Nexus S & HTC gets 4.0 Ice Cream update

Coming as a festive present for owners of the Samsung Google Nexus S is the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update. Engadget states that this upgrade is only going to be valid for those Nexus S devices running on networks that are GSM and UMTS compatible.
Those who can’t wait for Android 4.0 on a CDMA smartphone can now buy one as Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus with LTE support launched this week. The handset costs $299 with a two-year contract or $649 without. Various reviews have mostly mirrored my own experience with the unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus I’ve been using for a few weeks, although there are some slight differences.

 

“We’re rolling out Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, to GSM/UMTS Nexus S devices over the coming month, starting today. Enjoy the tasty update! Once you get the update, check out some tips and shortcuts for getting started at the Android 4.0 Help Center,” cited the official Google+ Android page.

The HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE are the smartphones that will be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. Also to be updated are the HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G and HTC Amaze 4G in the U.S. Released just last month, the latest version of the Google mobile OS brings along a host of unique functionalities such as Face Unlock, the NFC powered Android Beam and the People app.

5 Million Samsung Stars Sold After it went on sale in May

Looks like the Koreans are having a ball this year. Just days after the news of LG Arena is selling over a million units surfaced, here's some more. Samsung now reports that it has sold just over 5 million units of its mid range device, the Star 5230, since it went on sale the previous quarter.
In this scenario, Samsung's target of selling over 10 million Samsung Stars seems right on track! The Star 5230 is also known as the Tocco Lite in some markets. It went on sale in May and was an instant hit, as made obvious by the sales figures. Back then, it offered a nice combination of features and price and the "privilege" of owning a touchscreen handset, without actually creating a hole in your wallet. As for the sales figures, in the first month, about 7,00,000 units were sold. June saw Samsung shipping 9,00,000 of them, while July and August brought sales of 1.6 million and 1.8 million units respectively.
The Start 5230 offers users a WQVGA display, DNSe, a 3 megapixel camera and a lot of other multimedia features in a slim form factor. (story Link)

Samsung's Dual-LCD Cameras

Samsung on Thursday unveiled two cameras that feature the world's first dual LCD screens, one in the front and one in the back.

Samsung also unveiled cameras that feature three built-in radios: GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi. Most smartphones already come with these features, but this is the first standalone point-and-shoot camera to feature all three.

First up is the 12.2 megapixel Samsung TL 225. It features a 3.5-inch touch LCD screen in the back and a 1.5-inch LCD in front. Users simply tap the front LCD to turn it on and off.

The primary use for the front LCD is for users who like to take pictures of themselves with friends by holding the camera out in front of them. In this scenario, the LCD screen helps users frame the shot, and face detection boxes pop up so you know if you're in focus.

Samsung added two other functions to the front LCD. When the timer is active, the front LCD displays numbers that count down so subjects can anticipate when the camera will fire. A cartoon animation of clowns can also be played on the LCD in order to get babies to smile for the camera.

The 3.5-inch touch LCD screen on the back of the TL 225 is also unique since it is very high-resolution and offers haptic feedback. When you touch a virtual button on the camera's rear LCD, it gently shakes to confirm you pressed it. LCD screens on most compact cameras contain 230,000 dots - the more dots, the more detail. The TL 225's back LCD screen contains 1,152,000 dots so images should look very sharp.

The Samsung TL 225 will retail for $349. A less expensive model, the Samsung TL 220 will also be available for $299. It will have the 1.5-inch front LCD, but the back LCD will be a smaller, 3-inch haptic touch LCD with 230,000 dots. Both will be available in September.

Last up is the Samsung CL 65, which will contain three different radios: Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi and GPS. The GPS radio will be used to "geotag" photos so they have city, state, and country information attached to them. The Bluetooth radio can be used to send photos from the camera to other Bluetooth-equipped devices like cell phones, printers, and computers.

The Wi-Fi radio will let the camera jump onto any Wi-Fi network to transfer photos to devices on the network. The camera's Wi-Fi also supports the new-ish DLNA networking protocol, which attempts to simplify network sharing of pictures, video and music. (story Link)

The World’s Thinnest Watch-Phone from Samsung

Remember the watch phone released by LG earlier this year? Well we are pleased to announce that it won't be enjoying the spotlight anymore as Samsung has unveiled a watch phone of its own which is not only one of the 'only' watch-phones that we have seen but also the thinnest one of all.

Its only 11.98mm thick and has a 1.76-inch scratchless touchscreen display, which makes it considerably useful on a day-to-day basis.

As for the other usual features, it boasts of a 40Mb of memory, a speakerphone, music player, Bluetooth, voice recognition and Email with Outlook sync support making it one of the most tiny and useful accessories of today's age.

It will hitting the market at a price of 450 Euros.

Samsung SMX-K40: Near HDTV Quality

Samsung has recently released a new line of interesting HD camcorders, but for those who want to have high definition videos without suffering your savings, the company has just the right camcorder for you.

The Samsung SMX-K40 lets you record videos in standard definition-which is 720 x 480 pixels-but these clips can get a "HD upscale" when viewing through a high-definition monitor using a HDMI output (cable sold separately).  Now you can enjoy videos that are almost at full-HD quality for the price of a standard camcorder.

Another highlight that would make us love the Samsung SMX-K40 is its 65x Intelli-Zoom lens, one of the most powerful zoom lenses that Samsung can offer.  This lets you capture any moment no matter how far away they may be.  And unlike ordinary digital zoom lenses that negatively affect the quality of the image, the Intelli-Zoom lens allows you to go beyond the standard 52x optical zoom.  You can also be assured that your videos are recorded with high quality with Samsung's advanced Optical Image Stabilizer, making your videos shake-free at any zoom distance.

Other great features of this amazingly affordable camcorder includes a 2.7-inch LCD monitor, a built-in intelli-studio program that lets you upload videos on You. (full Story)

HT-AS720ST Home Theater System from Samsung

Having a good home theater system at home can really enhance the movie watching experience by providing a theater-like sound quality into a home TV set up. It would be like going into an actual theater, only more comfortable since you are at home. And coupled with a good HDTV, nothing would ever come close to having the best home viewing experience around in terms of audio quality.

A home theater system such as the Samsung HT-AS720ST aims to provide such an experience for people looking for a more than just an ordinary home movie experience. The Samsung HT-AS720ST offers pass-through support for full HD 1080p TV and Blu Ray Disc players. This will ensure that audio quality from your HDTV devices won't suffer in sound quality when using this home theater system. Although considered as an entry level set-up, the Samsung HT-AS720ST really provides quality sound performance by offering deep bass and treble sound quality from its subwoofer and speaker set.

Sony BDP-S360 (Blu-ray)

Sony's BDP-S360 Blu-ray player ($299.99 list) is a fine example of getting more for less. It delivers even better picture quality than its predecessor, the excellent BDP-S350, yet the S360's price is $100 lower. A few sacrifices were made: You won't get the multimedia streaming features some other players in this price range offer, for example. But if you care about picture quality above all else, the S360 delivers.

Behind a fold-down door on the S360's glossy tinted face you'll find a centrally located tray mechanism, an information display, and basic playback controls. The player's forward-facing power and eject buttons in the upper corners of its face are much easier to operate than were the upward-angled buttons of the S350, especially when the unit is stacked under other components. The basic remote control is a step back from the S350's, which featured bigger buttons on a larger frame. Sony has also eliminated the eject button on the new remote, making it more likely you will smudge the player's glossy face with fingerprints when inserting and removing discs.

The S360 lacks the S-Video connection that was on the S350 but retains the HDMI and component video outputs that support HD video formats. Like the LG BD370, the S360 also features coaxial and optical digital audio outputs for greater flexibility when connecting to an amplifier that may not support HDMI audio. As with most Blu-ray players, the S360 settles for a composite video cable; manufacturers should include HDMI cables, instead, for superior picture quality and simplified setup.

An Ethernet port on the S360 allows simplified firmware updates over a broadband connection, and a USB port can be filled with 1GB or more of flash storage to enable support for BD-Live downloadable multimedia features. The cheap cost of flash memory nowadays should make this optional upgrade standard, but at least this player's USB port is hidden out of sight; the LG BD370 leaves the memory sticking out the front of the player.

Unlike other $300 players such as the Samsung BD-P1600 and Panasonic DMP-BD60, the S360 doesn't support Internet-based streaming of services such as Netflix's Watch Instantly (Samsung) or YouTube (Panasonic). The player supports JPEG and MP3 multimedia file playback, but only from a recorded disc (Blu-ray, CD, or DVD) and not also via USB like other players, including the aforementioned Panasonic and Samsung models.

At 41 seconds, the S360's Blu-ray load time is 2 seconds faster than the S350's. When the S360's Quick Start feature is enabled, it reduces the time the player needs to start up and eject its disc tray from 23 seconds to 7 seconds. The S360 is below average at quickly scrolling through long menus, however: It took 22 seconds, whereas the LG BD370 needed only 15 seconds.

The S360 is better at upconverting standard-definition DVDs than any other Blu-ray player I've tested. The challenging HQV Benchmark DVD showed that the S360 could minimize jagged-edge artifacts better than the Panasonic DMP-BD60. And the S360 nailed all of the benchmark's film cadence tests that check for preservation of detail when dealing with some of the more common frame rates used video production—including the rate of 24 frames per second (fps) in which most movies and prime-time TV shows are captured.

Most Blu-ray movies are stored in the 1080p24 format (1080p resolution, 24 fps), and the BDP-S360 can output this video format to a compatible display via HDMI. But unlike the Panasonic DMP-BD60, the S360 upconverts DVD movies not to 1080p24 but to the more commonly supported 1080p60 format that can introduce judder, which is noticeable in slow panning shots.

On my tests, the S360 displayed exceptionally detailed 1080p Blu-ray video, but it was slightly less capable with 1080i, the format commonly used for bonus material and some animated titles. The 1080i HD HQV Benchmark's video resolution test revealed some flicker that could result in a minor loss of detail; this has been a consistent issue with all Sony BD players that I've tested, including the PlayStation 3. (full Story)

HTC Shift UMPC Is Barely Mobile, Hardly Useful

Ultra-mobile PCs are the awkward middle children of gadgets. They're constantly trying to assume the notable attributes of their older and younger siblings, but almost always come up short. On one hand, these little dudes aspire to have a laptop's computational power and ease of use, yet they also endeavor to be diminutive and highly portable, like a smartphone. Unfortunately, the end result is more often than not some ungodly mishmash of half-measures and workarounds, none of which comes close to matching the experience on either end of the spectrum. And, yes, like middle children, they also tend to get ignored and neglected.

HTC's latest UMPC, the Shift, is no exception. It comes bound in an annoying leather case that smacks of smarmy corporate importance. Strangely, you're unable to remove this case, making the Shift awkward to use, when you're, you know, mobile. Speaking of mobility, the Shift weights a little more than 2 pounds -- a tad heavier than most UMPCs out there -- and sports a slide-out, 7-inch touchscreen. This screen can also be tilted upward, if you want to look (and feel) like a ridiculous giant typing on a teeny, tiny laptop.

If you feel like paying the $1,500 that HTC is demanding for the Shift, you'll get a copy of Vista Business, as well as Microsoft's Origami Experience software. Surprisingly, this -- along with the device's built-in CDMA radio (which lets you hop on Sprint's data network when there's no WiFi available) -- was really one of the only useful features on the Shift. Origami basically functions like a touchscreen-enabled version of Windows Media Center and you can quickly call up your browser, videos, music, pictures and RSS feeds with relative ease.

Where battery life is concerned, we managed to squeeze a little more than two hours doing our normal web-browsing and video-gazing routine. The tablet comes with 1GB of memory, a 40GB hard drive and Intel's A110 800-MHz processor. While this is the same chip other UMPCs like Samsung's Q1 Ultra use, the Shift's overall performance skews a bit to the pokey end of the spectrum. $1500 (as tested), htc.com (story Link)

Samsung Glyde Cell Phone is a Slick Slip and Slider

There's something undeniably sexy about touchscreen phones. It's probably the fact that using such an advanced interface for mundane tasks just oozes cool. But let's face it -- if a touch-based phone requires more than a couple taps (or worse, input from a QWERTY keyboard), all of that pseudo-futuristic badassery is wasted.

Samsung's Glyde, a phone which woefully shares its moniker with a personal lubricant, is a perfect example of this at work.

There's a lot to love about this phone on the surface -- it's elegantly minimalist, light weight and versatile. At 4 x 2 x.7-inches it shares the form factor of its cousin the F700, making for a slick, pocket-friendly presentation. The Glyde's clean profile is rounded out by the unit's sparse use of external buttons, and a slimming dark blue-on-silver chassis. Even the design faux pas of an exposed memory card port has been sidestepped — it now tucks into the battery compartment. With its sweet looks, and the bonuses of multimedia support and a decent 2MP camera with flash, the Glyde is clearly a stylistic progression compared to Verizon's other touchscreen phones (I'm looking at you, Voyager and Venus).

Likewise, the Glyde does fairly well with its full HTML browser too. Wikipedia and Google queries were easily executed and relatively quick via the phone's EV-DO connection. However, loading graphic intensive sites (ahem, Wired.com) was surprisingly sluggish at times. Once everything was loaded, navigating through individual pages proved simple enough between the Glyde's on-screen menus and the zoom functions (accessed through the volume button). For quick and repetitive tasks like checking webmail, the phone also gives the option of accessing a dressed up WAP version of the web. Granted, none of these features were laid out in an especially intuitive way — but when push came to shove they were functional and granted me access when I needed it.

WIRED Sleek and compact design. Bluetooth compatible. Adjustable vibrating feedback for touch commands. Backlit QWERTY keypad is easy to see in the dark. Records up to 10-minutes of video. Speedy performance. Crisp call quality. Vibrant 240 x 440 touchscreen. Touchscreen automatically locks after initiating calls.

TIRED On-screen buttons near screen perimeter can be unresponsive. Automatically switches to landscape whenever the browser is opened. Weak speaker output during both multimedia playback and speakerphone calls. No on-screen QWERTY keyboard for texting. With only 35MB of internal memory for music, shelling out for a microSD card is unavoidable.

$300 (with two-year agreement), verizonwireless.com (Story Link)

Now Samsung’s P3 in India

Samsung India has officially launched its widescreen portable multimedia player, P3 in the Indian market.

"Whether it's the P3's sharp and bright 3-inch touch screen for video and photos or the advanced user interface, consumers will be guaranteed a more personal entertainment experience." states Mr R Zutshi , Dy Managing Director , Samsung India .  
Featuring a 3-inch WQVGA TFT-LCD touch screen, the P3 allows for widescreen enjoyment of video and photos at a 16:9 aspect ratio, without any need for letterboxing. It includes Samsung's upgraded EmoTure touch interface with true haptic feedback. With every command gesture, from swiping a finger across the screen, to switching audio tracks, to holding down a digital button for fast-forwarding video, the P3 reacts with a variety of physical sensations. The new Music Hot Touch Key, located just below the touch screen, allows users to instantly access favorite music features and selections without needing to cycle through multiple menus.
The P3 also incorporates Samsung's updated DNSe 3.0 sound enhancement technology.
At 0.39 inches thin, the P3 squeezes a 16:9 widescreen video player, studio-quality audio player, ultra-portable photo album, personal voicerecorder, FM radio, and a portable storage drive into one device. The P3 can also be paired with a Bluetooth-enabled phone, allowing owners to use the built-in microphone to answer calls directly through the player. 
Available in matte black and matte silver finishes, the P3 is available with 8GB and 16GB storage capacities, priced at Rs. 11,900 and Rs. 14,900 respectively (official).
Check out our review of the P3. (story Link)

New Range of Samsung Digicams in India

Samsung India has launched a range of compact digital still cameras for the Indian market.
The new line up of digital still cameras comprises of 8 models including the flagship Samsung WB500.

"The new Digital Still Camera range comprises of Slim, higher resolution cameras with advanced features like powerful portrait technology, smart functions, large LCD display and digital image stabilization", said R Zutshi, Dy MD, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd.
The 10.2 mega-pixel WB500 offers an ultra-wide 24mm Schneider lens with 10x optical zoom, a host of manual controls, including the ability to adjust shutter speed, aperture, exposure, and focus. The camera also incorporates both Optical and Digital Image Stabilization to help reduce image blur. The WB500 gives shooters the ability to capture video in 720p high-definition at 30 frames-per-second (fps), and with H.264 compression, users can record video for longer periods of time, allowing them to better utilize the remaining memory capacity on theirmemory card. Additionally, shooters can utilize Optical Image Stabilization and the camera's 10x optical zoom while recording video, as well as Samsung's Successive Recording mode, which allows the user to pause and then resume filming without having to save the clips as individual files.
The WB500's Face Detection technology detects faces and automatically adjusts focus and exposure to ensure better composition and image quality. Smile Shot automatically triggers the WB500 to take a photo only when the camera detects smiles on the subjects' faces, and Blink Detection automatically fires three consecutive shots if the camera detects that a subject's eyes are closed. The Beauty Shot automatically brightens and evens out skin tones as well as removes blemishes.
The Samsung WB500 is priced at Rs. 19,990.
The Samsung PL60 with 10.2 megapixel CCD sensor features Dual Image Stabilization with Face Detection technology and Perfect Portrait System that includes beauty shot, face detection and blink detection, self portrait, smile shot and an automatic red-eye fix. It also features Samsung's unique Digital Contents Management system that significantly reduces the time of the user to find their favorite photos. Loaded with features such as 5x Optical zoom, ISO 3200 and a 2.7” intelligent TFT LCD, the Samsung PL60 is priced at Rs. 12,490.
The 21.5 mm slim PL50 comes with a 10 mega pixel, 3x optical zoom function; portrait technology and Samsung's Digital content management system. It is priced at Rs. 9,990.
In the 12.2 megapixel category, Samsung has introduced the PL65 and the ST50, packed with features like Dual Image Stabilization, high sensitivity ISO 3200, Face detection, smile and blink detection and beauty shot with self portrait. The 16.6mm ultra slim stainless steel Samsung ST50 also features a 3x optical zoom and 2.7" TFT LCD, while the Samsung PL65 boasts of a 5x optical zoom and a 3" TFT LCD.
The Samsung PL65 and the ST50 are priced at Rs. 14,490 and Rs. 15,900 respectively.
The addition of the entry level Digital Still Cameras Samsung ES10, ES15, ES55 completes the new line up of Samsung digital still camera range. The 8.1 MP Samsung ES10 and 10 MP ES15 cameras offer 3x optical zoom, face detection, beauty shot and self portrait in addition to 2.5" LCD display.
The 10.2 MP, Samsung ES55 offers built-in red-eye fix and Multi slide show in addition to Digital Image Stabilization face detection and beauty shot features. It allows users to movie record their favorite moments at 30fps that can be enjoyed on its 2.5" LCD display.
The Samsung ES10 is priced at Rs. 7,990, ES15 is priced at Rs. 6,990 and ES55 is priced at Rs. 7,900. (story Link)

Under 100$ Great 25 Gadgets

It's no secret that consumers are watching what they spend. I, for one, have had to rethink my tech purchases. As much as I'd love a big-screen HDTV and new gaming console, the smarter option (for now) is to keep on top of my mortgage payments and high heating bills.

With the majority of Americans cutting back on their purchases, online retailers are faced with lots of challenges of their own. comScore recently released its 2008 fourth-quarter retail e-commerce sales estimates, and the results aren't pretty: Online retail spending declined 3 percent versus one year ago; that's the first quarter of negative growth since 2001 that comScore has reported. For all of 2008, though, retail e-commerce grew 6 percent to $130.1 billion—but this number represents a substantially lower growth rate than in previous years, comScore reported.

The times sure look dismal, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on cool tech gear. You probably won't go out and drop a few hundred on a camcorder or netbook, but a $99 digital camera or a $50 speaker system definitely seems reasonable.

So if you're in the market for a new digital camera, MP3 player, or other tech product, and you don't want to spend a fortune, here are our 25 affordable recommendations. All of these tech products were rated 3 stars or better by our PC Labs analysts and editors.

Editor's Note: All listed prices are current as of the date of publication—and apt to change quickly and often.

DIGITAL CAMERAS & CAMCORDERS

Casio Exilim EX-Z9
Editor Rating:
Price: $99.95
The EX-Z9 is an easy-to-use, entry-level shooter that takes terrific daylight shots and continues Casio's tradition of quality video recording in digital cameras.

Fuji FinePix J10
Editor Rating:
Price: $88.95
The 8.2-megapixel Fuji FinePix J10 is an inexpensive camera that's great for beginners. It has an easy-to-use menu system and effective image stabilization.

Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam
Editor Rating:
Price: $64
Creative's 2GB Vado pocket camcorder improves on its prototype, the Flip Ultra mini camcorder, with a sleeker and slimmer design and a larger screen.

AUDIO PLAYERS

Samsung YP-S2
Editor Rating:
Price: $29
The Samsung YP-S2 is an excellent alternative to the iPod shuffle. It's small and lightweight, has 1GB of flash memory, and comes with gym-friendly earphones.

iriver Lplayer
Editor Rating:
Price: $99.99
This 4GB iPod nano-esque player is a viable alternative for those not tied to iTunes. It offers good-looking graphics, easy, push-screen navigation, FM radio and recording, and voice recording.

Slacker Portable
Editor Rating:
Price: $99.99
The innovative Slacker Portable does a good job of letting you take customized Internet radio with you. This 8GB player refreshes music automatically via Wi-Fi, has a huge screen for album art and artist bios, and lets you ban songs you don't like.

COMPUTER SPEAKERS

Hercules XPS 2.1 Lounge speakers
Editor Rating:
Price: $50.99
The Hercules XPS 2.1 Lounge speakers from Guillemot certainly sound as if they cost more than $50. They can handle deep bass even at high volumes (although if you push them to the absolute limit, they will distort). The wired remote looks clunky but has a bass level control, which lets you tailor the sound to your tastes.

Logitech Z-5
Editor Rating:
Price: $64.99
The bargain-priced Logitech Z-5 speaker set delivers crisp highs and comes with a remote that lets you control your iTunes and Windows Media Player library.

HEADSETS & HEADPHONES

Motorola MotoROKR S9-HD
Editor Rating:
Price: $90.45
Motorola's well-designed and affordable S9-HD may finally give stereo Bluetooth headsets a good name. It's more comfortable to wear than true in-ear designs and comes bundled with an iPod adapter.

Fatal1ty USB Gaming Headset HS-1000
Editor Rating:
Price: $56.99
The Creative Fatal1ty USB Gaming Headset HS-1000 is a good sub-$100 USB headset, and the virtual surround CMSS-3D, X-Fi Crystalizer, and ambient EAX effects sound great.

Sennheiser PX100
Editor Rating:
Price: $37.95
With the PX100, you get excellent audio performance for the price. Plus, these comfortable headphones sit on the ear, delivering respectable bass with very little distortion.

Philips SHE9850 In-ear Headphones
Editor Rating:
Price: $82.99
Philips's comfortable earphones certainly aren't bass-heavy, but they offer a reasonable amount of low-end presence. The included shirt clip helps cut out cable thump, too. (story Link)

Review: Samsung NC10-14GB

From cell phones to HDTVs, Samsung products have successfully found their way into American homes for the past decade. But the company hasn't made much headway with its laptops, and for good reason: The laptops have only recently started selling in the United States. Samsung needed a strategy that would jump-start its laptop presence. A netbook was the obvious choice, as this category is taking the market by storm. The Samsung NC10-14GB ($480 street) is a lot like every other netbook, but it has a few small advantages. It comes with a six-cell battery instead of a puny three-cell, and the keyboard is a tiny bit (1 percent) bigger than those of the MSI Wind and the HP Mini 1000. Ultimately, though, it loses out on price: The MSI Wind is a lower-priced package for now (by about $50, which in the netbook category is significant).

The white exterior of the ASUS EeePC 4G, once thought of as sleek and sexy, has been copied over and over for other netbooks like the Wind, the Acer Aspire One, and the Lenovo IdeaPad S10. Splashed in navy blue, the NC10 is neither bland nor head-turning. The HP 1000's embedded patterns and the metallic lid of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA are taking netbook designs to another level, and the trend won't stop with them. At 10.3 by 7.3 by 1 inches, the NC10's dimensions practically identical to those of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA. The HP Mini 1000 (10.3 by 6.6 by 0.9 inches) and the Lenovo S10 (9.8 by 7.3 by 0.9 inches) are slightly thinner and smaller. At 2.9 pounds, the NC10's frame seems heavy, but once you factor in the standard six-cell battery, its weight is actually on a par with its 10-inch counterparts.

By 10-inch, I mean the size of the widescreen. Netbooks like the Acer Aspire One (2.1 pounds), the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (2.3 pounds), and the ASUS EeePC 900 (2.2 pounds) are noticeably lighter because they have smaller 8.9-inch widescreens. The viewing experience is obviously better with a bigger screen, but the 1,024-by-600 resolution is the same across the board. The NC10's brightness and contrast levels are consistent with those of other 10-inch netbooks and make for pleasant viewing. Its 93 percent keyboard is 1 percent larger than those found on the Mini 1000 and the MSI Wind—not a huge difference, although the keys are noticeably bigger and the typing experience better. Consequently, the touchpad is minuscule compared with those of the EeePC 1002HA and the Wind, resulting in a tighter pinch when using your thumb and index fingers to navigate.

The NC10's features are consistent with those of other top-rated netbooks. It comes with three USB ports, a VGA-out, an Ethernet port, and an SD slot. Lenovo opted to forgo a USB port in its S10 to make room for an ExpressCard slot, which is a handy addition for expansion devices that enable 3G wireless services and other specialty ports. Both the HP 1000 and the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 have 3G wireless built in, simplifying things even further. A 160GB hard drive is included and appears to be the capacity that everyone is settling on. By next year, you'll see netbook hard drive capacities standardized at 320GB.

The NC10 contains the same parts as every netbook. Its 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and 1GB of memory are no surprise. The same could be said about the integrated graphics. The ASUS N10Jc-A1 is an exception, a netbook that utilizes two sets of graphics chipsets to its advantage—one for 3D work and another to save battery life. The NC10's SYSmark 2007 Overall score topped the Wind's by a point, though you wouldn't notice it in real-world applications. The NC10 was a bit slower on video-encoding tests, trailing the others in the comparison by at least 2 seconds. (full Story)

Best 5 Megapixel Camera Phones

Although nearly every cell phone available today lets you take photos, it's no secret that the cameras on most phones are, well, lame. Shots snapped by your run-of-the-mill phone shooter are plagued by blown-out highlights, soft focus, low contrast, and poor detail. That's not to say that phone cameras don't come in handy in a pinch; in fact, cameras on some of today's most popular handsets, including the iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Curve, can take decent pictures (especially outdoors) despite their middling 2-megapixel sensors and subpar lenses.

Still, their shots are nothing compared with those from any one of the 5MP camera phones that have hit the market in the past couple of months. Each one of these handsets takes quality photos that, while still not standalone digital camera quality, are easily good enough for archiving—even printing.

Astute digital-camera shoppers know that the number of megapixels means virtually nothing these days when it comes to choosing a camera. But when it comes to cell phones, a 5MP sensor is still rare enough to show that some thought went into the camera. These phones aren't one-trick ponies, either; all of them are solid communication devices, too.

Behold the latest 5MP camera phones. With one of these, you might actually want to ditch your digital camera.

See how the features on all these cell-phone shooters compare side by side, or click through to the full reviews below.

Camera Phones Featured in This Roundup:

Motorola MotoZINE ZN5 (T-Mobile)

$199.99 - $349.99 direct
Motorola has been struggling lately, but you wouldn't know it from the MotoZINE ZN5, a stellar Motorola/Kodak camera phone that can go toe-to-toe with lower-end point-and-shoot digital cameras. On our tests, we found the ZN5 to have good resolution, little barrel distortion or chromatic aberration, and a fast shutter. It even sports a Xenon flash that's worlds better than the wimpy LED lights you'll find on many other handsets (if they have a flash at all).

Nokia N82 (Unlocked)

$549.00 – $749.95 list
The Nokia N82 isn't only a quality Symbian smartphone, it also took stellar pictures on our tests thanks to its Carl Zeiss lens, 5MP sensor, autofocus, and xenon flash. The N82 is available only unlocked in the U.S.; which means it will work with either AT&T or T-Mobile SIM cards and doesn't require a contract—but in either case, prepare to pay a hefty up-front fee.

Nokia N95 8GB (Unlocked)

$750 list
Nokia's N95 8GB improves on its successful predecessor by adding 8GB of internal storage and plenty of additional memory. It also features a nifty dual-slider design that's perfect for N-Gage gaming and multimedia playback. Unfortunately, as with the N82, you can get the N95 8GB only unlocked in the U.S.

Samsung Behold SGH-T919 (T-Mobile)

$199 – $399 direct
The Samsung Behold SGH-T919 gives T-Mobile subscribers a powerful 5MP camera phone with autofocus. On our tests, we found that the handset takes pleasing pictures that are almost on a par with those of the Motorola ZN5, although the Behold's regular LED flash is just about useless. Except for that, it's a dependable touch-screen phone. Mobile Web fiends should also take note: It's a particularly good handset for hooking into T-Mobile's brand-new 3G data network.

Samsung Omnia SCH-i910 (Verizon Wireless)

$249.99 – $496.99 list
The Windows Mobile 6.1–based Omnia includes a fast CPU, a 5MP camera with autofocus, and 8GB of internal storage. Its shutter lag is a respectable 0.3 second with prefocusing and 1.2 seconds without, and the Omnia can even record 640-by-480-pixel videos at 15 frames per second. It also features the same robust Microsoft Outlook synchronization and document editing common to all Microsoft-based smartphones. (story Link)

Samsung’s P3 Touch Screen

A while back Samsung had launched their YP-P2 PMP with its touch screen capabilities and Bluetooth functionality. While it wasn’t much of a comparison to the iPod Touch, the additional features both players employed like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth was what made me a personal fan. Not particularly of either device, but of devices in general that offer something a little more than just video and music playback. Samsung’s latest, the P3 is also equipped with Bluetooth and tries to offer a more iTouch-like interface. Here’s how it fares as a standalone device though.
Form Factor
It’s an eye-catcher, no doubt. Its sleek and slender lines with a metallic finish also gives it a little bit of a classy feel. It’s light weight, so portability is one of the few things you won’t have to worry about. The 3-inch TFT touchscreen display has a 480 x 272 pixel resolution and also supports very intuitive haptics. A touch sensitive quick access bar to the currently playing music and skip keys is located just under the display.

A hold/power key along with volume control keys and a tiny speaker are located on the top of the device. Samsung’s proprietary connectivity port is located at the bottom near the 3.5mm earphone socket.

While I do like the overall design, the speaker is negligible. Some of the cheaper mobile handsets provide louder and better quality sound.

Features and Performance
Interface
The P3 comes loaded with features. First off is the display characteristic and touchscreen functionality. Like the P2 before it, Samsung hasn’t managed to fix the sometimes awkward touchscreen. It tends to be a little too responsive at times and sometimes annoyingly non-responsive. I do like the interface though. It’s vibrant and colorful, depending on the theme you choose and can be spread across more than one screen, just like in the iTouch.

Trying to keep pace with Samsung’s Omnia and F480 mobile handsets, the P3 also has a Widgets section that can be accessed by simply pressing the screen at any place. The widgets themselves are very animated and serve a variety of purposes. Some are useful, like the dimmer for the display, clock, notes, access to the photo album and calendar. Some don’t seem to serve any purpose at all like the flower or the butterfly and some other odd animated characters. Other than some inane provision for entertainment in those moments of sheer boredom, they don’t do much else. You can also adjust the layout by moving the icons around just like you would in the… wait for it… iTouch. (story Link)

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