LG Vu camera

A few weeks ago, I looked at the LG CU920 (Vu).

I was rather disappointed overall, but I was impressed with the 2 megapixel camera, which features auto-focus and macro, but no flash.

The resulting pictures speak for themselves. Nice eh?

It’s amazing how much of a difference auto-focus, macro, a decent glass lens, a 2-stage shutter button and decent image processing can make…

Low-light performance is pretty good, but colors fade a bit in bright light. I can live without the flash :)

The only major problem I experienced was with the EXIF date being wrong for each picture, while the file creation date was right.

In the end, this is definitely the best 2 megapixel camera I’ve used since Sony Ericsson’s W800i, and I’ve played with quite a few!

LG Vu: the good, the bad, and the ugly

So I’ve been using my LG CU920 (Vu) for almost a week now and - sorry for the cliché - it’s no iPhone killer!

Despite 3G support and a much nicer camera, the user experience is far from polished…

The good:
- It’s small, thin, and light
- 3G support with DUN
- Nice 2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and macro (see some pictures)
- Impressive sound quality over Bluetooth (A2DP stereo support)
- Streams 3GPP (for Internet radio)
- Video recording
- Haptic feedback
- Removable battery
- Good battery life

The bad:
- Resistive touch screen (not sensitive enough, no multitouch)
- No flash or lens cover on camera
- No gapless music playback
- No iSync support (not even via hacked plugins)
- No accelerometer, WiFi, or GPS
- No USB data cable or Micro-SD card supplied with device
- Micro-SD slot behind battery
- Proprietary audio/USB/power connector
- User interface problems (scrolling is difficult and counter intuitive, landscape setting is not saved for browser or virtual keyboard)

The ugly:
- Screen is unreadable in direct sunlight
- Crashes randomly (and hangs temporarily)
- Bad Java support (not full-screen, no virtual keypad for menu shortcuts makes it impossible to zoom in Google maps)
- No file browsing over Bluetooth (incomplete ObEx support, transfer works)
- No multitasking other than music (and this disables the camera)
- No configurable POP3/IMAP/IM client
- Inoperable without SIM inserted

BTW, I’m not evaluating the TV service (mediaFlo) since I’m not signed up for it.

That’s it for now :)

Unboxing the LG CU920 (Vu)

I can has LG CU920 (Vu). Enjoy the pictures - more soon :)

I’m heading to the Maker Faire (again) with it now.

Tasty bits - CTIA and beyond

Wait! Did two months of tasty bits just go by, CTIA and all? Hmmm yes…

HP 2133 (Mini-Note):
- HP 2133 Mini-Note UMPC Reviewed (Verdict: Rich Man's Eee PC)
- Lightning Review: HP 2133 Mini-Note
- HP Mini-Note 2133 officially official, reviewed
- HP Mini-Note gets unboxed, causes extreme jealousy
- jkOnTheRun review- hands on with the HP Mini-Note UMPC

Asus 701/900 (Eee):
- Video Hands on With the 8.9-inch Asus Eee PC 900
- Asus Eee PC 900 Hits U.S. May 12 for $549
- 1.2 GHz Pentium M in your Eee PC? No problem
- Hands-on with the 9-inch Eee PC
- ASUS' 9-inch Eee PC, now with living pixels!
- Eee PC 900 gets dissected, looks about the same as the Eee PC 700

Nokia N810:
- Android on the N810: Working on it!
- Nokia Internet Tablets to get Ubuntu and Qt ports
- Nokia's N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition gets official

Nokia N95:
- 8 GB North American Model N95 available: $779 online
- North American Nokia N95 8GB (Nokia N95-4) Unboxing

Nokia N82:
- All About Symbian Review: Long term battle: Nokia N95, N95 8GB and N82
- Nokia N82 gets blacked out for retail

Other Nokia:
- Eight useful codes for S60 devices
- 10 Awesome Applications for Symbian Phones
- Your S60 smartphone as a drum machine!
- WalkingHotSpot trial available for download
- Nokia E71 Pops up Down Under
- FCC Gives Nokia 6220 Classic the Nod
- T-Mobile’s new mystery 3G Nokia handset outted
- Nokia secretly shows E71 at Mobile Wor… er, in Sydney
- Google gets even chummier with S60, releases search app
- S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 gets broken down to the nitty gritty
- Nokia N96 gets in-depth review months ahead of release
- Things may be looking brighter for Nokia N96, Xenon flash in the works?
- Nokia readies iPhone-ish "Tube," disses Apple's sales
- Nokia E71 sneaks into the wild once again
- Exclusive: latest update on the hotly anticipated Nokia Tube
- The Nokia Guide: Getting the most out of your Nseries’ camera

Apple iPhone:
- iPhone Pwnage Tool Getting Public Release Tomorrow; Unsigned Firmware Support For All
- iPhone to Support GPS, Stereo Bluetooth, Nike+, Battle Hackers
- iPhone firmware 2.0? You’re damn right we got it!
- Nike+ going WiFi and 3G, headed to iPhone
- The second-gen iPhone: 3G, GPS, only slightly thicker - Engadget
- Touchpad turns your iPhone into a remote trackpad
- Palm emulated on the iPhone: finally we can leave that IIIc at home
- Easy 1.1.4 jailbreaking with iNdependence, Ziphone, and… iTunes?
- iPhone PwnageTool released!
- 3G iPhone rumors building up steam
- iPhone gets VoIP and chat options thanks to Fring
- iPhone firmware hints strengthen case for GPS support
- iPhone feature rumor round-up: Jabber and iTunes control
- Flickr Find: Lilliputian iPhone unboxing
- Twinkle: location-aware Twittter client for iPhone
- iPhone video recorder with audio support debuts

Sony Ericsson:
- Sony Ericsson's X1 reviewed
- XPERIA X1 white paper reveals yet more details
- Is this Sony Ericsson's P5 or "Paris"?
- Specs revealed of the real (or fake) Sony Ericsson "Paris"
- Another shot of Sony Ericsson's Paris?
- Yet another convincing Sony Ericsson Paris pic — open, this time

LG:
- LG KG750 Is Sleek of Line, High (Five) of Megapixels, Shoots DivX, Called Secret
- Live Pics: MediaFLO for AT&T on the LG Vu and Samsung Access
- LG Vu further slides into view
- Hands-on with the LG Vu
- Thin is in: LG shares a glimpse of its 5 megapixel hottie phone

Samsung:
- Samsung-built, Google-branded Android phones due later this year?
- Rumored Prada II specs surface in purported leaked press release

Motorola:
- T-Mobile considering Motorola Z10 for 3G launch?
- Motorola’s 2008 Roadmap Revealed
- Spy shots of the Motorola ZN5
- Motorola's ZN5 gets clearer, Kodak co-branding and all

Android:
- Android gets handled, now with Street View
- T-Mobile confirms it'll have an Android device sometime this year

Other:
- Meizu M8, Something You Burn in a Paper Bag on Someone's Porch
- T-Mobile's 3G Network Rolling Out May in NYC, Coincides With 3G HTC Touch Dual?
- Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC With Intel Atom Centrino, Vista Hits the States on June 20th
- Crowded Ultraportable Party Gets Dissected
- Meizu prototype caught in the flesh at CeBIT, we handle it
- Meizu M8 interface gets tweaked once again. A few pixels to the left, please?
- Meizu's M8 gets more UI tweaks for its music player
- More MID videos: IdeaPad U8 and Aigo
- Mozilla Mobile shows 5.9x performance increase on ARM device
- Opera Mini 4.1 beta released- good gets better
- Sharp Willcom D4: Vista in your hand for $1,526
- Life with the MacBook Air

Tasty bits - 30 31 32 (yummy chunks)

Another month, another triple edition of tasty bits… I just can’t keep up!

A device I just acquired, the Sony Ericsson K850i:
- Sony Ericsson K850i Unboxing!

A device I recently reviewed, the BlackBerry 8320 (Curve):
- T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi BlackBerry Curve Is Fo’ Real and Quite Tasty
- UMA: T-Mobile’s secret weapon. Truphone: everyone else’s?
- T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8320 Unboxing Part 2 / Giveaway
- T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8320 Unboxing!
- BlackBerry 8320 Wi-Fi vs. BlackBerry 8300 EDGE speed test
- T-Mobile announces BlackBerry Curve with WiFi, we check it out
- Another look at the BlackBerry 8320 for T-Mobile

Nokia N95 (I expect to get my hands on the US version soon):
- A Brief Look at the Nokia N95 US 3G, PT. 1
- A Brief Look at the Nokia N95 US 3G, PT. 2- Battery Life Comparison
- A Brief Look at the Nokia N95 US 3G, PT. 3 - Build Quality
- BL-6F Into Nokia N95 - Yes It Can Be Done, But…
- Nokia N95 or Apple iPhone? - The Question Has Been Answered
- Sling Player Now Available on Nokia N95
- US 3G Costs Nokia N95 a Mere Hour of Battery Life
- US 3G Nokia N95 Runs For Over 9 Hours On EDGE
- US Nokia N95 Reviewed: Better Than the Euro Version
- New Nokia N95-3: it’s what the original should have been
- Unboxing the Nokia N95 8GB
- All About Symbian Review: Nokia N95 8GB
- Nokia N95-3 hands-on!
- Nokia N95-3 with North American 3G now available
- Hands-on (again) with the North American N95!
- Wiimote used to control Nokia N95
- Google Maps gets cozy with N95’s internal GPS

Nokia N810 (a device I’m very excited about, since I’m coming from the Nokia 770):
- Nokia N810 Hands-On Gallery and Video
- Nokia N810 Internet Tablet with QWERTY is peeped!
- Third generation tablet on TabletBlog
- N810 on TabletBlog
- Nokia’s N810 Internet Tablet, MOSH to debut soon?
- Nokia N810 gets official
- Nokia N810 hands-on

More Nokia news:
- S60 Touch Interface Launched
- Nokia E90 review: Heavyweight champion

iPhone info (centered around the 1.1.1 update and Apple finally announcing an SDK):
- iPhone Firmware 1.1.1 Out and Tested: Breaks 3rd-party Apps, Relocks iPhones and Sends Them to Semi-Brick Activation Limbo (Updated with video)
- iPhone Installer App Updated to 3.0beta3 With Many Improvements
- New anySim Gets Bugs Ironed Out, Now Integrated with Installer.app
- 250,000 Unlocked iPhones Have Been Sold
- iPhone Dashboard Widgets Imminent?
- iPhone Re-Reviewed (Verdict: Don’t Buy)
- Apollo IM for iPhone hits 1.0
- A note to both Apple and iPhone customers on the v1.1.1 update
- Truphone demos VoIP for iPhone
- iPhone update: facts and fiction
- iPhone v1.1.1 baseband downgrade released
- Orange to sell unlocked iPhones in France
- iPhone / iPod touch v1.1.1 jailbreak code posted
- MEX - the strategy forum for mobile user experience - Award surprises, Apple interface guidelines & our challenge for operators
- Apple: “iPhone SIM unlockers will end up with iBricks”
- How to relock your iPhone before the firmware update
- “iPhone Dev Team” issues statement
- Moment of Truth: iPhone Software 1.1.1 is out
- iPhone: 90 Days Later
- DIY iFlash for the iPhone
- iPhone/iPod touch Remote Control
- BusinessWeek: Why I Won’t Buy an iPhone
- iPhone Dev Team announces public iPhone 1.1.1 Jailbreak
- iPhone SIM Free announces 1.1.1 SIM Unlock, iPhone Unbricking
- iToner working with iPhone Firmware 1.1.1
- iPhone jailbreak interface INdependence updated to 1.2.2
- iPhone Dev Team announces free unlock
- Apple: “we plan to have an iPhone SDK in developers’ hands in February”
- iToner 1.0.3 works with iPhone 1.1.1
- iPhone programming 101: full header documentation released
- Stacks on the iPhone

Walt Mossberg echoes (in part) my own rant about the iPhone:
- Mossberg howls: “Free my Phone”

More Apple news:
- Apple Macbook Touch Concept and Thoughts on the Newton 2 Rumors
- We need a real handheld computer, who will build one? Apple of course
- More “New Newton” rumors

Samsung P520 (Armani), G800 and more:
- Samsung Armani Phone Hands On Video
- Java Phone: Sun Microsystems and Samsung May Be Developing Cheaper iPhone Alternative
- Specs Drop for Samsung’s Touchscreen, WiMax UMPC SPH-9200
- Samsung i550, GPS Phone, officially announced
- Samsung’s Armani phone has a surprise: a haptic feedback UI
- Samsung’s 5 megapixel G800 gets launched, available next month

LG VX10000 (Voyager) and CU920 (Vu2):
- Verizon’s Voyager- going after the iPhone crowd
- LG Shine, Prada coming to AT&T as Vu, Vu2?

Google phone:
- What’s the Google phone going to be? Hardware or software?
- The Google Phone: It’s the OS dummy

Linux/DIY:
- Compulab’s EM-X270 brings DIY to smartphones
- Wired’s Open Phone Round-Up Tells the Bleak Truth

Other:
- Motorola’s big ‘08 splash
- Meizu’s MiniOne M8 GUI showcased further, still devoid of originality