What's new on SlashGear.com |
- HTC 7 Pro Review
- Mobile World Congress 2011 Full Coverage LIVE on SlashGear! [We're Here!]
- Why Nokia’s CEO Chose Microsoft
- Intel blindsided by Nokia Windows Phone deal; N9-01 could debut at MWC 2011
- HP TouchPad dropping June for $699?
- Samsung Galaxy S 2 sighted & detailed; Galaxy Tab 2 to be 200g lighter than iPad
- The Daily Slash: February 11, 2011
- Boston Developing “Street Bump” App to Report All Potholes in Real Time
- Galaxy Tab 2 To Premier at MWC?
- LG Triptych: Phone Morphs Into Tablet Concept Design
- AT&T Offers A Sweet Perfect Pair Deal For Valentines
- Duke Nukem Forever Collectors Edition Revealed
| Posted: 12 Feb 2011 02:01 PM PST Of all Microsoft’s launch partners for Windows Phone, HTC led the pack from the gate with the most devices. The HTC 7 Pro has taken the longest to arrive, frustratingly given it’s the model we were most interested in, pairing Windows Phone 7 with a solid physical keyboard and a handsomely purposeful design. Worth the wait? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. HardwareThanks to Microsoft’s stringent hardware requirements, the HTC 7 Pro is pretty much par for the course when it comes to specifications. Up front is a 3.6-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, while inside is Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor paired with 576MB of RAM, 512MB of ROM and 8GB of user storage. Connectivity includes dualband HSPA/WCDMA (900/2100) and quadband GSM/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900), along with WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB port. There’s also GPS, an accelerometer, digital compass and both proximity and ambient light sensors, while the 1,500 mAh battery is removable but only hides the SIM card slot: there’s no microSD reader for expanding storage. On the back is a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash, which can shoot 720p HD video. The 7 Pro measures in at a chunky 117.5 x 59 x 15.5 mm and 185g, finished in sturdy plastic with metal touches like the battery door. Of course, the main bulk is because of the slide-out physical keyboard, triggered with a firm shove on the left edge. It flicks out – and angles the screen automatically – with a convincing snap, and the mechanism feels as reassuring as the rest of the handset. The keyboard itself consists of five rows, with dedicated number buttons and various secondary characters triggered with the function key. HTC chose to give an emoticon shortcut its own dedicated button to the left of the spacebar; we’d rather have that for the @ symbol. Unlike HTC’s physical keyboard phones running Windows Mobile or Android, there are no app shortcuts. A button to at least get to the mail app would’ve been useful. HTC let itself down with the display on the HTC HD7, a subpar panel that marred what should’ve been a brilliant media device, and there’s a little of that in evidence on the HTC 7 Pro. Viewing angles are, thankfully, okay for the usual angle you’ll hold the smartphone in landscape orientation, when typing, but the screen is prone to washing out if overly tilted in portrait. Colors can be washed out as well, though to be fair it’s not as bad as we found on the HD7. SoftwareWindows Phone 7 may not have taken the market by storm, but we have a sizeable soft spot for what Microsoft has done with its smartphone platform. Still waiting for its first significant update, the OS as on the HTC 7 Pro is exactly as it was on its platform counterparts when they launched in Q4 last year. That means a clean, panel-based homescreen with dynamically updated Live Tiles that show Facebook images, recent photos snapped with the camera, and more. A tap to the side shows a full list of available apps. It’s far cleaner – some have said sparser – than Android or iOS, a love-it or hate-it design that, though flawed in places, has plenty of promise. Microsoft’s vision is of so-called Hubs, splitting down categories like Music + Videos, People, Pictures, Games, Office and Marketplace. Each segment scrolls both vertically and horizontally, showing different degrees of information and allowing you to dig deeper at various stages. So, in the People Hub, after you’ve logged in with Facebook you see a pane of recent updates from friends – from which you can read comments, Like a post or leave a comment of your own – but also pan across to see your amalgamated address book which pulls in entries from Facebook, Gmail Contacts, Exchange Contacts and any other services you’ve registered. People’s contact entries can be pinned to the homescreen as individual Live Tiles, and because of the interlinked nature of the various data sources, you’re alerted to new updates – status changes, new photos, etc – straight away. There’s also the HTC Hub, but it’s a far more minimal affair than Sense ever was on Windows Mobile or is on Android. Instead, it’s a suite of mini-apps and animated weather reports that don’t really fit in with the rest of the minimal Windows Phone theme. In general, Windows Phone 7 is a very portrait-friendly device. The homescreen stays resolutely portrait even if you pop out the keyboard, and a few screens simply don’t have landscape counterparts. Only some of the buttons rotate, too, though we quite like a platform that doesn’t treat you like you’re stupid and assume you can’t get up to speed with, say, the “Send” and “Cancel” buttons on a new email being rotated 90-degrees (and, no coincidence we’re guessing, neatly falling underneath your right thumb). What does rotate does so with an endearing amount of animation, going to show that just because Windows Phone isn’t brightly colored or full of 3D icons, it doesn’t have to be a drab experience. What it is right now is a relatively limited experience, at least when it comes to third-party software. Microsoft has been working hard to build up a showcase of titles with key developers, but there’s still not the extent of apps you’ll find on iOS and Android. We were already expecting that to improve over time, but Microsoft’s recent partnership with Nokia should hopefully see the developer situation accelerate. CameraHTC’s track record with cameras hasn’t been brilliant, and the HTC 7 Pro produces solid, if uninspiring stills. While the test shots in the gallery below were taken on a relatively overcast day, they’re darker and more subdued in color than rival handsets have managed. Thankfully there’s little noise, and with some post-processing you can eke out more usable shots; unfortunately, given the display’s shortcomings, it can be tricky sometimes to tell if the photo you’ve just taken is good or mediocre until you’ve transferred it using Microsoft’s PC or Mac software. On that note, it’s still frustrating not to be able to mount Windows Phones’ memory as a mass storage drive, as most other smartphone platforms allow. Still, there’s a dedicated camera shortcut button, which is welcome, and the app itself loads quickly, even bypassing the lock screen for those perfect Kodak moments. Video bizarrely defaults to its medium setting, rather than the maximum 720p HD, though even then the results are only average, as you can see in the clip below. Phone and BatteryAudio quality using the HTC 7 Pro’s earpiece was strong and clear, and we could easily see ourselves using this as a business device. Unfortunately, HTC’s strong speakerphone heritage from handsets like the HTC Touch Pro2 hasn’t carried over, and in fact the 7 Pro proved to have a relatively anaemic speaker. Battery life from the 1,500 mAh pack was strong, lasting a full day of use with Gmail regularly updating and with a mixture of social networking, media playback, camera use and browsing. As with the majority of modern smartphones, you’ll be recharging the HTC 7 Pro nightly. Wrap-UpThere’s a lot we like about the HTC 7 Pro. Windows Phone 7 is a solid platform with plenty of promise, and while the third-party app selection pales in comparison to what Android and iOS offer, that’s not to say you won’t find the titles to suit you among the line-up. We also appreciate Microsoft’s clean-slate style, which – in combination with the no-nonsense hardware HTC has produced – adds up to a distinct and unique device. That’s not to say there aren’t issues, however. Key elements of the software experience – not least copy & paste – are still missing from Windows Phone 7, while key aspects of the hardware experience – like the middling camera and subdued speakerphone – mar the 7 Pro’s overall showing. As it stands, though, your options for physical QWERTY on Windows Phone 7 are pretty limited, and the HTC 7 Pro is the model we’d choose today. Nokia’s announcement on Friday, however, throws another issue into the ring. The company has already told us to expect keyboards as on the Nokia E7 to appear on its incoming Windows Phone devices, and side-by-side we have to say we prefer the E7′s hardware ‘board to the HTC’s, and Nokia’s camera skills for that matter. Still, with no solid release dates in sight, it’s tough to recommend holding off on the decent HTC in favor of a Nokia Windows Phone that, right now, is still mythical. If you want QWERTY and you want Windows Phone, then the HTC 7 Pro’s appealing keys outweigh its shortcomings. Many thanks to Clove for the loan of the HTC 7 Pro Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Mobile World Congress 2011 Full Coverage LIVE on SlashGear! [We're Here!] Posted: 12 Feb 2011 01:46 PM PST We’re just pulling in to the city that’s soon to be known as the Town of Trillion Cellphones – Barcelona! We’re here for World Mobile Congress 2011 and we’re bringing it to you as fast as we get it for four straight days! We’ll be there before, after, at all the pre-parties and post-parties and all sorts of little bits from here or there. See our gigantic word bank below to have whichever feed of information you like for the next few days or just hit the [MWC 2011] portal for the whole shebang – it’s already begun! We’re going to have everything, all of it, more than what a normal set of humans could realistically cover, and we’re bringing it straight to you here on SlashGear as well as on Android Community for the next week! Have at the list below, it being a growing list changing each day and more than likely each half day, hour, and minute! Each tag has a general day to watch out for info especially, with the first three coming up REALLY QUICK: • Sony Ericsson Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Why Nokia’s CEO Chose Microsoft Posted: 12 Feb 2011 11:20 AM PST In the end, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop really didn't have a choice. When he surveyed the competitive landscape, he found that he was boxed into a corner. While Android might have looked attractive as an alternative for their fledgling smartphone business, to back it would make him just another Android licensee. And while he could have tapped into their software ecosystem, it would have been hard for him to differentiate at the hardware level and thus be thrust against the dozens of Android handset vendors chasing the growing smartphone market. And he quickly determined that MeeGo would take too much effort and investment on their part to get developers on-board and create their own ecosystem around this mobile OS. While Intel was a formidable partner, their business model did not allow them to be as aggressive in pushing MeeGo and developers in a direction that would make MeeGo as competitive as it needed to be in order to compete with Android and IOS. With Nokia backing away from MeeGo its future is uncertain. And of course, licensing iOS and HP's webOS were out, and that left just Microsoft as the only real choice he had when it came to re-crafting Nokia's future. He needed a solid OS and the ability to tap into an ecosystem that had potential to grow. The fact that he was a former Microsoft exec made it easier to go to Steve Ballmer and cut a deal that was more favorable and gives them additional flexibility within the license agreement to actually create smartphones that could be differentiated. Given those stark realities, Microsoft was the only mobile OS that would allow Elop to try and put Nokia back on track and even give them a fighting chance against iOS and Android. The operative word here is "fighting-chance." This is still a big gamble. One cannot emphasize enough the head start that Apple and Google have in the smartphone market. And the momentum they have with the developer community would seem almost insurmountable. However, Microsoft and Nokia are still powerful forces and together they could do some interesting things. If Nokia can really tweak Windows Phone 7 to add their own custom touches and it still works with the Windows Phone software ecosystem, they could ride this toward some interesting ways to differentiate. This will be especially true if they are able to find ways to make an optimized UI that is tied to various devices across full featured phones, smartphones, tablets, netbooks and even laptops and PCs. Imagine having a single UI across all of these devices that sync with each other and have applications on each platform that scale and work together seamlessly. They could not do this with an Android solution, but with Microsoft, they could use this OS and partnership to really set them apart from the competition. In fact, if you read much about the HP webOS launch this week you know that similar thinking is going on there. They see webOS running on every device across their range of products and using Synergy to tie them all together seamlessly. Or, at least, that is their vision. And I believe that Nokia and Microsoft are hatching a similar vision. In fact, I believe that this is really at the heart of this partnership. While Windows Phone 7 is at the center of their agreement, Nokia now has a way to extend their reach in many directions. Also, it would be wrong to judge the success of this deal through a US centric viewpoint. While the US is important for Microsoft and Windows Phone 7, I believe Microsoft will push their current partners to enhance their position in this market. But Nokia offers Microsoft the world. This deal has much more to do about Microsoft expanding their mobile platforms around the world and leveraging Nokia's worldwide position to do this. From the developer's standpoint, this now gives them a solid third mobile OS to back. The promise of tens of millions of Nokia's smartphones selling worldwide should be quite attractive for software developers. This is especially true when it comes to localized markets. Nokia knows these local markets well and if Nokia and Microsoft do their job right and help developers create localized apps for these markets around the world, this partnership has a real chance to succeed. Although this took a serious leap of faith for Stephen Elop and the Nokia management, it was the only one that would allow them to still deliver Nokia flavored solutions and also tap into their already strong position in these world markets. And when you look at this deal/partnership, think worldwide and beyond the smartphone. I am convinced there is a much broader strategy in place that involves many devices, not just phones. Yes, Elop was backed into a corner. But while it is way too early to tell whether they can pull it off, this most likely gives him and Nokia at least a chance to keep Nokia relevant and part of the mobile landscape of the future. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Intel blindsided by Nokia Windows Phone deal; N9-01 could debut at MWC 2011 Posted: 12 Feb 2011 10:23 AM PST Nokia’s deal with Microsoft took up most of the news cycle on Friday – there’s always our “Everything you need to know” roundup, if you’re feeling behind the curve – and it looks like the revelations aren’t stopping now. Amid New York Stock Exchange share prices diving 15.1-percent on Friday as the market failed to be quite so enthused as Stephen Elop and Steve Ballmer, there’s also TechCrunch speculation that Intel – Nokia’s MeeGo partner – knew nothing of the Windows Phone deal prior to its Friday announcement. Nokia and Intel announced the merging of Maemo and Moblin into the MeeGo platform back at MWC 2010, with since-ousted Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo insisting that “MeeGo heralds a new era of mobile computing.” That era quickly lost its shine, however, with the first MeeGo device launch missing its Q2 2010 release window and still yet to make an appearance. According to sources close to Intel, the chip company is “extremely concerned” that Nokia will slash its engineering commitment to MeeGo as it pushes it back into the labs as a developmental platform. That could leave Intel’s Atom processor ambitions floundering, since MeeGo was to be the company’s main push into smartphones and other mobile devices. Meanwhile, the axed Nokia N9-00, a QWERTY slider originally expected to be the first commercial MeeGo product, was apparently canned after operators expressed significant concerns over its hinge mechanism. Instead, Nokia may be bringing the N9-01 – a touchscreen-only version of the handset – to Mobile World Congress this week, complete with a custom UI the handiwork of “a three person external team rather than any of Nokia’s hundreds of internal designers.” Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| HP TouchPad dropping June for $699? Posted: 12 Feb 2011 08:17 AM PST HP is reportedly aiming for a June release of the TouchPad tablet, according to the latest leaks, with a price that undercuts Motorola’s XOOM by $100. BGR‘s sources have tipped the launch window and a $699 sticker for the webOS slate, putting it at the beginning of HP’s “summer 2011″ suggestion. However, it’s worth noting that the June release is described as the month HP “was” hoping to have the slate on the market, so it’s possible that plans have already changed or may alter in the intervening period. It would also make the TouchPad $70 more than the entry-level 3G-enabled iPad. HP TouchPad hands-on demo: Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Samsung Galaxy S 2 sighted & detailed; Galaxy Tab 2 to be 200g lighter than iPad Posted: 12 Feb 2011 08:06 AM PST Details of Samsung’s various MWC 2011 wares have leaked, ahead of the company’s big reveal tomorrow evening in Barcelona. First spotted in a low-res press shot, the Samsung Galaxy S 2 (aka Samsung Galaxy S II) was caught at Paran along with some specs, before a higher-res version of the image was dug up. Meanwhile, partial specs for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 have emerged, and we’ve thrown in some info of our own on the slate after the cut. According to the pre-announcement info, the Galaxy S 2 runs Gingerbread on a 1GHz dual-core processor, with a 4.3-inch display – presumably Samsung’s new Super AMOLED Plus panel – and HSPA+ connectivity. There’s also WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0, and the whole thing is believed to be 116g and just 8.49mm thick. As for the Galaxy Tab 2, as we heard yesterday that has a 10.1-inch screen, 8-megapixel camera with Full HD video recording, and dual surround sound speakers. According to what we’ve heard, however, Samsung is using NVIDIA’s dual-core Tegra 2 processor, not a Qualcomm or Exynos CPU, and the display is a TFT not AMOLED-type panel. We’ve also been told it has 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot, and is around 200g lighter than the current iPad despite having a bigger screen (and, supposedly, a smaller bezel). Samsung is, according to the people SlashGear has been talking to, attempting to beat Motorola’s XOOM to market as the first Honeycomb slate, in Europe if not in North America, though we don’t yet know which carriers it has partnered with (if any so far). We’ll know for sure tomorrow. [via Samsung Hub and via Engadget] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| The Daily Slash: February 11, 2011 Posted: 11 Feb 2011 11:43 PM PST Nokia ruled the day today, their Microsoft partnership announcement reverberating through the whole day from Google offering sacked Nokia engineers a lifeline to Nokia Workers walking out of their Finnish jobs. Want to read more on the original event? We’ve got you so covered you’ll be unable to breath clean air – Nokia Microsoft partnership video, see Steve Ballmer say "Nokia will do unique things on top of Windows Phone 7″, and grant yourself a full guide with Chris Davies’ Nokia Windows Phone: Everything you need to know. Finally, don’t let yourself sleep at night without checking out Ben Bajarin’s On Time Analysis entitled Nokia's Huge Bet On Windows Phone 7 is All or Nothing. And of course, it’s not ALL Nokia today, it’s all this and MORE on The Daily Slash. R3 Media Network Editor’s Choice SlashPhone Android Community SlashGear To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Boston Developing “Street Bump” App to Report All Potholes in Real Time Posted: 11 Feb 2011 07:49 PM PST The city of Boston is developing an app – first of all, I didn’t realize cities developed apps, and that seems pretty neat. Second, this app is called “Street Bump” for Android smartphones and it’ll be reporting every pothole in the city as they’re hit. But why would you want to know this information? You wouldn’t! You can just drive around potholes when you see them. This information is transmitted to city officials who then have a record of the places they’re going to need to hit on their daily tar run. This app was developed by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s Office of New Urban Mechanics. This same office launched an app back in 2009 called Citizens Connect which allows users to take photos of and report offensive behavior, crimes, and things such as graffiti. This new app Street Bump is already active and working, the developers reporting there only being a few bugs left to iron out. Developer Chris Osgood notes that they’re very proud of the app: “We’re constantly looking for new ways to make sure that roads are as smooth as they possibly can be, and we believe that Street Bump is a first-in-the nation app,” while still acknowledging the need for work to be done on it. In order to improve the app, the city plans on opening a competition through InnoCentive.com that will award programmers $25,000 for the best improvements to Street Bump. Grab the app right NOW if you live in Boston. If you do not live in Boston, probably do not download the app at all – instead get in contact with the developers of the app and see what they can do about porting the app to your home city to improve the streets! [via Switched] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Galaxy Tab 2 To Premier at MWC? Posted: 11 Feb 2011 04:59 PM PST Samsung might unveil the second generation of the Galaxy Tab at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Pocket-lint says they have exclusive information about the new tablet and that it will be running on a tablet-specific version of Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The tablet will have a 10.1-inch display, 8.0 megapixel camera, and dual-core Qualcomm processor. The tablet will be thinner and lighter than its predecessor and will feature a black coloring on the back instead of white. It’s believed that the Samsung Tab 2 will be physically smaller than the iPad but have a larger screen size. A swarm of tablets are about to land with Motorola's Xoom, Dell Streak 7, and the expected announcement of Apple's iPad 2. Be prepared. Which upcoming tablet do you think has the best chance of dethroning the iPad as the king of tablets? [Via Pocket-lint] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| LG Triptych: Phone Morphs Into Tablet Concept Design Posted: 11 Feb 2011 04:16 PM PST Designer, Edward Hale, recently shared some images of an LG concept phone called the Triptych that can morph into a tablet. This sounds familiar harking back to Sprint and Kyocera’s joint announcement of the Echo dual-touchscreen phone/tablet earlier this week. But those two sure could take a lesson from Hale’s design. The Triptych makes the Echo look very very sad. Luckily for them, LG is still busy pushing their first tablet the G-Slate. More images after the cut. The Triptych concept design shows a very slim-bodied phone featuring one phone screen and two additional screens that fold out from behind to form the tablet screen. Imagine how awesome it would be if they used AMOLED technology for this. It's also interesting to think about what OS it would use since it can switch back and forth between phone and tablet. Perhaps it can dual booth phone and tablet operating systems. [Via Design Buzz] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| AT&T Offers A Sweet Perfect Pair Deal For Valentines Posted: 11 Feb 2011 03:53 PM PST If you’re trying not to go the traditional route of flowers and candy this Valentine's day, then you may be glad to know that AT&T is offering another way to show you care. For the techies out there, ditch the bouquet for a lovely pair of AT&T devices at a discount. The carrier just announced the deal today to begin on Sunday.
AT&T is offering customers the chance to purchase a Windows Phone 7 device and an 11.6-inch Acer Aspire AS1830T notebook for only $199.99. You can choose either the Samsung Focus or the LG Quantum as your Windows Phone 7 device. The deal starts on February 13th but ends March 20th. The cost is $299.99 when you buy it at any AT&T retail store or online but then you get a $100 mail-in rebate AT&T promo card. And the catch is that you must sign a two-year agreement and DataConnect plan with AT&T for your Acer. [Via AT&T] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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| Duke Nukem Forever Collectors Edition Revealed Posted: 11 Feb 2011 03:42 PM PST For those of you wishing there wouldn’t have been a gigantic span of around 12 years between now and the last Duke Nukem title, here’s a little present for your wait. This is the Duke Nukem Forever Balls of Steel Edition that’ll be coming out the same time as the standard edition comes out for the low low price of $99.99. It might seem a tad high for a game that’s basically a shooter from the late 1990′s, but can you really put a price on a bust of one of the most offensive video game characters of all time? This game (both the regular and the “Balls” edition,) comes out on May 3rd, which would put it directly in line with both my birthday and the birth of my baby daughter. Therefor, I will not be buying it. But that isn’t going to hold you back, is it? In this masterpiece of a special edition you’ll be receiving • A Bust of Duke Nukem with the saying “Carpe Nukem” below it. What will you do with all these items? Heck I don’t know, you sure don’t need em to play the game, that’s for sure. This collectors edition will only be available via Gamestop and Amazon, and more than likely there’ll be enough to go around, but feel free to call your local one of those two sellers and reserve yours today. And while we’re here, lets take another view of that fantastic trailer that came out a while ago because it’s basically the greatest ad of all time: [via USA Today] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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