Samsung Galaxy Tab

Introduction

Not so long ago the tablet was a futureless species, stuck in an evolutionary dead-end. The technology and the the operating systems didn’t offer the right balance of portability and usability to suit its needs. But just look at it now…

It was the Apple iPad that made the first splash and many other tablets are on their way on following its steps. We guess Samsung’s had an easier job than Apple bringing it to market. They already had the Samsung Galaxy S in the works and just had to make it bigger. Plus, they didn’t need to go to great lengths explaining what a tablet is and what it does.

 

Official photos of the Samsung P1000 Galaxy Tab

If nothing else, the Galaxy Tab makes the S in Galaxy S meaningful. But the Tab itself is not size XL. In a nutshell, the new Samsung tablet is a Galaxy S with 3 inches added to the screen and 2 megapixels taken away from the camera. The Tab is equipped with the same 1GHz Hummingbird processor and PowerVR SGX540 graphics accelerator, 512MB RAM, a complete connectivity set and 16GB internal storage. The whole thing’s running on Android’s latest – v2.2 Froyo.

Key features

• 190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98mm, 380g
• Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G support, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
• Full GSM phone calling functionality
• 7″ 16M-color TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen of WSVGA (600 x 1024) pixel resolution, Gorilla Glass
• Android OS v2.2 with TouchWiz 3.0 UI customization
• 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird CPU
• PowerVR SGX540 graphics accelerator
• 512 MB of RAM
• 3.2 MP autofocus camera with smile detection and geo-tagging
• D1 (720 x 480 pixels) video recording at 30fps
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n support
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
• 16GB internal storage, microSD slot
• DivX and XviD video codec support, Full HD video playback
• HD video out (with a proprietary dock)
• Accelerometer, ambient-light and gyro sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• 30-pin connector and stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• Office document editor
• Secondary video-call camera
• Swype predictive text input
• Adobe Flash Player 10.1 support
• Stereo speakers
• 4000 mAh Li-Ion battery
• Great audio quality

Main disadvantages

• Poor viewing angles
• Picture ghosting due to slow LCD response
• Some apps incompatible with the new resolution
• Gallery displays downsized images only
• Quiet loudspeaker
• No FM radio
• No USB host support

That’s a long list of features but the full phone functionality is perhaps what sets it apart from the arch-enemy. Soon enough however, the Galaxy Tab will have other things to worry about than a certain Apple slate. With the likes of Dell Streak and even RIM’s PlayBook around, the Samsung tablet will be trying harder to convince users it’s the perfect fit between a phone and a laptop.

Samsung P1000 Galaxy Tab live shots

When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab they stated that its purpose was not to rival the iPad but to bring something different to the tablet market. This might have just been a face saving statement but it’s obvious the iPad and the Galaxy Tab are each aimed at quite different types of users.

Samsung Galaxy P1000 Tab over Apple iPad

• Lighter and smaller, easier on the pocket
• Telephony (including 3G video calls)
• 3.2 MP camera with D1 video recording @ 30 fps and LED flash
• Android OS v2.2 Froyo
• Proper multitasking (though the iPad is getting that too in a couple of months)
• microSD card slot for memory expansion
• Uses regular size SIM card
• 16:9 widescreen display
• Adobe Flash player 10.1
• DivX/XviD 1080p video playback
• Bluetooth 3.0

Apple iPad over Samsung P1000 Galaxy Tab

• Larger and better screen
• Metal body
• iOS 3.1.3 with more than 25 000 apps tailor-made for it
• Larger internal storage (iPad 64GB)
• Better battery life
• YouTube app streams higher-quality footage

The Samsung P1000 Galaxy Tab compared with the iPhone 4 and the Apple iPad

It’s not about which one is superior: more powerful or better looking. It’s about what you need the tablet for. Some will call the Galaxy Tab plain smaller. To others it will mean more pocketable, manageable and easier to handle. Some need to make calls on their tablets, to others it’s irrelevant. Where some will see a small screen, others will appreciate the better DPI.

Final words

The Samsung Galaxy Tab does exceptionally almost all the tasks it’s meant to do. But for the flawed gallery and the high-latency screen with sub-par viewing angles we are struggling to find an aspect of its performance to criticize. None of those are deal-breakers really.

In many senses we get the feeling that the Galaxy Tab is better designed than the Apple iPad to which it will inevitably be compared. The microSD card slot, the widescreen display ratio and the telephony capabilities (not to mention the regular SIM card support) and to a lesser extent the on-board camera, make perfect sense on a modern-day device and give the Galaxy tab something of an edge.

Of course the iPad strikes back with a slightly higher-res screen with better viewing angles, a much better gallery and a slightly longer battery life but the over-reliance on iTunes brings us back to where we started.

Now we come to the matter of screen size versus portability. Mind you, we are not talking portability in the stick-it-in-your-pocket kind of way. It’s more of an easier to hold with one hand and weighs less so it won’t tire you so quickly kind of deal. It all depends on your personal needs, whichever of the two matters more to you.

And that’s why we believe the two devices can easily coexist on a market where exponential growth is certain to happen over the next few years. No we don’t mean that you should get them both so you have a device of every size, but we do believe they just cater for the needs of different audiences and there will be enough of both groups.

However if you thought that we’d suggest you rush to the shop and grab yourselves a Galaxy Tab, you are wrong. No, not even if you made the size-vs-screen choice in its favor.

The SIM-free pricing of the Tab is way too steep to swallow. 650 euro is the cheapest deal you can currently get and that’s 50 euro more than a 16GB 3G-enabled iPad.

Now as their financial reports suggest, Apple is hardly known for pricing their products reasonably, but the Americans have earned themselves a name as a premium product manufacturer and have a user-base with unprecedented loyalty. Samsung on the other hand is working hard to achieve the first (all it probably needs is a little more time), but is probably years away from securing the second.

So while the iPad can get away with being over-priced, we don’t see how the Galaxy Tab can justify a price tag higher than that of the Apple’s device.

Apple iPad

Just think about it – the 7” Froyo-powered Archos tablet will hit the shelves any moment for 250 euro, while the 10.1” version will cost 290 euro. Now those tablets lack 3G radio and proper cameras, the 7” one comes with a lower, WVGA resolution and honestly, Archos is not nearly as big a name as Samsung, but are those things really worth the 400 euro premium? So what if Archos fails to update their current tablets when the next iteration of Android comes around – you can get whatever their latest slate is by then and that would still cost you less than the Galaxy Tab.

The 7″ Archos 70 and the 10.1″ Archos 101

Of course, there’s another side to the coin here. Samsung has worked hard to secure deals with virtually all major carriers worldwide and they are offering the Galaxy Tab at a lower subsidized price (some even for free) if you are willing to sign a contract. Now given the fact that you are likely to need a new plan for the Tab anyway if your carrier of choice got it, those are probably no-brainers and you can safely disregard all our remarks about the pricing.

And if you aren’t willing to commit your long-term future, but do want to get your hands on a shiny new Tab, we’d suggest you wait a few months for its price to drop – by a lot.

 

BlackBerry Playbook

 

 

Look and Feel:
——————

Looks very sleek, snappy and powerful. Easy to hold in on hand as its less than a pound and its dimensions fits in you palm.  Very fast response to multi touch, gesture and keyboard inputs.

• Multi-touch capacitive screen
• Gesture support
• Fluid keys
• 7″ LCD display, 1024 x 600 screen resolution
• 5.1″ x 7.6″ x 0.4″ (130mm x 194mm x 10mm)
• 0.9 lbs (400g)
• On-screen keyboard
• Accelerometer, 6-axis motion sensing (gyroscope) and digital compass (magnetometer)
• GPS

BlackBerry PlayBook Navigation :

Performance and OS:
————————-
QNX OS means high reliability, performance and load. Its a proven OS on highest capacity routers, nuclear reactors. QNX OS along with 1 GHz dual core processor having symmetric multi processing capabilities gives a zip zap fast performance along with 1 GB RAM.

Full computing power in a tablet format

• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• 1 GB RAM
• Symmetric multi-processing

What QNX on PlayBook means, see the video :

Multi task with ease on BlackBerry PlayBook Ad :

Real Web Browsing experiences:
—————————————
1.6 million flash sites flash support is desired by all regular web browsers. Adobe flash, Adobe Mobile Air, Java, HTML 5 and powered by WebKit. RIM shows in its videos, Acid3 test and Java script test a better browsing performance compared to iPad.

• Great for games, media, apps and everything the real Internet offers
• Full Adobe® Flash® 10.1 support
• Built in support for HTML 5

BlackBerry PlayBook Web Experience:

High End Multimedia:
————————–
Best media player, stereo sound, gaming, video and HD cameras used to video conference.

• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• Codec support for superior media playback, creation and video calling
• Stereo speakers and stereo microphones

BlackBerry PlayBook Web Fidelity Video( Multimedia, games and socialnetworking)

Gaming Experience on PlayBook:

Connectors:
—————
Micro HDMI and Micro USB ports make it different from other Tablet PC’s in market today.

• microHDMI
• microUSB
• charging ports

BlackBerry PlayBook Walk Through:

High Speed Connections:
——————————

Even though the initial release will not have 4g the later models will have all the 4g versions  i.e, WiMax, LTE and HSPA

• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
• 4G,Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n + WiMax
• 4G,Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n + LTE
• 4G,Wi-Fi 802ሃ a/b/g/n + HSPA+
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Application �Support:
————————–
A wide variety of platforms to support on BlackBerry PlayBook. So the existing developers of all these technology feel well versed to develop for PlayBook. The consumer will have plenty of choice to choose with all available android apps or the exclusive PlayBook apps.

• POSIX OS
• SMP
• Open GL
• Adobe Air
• Adobe Mobile Air
• BlackBerry® WebWorks™
• JavaScript®, HTML5 and CSS
• Java
• Android apps can be run using app launcher

BlackBerry PlayBook OS SDK Overview:

BlackBerry Smart phone Integration:
———————————————
Wirelessly connect to your BlackBerry® smartphone1 in a secured and data efficient bridge for a real time access to:

• Push technology
• Email
• Calendar
• Address book
• BBM™
• Tasks
• Documents and more

BlackBerry PlayBook paired to a BlackBerry Smartphone:

Enterprise Ready:
———————-
BlackBerry security and data efficiency is a well known feature of all BlackBerry devices. So in a secured connection between your smart phone and PlayBook, you can access all the existing enterprise apps you already use on you BlackBerry PlayBook.

BalckBerry PlayBook for Business:

BlackBerry PlayBook Business Side :

Good Storage and Battery Life:
————————————–
PlayBook will have 16GB, 32GB and even 64GB variants available and will be powered by a huge 5,300mAh battery.

 

Motorola Xoom

 

 

I purposely put off writing my review of the Motorola XOOM for a couple of reasons. Partially because we already have a perspective from another AndroidGuys writer, but also because I wanted to give it a thorough assessment of how I use the device in my daily life. After spending a little over one month with the XOOM I have grown to really like the device, almost love it. I’ll break this review into two segments (hardware, software) and give you my real-world view of the tablet and leave the hardcore benchmarks and head-to-head stuff for other people to cover. My reviews are meant for the Average Joe types, not those looking for a complete walkthrough of every internal component.

General

• Product Type Web tablet
• Width 6.6 in
• Depth 0.5 in
• Height 9.8 in
• Weight 1.6 lbs

Display

• Display Type 10.1 in TFT active matrix
• Display Resolution 1280 x 800 ( 150 ppi )

Memory

• Flash Memory 32 GB Integrated
• RAM 1 GB – DDR2 SDRAM
• Supported Flash Memory Cards microSDHC
• Max Supported Capacity 32 GB

Processor

• Processor NVIDIA Tegra 2 1 GHz
• Multi-Core Technology Dual-Core

Communications

• Wireless Broadband (WWAN) CDMA
• Band CDMA2000 1X 800/1900
• Wireless Connectivity Bluetooth 2.1 EDR,
  802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth Profiles Human Interface Device Profile (HID)

Digital Camera

• Rear-facing Camera Yes
• Sensor Resolution 5 megapixels
• Focus Adjustment Automatic
• Camera Light Source LED light
• Video Resolutions 1280 x 720
• HD Video Recording 720p
• Features Video recording
• Front-facing Camera 2 Megapixel

Multimedia Functionality

• Supported Digital Video Formats H.263,
  MPEG-4,
  H.264
• Max Resolution (external) 1280 x 720
• Audio speaker(s)
• Supported Digital Audio Formats AAC,
  OGG,
  AMR,
  MP3,
  eAAC+,
  AAC +,
  MIDI

GPS System

• GPS Navigation ( Assisted GPS (A-GPS) )
• Software Included Google Maps

Input Device

• Type Touch-screen

Battery

• Installed Qty (Max Supported) 1
• Capacity 24 Wh
• Run Time Details Web browsing over 3G – up to 9 hour(s),
  Web browsing over Wi-Fi – up to 10 hour(s),
  Audio playback – up to 3.3 day(s),
  Video playback – up to 10 hour(s)

Expansion / Connectivity

• Expansion Slot(s) 1 x microSDHC
• Interfaces 1 x Hi-Speed USB – 5 pin Micro-USB Type B,
  1 x Audio / video – HDMI output,
  1 x Headset – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm

Miscellaneous

• Sensors Proximity sensor,
  Accelerometer,
  Ambient light sensor,
  Three-axis gyro sensor,
  Barometer
• Features AGPS,
  e-Compass,
  Proximity sensor,
  Ambient light sensor,
  Barometer sensor,
  Gyroscope sensor

Operating System / Software

• OS Provided Android 3.0
• Software Gmail,
  Voice Command,
  Alarm Clock,
  Music Player,
  Quickoffice,
  Calculator,
  Games,
  Google Talk,
  Calendar,
  Virtual Keyboard

HARDWARE

The first thing you notice about any new electronics device (especially tablets) is the weight.  Pulling it out of the box, it feels heavier than one might expect.  It’s not overly heavy but it has enough weight to it that I stopped for a moment and thought, “Oh man, this might be too heavy for general portability”.  I had grown comfortable using the Samsung Galaxy Tab for a few months and was unfairly basing this future “portability” against a smaller tablet that I had carried with me everywhere.

Moving along, it takes one a few seconds to locate that power button, which I am sure you’ve heard about before.  What seems awkward the first couple of times becomes very natural with prolonged usage. Since one tends to hold the XOOM in landscape mode, your fingers are already where they need to be to power it on.  This is compounded by having a case or cover on the tablet, leaving the button exposed and somewhat recessed.  The volume buttons are more obviously placed when in landscape mode, becoming a little bit wonky in portrait mode.  Of course this would be the case no matter where Motorola put the buttons as rotating the tablet moves their position anyway.

The general feel of the XOOM is that it is a solid piece of equipment, built using good materials.  There are no places where the device creaks or feels cheap, something which plagues those $100 knock-off’s you can pick up at Walgreens or Kmart. If there were anything I could change about this device it would be the material used on the back.  The slick and soft backing feel like they could be scratched if placed on a table with salt and pepper or perhaps a lap that has pieces of sand. I’ve yet to scratch the XOOM but I primarily keep it bundled up in a protective case.  The back also tends to pick up anything you might have on your fingers, even the slightest bit of sweat or oil.  Of course you don’t want to mess with a tablet directly after polishing off a bucket of wings, but simply moving the device then will attract more sauce than you’ll want to deal with.

Coming around to the front of the XOOM, I’ll quickly point out that the screen doesn’t stay clean.  Ever.  Even casual tapping and motion swipes are picked up and don’t leave too easily.  If you like to use the pattern lock screen for your phone, you might want to reconsider for the XOOM, it’s that bad.  Opt for the PIN entry or some form of password lest you want your child or a stranger to figure it out. It’s not so much that the screen gets cloudy or hard to read but it just doesn’t look good powered off.  Given that your entire usage of the tablet is on the screen (no buttons) the XOOM’s 10.1-inch screen can get ugly in a hurry.  Watch how that thing looks once you start letting your seven-year-old play Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. I have yet to find a great way to keep the screen oil-free or an efficient way of cleaning it.

The 5-megapixel camera performs as one might expect and is not notable.  Holding the tablet up to record video feels a touch awkward and will draw plenty of looks.  Almost every time I have used it to take pictures or capture a moment I had someone ask “What the heck is that thing?”  Having the large screen display what you are snapping feels somewhat silly (no covert spy pics) in an age of tiny point-click cameras with higher resolution but at least I don’t need to carry around a second device.

The front-facing camera is more than adequate for my usage and works as well as anything else I have used.  After nearly a year with the EVO 4G I can count the number of times I used video chat.  Although it felt more show-off and gimmick on the phone at the time, I can see this becoming handy on a tablet. Video conferencing software and the improved GTalk will ensure that I use this camera more often.

The speakers on the XOOM are found on the back, just above the spots where your hands hold the tablet.   While they are plenty loud for me and my usage, I might like to have seen them on the side or somewhere around the face.  I get that the thin design doesn’t lend well to too many options, but I feel like things could be louder or clearer in rare instances. I don’t use the tablet to play music too often but the occasional YouTube video has me holding the device up to my ear.

I would love to see the charging input moved to a different spot on the XOOM.  Being that I have the Portfolio Case to protect the device and set it up on my desk, I found that I cannot charge the tablet and display it at the same time.  The charger is directly under the screen and it’s this exact spot you rest the tablet when propping it up.

While on the subject of charging and battery I am happy to say that the XOOM gets me through nearly two full days of usage from a charge.  Of course your results will vary based on your apps and lifestyle. I like to keep my tablet with me on the desk as a second screen for chatting, RSS, email management and the occasional sports and news reading.  The XOOM accompanies me to the living room where I catch up on reading and play games.  My son also gets the XOOM in the car to play games and draw me pictures.  I’ve grown accustomed to charging (Android) phones daily and I try to stay in that habit with the tablet.  Fortunately, I don’t have to worry quite like I do with my EVO 4G.

Generally speaking, the XOOM is ridiculous fast. Having a dual-core processor does that ya know.  I’ve yet to run into a spot where I feel lag or that the tablet is not responding quickly.  In fact, going to my handset for the same apps really amplifies the difference.  It’s somewhat like the way a Snapdragon processor runs circles around your G1.  I can’t believe how much slower it makes my phone feel by comparison.

SOFTWARE (Android 3.0)

After having spent time with every build of Android to date, the Honeycomb UI is definitely a change.  Notifications and navigation are on the bottom while menu options go to the top.  It takes a little bit of getting used to but a few days into it everything feels natural.  I especially like features like line-item notification dismissals and the images that come with emails and GTalk messages.  The “recent apps”  button displays the five applications and games you have been currently using, making it a breeze to jump between your NOOK app and email.  Given the five panels to the home screen, there is more than enough room for icons, folders, and widgets.  The new scrollable widgets are great (Gmail, USAToday, CNN, etc) and provide even easier access to your content.

I’ve run into the occasional snag and force close but I am a forgiving Android user.  The first update that rolled out seemed to address some of the browser problems I had although there was no mention of that in the changes and features.  Once in a while I will see an app hang up but I imagine it’s more to do with how it was written and not Honeycomb specifically.  On the other hand, I am certain there are things that could be done at the OS level to make sure older apps play nice.

The short list of apps that have been written specifically to take advantage of Android 3.0 are gorgeous. The fragments and partitioned screens in applications like USA Today feel intuitive and take no time to figure out.  Things work the way you think they will. I simply love the new Android Market, Gmail, GTalk, and Contacts apps as they are shining examples of how to optimize for Honeycomb.  The Android 3.0 UI makes the Galaxy Tab experience feel like a scaled-up smart phone experience.  Yes, I know we’ve heard all along that older versions of Android were not meant for larger displays, but the XOOM makes this all the more obvious.  With or without a custom UI, Honeycomb is the way to go for a tablet.  Period.

The on-screen keyboard is good and works well in either mode but I would recommend getting something like Thumb Keyboard to make it even easier.  It’s here that I missed the ability to blast through an email or message on the Tab.  Once I downloaded a second option, things got much more efficient.  Having said that, the standard keyboard works very well in landscape mode on a lap.

Other features tucked away in Honeycomb such as quick access to settings and app management get cooler over time.  It’s as if Google lets users skip a few steps to get to where they need to go.  Hopefully these are the details that make it into future builds for phones.

WRAP UP

The XOOM reminds me a lot of the G1 of years gone by in that it’s a first of its kind device with a new OS.  After seeing the way Android developed over the last few builds, I am confident that this tablet experience will improve over time.  There’s plenty of hardware under the hood to keep up with a few releases and given that it’s stock Android, I am optimistic in future support.

My usage in this size tablet is completely different from what I did with the Galaxy Tab.  Instead of a larger Android device, this is a perfect compliment to my handset. I am consuming more information, reading, browsing, and generally exploring. I find myself opening the Android Market to simply look around, something I never did with the Tab. Casual games are more fun and the new titles designed for Honeycomb really have a way of pulling you in. I was initially hesitant to spend the money on the XOOM, thinking it would be relegated to the coffee table or put aside after time.  After a month, I am learning of new ways to use the tablet every day.  I don’t even think of the weight or size any longer because of everything that this guy does.  In fact, I have to tell myself to leave it at home when I go out.

While the tablet is not perfect, no smart phone is either.  There is always something on the horizon that might look more appealing.  Am I eyeballing the new Galaxy 10.1 from Samsung?  Of course.  I also look forward to playing with something in the mid-size (G-Slate) as well.  However, I can’t own everything that comes out so I have to learn to make do with what I have.  And with the XOOM, this was pretty easy for me.  There is nothing at this point that I wish this tablet had or that I cannot wait for.  With its high sticker price it’s not for everyone.  Drop a 16GB version on us and shave a hundred or so off the cost and it would be terribly difficult to resist.  As it stands though, my XOOM gets better every day.

 

Apple iPad II

INTRODUCTION

Two cameras for FaceTime and HD video recording. The Apple dual-core A5 chip. The same 10-hour battery life.¹ All in a thinner, lighter design. Now iPad is even more amazing. And even less like anything else.

 

General

• Product Type Tablet
• Width 7.3 in
• Depth 0.4 in
• Height 9.5 in
• Weight 21.2 oz
• Color Black

Display

• Display Type 9.7 in IPS TFT active matrix – LED backlight – Yes
• Display Resolution 1024 x 768 ( 132 ppi )

Memory

• Flash Memory 16 GB Integrated

Processor

• Processor Apple A5 1 GHz
• Multi-Core Technology Dual-Core

Communications

• Wireless Connectivity Bluetooth 2.1 EDR,
  802.11 a/b/g/n

Digital Camera

• Rear-facing Camera Yes
• Digital Zoom 5
• HD Video Recording 720p
• Features Tap to control exposure for video or stills,
  Photo and video geotagging over Wi-Fi
• Front-facing Camera VGA

EBook Reader

• Supported Text Formats DOCX,
  HTML,
  PDF,
  DOC,
  RTF,
  TXT
• Supported Still Image Formats PPT,
  TIFF,
  JPEG,
  GIF,
  PPTX

Multimedia Functionality

• Supported Digital Video Formats MPEG-4 SP (up to 640×480),
  H.264 Main Profile Level 3.1 (up to 720p),
  Motion JPEG (up to 1280×720)
• Max Resolution (external) 1920 x 1080
• Audio Microphone , speaker(s) – Mono
• Supported Digital Audio Formats AAC,
  WAV,
  AIFF,
  Protected AAC,
  MP3,
  Apple Lossless,
  Audible

GPS System

• GPS Navigation None

Input Device

• Type Touch-screen

Battery

• Technology / Form Factor Lithium polymer
• Capacity 25 Wh
• Run Time (Up To) 10 hour(s)
• Run Time Details Web browsing over Wi-Fi – up to 10 hour(s),
  Video playback – up to 10 hour(s),
  Audio playback – up to 10 hour(s)

Expansion / Connectivity

• Interfaces 1 x Headphones – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm,
  1 x Docking / port replicator – 30-pin dock connector

Miscellaneous

• Sensors Accelerometer,
  Ambient light sensor,
  Three-axis gyro sensor
• Features AirPlay,
  AirPrint,
  VoiceOver screen reader,
  Fingerprint resistant oleophobic coating,
  Charging via USB,
  Digital compass
• Included Accessories Power adapter
• Cables Included 1 x USB adapter

Operating System / Software

• OS Provided Apple iOS 4
• Software YouTube,
  Camera,
  iBooks,
  iTunes,
  Maps,
  Game Center,
  Photo Booth,
  FaceTime,
  Videos,
  Safari,
  Find My iPad,
  Photos,
  App Store,
  iPod,
  Mail,
  Notes,
  Calendar,
  Contacts

System Requirements for PC Connection

• OS Required Apple MacOS X 10.5.8 or later,
  Microsoft Windows XP SP3 or later,
  Microsoft Windows 7,
  Microsoft Windows Vista

Manufacturer Warranty

• Service & Support 1 year warranty
• Service & Support Details Limited warranty – 1 year,
  Technical support – Phone consulting – 90 days

Environmental Parameters

• Min Operating Temperature 32 �F
• Max Operating Temperature 95 �F
• Humidity Range Operating 5 – 95%
• Min Storage Temperature -4 �F
• Max Storage Temperature 113 �F
• Max Altitude Operating 9840 ft

 

Thinner, lighter and
full of great ideas.

Once you pick up iPad 2, it’ll be hard to put down. That’s the idea behind the all-new design. It’s 33 per cent thinner and up to 15 per cent lighter, so it feels even more comfortable in your hands.² And it makes surfing the web, checking email, watching films and reading books so natural, you might forget there’s incredible technology under your fingers.

Dual-core A5 chip.
It’s fast, times two.

Two powerful cores in one A5 chip mean iPad can do twice the work at once.³ You’ll notice the difference when you’re surfing the web, watching films, making FaceTime video calls, gaming and going from app to app to app. Multitasking is smoother, apps load faster and everything just works better.

Super-fast graphics.
Go, gamers, go.

With up to nine times the graphics performance, gameplay on iPad is even smoother and more realistic. And faster graphics help apps perform better — especially those with video. You’ll see it when you’re scrolling through your photo library, editing video with iMovie and viewing animations in Keynote.

 

Performance

Geekbench
Results (higher is better)

Apple iPad 2
721

Apple iPad
442

Apple iPhone 4
375

As we noted above, the iPad is equipped with a 1GHz, dual-core chip called the A5. According to Geekbench, the CPU is clocked at 800MHz. When we first handled the device, it seemed noticeably faster to us, and even after a week with the tablet, it’s still zippier than the previous model by a longshot.
The CPU and graphics performance of this tablet felt extremely impressive to us — the iPad 2 performed excellently no matter what we threw at it, games and graphically taxing apps seemed to have higher frame rates, and even when dealing with CPU intensive programs like GarageBand, it rarely (if ever) seemed to be struggling.
But don’t just take our word for it: Geekbench demonstrates quite clearly just what the processor gains on the iPad 2 look like.

Battery life keeps on going. So you can too.

Even with the new thinner and lighter design, iPad has the same amazing 10-hour battery life.¹ That’s enough juice for one flight across the ocean, or one film-watching all-nighter or a week’s commute across town. The power-efficient A5 chip and iOS keep battery life from fading away, so you can get carried away.

 

Battery Life

Apple iPad 2
10:26

Apple iPad
9:33

Motorola Xoom
8:20

Dell Streak 7
3:26

Archos 101
7:20

Samsung Galaxy Tab
6:09

Two cameras. And a big hello to FaceTime for iPad.

You’ll see two cameras on iPad — one on the front and one on the back. They may be tiny, but they’re a big deal. They’re designed for FaceTime video calling, and they work together so you can talk to your favourite people and see them smile and laugh back at you.³ The front camera puts you and your friend face-to-face. Switch to the back camera during your video call to share where you are, who you’re with or what’s going on around you. If it’s worth filming, let the back camera roll. It’s HD, so every movie you shoot is a mini-masterpiece. And you can take wacky snapshots in Photo Booth. It’s the most fun a face can have.

Watch the iPad
Smart Cover video

iPad Smart Cover. Designed for iPad. And vice versa.

iPad 2 and the iPad Smart Cover are made for each other. Literally.⁴ We designed the iPad Smart Cover to work side-by-side with iPad — and on top and underneath it too. Smart magnetic technology built into each really pulls them together. The iPad Smart Cover falls perfectly into place and stays put to protect your iPad screen, yet doesn’t add bulk to its thin, light design. Open the Smart Cover and your iPad wakes up instantly. Close it and your iPad goes to sleep automatically. And here’s another smart part: it transforms into the perfect film-watching, game-playing, web-surfing stand. It comes in 10 bright colours — including five in rich, aniline-dyed Italian leather. Choose your favourite, and your iPad will be smart all round.
Learn more about the iPad Smart Cover

The iPad Smart Cover attaches magnetically and aligns perfectly with iPad 2.

LED-backlit display.
The view is amazing.

iPad is one big, beautiful display — 9.7 inches of high-resolution photos, films, web pages, books and more. LED backlighting makes everything you see remarkably crisp, vivid and bright. Even in places with low light, like an airplane. And there’s no wrong way to hold iPad. It’s designed to show off everything in portrait and landscape, so with every turn (even upside down), the display adjusts to fit. Because it uses a display technology called IPS (in-plane switching), it has a wide, 178° viewing angle. Hold it up to someone across the room, or share it with someone sitting next to you, and everyone gets a brilliant view.

Multi-Touch.
Everything’s at your fingertips.

Technology is at its best when it feels completely natural, almost like there’s no technology at all. That’s Multi-Touch on iPad. You use your fingers to do everything, so everything you do — surfing the web, typing email, reading books and swiping through photos — is easier and a lot more fun. How does it work? When your fingers touch the display, it senses them using electrical fields. Then it instantly transforms your taps, swipes, pinches and flicks into lifelike actions. Just like that.

 

iOS 4.
The world’s most advanced mobile operating system.

iOS 4 is the operating system for iPad (along with iPhone and iPod touch). It lets you browse, read and see everything just by pointing your finger. It includes all the powerful, innovative and fun built-in apps you use every day, many times a day. And it’s the platform on which more than 65,000 other amazing apps have been created for iPad. It’s highly secure, stable and responsive, and it’s made to work seamlessly with the iPad hardware. iOS 4 is the reason no other device has yet come close to iPad.
Learn more about iOS 4

Instant On.
The fun starts fast.

Pick up your iPad, press the Home button and it wakes from sleep instantly. That’s because iPad features fast, efficient and reliable flash storage that lets you access data quickly. So everything effortlessly springs to life.

Wi-Fi and 3G.
Two great ways to stay connected.

Every iPad is built with advanced 802.11n wireless technology. It automatically finds Wi-Fi networks, which you can join with a few taps. iPad is also available with 3G connectivity. So if you’re somewhere without Wi-Fi, such as outdoors on a camping trip or on the road, you can still surf the web, check email or get directions.⁵
Learn more about Wi-Fi and 3G

Gyro, accelerometer and compass.
iPad knows your every move.

With the built-in accelerometer, you can rotate iPad to portrait or landscape, or even upside down, and whatever you’re watching, reading or seeing adjusts to fit the display. And now the accelerometer, three-axis gyroscope and compass all work together. They sense where iPad is, which direction it’s facing and how it’s moving. So games, maps and other apps know your every twist, turn, tilt and 360. It’s an epic win for gaming. And it’s just the beginning of better-than-ever iPad apps.

Video mirroring. What you do is what they see.

Video mirroring is new for iPad and for every app, web page, presentation, video, film or photo you want to show a big audience. Just plug in the Apple Digital AV Adapter or Dock Connector to VGA Adapter (sold separately) and your HDTV or projector becomes a bigger version of your iPad. One plug, that’s it. Everyone sees what’s on your display — even when you rotate iPad from portrait to landscape or zoom in and out on photos. Faster graphics performance from the A5 chip means a bigger (and better) performance in the classroom, boardroom or living room.

AirPrint. Print everything wirelessly.

Print your email, photos, web pages and documents straight from your iPad over Wi-Fi.⁶ There’s no software to download, no drivers to install and no cables to connect. With just a few taps, you can go from viewing something on the iPad screen to holding a printed copy.

 

HTC HD 7

Introduction

There’s no such thing as a small WP 7 phone. However, 4.3 inches of screen estate are really something else. The best case scenario: the HTC HD7 is the phone you’ve been waiting for. The worst case scenario: it’s too big to fail.

The HTC HD7 was inevitable. Was it not the first Windows Phone 7 ever rumored? And rightly so. There’s no phone too big or too powerful for Windows Phone 7. In fact, if you ask Microsoft they’d say the bigger the better. HTC – on their part – didn’t have to think too hard. They simply skipped right to number seven.

HTC HD7 official photos

Come to think of it, it may as well have been exactly with the HTC HD2 in mind that Microsoft laid down the law about the Windows Phone 7 required hardware. Effectively, HTC had a Windows Phone 7 flagship on standby for nearly a year – waiting for as much as a nod from Microsoft to let it off the leash. Anyway, as we’ve seen on a number of occasions, this whole thing is about getting things done on the biggest mobile screen possible. And the HTC HD7’s best course of action is to ensure no surprises.

Key features:

• 4.3″ 16M-color capacitive LCD touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Dual-band 3G with HSDPA (7.2 Mbps) and HSUPA (2Mbps)
• Windows Phone 7 operating system
• 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 576MB RAM, 512MB ROM
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash, geotagging
• 720p video recording @ 25fps
• 8GB of built-in storage
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Standard microUSB port (charging)
• Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement
• Wi-Fi b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
• Accelerometer for screen auto rotation
• Office document editor
• Facebook integration and cloud services
• Built-in A-GPS receiver
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• Comes with HTC Hub and exclusive HTC apps
• Voice-to-text functionality
• Kickstand with trademark yellow accents
• Great audio quality

Main disadvantages:

• High screen response time causes visible ghosting
• Non-expandable storage
• No lens protection
• Quite heavy at 162 g (not that we mind)
• Somewhat susceptible to the “antenna death grip” (signal drops by at least two bars)

WP7-specific limitations

• No system-wide file manager
• No Bluetooth file transfers
• No USB mass storage mode
• Limited third-party apps availability
• No Flash (nor Silverlight) support in the browser
• Too dependent on Zune software for file management and syncing
• No video calls
• New ringtones available only through the Marketplace
• Music player lacks equalizer presets
• No multitasking
• No copy/paste
• No DivX/XviD video support (automatic transcoding provided by Zune software)
• No sign of free Bing maps Navigation so far
• No internet tethering support
• No handwriting recognition support

Alright, one thing we can be sure of – the HTC HD7 is playing strictly by the Microsoft book in terms of hardware. On the other hand, it does look like a simple copy/paste job. You know, WP7 phones have a hard time demonstrating a personality. The HD7 has the extra task of identifying itself as something different from the HD2.

The brand new OS is the right place to start. In terms of hardware, the kickstand is certainly an eye-catcher – not to mention it tells you’re dealing with a phone that will keep you entertained. Next on the list is the HTC Hub and the exclusive apps it offers.

HTC HD7 live shots

It still seems the HTC HD7 offers little in the way of creativity. It will be up to the other WP7 phones in the HTC portfolio to do that. The HD7 might just be supposed to be a mere display of power – the one that completes their grand slam of massive screens.

Final words

Having the biggest screen around is a matter of prestige and the HTC HD7 is a marvel – the bezel around the screen is so thin it makes other phones look fat, despite their smaller screens.

We’ve already seen the same basic setup as the HD7 with two other OSes – first the WinMo-powered HD2, then the Desire HD Android (and its CDMA cousin, the EVO 4G).

But the HTC HD7 comes with the newest OS on the market and it’s one of the flagships. There are so many things that just work better on a bigger screen (web browsing, viewing photos, even typing on a virtual keyboard), which is what the HD7 thrives on.

There are potential showstoppers however – and, disappointingly, it’s the display itself. It obviously has some high response time, which results in ghosting when scrolling or watching videos. Now that certainly reduces the perceivable fluidity of most UI elements (and is a serious disadvantage when it comes to watching videos). The screen is also a little less saturated that we would have liked.

The camera is not perfect (especially that shutter key), the gallery with no slideshow is a missed opportunity, the singular loudspeaker on the back – the HTC HD7 has its flaws.

But if you want Windows Phone 7 and a big screen the HD7 has a good lead on the competition. The QWERTY-fied Dell Venue Pro (4.1” WVGA) aside, the 4” Samsungs (Omnia 7, Focus) are the only ones that come close.

So, the Samsung I8700 Omnia 7 is the closest competitor – it sports a 4” WVGA screen but it’s SuperAMOLED and offers a much better picture than the HD7.

Samsung I8700 Omnia 7 • HTC 7 Trophy • LG E900 Optimus 7

The HTC 7 Trophy and LG E900 Optimus 7 have screens that are a good half an inch smaller. Unlike the 7 Trophy and the euro version of the HD7, both the Omnia 7 and Optimus 7 are available with 16GB built-in memory.

3.8” is the screen size of the HTC 7 Surround as well and it’s got a kickstand just like the HD7. However, it adds slide-out surround speakers to the mix and it’s got 16GB internal memory too.

HTC 7 Surround • HTC Desire HD

Finally, you can ditch Windows Phone 7 all together and go with the HTC Desire HD – pretty much the same hardware, besides the 8MP camera, the microSD slot (with 8GB card already in it), more RAM and of course Android 2.2 Froyo. You can even just buy the older HD2, install Android on it and thank the devs that made it possible.

It’s a tough call between the HD7 and the Desire HD – unless you insist on Windows Phone 7, the Desire HD is better (even if it’s a bit pricier). The HD7 has one of the poorest displays we’ve seen in a while (regardless of OS and manufacturer) but if that doesn’t bug you, you are welcome to give the HTC HD7 a serious consideration – there are no compact WP7 phones, so you might as well get the biggest screen around.

 

HTC Desire HD

Introduction

Proceed with caution, big Snapdroids ahead. We guess that sign is due wherever someone mentions Desire HD. It’s big and bad and it takes no prisoners. HTC certainly took their time with releasing a bad-ass Android handset on our side of the pond but their timing is perfect now. We’re about to enter the holiday shopping spree and HTC Desire HD is in for the kill.

HTC Desire HD official photos

Powered by the latest Android 2.2 Froyo hand in hand with the latest HTC Sense, the HTC Desire HD is what the HD2 was to HTC Windows Mobile portfolio. With an 8-megapixel camera and HD video it may as well unsettle quite a few of the top smartphones out there. The innovative fast boot, the complete connectivity set and solid multimedia capabilities round off a great package. HTC might just have a natural bestseller on their hands.

You might want to have a closer look:

Previously rumored as HTC Ace

General
2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network
HSDPA 900 / 2100

HSDPA 850 / 1900 – North America

Announced
2010, September

Status
Available. Released 2010, October

Size
Dimensions
123 x 68 x 11.8 mm

Weight
164 g

Display
Type
LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Size
480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches

– Gorilla Glass display
– Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
– Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
– HTC Sense UI
– Multi-touch input method

Sound
Alert types
Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones

Loudspeaker
Yes

3.5mm jack
Yes, check quality

– Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement

Memory
Phonebook
Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall

Call records
Practically unlimited

Internal
1.5 GB; 768 MB RAM

Card slot
microSD, up to 32GB, 8GB included, buy memory

Data
GPRS
Class 32

EDGE
Class 32

3G
HSDPA 7.2/14.4 Mbps; HSUPA 2/5.76 Mbps (carrier dependent)

WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot

Bluetooth
Yes v2.1 with A2DP

Infrared port
No

USB
Yes, microUSB v2.0

Camera
Primary
8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash, check quality

Features
Geo-tagging, face detection

Video
Yes, 720p

Secondary
No

Features
OS
Android OS, v2.2 (Froyo), upgradable to v2.3

CPU
1 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon

Messaging
SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM

Browser
HTML

Radio
Stereo FM radio with RDS

Games
Yes

Colors
Black, Brown

GPS
Yes, with A-GPS support

Java
Yes, via Java MIDP emulator

– Digital compass
– Dedicated search key
– Google Search, Maps, Gmail
– YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa integration
– MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA9 player
– DivX/Xvid/MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV9/player
– Facebook, Twitter applications
– Adobe Flash 10.1
– Voice memo
– Predictive text input

Battery
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1230 mAh

Stand-by
Up to 490 h (2G) / Up to 420 h (3G)

Talk time
Up to 9 h 15 min (2G) / Up to 5 h 30 min (3G)

Key features:

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 14.4 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.3″ 16M-color capacitive LCD touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
• Android OS v2.2 Froyo with HTC Sense UI
• Unibody design
• Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8255 1 GHz processor
• 768 MB RAM and 1.5 GB ROM
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
• 720p video recording @ 25fps
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• DivX/XviD video support
• Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement
• HTC Locations app
• HTCSense.com integration
• Ultra-fast boot times (if you don’t remove battery)

Main disadvantages:

• LCD isn’t quite as impressive as Retina or Super AMOLED (lower contrast, more reflective)
• No dedicated camera key and no lens cover
• No front facing camera
• Quite heavy at 164 g (not that we mind)
• The two lids at the rear have questionable aesthetics and usability
• Disappointing audio reproduction quality

But there’s more to it. The HTC Desire HD is a mongrel. It doesn’t even warrant a name of its own. Desire is cheesy and HD is worn-out. And they both are OLD phones’ names. Alright, don’t take it literally. It’s not as simple as saying HTC got themselves a brand new phone out of two older ones. The HTC Desire HD goes beyond the massive screen and powerful hardware that we’ve already seen elsewhere.

 

Samsung Galaxy S II

 

 

 

 

 

 

General
2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

Announced
2011, February

Status
Available. Released 2011, April

Size
Dimensions
125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm

Weight
116 g

Display
Type
Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Size
480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches

– Gorilla Glass display
– TouchWiz UI v4.0
– Multi-touch input method
– Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
– Touch-sensitive controls
– Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
– Gyroscope sensor

Sound
Alert types
Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones

Loudspeaker
Yes

3.5mm jack
Yes

Memory
Phonebook
Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall

Call records
Practically unlimited

Internal
16GB/32GB storage, 1 GB RAM

Card slot
microSD, up to 32GB, buy memory

Data
GPRS
Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 – 48 kbps

EDGE
Class 12

3G
HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps

WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot

Bluetooth
Yes, v3.0+HS

Infrared port
No

USB
Yes, v2.0 microUSB (MHL), USB On-the-go

Camera
Primary
8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, check quality

Features
Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization

Video
Yes, 1080p@30fps, check quality

Secondary
Yes, 2 MP

Features
OS
Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)

CPU
Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU, Orion chipset

Messaging
SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS

Browser
HTML

Radio
Stereo FM radio with RDS

Games
Yes

Colors
Black

GPS
Yes, with A-GPS support

Java
Yes, via Java MIDP emulator

– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
– NFC support (optional)
– TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
– SNS integration
– Digital compass
– MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
– MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
– Organizer
– Image/video editor
– Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
– Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration
– Adobe Flash 10.1 support
– Voice memo/dial/commands
– Predictive text input (Swype)

Battery
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1650 mAh

 

Sony Ecrisson Xperia X12…….Coming Soon

This is probably one of the most detailed leaks I’ve seen in all of my years of writing about Sony products.

Let’s talk about hardware first and foremost.

The phone obviously looks like the X10, but is thinner, lighter and has a bigger screen. The X12 will contain a Qualcomm MSM7230 (Scorpion) processor, which is a 800MHz ARMv7 that is capable of reaching 1GHz according to the processor spec sheet. The processor’s features include an embedded DSP(GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS/WCDMA, HSDPA 14.4Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps baseband), Embedded gpsOne GPS module, gpsOneXTRA Assistance, Dedicated audio subsystem supporting 5.1 surround, 12-megapixel camera support, Integrated 2D/3D graphics GPUs with support for OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenVG 1.1.

 

 

 

 

 

XPERIA X10 owners may wonder why the next phone in this series may have less MHz, but it actually is an improvement, as Mobile Review states the phone “..offers a smoother and more optimized operation, with all the graphic elements of Android presented without any lagging of any kind. The chipsets multimedia capabilities are equal to the ones offered by the QSD8250 but with some improvements. The chipset can now encodes 720p video in H264 smoothly and offers increased playback times for both audio and video while being optimized for decoding DIVX and XVID videos.” It will also have HDMI output to enjoy HD video on your TV, etc.

The camera will most likely be a 12 megapixel sensor and capable of recording 720p video, which Mobile Review states will be much smoother and reliable than the X10. The screen is massive at 4.3″ (854×480) and will support multitouch technology, a feature that was painfully missing from the X10. It is believed that the X12 will not have an AMOLED nor a S-LCD, which is rather unfortunate. DPI is suggested to be around 240, at least in the pre-production unit that was tested.

As for software, the X12 will most likely launch with with Android 2.2 (Froyo) and will recieve a 2.3 update in the summer of 2011. This could frustrate potential owners of this device, but Mobile Review seems more optimistic as they say “for Sony Ericsson, being just one OS version behind the others on the release date of X12 is a step forward.” A rather sarcastic remark, considering the company had sold devices with Android 1.6 for way too long.

 

What is Android….?

Android is a mobile operating system initially developed by Android Inc. Android was bought by Google in 2005. Android is based upon a modified version of the Linux kernel. Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliance collaborated to develop and release Android to the world. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android. Unit sales for Android OS smartphones ranked first among all smartphone OS handsets sold in the U.S. in the second and third quarters of 2010,^[8][9][10] with a third quarter market share of 43.6%.

Android has a large community of developers writing application programs (“apps“) that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently over 100,000 apps available for Android. Android Market is the online app store run by Google, though apps can be downloaded from third party sites (except on AT&T, which disallows this). Developers write in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.^[14]

The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 79 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software and open source license.

The Android operating system software stack consists of Java applications running on a Java based object oriented application framework on top of Java core libraries running on a Dalvik virtual machine featuring JIT compilation. Libraries written in C include the surface manager, OpenCore media framework, SQLite relational database management system, OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API, WebKit layout engine, SGL graphics engine, SSL, and Bionic libc. The Android operating system consists of 12 million lines of code including 3 million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++.

 

 

 

(Android 2.3 HomeScreen)

Company / developer—————–Google Inc.,
Open Handset Alliance

Programmed in  —–C (core),^[1] C++ (some third party libraries), Java (UI)

Working state——-Current

Source model——-Free and open source software

Initial release
21 October 2008 (2008-10-21)

Latest stable release
2.3.1 (Gingerbread) Build: GRH78^[2] / 22 December 2010; 6 days ago (2010-12-22)^[2]

Supported platforms
ARM, MIPS, Power Architecture, x86^{[citation needed]}

Kernel type
Monolithic (modified Linux kernel)

Default user interface
Graphical

License
Apache 2.0 (some code are under the GPL)

Official website
android.com

 

LG Optimus One

The LG Optimus One may not be your average killer gadget, but it sports a tempting pricetag, solid build, a nice looking set of features and Android 2.2 Froyo. And with the Optimus One in your hand, you are free to mock and tease those seemingly superior phones, which are still stuck on Eclair – now that’s priceless!

Indeed, the Optimus One offers an awesome price-to-features ratio among modern Android smartphones. With 1 million units sold already, the LG Optimus One P500 seems to be a popular option and it’s not difficult to see why.

LG Optimus One P500 official photos

True, it’s only got a moderately clocked CPU running at 600MHz, but with the performance boost from Froyo it feels reasonably fast and responsive most of the time and the plenty amounts of RAM give it enough app-toggling punch. Here go the rest of the specs:

Key features:

• 3.2″ 256K-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of HVGA resolution (320 x 480 pixels); Multi-touch input
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Dual-band 3G with HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
• 600MHz CPU running Android 2.2 Froyo; 419MB RAM
• 3 megapixel autofocus camera; face and smile detection, geotagging
• VGA video recording @ 18fps
• microSD card slot, up to 32GB, 2GB in the box
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Standard microUSB port (charging)
• GPS receiver with A-GPS; Digital compass
• Wi-Fi b/g; Wi-Fi hotspot functionality built-in
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
• Accelerometer for screen auto rotate; Proximity sensor
• FM radio with RDS
• Office document editor
• Portrait and landscape on-screen QWERTY keyboard
• Social networking integration
• DivX/XviD support
• Smart dialing
• Excellent loudspeaker performance

Main disadvantages:

• Slow CPU makes editing Office documents a chore
• Camera is just 3MP, has no lens protection, no flash and no dedicated shutter key
• No Flash support in the browser despite Froyo
• No front facing camera

Digging inside the camera settings you can almost get lost – smile shots, face detection, face-tracking effects, beauty and art shots and so on. At 3MP it’s a no-frills camera but certainly one for casual users to have so much fun with.

The LG Optimus One P500 at our office

Then there are the Facebook and Twitter apps which come preinstalled and the video player has DivX/XviD video support – the LG Optimus One P500 knows good fun. There’s a serious side to it as well, the Office document viewer/editor will help you get some work done.

Overall, the Optimus One can’t compete in the Android big league but great value for money is likely to draw many people away from feature phones (which is a huge market to tap into).

It’s not without its limitations – editing a complex Office document is painfully slow and video playback stops short of VGA resolution.

But when you’re buying cheap, you know you’ll have to make compromises – jump to the next page to see if there’s anything lacking in the hardware departmen

The LG Optimus One may not be your average killer gadget, but it sports a tempting pricetag, solid build, a nice looking set of features and Android 2.2 Froyo. And with the Optimus One in your hand, you are free to mock and tease those seemingly superior phones, which are still stuck on Eclair – now that’s priceless!

Indeed, the Optimus One offers an awesome price-to-features ratio among modern Android smartphones. With 1 million units sold already, the LG Optimus One P500 seems to be a popular option and it’s not difficult to see why.

LG Optimus One P500 official photos

True, it’s only got a moderately clocked CPU running at 600MHz, but with the performance boost from Froyo it feels reasonably fast and responsive most of the time and the plenty amounts of RAM give it enough app-toggling punch. Here go the rest of the specs:

Key features:

• 3.2″ 256K-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of HVGA resolution (320 x 480 pixels); Multi-touch input
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Dual-band 3G with HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
• 600MHz CPU running Android 2.2 Froyo; 419MB RAM
• 3 megapixel autofocus camera; face and smile detection, geotagging
• VGA video recording @ 18fps
• microSD card slot, up to 32GB, 2GB in the box
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Standard microUSB port (charging)
• GPS receiver with A-GPS; Digital compass
• Wi-Fi b/g; Wi-Fi hotspot functionality built-in
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
• Accelerometer for screen auto rotate; Proximity sensor
• FM radio with RDS
• Office document editor
• Portrait and landscape on-screen QWERTY keyboard
• Social networking integration
• DivX/XviD support
• Smart dialing
• Excellent loudspeaker performance

Main disadvantages:

• Slow CPU makes editing Office documents a chore
• Camera is just 3MP, has no lens protection, no flash and no dedicated shutter key
• No Flash support in the browser despite Froyo
• No front facing camera

Digging inside the camera settings you can almost get lost – smile shots, face detection, face-tracking effects, beauty and art shots and so on. At 3MP it’s a no-frills camera but certainly one for casual users to have so much fun with.

The LG Optimus One P500 at our office

Then there are the Facebook and Twitter apps which come preinstalled and the video player has DivX/XviD video support – the LG Optimus One P500 knows good fun. There’s a serious side to it as well, the Office document viewer/editor will help you get some work done.

Overall, the Optimus One can’t compete in the Android big league but great value for money is likely to draw many people away from feature phones (which is a huge market to tap into).

It’s not without its limitations – editing a complex Office document is painfully slow and video playback stops short of VGA resolution.

But when you’re buying cheap, you know you’ll have to make compromises – jump to the next page to see if there’s anything lacking in the hardware department