Review: HP TouchPad

SAN FRANCISCO: A year after Hewlett-PackardCo purchased flailing Palm, the technologybehemoth is rolling out the first tablet that uses Palm's webOS operating system.

The July 1 release should be a triumph for HP, showcasing its ability to compete in the increasingly crowded tablet market. Yet while the TouchPad's software is beautiful and intuitive, overall the tablet is more of a "meh-sterpiece" than a masterpiece.

The TouchPad looks a lot like its peers: It's black and shiny with just a few buttons dotting its frame. The screen, 9.7 inches (24.64 centimeters) at the diagonal, is the same size and resolution as Apple's iPad.

At $500 for a model with 16 gigabytes of storage or $600 for one with 32 GB, the price is essentially the same, too. The device I tested used Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet; HP says a version will work on AT&T Inc's wireless network later this summer.

At 0.54 inches (1.37 centimeters) thick, the TouchPad is fatter than the iPad. It's heavier, too, at 1.6 pounds (0.73 kilograms). With its rounded edges and smooth plastic, it's also more slippery than other tablets I've tested.

Turn it on, and the TouchPad looks like webOS smartphones. The software makes perfect sense on a tablet. For example: Applications appear onscreen as little ``cards'' that you can scroll through sideways, tap on to enlarge or flick to close. Each window you open within an application _ numerous Web pages or in-progress emails, for example _ shows up as its own card in a small stack for that app, and you can rearrange them as you please.

The TouchPad has the latest version of webOS, which adds features like the ability to pull your photos from Facebook and online photo sites into the device's photo library, and "Touch to Share," which will let you share content with certain webOS smartphones.

Generally, webOS made navigating a breeze. Its layout keeps the TouchPad's home screen uncluttered, with the "Just type..." universal search function taking up a small amount of space in the center of the display and a strip of applications on the bottom of the screen.

I figured that the TouchPad's screen would be great for watching videos. I wasn't disappointed. Whether I was streaming Lady Gaga's latest video oeuvre from YouTube or checking out the oldMike Myers comedy "So I Married an Axe Murderer" on Crackle, colors popped and images were crystal-clear.

The TouchPad was also good for surfing the Web, in part because it supports Flash video content, which the iPad does not. It couldn't do everything. Here and there, a website didn't look quite right, and TV and movie streaming site Hulu would not work on it. Overall, however, websites loaded and functioned as they would on a standard computer.

The device includes a fine on-screen keyboard. I wouldn't have written up this review on it, but it was fine for sending emails and instant messages.

The TouchPad's battery life was decent. After streaming videos, viewing photos and surfing the Web, the tablet lasted six and a half hours with Wi-Fi on. HP said it is rated for up to 8 hours of Internet use over Wi-Fi, or 9 hours of video playback.

One of the TouchPad features HP touts is its ability to connect with a Pre 3 smartphone to share content like webpages and videos and receive texts sent to the phone on the tablet and reply to them from the TouchPad.

Though the Pre 3 is not yet for sale (it's slated for release this summer), HP lent me one to test this feature. The sharing was easy to set up via Bluetooth, and to pull up a website on the Pre all you have to do is touch its back near the bottom of the TouchPad's screen.

Sure, it's a cool idea, but I'm skeptical the feature would really get much use.

Of course, there were plenty of fumbles. Several times, I was in the middle of an IM conversation when the virtual keyboard mysteriously stopped allowing me to send text. I could type, but whenever I pressed "enter," nothing happened. I had to restart the device to fix it.

The TouchPad also seemed to stutter sometimes, like when I flipped through on-screen album covers while running other apps. And when I streamed TV shows from network websites, they would sometimes freeze. Once an incoming message notification somehow turned off the sound and I couldn't turn it back on.

The video chat feature, which I'd hoped would contend with the iPad's FaceTime, was dismal. The TouchPad has a video camera on its front and uses Skype for video calls, so I asked my colleague Peter to help me give it a whirl. But when we tried to connect, he looked pixelated and sounded OK on my end and he said I looked ``like a Monet painting'' and sounded crackly on his.

I tried video chatting with a high school buddy but every time we got the video to work the audio was muted. I also attempted to talk with my little brother, and after four or five misfires we got the video chat working but the picture and sound were awful.

Like any other tablet that wants a chance of survival, the TouchPad includes access to an application store. HP said its App Catalog will have at least 300 TouchPad apps at launch, and 70 per cent of its 6,200 webOS phone apps will work on the device.

Still, this is slim pickings compared to the 90,000 iPad apps in Apple's App Store (there are hundreds of thousands of apps total). And tablets running Google Inc's Android software can run any of the more than 200,000 apps in the Android Market.

Sadly, the TouchPad is more blah than brilliant. The software is great, though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that HP can come up with a stronger tablet next time around.

SAN FRANCISCO: A year after Hewlett-PackardCo purchased flailing Palm, the technologybehemoth is rolling out the first tablet that uses Palm's webOS operating system.

The July 1 release should be a triumph for HP, showcasing its ability to compete in the increasingly crowded tablet market. Yet while the TouchPad's software is beautiful and intuitive, overall the tablet is more of a "meh-sterpiece" than a masterpiece.

The TouchPad looks a lot like its peers: It's black and shiny with just a few buttons dotting its frame. The screen, 9.7 inches (24.64 centimeters) at the diagonal, is the same size and resolution as Apple's iPad.

At $500 for a model with 16 gigabytes of storage or $600 for one with 32 GB, the price is essentially the same, too. The device I tested used Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet; HP says a version will work on AT&T Inc's wireless network later this summer.

At 0.54 inches (1.37 centimeters) thick, the TouchPad is fatter than the iPad. It's heavier, too, at 1.6 pounds (0.73 kilograms). With its rounded edges and smooth plastic, it's also more slippery than other tablets I've tested.

Turn it on, and the TouchPad looks like webOS smartphones. The software makes perfect sense on a tablet. For example: Applications appear onscreen as little ``cards'' that you can scroll through sideways, tap on to enlarge or flick to close. Each window you open within an application _ numerous Web pages or in-progress emails, for example _ shows up as its own card in a small stack for that app, and you can rearrange them as you please.

The TouchPad has the latest version of webOS, which adds features like the ability to pull your photos from Facebook and online photo sites into the device's photo library, and "Touch to Share," which will let you share content with certain webOS smartphones.

Generally, webOS made navigating a breeze. Its layout keeps the TouchPad's home screen uncluttered, with the "Just type..." universal search function taking up a small amount of space in the center of the display and a strip of applications on the bottom of the screen.

I figured that the TouchPad's screen would be great for watching videos. I wasn't disappointed. Whether I was streaming Lady Gaga's latest video oeuvre from YouTube or checking out the oldMike Myers comedy "So I Married an Axe Murderer" on Crackle, colors popped and images were crystal-clear.

The TouchPad was also good for surfing the Web, in part because it supports Flash video content, which the iPad does not. It couldn't do everything. Here and there, a website didn't look quite right, and TV and movie streaming site Hulu would not work on it. Overall, however, websites loaded and functioned as they would on a standard computer.

The device includes a fine on-screen keyboard. I wouldn't have written up this review on it, but it was fine for sending emails and instant messages.

The TouchPad's battery life was decent. After streaming videos, viewing photos and surfing the Web, the tablet lasted six and a half hours with Wi-Fi on. HP said it is rated for up to 8 hours of Internet use over Wi-Fi, or 9 hours of video playback.

One of the TouchPad features HP touts is its ability to connect with a Pre 3 smartphone to share content like webpages and videos and receive texts sent to the phone on the tablet and reply to them from the TouchPad.

Though the Pre 3 is not yet for sale (it's slated for release this summer), HP lent me one to test this feature. The sharing was easy to set up via Bluetooth, and to pull up a website on the Pre all you have to do is touch its back near the bottom of the TouchPad's screen.

Sure, it's a cool idea, but I'm skeptical the feature would really get much use.

Of course, there were plenty of fumbles. Several times, I was in the middle of an IM conversation when the virtual keyboard mysteriously stopped allowing me to send text. I could type, but whenever I pressed "enter," nothing happened. I had to restart the device to fix it.

The TouchPad also seemed to stutter sometimes, like when I flipped through on-screen album covers while running other apps. And when I streamed TV shows from network websites, they would sometimes freeze. Once an incoming message notification somehow turned off the sound and I couldn't turn it back on.

The video chat feature, which I'd hoped would contend with the iPad's FaceTime, was dismal. The TouchPad has a video camera on its front and uses Skype for video calls, so I asked my colleague Peter to help me give it a whirl. But when we tried to connect, he looked pixelated and sounded OK on my end and he said I looked ``like a Monet painting'' and sounded crackly on his.

I tried video chatting with a high school buddy but every time we got the video to work the audio was muted. I also attempted to talk with my little brother, and after four or five misfires we got the video chat working but the picture and sound were awful.

Like any other tablet that wants a chance of survival, the TouchPad includes access to an application store. HP said its App Catalog will have at least 300 TouchPad apps at launch, and 70 per cent of its 6,200 webOS phone apps will work on the device.

Still, this is slim pickings compared to the 90,000 iPad apps in Apple's App Store (there are hundreds of thousands of apps total). And tablets running Google Inc's Android software can run any of the more than 200,000 apps in the Android Market.

Sadly, the TouchPad is more blah than brilliant. The software is great, though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that HP can come up with a stronger tablet next time around.

Moleskine iPhone And iPad Cases new

Moleskine have launched a new range of case for the Apple iPad and iPhone, and unlike some of the cases we have seen before these new ones from Moleskine also feature a built in notepad so you have somewhere else to write notes other than on an app on your iPhone of iPad.

The features and style of both Covers are those of a classic Moleskine notebook: sleek rounded corners, strong elastic band, and the legendary smooth black cover. Inside, a lighter suede lining protects the electronic device against impact and scratches, alongside a Volant notebook with plain pages.

You can find out more details about the Moleskine cases for the iPhone and ipad over at the Moleskine

Minebea Cool Leaf Keyboard – Touch screen keys

Minebea Cool Leaf Keyboard is a touch screen keyboard and you will like it if you love typing on touchscreen. The keyboard is a big touchscreen but it doesn’t bring any kind of versatility like format (which I saw on Razer laptop keyboard). For example, you cannot substitute the number pad with video window or make your own keyboard layout for different tasks or even display Photoshop tool palettes. I am hoping that Minebea explores some kind of versatility through this keyboard which already has multitouch capabilities.

If you are touch typist, you will be disappointed because the keys don’t give you any feel while typing. However, if you like to keep your gadgets clean, this keyboard is a must buy for you because it is very easy to clean up. The surface is very shiny and the manufacturer has included a cleaning cloth which means that it must attract a lot of fingerprints easily.

This keyboard will be released on May 13th in Japan and the USB keyboard has 108 keys. You can use it only with Windows for now. The manufacturer is saying that they will be making a Mac version soon and the product will be rolled out in Japanese version first. Other formats of Italian, French, German and English will follow after that.

There are more free Android apps than free iPhone apps now

This is a piece of good new for the Android users who don’t like paying for any goodies. Distimo, a mobile analytics group from Netherlands says that now there are more free apps available for Android, the Google mobile OS as compared to theiPhone. It is 13,4342 vs 121,845. There are some things that you have to consider here. When the free iPad apps are included too, the number of free iOS apps increases to 132,239.

Also, there are rigorous processes of vetting of Apple and this might have played a role in its slippage. The report does not highlight things like repetition, legality or even the to total number of that are dedicated to making the noises of fart. The number of premium Apple apps is more – it is 333,124 vs 206,143. The rapid growth of Android and the relative stagnation of iOS could let Google take up the top spot in a time of five months. Android apps could take over the number of iPad and iPhone apps combined.

Apple iPhone 5 too is rumored to be launched soon in the market and this might change the scenario. Apple iPhone 5 is expected to be even better than the predecessor with a lot of new features, the most important being a faster processor. Android and Apple are far ahead of other competitors in terms of market reach. For instance, there is Window Mobile Phone but it doesn’t come anywhere close to these two giants

Apple rolling out new iMacs

Latest set of rumors lurking around on the Internet say that Apple is rolling out new iMacs and it will be having the latest Core i5 or i7 processors inside. It is also said that the new computers will sport the new Thunderbolt processor. These new set of iMac might be out by May 3, Tuesday and Apple will be announcing them shortly before bringing them in the market for sale.

Apple has been a bit late with the update for iMac. First PCs having the new processors were out in January 2011, and Apple shipped their MacBooks which had the Sandy Bridge architecture shortly. Apple hasn’t upgraded their iMac line up; it has been running on older hardware since June last year.

Apple might be late to bring out iMacs having the new processor but in a way, it is lucky too.Intel said in January that there was a flaw in the architecture of these new processors and shipments of some motherboards were stopped because of this. Some hardware that was already shipped was recalled.

So will you be buying these new iMacs having the faster processor? Or you are happy with the older models? Some say that the previous iMac is already fast enough and hence more speed isn’t a priority. But do let me know what you think by posting your comments below.

Death of Bin Laden sparks off record 12.4 Million tweets an hour

The news of Osama Bin Laden’s death was tweeted the most number of times in the history of the social networking site and it also generated the biggest sustained tweet rates ever. There are updated statistics updated by Twitter on its platform and it say that about 4,000 tweets were sent per second during beginning and end of President Obama’s speech. Now it is said that the real number of tweets were about 25% more.

Just before speech of Obama, there is about 5,106 tweets generated per second and it was the highest number of tweets at night. When he finished the speech, there were about 5,008 tweets sent per second. Twitter says that from 10:45 to 2.20 am ET, there was an average of 3,000 tweets every second. This equates to astronomical 27,900,000 tweets in a little over two and half hours. Between 10:45 and 12:30 ET, there were 3,440 tweets every second and during the peak time, Twitter had an average of about 12,384,000 tweets every hour.

This shows that the death of Osama Bin Laden was a momentous occasion. This event has taken over 3,283 tweets every second when Japan won against Denmark in the World Cup and also tweets of 4,064 every second during the final moments of Super Bowl this year.

But the record of most number of tweets in the same second is still at 6,939 when Japanese people wished New Year to each other. Here is the graph released by Twitter.

Facebook buying Skype?

Reliable sources all over are buzzing around saying that Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook CEO is talking with Skype about a takeover or formation of a joint venture. Some sources are saying that Facebook will be purchasing Skype for $3-4 billion. Other said that IPO of Skype, which has been delayed recently by the new CEO till 2011 second half is expected to raise about a billion dollars.

However, there are other sources saying that Facebook won’t buy Skype totally and it would be just a joint venture. The two companies aren’t strangers to each other. Skype recently released version 5.0 software for Windows platform and there was a Facebook tab included through which users could call or chat with their Facebook friends using Skype. This can be done from Facebook newsfeed which can be viewed from Skype application.

Facebook is not the only company who is looking to buy Skype. Sources say that Google too is interested about joint venture. We contacted Skype about this but they refused to comment on this issue. They said it is as practical matter, they avoid making commends on such speculations and rumors. What do you guys think about the deal? Let me know through the comments box below.

iPhone 5 To Feature 4 Inch Display, New A5 Processor?

As we are waiting for Apple to announced the iPad 2 and the new iPhone 5 we are hearing more and more rumors about what these new Apple devices will be like, the latest one is for the iPhone 5.

According to Digitimes, the iPhone 5 will feature a larger display than the current iPhone 4, and they are reporting that the screen may be as large as 4 inches, as opposed to the 3.5 inch display on the iPhone 4.

This could possibly tie in with the recent rumor we heard that Apple may be launching an iPhone Mini, and a larger screen on the iPhone 5 would help differentiate between the two models.

The report also says that Apple will use a new A5 processor in the iPhone 5 which would be based on a Cortex A9 multicore processor, we would probably see this in the new iPad 2 as well.

Real Tron Lightcycle Still Available

Way back at the end of June some really awesome and street legal full replicas of the Tron Lightcyclesfrom the new flick surfaced on eBay. At the time, the things were going for $35,000 each and there were five up for sale. It seems only one of the bikes sold at $35,000 on eBay.

The other four bikes are still available and the price has gone up to $55,000 each. If you still want one you can get one of them now and a video of the thing being ridden has surfaced along with the bikes. I can say from watching the video that not only does the music suck, but the sound from the V-Twin engine used is all wrong for the thing.

The bikes also look like they are very hard to ride despite being street legal. It appears that the bike won’t lean very far. Maybe it’s just the video. I still want one and I am going to buy a lottery ticket right now. If I win, I want the one with the hot chick on it.

Via Like Cool

LG Optimus Black

LG Optimus Black Hands On

By Roland Hutchinson on Friday 6th May 2011 1:37 pm in Android, Mobile Phones

We just got our hands on the new LG Optimus Black, which is scheduled to go on sale in the UK later this month, and we are expecting it to be available from the 16th of May.

The LG Optimus Black features a 4 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, and from our initial hands on the display looks very good, it certainly is bright.

Other specifications on the LG Optimus Black include a 1GHz processor, plus a five megapixel camera on the back with built in autofocus and an LED flash, there is also a 2 megapixel camera on the front for video chat.

The first thing we noticed about the Optimus Black is how slim the smartphone is, it measures just 9.2mm thick and it is also pretty light when compared to other smartphones.

You also get built in WiFi and DLNA, and it also comes with an FM Radio, A-GPS and Bluetooth, and it comes with Google Android 2.2 Froyo, although LG are supposed to be releasing an update to Android 2.3 shortly after launch.

We will be testing out the LG Optimus Black over the next few days, and we will let you guys know what we think of it in our full review, in the meantime check out the hands on gallery below.

Top 10 Android Phones in the World

1. Motorola Atrix 4G

This is the most powerful smartphone in the world right now.Well, it cannot be said a smartphone because the dual core CPU device actually performs as a laptop or a desktop computer.It has almost all the feature that one can imagine a phone can have.Released in early 2011, this samrtphone comes with Biometric fingerprint reader,Gorilla Glass display,photo call,Android OS, v2.2 (Froyo),Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, ULP GeForce GPU, Tegra 2 chipset,Battery life-250 hours(standby).
It’s got specs that run laps around most other devices, which should make most potential purchasers feel a little safer about laying out cash for a smartphone right now. All in all this is an awesome phone that one wont regret buying ever.

2. HTC ThunderBolt

HTC Thunderbolt is one of the most antipated smartphones as this is the first smartphone to use Verizon’s powerful 4G LTE network.The HTC Thunderbolt looks huge.It has a great classy looking.It has a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front and 8 megapixel camera at the back.It has the fastest internet access than anyone.The Thunderbolt runs on a 1GHz, second-generation Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon processor and runs Android 2.2 with HTC’s attractive Sense overlay.

3. Samsung Epic 4G

The Samsung Epic 4G is the Sprint edition of Samsung’s popular and high end GalaxyS.Aside from the Super AMOLED screen and 1 GHz processor shared with its Captivate (AT&T) and Vibrant (T-Mobile USA) siblings, the Epic 4G adds a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and access to Sprint’s WiMAX network.
Comes with Super AMOLED touchscreen display,clean approach to the design that allows the brightness of the 4-inch WVGA (800×480) screen to shine excellently,5 megapixel camera.Photography with the Epic 4G is also good.
This model costs $250 with a two-year contract.

4. T-Mobile myTouch 4G

The T-Mobile MyTouch 4G is the latest addition to the carrier’s MyTouch series of Android phones, and it brings a slew of design and feature enhancements. With a more solid build, the Android 2.2 smartphone feels like a premium device and has the goods to back it up, with HSPA+ support, Wi-Fi calling, mobile hot spot capabilities, and a second-gen 1GHz Snapdragon processor, just to name a few. Unfortunately, one of its hallmark features, video chat, doesn’t work all that well, as we were ran into a number of issues. The good news is that there are plenty of other great things about the smartphone to occupy you until video chat is ironed out.The MyTouch 4G is superb,fast,sleek and gives awesome performance.

5. HTC EVO 4G

Long anticipated, hugely specified and just plain huge: there’s a lot to like about the HTC EVO 4G. The first WiMAX phone in the US brings with it the promise of DSL-like mobile data access along with the flexibility of Google’s Android OS, complete with HTC’s now-legendary hardware quality and flexible Sense UI. On the flip side it’s nowhere near cheap and WiMAX coverage is marginal.this is smartphone-bordering-on-MID territory when it comes to usability, and while there are no extra pixels than, say, the Nexus One‘s 3.7-inch display, the experience is nonetheless far more user-friendly than on smaller handsets.

6. Motorola Droid X
The Droid X is the latest module in a curious outgrowth of smartphone evolution. An industrial slab as vast and barren as a desert planet, it revels in being the most colossal thing that could possibly be called a phone, stretching categorical credulity—and pocket fabric.Comes with Android 2.2,1GHz processor, 8-megapixel camera, high-definition video recorder, HDMI jack, Wi-Fi, 8GB of built-in memory plus a high-capacity microSD card slot for a potential 40 GB of storage and a built-in mobile hotspot.

7. Samsung Galaxy S 4G

Awesome smartphone released by samsung in early 2011.This smartphone has Super AMOLED Touchscreen with Gorilla display,IGB ROM,512 MB RAM,Android OS, v2.2 (Froyo),5 megapixel camera.This is a solid Android phone we know to be capable of doing anything an average user might want it to do, and it’s inexpensive, and it’s extremely light. The Samsung Galaxy S 4G comes from the most successful line of Android phones in the history of Android.

8. HTC Droid Incredible
HTC has finally knocked some Sense into Android, as the HTC Droid Incredible for Verizon Wireless is the first smartphone to feature the latest Android 2.1 platform and HTC Sense tag team. Throw in a1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and a 3D chip to run the show and we’ve got one of the quickest phones on the market today. The HTC Droid Incredible (full specs) also got a bright 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, 8-megapixel camera with dual LED flash, and an avant-garde styling in back. We got 8GB of built-in storage and a 16GB capacity Micro SD card slot. For navigation, we’re treated to a new, flickable optical joystick in addition to touchscreen Sense.

9. Google Nexus One

While Google’s software, called Android, has powered other phones, this is the first one where the search giant has specified the design – that focus means the pencil-thin Nexus One is built to feel like a genuine object of desire.And the Nexus One offers features the iPhone lacks, too – the camera’s resolution is 5mp, compared to Apple’s 3mp, there are satnav capabilities built in that cost Apple users extra, and a fast processor means the Nexus One operates quicker than any phone currently on sale in the UK. Web-browsing is impressive, although in the UK is likely to lack the multitouch capabilities that have been available on previous versions of Android. Automatic online synchronization of camera photos is also impressive. It’s effective voice operation, for controlling the phone and writing emails, however, that is the most surprising feature. This is the first time I’ve seen a version of that technology that is genuinely useable.

In the burgeoning market for additional applications (Apps), however, Apple’s iTunes Store offers 115,000 compared to the 20,000 or so in Google’s Android Marketplace. That means that there are currently far more games, tools and clever tricks available to iPhone owners. As more phones start to adopt Google’s operating system, however, Android is likely to catch up fast. And while Android can run a number of Apps at once, the iPhone can’t.

10. HTC EVO Shift 4G
HTC Evo Shift 4G pairs HTC’s excellent Sense UI experience with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Despite some minor limitations, the EVO Shift 4G is a solid Android smartphone that offers a smoother software experience than most.