Amazon’s Top Netbook: Toshiba Mini NB 255-N245

We’re still going keep looking at Amazon’s top Laptops…Thought that since school is now in full swing that some you guys would benefit by seeing Amazon’s Top 5 Netbooks. Keep in mind that Netbooks are primarily used by people on the go who want basic computing in a light package. Most Netbooks have a long battery life (8-12 hours), are lightweight (2-3 pounds), and can handle all types of everyday computing (internet, social networking, email). Don’t buy a netbook expecting to play games and do heavy multitasking; Netbooks are designed for basic functional computing and are small enough to be carry most anywhere. With that in mind, let’s dig into Amazon’s top Netbooks.

Amazon’s #1 Rated Netbook:

Toshiba Mini NB255-N245. This $266.48 priced Toshiba is a great choice for people on the go who want fully functional computing. It’s got a black chassis with a with a 10.1-inch widescreen LCD. It’s got an (Atom N455) processor at 1.66GHz, 1GB (DDR2) RAM, and has an integrated (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150) video card. It comes with a fair sized 160 GB SATA hard drive, wireless N, and 3 USB ports. Its 6 cell battery gives an 8.3 hours of time away from the outlet. It has small enough dimensions (10.4 x 8.3 x 1.27 inches) to be toted around in a purse or bar. At 2.8 pounds its lightweight enough to be carried anywhere without weighing you down.

The NB255-N245 is priced $268 at Amazon instead of the $299 original price. That’s a nice 11% discount off the normal price!

User Opinons
The Toshiba Mini NB255-N245 has 6 customer reviews with 4 star overall rating. Why the lower number of reviews? That’s because that it’s only been available since since June 20th 2010 and it still a very new product. In this short time it jumped to the the top of the Amazon Netbooks list.

Positives > People love this Netbook because its very lightweight and extremely portable. One buyer said that it would be great for people who want to write their novel in Starbucks or other people to just want surf the net on the go. It’s a great portable device for using Google maps or internet if you don’t have a smartphone. The Atom process is fast (especially if you have an older office computer like me!) and multitasks well. Another great feature about the the NB255-N245 is the high quality keyboard. Previous generations didn’t have this larger keyboard that people seem to love so much. Buyers explain that when they touch this keyboard that they can feel good quality. One user said that it’s almost as good as a full keyboard and allows him to type fast with adequate response.

Negatives > The NB255-N245 boasts a long 8.3 hour battery life. Some buyers are aggrevated because, in reality, they are getting 5-7 hours (depending on use). The protruding battery pack can be slightly annoying. Don’t buy this Netbook to listen to music from its poor quality speakers…use headphones. One reviewer said that its little monophonic speaker inside this netbook can’t even compete with my Ipod touch. Also, if you want a greater power punch then buy the 2GB upgrade. Reviews say you won’t regret upping the memory.

Conclusion > Toshiba Mini NB255-N245 is a best choice for people on the go who want the basic, everyday computing. See this $266.48 Toshiba Amazon for yourself.

RUMOR: HTC EVO on Verizon Soon?

What’s this?!  A beautiful HTC device looking like the twin brother of the EVO 4G currently sold on Sprint heading to Verizon by the holidays?  That’s what it looks like apparently.  Courtesy of BoyGeniusReport’s scoop just moments ago, the received some spy shots of the device from an anonymous tipster.

The device will obviously have an 8MP camera with dual-led flash and a front-facing camera as well (nice!).  It has the kickstand, a 4.3″ capacitive touchscreen, brushed aluminum accents, and a 3.5mm jack.  It was described by the tipster as “an EVO in a larger and more polished Nexus One body.”  I’m not sure about the larger part, as the EVO is plenty big already, but this thing is just gorgeous, and me likey!

VIA BoyGeniusReport

Motorola Droid ‘X’ Review

When the original Motorola Droid was first released, it had a lot riding on it.  Motorola had mortgaged the farm betting on android, and this was the first huge barometer of that gamble.  Verizon had also never released any android device, so this was uncharted territory for them as well.  It promised a lot, and on the surface it seemed like the first device capable of offering a user experience similar yet unique from that of the iPhone.  Before it, consumers were left with the same old choice of either an iPhone, Blackberry or the Windows Mobile flavor of the month, depending on your carrier and situation.  Built like a tank, it had plenty of bells and whistles and the shiny new version of Android known as 2.0.  It simply offered a fresh break from the mold (or old), and it sold accordingly well…extremely well.

With its success, we have seen a new generation of even more powerful android smartphones hit the market on multiple carriers, each seemingly sporting its own ‘15 pieces of flair’ (for my fellow ‘Office Space’ fans).  It also appears that the age of the extra large smartphone screen is officially upon us.  Sprint has released the HTC EVO 4G with unbelievable success, T-Mobile has the fully-loaded Google Nexus One, AT&T has released their version of the Samsung Galaxy S, known as the ‘Captivate’, and now comes the Motorola Droid ‘X’ on Verizon Wireless; the first 4.3″ capacitive touchscreen device the carrier has ever released.  And again, we have a winner (or round of them).  After thoroughly testing the Motorola Droid ‘X’, I can safely say it was one of the funnest testing experiences I have enjoyed with testing a new device in a while.  Let’s take a closer look as to why.

HARDWARE

Under the hood, the Motorola Droid X is an absolute beast in every respectable way.  Rocking a 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP processor, 512MB RAM/512MB ROM, 8GB of on-board storage and an included 16GB SD Card (with support for 32GB cards as well), an 8MP camera with dual LED flash & 720p HD video recording capability, DLNA compatibility w/ HDMI out (extremely cool), 3-count them-3 microphones for increased noise cancellation in various conditions,  wireless N wifi support & 3G hotspot capability, and last but not least, a gorgeous 854 x 480 WVGA LCD, and a fantastic industry-leading PowerVR SGX530 GPU for unmatched graphics processing as the cherry on top of the dreamy tech sundae.

All-in-all, a fait accompli of the highest order for its slimly-packed guts.

DISPLAY

The Droid X sports a beautiful, 854 x 480, 4.3 inch WVGA display, the sheer size of which is enough to put off almost anyone but the large of hand.  However, play a bit longer with it and you’ll find it fits just fine while on a call, and more importantly, comes in far more handy for media pleasure of any flavor.  Whether you’re checking email or other messages, watching a video or playing a game, the real estate provided grows very quickly on you.  After testing it for a couple of weeks, it was admittedly a bit sad to pick my iPhone 4 back up with its comparably tiny lcd, retina or not.  Then there is typing.  Wow, where to begin.  Coming pre-loaded with ‘Swype’ text input (more on its excellence later) and such a larger screen, messaging is not only a breeze with the larger tactile targets on its huge keyboard, it was the single most pleasant experience I had with the device.  Annnnd since messaging of some form or another happens to be what the majority of us do most often on our phones in the end in todays world, such a fact should appropriately be magnified in its favor.

CAMERA

While the Droid X is certainly no slouch in the camera department in terms of image results, there are some serious software bugs which need to be worked out post haste.   Packing a whopping 8 em-pees of pixelated  bliss with dual led flash, image results should be expectedly impressive.  In my testing, images rendered very nicely, but not quite perfect.   My shots had slightly washed out color in anything other than great (outdoor) lighting.  Images, while mostly crisp, were undersaturated and left a bad taste in my mouth.  I did not have this issue with the HTC Incredible (color came through far more accurately).

The other downside to the camera on the Droid X is the stock software.  There are headaches galore present when navigating through options.  If you want to switch scene modes, you must scroll through all of them with no option to pick one from a list quickly.  Same goes for other visual sub-menus.   Then there are other nitpicky head-scratchers, like the onscreen icon for flash which still shows as ‘on’ even if you open the menu and set it to ‘off’.  So if you forget, you have to check the menu again just to make sure as it could be on or off regardless of the ‘always on’ icon.

The last and most disheartening negative to the camera functionality however was lag.  Whether it was the shutter speeds underwhelming, or post-processing of photos taking seemingly forever, it just constantly feels maddeningly slow when snapping shots.  I hesitate to ever use the terms “snap shot” and “Droid X” in the same sentence to be blunt. 

On the positive side however, startup time is relatively quick, autofocus worked fast, and the Macro capabilities of the camera were surprisingly very good quality for a smartphone camera.  Color even looked better with up close shots, which also made me scratch my head. So in the end, despite the very present issues with the camera, there is a proverbial light at the end of the pixelated tunnel.  That being the problems with the camera are primarily software-based .  This can be easily fixed (and most definitely will) with a software update, as I said, the results are still quite good with proper lighting so this could all easily turn around in Motorola’s favor.

Video, on the other hand, produced very good results with the caveat that you have to know you’re way around the modes and settings here.  I found narrator mode worked night and day better than any other mode in very windy or noisier situations, despite muffling my voice a bit.   This is due to a great design plus on Motorola’s part.  As mentioned above, they placed 3 noise-canceling microphones in the Droid X for directional recording.  Two on the back and one on the front.  When recording in standard mode, while crisp and clean video was produced in normal situations, windier or noisier situations were a bit more choppy in the audio category. Not the case in narrator mode, as the two mics on back flex their noise cancellation muscle cutting out most ambient noise and wind aside from your voice coming in through the front mic.  Since I personally tend to shoot a good amount of video while narrating (some do), this was a great feature advantage for an already good quality of video recording in tougher situations.

Washed out color (indoor, good amount of sunlight penetrating kitchen)

Outdoor shots (good sunlight, accurate color)

Macro Mode (good color, good detail)

(720p HD – everyday mode, calm surroundings)

(720p HD – everyday mode, calm surroundings, stationary)

(720p HD – everyday mode, windy surroundings)

(720p HD – narrator mode, windy surroundings)

USER INTERFACE

Not much out of the ordinary here.  Motorola clearly removed most of the visible parts of their ‘motoblur’ layer to android in the Droid X, and such a change is a breath of fresh air.  While not as intricate as HTC’s Sense UI, there’s something to be said for simplicity.  After thoroughly testing both devices at length, I grew to prefer the UI of the Droid X more each day as opposed to the Sense UI of the Droid Incredible.   It’s snappy, has plenty of unique customization still, yet its efficient in it’s reduced sub-menus.  So, while motoblur is still present on the Droid X the annoying parts have been removed and the good parts left behind to enjoy.  I believe that any further changes, while some would be welcomed, will only further enhance the enduser experience.  They’ve done well here and deserve some credit for the improvements.

CALL & SOUND QUALITY

The reception of the Droid X is extremely good. Verizon’s huge well-spread 3G network obviously helps any phone, but the actual voice quality on the Droid X is some of the best I have tested. It is very clear, and many easily assume it’s a landline (same goes for the HTC Incredible in my testing). I did not drop any calls in my testing, a nice change from my current iPhone 4.

The speakerphone is pretty good as well, and is very loud and clear. Whether on the phone or listening to music/videos, users will be full of smiles over its stunning clarity. Another huge plus with the sound capabilities of the device is in the customizable audio settings within the music player. In my testing, I found that when using an auxiliary cable to play my music in my car, setting the “wired” connections’ audio to “Home Theater” produced an even more impressive soundstage than my iPhone 4. To be able to adjust the soundstage is a very nice touch, and an unexpected one.

PHYSICAL SPECS

The Droid X is very thin, yet very long and narrow.  With dimensions of 5.02” x 2.58” x 0.39” and a weight of 5.47 oz, you’d think it was very heavy just by looking at it.  It is very light in your hands however despite its epic size, and feels lighter than the iPhone 4 despite it not being.  It it feels great in your hand in my opinion. The carved out groove on the back of the phone for the camera, while at first very odd-looking, actually make for a more ergonomic feel in your hand when on a call.  It allows your fingers to rest comfortably there on while talking.  The phone is also in metal housing, so its clearly a solid tank with respect to build quality.   This isn’t your father’s rubberized toy here.  I place it up near the top in terms of build quality for smartphones.

Keyboard

Here is the part I have been waiting for.  The keyboard on the Droid X is what sets it apart from the rest of the field in my opinion.  While it’s your everyday full-touch qwerty, the Droid X was the first device on the market to have the revolutionary Swype text input software pre-installed.  Already boasting a 4.3″ mammoth screen to begin with, which already makes text input with standard methods a great experience, having Swype on top of that would have been akin to handing Babe Ruth a graphite bat.  It’s unfair on top of already being unfair…in a great way for us.

Now, I’m already putting together a piece on Swype by itself, as I think it is the most revolutionary piece of software to hit the mobile arena in a very, very long time, but  Swype’s genius lies in it’s simple creativity.  To enter text with Swype on the Droid X (or any other device soon), you simply place your finger on the first letter of the word you are spelling, and then without taking your finger off the keyboard, swipe your finger back and forth to each letter in the word until you have finished it, then release and begin again with the next word.  The program knows when to put spaces between words, as well as punctuate and capitalize.  You can even add abnormal words and phrases to the self-updating dictionary which learns how you like to type as you go (did I mention that beautiful nugget?  Didn’t think so) like email addresses and more.  lastly, the learning curve is almost non-existent, so anyone can become a pro within mere hours, not days or weeks.  All-in-all, it makes text input MUCH faster, and even more importantly, fun as hell.

BATTERY LIFE

The battery life of the Droid X is in the normal to decent category.  As with any smartphone with specs as nice as the Droid X, and with a screen as big, battery drain tends to be quicker.   The Droid X, while not power-friendly by any means, is still very respectable in the battery life department, provided you know which settings to use for less drain.  I had a couple of task killers set to kill almost everything upon every screen kill, as well as data intervals programmed to turn off data at night, and many other simple fixes available to anyone with an android device.  The problem is that I got good battery life as a result of knowing these things well, while your average user will not, and will probably see some horrible battery life as a result.  So get the rights programs, like Automatic Task Killer, Advanced Task Killer, Tasker, and Widget Locker for battery-saving apps, and play with the settings on your phone.  You want to set your screen to timeout after 30 seconds (no longer than 1 minute) and go into the battery settings in the menu to set data timeout intervals.  After that you’ll be far more happy with your Droid X’s battery life.

FINAL VERDICT

So you already know what’s coming; the Motorola Droid X is a thing of digital beauty.  It’s the king of the smartphone world in my humble opinion, and that’s coming from a longtime iPhone apologist who was rocking an iPhone 4 as of this review.  Motorola and Verizon have hit a grand slam with the Droid X, producing a digital diamond of a smartphone.  If you’re on Verizon, or looking to be, and are in search of a new smartphone, pick one up.  With a huge beautiful screen, plenty of power, a solid metal build, a revolutionary text input method, some much improved software, and great call quality, there’s no competition really.  The Droid X is just techno-awesome in almost every single way.  I will even go as far as saying that testing the Motorola Droid X was the funnest testing experience I have had with a phone since the iPhone 3G was first introduced with its speed improvements.  How awesome on a scale you ask?  Well…its up there at about a ‘I returned my iPhone 4 and kept it’.  In case my review wasn’t clear enough.

REVIEW: Switcheasy ‘Colors’ iPhone 4 Case

So I just received my new Switchesay ‘Colors’ iPhone 4 case in the mail over the weekend, and I must say, I’m impressed.  I’ve always been a fan of Switcheasy cases, having constantly rocked the company’s ‘Capsule Neo’ in white for my iPhone 3GS over the past year.  It just seems as if they are made with the enduser in mind, stressing quality with an “what would I like to use” mentality, and not simply that ‘rush-to-market’ approach so often seen with many other iPhone cases and accessories.  Here are some of the highlights.

Pros:   The ‘Colors’ case is as simple as it is aesthetically pleasant.  Made of a silicone, it does not have that overly sticky feel to it like most other silicone cases do.  It actually feels like a thicker/stronger silicone (almost akin to a hard case), with good grip to it while still feeling somewhat smooth at the same time.  I was even able to insert/remove the case from a holster with relative ease, much to my surprise.  I ordered mine in “Stealth”, an all black variant (more colors available on their site) with the red award-winning “Jelly Bean” button.  This signature hard resin coated button sits over where the home button resides, and is raised with a distinct thickness to it to enhance its tactility.

Extras with the case in the packaging include a microfiber cloth, two silicone inserts for both the charging port and the headphone jack (4 in all) if you want to prevent that pesky dust from getting in, and two anti-static screen protectors with corresponding installation squeegee.

Cons:   None that I can find…seriously.

There are more cases for the iPhone 4 on the way from Switcheasy, and they’ll certainly not disappoint based on my experience, but if you’re itching for a silicone case now, the $14.99 price with all of its quality and extras just cannot be beat when it comes to the Switcheasy ‘Colors’ case for the iPhone 4.

LOOK: Switcheasy

The Droid R2-D2 (Droid 2 Special Edition) To Launch 9/30

Heavens R2, here’s your phone.  All joking aside, this is actually legit.  Android Central was lucky enough to get a few snapshots from some Star Wars fans at the Star Wars Convention in Orlando, FL today, and boy are they eyebrow-raising.  The rumors of a Droid 2 Special Edition, dubbed R2-D2 (those clever buggers) will be brought to frution.  The Droid R2-D2 will launch on September 30th, and will carry the same $199 after MIR pricepoint of the current Droid 2.  It will have clearly distinguishable aesthetics, and should excite the long dormant Star Wars Fan demographic so many have yet to fully capitalize on.  Whether or not it will sell like hotcakes is anyones guess.  Check out more shots below.

VIA  Android Central

Android OS is Now #1 in Sales in US

You can pick yourself up off that floor RIM and iPhone fans, and I’m sorry, but the news is true.  According to research firm NPD Group, after the 2nd quarter of smartphone sales has been officially put in the books, devices running the Android OS outsold everyone else, including the iPhone and even the long-running king RIM.

NPD claims that for Q2 sales, Android OS devices accounted for 33% of smartphones sold in the US, with Blackberry devices from RIM coming in 2nd at 28% and Apple’s iPhone placing a respectable third with 22% of sales.  This is truly joyous news for the upstart Android OS, as it’s meteoric rise in the smartphone world seems to continue gaining steam every day without showing any signs of slowing down, and it hasn’t even been around for that long.  In geek-speak, Android’s success thus far is nothing short of absolutely staggering.  To put it in context, it was only a few months ago this May that NPD released it’s numbers for smartphone OS sales after Q1 ended, and Android had only just edged ahead of Apple for the first time, remaining “still well behind RIM’s BlackBerry OS” at that point according to NPD.  Now it owns the podium.

Now I’m betting Q3 will have much better results for Apple, as the launch of the iPhone 4 and its strong sales will continue to pad the Q3 sales totals, but will it be enough to retake Android with the insanely strong momentum it already has?  Only time will tell.

VIA Engadget

SOURCE NPD Group

Create Your Own Digital Newspaper

Are you one of those not-so-tech-savvy people who loves to stay on top of the news, yet feels your local paper newspaper just can’t deliver what you desire daily anymore?  You’re not alone.  As the world around us continues to evolve into a global community, many of us are left wanting more for our news fix to stay informed.  The question is where to go to get more news of our choosing?  Well, more and more people are simply turning to the internet.  As it turns out, there is an easy online digital solution for free that will release the shackles of print media once and for all, all the while providing you with more content than you could ever imagine.  It’s called “Google Homepage”; your very own customized online digital newspaper.

Google Homepage is just one of many tools known as “RSS Feed Aggregators”. “RSS”, funny enough, stands for “Really Simple Syndication”.  Sounds newsy right? Syndication?  That’s because it is.  The technology was setup specifically to be able to stream news content, known as “feeds”, from any website or blog, and for that “feed” to refresh itself in live streaming fashion.  When new stories, articles or blog posts are submitted by a provider, they update in real time within the RSS feed aggregator (the tool that collects and pools the feeds in one location for you), and anyone who subscribes to said news providers, or “feed(s)”, sees that new content immediately. Pretty simple concept, and a very cool and useful one at that.

Now there are many RSS feed programs and software out there which will pool the feeds you choose into one page for you.  Many are free, and many others charge money for more features, etc.  I use the “Google Homepage” for my personal digital news needs, as its not only free, but lays the content out in simple fashion and lends itself to complete personal customization.  I can change the theme of the page, the news providers on the page, how many feeds for each provider to show at any time, and even sort them into separate “tabs” for different genres of news.  For example, I have a news tab, a technology tab (of course), and a sports tab, each containing numerous news providers and respective feeds within them.  These three tabs of different news genres make up my personal Google Homepage.  Here, I will teach you how to create your very own online Google Homepage with the content of your choosing, for FREE!

So how do you start your own Google Homepage?  Well, step one is to create your own google account.  It’s as simple as heading to www.google.com/ig and selecting the “Sign in or Create an account’ option on the left side.  This will bring you to the sign in page, for which you select the “create an account” option and follow the steps to setup your new google account.  Keep in mind that this is absolutely free, and you can even get a free email (Gmail) account as well.

Once you have setup your google account, you can then start choosing and editing your own content.  With every new Homepage, Google provides some basic feeds already.  They give you a weather feed for your location, as well as a standard calendar widget, a youtube feed, etc.  You can remove these if they are not to your liking at anytime.  To remove any feed or widget, simply hover the cursor over the top of that feed and some menu icons appear.  You can either delete it or edit the settings for it there within the dropdown box field.

In order to add new feeds, simply click the “Add Stuff” link near the top right of your page.  This will bring you into the content section of google homepage.  You can search for specific sites you like for their feeds to add, or search the lists provided by google broken down into different genres.  There will always be an “Add it now” icon for each feed, which will instantly add that feed to your google homepage.  You can also add feeds not found in said lists.  If a feed you are looking for does not appear within google’s list, simply go to that site and there should be link to that page’s RSS Feed.  You copy that address for the feed, go back and paste it within the “add feed or gadget” field found on the “add stuff” content page.

Remember also that you can create separate tabs for whatever different sections or genres of news you would like.  If you’re into technology, or sports, or even basket weaving, simply click the dropdown arrow t the right of the “Home” link on the left side, and there is an option to “add a tab”.

Once you have selected your feeds and placed them into their respective tabs within your new google homepage, it is time to customize the aesthetics.  There are a few things you can now do to the look of the homepage and tabs.  You can move the feeds around on each tab-page to whatever layout you like by simply dragging the feed to the desired location of the page.  You can also select the number of articles of each feed you prefer within the settings of each feed (between 1-9).  Lastly, you can choose a new theme for each tab if you would like to.  This will simply change the color scheme to something of your choosing, as well as give you new google homepage it’s own personal touch to make it yours even further.  Click on my very own personal “Tech” tab screenshot here for a larger view and better frame of reference:

And voila’, you’re done!  You now have your very own personally tailored, online digital newspaper via Google Homepage for free.  Just be sure to add Digital Landing to your feeds of course.

HTC ‘Droid Incredible’ Review

Since the HTC Droid Incredible has hit the market, Verizon has been at a loss to keep up with the orders inundating them on a daily basis.  The wait times for new Droid Incredibles now stands at over a month before shipment.  Clearly, Verizon and HTC have hit a homerun here.  Without beating around the bush, the moniker of the device absolutely lives up to its name.

HARDWARE

At the heart of the Droid Incredible you’ll find a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU (extremely powerful).  It’s also packing 8GB of on-board internal storage, 512MB of ROM & 512MB of RAM, a microSD slot (with support for up to 32GB cards), an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and autofocus, a 480 x 800 WVGA AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 4 dedicated capacitive touch buttons and a trackpad, and most importantly, the Android 2.1 OS with HTC’s upgraded Sense UI. To state the obvious, the hardware on the Droid Incredible is some of the most advanced on the entire smartphone market to date with all things taken into account.

DISPLAY

As mentioned above, the Droid Incredible has an absolutely gorgeous, 480×800, 3.7inch WVGA AMOLED display. Whether you’re watching video, surfing the web, or simply checking your email, the user experience is an absolute visual pleasure. Photos render beautifully, video is seamless, and the real estate of the screen, while not as big as the EVO 4G (nothing is), makes web surfing a truly pleasurable experience.  Now, the news isn’t all perfect.  There are reported color saturation issues with both the Nexus One and Droid Incredible, with some coloring appearing not as accurate as it should be.  In the end however, the problem is minimal at best, and truly only an issue for the most serious of the tech-savvy out there.  Your everyday user will never even notice, nor care in the end, as the color rendering is still some of the most beautiful on any device out there.

CAMERA

While some devices pack high megapixel sensors, when it comes to smartphones picture quality, the megapixels don’t always add up to those of a standard point and shoot.  My personal rule of thumb with cellular camera sensors is to divide the megapixels in half.  That is usually the quality you end up with in the pictures you take.  The Droid Incredible is no different, but still happens to be heads above the competition.  In fact, one of the nicest features of the Droid Incredible happens to be the camera.  Packing a whopping 8 megapixel sensor with dual LED flash and video recording capability, its performance is the best of any smartphone to date.   Pictures render extremely well.  There were no real color oversaturation issues, soft/blurred corners, or spots within my test shots (below).  Daytime was particularly a pleasure, obviously rendering the best results by far, and truly beautiful images overall.  The video was acceptable, with 2 shooting modes of either 640×480 or 800×480.  HD video lacking here is certainly a drawback, but not the end of the world.  Video came out decent enough in testing.  No smartphone will replace a point and shoot camera, and the same goes for video recording.  A handheld camcorder is still king.  However, for casual shooting, the Droid Incredible was fantastic for pictures, and more than acceptable for casual video as well.

(640×480)

(800×480)

USER INTERFACE & OPERATING SYSTEM

Here are the bread and butter of the device. Since its inception, the UI and OS of android devices have certainly had their bumps and bruises. While providing a decent intuitive experience similar to that of the iPhone in many ways, limitations were always present and very frustrating to say the least.  With the Droid Incredible however, we finally seem to see android performing at its truly intended level.  Sure, the 1GHz Snapdragon processor (twice as powerful as the iPhone 3GS and current Motorola Droid) helps quite a bit here, but HTC’s Sense UI has been thoroughly polished as well, providing a seamless synergy of UI navigation and OS functionality.  The absolute simplicity of navigating the menu system combined with the aesthetically upgraded UI provides the end user with a simple, visually pleasing experience.  All clearly touch-based, it makes simple tasks a very fun and more importantly, effortless, thing to do.

HTC has masterfully managed to clean up the kinks of the previous OS 2.0, simplify many things within the UI, and add their personal touch to the OS making the enduser experience a thousand times more enjoyable than previous android iterations.  Little things that make a huge difference have been implemented in OS 2.1.  Navigation is cleaned up (which wasn’t bad to begin with) with less mistakes; multiple homescreens (7 in all) have been allocated for all of your widget/miscellaneous needs, which is more than enough; and UI navigational speed was very fast and responsive.

CALL & SOUND QUALITY

The reception of the Droid Incredible is nothing short of fantastic. Being on Verizon’s huge well-spread 3G network is clearly a bonus, but the actual voice quality on the Incredible is quite simply some of the best I have tested to date.  It is so clear that many easily assume it’s a landline (I know, you’ve heard that one before, but it’s true).  The speakerphone is another pleasant surprise.  It is also very loud and clear (actually one of the nicest surprises of all), being the best speakerphone I have ever tested.  Whether on the phone or listening to music/videos, users will be full of smiles over its stunning clarity.

So as not to gloss over the negatives however, the first batch of Droid Incredibles did have a serious issue with fluctuating signal bars on the top of the screen.  The good news is that it was s simple fix.  Within days of release Google, HTC and Verizon quickly fixed the software bug with an OTA update pushed right to all devices and all seems to be fine now.  No calls were dropped in testing, and callers said I sounded clear as a bell on their end.  So in the end, I would rank the Droid Incredible in the “excellent” category by anyone’s measure of call and voice quality.

PHYSICAL SPECS

The Droid Incredible is relatively thin, on par with the width and length of the iPhone 3GS and Nexus One, with dimensions of 4.64” x 2.3” x 0.47” and a weight of 4.59 oz, but it feels much lighter and better in your hand than the others in my opinion. The carved out grooves on the back of the phone, while at first somewhat funky looking, actually make for a more ergonomic feel in your hand(s).  The grooves seem engineered for a great hold while in landscape mode for texting/emailing/gaming, as when doing so the device sits flush with how your fingers normally rest on the back of any phone.  The grooved edge on the upper corner also makes it sit nicely in your single hand while you talk as well.  The back is also made of a somewhat rubberized material in all black, which feels great in your hands.  I find it better than the plain plastic backing on some other phones.

STOCK SOFTWARE

GPS

The GPS on the Droid Incredible is very good, and one of and its main selling points (just like every other android device).  With Google’s built-in google maps GPS software providing live updating turn-by-turn navigation added to the device free of charge (something iPhone users like myself had to pay a pretty penny for), there really isn’t any negative to correct here.  It works extremely well, is vastly upgraded from previous OS versions, and has plenty of features to make it fun and versatile to use.  A great move and addition by our Google overlords.

Voice Recognition

The voice recognition software within android and the HTC Droid Incredible is another major positive.  While in many (almost all) menus, messaging screens and apps, there is the option to utilize the device’s speech-to-text functionality.  As with all devices you must speak clearly, and some mistakes will still be made regardless, but it is very good overall at typing what you tell it to.  Let’s try to remember, other devices do not offer a similar feature.  Another great addition to the stock software.

Virtual Keyboard

The Droid Incredible has the usual spelling correction capabilities built-in for quicker typing if mistakes are made, but the screen size presents a more-than-usual squeezed-in nature of the keys when in portrait mode.  Landscape mode is far easier and superior for typing but is still not available in all screens or for some applications, which can decrease productivity in a hurry.  Overall however, I found the keyboard to be much improved upon compared to earlier android versions, and with its higher resolution and more processor power, the Droid Incredible keyboard gets a much needed pass here.  Typing was quick, responsive and visually more pleasant.  Lastly, optional haptic feedback is also present, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Web Browser

While you can certainly go with an alternate engine for your browsing needs, like the amazing Dolphin HD browser for android (available in the market), browsing on the Droid Incredible is still utterly fantastic with the stock browser.  It loads pages faster than any device I have tested to date, is visually stunning on the AMOLED high-res display, and even keeps all text reformatted when zooming (no blur afterward), to make reading Digital Landing constantly on the device extremely enjoyable.  Equipped with flash lite (full flash to be introduced with the impending 2.2 OS release) it’s already far more functional than competitor’s offerings (we’re looking at you Apple).  To be fair though, flash lite still has a lot to be desired as sometimes video just doesn’t play, so the final verdict of “amazing” is reserved for when OS 2.2 (‘Froyo’) is released with its full flash brother.

BATTERY LIFE

The battery life of new devices such as the Droid Incredible is always a concern.  With more features, bigger and higher resolution screens, and a constant consumer thirst for a more rich browsing experience, the battery life seems to take more of a toll with each new device release.  The Droid Incredible however, while no power-sipping life extender by any means, performed reasonably well compared to some other devices (cough-iPhone 3GS-cough). The usage patterns of users will dictate different results accordingly, but in my testing I was able to make it through each day with some decent phone usage, and a good amount of web surfing, email checking, and video/music enjoyment.  I wasn’t putting the device through the ringers of course, so heavier users will probably need a car charger handy for the end of the day.  Overall I found the battery life of the Incredible to be pretty decent.

FINAL VERDICT

So I’ll make this one somewhat quick; the HTC Droid Incredible happens to not only live up to its moniker, but arguably surpass it as well.  It is my opinion that it is not only the top android device, but the top smartphone on the entire cellular market right now, on any network.  Yes, it’s that good.  HTC and Verizon have hit on all cylinders with the Droid Incredible, producing an extremely fast, fully functional, workhorse of a smartphone, with a beautiful display and excellent call quality.  If you’re on Verizon, or looking to be, and are in search of a new smartphone to buy or upgrade to, look no further.  By conservative standards, it safely blows all prior android devices out of the water.  I’m just scared (in a good way) to think of how much more capable and fast it will be once the new android 2.2 OS is released for it with full flash.

iPhone 4 Immediately Jailbroken by ‘He Who Must Be Named’

Well that didn’t take long.  Our favorite iPhone hacker-extraordinaire, Geohot, has once again done the incredible.  He has successfully jailbroken the new iOS 4 on his iPhone 4.  Now, before you go tweeting/emailing him up a storm asking when an official software release will be available, I would think twice.  Apparently he has already been inundated with requests, and is a bit annoyed with them at this point.  Suffice it to say he would rather not receive any more. From his latest blog entry:

“Got one of these in the mail today and figured I’d give it a shot.

As far as a release goes, it probably won’t happen from me. limera1n is little more than a raindrop on a website; it was never mentioned by me previous to this post. pwned4life is a complete invention of some blogger in a basement somewhere. When I said pwned for life, I was referring to the original iPhone, 3G, and Touch; which of course are, by the aptly named PwnageTool.

Again, please don’t ask for release dates. Every person that does makes me want to release a little bit less.”

So, there you have it. Let’s wait and hope he has some happy days ahead and decides to release the rumored limera1n in the near future, or that someone picks up where he leaves off should he decide not to continue. In either event, we know it can be done now, and that it didn’t take him much time whatsoever to do so.  Then again, this is Geohot we’re talking about here.

VIA Redmond Pie, On The iPhone

iPhone 4 Class Action-Palooza!

It has now been reported that multiple class action lawsuits have been filed against both Apple, Inc. and AT&T, Inc. regarding the reception issues plaguing the iPhone 4.  The first came yesterday courtesy of two people from Maryland who began the festivities.  Then today another two disgruntled early adopters decided to join forces, one from Massachusetts and the other from New Jersey, in filing their own class action fun.

The alleged claims cover a wide range of grasps at monetary satisfaction, I mean legal infractions, including:

1. General Negligence
2. Defect in Design, Manufacture, and Assembly
3. Breach of Express Warranty
4. Breach of Implied Warranty for Merchantability
5. Breach of Implied Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose
6. Deceptive Trade Practices
7. Intentional Misrepresentation
8. Negligent Misrepresentation
9. Fraud by Concealment

So, while it’ll be quite a while before any of this actually shakes out, it’s interesting nonetheless.  Being so early on near launch, it’s tough to think of why people can’t just return the devices for a full refund, and either wait for the issues to be resolved or switch to a device that works to their liking, but why bother with that logic-y-esque stuff.  Let’s just file a lawsuit to make Apple MAKE it work to our liking!  It’s as American as apple pie in the end.  Happy 4th everyone!

VIA: ArsTechnica,  BoyGeniusReport