Storm

by hilzfuld on iPhone, Mobile, Software, Tech

iPod Touch Users Get Compensation in the Form of CPU

Sorry iPhone-ers

Sorry iPhone-ers

Just as iPod Touch users were starting to feel anger towards Apple and their discriminatory decision to leave Street View out of the Touch’s firmware upgrade, we discovered a little piece of news that changes everything completely. It turns out that the 2nd gen iPod Touch is running a faster processor than the original Touch and… (if you have an iPhone, stop reading here) even the iPhone 3G.

While the original iPod Touch and both iPhones run a 400 MHz CPU and a 100 MHz bus, my baby is packing a 532 MHz CPU and a 133 MHz bus. In English? The new iPod Touch moves faster than the original Touch, as well as both iPhones. So it turns out the built in speaker and the hardware volume controls are not the only enhancements to the new iPod Touch. Nice!

In other big news, Apple is going green. They just released an ad showing how the new Macbook is the greenest Macbook ever. It is so green that it runs on a quarter of the power of a single light bulb and its enclosure is completely recyclable. It is so green that even the arrows in its ad are green. Watch the video below.

Lastly, Gizmodo shared their full review of one of the nicest Windows Mobile touchscreen devices out there, the Samsung Omnia. Just a quick reminder, the Omnia packs a 3.2″ touchscreen display, 3.5G, WiFi 802.11b/g, A2DP, a 5MP cam, all in a sleek12.5 mm thick package. Not bad, right? Gizmodo does not seem to agree. Watch the video here.

You cannot deny the beauty

You Cannot Deny the Beauty

Bottom line is they believe the Storm to be a more “compelling and usable device”. Well, being as the Storm did not do so well itself and is apparently full of bugs, that does not say too much for the Omnia.

-Hillel

If Only its Software Matched up

If Only its Software Matched up

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

 
by hilzfuld on iPhone, Mobile, Random, Software

Random Thoughts on Storms and Tubes

Job hunting has kept me pretty busy as of late, but I have already decided that since my last job only gave me a CDMA option for my company phone (so I could not buy a phone and insert the company SIM), as soon as I finally find my next job, one of my first purchases is going to be a phone. Now the big question is, which one?

htctouchhd1

The Beautiful HD: Hard to Say Goodbye

Well, let me start with what I was considering as of three days ago, and I will conclude with the phones I have narrowed it down to. Remember, I am talking here about my favorite phones, forget for a second the fact that I would never really buy half these phones due to their exorbitant prices. So here are the phones I was considering (in totally random order):

  • HTC Touch HD: OK I know it is $800 or $1300 if you buy it is Israel, but a man can still dream, no?
  • Nokia 5800 XpressMusic or Tube: Seems like a pretty sweet phone and with a name like Nokia backing it, how can you go wrong, right?
  • Blackberry Storm: You gotta love RIM’s attempt at the touchscreen market.
  • iPhone: Honestly? With its lack of MMS, video camera, and A2DP, this was not an option for me, until I used my new iPod Touch. With that interface and App store, I am willing to use email to send pictures, bring along an additional camera for taking video, and even use wired headsets to listen to my music. Yes, it is THAT good.
nokia-5800-xpressmusic-2

The Tube: A Strong Contender

So, these were my options as of a few days ago, but as we all know, a few days in the cellular industry is like a lifetime to normal people.

So here is what I am thinking today:

  • HTC Touch HD: With the $800 price tag combined with the fact that it runs Windows, this is just not the phone for me. Yes, it is no doubt the nicest phone on earth, but the headache of installing apps over Windows (compared to the experience I have had with the iPod Touch of course), the lack of a camera flash, along with the normal bugs associated with anything Microsoft, even a 4″ screen would not get me to buy it.
  • Nokia 5800 XpressMusic or Tube: I am not saying a definate NO to this yet, I know I like the price, but Mobile Burn’s review of this toy, did not excite me. I call it a toy because that it what it looks and feels like compared to other handsets.
  • Blackberry Storm: Well, contrary to the Tube, this one is a definate no go for me. Engadget’s review of the Storm left me very dissapointed, especially the whole press down the screen thing. If I wanted to press down on the screen and not just touch it, I would buy a standard Blackberry, not a touch screen one. Is it just me or does that just make simple sense?
  • iPhone: Well, I would have to say that at the risk of being boring and unoriginal, this is currently my best option. I just cannot get over how great of a job Apple did with the interface, the App store, and the all around feel of the iPhone. The battery life with push mail activated scares me a bit, but we all gotta make sacrifices sometimes, right?
A Thumbs Down for ME

Blackberry Storm: A Thumbs Down for Me

Bottom line? I am going to have to choose between Apple’s iPhone and Nokia’s Tube. Watch the below video of the Tube, and tell me what you think.

-Hillel

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

 
by hilzfuld on iPhone, Mobile, Random, Software, Tech

A Storm is Brewing

Sorry for the corny title, but Engadget already used every other play on the word storm. The new Blackberry Storm was recently announced and will be hitting shelves pretty soon. It is definitely a very attractive handset with some even more attractive specs.

The Storm is RIM’s very first touchscreen phone, mounting a 3.26-inch 480 x 360 glass display on a unique clickable surface so that the entire thing can be pressed downwards just like a real button for tactile feedback when making selections (hmm, seems like a good idea to me). It includes a full HTML browser, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint editing capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB of on-board storage (1GB?) with an 8GB microSD card bundled in the box (OK, not too shabby), 3.5mm headphone jack (take that, G1), automatic orientation and ambient lighting sensors, and a 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam with dedicated flash.

Did you notice something missing among those specs? Why, oh why, RIM, would you leave Wifi out of such a phone? I just don’t get it. Anyway, another thing that makes this phone attractive to yours truly, is the fact that there is a CDMA version of it, the 9530 (yes, I am sorry to say, I am still on CDMA).

Although many handsets being introduced today claim they support push mail, none of them do it (as far as I know) as smoothly and flawlessly as the original Blackberry technology. I am saying this, after I was just told by an iPhone 3G user, that with push mail activated, the battery lasts 1.5 hours. Na, we can’t have that.

I have to conclude by saying that with the advantage of real push mail, this could have been a real HD killer (have you not heard? The term “iPhone killer” is no more, ever since the HTC Touch HD filled those shoes. We are now on the lookout for an HD Killer. I think I am officially coining the term “HD Killer”). But with the lack of Wifi, I think the HD will stay on its thrown for now.

-Hillel

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine