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

Nokia N9 Review

At a glance:
+ Attractive one-piece design
+ Responsive UI
+ Meego OS is a refreshing change from Symbian
- Camera needs some work
- microSIM and microUSB port are difficult to open

Our office is buzzing with excitement over the new Nokia N9. As promised, it is a very interesting looking phone loaded with a brand new operating system. There is plenty of hype attached to this smartphone, so let’s take a look and see what the N9 is all about.

In the box:

- Nokia N9
- Power Plug
- Charger
- Micro-USB cable
- 3.5mm Headset
- Protective cover

Exterior, Controls and Screen

Our first impression of the phone is that it is a very, very attractive device. The Nokia N9 is a one piece polycarbonate slate, and it has a minimalist design. There are no front-facing buttons, just a volume rocker and a lock/unlock button on the right side of the phone. Its 12.1mm thick chassis tapers off at the edges, giving the edges a sharper look.

First thing you’ll notice is the 3.9-inch AMOLED touchscreen which takes up the front of the N9, and we are pleased how little bezel space there is left. The AMOLED touchscreen displays 480 x 854 pixels. The AMOLED screen display is clear and bright, it also handles colours very well too. With Nokia’s anti-glare technology, we could see clearly under sunlight too, and the screen is protected by damage resistant Gorilla Glass.

Tucked neatly away on top of the phone is the slide out micro-SIM slot located at the top of the phone, and right beside it there is the micro-USB port. The 3.5mm headphone jack is located here as well.

Its eight-megapixel camera and the LED flash are embedded in the back of the phone, so there are no protruding lenses. The speaker grille is barely noticeable at the bottom of the phone. We did experienced difficulty to removing the micro-SIM slot or opening the micro-USB slot which is essential for charging the phone.

Inside the chassis, the device is powered by a 1GHz processor, 1GHz of RAM, and the Nokia N9 comes with 16GB or 64GB internal storage.

Software, Applications and Games

Aside from its exciting design, the Nokia N9 is loaded with the Meego v1.2 (Harmattan) operating system, which Nokia claims, it will only use once on the N9 before discontinuing it. Meego is designed with the N9’s buttonless chassis in mind, meaning it will rely on finger gestures to operate.  Nokia has given Meego a distinct look when compared to Symbian. The apps are given that uniform, rounded aesthetic, and basic functions like the phone and clock application are spruced up to increase its visual appeal.

Double tapping the lock screen (or pressing the physical standby button) and the phone will activate, you will then have to swipe end to end (from left to right or vice versa) to unlock the phone. To exit an app, you merely swipe from the top of the screen to the bottom. Once the phone is unlocked you can start swiping to find three screens - social feeds, home screen and finally the multitasking page.

Social feeds combines all your social network into a continuously updated wall, all you have to do is sign in to your favourite social networks either through the app itself or the Accounts app. The home screen is self-explanatory - it has all your applications, which you can reposition with a long press. Then the multitasking view has all your running apps appear as little condensed windows, you can then permanently turn them off by holding down an app and tapping the X button. You can also opt to turn them all off with the close all button.

There is also a notification bar tucked away at the top of the screen, which is accessible with a tap. It shows the classic Nokia profile albeit simplified - there is only silent, beep and ringing. There is also volume control here, connectivity options as well as quick social media management.

As for apps, Nokia promises to keep updating the Meego platform with applications ported from the Symbian platform. The phone itself is preloaded with social media apps like Twitter and Facebook, and there are gaming apps as well including Angry Birds, Galaxy on Fire 2, Need for Speed Shift and Real Golf 2011.

You can download apps and music from the Nokia store and Ovi Music respectively. The onboard web browser only supports one page, so multitaskers need not apply.

Camera, Video and Audio

Nokia devices are usually attached with high-powered cameras with Carl-Zeiss optics, and the Nokia N9 is no different, it comes with an 8-megapixel imager that shoots 3264 x 2448 pixels, it has autofocus and dual LED flash.

Despite all the megapixels, the N9’s camera is a bit of a let down, it has plenty of noise when we left it on auto mode and will require a few tweaks to clean up our photos significantly. Speaking of tweaks, there are plenty of them in the N9 – flash, scene, face detection and much more. The N9 will be able to record 720p video.

Multimedia playback on this device is enjoyable - the N9’s audio is improved by Dolby Digital Plus, so playing music on the N9 is a good experience. Watching videos on the 3.9-inch screen is a great viewing experience too.

Connectivity

The N9 supports HSDPA 14.4Mbps, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS. The Nokia N9 also comes with a Near Field Communications (NFC) reader. NFC allows you to transfer data by bringing the phone physically close to a reader. But since NFC is a relatively new in Malaysia, the only practical usage is to use the N9’s NFC as a control for Nokia’s wireless speakers and headphones. A standard micro-USB port allows data transfers. Plus, the N9 can also turn itself into a WiFi hotspot and allow five devices to connect simultaneously.

Verdict

There is a minor worry about the Meego platform. As Nokia focuses on its Windows Phone 7 hardware, will we still get firmware updates or continued app support? This may deter users who keep their smartphone for extended periods of time. Photo-enthusiasts may also be put off from this device, as the camera performance could be better.

Maybe its a bit to early to call it Nokia’s return to form, but the N9 gets a lot of things right which including its great design, a good screen powered by a surprisingly good operating system. It ties in well together for an intuitive, enjoyable experience. Will Meego win Android and iOS fans over? Perhaps not, but it will give Symbian users an OS to jump onboard before Windows Phone 7 comes along

The Nokia N9 is now retailing RM1799 for the 16GB and RM2088 for the 64GB variant, and the phone is recommended to anyone looking for an attractive, easy to use smartphone.

Conclusion: A great device, too bad there’s only one of them

LG Optimus 3D Review

At A Glance:

+ 3D record and playback
+ HSDPA capable
+ HDMI capable
+ 5MP main cameras, 3D capable
- Froyo
- Big and heavy

The LG Optimus 3D is the first in a new niche segment of 3D phones. Another of which is the HTC Evo 3D, also launched at the same time and directly competing with the LG Optimus 3D. These two 3D phones are Android devices, and they work just like any other Android device in its class, save for the fact that there is a small subsection which allows you to access 3D content such as photos, videos and games. Of course, with 3D content being a fairly new category, you would have to create much of the 3D content yourself.

The LG Optimus 3D has a dual-core processor, a Texas Instruments OMAP 4 running at 1 GHz. It is using the slightly outdated Android 2.2 (Froyo) in a time when most other devices are announced with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

In the box

Transceiver unit
1 standard battery
Charger set
Headset
Manuals

Exterior, Controls and Screen 

The LG Optimus 3D is indeed a humongous device. At least for this day and age, it outweighs and outsizes competing devices. That is what you get to carry around in return for a huge 4.3-inch screen that is great for watching videos and for fitting in lots of widgets on the homescreens.

There are four haptic-response buttons across the bottom of the screen. There is also a 3D button and the volume toggle on the right side of the phone. Everything else must work from with the OS interface itself. However, said haptic-response buttons light up once when the screen is unlocked, and do not light up again until they are pressed. That is to say that you will have to remember where each haptic-response button is located, or else it will be very much a game of “Surprise, you have got the wrong button!”

The 4.3-inch screen is a huge one, the largest yet for an LG phone. The data/charging port is on the left edge of the phone, together with the HDMI port that mirrors the display of your phone on a compatible large-screen display.

The 480 x 800 pixel resolution comes up a little short for a 4.3-inch display. It did not affect the usage of the device very much, but a little more effort was expected from LG for a premium device with a premium price such as this one.

Software, Applications and Games

As we mentioned earlier, the LG Optimus 3D comes with an outdated OS, although not by very much. Android 2.2 (Froyo) is still fairly decent but the latest Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) would have been a great plus point for the LG Optimus 3D.

The upside of this is that the tuning of the Android 2.2 OS to the hardware is done fairly well. Apart from the occasional system freeze, the LG Optimus 3D was fairly reliable for the most part.

Thank goodness that LG decided to take out the large amount of bloatware that we found on the Optimus Black. This one was a lot better. The top half of the menu is for 3D-related applications. Next comes the main menu with the built-in applications. Anything else you install will show up in a separate section at the bottom of the entire menu section.

The usual PIM services of Clock, Notes and Calendar supplement a Polaris Office Suite that tried to go to some website and download something. Being a Google phone, Youtube, Facebook and Gmail shortcuts were all there. So is a GPS application.

There are three 3D games in the phone. Actually, they are all placeholders and require downloading the actual game files from an Internet connection. The games are Let’s Golf, 2, Asphalt 6 and Nova and the first two require something like an additional 700MBs of data before it will work. There is also a Gulliver’s Travels picture book that will have to do for the 3D demonstration until you get that large amount of data downloaded for the games.

We were told to go get our 3D fix on LG world. LG World is a website that supposedly supports a lot of 3D content, primarily for LG phones. At the time of writing, the LG World website was a poor experience. Navigation was difficult and the site was slow. Let’s see some improvement there before I can recommend buying a 3D phone.

The storage is fairly decent. Apparently, 1 GB is allocated to applications. Another 7 GB is for all the 3D junk that you will be filling the phone with. Slot in a 32 GB microSD card and you will have something like 40GBs at your disposal. There was a time not too long ago when laptops only came with 40GB drives. 

Camera, Video and Audio

The main camera on the LG Optimus 3D is 5-megapixels, just like with the LG Optimus Black. Unlike the LG Optimus Black, this time around LG does not say how much the front-facing camera is rated. But it does not look like the LG Optimus 3D has outdone the 2-megapixel rating given to the front-facing camera of the LG Optimus Black.

The video playback and recording is something of note, particularly because this is a 3D phone. Supposedly, the 3D video records at 720p. This is also what is claimed by the HTC Evo 3D. However, there were some allegations of over-estimation by both manufacturers. To put it in simple terms, the manufacturers’ method of calculating 720p for the 3D video did not agree with another method of calculation. We can tell you that either method will give you a headache from staring at the screen for too long.

The video playback was fairly good. The device played back a few MP4 files without complaining. The volume was a little too soft but using earphones solved the problem and gave you a much better surround sound effect anyway.

Internet Connectivity 

This is a HSDPA 14.4 Mbps device. It also supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, tri-band UMTS / 3G and quad-band GSM. Bluetooth 3.0 is supported and the microUSB plugs into a computer and auto-syncs your data if you want it to, just like any other Google Android device.

Editor’s Opinion 

The LG Optimus 3D impresses very much. There has been very little change in the world of handsets over the last five years or so. True, the cameras get better, the processors get faster and the storage capability increases. But there has been precious little to excite one who plays with such toys every day for a living.

The innovative 3D section of the phone was a breath of fresh air. It was really long overdue. Although the 3D is only a small part of the phone and its contents come under the 3D category, the end result was still a lot better than what I first thought when reading about a 3D phone.

It is quite a leap when you consider that the next step in video technology for phones might well be the holographic projector used in Star Wars movies.

Conclusion: The wow factor of 3D content justifies giving this one a second, even a third look.

LG Optimus Pad Review

One of the more exciting devices from MWC 2011, the LG Optimus Pad, has finally decided to grace our office. LG touted it as a tablet that will challenge the iPad and that that the focus of the device will be productivity and that people will be able to edit video, among other advanced activities. So is it able to topple Apple’s tablet? Let’s take a look.

At a glance 
+ 3D video cameras
+ Snappy performance
- Non-native 3D screen
- Only does 3D recording

In the box 

LG Optimus Pad
Charger
Exterior, Controls and Screen

As one of the few 8.9-inch tablets out there, the Optimus Pad looks like an elongated novel and is turned into a widescreen when held in landscape. It is 12.7mm thick and weighs 621g, which is slightly heavier and thicker than the WiFi + 3G iPad. The front of the device is an 8.9-inch slate covered with black plastics, the back is covered in matte brown material and we liked the grip it offered, which is handy if we were operating it with one hand.

Speaking of grip, the tablet feels more intuitive when held in portrait to type as the elongated landscape design makes it difficult for our thumbs to reach into the middle of keyboard. Then as our webpage finishes its loading, we turn in horizontally to read webpages.

The 8.9-inch LCD screen displays 768 x 1280 pixels, and appeared bright and sharp. The viewing experience was enjoyable. When in landscape, the 15:9 ratio of the screen should ensure most movies push all the way to the edge of the screen, which should satisfy movie junkies who hate black edges on their flicks.

But the screen does not natively support 3D, and will require 3D glasses (which will come with the retail package) or an HDMI-output to a 3D TV to enjoy your recorded videos.

The screen is surrounded by a black bezel, which holds the Optimus Pad’s front facing camera. When held in portrait, the tablet’s volume rocker is located on its right spine. Meanwhile the microUSB and HDMI-out ports is located the left spine. On the top of the tablet, you will see the charging port, 3.5mm jack and the power/standby button.

Flip the tablet to the back, and you will be able to crack open the cover to insert a SIM-card for data. The dual cameras capable of 3D are here, and are separated by a metal plate.

And underneath all that, the Optimus Pad comes with a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor with 1GB RAM. That translated into quick app launches, smooth multitasking, and our 720p videos played without lag. There is 32GB internal storage but no expandable storage capability.

Software, Applications and Games

Equipped with the Android 3.0.1 (Gingerbread), you can expect a uniform Android experience across all tablets. There are still five customisable homescreens, and a long press on the homescreen (or tapping the plus sign) will bring up a host of widgets, app shortcuts, and wallpapers to modify your tablet with. At the bottom left of the screen there is a set of touch buttons – a back, a home and a multitasking button. Touching the Recent App button will immediately shows you five recent apps that you have used and you can quickly switch between apps.

On the right, there is the time, your signal strength and battery levels. Tap here and you will be able to access the settings page of your tablet. Honeycomb’s notification is designed to remain in the background, and will not bother you when you are running certain apps - when viewing full screen video from YouTube or Gallery, the touch buttons will hide themselves, only revealing small illuminated glows to remind you of their presence.

As far as productivity is concerned, the LG Optimus Pad is loaded with Polaris office, allowing you to create word documents, spreadsheets and presentations. As for working on it, placing it in landscape mode is a very standard typing experience – it works but it will not be the most comfortable way to type. But typing in portrait mode with our thumbs is possible as we are able to use the tablet like an oversized smartphone. 

Camera, Video and Audio

 Arguably the tablet’s most exciting prospect is its 3D video recorder, and the Optimus Pad records with its dual 5-megapixel camera to produce 3D videos. Granted you will have to brave a few uncomfortable stares when recording but that comes with the tablet territory. The 3D recording seems legitimate, which you can fine tune the settings to suit the type of device you are viewing your recorded 3D on. Mixed is used for glasses-less 3D TVs, and anaglyph recording points to the red and green images that will require glasses to view right on the tablets screen. There are additional options to record in side-by-side or with a single camera.

LG claims that it records up to 720p video in 3D and 1080p in 2D. There are a few settings controls – there is white balance support, the ability to change the depth of field, and basic audio controls.

Sadly, the Optimus Pad is not able to take 3D still images. But you are able to take a standard photo, there is autofocus, and there are plenty of settings like flash, white balance and more. But we felt that the produced images were washed-out with white and there were plenty of noise in it. There is also a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for vanity shots and video calls over data.

Internet Connectivity 

To clarify, this device is not capable of GSM calls, but does support a variety of data connectivity including HSDPA 10.2 Mbps, WiFi, GPRS and EDGE. With a SIM-card, you can turn the Optimus Pad into a WiFi hotspot for up to five devices. There is also Bluetooth 2.1 support.

Verdict 

The LG Optimus Pad is no hardware slouch – a dual-core processor, a large enjoyable screen and the 3D recording camera. It can stand toe to toe against most Android devices and put the iPad’s camera to shame. So if you are an amateur 3D filmmaker looking to make a few flicks, and won’t mind holding a tablet while doing so, we certainly think this is the device for you.

But for RM2199, if you aren’t keen on 3D recording or a mid-end imager, the device is maybe a little pricey if you compare it to Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 which has similar hardware and performance (at a lower price point). In portrait mode, it could act as a productivity tool, so there is that slight advantage. Additionally, the Honeycomb operating system feels generic and will operate no differently that the Motorola Xoom or the slew of other Honeycomb tablets out there.

Can the LG Optimus Pad beat Apple’s iPad? It is a tall order when the Optimus Pad plans to challenge Apple’s device with a pair of 3D recorders.

HTC Salsa Review

THE word Salsa brings to mind something that is fun and exciting and in some ways, HTC's latest mid-range Android phone of the same name, wants to embody those exact qualities.

The HTC Salsa together with its sibling the ChaCha, are a new breed of HTC phones that capitalise on social networking integration with a built-in Facebook function.

On the outside, it is an elegantly designed phone with a sleek metallic casing and a build quality that is on par with higher-end phones like the HTC Desire S. It also feels remarkably light and comfortable in the hand. 

It actually bears close resemblance to the last year's HTC Legend. In fact, the two look almost identical save for the fact that the Salsa has a slightly larger 3.4in screen.

The screen quality is one area that the phone is lacking. Though the HVGA resolution (320 x 480-pixels) has good contrast and decent viewing angles, the screen's low resolution makes text on full webpages appear small and unreadable.

This means you will need to zoom in and out a lot when browsing pages on the Web. We liked how there's a proper camera button on the Salsa as it is something that we rarely see on smartphones these days. You can even do a half press to pre-focus and snap a picture by fully pressing down.

There isn't much to see around the back except for the Salsa's 5-megapixel camera and speakers. Everything else is where you would expect them to be - the 3.5mm headphone jack at the top while the volume rocker and microUSB port can be found on the left side of smartphone.

In use 

The Salsa's performance is generally fluid for most regular tasks thanks to its 800MHz Qualcomm processor. However, it is not well suited for running processor-intensive games - less demanding games such as Angry Birds run fine on the device.

Another downside is that the browser does not support Flash, so you will miss out on watching certain Flash videos and playing Flash games from Kongregate on your mobile.

Running on Android 2.3.3, the Salsa comes with the usual HTC Sense interface that is overlaid on top of the default operating system. For the most part the Sense interface feels similar to other HTC phones but there's a new interactive lock screen that you can use to access commonly used apps like the Phone, Messages, Camera and Mail.

All you have to do is drag one of the icons into the circle to instantly open the app so you can read your messages, make a call or snap a picture right away. It is a simple yet effective feature that greatly improves the phone's usabilty.

The default browser handles tabbed browsing in a unique way. Just pinch the screen and a scrolling icon list of opened webpages comes up, similar to how it appears on your desktop browser.

It's not perfect though, as the zoomed out view responds slower when pages are being loaded.

The Salsa's battery performance did not impress us. Considering that this a social networking phone that needs to be constantly updated it was rather disappointing.

After using the phone to check on our Facebook updates, browse the Web, post pictures and make the occasional call, we found that the phone could just barely get through the day on a single charge.

All about Facebook 

What makes the Salsa different from your run-of-the-mill Android phone is its Facebook integration. It has a dedicated Facebook button that streamlines the processing of posting content directly to your Facebook wall.

The feature works across multiple applications so when you take a photo for instance, the button will glow to indicate that you can upload it to Facebook.

Similarly you can use the button to share links viewed on your web browser, share videos and tell everyone what music you're currently listening to.

By "long pressing" on the button, you can check in at your current location via Facebook Places. You can also instant message your Facebook contacts using the included FB Chat app on the phone.

Additionally there's a ticker at the bottom of the clock application on the home screen showing you the latest Facebook updates.

Though it only shows a single update, you can click on it to take you to HTC's new Sense Facebook interface. Here you can get a full view of all Facebook updates from your friends and even sort them by links, check-ins, videos or photos shared.

While it is a nice app to have to sort through your friend's updates, it does seem redundant against the existing Facebook app that you can get off the Android Marketplace.

You're not limited to just Facebook though, as you can also get updates from other social networks Twitter and Flickr on the Salsa.

Not great for pictures

The Salsa's 5-megapixel camera is good for taking casual pictures, or the occasional video, to upload on Facebook.

However the camera isn't the best that we've seen - the picture quality is passable at the very least and only performs well when shooting outdoors. Shutter lag is quite significant on the camera so it is next to impossible to capture moving subjects on it.

The LED flash does help when snapping pictures in the dark though the results often come off as being too artificial or washed out by the flash.

The video quality of the camera isn't anything to shout about. In an age where HD video capture is increasingly common, the Salsa's VGA quality recordings look sadly outdated. You can also shoot in widescreen (720 x 480-pixels) but there's not much difference in terms of quality.

Still, the camera is good for taking close-up shots and the quality is acceptable for uploading to Facebook. 

Speaking of which, since this is a Facebook-centric phone after all, the Salsa has a useful auto upload feature that can be set to upload pictures directly to your Facebook account after they are taken.

It's cool feature to have if you want to immediately share your pictures with your friends. However, it indiscriminately uploads anything you record or snap, so be sure to switch it off to avoid uploading embarrassing pictures by accident or using up all your mobile data for the month.

Conclusion 

As a social network orientated phone, the HTC Salsa has got some things right, like having a dedicated Facebook button to make it easier to share your thoughts, links, pictures and videos with your friends. 

Furthermore, the new interactive lock-screen is very useful for accessing frequently-used apps, and web browsing feels good thanks to the improved handling of tabbed browsing.

The phone does, however, have a couple of low points - the camera is poor and its weak processor makes it underpowered for playing games or run processor-intensive apps.

All in all, if you are just looking for a smartphone that specialises in social networking and has integrated Facebook functions, then the HTC Salsa might be right up your alley.

Pros: Sleek design; Facebook integration; tabbed browsing; interactive lock-screen.
Cons: Low resolution screen; poor camera; weak processor; no Flash support; unimpressive battery life.

HTC SALSA
Social networking smartphone
NETWORK: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 900/2100
OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread)
DISPLAY: 3.4in capacitive multi-touch screen (320 x 480-pixels)
CAMERA: 5-megapixels autofocus; LED flash; VGA video recording; VGA front camera CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi 802.1, micro USB
MEMORY: 512MB RAM; 512MB internal phone storage
EXPANSION SLOT: microSD, up to 32GB
STANDBY/TALK TIME: 530 hours/ 7 hours 50mins
OTHER FEATURES: Facebook integration, interactive lock-screen
DIMENSIONS (W X D X H): 109.1 x 58.9 x 12.3mm
WEIGHT: 120g
WEBSITE: www.htc.com
PRICE: RM1,499
RATING: 3/5stars

Nokia E6 Review

The E6 is the latest in Nokia's long -running line of E-series business phones. It is an interesting device that combines elements of both a Qwerty keyboard-centric mobile phone and a touchscreen device.

On the outside, the Nokia E6 closely follows the classic E series design though it has been updated with rounded curves and there are thick silver accents running around the phone.

It's a very compact phone that measures just 10.5mm thick and it has a remarkably sturdy build quality. Around the sides, the E6 cleverly hides its microUSB port and microSD card slot with protective covers that helps keep dust out.

The lock slider on the side is great for quickly locking the phone and easier to reach than the power button that is located on the top.

A little bit of both

The 2.46in screen doesn't look like much but it is actually a capacitive touchscreen with a 600 x 480-pixel resolution.

The mixed Qwerty and touchscreen -interface takes some getting used to but it provides the best of both worlds when it comes to -navigation with the touchscreen and easier text input with its physical buttons.

You can customise the layout of the icons by 'long pressing' on them but the space provided is so limited that you can't change much.

One notable widget that played well to the E6's -messagingcentric nature was the pre-installed Social -widget that pulls feeds from Facebook, Twitter and your instant messages. 

Improved with a few -touches 

While Nokia is -switching to the Windows Phone -platform, that hasn't stopped it from launching an updated version of its Symbian 3 -operating system. The E6 is the first Nokia device to run on the updated Symbian Anna operating system.

To be honest, Symbian Anna doesn't bring many improvements to the table save for the improved web browser and Nokia Maps.

Nokia Maps is actually a full-feature -navigation application that's pretty handy for finding your way around an unfamiliar part of town.

It comes complete with global maps, drive and walk voice navigation - not bad for something that's completely free.

We found it intuitive and easy-to-use when looking for new destinations. Even satellite locks were relatively quick.

In terms of actual navigation, we did find that it tried to lead us on a longer way around to a destination, but re-routing was very quick so we didn't get lost and still made it to our destination.

However, due to the small size of the screen on the E6, we found it difficult to view the map while driving. Web surfing also feels smoother and faster on the E6. The experience can be a bit limited considering the small size of the screen but it didn't prove to be a problem when we tried browsing through our regular pages.

However, the E6 doesn't quite feel as polished in some areas - common -functions like messages are a little slow to load -compared to speedy -smartphones and some -applications took a long time to load on a few occasions. But this is probably to be expected from a phone in this category.

One notable application that we liked that came with the phone was JoikuSpot, which is an -application that allows you to turn the phone into a WiFi hotspot using your 3G -connection. 

In terms of battery -performance, the E6 is pretty energy efficient and managed to last a day and half on a single charge. This is even after we used the phone to browse the Web, check e-mails and make phone calls -throughout the day.

Camera 

The E6's 8-megapixel camera gives it the edge over many other Qwerty -keyboard phones. Though it is a fixed-focus -camera, the E6 still -managed to produce pictures that were nicely -saturated especially when taken in well-lit -conditions. 

In addition, it has features like face -recognition and a dual-LED flash to help -illuminate -subjects in the dark.

On the downside, the lack of autofocus makes taking close-up shots -difficult and it doesn't shoot well in dark -environments.

The E6 is, at the very least, up to date with modern smartphones in terms of HD video capture - it can record videos at 720p -resolution at 25 frames per second.

The results were quite decent and still looked good when viewed on a bigger screen. That's not to say that it will perform as well as a dedicated video-recording device but it's a handy feature to have. The LED flash also serves as a light that can be turned on to -illuminate subjects when it's dark.

Conclusion 

For RM1,155 there's a lot of value to be found in the small but feature-packed Nokia E6. It is a well-built phone that offers a decent -camera and great battery life. Nokia Maps also extends the phone's usefulness beyond calls and text messaging.

Though it may seem weird, the phone's hybrid physical button and touch interface works well for surfing the Web and general phone usage.

The only major downside to the phone is its small 2.4in screen that is ill-fitting for a touchscreen device.

Though the E6 is a very capable business phone, it is hard to ignore the fact that much of Nokia's current efforts are clearly focused on its upcoming Windows Phone models, which are due later this year. Only time will tell if we will ever see a follow-up to the E6.

Pros: Improved web browser; good -battery life; able to record 720p HD video, Nokia Maps provides GPS navigation.

Cons: Screen is too small; Symbian Anna does not offer many new features; fixed-focus camera.

Nokia E6 
Symbian Anna smartphone
NETWORK: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100
CPU: ARM 11 680MHz
OPERATING SYSTEM: Symbian Anna
DISPLAY: 2.46in TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen (640 x 480-pixels)
CAMERA: 8-megapixels, fixed-focus, dual-LED flash, 720p HD video recording (25 fps, H.264)
CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi (802.11b/g/n), USB 2.0
MEMORY: 256MB RAM; 1GB ROM; 8GB internal storage
EXPANSION SLOT: microSD (up to 32GB)
STANDBY/TALK TIME: 681 hours/ 14 hours
OTHER FEATURES: A-GPS with Nokia Maps navigation; Qwerty keyboard
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 115.5 x 59 x 10.5mm
WEIGHT: 133g
PRICE: RM1,155
RATING: 3.5/5 stars

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was initially announced during MWC 2011 with thicker dimensions and an 8-megapixel camera. Not until Apple unveiled its next generation iPad 2 which is thinner and lighter, did the engineers in Samsung go back to the drawing board and give the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 some crucial modification. Then, in CTIA 2011, Samsung re-announced the Galaxy Tab 10.1 with a thinner and lighter profile.

At a Glance 

+ Fast and responsive + Sleek and light + TouchWiz UX + Long battery life - Does not support full HD playback (only works on certain video formats) - Lack of apps for tablet

In the box: 

- Tablet
- Power adapter
- USB cable
- Headset

Exterior, Controls and Screen 

On the surface, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 does not look any different than the other competing 10-inch Honeycomb slates. Of course, the key selling point of this tablet is that it is 8.6 mm sleek and carries a weight of 565g. It is 0.2mm thinner and 36g lighter than its primary rival – the Apple iPad 2. To be honest, it is hard for us to spot any differences between these two tablets. The tablet is comfortable enough to hold it at a portrait view with a single hand, without feeling fatigue.

It has a 10.1-inch PLS-LCD capacitive touch screen display with a whopping 1280 x 800 widescreen resolution. PLS stands for Plan to Line Switching, which Samsung Mobile Display touted for its great viewing angle over the IPS display that could be found in the Apple iPad 2 and Asus Eee Pad Transformer. The display is surrounded by a black bezel, leaving the front facing camera and light sensor on the top. The display of the tablet also acts as a fingerprint magnet. Make sure you have a wiping cloth on standby. like any other Android Honeycomb tablet in the market, the screen is completely free from any physical buttons.

We are glad that the power button of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sits on top of the tablet, which is extremely convenient for us to reach it, rather than lifting the tablet to press the power button on the back such as with the Motorola Xoom. Next, you will see the volume rocker, followed by the headphone jack and SIM card slot. A USB data connector slot is located on the bottom of the tablet, leaving the rest empty except for the speaker grills on both sides of the tablet. Protecting the back of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a smooth white plastic cover.

Hardware 

Samsung initially decided to power the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with its own customized Exynos chipset, but later decided to switch to Nvidia’s Tegra 2 SoC (System-on-a-Chip). The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, coupled with 1GB of RAM. Storage-wise, the review unit we had has a 16GB internal storage, and does not support microSD cards. The tablet is equipped with a Li-Po 7000 mAh battery. In our opinion, it could last about two days’ time of normal usage (including web browsing, listening to some music, watch some YouTube and activate GPS for navigation) with WiFi on at all time.

Software 

Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that was launched in the States, the tablet we have here is preloaded with Samsung TouchWiz UX user interface on top of Android 3.1. The TouchWiz UX offers Live Panel, Quick Panel and Mini Apps Tray that enrich user experience on the Android 3.1 operating system. Live Panel allows user to resize widgets on the home screens. The revamped Quick Panel lets you to have quick access to WiFi, Notification, GPS, Sound, Auto-rotation, Bluetooth and Flight mode. You can even control the screen brightness from there.

Our personal favourite is the Mini Apps Tray. You can pick your favourite music without moving away from your current app. A simple tap on the arrow button located on the System Bar at the bottom of the screen will show a tray of six apps, including Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator and Music. Any apps that are launched from the Mini Apps Tray always stay on top of the screen, allowing you to switch apps uninterrupted. A screenshot button could be found on the System Bar too.

We certainly miss the stock Honeycomb Music app which has the 3D carousel album display as Samsung has replaced the default Music app with its own. Other apps added by Samsung including Photo Editor and Social Hub.

Booting up the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 only requires approximately 38 seconds, which it immediately displays the lock screen to indicate that it is ready to for you to Tab. Nevertheless, our experience with Android 3.1 is quite smooth and better than the original 3.0, though it is still not perfect yet. Unfortunately, there are not many apps catering for Android tablets at the time of writing.

Benchmark Scores 

Hardware Performance 

BenchmarkPi: 558
Quadrant Standard: 2183
AnTuTu Benchmark: 4698

Web Browser Performance 

Acid3 Test: 100/100
SunSpider: 2300.5 ms +/- 1.8%

Camera, Video and Audio 

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is equipped with an auto-focus 3-megapixel camera with LED flash. It does a decent job on snapping sharp and clear photos. It is also able to record HD video at 720p. We definitely welcome Samsung’s skinning on the camera/video app, making more intuitive than the default Honeycomb UI. The speakers on the tablet deliver solid sounds even at maximum level. The only disadvantage is the tablet we had refused to play full HD video at 1080p.

update: Apparently, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is able to play Windows Media Video (.wmv) at full HD. A Samsung clarifies that full HD video only works on certain video formats. alternatively, you can follow our Tips and Tricks on encoding your videos for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Connectivity 

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has all the necessary connectivity options including 3G HSDPA 21 Mbps, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS and USB data connectivity port. GPS performance in this device is superb, as it could manage to get a location lock from a cold boot within 4 seconds. This device does not support charging via USB while plugged to the computer.

Verdict 

Ultimately, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is sleek, light and powerful. However, it is still not powerful and fast enough to consider as a laptop replacement. It is great for people who are multimedia-centric or business users who need to use the Internet and view and edit documents on the go.

LG Prada 3.0 Review

At a glance

+ Premium design

+ Unique monochrome UI

+ NFC-ready

- Monochrome UI drowned out by colourful icons from installed apps

27 April 2012 – Manufacturer LG and designer label Prada’s partnership can be traced back to 2007, when the two companies released the first LG Prada device, which proved surprisingly popular, as one of the earliest devices to feature a capacitive screen.

Fast forward to 2012, the LG Prada 3.0, as the name implies, is the third iteration of the series, so let us see if it manages to retain the glory that its predecessors once had.

Exterior, Controls and Screen

True to the Prada name, a lot of effort has been put into the design of the phone itself, with its premium look and finish. However, the construction material could have been better, as it felt somewhat plasticky for our tastes. Still, it serves as a great fashion accessory to the brand name-conscious, just as its designers had intended.

This black slab is adorned with classy round buttons at the top, which adds to the overall aesthetics of the device. The capacitive buttons that appear when the phone is unlocked also meshes well with the theme of the device.

The 4.3-inch WVGA display is a rather standard affair for smartphones of this size, although we would appreciate a higher resolution than the 480 x 800 one on the LG Prada 3.0. Still, the less than optimal resolution is offset by the rather nice monochrome user interface, which trumps pretty much any default ones we have seen by other manufacturers.

Software, Application and Games 

Joining the long line of devices that have yet to migrate to Ice-Cream Sandwich, the LG Prada 3.0 will still have you munching away at whatever the Gingerbread has still to offer. To their credit, LG took special care to include a load of rather decent applications that not only takes full advantage of the aging version of Android but the UI as well.

The Desk Home, for example, is a simple flip-over clock which meshes really well with the monochrome theme, while Car Home, is an alternative home screen that is tailor-made for when driving, should you ever have the need to.

Taking a cue from HTC, the LG Prada 3.0 also included its own weather app.

Camera, Video and Audio 

The 8-megapixel shooter fitted onto the LG Prada 3.0 is not exactly the best we have seen, but it will do a fine job of taking photographs under most conditions. The controls are very intuitive, although we would have preferred more options in terms of filters to play around with.

Video playback on the phone proved to be a relatively enjoyable affair, as while the resolution could have been higher, the audio was loud and crisp.

Connectivity

The LG Prada 3.0 excels in this part, with Wi-Fi b, g, and n connections, Bluetooth 3.0 and A-GPS at the core. There is also DLNA, which is always welcome, especially if you have compatible devices to use it together with.

Then there is the implemented Near Field Communications (NFC) - While at this point there is not much use for it at the moment, you can expect to see it being prevalent in the coming year. With 1080p video recording possible on the phone, a mini HDMI connector would have been a good addition, but alas, there is none.

The battery life on the device was fairly reasonable, as we managed to squeeze a full day's usage out of it with moderate usage, including making calls, tweeting and listen to music.

Verdict

With specifications that would have made it a great contender last year, the LG Prada 3.0 does not bring too much to the table in 2012. Still, it is a very solid device that has been given a cosmetic enhancement that is bound to please even the most fussy of fashionistas. Get it if you want a high end device that also doubles as a fashion statement.

Acer ICONIA Tab W500 Review

Double the fun

JUST about every computer manufacturer is in the Tablet computer race and Acer isn't one that is going to be left out.

It has two Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) Tablet computers in the pipeline, and has just released the Iconia Tab W500.

The W500 is a different beast - it runs a full version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

So, is running a desktop operating system on a Tablet computer more practical and attractive than the Android or iOS mobile platforms? Read on to find out.

Design 

Whenever I used the W500, it drew curious looks. People would often stop by to ask whether it is a netbook or Tablet computer.

The answer is that it is both. The W500 has a unique design - its keyboard can be detached which instantly transforms it from a netbook to a Tablet.

Even when the keyboard was removed, the Tablet felt thick but solid. The smooth metallic back is a nice touch but doesn't provide much grip.

It weighs 970g which is quite heavy for a Tablet which means it'll be uncomfortable to hold for very long with one hand. With the keyboard attached, the device weighs 1.5kg which is still light enough for taking it with you wherever you go.

When you need to do serious work, just plug in the keyboard and the device transforms into a netbook.

The keyboard easily attaches to the Tablet but the docking mechanism didn't feel solid and the connection was a little loose. Also, you can't close the device like a regular netbook because doing so will probably damage the docking mechanism.

The chiclet-styled keyboard felt comfortable to use and the keys are well spaced out. The only problem I had was the arrow keys which were crammed into a tiny area, making it easy to accidentally press the wrong keys.

Another downside is that the keyboard doesn't come with a trackpad and instead has a trackpoint. If you are not used to one, you will find it uncomfortable to use like I did.

The keyboard also has two USB ports - one on each side - for hooking up peripherals. Unlike most Tablet computers, it also has an Ethernet port for plugging it into a wired network.

The 10.1in touchsreen is sharp, bright, and has good viewing angles. However, the screen is a fingerprint magnet and needs constant cleaning. Also, it is very reflective so it is quite difficult to view the screen when using it outdoors on a sunny day.

We tested two first-person shooter games - Left 4 Dead 2 and Far Cry 2 - and the device was able to handle them both. However, the graphics had to be toned down significantly and some effects like antialiasing had to be turned off for the games to run smoothly.

Less demanding games like Torchlight ran without any problems on the W500.

In terms of navigation, the touchscreen was responsive and it felt quite intuitive to tap on the screen to navigate, run applications and move icons around.

Browsing the Web felt quite natural be it using Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer.

The only drawback is that you have to rely on the virtual keyboard for text input and it's quite clunky.

There is also a handwriting recognition feature but it often incorrectly guessed the character I was trying to write.

In terms of battery life, the W500 ran out of power after about three to four hours depending on usage.

Without external power, you'll be able to get some work done but not play a long game or watch a movie.

Speaking of movies, the W500 plays back standard definition videos fine but it can't seem to handle 720p HD videos. The HD videos appeared jerky and were not watchable.

The built-in speakers were decent and sounded better when the keyboard was attached. When the keyboard was removed, the speakers sounded flat.

Still, you are better off with a pair of headphones or external speakers for a richer audio experience.

Conclusion 

The Acer Iconia Tab W500 is an interesting hybrid device that tries to be both a Tablet and netbook. The problem is that it doesn't really excel as one or the other.

When used as a Tablet, Windows 7 works pretty well but is let down by a number of things. The main shortcoming is the clunky virtual keyboard which makes text entry a nightmare.

This really spoils an otherwise wonderful experience of being able to use full applications such as Outlook for e-mail.

Of course, this can be easily solved by attaching the keyboard which effectively turns the W500 into a netbook. Sure, it's a hassle to lug the keyboard around but it's good to have the option.

The W500 isn't a particularly powerful machine - it can pretty much handle what most netbooks can but with one exception. In our tests, it faltered when it came to playing HD videos which is a big letdown. The speakers were also not that great and sounded average.

The addition of an SSD is both good and bad. The drive helps the device start up very fast but 32GB is very little space.

Overall, the Acer Iconia Tab W500 works better as netbook than a Tablet.

If you are looking for a lightweight netbook primarily for surfing the Web, the W500 fits the bill nicely.

Pros: Unique design; runs standard Windows apps; handy removable keyboard; sharp screen with good viewing angles; SSD is fast.

Cons: Windows 7 not optimised for Tablet computers; virtual keyboard is clunky; SSD offers little storage space; won't play 720p HD videos.

Iconia Tab W500
(Acer)
Tablet/netbook hybrid computer
PROCESSOR: Dual-core 1GHz AMD C-50 Fusion processor
MEMORY: 2GB RAM
DISPLAY: 10.1in (1,280 x 800-pixels) LED back-lit
GRAPHICS: AMD Radeon HD 6250
STORAGE: 32GB SSD
CONNECTIVITY: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, 10/100 Ethernet port, Bluetooth 3.0
PORTS/SLOTS: Two USB 2.0 ports, card reader (SD, MMC), HDMI port, headphone and microphone jacks
BATTERY: Three-cell lithium-ion polymer
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)
OTHER FEATURES: Two 1.3-megapixel cameras with ambient light sensor
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 27.5 x 19.0 x 1.6cm
WEIGHT: 0.97kg (1.5kg with keyboard)
WEBSITE: www.acer.com.my
RATING: 3.5