Acer Iconia Tab A500 First Look

Acer Iconia Tab A500 First Look


Solidly constructed, the Iconia isn't the all-glossy-black, sleek beast the Xoom and G-Slate are. Instead of opting for an all-around black bezel, Acer added a pewter-color brushed aluminum frame above and below the screen, which also covers the tablet's back panel. The Iconia is also larger than the Xoom, despite the same-size 10.1-inch screen. The tablet measures 10.25 by 7.0 by 0.56 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.65 pounds—each of those numbers is higher than the Xoom, G-Slate and the Apple iPad 2 (4.5 stars, $499). That said, it's not so big or heavy that it feels unwieldy.

HTC Pro 7 Mobile - First Look Review

HTC Pro 7 Mobile - First Look Review

Microsoft’s Window Phone OS was actually surprisingly well received upon its launch back in October last year. However, despite an initially flurry of handset releases, it’s been a while since we’ve had a new Windows Phone handset in to cast our eye over. However, HTC has finally gotten around to launching the HTC Pro 7, the fourth and final handset in the line up of phones that was announced at the Windows Phone launch. The Pro 7 is primarily being targeted at business users, but with its slide out QWERTY keyboard it’s also likely to appeal to messaging fiends. 

Samsung Infuse 4G SGH-I997 - Mobile Review

Samsung Infuse 4G SGH-I997 - Mobile Review


The Infuse 4G measures 5.2 by 2.8 by 0.35 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.9 ounces. Even though it's razor-thin, the Infuse 4G is long and wide enough that anyone with small hands may have trouble holding it up to their ear for long conversations. The phone's crisp lines and nicely textured back panel help offset its plastic body. The overall effect looks trim and reasonably high-end.The 4.5-inch, Super AMOLED Plus glass capacitive touch screen looks amazing in person, with brilliant color and deep black levels. Super AMOLED Plus has the pure blacks of AMOLED, with better visibility in sunlight (that's the Super) and better colors created by a new arrangement of subpixels (that's the Plus.) With a 4.5-inch panel, though, it's time to go to a higher resolution than 480-by-800. This is the first time I noticed individual pixels in fonts on a 480-by-800-pixel screen. That said, the on-screen QWERTY keyboards are huge, even in portrait mode. Both orientations made typing long messages a cinch. Dialing numbers was also easy and fast.

Samsung Wave II GT-S8530 - Mobile Specs & Features

Samsung Wave II GT-S8530 - Mobile Specs & Features


The big platform players of the smartphone scene these days are Apple's iOS and Google's Android, but there are other pretenders to the throne. Bada is Samsung's own stab at Android's vital organs, and the Samsung Wave II is the highest-end phone to use the system yet. It has mighty strong competition, including from Samsung's own dual-core Android monster, the Galaxy S 2, but this smartphone underdog costs a lot less than many of the top Androids.

HP Omni 200-5380qd Desktop PC

HP Omni 200-5380qd Desktop PC


The Omni 200 takes its design cues from its predecessor, the Omni 100. It has a 21.5-inch widescreen (with a 1,920 by 1,080 resolution, aka1080p HD) that is supported by a bent arm a la Apple's iMac 21.5-inch ($1,199 list, 4 stars). The black chassis has a clean design; the front has no adornments other than the embedded speakers that line the bottom of the bezel and a webcam that sits on top. The left side of the desktop is lined with audio jacks, two USB 2.0 ports, and card reader (SD/SDHC/xD/MMC/MS/MS PRO). On the right is a tray-loading DVD burner. There are even more connectivity options available on the back of the Omni 200, including five USB 2.0 ports (one of which is taken up by a wireless USB adapter that connects the keyboard and mouse), Ethernet, and an audio jack. I would have liked to have seen an eSATA or USB 3.0 port, which would provide users with faster data transfer speeds when hooked up to an external hard drive. The Omni 200 comes with a huge power brick, rather than embedding it into the system, like Apple does with its iMac line. It's more a nit-pick than anything else.

Casio Tryx Digital Camera Review

Casio Tryx Digital Camera Review


The look of the Tryx is its biggest selling point. The camera, which comes in black or white, is super-slim and light, at 2.3 by 4.8 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and 5.5 ounces. When the tripod is folded up, the camera looks a lot more like a smartphone. Between the integrated tripod and the articulating LCD, there's no right or wrong way to hold this camera. There are only two buttons to be found: Power, and the shutter release, both next to the touch-screen LCD.The LCD is very sharp, packing 460k dots into a 3-inch display. The Editors' Choice Sony Bloggie Touch pocket camcorder ($199.99, 4 stars) has a 3-inch display filled with a more typical 230K dots—the Tryx is twice as sharp. It's a high-quality display for a $250 camera: The Canon PowerShot Elph 300 HS ($249.99, 4 stars) includes a 2.7-inch display, filled with 230K dots. Images look very clear on the Tryx's LCD viewfinder, and it's easy to see from far away.

JVC Everio GZ-HM445REK HD Camcorders

JVC Everio GZ-HM445REK HD Camcorders


JVC certainly knows how to make decent budget camcorders. However, the Everio GZ-HM30 makes some compromises to achieve its sub-£200 price. The Everio GZ-HM445, on the other hand, takes a more mainstream approach, although it’s very similar in many respects as well. We had the red REK version to play with, but the HM445 is also available in black, blue and silver, suffixed BEK, AEK and SEK respectively.