News…Reviews…all about tech!

AshMan says…

At the Mobile World Congress Microsoft revealed the much anticipated latest release of Windows Phone/Mobile (whatever you want to call it). This particular version has been considered long over due by many users. Windows Phone 7 had also been delayed numerous times, and also the original version of WP7 was scrapped completely and a rework was created.

The new OS is a completely different approach to any other phone operating system including older versions of Windows Mobile. WP7 moves to a tile based menu/group of icons which can be customised by the user with contacts or applications.

From the various demo’s which have been uploaded to the internet shows WP7 to be a very responsive and pleasant experience. This is helped by the applications like the contacts application to be loaded like a panoramic image which the user creates gestures to move across the menu.

A big announcement for the OS was the integration of the Xbox Live service and the ability to have your avatar and gamerscore available on your device. At the event they also mentioned the ability to play online with users around the world on other WP7 devices, PC’s and Xbox 360′s, which means that it will be interesting how the experience will be for all users across the platforms.

Microsoft is also taking a stronger position on the hardware which its partners are producing, by creating a list of requirements which each device must have including for touch based devices a large capacitive screen, minimum 5 mega-pixel camera with LED flash and three dedicated hardware buttons (back, home and Bing search). This means a more consistent user experience across all devices available.

With all of this announced Windows Phone 7 Series is looking to be a very strong competitor in the mobile arena, and be sure to look out for more info at Mix2010 coming soon.

AshMan says…

HTC is known for making mobile phones with a great number of features and fantastic build quality. The HTC Snap follows in that tradition.

HTC Snap Breaks The Mould

When first holding the phone you realise just how thin and light it is (weighs only 120grams). The phone isn’t a touch screen based device, but does feature a fixed QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard is a lot better than any other QWERTY device I have used before with the raised keys assisting you to select the key you want therefore significantly reducing typing errors.

Super Thin HTC Snap

The 2.4-inch QVGA display has an LED backlight which really is great for using in a number of different locations, both bright and dark. The screen feels like it should have been just a tiny bit taller as when surfing some websites you cannot see enough information on the screen at any one time.

The phone comes boxed with Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard but HTC has released the upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard. Even though there are no noticeable changes with the upgrade straightaway, the addition of Windows Marketplace and Microsoft My Phone are definitely there.

The Smartphone features 256MB of ROM and 192MB of RAM which is plenty for this device to happily multitask and the task manager is always available if you need to clear up some memory. The HTC Snap seems to have missed out on the usual HTC make over it gives to all of its other devices, but Windows Mobile 6.5 seems to be pretty good on its own as the navigation is controlled by the scroll wheel and buttons.

Scroll Wheel and QWERTY Keyboard

New users of the scroll wheel system will take a little bit of use to familiarise themselves, but Blackberry users will feel right at home. The default sensitivity setting of the scroll wheel doesn’t feel sensitive enough and will require some tweaking to get the perfect sensitivity for web browsing and for scrolling through large numbers of emails or text messages seamlessly.

A new feature to the HTC Snap which doesn’t appear in any other HTC device is the Inner Circle button located at the bottom right hand side. This button will launch an email application which only displays emails from contacts which you select to be in your inner circle. This application is great in some instances but a downside is that if you use your phone for personal and business use (which most people will) they won’t be able to view family or friends separately to business contacts.

The HTC Snap comes also with a wireless antenna supporting b and g, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP for wireless headsets, GPS and HTC extUSB (which serves as the USB connection and headset connector). It features HSPDA with 7.2mpbs down-link and a quad band radio.

2.0MP Fixed Focus Camera

Battery life is outstanding for the Smartphone with a light test (includes an occasional phone call and the Wi-Fi being turned on for one hour a day) seeing the phone run for almost 6 days non-stop. For the heavy test (includes Wi-Fi being turned on full time and an hour phone call each day) the phone lasted just under 2 days.

The 2.0 megapixel camera on the back is fixed focused and provides an average image quality; which is understandable as this phone’s appeal is targeted towards the  business users who wouldn’t be using the camera that much in essence.

In the end, the HTC Snap is a very capable phone with a good keyboard and an outstanding battery life. If you are after a QWERTY keyboard mobile phone this is certainly a strong contender.

AshMan says…

Infinity Ward yesterday hosted a multiplayer even for Modern Warfare 2 and during the event Larry “Major Nelson” came to the stage to reveal a special Modern Warfare 2 bundle called the “Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console”. This bundle is great because the hardware spec of the console is different.

Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console

- Xbox 360 Console – with military-themed case design
- 250GB Hard Drive
- Two Black Xbox 360 Controllers
- Xbox 360 Headset
- Standard Edition copy of Modern Warfare 2

It is estimated to retail for US$399/AU$599 and will be released on November 11; which just happens to be a day after Modern Warfare 2 is due for release.

Limited Edition Console for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The bundle is confirmed to be sold in Australia, Europe, the Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia), UK, US, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and New Zealand.

To check more information check out here.

AshMan says…

There have been rumours about the HTC Leo going around including rendered images around two months ago. Leaked photos have just been released of the Leo in it’s physical form.

The Leo (aka Pro Three or Pro3) when placed next to the current HTC Touch Pro2, it simply makes an already big phone look quite small.

HTC Pro3 (Leo) vs HTC Touch Pro2

The Leo boasts a WVGA 4.3 inch screen (also rumoured to be a capacitive touchscreen similar to the iPhone) as well as a 1GHz Qualcomm processor and 320MB of RAM.

HTC Pro3 Specifications

The Leo definately looks like a killer phone, but until we are able to get a hands on we won’t be able to tell if this monster Windows Phone is too big.

HTC HD (Left) vs HTC Pro3 (Right)

AshMan says…

Netbooks have been at the centre of all the hype over the past year however there is a new laptop emerging onto the market.

In the workplace and at home the benefits of having a dual monitor setup are starting to be realised in everyday computing, but those benefits are only available in the one spot at the moment. The gScreen Spacebook may change that however as it offers a portable solution.

The gScreen Spacebook will have two 39cm screens that slide away to a single screen for storage or transportation. This design provides the benefits of dual screens however still remaining at its core a portable device. This is especially handy for video editors and photographers who prefer to work on dual screens to effectively organise their work on the go.

According to Gordon Stewart, founder of gScreen, the first Spacebooks should be available on Amazon by December.

The planned specifications for the Spacebook are:

- 2 LED backlit display screens
- Windows VISTA/ WIN XP PRO (optional)
- Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26-GHz
- 4 GB of RAM (2GB DDR2 SO-DIMM x 2)
- 320GB 7200-rpm HD
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT with 512MB dedicated memory (or)
- NVIDIA® Quadro FX 1700M Graphics with 512MB dedicated memory
- 9-cell battery
- IEEE 1394 1 Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1, HDMI X 1 Mic-in X 1, Line-in x 1, Headphone X 1 PCI Express Card X 1 AC Power Adaptor Output: 19V DC, 90W Input: 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal Battery Pack Li-ion 9 cells

The price for the dual screen killer laptop is estimated to be around $3500. Potential buyers should be aware of the potential weight and battery drain which two screens would have compared to a more standard laptop.

Spacebook with an estimated price of $3500

For more information check out the gScreen website at www.gscreencorp.com