Skip to Content

Autoblog reviews all the hottest cars
AOL Tech

Posts with tag reviewed

Palm Pixi reviewed on Engadget

Palm's second-ever webOS device has just landed at Engadget HQ, and naturally we put it through the paces to bring you the low-down. Is the Pixi the perfect device for those who held out on the Pre (and didn't get sucked in by the Droid)? Is the omission of WiFi really a deal-breaker (ladies)? There's really only one way to find out, and that's by clicking over to our review right here.

Verizon's BlackBerry Curve 8530 gets reviewed early

The phone you're peering at above has more names than we'd care to count, but the so-called Aries (or the Gemini's CDMA'd sibling, if you please) may end up on Verizon as one of two things: the BlackBerry Curve 8530 or the BlackBerry Curve 2. The folks over at CrackBerry managed to get their hands on a unit far before this thing has even been officially released, and of course they've given us the rundown just as the Storm2 is stealing all of the attention over at Big Red. The WiFi-equipped handset (yeah, you read that right) was said to be "identical to the Curve 8520" with the exception of the back cover design, meaning that while solid, the device definitely felt "entry-level." The interface was said to be satisfactorily snappy, the optical trackpad was dubbed "really great" and the web browser was still thoroughly worthless. If you really need to hear more, give that read link a look.

Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 review

Had the device you're peering at above come out just a few months later, it would've taken two full years to go from introduction to on sale. Thankfully, the good folks over at Garmin and ASUS (and Garmin-Asus, as it were) were able to get the nüvifone G60 out to AT&T before the holiday shopping season of 2009, but were they still too late? There's no doubt that this very smartphone had a lot of folks drooling in early 2007, but to say a lot has happened in the mobile realm between then and now would be doing the truth a grave injustice. The iPhone 3G has fallen to $99, a slew of Android handsets have hit the market and dedicated PND (portable navigation devices) have found themselves in the bargain bin. Oh, and some pretty fantastic GPS software has managed to land within Apple's App Store and the Android Market. In other words, competition couldn't possibly be hotter, and considering that the specifications haven't been updated on this $299 device since it was originally announced, you're probably wondering if it even deserves a chance. Read on to find out the answer.

Quigo ad placement

AT&T's 3G MicroCell tested and reviewed by Charlottean: yes, it works


For those who missed the torrent of 3G MicroCell news yesterday, here's the long and short of it: the Cisco-built device is now on sale, but only in Charlotte, North Carolina. One fortunate Charlottean managed to scoop one up, but rather than keeping the experience to himself, he decided to bang out a full review for the rest of the world to see. By and large, Jason's experience with the femtocell mirrored our own with Sprint's AIRAVE. Installation and setup was a breeze, and once it was booted up and operational, it worked like a charm. Before picking this up, he was seeing one bar of EDGE (if he was lucky); afterwards, his entire house was blanketed with five bars of 3G. Not surprisingly, he noted that the before and after difference when fielding calls was "night and day," but he did take the opportunity to bark at the lofty $150 price tag. But hey, those desperate enough will cough up anything to actually use their phone, right?

Quickoffice for iPhone impressions

Quickoffice is no stranger to the mobile Office space. Indeed, the software itself has been around in one form or another since 1998. Most recently, however, the app has strolled into Apple's App Store, and we'll be taking a closer look at what may possibly be the most serious productivity app to sashay over to the iPhone OS. Priced at $19.99, the app certainly isn't inexpensive, but it offers a few luxuries that businesspeople and Office mavens alike may not be able to live without. We're talking real, unadulterated editing of Excel spreadsheets, Word documents and text files, not to mention a fairly robust file management system as well as a PDF and JPEG viewer. Care to find out what we thought after taking it for a spin? Hop on past the break.

T-Mobile's connected Cameo digiframe plummets in price, gets reviewed


Man, that was fast. Really fast. Not like we're shocked at all to hear that T-Mobile customers weren't really digging the idea of paying ten bones per month to keep a digital photo frame alive, but hey -- it was worth a shot, right? As of today, T-Mobile's quickly forgotten Cameo connected digiframe has dropped from $99.99 to $39.99 up front, while the recurring charge to keep the media flowin' has nearly vanished by going from $9.99 per month to just $1.99 per month. Reviewers over at ZDNet seemed to be quite pleased with the value proposition at the new price point, noting that it was perfect for technologically illiterate family members who yearned to see digital images of you and yours. Sadly, you still have to walk into a T-Mobile retail store to actually buy one, but at least it's finally worth your while to do so.

Quigo ad placement

Samsung Instinct s30 review


Once assumed to be a physically smaller version of the original Instinct (affectionately referred to as the Instinct Mini), the Instinct s30 is actually not an Instinct Nano. Sure, it's trimmed up and a bit more curvaceous, but those accustomed to the original won't notice a great deal of weight loss here. Unlike the original, Sprint's (smartly) not pushing this handset as an iPhone killer; instead, it's letting it be exactly what is it, which is a decent featurephone with a few unique niceties and nothing whatsoever that's mind-blowing. So, is the second iteration of the Instinct worth your time (and by extension, money)? Follow us past the break to find out.

Samsung Propel Pro review


Earlier this month at CTIA, AT&T launched quite a few new phones into its lineup, one of which happened to be Samsung's sophisticated, college-educated Propel Pro. For a smartphone, the design is quite unorthodox; rarely do you see a WinMo handset that looks more like a square than anything else and can easily double as a mirror for the fashionistas. Engineered specifically for those who favor texting but can't afford to live without the luxuries that come with owning a bona fide smartphone with a bona fide data plan, the Propel Pro caters to an interesting niche. Follow us past the break for our thoughts on the just-launched handset.

XRoad G-Map iPhone navigation map gets reviewed, patted on the back


While the world waits for a tried-and-true navigation app from Apple, XRoad is taking advantage of the situation by offering up its G-Map app in the interim. Kicking Tires decided to take the new software for a spin, and while the map quality took a pretty harsh beating, the overall offering was highly praised. More specifically, not every street name was present during testing, meaning that you had to rely implicitly on the turn-by-turn instructions if you weren't familiar with your surroundings. Outside of that, however, it seemed to nail all the important points. Accuracy, routing, ease of use and design were all smiled upon, and it seems critics gave the street name snafu a bit of a break with the hope of future updates solving the issues. If you're still a touch hesitant to drop your hard-earned cash, give that read link a gentle tap.

[Thanks, Ronald]

Samsung OmniaHD gets exhaustively inspected


Samsung's OmniaHD may have just been announced (and touched), but already it's seeing its first taste of critique. Russian site Mobile-Review had a chance to get said handset underneath its camera, and it also took the opportunity to blast out a few hard-to-interpret first impressions. Judging by images alone, we'd say this beauty has a lot going for it, but we tend to agree with the reviewer here in that Sammy may not move a lot of these to non-cellphone enthusiasts. You can check out a couple of shots after the break, but for a more extensive look at the phone itself, the UI and some machine-translated impressions, you know where to head.

[Via SamsungCentral]

LG's KB770 reviewed in a foreign tongue, unboxed in the universal language


The only information we had on LG's heretofore elusive KB770 was a not-at-all detailed FCC report. Now, however, we're getting our first good glimpse courtesy of a thorough review and hands-on extravaganza originating in the Czech Republic. LG has clearly designed this one with mobile TV and multimedia in mind, and that huge retractable antenna should make for easy reception for those in DVB-T territories. The overall design isn't a great departure from other like-minded handsets (read: the Vu), though critics did find the UI impressively simple to navigate and use. Sadly, the actual quality of the mobile TV -- which, again, is the main selling point here -- left a bit to be desired. All in all, the KB770 just didn't seem to execute as well as it should given the 8,900CZK ($471) price tag, but if you're still interested in seeing what it looks like from every angle imaginable (yes, even that one), the read link should be the next place your browser points to.

[Thanks, Daniel]

mophie's iPhone 3G Juice Pack unboxed and tested: high marks all around


Curious to know if your Benjamin will be well spent on mophie's iPhone 3G Juice Pack? TestFreaks is out to make sure you have an accurate answer to that, and judging by their report after two solid weeks of usage, the response is an emphatic "yes." Not only was the device sleek enough to not be incredibly cumbersome, but it actually performed as advertised. Reviewers were able to get their iPhone 3G from near-death to fully charged (twice!) on a single mophie charge, leading them to conclude that it "basically doubles the run time of the iPhone 3G" in a worse case scenario. Granted, even they couldn't overlook the particularly large price tag, but if you've been running bone dry with any level of frequency, we suspect the asking price won't matter nearly as much.

[Thanks, Kristofer]

Sony Ericsson's P10 (Paris) gets another hands-on, full-blown review


We know it's the season for giving and all, but you're probably ready to stop being handed all these postmortem looks at Sony Ericsson's P10 (Paris). The UIQ-based handset, which was inexplicably canned earlier this year, was recently acquired and handled by the SE lovers over at SEMC Blog. As with most everyone else that has been fortunate enough to play with this here slider, these critics also couldn't figure out why the firm didn't forge ahead with production. Of course, it could just be the sentimental factor making the phone feel a bit more awesome than it actually is, but even with a bit of bias taken into account, it still seems like a winner. Too bad the powers that be deemed it a loser. Check the read link if you're okay with one last shower of tears.

Cellphone boarding pass gets tested, experience gets journaled

The biggest problem with a new scheme -- particularly one involving you, technology and the TSA -- is the very real fear that introducing something fresh into a traditional system will create more havoc than good. As Grant Martin of sister blog Gadling discovered, there's a reason that belief exists. Upon realizing that he could utilize a mobile boarding pass on his flight from Detroit to New York, he excitedly pulled up a one-time use QR code on his iPhone and shuffled through to security. Upon reaching the checkpoint, he was greeted by a less-than-enthusiastic boarding pass checker who seemed to take entirely too long to send him onward; at the next step, the agent seemed miffed and discomposed by the fact that the passenger couldn't simultaneously rid himself of all electronics and keep his boarding pass on his person while passing through the metal detector. In the end, Mr. Martin concluded that the system holds a lot of promise, but it's still going to take some time before everyone else working at the airport adjusts to the year 2008.

Sony Ericsson's axed Paris gets video review: here's to what could've been


Sony Ericsson sure knows how to toy with the heartstrings -- 'course, one could argue that it's our own fault for delving beneath the surface and learning far too much about a handset that was never assured of a public release, but whatever. The Paris, or P5, or the one that got away has been reviewed in a two-part video series over at UIQ Blog, and while the handset used was indeed a prototype, it's pretty much the most finalized version anyone ever saw. We wouldn't dare spoil anything in case you just can't take anymore positive press about a phone you'll never be able to own, but those with hardened hearts can hit the read link and mash play (twice).

[Via Boy Genius Report]




AOL News

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: