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Feb 15

Toshiba K01 hands-on

Posted in: breaking news, BreakingNews, hands-on, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, snapdragon, Today's Chili, Toshiba

Toshiba’s K01 is exactly what we would’ve liked to have seen as a complementary set to the TG01. Happily, Toshiba’s given us a QWERTY option with the new model, added capacitive touch, and swapped out the earlier display for a swanky new AMOLED version. Key feel is a bit rough on the outside keys — shift, delete, enter — but this device still isn’t final, and with all that real estate, the layout feels just great. In fact, the devices being shown on the floor are just looping a demo video and not really showing off the UI as seen above; we couldn’t get any film of it, so the pics we got will have to suffice. We like what they’ve done here — in fact, this could make an excellent day to day set if battery life proves good enough. We also can’t help but notice the three buttons (soft touch) across the bottom that could quite easily be skinned for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series, could they not? A bunch of pics are just below.

Gallery: Toshiba K01 hands-on

Toshiba K01 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 15

Motorola Quench hands-on with video

Posted in: hands-on, motoblur, motorola, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, t-mobile, Today's Chili

We had a quick tour today of Motorola’s new Quench — or CLIQ XT as it’ll be called on T-Mobile USA when it launches next month — and for an eighth outing in the Android world, it’s pretty slick. Sure it lacks keyboard, but the touchscreen is pretty responsive and now includes Swype input on the virtual keyboard — and we’ve found with a bit of practice and patience, Swype can be really fast. The soft touch plastic rear of the set can be removed to slip on over covers and shows off the 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and dual LED flash. Follow on for a quick video tour of the Blur-powered beast and some pics.

Continue reading Motorola Quench hands-on with video

Motorola Quench hands-on with video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 15

Windows Phone 7 Series hands-on and impressions (updated with video)

Posted in: hands-on, impressions, Microsoft, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, Today's Chili, windows phone, windows phone 7 series, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7Series

Forget everything you know about Windows Mobile. Seriously, throw the whole OS concept in a garbage bin or incinerator or something. Microsoft has done what would have been unthinkable for the company just a few years ago: started from scratch. At least, that’s how things look (and feel) with Windows Phone 7 Series. This really is a completely new OS — and not just Microsoft’s new OS, it’s a new smartphone OS, like webOS new, like iPhone OS new. You haven’t used an interface like this before (well, okay, if you’ve used a Zune HD then you’ve kind of used an interface like this). Still, 7 Series goes wider and deeper than the Zune by a longshot, and it’s got some pretty intense ideas about how you’re supposed to be interacting with a mobile device. We had a chance to go hands-on with the dev phone before today’s announcement, and hear from some of the people behind the devices, and here’s our takeaway. (And don’t worry, we’ve got loads of pictures and video coming, so keep checking this post for the freshest updates).

First the look and feel. The phones are really secondary here, and we want to focus on the interface. The design and layout of 7 Series’ UI (internally called Metro) is really quite original, utilizing what one of the designers (Albert Shum, formerly of Nike) calls an “authentically digital” and “chromeless” experience. What does that mean? Well we can tell you what it doesn’t mean — no shaded icons, no faux 3D or drop shadows, no busy backgrounds (no backgrounds at all), and very little visual flair besides clean typography and transition animations. The whole look is strangely reminiscent of a terminal display (maybe Microsoft is recalling its DOS roots here) — almost Tron-like in its primary color simplicity. To us, it’s rather exciting. This OS looks nothing like anything else on the market, and we think that’s to its advantage. Admittedly, we could stand for a little more information available within single views, and we have yet to see how the phone will handle things like notifications, but the design of the interface is definitely in a class of its own. Here’s a few takeaways on what it’s like to use (and some video)…

Gallery: Windows Phone 7 Series first look

Gallery: Windows Phone 7 Series UI walkthrough

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Series hands-on and impressions (updated with video)

Windows Phone 7 Series hands-on and impressions (updated with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 15

Tamagotchi renamed TamaTown Tama-Go, no change in amount of attention it requires

Posted in: hands-on, Today's Chili, toy, Toys

That’s right, grab the tissues and take some time to mourn the death of the Tamagotchi as we knew it. The guys at Bandai have gone and totally revamped the beloved virtual pet, giving it the new name of TamaTown Tama-Go to match that of the already existing Tamatown.com virtual world. Though there have been very minimal changes to the purpose of the toy — you still have to remember to keep your little character well fed and rested — the $20 pocketable keychain has morphed into an Easter egg shaped device with a slightly larger and higher contrast four-grayscale display. Why make a portable device larger than before? Well to accommodate attachable collectible figures, of course! Obviously sold separately, the $7 TamaTown figures attach to the top of the Tama-Go and are preloaded with two character specific games and goods. We understand that these sorts of changes are better processed in images (and dreams), so hit the gallery below for more miniscule figures than you can (probably) handle.

Gallery: Tamatown by Tamagotchi

Tamagotchi renamed TamaTown Tama-Go, no change in amount of attention it requires originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 15

Fisher-Price iXL is a tweener that no kid needs convincing of

Posted in: hands-on, Today's Chili, toy, Toys

“But mommy…it’s like your Kindle and Daddy’s iPod Touch! I want one NOW!” Yep, that’s how the discovery of Fisher Price’s iXL is going to go down in the Toys R US aisle, like it or not. In what we can only compare to a shrunken Entourage Edge, the $80 clamshell device is meant for 3-to-6 year olds that are just learning to read and write, and it packs a color, resistive touchscreen and a plastic stylus. While some tots may complain about the not-very-finger-friendly display or the rather chunky and heavy design, Fisher gets that it’s all about the software. In addition to the “app based” home screen (which we were told was modeled after the iPhone or iPad), the iXL comes preloaded with games, an animated story book and other applications — additional children’s e-books will be available for download from its online store when the device goes on sale this summer. Using a Mac or a PC, parents can also sideload those illustrated titles, as well as pictures and MP3s using the onboard USB port. Well, you heard the kids… they want it now!

Gallery: Fisher Price iXL hands-on gallery

Fisher-Price iXL is a tweener that no kid needs convincing of originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 15

Samsung’s Wave gets the preview treatment

Posted in: hands-on, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, preview, samsung, smartphone, Today's Chili

What, our hands-on with video wasn’t good enough for you? Fine, Eldar at Mobile-Review.com has a rather lengthy preview of Sammy’s 1GHz Bada phone, the Wave, including so many macro photos you could probably make yourself a compelling reproduction of Mr. Murtazin’s thumbprint. Impressions of this pre-production phone were very positive, coming to the conclusion that it will “definitely become one of the milestones not only for Samsung, but also the whole industry.” Yeah, it’s looking that good, but we do have to wonder just how warmly the buying community is going to welcome yet another mobile OS. We’ll find out soon enough, as the phone is set for release in April.

Samsung’s Wave gets the preview treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 15

Samsung Beam (Halo) Android projector phone hands-on

Posted in: Android, Google, hands-on, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, pico projector, PicoProjector, samsung, ti, Today's Chili

Well here it is, Samsung’s pico projector phone live and in the flesh here at Mobile World Congress. And surprise surprise it’s running Android 2.1 with a TouchWiz 3.0 skin just as we heard. The only difference is the name: Halo is the codename, the official product name announced today is Beam. As a smartphone with integrated pico projector it’s very impressive. However, as you can see from the pictures and video (it’s coming), the 6 lumen brightness struggles even under the semi-controlled lighting demonstration set up here on the show floor in Barcelona. Samsung tells us that the TouchWiz implementation is nearly identical to what you’ll find on Bada with “very small” differences. Unfortunately, the people we spoke with on the show floor weren’t able to articulate exactly what those were. To us, having only used the two devices for a short period of time, they do look identical. Beam features a nice pass through trick that allows it to project the image seen by the 5 megapixel camera through the TI pico. Not sure how we’d use that in real life but it’s a neat trick nonetheless. Now click into the gallery and prepare to be amazed at just how thin a smartphone with integrated projector can be while we wait for the summer launch.

Update: Video is now after the break.

Gallery: Samsung Beam hands-on

Continue reading Samsung Beam (Halo) Android projector phone hands-on

Samsung Beam (Halo) Android projector phone hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 14

Sony Ericsson X10 mini and X10 mini pro hands-on with video

Posted in: hands-on, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili

We’re kinda chuffed about Sony Ericsson’s showing this year at MWC, and between the three launched sets — Vivaz pro, X10 mini, and X10 mini pro — this little QWERTY stands out as the best of the bunch. The idea behind the X10 mini series, of course, is to have all the features and functionality of the larger X10 in a small package designed with one-handed use in mind. The keypad is surprisingly pleasant and not cramped (provided you aren’t equipped with baseball bat-sized fingers) as it looks and the key feedback is really great. The UI is generally snappy in most apps we saw, though we did see a bit of sluggishness while playing with the Timescape feature; with some months til launch, we can at least hope for some improvement there. The phone’s back is soft touch plastic — the mini is a smooth plastic, by contrast — and the face is the glossiest finish imaginable. As you can guess, that means it’s a fingerprint magnet — so if you worry about that type of thing, bring a cloth to keep it lovely. We’re absolutely stoked to get our hands on one of these for review for you as soon as possible, but until that fateful moment arrives, the gallery and vid after the break will have to do.

Gallery: Sony Ericsson X10 mini and X10 mini pro hands-on

Continue reading Sony Ericsson X10 mini and X10 mini pro hands-on with video

Sony Ericsson X10 mini and X10 mini pro hands-on with video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 14

Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro hands-on

Posted in: ericsson, hands-on, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, qwerty, sony, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili

It kinda got buried beneath the X10 mini and mini pro, but Sony Ericsson went ahead and threw us a Symbian-flavored bone this evening with the Vivaz pro. The phone’s nearly a dead ringer for its non-pro doppelganger — the original Vivaz — but it adds a claimed 2 millimeters of thickness, which we found to be nearly imperceptible when you’re holding it or gazing in its direction. We’ll admit this is a better looking phone (along with the Vivaz) in person than we’d figured from the press shots, but we’re still not sure we’d buy in — the UI feels a little bit like a warmed-over S60 5th Edition, unlike the X10’s thorough reworking of Android. If anything, this could very well be an N97 mini killer, especially considering the keyboard’s decency — just check out that centered spacebar! Enjoy a few more shots of the phone in Sony Ericsson’s ridiculously under-lit venue (it’s a nightclub, in case you couldn’t tell) below.

Gallery: Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro hands-on

Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 14

Samsung Wave first hands-on: Bada-packed and super fast (video!)

Posted in: feature, Features, hands-on, HandsOn, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, samsung, Today's Chili

Well, we just had our first encounter with Samsung’s new Bada-sporting Wave handset. We’ll say this to start… the screen is gorgeous, and the phone itself is super fast. No hesitation almost anywhere, but it’s hard to make a judgment call at this point. A lot of the software seemed unfinished, and we saw a few crashes and weird behavior. Still, it’s clearly a device capable of handling some pretty intense work, and a Samsung rep we spoke to wanted to emphasize its ability to multitask. We were also told that the phone has more than 512MB of RAM, which is notable for a device of this type. We’re going to play with it a bit more and flesh out our impressions, but for now feast your eyes on the gallery… and check the video after the break!

A few more takeaways (with some input from senior editor Thomas Ricker):

Overall the device feels like a glorified feature phone, and speaking to some other tech folks here, that feeling seemed to be common. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot to it that we haven’t seen in other Samsung devices, especially considering the TouchWiz integration.
There was an issue with flipping the keyboard from portrait to landscape — as we said the phone is early, so this may change, but we had to leave an app and reopen in the other orientation to get it working. We also noticed that there doesn’t seem to be word prediction in place right now.
The browser is redirecting to WAP pages, so it was hard to see what the results were. We also thought the buttons were in a very odd place, making it a bit hard to navigate.
The display wasn’t always responding to touches, and at least one unit completely froze on us.
For those asking, from the looks of things (and the press release) ~~there is no multitouch on this device.~~ Correction… we just tried pinching and zooming on the phone and while it did create some kind of zoom result, it also kept giving us an error! Furthermore, when we tried to load an image heavy site, it forced the phone into its task manager mode and made us close all applications before we could proceed with using the phone. Clearly there is work to be done.

Gallery: Samsung Wave first hands-on