fee - USD $20 for 10GB, USD $40 for 20GB, and USD$100 for 50 GB.

Better yet, iCloud doesn’t count your app, music, books, TV content, or Photo Stream in the storage cloud. You can manually back up your content to the Cloud or let it automatically back up when the device is locked and connected to WiFi.

Connectivity

We spoke about its world phone functionality, and Apple has allowed both CDMA and GSM connectivity on 4S, giving you the ability to use the phone for roaming in most parts of the world. Apple is boasting higher data speeds on the iPhone 4S, up to 14.4 Mbps on the downlink, but for the most part, the standard smartphone connectivity which is WiFi, WiFi hotspot functionality and Bluetooth v4.0 is there.

We haven’t suffered noticeable reception loss when performing the ‘death grip’ manoeuvre on the iPhone 4S, and blocking the antennas (Apple threw in two now) will require a very unnatural grip on the phone.

Camera, Video and Audio

Apple upgraded the Apple iPhone 4's 5-megapixel camera to an 8-megapixel camera on the Apple iPhone 4S, and we can tell the improvements immediately. The new camera took some pretty clean and pretty photos. The sensor is able to record 1080p video with the same clarity as still photos.

Apple said they threw in a bunch of upgrades starting from backlight illumination, and an image signal processor that enables face detection and improved white balance. The camera's sensor is much faster this time around and will only take 1.1 seconds to snap the first shot, and half a second for the next.

There are photo editing functions in iOS5 – Crop, Rotate, Enhance and Remove Red-eye are all in the Photos App. Being terrible photographers we loved the enhance function, one tap and your photo will immediately be spruced up.  Removing red-eye will require a little patience as you need to tap each individual eye of everyone in the picture.

On iOS 5, you can launch the camera app right from the Lock screen, which appears after you double-click the home button. And the volume up button works as the shutter button now, however you will still need to tap to autofocus. Use pinch to zoom gesture to zoom in and out, and the camera has grid lines to help you line up a shot.

Photos are supported by iCloud allowing you beam photos straight to the cloud and then stream it to other iOS devices.

Verdict

If you are a fan of all things Apple, own an older iPhone or a new user jumping on the bandwagon from a different platform, this phone comes as an easy choice. There is the Retina display packed inside a design that is still sleek, and a slew of hardware and software upgrades.

But if you are an iPhone 4 owner, the gap or lack thereof between the iPhone 4 and the 4S may deter you from upgrading. Sure there is more processing power, a better camera and Siri on the 4S. However, the same design along with the similar price point to the iPhone 4 may put the brakes on getting said upgrade.

For the most part however, if you do decide to make the jump, there are still many worthwhile features here, and we are betting you will be the talk of the town for a while, at least until Apple decides to launch its next smartphone.

Conclusion: Will win over Apple enthusiasts, upgraders and new users easily. Current iPhone users may want to hold off