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Hands on pictures – Toshiba TG02 and K01

Julian Whitehorn — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:05:00 GMT

Toshiba pulled the covers off of two phones during MWC - the TG02 follow-up to the TG01, and the K01 with full QWERTY keyboard.

First up, we've got some up-close photos of the Toshiba TG02 for your perusal. As the successor to the TG01, it still has a whopping 4.1-inch screen, but now with added zing in the form of a capacitive touchscreen (the TG01 was annoyingly resistive) and 1GHz Snapdragon processor, along with a fresh UI skin for WinMo 6.5.3, all in a body thinner than 10mm.

From the short time we spent with it, we have to report that it really does have a stunning design, but the screen still seemed somewhat unresponsive and laggy at times. That, said we're pretty sure it wasn't a full functioning model, so here's hoping the fully-finished version brings more promise with it.

Next up is the K01, which follows closely behind the TG02 with looks and specs.

It has the same 4.1-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and WinMo 6.5.3 OS as its sibling, but comes with a large slice of pull-out QWERTY keyboard on the side as well.

Despite the keyboard, Tosh has still managed to keep the device adoringly skinny at 12.9mm thick (only 3mm different to the TG02), with the same metallic finish to give it a thoroughly desirable design.

Check out the K01 pics below and let us know which is your favourite – unfortunately there was no fully working sample when we were there, but we'll be getting them into the office for a full Stuff.tv once over as soon as they're available.

Motorola Quench hands-on pictures

Julian Whitehorn — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:03:00 GMT

Thirsty for pics? Drink in some close-up photos of the Motorola Quench.

Motorola's rather oddly-named Android handset sports a 3.1in touchscreen, 5MP camera with flash, WiFi, 3G, A-GPS and the Motoblur UI skin. Web browsing is helped along by Flash Lite support, multitouch, and a touchpad for flicking through pages. Disappointingly though, it comes with only version 1.5 of Android, but we're hoping for a 2.1 update in the future to make it more competitive.

What do you think to it? Let us know below.

Acer Liquid E hands-on pictures

Julian Whitehorn — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:32:00 GMT

Have a butchers at our first hand pics of Acer's Liquid E. It's had a bump up from its predecessor – the Liquid A1 – so it now runs Android 2.1, rather than 1.6. Inside is a speedy 1GHz Snapdragon processor and the 3.5in touchscreen supports multitouch thanks to the upgraded OS.

HTC HD Mini hands-on picture gallery

Julian Whitehorn — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:14:51 GMT

Lock your lookers onto some first-hand pics of the HTC HD Mini, the small-but-mighty version of the HTC HD2

HTC Desire hands-on picture gallery

Julian Whitehorn — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:09:44 GMT

Take a closer look at HTC's Nexus One-a-like, the Android 2.1 toting Desire...

HTC Legend hands-on picture gallery

Julian Whitehorn — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:08:00 GMT

Check out our close-up photos of the the HTC Hero's successor...

Hands-on review – HTC Desire, HD2 Mini and Legend

Julian Whitehorn — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:05:02 GMT

HTC pulled the covers off three new, and might we say rather lovely, handsets just a short while ago, and after the press conference we hot footed it to the press room for some serious phone fondling.

If you haven't heard (you would've done if you'd been following us on Twitter), HTC has introduced three new handsets - the Desire and the Legend packing Android 2.1 and the Windows Mobile HD Mini.

The Legend follows on where the Hero left off. With an AMOLED HVGA display, the 3.2-inch screen is nice and bright, and although it only runs on a 600MHz processor it's really fast, and runs just as quickly as the 1GHz-packing Desire.

You've got a 5 megapixel camera and flash to play with, the trackball has been replaced with an optical joystick and it's all packed into a unibody, brushed aluminium shell, giving it a really premium finish. The love-it-or-hate-it chin is still there, but it's a little less defined than the Hero's. It's coming to Vodafone in April.

Moving onto the Desire, and there's definitely a feel of the Google Nexus One here. It's got the same specs as its doppelganger, with a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 5 megapixel camera, and also has the same optical joystick as the HTC Legend.

We've been told that all key retailers and networks have taken on the Desire, so you won't find any kind of crazy exclusivity deals here when it launches in March.

Finally, there's the HD Mini - a shrunk down version of the HD2. Specs are pretty much the same as its predecessor, all the way down to the HTC Sense UI on top and 5MP camera (although without flash this time), but there is rather nice surprise on the inside - it's all yellow. You'll only see it when you open up the back to put your SIM card in but hey - it's all about the little things.

It's launching in April, meaning it'll be too early for Windows Phone 7 Series and pack WinMo 6.5.3 - a bit of a shame, but fingers crossed for an upgrade when 7 lands.

All three pack the new enhanced HTC Sense (which we were told would be available for existing handsets shortly), which now features a new widget called Friend Stream. This integrates all your social networks including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr into one feed so you can get all your social networking goodness in one place.

It also features a new thumbnail view called Leap that lets you see seven screens at once to save yourself swiping time, and there's smaller improvements too such as a beefed up weather widget with prettier pictures.

So there you have it - what do you think? Which is your favourite? Let us know below.

MWC 2010 – Windows Phone 7 in pictures

Julian Whitehorn — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:08:49 GMT

Windows Phone 7 promises to shake up the mobile world when it's released later this year. Here's a peek at what you can look forward to.

Horizontal scrolling is the name of the game, as you can see by the layout of the People 'hub' which is the centre of Windows Phone 7's social universe.

Being Microsoft, integration with Office is a given. So working on documents on the move should be a doddle.

Zune fans rejoice! The Music + Video hub takes the interface seen on the Zune HD to make a slick media centre.

Backed up by connection to your Xbox Live account, the Games hub promises to make for some exciting tie-ins with console gaming.

Read 5 things you need to know about Windows 7

MWC 2010 – Samsung Wave hands-on pictures

Julian Whitehorn — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:50:00 GMT

Samsung unveiled its first bada handset last night - the Samsung Wave - and we wasted no time in getting up close and personal with it to see if it had the performance to back up the best specs from a Samsung handset to date.

The first thing you notice is that the Wave is that it really is a lovely looking handset. It has lost that plastic-look often seen in Samsung handsets, and swapped it for a unibody, premium-feel brushed aluminium shell instead.

It's thin too, and of course packs Samsung's new Super AMOLED screen tech which makes for brighter, clearer screen - quite honestly the best we've ever clapped eyes on. It certainly flagged up just how poor the iPhone screen is in comparison, especially under the glaring lights of the conference room.

Samsung has managed this by building the touchscreen capabilities into the glass (previously two separate layers), meaning there is only one layer between you and the screen - the added brightness making the screen much better for use outside than other handsets.

Under the hood there's a snappy 1GHz processor, which runs Samsung's updated Touchwiz 3.0 UI. There are definite improvements there - typing is much more responsive, and widgets load quicker, but the design remains somewhat the same.

However the real disappointment started when we weren't able to try out the new Social Hub feature of 3.0 (which pulls in social networking to your contacts list) as no contacts were loaded on to the handset. Hmph.

It also appeared that these handsets may not have been completely finished products - frustrating at such a big launch. In particular, the Facebook and Twitter apps crashed the phone every time we tried to open them, so we couldn't compare them to their rivals for usability.

Elsewhere on the handset there is a 5 megapixel camera, HD video recording and playback (which looks lovely on the bright screen), 3.5mm jack, Flash support, plus Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity and support for Wifi 802.11n, a speedier connection than the more-often seen b/g standards.

All-in-all the Samsung Wave impresses and has certainly earnt its title of Samsung's newest flagship handset. Unfortunately though it still has a few kinks to sort out before we can judge it as a finished product, and really get to grips with some of its stand out features.

We'll certainly be interested to try out a fully-functioning non-buggy handset a bit nearer to the launch in April, and we'll be bringing you a full review then. In the meantime, let us know what you think to it below.

KEEP WATCHING OUR MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS LIVE BLOG FOR THE LATEST NEWS

Live from Mobile World Congress, 14-17 Feb 2010

Simon OW — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:38:00 GMT

Mobile World Congress 2010

Live from the Apple launch

Simon OW — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:40:00 GMT

Apple Launch January 2010

Blackberry Bold 9700 picture gallery and hands-on

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:41:00 GMT

This week Blackberry welcomed a new addition into the fold - the Bold 9700 - which according to a Blackberry representative is "one of the best phones they've produced". You'd be forgiven for thinking the successor to the Bold 9000 was part of the Curve family, but make no mistake about it the 9700 is a Bold. It's not quite supermodel thin, but a much slimmer physique means the 9700 is both lighter and thinner than its predecessor and noticeably smaller (for exact specs scroll down). One of the biggest changes has to be the replacement of the trackball with the trackpad, which we have already seen on the Curve 8520. But the Bold 9700 still retains some of the first Bold's attributes - such as the leatherette back panel and fretted keyboard, but has decided to lose the metal framing on the side by replacing it with a rubber one. There are minimal changes to the layout, but packing the new 5.0 OS (as seen on the Storm) means the 9700 is a lot snappier than it's big brother. You'll also find the same tech specs as the Bold 9000 - WiFi, 3G/HSDPA, Bluetooth, 64MHz processor, 256MB Flash Memory and A-GPS. Blackberry Messenger has been given a tweak too. Each phone will come with a barcode unique to the handset. Using the scan mode with your camera, you scan your potential contact's barcode and just like that you become Blackberry Messenger pals - no PIN input necessary. This software is available now across the entire Blackberry range, so you don't just need a 9700 to join the instant messenger party. So the 9700 looks considerably different - but how do the specs measure up? Bold 9700 Dimensions: 109mm x 60mm x 14.1mm Screen Size: 2.44-inches Weight: 122g Screen resolution: 480 x 360 Expandable memory: Up to 16GB (32GB when available) Talk time: 6 hours Camera: 3.2 megapixels

Bold 9000 Dimensions: 114mm x 66mm x 14mm Screen Size: 2.6-inches Weight: 133g Screen resolution: 480 x 320 Expandable memory: Up to 8GB Talk time: 5 hours Camera: 2 megapixels

There's no word on what network will gets its hands on it but the Bold 9700 will be available as of the beginning of November. And just for fun, here's an interesting Blackberry Bold 9700 fact: During testing the Blackberry Bold 9700 was dropped more than 123,000 times from different heights (30cm to 2cm) and angles, to ensure the best possible quality standard is achieved. Told you it was fun. Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Do you have a favourite Bold handset? What do you think of Blackberry's decision to slim the new Bold down? Whatever your opinion, be sure to let us know. Or why not watch our hands on video.

First look: Acer Aspire 3D laptop

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:28:38 GMT

What do you get when you take a pretty bog standard 15.6-inch Acer laptop and throw in a 3D viewing experience? You get a laptop that's not so bog standard anymore, that's what. And Acer has pipped all other manufacturers to the post by packing its latest Aspire laptop with 3 dimensional powers.

Not satisfied with outing the dual-booting Android and Windows 7 netbook today, Acer pulled back those curtains to reveal the world's first 3D laptop - the Acer Aspire 5738PG. So, not the catchiest name but a laptop equipped with 3D capabilities is something that could definitely catch on.

This is all down to Acer's 3D CineReal technology and a special 3D coating on the screen that enables the 3D effect, thus allowing you to enjoy your favourite flicks in the third dimension. And where there's 3D there's polarized glasses, so expect the lappy to come equipped with a few pairs of those too.

It's 3D prowess doesn't stop there. Acer's TriDef 3D Experience software makes it possible to enjoy a range of multimedia too, including images, without needing an additional graphics card. How well it'll hold up against 3D gaming is something we're keen to find out.

We'll agree, it doesn't look very exciting but testament to the theory that you can't judge a book by its cover, Acer's 3D laptop has all the qualifications for a remarkable machine.

3D technology really is the thing to look out for at the moment - we're seeing it infiltrate cinemas more and more, not to mention the fact television networks are working hard to ensure our TV content jumps out at us in our own living rooms in the not too distant future. So it was only a matter of time before this technology came to laptops as well.

Just like the new Windows OS, Acer's 3D laptop will be landing in a retailer near you on October 22.

Love everything that is 3D? Why not take a look at out 5 things you need to now about 3D technology?

Acer Liquid hands-on picture gallery

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:27:00 GMT

Being the world's third largest PC vendor it's hard to think 'smartphone' when you think 'Acer'. But it appears Acer have been holding intense brainstorming sessions in an attempt to change this perspective and the end result is the Liquid smartphone.

It boasts some unique credentials, namely that it's the first Google Android handset running version 1.6 (and Acer's first Android handset) and also that it's powered by Qualcomm's 768MHz Snapdragon processor - making it the fastest Android handset on the planet right now. But guts aside, the Liquid sports a good looking chassis coupled with a 3.2-inch high definition WVGA touchscreen.

The smartphone also packs a 5 megapixel camera complete with autofocus, ISO, self-timer and geo-tagging, giving a firm salute to its GPS capabilities.

In return for your money, Acer promises improved power management for the more intense phone users, a new user interface with easy access to the web and entertainment feature as well as an exclusive Spinlets application, which is all about access to streaming video and music which can be shared via the web.

As with most handsets Acer's Android smartphone isn't without social network capabilities and the Liquid ensures you can keep a close eye on all your pals (read: stalk) by packing Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube and Picassa integration into the address book with realtime notification of status and content updates.

There's no word on a price or availability, in fact details are pretty scant at the moment. But rest assured that as soon as Acer becomes more generous with the information we'll be sure to tell you more.

Make sure you keep an eye out for a hands-on video very soon. While you're waiting why not check out our smartphones Top 10.

HTC HD2 hands-on and picture gallery

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:04:31 GMT

Waaaaay back in June HTC announced it would be bringing the Sense UI to Windows Mobile. And now that Windows Mobile 6.5 is on the horizon we're beginning to see the first of what is likely to be many Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets, including this good looking offering from HTC.

Obvious comparisons aside, HTC's latest handset dubbed the HTC HD2 has a mahoosive WVGA screen estate at a whopping 4.3-inches - designed to make your internet experience as pleasurable as possible. Coupled with multi-touch or what HTC calls pinch and zoom, the HD2 provides a capacious not to mention eye-boggling browsing experience. Throw in the super speedy Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor and you're looking at a phone that not only has a lot of finger room but is speedy as well.

As well as a full QWERTY keyboard, there are a selection of 5 hard keys to assist you including the Windows homepage. Unlike some Windows handsets, the style of the Windows homepage doesn't differ drastically from the rest of the phone's layout and this was a conscious decision made by HTC in a bid to win over some of you Windows Mobile hating folk who are more than fed up with Windows' computer-esque layout.

Moving onto the HTC Sense user interface, which we first saw in the Hero a while back and the HD2 is a great platform for it. It continues to showcase its easy-to-use and customisable nature and the large screen only serves to make this experience more enjoyable.

There are three strands to the HTC Sense UI ethos. Firstly, it's all about 'making it mine'. So the home page features a fully customisable 3x3 grid, giving you the freedom to decide what apps and widgets go onto each of the 13 homescreens - yes, 13 homescreens. You don't need to have them all, so if 13 is a bit too much, take it down to whatever suits you.

Secondly, it's all about 'staying close' and the HD2 reinforces the idea that communication is not just about applications, emails, messages et al - it's about people. With that in mind, the HD2 has a 'favourites' option, allowing you to aggregate your contact's details in one place, not to mention being a great tool for conference calls.

Lastly, it's all about 'expecting the unexpected' and the HD2 has a few cool tricks up its sleeves. For example, when your phone rings it will detect when you pick up your handset and automatically lower the ringtone volume. Its backlight will automatically adjust to suit its surroundings as will go to sleep when you're nattering away to prevent unknowingly hanging up while you're on the phone to your mum and of course saving some juice in the process.

There are a couple of clever apps that are worth a mention: firstly, the weather app that will automatically change the time zone and weather based on where you are. Secondly is its WiFi Anywhere app. Trawling the streets for the closest WiFi hotspot is never fun, so what this clever application does is turn the HD2 into a personal WiFi point Normal 0 0 1 5 29 1 1 35 11.773 0 0 0 for your computer or other devices so you don't need to rely on Starbucks and get roped into buying a coffee along the way.

Other features include integrated FM radio, a 5-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Based on what we saw, it's simple and intuitive with great usability. The touchscreen is also responsive and quick, paving the way for a hassle free and fantastic mobile experience.

Shipping begins at the end of the month, so expect to see it in a retailer near you around the beginning of November.

And if accessories get you more excited than your average, expect a range of accessories available shortly after the phone's arrival, including a very slick looking car cradle that will automatically go into navigation and speaker mode when the phone is placed in its grasp.

Keep those eyes peeled for a hands-on video very soon.