Showing posts with label Electronics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Electronics. Show all posts
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Google Phone!!!
For all those that mistakenly bought an iPhone...
T-Mobile unveiled yesterday the world's first cell phone to run on Google's Android operating system, a modified version of the Linux operating system used on a small, but growing number of computers, set-top boxes, and other devices. Android's claim to fame is that its "open" architecture will encourage a broad community of software developers to create applications that run on the phone. We shall see.
The phone itself, called the T-Mobile G1 and made by HTC, will be available on October 22 at $179, including a 2-year contract. It's a touch-screen model that features a bright, 3.17-in display, a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, built-in Wi-Fi, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. It's also one of the few phones that supports T-Mobile's fledgling 3G data network. Emphasizing Web connectivity, the phone comes preloaded with a full HTML version of the Safari Web browser and icons for launching—not surprisingly—Google Maps, YouTube, and easy access to Google Mail as well as other POP3 and IMAP e-mail services. You can easily flag, delete or move groups of messages and keep track of group conversations through threaded text messaging.
The phone (click on the image for a closer look) is a tad on the bulky side, measuring 4.60 in. x 2.16 in. x 0.62 in.; it weighs a hefty 5.6 ounces. The claimed talk time is an unimpressive 5 hours. But the G1 does have an intriguing array of features, including a GPS-assisted internal compass that aligns Google Maps with the surrounding terrain, regardless of the phone's position. The G1 supports T-Mobile Hotspot @Home service that automatically switches the phone from the cell network to "free" VoIP service whenever it's in Wi-Fi range at home or when you're out.
In our brief time with the phone on the demo floor, we found the built-in keyboard well spaced the G1 controls easy to access. The keyboard features two unique buttons that work "contextually" with any program you have open. For example, the "magnifying glass" key launches Google search when you're in the Web browser, initiates a text search when you're in a word-processing program. Consequently, the "menu" button launches the main menu of whatever application you have open. It's easy to maneuver on the page with a poke or swipe of your finger, and the G1's trackball makes simple work of selecting text and other page elements when you're editing.
Other preloads include AmazonMP3, Amazon.com's digital music service that claims a catalog of six million songs, many of them less than the 99 cents typically charged by iTunes. But you can download music and videos only over the Wi-Fi connection.
T-Mobile also previewed a handful of applications that G1 owners can download from Google's Android Marketplace, an online shop similar to the App store Apple set up for the iPhone and Touch. The most useful was a program called ShopSavvy, which turns the G1's camera into a barcode scanner to help you shop for the cheapest prices. Just scan any item's UPC code with the G1 and it will search the Web and all of the stores near your GPS location for the best prices on the product. You'll also get user reviews. Neat. These and other Android applications, now in the beta stage of testing, will be free at launch. But expect to pay up to $10 or more in a few months.
The Android operating system, like Windows Mobile, let's you run multiple applications simultaneously. But they're not as well integrated as those on the iPhone or Samsung Instinct. For example, searching for local business and getting numbers and driving directions—a breeze on the iPhone and Instinct—was a multi-step extravaganza on the on the G1. The phone is technically a smart phone, but it doesn't yet let you handle Office documents. These will come in time, the on-floor rep told us, because Android makes it easy for developers to create applications. Again, we shall see.
—Mike Gikas
Consumer Reports
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2008/09/the-google-phon.html#more
T-Mobile unveiled yesterday the world's first cell phone to run on Google's Android operating system, a modified version of the Linux operating system used on a small, but growing number of computers, set-top boxes, and other devices. Android's claim to fame is that its "open" architecture will encourage a broad community of software developers to create applications that run on the phone. We shall see.
The phone itself, called the T-Mobile G1 and made by HTC, will be available on October 22 at $179, including a 2-year contract. It's a touch-screen model that features a bright, 3.17-in display, a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, built-in Wi-Fi, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. It's also one of the few phones that supports T-Mobile's fledgling 3G data network. Emphasizing Web connectivity, the phone comes preloaded with a full HTML version of the Safari Web browser and icons for launching—not surprisingly—Google Maps, YouTube, and easy access to Google Mail as well as other POP3 and IMAP e-mail services. You can easily flag, delete or move groups of messages and keep track of group conversations through threaded text messaging.
The phone (click on the image for a closer look) is a tad on the bulky side, measuring 4.60 in. x 2.16 in. x 0.62 in.; it weighs a hefty 5.6 ounces. The claimed talk time is an unimpressive 5 hours. But the G1 does have an intriguing array of features, including a GPS-assisted internal compass that aligns Google Maps with the surrounding terrain, regardless of the phone's position. The G1 supports T-Mobile Hotspot @Home service that automatically switches the phone from the cell network to "free" VoIP service whenever it's in Wi-Fi range at home or when you're out.
In our brief time with the phone on the demo floor, we found the built-in keyboard well spaced the G1 controls easy to access. The keyboard features two unique buttons that work "contextually" with any program you have open. For example, the "magnifying glass" key launches Google search when you're in the Web browser, initiates a text search when you're in a word-processing program. Consequently, the "menu" button launches the main menu of whatever application you have open. It's easy to maneuver on the page with a poke or swipe of your finger, and the G1's trackball makes simple work of selecting text and other page elements when you're editing.
Other preloads include AmazonMP3, Amazon.com's digital music service that claims a catalog of six million songs, many of them less than the 99 cents typically charged by iTunes. But you can download music and videos only over the Wi-Fi connection.
T-Mobile also previewed a handful of applications that G1 owners can download from Google's Android Marketplace, an online shop similar to the App store Apple set up for the iPhone and Touch. The most useful was a program called ShopSavvy, which turns the G1's camera into a barcode scanner to help you shop for the cheapest prices. Just scan any item's UPC code with the G1 and it will search the Web and all of the stores near your GPS location for the best prices on the product. You'll also get user reviews. Neat. These and other Android applications, now in the beta stage of testing, will be free at launch. But expect to pay up to $10 or more in a few months.
The Android operating system, like Windows Mobile, let's you run multiple applications simultaneously. But they're not as well integrated as those on the iPhone or Samsung Instinct. For example, searching for local business and getting numbers and driving directions—a breeze on the iPhone and Instinct—was a multi-step extravaganza on the on the G1. The phone is technically a smart phone, but it doesn't yet let you handle Office documents. These will come in time, the on-floor rep told us, because Android makes it easy for developers to create applications. Again, we shall see.
—Mike Gikas
Consumer Reports
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2008/09/the-google-phon.html#more
Friday, September 5, 2008
Apple iPhone 3G VS. Samsung Instinct
Apple's latest iPhone is a winner, adding faster data-network access and GPS-assisted searching and mapping to the slick, innovative platform of its predecessor. Competing phone makers have taken their shots at iPhone's touch-screen design, but haven't made a dent.
That is, until recently.
Samsung's Instinct touch-screen phone, available exclusively from Sprint Nextel, has been flying off store shelves. In fact, Sprint stores have had a hard time keeping up with demand for this cool new phone, which has the unique ability to act on voice commands.
Does the Instinct have the chops to dethrone the iPhone? Watch our video to see how the Instinct and iPhone stack up against each other. (You can also view the video by clicking on the player at right if you have Flash software installed on your computer.)
To see how the iPhone 3G compares with other cell phones, check our Ratings of smart phones (available to subscribers).
—Paul Eng - Consumer Reports
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Nikon D90 - D-SLR that Records Video
For all you aspiring photographers...
Camcorders, look out! Nikon recently announced its D90, a digital SLR camera that promises to do things that no point-and-shoot digital camera or even non-professional camcorder can.
Nikon says the D90 (Click on the image at right for a closer look) records both high-definition (720p) and standard-definition video using interchangeable lenses, while taking advantage of numerous other SLR benefits, among them low-light sensitivity, fast continuous shooting, and high-capacity batteries. Nikon says the D90 will be available sometime in September and list for $999 (camera body only) or $1,299 (with lens).
A few highlights:
- With a D90, you can shoot videos using many of Nikon's lenses such as its fish-eye and macro lenses, for the same creative control you get with stills. For example, with some lenses, you should be able to reduce the camera's depth of field enough that, when shooting video, the subject stands out because the background is noticeably out of focus.
- Because the D90 uses an image sensor very similar to the one found on the Nikon D300 (model information available to subscribers), you should be able to shoot decent quality video or still images in very low light without a flash. The D300 is the only model in our Ratings of digital SLRs (available to subscribers) able to capture, in low-light, images good enough to enlarge, even when set as high as ISO 3200. (Most SLRs can do so only up to ISO 800 or less, our tests found.) It was also one of only three SLRs with excellent overall image quality and dynamic range.
- You can shoot stills continuously up to 4.5 frames per second (fps) and both high-definition (1280x720) and standard-definition video at 24 fps. Videos are stored on a flash memory card; you can edit them later on a computer. There's also an HDMI output for playing back high-resolution videos on an HDTV.
- Other features include 12.3 megapixels, face detection, scene-recognition, and live-view composition on the LCD when shooting stills.
If you're looking for a less-expensive Nikon SLR and you don't need video, consider the 10-megapixel Nikon D80 D-SLR (model information available to subscribers). It's one of the top-rated digital SLR camera models in our recent Ratings of D-SLRs and is available online for as little as $730 (body only).
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