Hasta La Gadget!

Same story, different company: yet another Windows Mobile ODM has broken down, taken the plunge, and invested some cash engineering its own unique skin for the platform. This time around it’s Gigabyte’s GSmart division with its “Smart Zone” UI, and to kick it off on the right foot, they’re grafting it onto the all-new S1200. We spent some time fiddling with the S1200 at MWC today, and we’re actually pretty impressed; it’s sleek, a wacky thin 11.4mm, narrow enough to comfortably fit in the smallest hands, and feels pretty well-built — and with full HSPA and a 3.1-inch WVGA display, it’s spec’d with the best of ’em. Gone are Gigabyte’s days of chunky plastic, thank goodness.

We talked to Gigabyte about its announcements, and it turns out they’ve designed both Smart Zone and the S1200 with aspirational feature phone users in mind — these are people who might not otherwise consider a smartphone because they’re worried about sacrificing style and ease of use in the process. To that end, the skin definitely seems to get the job done. The transition animations got choppy in places, but we felt immediately at ease with the swipe gestures for getting to different screens, and the graphics look particularly superb at these resolutions.

The S1200 launches this quarter in a variety of colors (it’s fashion-friendly, after all) with WiFi, a 528MHz Qualcomm core, 3 megapixel autofocus cam, a microSD slot to bump up the storage to something more usable than the 256MB built-in, and — perhaps most importantly — upgradeability to Windows Mobile 6.5. Follow the break to see it in action!

Continue reading Gigabyte’s S1200 and Smart Zone user interface on video

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Gigabyte’s S1200 and Smart Zone user interface on video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that mysterious dual-boot QiGi i6 from a few months back? If you dream of Windows Mobile / Android dual-boot devices at night, then odds are you do, and we’ve been able to spend a little time with one humming along in Android mode today. It turns out that the i6’s manufacturer is none other than TechFaith Wireless, an ODM more closely associated with WinMo devices — but like so many other manufacturers these days, TechFaith is apparently looking to branch out by adding another platform into the mix.

Anyhow, let’s just be straight about this: odds are you don’t really want this phone, even if you think you do. The physical design feels one or two iterations behind, but the real problem stems from the fact that you’re rocking QVGA resolution here; yes, granted, Android runs — but in its default layout, it’s clearly designed for a few more pixels both horizontally and vertically. Furthermore, we’re told that end users can’t swap ROMs themselves (in other words, distributors would choose one platform or the other and be done with it) — the hardware is designed to run both Android and Windows Mobile, but it’s not like you get some fancy Boot Camp-style setup for booting into either environment. Also, since the i6 features no physical keyboard and Cupcake was little more than a twinkle in Google’s eye by the time the phone was released, you’re dealing with a pretty poorly-designed soft keyboard that’s been grafted onto the build; individual keys are small enough so that you need a stylus to press them, and when you call up the keyboard, it takes up the full screen so you can’t see whatever app you were in while you’re typing. Check it all out (for the hilarious power-on splash screen, if nothing else) in our video after the break!

Continue reading Hands-on with TechFaith’s QiGi i6 in Android mode

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Hands-on with TechFaith’s QiGi i6 in Android mode originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just messed around with Nokia’s new N86, and while the form factor and feel of the device seem a little last-gen, there’s no denying the camera’s quality. Some of the soft button the face of the phone are a little difficult for our large fingers to press, but the d-pad is pure quality, as is the generic-looking numeric keypad — T9ers rejoice. In traditional N-series fashion, the slide mechanism is practically perfect, with a meaty, satisfying and easy motion to it, and the general feel of the device, including the seamless glossy front, screams quality. The camera we played with seemed a little glitchy in operation — it’s still pre-production — but the images were excellent. The LED flash won’t be able to handle a large dimly lit room, but can do close-quarters indoors shots just fine, and should match up well with other high resolution shooters in the outdoor arena. The OLED screen, but it might not have been set at full brightness — it’s crisp, but not necessarily vibrant. Overall it’s a “nice” handset, but somehow 8 megapixels alone doesn’t seem to justify another go at this fairly dated and chubby N-series form factor — but maybe that’s just us.

Update: We bumped up the brightness and stacked the phone up against the iPhone 3G and found the N86’s screen to be considerably brighter — another win for OLED! There’s also now some video after the break!

Continue reading Nokia N86 hands-on with video!

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras, Handhelds

Nokia N86 hands-on with video! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Its TouchWiz implementation is still a little raw — first time they’ve done this on S60, so we’ll cut them some slack — but otherwise, we’re seriously stoked by everything we’ve seen of the OmniaHD this week. The display simply has to be seen to be believed, clocking in at a breathtaking 3.7 inches — and we noticed that it has a rather uncanny capability for washing out any other display within striking distance. Check out this Memoir here, held side-by-side for comparison: taken alone, the thing has a gorgeous display, but it pales in comparison to that glorious AMOLED alongside (also notice how the already-large Memoir gets dwarfed by the OmniaHD’s massive package). Despite its size, the phone was comfortable in the hand — and even in its rickety pre-beta state, the firmware was really flying through crazy 3D transitions, so we’re hopeful that this is going to be one of the most desirable phones of the year when it hits. Follow the break for a video tour of the interface!

Continue reading Samsung OmniaHD hands-on, now with more TouchWiz

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Samsung OmniaHD hands-on, now with more TouchWiz originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cyber Sport’s Orbita Mouse doesn’t want to be just another regular, boring mouse — and its newness goes way beyond looks. We don’t review too many mice around these parts, but this one seemed to call for some special attention, so we’ve spent the last few days trying to give it our exclusive overload treatment. This is not a mouse you can just unwrap and use, in more ways than one. Read on for our full impressions, and some glorious photos of this little dude in action.

Gallery: Cyber Sport Orbita Mouse

Continue reading Cyber Sport Orbita Mouse review: It’s pretty weird

Filed under: Peripherals

Cyber Sport Orbita Mouse review: It’s pretty weird originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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