Hasta La Gadget!

In light of its fresh tie-up with Microsoft, we can understand how any LG smartphone not running WinMo might be perceived as a black sheep this week. Still, it bums us that the the company has launched its latest S60-powered handset — the KT770 slider — at MWC this week with little more than a brief mention on LG’s official MWC site and a couple of forlorn demo models stuffed in the corner of the company’s booth. The good news is we decided to make good on LG’s oversight and give this little beauty the love it deserves with a mention, a gallery, and a quick video of its tweaked S60 3.2-based UI in action.

The faux carbon fiber back is a little cheesy — particularly for a device that otherwise looks fairly businesslike — but with 7.2Mbps HSDPA, GPS, a WQVGA display, and a 5 megapixel camera on board, it’s hard to argue that this device can’t be competitive (put this up against the far bulkier, uglier N95, for example). The UI seemed reasonably responsive, and though we weren’t able to test the browser without a connection, we imagine the stock S60 apps work every bit as well as they do on Nokia fare. Check out the video after the break!

Continue reading LG doesn’t rock the WinMo boat, launches S60-powered KT770 on the downlow

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

LG doesn’t rock the WinMo boat, launches S60-powered KT770 on the downlow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s slogan here in Barcelona is “The Power of Touch.” It should have been “The Power to Drive You Freakin’ Bonkers” because their touch technology continues to be bad bad bad. BAD.

What’s wrong with these guys? Last year I tried the Omnia at IFA 2008, and said it had “a poorly designed interface, lousy response time, buggy software, and it felt cheap and fat on my hand.” The Samsung cellphones at the Mobile World Congress this year don’t feel cheap and fat, but the touch interface is equally as bad. It wasn’t just me. It was me trying, people around me trying, and booth people trying them for me.

In theory, the cellphones available to the public in a tech fair booth must be flawless, right? After all, everyone—visitors, partners, and press—will be trying them to get an impression on how they work. So, how these “touch” screens’ response could be so bad, often requiring multiple clicks to get the most basic click operation done? Is it the hardware? Is it the software? Is it bad luck? I don’t know, but it left me the same impression as last year hands on, which is just too bad because the cellphones have some other great qualities, specially the Omnia HD amazing AMOLED high resolution screen.

If there’s a must-have mobile technology this year, that’s Bluetooth over Wi-Fi. Easy-to-establish, peer-to-peer Bluetooth connectivity seamlessly coupled with Wi-Fi speeds. As the video shows, the experience is perfect. I want this in my iPhone.

The new Bluetooth specification—technically denominated alternate MAC/PHY—will be official this April. And unlike other technologies, it won’t be in limbo for a while before reaching consumers. In fact, your phone may support it right now, according to Broadcom’s Mukul Suth: Some of their current production chips already have this ability and they will only require a software upgrade to implement it.

The alternate MAC/PHY method is quite clever: The two devices discover each other and shake hands using Bluetooth (being cellphones, computers, or any other shiny thing supporting the standard). When you start any file transfer, the communication gets passed to the Wi-Fi hardware layer, which will transfer your data at 54mbps. Once the transfer is over, Wi-Fi is disconnected and the control passes again to Bluetooth.

It just works. According to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the standard will allow you to easily:

• Wirelessly bulk synchronize music libraries between PC and MP3 player
• Bulk download photos to a printer or PC
• Send video files from camera or phone to computer or television.

Sounds good to me. Having this easy-to-use, straightforward ability to just connect to any device and transfer information in a fast way, without needing any wireless network or access points, will be great.

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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Vodafone just scooped planet Earth with the first touchscreen-only Android phone: HTC’s Magic. All the specs look to line up with what was rumored, with a 3.2-inch QVGA screen front and center (that resolution might be a typo, HVGA seems more likely), HDSPA, GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera (no flash), and a G1-style trackball. Details on pricing and availability will be unveiled for local Vodafone markets as they see fit, but pricing in Spain will be from 99 to 199 Euro, depending on contract. Initial markets to nab the phone will be UK (due in April), Spain, Germany, France and Italy, with more countries to follow, and the phone will be a timed exclusive with Vodafone. Crazily enough, the phone has a proprietary headphone jack, proving once and for all that HTC doesn’t like you, but at least this one will ship with a touchscreen keyboard out of the gate — it’s running Cupcake.

Update: We have confirmation that the device is indeed HVGA like the G1 before it, that’s a typo on the original press release. More detailed specifications after the break.

Continue reading HTC Magic is official, bringing Android to Vodafone sans keyboard

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

HTC Magic is official, bringing Android to Vodafone sans keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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