APPLE IPAD 2 – SLIMMER, LIGHTER AND SO MUCH BETTER

A new Apple is ripe for the picking this season and sure enough, techies are already looking to grab a bite. Even Snow White would find the new Apple iPad 2 hard to resist and who can blame her, especially when this device is 33 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than its predecessor. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; iPad 2 now runs on a more powerful dual-core A4 processor and a battery that can last up to 10 hours. It retained its previous 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen but two new distinctive front and rear mounted cameras were added. Yes, you know what that means – FaceTime. The front VGA camera allows iPad 2 users to make FaceTime video calls to millions of iPhone 4, iPod touch and Mac owners. The rear camera on the other hand can capture 720p HD video.

This Apple tablet operates on iOS 4.3, mobile operating system that features an improved Safari mobile browser, new iTunes Home Sharing, AirPlay enhancements, and Personal Hotspot for Wi-Fi sharing. Other noteworthy features include an integrated gyro for enhanced gaming experience, HSUPA support for faster 3G upload speeds, and HDMI Video Mirroring for duplicating the iPad screen on an HDTV via an adaptor.

Even before the new iPad 2 is released to the market there are already accessories and apps awaiting its arrival. One such is the iPad 2 Smart Cover that protects iPad screen while keeping its thin and lightweight profile. Two new apps from Apple where also introduced in time for the launching of their new product: the iMovie for video editing and publishing and GarageBand for turning the tablet into a one-man band and recording studio.

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SPEEDLINK CUE WIRELESS MULTITOUCH MOUSE – FINGER NAVIGATION

Here’s a computer mouse that’s more than a mouse – the new Speedlink CUE Wireless Multitouch Mouse. When others are still relying on track balls, infrared, and laser sensors, Speedlink CUE Wireless Multitouch Mouse lets users navigate and control their computers by just the movement and swipe of their fingers courtesy of its advanced built-in multi-touch technology. Say goodbye to mechanical buttons and scroll wheel, the stylish outer shell of this gadget uses high-precision touch sensitive sensors that read finger movements and convert them into navigational or action commands. Scrolling documents, browsing images, or surfing the web can be done by just simply swiping the mouse. Movements and response can be customized by using the included apps.

Speedlink CUE Wireless Multitouch Mouse is available in black, white, silver, and red, and comes in a timeless, plain, rounded and compact design with piano lacquered finish. The wireless design allows greater freedom of movement and does away with tangled cables and wires. This device supports Win XP (32-Bit), Win Vista (32-Bit), Win Vista (64-Bit), Windows 7 (32-Bit), and Windows 7 (64-Bit) operating system.

Other noteworthy features are:

• High precision 1000dpi optical sensor
• 8 meter range powered by 2.4GHz wireless technology
• Super-compact nano receiver
• Auto Smartlink connection for fast and easy installation
• Power-saving mode and On/Off switch that extends battery life
• Ambidextrous design that’s suitable for left or right-handed users

Package includes two (non-rechargeable) AAA batteries, one nano USB receiver, one short, multilingual installation guide and one mini CD with the driver software in the package.

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DISCOVERY STAR THEATER – LETS YOUR KIDS VIEW THE NIGHT SKY INSIDE THEIR ROOM

Are you and your kids fond of watching the night sky? Star gazing is actually one of the most fun times that you and your kids can bond with. And so if the weather happens to be favorable for a star gazing night, then make sure that you and your family take advantage of it. But what if the weather won’t cooperate and your little ones are bugging you with a supposedly fun star gazing activity? You can easily explain to them why you can’t do so if it’s the first, second, or third time. But if it’s already on the fourth, for sure they’ll never buy your excuse again. So why not bring the night sky into their rooms instead? The solution – the Discovery Star Theater.

Designed to project a display of stars, the Discovery Star Theater lets you view the night sky from a new perspective. Take your kids into a 3D virtual tour and they will sure be amazed with the parade of stars and other celestial objects that they will be able to see on the ceilings or on the walls. No more crying when the weather is not good outside. With the Discovery Star Theater, you and your kids can very much have fun star gazing even indoors. But why not add some educational twists on that activity? Since the names of the stars are also reflected on the ceilings or walls, you can teach your kids about them, thus they gain knowledge at the same time. Cool, eh!

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SMART CONTROL PS3 UNIVERSAL REMOTE – CONTROL SIX DIFFERENT AV DEVICES

One problem geek collectors like you usually face is, you are often mistaken as to which remote is for your HD TV and which one is for your Blu-ray disc player or other devices. Don’t let that happen to you again! How? By getting a Smart Control PS3 Universal Remote. 

With this, you no longer need to choose from a handful of remotes and Bluetooth controller just to make adjustments to one of your AV gadgets or to flip through your AV channels. This device is compatible with your HDTV, DVD player, Blu-ray disc playerm iPod docks, DV3, mp3 players, Play Station2, and XBOX 360.

The process of setting up this remote is no-brainer. With just three simple processes, you can bring this stylish remote to life and you can have control over six individual AV devices. This remote also fully integrates with your PS3 so you can have absolute control over your home entertainment system. It also lets you switch off your PS3 with its one-touch power-off button. The said remote requires 4 AAA batteries while its adapter needs 2 AA batteries.

For more information about the Smart Control PS3 Universal Remote, check out its features:

• Learning remote: add any features from your existing remote
• OneForAll SimpleSet – 3 steps to setup your brand
• Smart Control – Contol your PS3 and your entire home entertainment system as if they were one device
• One Touch Power Off – Just one keypress to turn off your PS3
• Wireless – Battery powered for easy placement.

Technical Specifications:

• Battery life: 12 months approx
• Number of keys: 52
• IR range: ~ up to 20mtrs, Bluetooth range up to 10 mtrs
• IR frequency: 0-455khz, Bluetooth Frequency +/- 2.4GHz
• Language support: Eng, Ger, Fra 

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EXPERIENCE SUPERIOR SOUND, MAXIMUM COMFORT, AND STABILITY WITH PHILIPS HEADBAND HEADPHONES

When on the go, nothing beats the superior sound that the Philips Headband Headphones provides. Designed with 40mm studio-grade speakers that are made only from composite mylar material, you can expect nothing but detailed sound, less the audible distortion. So even if you are on a crowded and noisy street, you can still enjoy the music that’s being played on your device. Not only that, this gadget is also featured with neodymium magnet to enhance bass performance and sensitivity. 

Philips knows that neodymium is the best material to use if they want to produce a strong magnetic field for greater sensitivity in a voice coil. And so, with this material on their product, they are able to achieve better bass response and higher overall sound quality that consumers expect from a Philips product.

 But the Philips Headband Headphones is not just all about superior sound, it’s about maximum comfort and stability too. This slim, lightweight stainless steel headband is made to be so light that you’d hardly feel you are even wearing one. This is just perfect for those who are always on the go. And since it features a FloatingCushion design that allows auto-adjustment of earshells combined with super-soft ear cushions, you will never complain about any pain in your ears even if you use it for hours. You can even put it anywhere you want, too. The 1.2m long cable provides you the freedom to do so, while the 24k gold-plated plug ensures that you have reliable connection even if you position it anywhere.

 

So experience superior sound, maximum comfort, and stability only with Philips Headband Headphones. 

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LOGITECH SPEAKER SYSTEM Z906 DELIVERS THEATER - QUALITY SURROUND SOUND

If you’re yearning for theater-quality surround sound for your music, movies, and games, the Logitech Speaker System Z906 is for you! This is a THX-certified system that allows you to hear every detail all around you. The said speaker system includes 500-watt, THX-certified speakers with 5.1 digital decoding. These speakers will provide thunderous audio that will sure shake not just your house but your whole neighborhood! It comes with stackable design so it can easily fit in with your current home entertainment system.

The Logitech Speaker System Z906 is user-friendly, thanks to its easy-to-read console that allows you to turn the power on and off, change the volume on all your speakers, set inputs, and a lot more. It’s ported, side-firing subwoofer that delivers 165 watts of deep bass breathes life to your movies, music, and games. With its surround sound with 3D stereo, your speakers are made capable of converting two-channel stereo into an immersive surround sound experience. Want more? These speakers are THX-certified, which means, they have met strict performance standards to get such certification.

The Z906 speaker system also features digital and analog inputs that provide users with flexibility to set up a system the way they want it. You can even connect up to six audio sources such as Blu-ray DVD player, TV, iPod, PlayStation3, Xbox 360, PC, and more. To give you control over your listening experience, the speaker system comes with a wireless remote. You can also transform your quiet room into a home theater, thanks to the system’s wall-mounted satellite. Take your listening experience to a whole new level.

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KITSOUND DUO SPEAKER – THE HEAVY METAL MINI SPEAKER

Mini speakers are portable sound system with only about an inch woofers made to feed on limited amount of voltage supplied by a USB port, or a single or set of batteries. With their small design, people really can’t expect much from them especially from the bass side. An equally portable subwoofer can be added to enhance the sound quality but that would just add to the cable clutter and baggage – defeating the purpose of getting a mini speaker on the first place. There are probably thousands of mini portable speakers out there that are made to pair with your favorite mobile music devices and computers, but much to the customer’s dismay, only few meet the audio quality yearned for by discerning ears.

The successes of mini-speakers from well-known manufacturers like Altec Lansing, Creative, Sony and X-Mini prove that limited size is not an engineering problem. Yes, with the technology today, size shouldn’t be a barrier to great sounding speakers and the new KitSound Stereo Portable Mini Speaker is another proof of that. This metallic dual-speakers start off where other mini speakers fail – in sound quality, portability and style.

The Kitsound Duo Speaker comes in two halves of a cylinder with metallic finish. The dual cylinder stereo speakers are magnetized and can be combined into a single unit for better portability. The speakers are recharged thru a USB port using a multi-functional splitter cable. The other end of the cables goes into a free USB port and the other ends with a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The nitty-gritty hardware specs are as follows:

• AMP Freq Range: 180Hz~20KHz
• Signal-to-noise ration: > 80dB
• Speaker: 4 ohm
• Line Input: 3.5 mm
• Charging Time: about 3 Hours
• Rating Power: 2W+2W
• Power Input: Mini USB

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HTC THUNDERBOLT REVIEW

The HTC Thunderbolt just released, so we just had to get one to open up and peer into. Before watching the video, here’s a few things worth noting about the Thunderbolt:

• It runs Android 2.2, not 3.0
• The display is 4.3″ and 800×480. In the video below, I incorrectly stated it’s 4″
• The Thunderbolt runs on Verizon’s 4G LTE network
• The camera on the back is 8MP, not 5MP. Once again, I incorrectly stated the latter
• Like the HTC Wildfire, the Thunderbolt has an FM radio. It also requires a headset to use as an antenna

The HTC Thunderbolt doesn’t feel unique to other 4.3″ handsets, except for it’s bulk. It feels heavier, though the screen does feel smaller, which is perhaps why I thought it was a 4″ display at first glance. After about an hour of playing around with the Thunderbolt, I do have a few cool things to share.

First, updates to HTC’s Touchsense software (the overlay for Android) has some significant improvements over prior phones. It’s still fast, but now includes a list of open apps currently running on the drop-down menu. Users can easily scroll through and pick any recent app, almost like you would by double-clicking the home button on the iPhone.

Next is the Flashlight app. This is built into the Thunderbolt, and if it’s not new, my sincerest apologies. Flashlight doesn’t use the display as a light (by making the screen completely white and at max brightness), but instead uses the twin LED flash for the camera as, quite literally, a flashlight. It’s a neat little trick that is infinitely better because the app ships with the phone.

I did have the misfortune of using the Thunderbolt out in the sun first, before indoors, and the screen was harder to read than my iPhone 3GS. Using a standard LCD display, this is surprising. More recent devices tested, including HTC’s own HD7, were much easier to use in direct sunlight. But I’ll have to conduct further testing to confirm.

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IPOD TOUCH 4 REVIEW

Apple CEO has announced 4th generation of iPod Touch – iPod Touch 4. The iPod touch 4 is the latest version of Apple’s handheld computer with new features, such as the speedy A4 processor, front and rear cameras, iOS 4.1, FaceTime video chat, and a high resolution Retina display. 

The iPod touch 4 is beautifully designed, as all Apple products are, with sleek lines and modern details. The front of the device seems to be all screen, because it is all black. Being only 4.4-inch height, 2.3-inch width, 0.23-inch depth and 101 grams weight, the fourth iPod touch is basically razor-sharp version of iPhone 4.

The iPod touch 4th generation will have iOS 4.1. However, future updates for touch will likely not be free whereas iPhone 4 will definitely get ‘patches’ and major iOS as free download. For Display is 3.5 inches diagonally long and sure enough it’s touch-screen with 960×640 pixel resolution AND Retina screen just like iPhone. Basically, you can double the size of the current resolution of the iPod Touch, and the screen can still support it.

The main camera iPod 4 is found on the back upper left corner with a microphone opening adjacent to the camera lens. The rear-facing camera will record 720p video at 30 frames per second, but only manages still images of 720 x 960 pixels—that’s a measly 0.69 megapixels. With back camera you will be able to do 720p HD recording with up to 30fps and also take 920×720 pictures. There’s no LED flash for low-light stills or video.

The new iPod touch 4th comes with Calendar, Contacts, and Notes built in. The device also has features Weather, Maps, Calculator, Clock, Voice Memo apps, YouTube, and FaceTime. if you want to add more music, video, and apps, you’ll find the iTunes Store and the App Store in this device. The iPod touch is currently available in 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities. 

Specifications and features of the iPod touch 4th generation :

* Apple A4 1GHz processor
* 3.5 inch LED with 960×640 pixel resolution display
* 8GB, 32GB, or 64GB internal flash memory capacity
* HD Video camera capable of taking high quality snapshots and recording 720p video,  960×720 pixels, up to 30 frames per second with AAC audio
* Internal mic for voice recording and VoIP calls
* 3.5mm headset jack
* 3-axis gyro, accelerometer, and light sensor
* 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.248 inches and 3.56 ounces
* Wi-Fi b/g/n support, bluetooth 2.1+EDR
* Battery time: 40 Hours of Audio playback, 7 Hours of video playback
* Pre-installed with iOS 4.1

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SAMSUNG GALAXY S2 I9200 REVIEW

When the Samsung Galaxy S has yet to launch in the USA, there are already rumors, Samsung will be more updated and feature-filled bigger brother to the Galaxy S called the Galaxy S2. The Samsung Galaxy S is a fantastic smartphone that has not long been out. the Galaxy S I9200 smartphone has a super-slim form factor and massive 4.3-inch screen with a super resolution of 1280×720 – which would make it the most pixel-packed mobile on the market.

The new Samsung Galaxy S2 I9200 seems to be a real iPhone 4 competitor and, from the looks of it, the new Galaxy version will be the hottest Android phone in town. the Samsung Galaxy S2 will feature a 2GHz processor,1 GB RAM and 4 GB ROM and will come with Google Android 3.0 Gingerbread. Other rumored specifications include a 32GB of built in storage, plus a microSD card slot with a 32GB card and an 8 megapixel camera with the ability to record FullHD video in 1080p.

The Galaxy S2 is said to sport a big 4.3 inch 1280×720 Super AMOLED display giving it around 340 pixel per inch, certainly comparable to Apple’s Retina Display and also will be come with a Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi b/g/n, GPS, a gryoscope, an accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors thrown in for good measure.

There’s no way to confirm all of the above at this point but we can assume that most Android smartphone manufacturers will have similar devices at some point in 2011. This Samsung Galaxy S2 will be launched at middle year 2011.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Specifications

* 4.3-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display

* 1,280 x 720 resolution, 340 pixels per inch

* 2GHz processor

* 1GB of RAM

* 4GB of ROM

* 32GB flash storage

* microSD support

* 8-megapixel camera

* 720p and 1080p full HD video recording

* Wi-Fi b/g/n

* Bluetooth 3.0

* AGPS

* Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity and ambient light sensors

* Android 3.0 Gingerbread.

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CASIO WATCH REVIEW

The New Casio G-Shock GW3500B-1A

Self-Charging, Tough Solar Power - A tiny, solar panel combined with a large-capacity rechargeable battery enables a variety of energy-hungry functions to operate smoothly. The result is an impressive solar timepiece that assures reliable timekeeping and greatly reduces the need for battery change.

Self-Adjusting Multi-Band 6 Atomic Timekeeping - Compatible with all six transmission stations worldwide, Multi-Band 6 is the world’s first radio-control system built to receive time calibration signals from up to six transmission stations: two in Japan and one each in North America, the United Kingdom and Germany, plus the new station in China. Through a miniaturized, shock-resistant, highly sensitive amorphous antenna and large-capacity, power-saving LSI, stable operation of watch functions including 6-station radio wave reception is achieved. With Casio’s Atomic Timekeeping Technology, you will always have ultimate precision.

Tough Movement - Auto-Hand location technology automatically checks and adjusts hand positioning at fifty-five minutes after every hour. By employing an LED to detect hand-gear positioning versus internal time counter, the watch can detect any inconsistency and correct itself even if the hands are displaced by magnetic force or shock.

Additional G-Aviation features include large side buttons for increased operability, Shock Resistance, 200M Water Resistance, Full Auto LED Light, 48 City World Time + UTC, 1/100 Second Chronograph, Countdown Timer and 4 Daily Alarms and 1 Snooze Alarm for unmatched functionality.

The New Casio EFA120D-1AV

They know that you have a classic sense of style; you know there’s much more to the watch on your wrist. With its analog digital combination you can see the time in up to 2 time zones and the world time feature means you’ll never have to guess the time difference between your location and home. Add in a thermometer and dual stopwatches and this watch can go from work to play while keeping you in style.

 

The New Casio MTP4500D-1AV

The timeless style of a 3-hand analog, combined with the sophisticated look of a multi-dial watch. The 1 second chronograph gives you stopwatch functionality, without the need for a digital display.

 

The New Casio MRP701 Series

 Want to know if it’s high tide or low tide, a full moon or a half moon? Keep in touch with mother nature while still having a sense of style. Add in the analog digital combination, dual time capability, stopwatch, multi-function alarms and a 10-year battery and this watch is truly one you can take with you everywhere.

 

The New Casio EF304 Series

 

The timeless style of a 3-hand analog, combined with the sophisticated look of a multi-dial watch. The 3 dials display day, date and hour so there’s no need to search for a calendar.

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SAMSUNG GALAXY PLAYER 50 REVIEW

Samsung Galaxy Player 50: Simple, Easy and User Friendly

The Galaxy Player is Samsung’s spanking new, Android-packing PMP, taking its cue from its bigger bros, the Galaxy S smartphone and the best-selling Galaxy Tab. It’s clearly got the Archos 32 in its sights, but how does it stack up against Apple’s iPod touch? And is a PMP really a viable, go-to gadget when so many phones, including Sammy’s own, can handle music just as well, if not better?

Where the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab both scream class, it’s clear from the off that the Galaxy Player is aimed at punters who like looking after their pennies. The white plastic design brings to mind Sammy’s older media players, hardly a ringing endorsement. But that’s not to say this is a device lacking the necessary smarts.

The music player is sleek, functional and easy to navigate, with well-crafted auto playlists, including most played, recently added and recently played, helping you get to the tracks you want in snappy fashion from the start up screen. Best of all, the bundled buds aren’t a total disgrace, giving the Galaxy Player a real edge on its Apple and Archos competitors. These in-ear efforts offer up reassuringly hefty bass and pick out detail admirably considering they come free in the box.

The screen, at 3.2 inches, is ample for video snacking and with the brightness cranked up to 11 churns out a slick image which is every bit as good as that found on comparable smartphones. That said, it can’t match the iPod touch’s Retina Display and if you’re after a PMP for extended video sessions, you might want something with a more capacious panel.

Samsung Galaxy Player 50: Android

Android appears here in its 2.1 incarnation, now gazumped twice over. This would be cause for concern on a mobile, but is somewhat forgivable on a media player. Unlike the Archos 32, the Android Market is here in all its glory, which means you can load up the on-board 8GB storage with add-ons galore, leaving the expandable SD slot to handle your tunes and vids. Apps already preloaded include the ace Google Latitude and Google Places, taking advantage of the surprisingly snappy AGPS inside. But the inclusion of Google Maps Navigation is what really sets the Galaxy Player apart. This free, peerless software alone makes it a worthy iPod touch battler.

The two megapixel camera is a bit of a blow out though and without a flash, it’s hardly worth the hassle. There are plenty of scene modes and adjustments, including panorama and smile shot, but snaps are at best grainy. The sharing options are plentiful, with easy Gmail and Picasa uploading, but swift social network-friendly snaps are all you’ll get from this camera.

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SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB REVIEW

The Samsung Galaxy Tab: iPad's first real challenger

The Samsung Galaxy Tab has attracted a lot of attention as the first serious challenger to the Apple iPad. Running the current version of Android (2.2 or Froyo), the 7-inch plastic-encased tablet is notably smaller than the iPad but that also means it’s a comfortable fit for one-handed operation, or a rear jeans pocket, and at 380g it's roughly half the weight of the iPad.

Physical buttons control power and volume, and aside from the usual four Android softkeys, the rest of your interaction is touchscreen based,  Haptic feedback feels positive and reassuring, and responsive to pinch gestures, taps and swipes.

The 1024x600 screen is bright and sharp, and interpolated HD video playback is surprisingly smooth and watchable thanks to the 1Ghz processor, even within the confines of the smaller screen. Samsung is betting that video will be a big selling point and thus there’s a dedicated Samsung Movies app – or browser shortcut, if you prefer – to video download service AceTrax. A currently US-only video on demand service is set to launch early next year, according to Samsung.

There’s plenty of storage for all that video too, with 16 or 32GB of onboard memory, and an expansion slot for another potential 32GB MicroSD.

Samsung Galaxy Tab: Music and browser

Music playback comes courtesy of the Samsung Music hub (and accompanying 7digital deal) which features an iTunes-like music store and a player. The store offers a medley of download options including Top 10s and album previews, and has a credible range of tunes for all tastes. The player is compatible with non-downloaded tunes too, so your existing music collection can be incorporated as well. Samsung's decision to bundle a player is a wise one, as the standard Android player is basic at best, and even refused to play in the background on this test model - a problem Samsung assures us is a one-off.
 

A standard-size SIM – hear that Apple? – tees up voice/text and 3G. Hands-free voice quality isn’t bad, but even more so than the oversized Dell Streak, it’s really hard to see who’ll actually use it for voice calls. A Bluetooth headset is essential to avoid inevitable Dom Joly comparisons.
 

The supplied virtual keyboard is adequate, but a swift Android Market download later – we chose the Smart Keyboard – things were much improved and we were rattling emails at speed.
 

The stock browser is swift and renders sites competently enough – Flash is also included thanks to Froyo, and this really boosts the experience. Pinch-to-zoom or double-tap resizes pages swiftly and accurately, although cracks begin to show when presented with very densely-linked news sites. As with all Androids though, a new browser from the market is recommended to really open up the possibilities of a larger screen. Dolphin HD in particular makes the 7-in web really sparkle, with tabbed browsing and customisable gesture controls.
 

Samsung Galaxy Tab: Camera and Readers Hub

The rear-facing 3-meg camera grabs a decent snap in daylight, but an over-enthusiastic LED flash floods close subjects at night. A front-facing 1.3-meg cam should make video calls a snap but as it stands, Skype doesn’t support video calls on Android; it’s voice only.  But you can download Tango or use Fring.
 

The Samsung Readers Hub fronts up the Kobo ebooks app, with newspapers and magazines “coming soon” via Zinio. A simple registration gets you access to an Amazon-style digital bookstore with a huge range of free titles as well – it’s an entirely solid and user-friendly offering. The ereader functionality is basic, but generally works well.
 

The hardware is, despite a slightly cheap, plasticky feel, excellent. The Galaxy Tab really sets the bar high for other manufacturers.
 

However, the Android OS, though very good, is not optimised for tablets. It’s built for phones and it’s hard to get away from the sensation that this is an oversized handset – even the power-down splash screen refers to “your phone”.

Overall though, the Galaxy Tab is the best non-Apple tablet to date, and it plays well against Apple’s impressive iPad. As the Android OS and app developers catch up with the new form factor, the gap is certain to narrow further.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab launch date is November 1st
 

Samsung Galaxy Tab Specifications

• OS: Android 2.2
• Screen: 7-inch multitouch 1024x600 pixels
• Processor: 1Ghz
• Camera: 3MP/1.3MP, 720p movie mode
• Storage: 16/32Gb, MicroSD card
• Connections: A-GPS, HSDPA 7.2Mbps, N WiFi, headphone out
• Battery claimed: 7 hours movie playback
• Dimensions/Weight: 190x120x12mm/385g 

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New iPod Nano Review

 Interesting Design And User Friendly

At about 40mm across and weighing 21g, this is the smallest and squarest touchscreen iPod Apple has ever made. The video camera from the iPod Nano fifth generation is gone, presumably as everyone over the age of 12 now has a much better video camera on their phones.

As a piece of engineering, the new iPod Nano is impressive. Employing the now-familiar ‘app’ menu system, everything is selected via swipes and stabs, with the familiar array of playback buttons supplemented with icons for playlists, Genius mixes, podcasts, FM radio, somewhat undersized photo viewer, Nike+ and a clock.

As with the Touch and iPhone, icons can be placed wherever you like on the screen but you can’t add any from the app store. There’s no Cover Flow and finding your way back to the home screen isn’t as easy as usual, due to the absence of a big home button, but you’ll get over both those “problems”.

New iPod Nano sixth generation: Sound Quality

Audio quality is superior to the Shuffle but nowhere near the calibre of the Touch with some high-quality tracks sounding flat at times even with half-decent headphones. That is presumably because the smaller design means less powerful audio components. Shaking the Nano to shuffle tracks is a nice touch, although you’d be well advised to turn it off if you’re jogging with it in your pocket.

Battery life ran to around 20 hours for continuous audio playback in our tests.

While the Nike+ adapter is almost as big as the Nano itself, the size is still an improvement for runners, especially with the Shuffle-like clip attached to the rear of the casing. However you decide to clip it onto your person, you can adjust the screen at 90-degree increments using a two finger gesture. We’d hoped an accelerometer would be used to make it start automatically as you went into action, but no. Maybe next time.

You attach a pair of headphones to the Nano to tune into FM radio. You can live pause shows and, if broadcast, song information can be saved to purchase via iTunes at a later date. Photos can also be synced but with just a1.54-inch, 240 x 240 screen it’s more gimmicky than useful – like a cheap key-ring photo frame.

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New iPod Shuffle Review

New iPod Shuffle slims down, but new features speak volumes. Quite literally

Apple’s new iPod Shuffle fourth generation may be the baby of the latest iPod line up, it’s got its own charms. Reverting back to the 2G Shuffle’s button design but incorporating the creepy VoiceOver feature of the iPod Shuffle third generation, today’s Shuffle is the most compact Apple has produced, yet the buttons are nearing a fifth bigger than ever before.

As with the previous incarnation, you flick the small slider on top to switch between continuous and random playback and tap the equally small button flanking it to activate VoiceOver – one press for the current track and artist; two for battery status; hold it down to cycle the playlist menu. You have to enable (and download) the VoiceOver Kit in iTunes, but installation is automatic.

It’s hardly as much fun to use as touchscreen Apple iPod Touch, nor is it as intuitive, but you’ll soon get used to operating playback, blindly, in a pocket.

Once connected to a Mac or PC using the small 3.5mm-jack-to-USB cable, the Shuffle can be synced with multiple playlists and Genius mixes through iTunes, as well as podcasts, audiobooks and iTunes U files. Tick a box in iTunes and the Shuffle can also be used as an external flash drive.

New iPod Shuffle fourth generation: Audio and battery

Audio doesn’t reach the volume or quality of its bigger brethren but as a lightweight – just 12.5g – MP3 player to clip onto a sleeve or short pocket when exercising, there’s nothing that does the job better.

The battery gives just under 14 hours continuous play before needing a recharge and the supplied Apple headphones are about as good as ever – ie: not very. In the case of the Shuffle, adding more expensive cans won’t greatly improve the range, bass and punchiness of the audio, but it’d be nice to at least have earphones that stay in your ears during a treadmill session, or won’t annoy your fellow commuters through ‘leaky’ sound.

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