Tag Archive for: smartphone

g-form bitness.comRead: < 1 min

G-Form G90 – phone to GoPro in a ‘Snap’

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Reading Time: < 1 minute

I’m a big fan of G-Form products and not so long ago we reviewed the G-Form Elbow Pads which I now wear religiously for snowboarding.

G-Form announced during CES 2013 that in June of 2013, they will sell the G90 waterproof phone case with a 90° angled lens/mirror with up to an impressive 140° field of view (your existing smartphones lens will determine the exact field-of-view you’ll get). Because smartphones are so narrow, the G-Form set-up is more aerodynamic and poised to give GoPro, Vholdr, Drift and others a run for their money.

Posted by: Lawrence

Source: Gizmodo

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DROID Incredible by HTCRead: 3 mins

Living up to it’s name: DROID Incredible by HTC on the Verizon network

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

Android continues to mature in the smartphone market and the HTC Incredible on the Verizon network gives the Apple iPhone a whole host of reasons to take notice. First and foremost the HTC Incredible gets a signal, an increasingly difficult task at least for myself and fellow iPhone/AT&T users in our neck of the woods (from time-to-time my “neck of the woods” includes New York City).

A fast and fully-featured Smartphone, the HTC Incredible works extremely well for both voice and data. It’s a light, sleek phone you barely notice in your pocket, yet is packed with power and features that surpassed any preconceived notions I had going into the tests.

The iPhone continues to be the benchmark for Smartphones and happens to be the smartphone I pay dearly for month-after-month. While Apple prepares to roll-out the iPhone 4 on 24-June, 2010 with a number of new features, I may very well be a Verizon customer before then. The HTC Incredible on the Verizon network out-performed my iPhone in coverage, voice clarity and network speed (browsing) and already includes multi-tasking and folders (2 examples of what to expect in the new iPhone iOS 4). If the Incredible provided a wi-fi hotspot or tethering (something out-of-the-box and not rooting or installing anything), I would have already made the leap.

Interface
The HTC Incredible’s interface takes some getting used to. It wasn’t obvious to me how to quit an application and stop it running in the background. Not only does this tax the processor, but when I finished testing Skype (great sound quality over the 3G network in my tests by the way), I inadvertently left the app running and kept myself logged-in for the rest of the day.

HTC’s updated ‘Sense’ user interface, while polished (thanks in large part to a powerful 1GHz processor that can support it), is still not as natural as Apple’s interface in my opinion. I do like the ability to view the separate screens as cards and can quickly jump between with smooth transitions. But in terms of overall ease-of-use, or intuitiveness, the iPhone still has it.

Applications
The Android Marketplace is loaded with free and paid alternatives similar to what you can find in Apple’s App store. Apple boasts roughly four times the number of apps as android (reportedly somewhere around 50,000 apps). While many people don’t like that Apple controls what can and can’t appear in the App Store, it does add a layer quality control. Third party apps are probably the leading cause for Android crashes on what is otherwise a stable OS.

Smartphone Performance
Following are notes about the Incredible’s performance in key areas to consider for any smartphone…
Voice: High quality and with far less dropped calls and a greater service area than Im used to (on existing 3GS iPhone/AT&T)
Data: Fast web browsing. Gmail and Exchange support
Camera: 8-megapixel autofocus camera with video and LED flash
Music: Sounds OK through speaker and very good with headphones (headphones are also required to use the FM radio app)
Display: 3.7-inch AMOLED (800 x 480 pixels) is bright and very vivid
Interface: Sense; Improved over earlier Android units tested, but still not as intuitive as the iPhone
Storage: 8GB expandable to 16GB with microSD card (sold separately)
Speed: Fast processor (1-GHz SnapDragon processor)
Battery: Battery will get most users through the day, but for very active users (music, Facebook, talk, numerous Apps, etc) you will want to either bring along the cable, or balance-out your day better

Price: $199 purchased online with 2-year Verizon contract

Posted by: Lawrence

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Palm Pre Plus on the Verizon NetworkRead: 3 mins

Palm Pre Plus on the Verizon network: as fast as it looks

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

I was an early iPhone adopter – before the App store and just stoked on the idea that I had a cool phone and a way to browse the web at decent speeds on a decent-sized screen. The initial gee-whiz of what could be done on the iPhone was soon overshadowed by what it couldn’t do and the lack of certain features continue to stick-out.

As fast as it looks, the Palm Pre Plus

By far the most glaring omission with the iPhone is the inability to tether it to a computer. While this isn’t a limitation of the iPhone itself (it’s more like a disabled feature) it leaves many, including myself, looking for alternative solutions. The Palm® Pre™ Plus not only let’s you tether (via Bluetooth), but Palm incorporated a mobile hotspot into the Pre which allows as many as 5 concurrent users to jump online.

The Pre is a sleek looking slider phone (keypad slides-out from the bottom) with a built-in camera and flash. It feels nice in your hand and slips easily into your front pocket. It’s so sleek in fact, that it took me a while to find the USB port to charge the phone! I also puzzled over how to close apps (you flick them upwards) and the small keypad gave me fits. When I first receive a gadget I purposely avoid the manual to see how intuitive it is and I have to say the Palm Pre Plus is miles from Apple in regards to ease-of-use.

Voice: In my tests the Palm® Pre™ Plus on the Verizon network performed well, with good sound clarity and clear voice transmission. To dial numbers you use the touchscreen and not the tiny keypad. The Pre worked everywhere I tried it, including spots my iPhone loses coverage. AT&T recently announced plans to spend $18 – $19 billion on network upgrades, but there is far less AT&T coverage in my area than Verizon.

Data: The Palm Pre takes advantage of Verizon EV-DO Rev. A and offers speeds equal or greater than speeds enjoyed on an iPhone 3GS. EV-DO Rev. A data can peak at 3000 kbps, but on average users get around 600Kbps-1400Kbps.

In Rhode Island I enjoyed, on average, 1.50Mb/s download and 0.52Mb/s upload. And in New York City the rates were 1.00Mb/s download and 0.21Mb/s upload. This means in RI I can expect to download a 5MB MP3 file in about 25 seconds, or a 35MB video in 3 minutes – not bad!

If you’re looking for a phone that is very slick looking, offers reliable voice and fast data (for you and up to 5 friends) and you have the patience to read the manual or play with it enough to learn how to use it, then the Palm Pre is a wise choice. Full retail price is listed at $599.99, but with 2yr contract the Palm Pre Plus can be yours for $49.99 (early termination fees do apply). This phone also requires a data package ($29.99 or higher per month). Visit Verizon Wireless for more information.

Specs:
Battery Usage: Up to 330 minutes talk time / Up to 350 hours standby
Dimensions: 3.9″ (H) x 2.3″ x (W) x 0.67″ (D)
Weight: 4.89 oz.
Display: 3.1″(HVGA 480 x 320), 24 bit TFT
Memory: 16GB Flash/512 RAM
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology–(V 2.1+EDR)
3 Megapixel camera with flash
Palm webOS™ platform
Wi–Fi Ready (802.11 b/g)
Music Player for MP3, AAC, AAC+, WAV, AMR, QCELP
Email: Exchange ActiveSync support

Posted by: Lawrence

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