Quickie: Samsung Reclaim

November 10, 2009

The Samsung Reclaim reminds me of the Samsung Instinct s30 – it’s not particularly compelling, but then again, I’m not the target audience!

Is it green? To quote Jemery Clarkson: “Yes, very.” Some of the plastic parts are actually made of corn, but I don’t think this phone is any more biodegradable, considering all the electronics…

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Quickie: HTC Touch Pro2

November 10, 2009

Quickie is a new column wherein I’ll provide quick reviews of devices I’ve used for a few days, complete with pictures & video, pros & cons, and camera samples.

The HTC Touch Pro2 (Sprint version) is a lot like the HTC Touch Pro, but bigger & heavier…

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Motorola Droid camera

November 6, 2009

I’ve been using the Motorola Droid for a week now, and while the device is quite impressive overall, the camera is a mess…

“But wait,” you protest, “those shots look fine.” Sure, the Droid can take pretty decent pictures (slide show). But I’m a camera buff, and do you know how much effort I put into these?

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Pictures taken with the Nokia N900

November 5, 2009

The Nokia N900 camera is really quite good. In fact, even with pre-release firmware, it walks all over the competition!

It’s no surprise. The N900 comes from a long lineage of great 5 megapixel phones from Nokia, such as the N95 and the N82. It features Carl Zeiss optics (with auto-focus and macro), a dual LED flash, and a sliding lens cover – as such, it’s virtually identical to the N97 camera…

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Motorola Droid first impressions

November 3, 2009

It’s been less than a week since the Motorola Droid unexpectedly landed on my doorstep after making quite a fuss on the intertubes. So it’s time for a reality check.

Does this über phone live up to all the hype? The short answer: yes, absolutely! Does it challenge the mighty Nokia N900 to the throne of geekdom? The long answer: possibly, maybe…

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Nokia N900 meetup

November 1, 2009

The Nokia N900 meetup was a great success! Props to Matt for organizing the event & taking pictures, and to WOM World for the food/drinks…

Thanks to all the people who attended, including Tomomi, Dennis & his wife, Kevin, Brett of Pixelpipe, and the Mozilla crew :)

One of the most interesting aspect of the meetup was a demo of Fennec on the N900. Check the video above, and the other videos of the event after the break.

Update: Dennis provides a summary of the demo of Fennec on the N900.

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Unboxing the Motorola Droid, part 2

October 29, 2009

Sure, the Motorola CLIQ and HTC Hero are very nice, and the HTC Magic and T-Mobile G1 are pretty good, but this phone takes Android to a whole new level!

You’re looking at HAL 9000 the Motorola Droid, the first Android device with 2.0 (Eclair) and a 848×480 pixel screen – possibly the slimmest (and hottest) QWERTY slider ever designed…

Feast your eyes on my unboxing pictures, and if you’re still hungry for more, check out my unboxing video :)


Nokia N900 first impressions

October 21, 2009

I’ve been using the Nokia N900 since unboxing it 5 days ago, and I’m still blown away!

I wrote “the N900 is brilliant”, and it’s true – I have not been this excited about a Nokia device since the N95, and that was pre iPhone.

For better or for worse, the iPhone changed people’s expectations. Suddenly, having the best hardware was secondary to having the best software, services, and user experience…

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Unboxing the Nokia N900

October 15, 2009

Today, hot on the heels of the Nokia Booklet 3G, I received one of the most eagerly anticipated devices of the year, the Maemo 5 powered Nokia N900

Although I’ve barely scratched the surface, I’m pretty smitten so far. It combines the software goodness of linux, a great user experience, and Nokia’s best hardware, all in a flagship phone!

The N900 is brilliant. It’s like the mutant offspring of the N810 and N97, but a lot meaner and faster, and with 2100/1700/900 MHz 3G instead of 2100/1900/850 MHz 3G :)

Check out my unboxing pictures above, and my videos (1, 2) after the break.

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Exclusive: Nokia Booklet 3G hands on

October 14, 2009

This afternoon, I attended an exclusive hands on preview of the Nokia Booklet 3G premium netbook mini-laptop here in San Francisco…

I’ve been wanting to play with the Booklet 3G since it was announced at Nokia World, and after using it a little today, I’m suitably impressed!

Take a look at my pictures, and jump to my video and first impressions after the break.

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