iPhone App Review DataViz’s Documents To Go, born out of the file-translation tools the company made for the Mac nearly two decades ago, has been a mainstay of Palm OS devices for almost as long. That mix of Mac heritage and mobility made it seem inevitable that DTG would come to the iPhone.
And now, at last, it has. Well, sort of. What DataViz has released is a feature-incomplete version of DTG that’s really more public beta than finished product. True, the company is offering the app for a reduced price – until 30 June – and has pledged to provide buyers with a free update when the app’s complete – ditto – but we’re not sure we like this notion of charging for unfinished work, whoever does it.
Round-up The iPhone 3G S is now upon us, bringing with it incredible new things like MMS, video recording, laptop tethering, Stereo Bluetooth and the marvel of cut and paste. Hang on. Haven’t other smartphones been doing this sort of thing for ages?
While iPhone mania shows no sign of dissipating among the faithful, another big difference between the original iPhone and the latest version is that there are now a lot of very credible alternatives out there, all with touchscreens, fancy new interfaces, HSDPA 3G, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and the ability to expand and improve with downloadable apps.
At Reg Hardware we’ve had a rummage around to bring you ten of the best of these iPhone substitutes. Our ratings are based on comparing iPhone-style features and don’t reflect how each phone would be rated in a standalone review.
It has that love it or hate it little chin at the bottom (we don’t see the point of it ourselves) but otherwise the UK’s second smartphone to run on Google’s Android OS is one of the most serious contenders for the iPhone’s crown. Losing the slide-out keyboard of its predecessor, the G1, makes it considerably more pocket-friendly at 113 x 56 x 14mm and 116g and its 3.2in capacitive touchscreen with 320 x 480 resolution looks great, as does the widget-based UI. You can get Street View with Google Maps and use it with the digital compass to find your way around, but the 3.2Mp Camera is nothing special and like the iPhone, you’ll be tied to one network, in this case Vodafone. If you can’t bear Windows Mobile, Android is shaping up to be OS that’s best placed to challenge the iPhone.
Review Travel speakers come in all shapes and sizes and, to be frank, the majority are pretty horrid, both from an audio and design perspective. However every so often something comes along that piques our interest here at Vulture Central. X-MI’s Mini II was one such device and the Livespeakr [sic] from US start-up Digital Group audio is another.
DGA’s Livespeakr portable iPod dock
Unlike X-MI’s offering, the Livespeakr is aimed squarely at the iPhone and iPod user. The idea being that it provides a compact, light, self-powered speaker array that also holds your iPhone or iPod Touch in the right orientation for either watching videos or listening to music. Being fully iPhone compliant and shielded against radio interference, it also doubles up as a speakerphone. That’s the theory, so how does it work in practice? Read the rest of this entry »
Review The Aspire Revo is Acer’s take on Nvidia’s Ion platform so that’s a good place to start with this review.
Acer’s Aspire Revo: Atom and Ion on board
Ion started life as the GeForce 9300, which is a chipset that connects Intel’s Core 2 processors to decent integrated graphics. In our comparison of Desktop chipsets with integrated graphics we were quite clear that the GeForce 9300 was better than Intel’s G45, specifically in the area of HD movie decoding. If you’re building a Core 2-based PC with integrated graphics, we strongly recommend you choose GeForce 9300.
When Intel launched the Desktop Atom processor, it made the questionable decision to ally the 4W TDP CPU with the ancient D945G chipset, which has weak graphics and a TDP of 15W.
The combination of Atom and D945G has been responsible for the creation of the market for ‘nettop’ Desktop PCs that offer basic services such as e-mail and browsing the web at a low price. There’s no expectation that Atom and D945G can be used for gaming or to watch HD movies, and the graphics are so weak that it’s unable to run Windows Vista properly.
Intel could have chosen to support Atom with the G45 chipset, which is a capable piece of silicon, but it didn’t go down that route, undoubtedly to protect its higher-value Desktop offerings. So Nvidia has leapt in to fill what it perceives as a gap in the market.
Designed for edge-on operation
The Ion chipset is a rebranding exercise for the GeForce 9300, this time offered with support for Atom rather than Core 2. Nvidia is keen to show that you get better value for money by spending your cash on the GPU rather than the CPU, so it’s cockahoop that a manufacturer as big as Acer has rolled out the Aspire Revo. Read the rest of this entry »
Review There’s plenty to commend LG’s XD4 external hard drive for: it looks good, it’s reasonably quiet and it comes with some handy extras. It’s not without its quirks, mind.
LG’s XD4: behind the curve?
The 500GB XD4 we tested comes in a 185 x 122 x 36mm matte black shell with glossy rims – red and white versions are also available. Placed flat, the drive’s sides are slightly concave, and the top and bottom are etched with tight, concentric circular grooves. It’s cute, and while we prefer the solidity of the – admittedly a little larger – Samsung Story, we like the XD4 too. And LG pledges its “anti-hit” aluminium casing will guard against knocks and bumps.
LG bundles the drive with a stand, allowing the unit to be mounted vertically safe in the knowledge it won’t be easily pushed over. In fact, there are not feet on the drive itself, suggesting that LG clearly expects you to used the stand and not choose to place the XD4 horizontally. Read the rest of this entry »
