What would you give for a WM6 QWERTY with a 3-inch screen touting an 800 x 480 pixel resolution? Well, reader Kim Nyberg forked over a €635/$860 premium to Expansys for the Toshiba Portege G900 and has the unboxing pics to prove it. And you thought $599 was expensive. Oh, did we mention it’s tri-band HSDPA with WiFi?
Hot on the heels of last week’s smattering of new systems, Toshiba has straight-busted out of the gates again with a completely new entry to their lineup — the Satellite U305. Aimed at students and small businesses, the lightweight (4.6 lb), 13.3″ laptops come in a range of configurations, but all feature Intel 965 chipsets, SuperMulti CD/DVD-R drives, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the models:
In addition to the new Satellite line, the company has added three new variations to its Qosmio F45 collection, called the Qosimo AV. The entertainment-targeted laptops all include Harmon-Kardon speakers, built-in subwoofers, Dolby Home Theater technology, and boast Core 2 Duo 1.66GHz T5250 processors, 15.4″ WXGA displays, and 802.11a/g/n. Toshiba also announced the addition of Intel Centrino Duo processors and HD-DVD drives to the current P205 gang.
Sick of the iPhone but like the whole touch-screen thing? Great, then you’ll be happy to hear that the Neonode N2 is prepped for sale. Starting this summer, the phone that led the way for the iPhone (their words) will be up for grabs. No 3G or WiFi (or even EDGE) of course, and the launch will be limited to “south-eastern Europe,” but hey, it’s a start. Maybe we’ll get a bit more info after the launch party in Athens (Greece, not Ohio).
Apple has just introduced an incredibly promoted portable touch-screen device touted as revolutionizing an entire industry. Lines formed in anticipation of its release. The most controversial aspect of it, though, is its text-input method. And one more thing, the year is 1993 and the product is Newton. The disappointment of Newton’s handwriting recognition resulted in negative reviews that left Apple with egg freckles on its face and the bold Newton MessagePad and its successors all but doomed.
Will history repeat itself with this year’s model? The first sign that the iPhone’s touch-screen keyboard may have a learning curve came during the Steve Jobs interview at the D: All Things Digital event when Apple’s CEO offered to buy Walt Mossberg dinner if he wasn’t happy with the iPhone’s keyboard after coming up to speed on it.
Reinforcing that, in Apple’s video walkthrough of the iPhone, the black-shirted narrator notes that “it’s easiest to begin typing with just your index finger” but encourages that “as you get more proficient, migrate to using two thumbs” for the payoff that “in about a week, you’ll be typing faster on iPhone than any other small keyboard. Perhaps the keyboard’s tag line should be, “Give us a week. We’ll take off the wait.” Fortunately for Apple, most reviewers have not thrown Apple’s baby out with its backspace.
Bear in mind Apple’s messaging behind the iPhone — a “revolutionary phone,” i.e., voice experience, “the best iPod we’ve ever made,” and the “Internet in your pocket”. For the first two, a keyboard is merely nice to have for tasks such as entering contacts and searching for songs (which the iPhone doesn’t yet support), And for at least the iPhone’s music features, the larger screen afforded by removing the physical keyboard enhances its ability to display pictures, album art and movies.
A larger screen also means more real estate to display long lists of songs, which means less scrolling or, in the iPhone’s case, flicking. Apple could have taken advantage of a slide-out keyboard such as those on the T-Mobile Wing or Helio Ocean, but this would mean added bulk. And the iPhone’s slim design is almost as much a part of its appeal as was the Motorola Q’s.
Then there’s the Internet experience. Most of Apple’s emphasis here has been on the inclusion of Safari which, while not as well-supported as Internet Explorer or Firefox, particularly by leading-edge “Web application” sites that Apple now sees as key to expanding the iPhone’s capabilities by third parties, should provide better Web site fidelity than other mobile browsers.
Indeed, with the iPhone I have been able to pay bills using my bank’s regular Web site, something I’ve not been able to do on any other mobile phone. Here again, a QWERTY keyboard is useful mostly for entering URLs (which can admittedly be long, unforgiving and difficult to assist with “smart” typing algorithms) and searches. But for most consumers, the overwhelming majority of our time spent in the browser is used reading, not writing. Forms certainly play a key role, but they are usually limited to small bits of text.
Via : engadget
The latest widescreen navigation systems made by Sony, NV-U82 and U-92T have been receiving some praises lately and it seems they are on a good road to be a hit. Among the companies that worship the GPS system we have the popular UK magazine T3, and also a German car magazine called Car & HIFI and Connect.
Anyway, about the navigations systems - both feature a big 4.8-inch touch screen which is suppose to the biggest on the market. Obviously they are easy to use, you can be guided to the desired location with plenty of information just by touching the screen (no need to press buttons) and following the directions. As it usually happens with GPS devices, there is “what’s coming next” feature to help you out in known and unknown locations.
Both systems were launched earlier in June and have a price tag of USD599 for the NV-U92T, and USD749 for the NV-U82, with the first one having a pan-European map coverage and information about the traffic.
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