Pixel Concept

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Nokia seemed to have a lot riding on the N97 which, in general, turned out to be a bust. Much of the woes that plagued the N97 were caused by the outdated Symbian OS. Nokia has now released the N900, really considered a follow-up to their N8xx series of MIDs. Sporting their new Maemo5 platform, Nokia is hoping to score better marks where the N97 fell short. Click on for unboxing shots of this slide-out QWERTY sporting device.

Nokia N900 Unboxing

It’s been over three months since I wrote a post for this blog, but life just got in the way. Now that my schedule has opened up a bit, I finally set some time aside to catch up on a few posts. I’ve gotten a few devices in the past three months, three of which are new enough that I can get away with posting up some pictures and impressions on them. First up is the HTC HD2 aka the HTC Leo. As HTC shows you in the packaging, it is BIG. As much anticipation as there was for this device, I still was not prepared for the sheer massiveness of this phone. Check out the unboxing gallery for some comparison shots to the original HTC Touch HD and the iPhone 3G. I won’t promise a full review of the HD2 since there are already plenty out there (and even a good segment on TDL Mobile 019); but I will likely post some impressions on the sexy beast. Also, stay tuned for some shots of two other recent devices.

HTC HD2 Unboxing Gallery

It’s been about a month since the almighty Hero came to rescue me from the N97, yet the gadget lust has not worn off. That alone should give an idea of my first impressions of this device. I must say, I am impressed. Though the design may seem like a slimmed down version of the Dream, the build quality of the Hero really stands out. The device is solid and feels good in the hand. The teflon coating gives a bit of that soft-touch feel to the back, and does a great job at fending off dirt and fingerprints. I must admit, the reorganized button layout does not make much sense. The ‘Back’ button should be easily accessible at all time; unfortunately, this is not the case. Hitting the ‘Back’ button requires a very agile thumb, and just feels unnatural when reaching for it. It’s not impossible to reach, but it could be easier. Of course the true appeal of the Hero is HTC’s new Sense UI. In short, HTC has scored a homerun with Sense. The multitude of widgets and additional home screens make the Hero extremely customizable right out of the box. Many reviewers seemed frustrated with speed issues and overall system lag, but I have not experienced that. Every once in a rare while an app will hang up, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary and so far seems to be more of an app issue than a Sense UI issue. Overall I am very happy with the HTC Hero and only plan on switching phones when I receive the Nokia N900. I will be writing a full, in depth, review in the coming weeks of the HTC Hero, so stay tuned.

Apple’s iPod has reigned supreme for years. Many have attempted to lure consumers to other solutions by offering additional functionality in a PMP; but the mighty iPod has remained strong. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Microsoft drums up serious buzz around a device that may actually be a viable contender: the Zune HD. Of course no one is suggesting that MS will actually dethrone Apple, but the Zune HD has captured the attention of geeks everywhere. The Zune HD is a beautiful, sleek piece of hardware. The brushed metal finish lining the thin frame begs to be held, while the 3.3″ OLED capacitive touchscreen lures your fingers in. Don’t take my word for it; check out the unboxing gallery.

Microsoft Zune HD Unboxing Gallery

Although the HTC Magic has been overshadowed by its sibling, the HTC Hero, I still wanted to post up some first impressions on the device. There are plenty of full reviews out there so I will probably not be doing a full write up, but I figured some brief thoughts on the device couldn’t hurt. The first thing that I noticed about the Magic was that it finally looked like an HTC designed device. The Dream was a great first run at Android, but the hardware was sorely lacking. It didn’t have that HTC flare that the manufacturing giant has come to be known for. The Magic on the other hand, is sleek and solid. The back slides on like a traditional battery cover and is a lot more stable than the snap on back of the Dream. The chin still exists on the Magic, but it is a lot less pronounced than on the Dream. It has a nice rounded shape to it that adds to the design. The sleekness of the device can of course be attributed to the lack of a QWERTY keyboard; unfortunately, the virtual keyboard makes it noticeable. Of course that has more to do with Cupcake than with the device itself, but it is an aspect of Cupcake that needs improvement. Outside of the keyboard however, the OS runs well on the Magic. There is still the issue of slowness building over time. A stronger processor and more RAM could have alleviated this issue, but for some unknown reason, HTC decided to stick with the Qualcomm 528MHz processor. Even with those small caveats, the Magic is a solid device and first full touch-screen Android device. A great choice if the Hero is not available on your carrier.

Nokia’s first touch-screen N-series device raised excitement among S60 diehards everywhere. The specs sounded promising: full QWERTY keyboard, 3.5 inch touch-screen display, 3.5mm jack, 128MB RAM, a whopping 32GB of storage space with a microSD slot to boot. Not to mention the design made the N97 worthy of lust…and a $700 unsubsidized price tag. Needless to say both my anticipation, and my hopes, were high. Sadly, my first impressions of the device were so bad that it has taken me a couple of months to write up this post. With such an impressive device on paper, what could possibly be so bad about it? Before I rip into the short-comings of the N97, allow me to applaud it for its successes. (continue reading…)

The tech world has been waiting for someone to step up and take the lead on the possibilities that the Android OS holds. Even though HTC was the brand behind the first Android device, it seemed to be in name only since the hardware was not up to the standards that HTC had set for itself. The HTC Magic changed that a bit, with its HTC style looks, but the OS was still the same ol’ vanilla flavor. Enter the HTC Hero. An device with HTC sprinkled all over it; on both the hardware and the software. Though the unboxing gallery doesn’t show off HTC’s customized Android build, it does put on display HTC’s design prowess. Check out the gallery for some unboxing shots and stay tuned for first impressions and a full review.

HTC Hero Unboxing Gallery

We recorded show 002 earlier this week and published it a few days ago. Take a listen as show 003 is on its way.

TDL Mobile: Show 002

Podcast RSS (MP3)

TDL Mobile Blog

I have been neglecting the blog for the past few weeks, but things have been so hectic that I have not had time to write up the posts I have in mind. I was able to find time to join a group of fellow geeks on a new podcast that is spawned from Ian Dixon’s Digital Lifestyle. TDL Mobile is a natural progression from The Digital Lifestyle, especially with new platforms emerging and evolving at such a rapid pace. The first episode is up. I join Ian Dixon, Jon Dickinson, and Sheldon Witney in discussing our thoughts on current mobile platforms, past devices, and what has drawn us to the mobile world. Show 001 is more of an introduction, giving a taste of what to expect. Future shows will include comment and e-mail segments, reviews, news, and other features. Head on over to take a listen and drop us a line to let us know what you think. Hopefully, you like what you hear.

TDL Mobile: Show 001

Podcast RSS (MP3)

TDL Mobile Blog