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Fast Update: Nokia N900 Review

Usually when Nokia makes an Nseries announcement the geek world trembles with excitement, expecting to see the next master of the multimedia realm. Nokia N900 didn’t make any exception to this rule though it was pitched for its web browsing prowess more than anything else (at least multimedia-wise).

Or at least so it seemed in the beginning, before anyone actually knew how far Nokia has gone with the user experience on the Maemo 5 platform. Soon after it was first demoed, the N900 was quickly deemed a serious peril to most smartphones out there. It even went as far as threatening Nokia’s own Symbian platform.

The Nokia N900 has been so universally positive up so far that it easily turned up high on the wishlist of the tech-inclined. Expectations quickly rose quite high matching its top place in the company portfolio lineup.

Now we’ve got one and while we’re working on a full-featured review as we usually do, we decided to post this quick preview covering Nokia N900 key features. And speaking of those, here’s a brief recap of what’s under its hood.

Nokia N900 basic spec:

* General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/1700/2100 MHz, HSDPA 10 Mbps, HSUPA 2Mbps
* Form factor: Full touch device with a side-sliding hardware QWERTY keyboard
* Dimensions: 110.9 x 59.8 x 18 mm, 113 cc; 181 g
* Display: 3.5″ 16M-color TFT resistive touchscreen, 800 x 480 pixels WVGA
* CPU: ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics
* OS: Maemo 5
* Memory: 32 GB storage, 256 MB RAM, microSD card slot
* Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with dual-LED flash; WVGA(848 x 480)@25fps video recording
* Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB v2.0 with microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, FM transmitter, Infrared port
* Battery: 1,320 mAh Li-Ion battery
* Misc: Built-in accelerometer and ambient light sensors, proximity sensor, IR output port for remote control
* Software: Ovi Maps (voice-guided navigation purchased separately), Mozilla-based browser with Adobe Flash 9.4 support, Facebook and Twitter integration

The Nokia N900 is available in a black finish and will retail for USD 649 through Nokia Flagship stores in New York and Chicago, nokiausa.com and various independent retailers and e-tailers including Amazon.com.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Posted in Nokia | 1 Comment »

Sony Ericsson Satio review

Sony Ericsson have long ago shown that they are not afraid of any challenge, producing handsets that have claimed a top spot on the market. There are still plenty of fans from those good old days that would love to see another market-leading device thrown their way.

A look at what’s between the XPERIA X1 and the Satio is enough to tell you what Sony Ericsson have been up to for the past year. A top-dog Cybershot (C905) and an all-round Walkman (W995) were both compelling enough but none would be trusted to top the portfolio of a company that used to call the shots at the forefront of mobile technology.

So, Sony Ericsson might have been busy cutting costs, fueling the hype behind their new wave gadgets (Satio, Aino and Rachael) or experimenting with Symbian and Android. But there’s little doubt about their full-time job. The Satio is a lot more than its mouthwatering features, full touchscreen debuting Symbian S60 or its 12 megapixel camera. It may be too much to say that all the company’s hopes lie with the Satio but the burden on its shoulders is disproportionate compared to any other flagship device we can think of.

Key features

• 3.5″ 16M-color resistive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
• 12 megapixel state-of-the-art autofocus camera
• LED and xenon flash, active lens cover
• VGA@30fps video recording
• Symbian OS 9.4 with S60 5th edition UI, spiced up with a home-brewed homescreen and media menu
• ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz CPU, PowerVR SGX dedicated graphics accelerator and 256 MB of RAM
• Quad-band GSM support
• 3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 3.6 Mbps support
• Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS
• microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• Built-in accelerometer
• TV out
• Stereo FM Radio
• USB and stereo Bluetooth v2.0
• Web browser has full Flash support
• Preinstalled Wisepilot navigation software
• Office document viewer

Main disadvantages

• Xenon flash is not adequately powerful
• The S60 5th edition UI isn’t to the best in class standards
• No 3.5mm audio jack or a standard USB port
• No DivX or XviD support out-of-the-box
• No smart or voice dialing
• Playing flash videos in the browser easily depletes the available RAM
• No office document editing (without a paid upgrade)
• No stereo speakers
• No digital compass (magnetometer)

Popularity: 12% [?]

Posted in SonyEricsson | 1 Comment »