AT&T Fuze / HTC Touch Pro P4600 hands-on review
Last year I wrote about the HTC TyTN, which was later superceded by the TyTN II (AT&T Tilt) as the daddy of all productivity smartphones. Since then HTC has moved on with its Touch range which aim to turn up the style, which was a bit lacking in the TyTN series.
Of the three new Touch models (Diamond, Pro and HD) the Pro is the closest successor to the TyTN range with its slide out keyboard. I will make comparisons along the way to the Samsung Epix, which does a similar job in a very different style.
Picking up the Fuze is an altogether different experience to the Tilt it replaced. HTC has taken everything good about the TyTN range and made it sleeker. The all glass look is smart and the back cover has the beautiful angled surface first seen on the Touch Diamond.
One backwards step compared to the Tilt is the reduced number of buttons on the front of the Fuze. Whilst instant access application buttons are present on the keyboard like the Samsung Epix, the Fuze makes you either slide out the keyboard or use screen presses like the iPhone. Whilst this is not a huge problem it does make the Epix feel like a quicker phone to navigate.
The other significant change from the Tilt is that the Fuze loses the tilting screen, which seemed like a fragile but useful feature on its predecessor.
The Fuze feels mightily more petite to hold than the Tilt, but still a tad chunky in its depth to accommodate the keyboard. Overall it looks smaller than the Blackberry Bold or the Samsung Epix but the Fuze’s 6oz weight makes the 4.4oz Epix less bulky in a pocket.
The Fuze has a more useful keyboard than the TyTN series and most other smartphones. There are now five rows of keys, which reduces combination presses to a minimum. The keys also have a positive feel, which aids typing speed.
For those who like to work outdoors, the Fuze’s screen is far brighter than the Tilt’s. I’m writing this outside in full-on New York bright winter sunshine. You don’t get much color contrast, but at least you can see what you’re doing.
The Fuze’s big screen advance is its resolution which, at 640×480, is simply spectacular. The only comparison worth making is to the Blackberry Bold, whose screen is of similar quality.
The TyTN series packed a powerful punch for its time and the Fuze hits even harder. The Fuze has a whopping 0.5GB of ROM for Windows Mobile to play around with. Pair that up with a 528MHz processor and you have a device which flies along. At one point I had 15 applications open simultaneously and the Fuze just kept going. Operating system navigation is very responsive and AT&T’s Cellular Video streams well, as long as you have good 3G coverage.
There is also a MicroSD card slot which can handle cards up to 32GB to satisfy your thirst for videos/music/photos/applications. MicroSD cards are now pretty cheap, I saw an 8GB card recently for $18. However the Fuze loses brownie points for hiding it’s card slot under the back cover, unlike the TyTN which had exposed access on the side of the phone like the Samsung Epix.
The Fuze comes with Opera Mobile as the default browser. This does a good job and offers multiple tabs and good finger control, but still plays second fiddle to Safari on the iPhone. This is partly due to the iPhone’s larger screen and also because Safari renders pages better overall in my opinion.
HTC has enhanced its TouchFlo interface to ‘3D’ status with the inclusion of some nice widgets which make navigation very finger-friendly. The email and music screens look good and scrolling through text messages and photos is great as one item is swept away to make room for the next.
Battery life on the Fuze is only average, with a charge required on a nightly basis following moderate usage. Regular video streaming eats battery time, as does constant surfing although I did find that a full day of battery life is realistic with sensible usage.
The Fuze ships with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, which means you get Office Mobile, Windows Media Player and Windows Live. In addition to Messenger the phones also have IM clients for AIM and Yahoo and you can install third party applications to give access to more services. Google Maps, AvantGo and Skype were one-click installs.
Overall the Fuze is a great smartphone. In day to day usage I can’t decide if I prefer the trick TouchFlo 3D interface, sleek looks and amazing screen of the Fuze over the faster front panel key and mouse navigation of the Samsung Epix. There is a popular perception that touch is the way foward, but if reactions to the iPhone have told us anything it’s that people still want keyboards.
If you’re looking for a Windows Mobile smartphone then the Fuze does a great job, however if you prefer buttons to fingers it’s worth checking out the Samsung Epix too.
Neil Berman
Samsung Epix SGH-i907 – Blackjack’s big brother is an Ace
Samsung’s Blackjack II recently topped Consumer Report’s January 2009 smartphone ratings, beating both the iPhone and G1. So this as unsung hero gets its due reward it’s time to check out its new big brother, the Epix.
The Epix shares a family resemblance with the Blackjack and has a traditional keyboard below screen layout. 
The keyboard can be extensively customized to give instant access to your favorite applications, which is great for people who like instant access rather than wading through screens or menus to find applications. Soft keys sit under the large 320×320 haptic and touch sensitive screen and a volume rocker is on the left side. The Epix feels good to hold, slightly heavier than the Blackjack II at 4.4oz, but lighter than the iPhone, G1 and Fuze.
On the media front, the rear houses a decent 2MP camera which also takes videos. Unfortunately there is no flash or light. There is a proprietary charging/headphone port, but the Epix offers stereo bluetooth connectivity so having annoying wires dangling around is not really a concern. If you must stay wired in to satisfy some kind of 20th century nostalgia then there is an adaptor in the box.
The real innovation of the Epix lives in the middle of the front of the phone – there’s an optical trackpad to aid one-handed use…and it’s awesome.
The trackpad is similar to the design on Samsung’s Omnia, but the superior placement on the Epix makes it an amazingly efficient way to navigate. Steer with thumb impulses, click with a press and hold down to display context sensitive menus. Sweet. Precision is so good that the stylus is unlikely to get much use. The trackpad can also be converted to a four way directional pad if desired.
The Epix is a powerhouse compared to the BlackjackII, packing a 624MHz processor, 25MB ROM and 128MB RAM. It also has expansion capability via now-cheap MicroSD cards up to 32GB to satisfy your thirst for home videos/music/photos/applications. The MicroSD slot is on the right hand side of the phone for easy access.
A big contributor to the total weight of the phone is the battery, and being a 3G device with a fast CPU the Epix needs need all the juice it can get. In my mixed tests of light surfing, background IM, stereo bluetooth in transit and a limited amount of calls, the Epix easily managed a full day and two might be possible with bluetooth off. Beyond that a charge will be required.
The Epix ships with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, which means you get Office Mobile, Windows Media Player and Windows Live. In addition to Messenger the phone also has IM clients for AIM and Yahoo and you can install third party applications to give access to more services.
Google Maps, AvantGo and Skype were one-click installs as were Opera Mobile and Skyfire to provide options for the aging Internet Explorer. The Epix is easily powerful enough to run several applications simultaneously. 
I had no difficulty sync’ing 1,500 AvantGo pages whilst walking down the street streaming music over bluetooth with IM and email active in the background.
The Epix can be used to access AT&T’s Cellular Video service. So if you have the right plan or are prepared to pay then you get access to news, sports and entertainment from the likes of CNN, ESPN and Comedy Central. The quality is pretty good as long as you are in an area with good 3G coverage.
The Epix has WiFi b/g is onboard, which is useful for Skype but for most other applications AT&T’s 3G network proved almost as fast. The Epix can be tethered for use as a modem if you have the appropriate data plan. There’s also GPS onboard.
What didn’t I like about the Epix? Well although the screen is big it pales in comparison to the resolution of the HTC Touch Pro’s, but then so do most other cellphone screens at the moment. Squeezing VGA (and beyond) resolution into cellphone screens is definitely the way forward.
The 2MP camera takes good shots and videos were also good enough for occasional usage, but 3-5MP is quickly becoming the norm. I don’t see any need for cellphones to replicate the compact camera megapixel wars (although this is inevitable) but Samsung should roll out the higher quality cameras now present in some of its other top end phones.
Whilst we are on the wish list, although 3G cellphones need big batteries it would still be nice to get back to the Blackjack II’s weight.
In summary the Epix is a great smartphone whose powers of endearment outweigh its ordinary appearance. It’s an Ace follow-up to the Blackjack II.
Neil Berman
Sony promises to increase prices, meanwhile Dell offers PS3 for $319.99
Now here’s a good holiday deal. If you’ve been waiting for Sony to drop the price of the PS3 you may need to wait a little longer. But…if you head on over to Dell’s US website pretty sharpish you can snag one for 20% off for a limited time. Not sure if that will help Sony catch the monthly sales of 2 MILLION Wiis shipped in November alone, 
but it might help prolong the PS3’s agony a little longer…especially as how it was crushed 2 to 1 by the XBox 360 and 5 to 1 by the Wii last month. NPD’s reported sales figures for Nov were Wii: 2,040k units, Xbox 360: 836k units, PS3: 378k units.
Interestingly the ratio of Xbox 360 sales to PS3 in October was 1.87 to 1, whilst in November the 360 pulled ahead to 2.21 to 1, probably due to the price cut. Microsoft clearly doesn’t need to do much to ward off the PS3 anymore, rather it seems to have it’s eyes on the Wii’s spot instead…although I can’t see it happening in this console generation. It’s sure turned out different to the way we all thought back in 2005 though, the Playstation franchise needs something big now and these days Sony is in big trouble.
Back on the home front, I’ve been nurturing an ever-growing addiction to Halo 3 on the XBox 360. I have 
been joining the faithful army of online Spartans and when I say army, think mass hordes…there are typically 250-300,000 Halo 3 gamers online each evening, US time.
Helping to make all this happen for me is a new Trendnet router. 
Replacing a Trendnet 108mbps b/g, this 300mbps b/g/n speed demon has gigabit ethernet and flies along with rock-like stability. Installation was a breeze, but pretty please Trendnet next time add a MAC address import feature; typing in all those addresses gets tiring!
I’ve also been giving the new HTC Touch Pro (at&t Fuze, the one the half gig ROM and 288mb RAM) and Samsung i907 (at&t Epix, the one with the optical mouse) a good workout recently…reviews to follow shortly. Suffice to say they’re not too shabby.
Neil Berman
Is everyone just buying iPhones now?
So at&t’s recent smartphone sale got me thinking “Is everyone just buying iPhones now?” A couple of weeks on, and a Fortune article rumors that at&t will be slashing the price of the worst-kept-secret-in-history-and-soon-to-be-released 3G iPhone by a mighty $200 suggests the answer is no. The whole smartphone sector is simply in a Great Depression.
Great news though for those in the market for smartphone. at&t’s recent sale offered the usually $299 Tilt for free on a new contract as a refurbished unit. Other free offerings included the ever popular Blackberry Pearl. With my contract ending soon, a free Tilt sounded good to me, but…
Why the price cutting? Media tales of impending economic doom are probably a factor, but beyond that the 2008 lineup of smartphone releases make current offerings seem like they should come free with breakfast cereals.
Apple, Samsung and smartphone superstar HTC are all expected to get fingers tapping on touch screens due in stores soon.
HTC’s eagerly awaited Diamond has now been announced and packs a VGA TouchFlo screen initially praised as an iPhone beater. 
Their soon to follow Raphael will have similar internals adding a five row Qwerty keyboard, and replaces the current Tilt. Both feature a 2.8 inch screen and 528mhz processor.
Samsung announced its CDMA Glyde this week on Verizon. Reviews have been mixed so far.
After a quick Gotham 360 session at Samsung today, there were no real life units on display yet.
Finally Apple is heavily rumored to be prepping a 3G iPhone for release sometime in late June.
I guess the hordes waiting for a piece of soon-to-be-last-gen tech in Apple’s W14th St store recently weren’t quite as clued-in on forthcoming releases. The store was dry of iPhone stock, presumably remaining supply of the current model is dwindling as 3G unit shipments get prepared. Nevertheless the eager folk in the line remained steadfast in their bizarre quest. The Gizmodo conversation with store staff is entertaining.
Of course the fundamental iPhone problem is likely to remain: only Star Fleet academy graduates can type fast on glass, as Data et al have proved on so many occasions. So 3G or no, I still can’t see Apple eating up the Berry’s slice of the corporate market yet. In fact RIM are fighting back with their sleek new 9000
believed to be YouTube compatible., which has apparently already racked up mighty sales volumes of one unit on eBay. Crackberry has details.
Meanwhile finally coming out of its time warp, T-Mobile announced 3G service on May 1st in the US…for voice. Thanks for nothing. Rumors started coming out of NYC that there was data as well. Great, things are looking up. Looking at my TyTN expectantly to see at least a UMTS connection, I’m disappointed to find the Edge network instead. 
Turns out that T-Mobile are sending 3G data over 1700MHz and a non-standard offshoot of 2100MHz, which is a first. Basically you need a new T-Mobile phone with a radio tuned into exactly the right frequencies. Thanks for absolutely nothing!
Back to at&t and iPhone users can now apparently get WiFi access through the carrier’s hotspot network. Nice that a year after its release iPhone gets access to something that Blackjack, Q, Tilt etc customers have enjoyed for a long time already i.e. high speed data on the move. Well, I say ‘on the move’ but that’s only true if the iPhone moves within the confines of the hotspot.
So with the 3G iPhone just around the corner, 1.0 owners can show off their old skool model by standing outside Starbucks to get their iTunes downloads whilst the newbies walk on by. Only kidding, you know I’m just jealous!
Neil Berman
CES 2008 News: Laptops & UMPCs Part 2
The Aigo’s implementation of screen, keyboard and power make it one of the most promising UMPC designs out there currently.
The beautifully patterned red lid is striking and Lenovo had made a great effort to make the keyboard user friendly with large keys. The U110 will be available with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, choice of 64 or 32 GB SSD or regular 160 GB HD and a 11.1 inch screen. 
Communication features include bluetooth, WiFi and a 1.3MP camera. The ultra-thin design ranges from 0.7 to 0.9 inches at the thickest point. This dream machine will be available in April priced at around $1,800.
The keyboard to the right of the screen sports a mixed key use arrangement. This is currently a prototype with no production details available.
Samsung also expanded its Q1 range with the launch of the Q1 Ultra Premium. The Q1’s thumboard, which I have generally found difficult to use, has been supplemented with a large software keyboard. Dial keys is gone. The Q1 Ultra Premium will be available with a 64 GB SSD and has a range of Intel processor options from 1.06 to 1.33 GHz. A Samsung representative said the current Q1 Ultra range would continue to be sold for the time being.
The Amtec U650 has again a different form factor, where the screen slides up to reveal a well designed thumboard.
In the face of competitors from Aigo and LG, the unit feels pretty chunky for something with a 5.6 inch screen. 
Sony has updated its Mylo communicator, which comes with Skype preloaded.
has a range of available accessories, including a snap-on keyboard. It also uses Intel’s new Silverthorne / Menlow CPU range which goes up to 1.6 GHz.
Finally Toshiba’s eMotion Feel UMPC is yet another different form factor proposition. 
Currently a working concept, the eMotion Feel looks expensive and heavy but amazingly weighs under one pound. The front panel’s pointer and buttons seem limiting as the main controls, along with a stylus. Its unique feature is tilt scrolling, 
which is activated by pressing a button on the left side and then holding the unit at an angle to scroll through a page. An interesting and intuitive design feature.
Read part 1 of the CES 2008 Laptops & UMPCs News here
Neil Berman
CES 2008 News: Home Entertainment
OLEDs, Ultra-thin TVs, All-in-one PCs and Wireless Streaming
My CES 2008 news update comes in the following sections: Laptops & UMPCs, Home Entertainment, Media Players, Cellphones, Gaming and Trick Technologies. To read all the CES 2008 articles, click here. Details of dates, pricing and specifications described below are given from the best information available at the time of writing and may change at any time at each manufacturer’s discretion.
All-in-one PCs
Dell and Gateway brought their recently all-in-one releases to CES. Both have similar names and compete with the same leader in the class – Apple’s smart-looking new iMac.
Gateway’s One (above) looks like a cross between the iMac and the prototype LimePC. Meanwhile Dell (below) has given its XPS One a more individual, and fussier, look with screen mounted side speakers and ultra-cool vibration feedback button which light up when you move your hand towards them. Both Ones are based around Vista with a blaster supplied for controlling Media Center.
All three models have decent amounts of Intel Core 2 Duo power to handle tough multimedia applications. However out of the box these are not hardcore gaming machines. The graphics implementations on all three are aimed more at home video/photo usage than complex in-game graphics rendering. Gamers would do better to choose other models in Dell and Gateway’s ranges. 
It will be interesting to see if this sector is successful in 2008. The iMac had a bumpy ride last year and now there are suddenly more players looking to share this slice of the pie. Design-wise it’s probably Dell first, then Apple with Gateway last. That’s not to say the iMac or Gateway One are doing anything wrong. However neither approaches Dell’s superb design details such as the minuscule motors under its screen buttons, stunning wireless keyboard and glow-in-the-dark features which light only when you reach for them. This is the One to watch.
Video
Organic LEDs stole the TV show at CES, with Sony’s (below) and Samsung’s stunning models lighting up their stands. 
In a one-on-one comparison I can say first hand that OLED screens make most current LCD images look ordinary without the need for complex image assessment technology. Sony’s OLED screen was so vivid it was as if the screen border was a window frame.
Current LED screens work by controlling pixel coloration whilst a backlight provides illumination. This means it is difficult to produce true black as the backlight is always present. When controlling one pixel is also difficult to stop surrounding pixels being lit, which is why current LEDs can suffer from blurring/tracing effects with fast action sequences.
OLED screens work by lighting up individual pixels, there is no fluorescent backlight. So colors are highly vivid and black is reproduced amazingly well. Contrast and brightness are also superb. They are also exceptionally thin.
Sony are currently selling a hyper-thin eleven inch OLED screen for $2,500 and Samsung will be releasing a digital camera with an OLED viewing screen later this year. 
The other big news was the ever-dieting TV panel, with several manufacturers showing off screens under two inches deep. Hitachi’s range (below), which carried the branding ‘1.5 is here’ (referring to panel depth) 
is due to hit stores in Q1 (32 inch) and Q2 (37 and 42 inch) this year. LG (below), Sharp, Samsung and Sony also carried ultra-thin panels on their stands. 
Samsung also showed a 3D-ready plasma display, although unfortunately we still needed to wear the funny glasses to see the images jumping out!
Panasonic had an amazing 150 inch high definition plasma screen on display (see top), which was awesome.
Wireless HDMI devices also made an appearance, with Hitachi demonstrating one of their 1.5 inch TVs receiving a signal over the airwaves. 
LG showed its useful dual format HD-DVD & Blu-ray player on their stand. 
This could be the best bet for wary consumers waiting for the format war to be played out (although Blu-ray seems to be emerging as the pick of many studios).
Audio
Several manufacturers showed their take on the single box home theater speaker solution, similar to Yamaha’s existing product. Both Samsung and Philips had an offering with a name derivation on ’sound bar’, whilst a similar looking unit was on display on Sony’s stand.
These speakers typically need a fairly well structured room and a subwoofer to deliver best performance. I tested the Yamaha YSP-800 a while back, which made a brave attempt but struggled to deliver a solid surround picture as the room was an odd shape.
Wireless Media Streaming
Klegg showed two wireless media streamers, one of which can act as a DVR 
with a cable TV input. The devices can stream audio and video files, including Windows Media Center format. They will ship with an empty drive bay leaving the buyer to pick their desired hard drive capacity and fit in place with the built-in Serial ATA connector. 
Once attached to the network, computers see the devices as local drives. Both models have extensive connectivity options. The DVR version is likely to cost around $299 and will be available later this year. The non-DVR capable Media Share Mega model should be $199 and in stores imminently.
Neil Berman
CES 2008 News: Trick Technologies
My CES 2008 news update comes in the following sections: Laptops & UMPCs, Home Entertainment, Media Players, Cellphones, Gaming and Trick Technologies. To read all the CES 2008 articles, click here. Details of dates, pricing and specifications described below are given from the best information available at the time of writing and may change at any time at each manufacturer’s discretion.
Trick Technologies
Solid State Drives
although this was a working concept rather than a production unit. 
Samsung were running a video showing the relative merits of SSD versus traditional hard disks, which highlighted SSD benefits in file access timing, battery performance and vibration tests. The company, which has been fitting 32GB SSDs into production Q1s for a while, announced that a 64 GB SSD version will be available in the new Q1 Ultra Premium range. Toshiba had an open SSD on display and as expected the drive simply looks like a 
large memory board with an array of storage chips in place of a traditional spinning platter. I would expect SSDs to become an ever increasing part of portable commputing and to fall in price as production volumes increase.
Killer SSD fact: SSDs are governed by Moore’s law, which states that the number of transistors on a chip doubles about every two years. We could therefore assume that at a given price point the capacity of an SSD should double every two years. Or, the cost of a given SSD capacity should roughly halve every two years. This means that at some future point I expect SSDs to become cheaper than traditional hard drives and therefore more widely implemented given the relative benefits of SSDs.
Toshiba Hand Gesture Recognition
Giving us hope that Minority Report style hand waving technology may be possible one day, Toshiba demonstrated a prototype Qosmio laptop which responded to hand gestures. 
By making certain gestures in front of the laptop’s webcam, the demonstrator was able to play, pause and search through a movie. Another gesture turned the hand into a vitual pointer, controlling on-screen mouse movement. This was made possible by development of Toshiba’s SpursEngine, a co-processor which takes processing of certain highly data intensive functions away from the CPU and graphics card. This allows the latter two to concentrate on what they are doing and gives the overall system more horsepower for rendering HDTV and certain other multimedia tasks. The software is already compatible with Windows Media Center. The best news about this technology is that we could see Qosmios rolling into stores with it onboard as soon as this year.
Wireless Rechargeable External Drives
External drives are great…until you want to access them on the move at which point you wish you’d bought a laptop with a bigger hard drive. Not for much longer.
Seagate demonstrated a prototype 1.8 inch external hard drive called the DAVE equipped with WiFi and a battery (rechargeable via USB). So this drive could stay in a bag whilst you access it from a laptop on a coffee table nearby. Seagate is aiming to give it cellphone-like battery life. It is unlikely that Seagate will sell the drive themselves just yet, at present the company is working with third parties to build software and market the product.
Organic Light Emmitting Diode Screens (OLED Screens)
This technology, once emerging, has now definitely emerged and is retail stores. OLED screens were some of the stars of the show, with dazzling screens on display from Samsung and Sony. See the home entertainment section for more details.
See photos and read CES news about: Laptops & UMPCs, Home Entertainment, Media Players, Cellphones, Gaming and Trick Technologies.
To read all the CES 2008 articles, click here.
Neil Berman
theONbutton
Turning the world on, one gadget at a time.
