One of the hottest PDAs around lately, the HTC TyTN II is one feature-loaded son-of-a-gun. It’s got what it takes to quench your daily communication needs, and more: HSDPA/HSUPA, Wi-Fi, 2.8″ touchscreen TFT display, hardware QWERTY keyboard, 3 megapixel camera with auto focus and a built-in GPS receiver. A 400 MHz processor is in charge of all that on a Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro platform. If that’s more than enough to tickle our curiosity – and yours – we seem to have the right scratch: the HTC TyTN II review.

Key features
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Tri-band HSDPA/HSUPA 3.6 Mbps with video calls
400MHz Qualcomm processor
2.8″ 65K color touchscreen TFT display with QVGA resolution
Integrated Qualcomm GPS receiver with pre-bundled TomTom “taster” satnav software
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
3 megapixel autofocus camera
microSDHC memory card slot
HTC TouchFLO technology allows smooth finger scrolling and panning
Hardware QWERTY keyboard
Slide and tilt construction
Sturdy build and quality casing

Main disadvantages
Hefty weight of 190 g
Processor is not powerful enough
No FM radio
Out-of-the-way On/Off key
TouchFLO cube is not available
No full-featured satnav software prebundled
The HTC Kaiser platform, which the HTC TyTN II is based on, is supposed to have several different flavors – one with no cameras whatsoever, another with only a primary camera and no video calling, and finally, the third one (which we are reviewing) has both a primary and a video-call camera. Currently, the HTC Kaiser is incarnated in a few units under different brands: HTC TyTN II P4550 (our test unit), T-Mobile MDA Vario III, AT&T Tilt 8925, Vodafone v1615, and Vodafone VPA Compact V. It will be no surprise if more are to join the crew in the future.
The HTC TyTN II is not groundbreaking in the Windows Mobile realm – it’s hardly compact measuring 112 x 59 x 19 mm and weighing 190 g (much like the Qtek 9100 but heavier, or like the original HTC TyTN but slimmer). OK, the fellow has a belly, but it also has the guts. Besides HSUPA and the integrated GPS receiver, the sliding QWERTY keyboard is a definite highlight. Once you slide it down, you can tilt the display to as much as 120 degrees up, so that you can lay the device comfortably on your desk and get perfect visibility of the screen. Check out our 360-degree spin of the HTC TyTN II after the jump.

Slide and tilt
The HTC TyTN II comes in an eye-pleasing black box with all the necessary gear to get you started – charger, USB data cable, stereo headset, spare stylus, and a carrying case, plus tons of paper about the device. The only thing we lacked was a memory card perhaps, but you can get one easily. We didn’t like the case either, as it uses Velcro instead of a magnetic clip, which is always our preferred choice.

The contents of the retail box: charger, USB data cable, stereo headset, spare stylus, and a carrying case
The HTC TyTN II doesn’t run on a Samsung processor, unlike most previous models of the brand. Instead, this time the Qualcomm MSM7200 chipset platform is the power plant of this Pocket PC. A primary 400MHz Qualcomm ARM11 processor runs applications, while a secondary 274 MHz ARM9 microprocessor is in charge of radio equipment. The hardware specs include 128MB of RAM (double the size of the original TyTN) and 256MB of ROM (133MB are available to the user as storage space).

Some of the TyTN hardware specs, as reported by Windows Mobile
The front panel is dominated by the 2.8″ 65K color touchscreen TFT display. It supports QVGA (320×240 pixels) resolution only – and yes, we would have preferred VGA. Above the display, there is the video-call camera and the earpiece slot.

The front panel is dominated by the touchscreen display • the video-call camera
The D-pad below the display is the next thing to draw attention. It’s rather packed, hosting a total of 8 keys plus the navigation button and its confirming center. The original TyTN had two keys above the display and that prevented the clutter of keys below the display. But the keys above the display tend to be somewhat uncomfortable when using the handset single-handedly, so lately HTC have ditched that option.

Focusing on the D-pad below the display: a total of 10 keys share the limited space
The left side of the HTC TyTN II hosts a scroll wheel, an OK button and a Voice Dial button. They are really comfortable to use – the wheel is really soft and responsive, scrolling and selecting is a piece of cake. This key layout really gets to shine when you use the TyTN in desktop mode – holding it tilted in landscape view. In this case those keys are easily accessible with your right index finger. The voice dialing is not something we use often, especially as you have to pre-record voice labels to your contacts in the case of Windows Mobile. So, as there is no dedicated Communications Manager key, we were quick to reassign that function to the Voice Dial key. The Comm Manager is among the most frequently used applications on any Pocket PC.

We really liked the addition of a scroll wheel and a dedicated OK key on the left side • the voice dial key is also there but people that don’t use voice dialing might want to reassign that one to open the Comm Manager

The right side of the HTC TyTN II hosts only a couple of keys – the On/Off key and the camera shutter key. The camera will only start upon a longer press on the shutter key. That’s good, as it’s unlikely that you start your camera by accident. Otherwise the key is elevated enough and easy to use. That cannot be said about the On/Off key, which is rather hard to press and almost impossible to find in the dark, as it doesn’t have any elevation whatsoever. That’s a really bad move from HTC, with this key being probably the most used one in a Pocket PC, as it puts your portable computer in standby and wakes it back up. The stylus the TyTN II is equipped with, is the regular non-telescopic one that we’re used to seeing on recent HTC devices – so no surprises here.

The right side is home to the On/Off key, the camera shutter key and the stylus
The top side of the HTC TyTN II doesn’t feature any controls at all. The bottom side however hosts the standard miniUSB port, microSDHC card slot, the wrist/neck strap hole, the microphone pinhole and the reset hole.

The top is bare, while the bottom is home to the miniUSB port and the microSDHC memory card slot
The back panel of the device is made of matt plastic with a somewhat rubbery feel to it. It provides a firm grip, but is a real fingerprint magnet . Beside the camera lens/LED flash combo, there is also a rubber cap with a GPS sign on it. If you lift it up you will find an external GSP antenna connector.

The back is made of plastic with a rubbery finish • next to the camera there is a rubber cap for an external antenna
It gets really interesting when you slide the keyboard down and take a look at the back. The SIM card slot is right behind the display. After you release the lock you can slide your SIM card in and close the latch shut. The SIM card however is not hot-swappable – removing it will shut down the Pocket PC automatically with no warning shots fired.

The SIM card bed is hidden behind the display – slide the SIM in and lock it with the latch
With the SIM card bed placed outside, you will hardly need to open the back cover. Even so, it gets removed easily to reveal the 1350 mAh Li-Poly battery. It’s quoted at 400 h of standby time and up to 6 hours of talk time. In reality the handset lasts around a day with a single charge when you use it heavily. We also did a dedicated video playback battery test and the HTC TyTN II managed to keep on playing video (registered to a 3G network) for good 5 hours. It performed pretty much the same at the dedicated GPS test, where it scored 4 hours of continues GPS lock and lit up screen (again registered to a 3G network). We were a bit let down by the fact that it takes the battery good 3 hours to charge completely – but hey, it’s an accumulator of serious capacity.

The Li-Poly 1350 mAh battery offers relatively good performance
The HTC TyTN is pretty comfortable to work with but you can’t exactly call it pocketable, so this PocketPC is best carried in its case strapped on a belt – there’s no doubt about that.



Review written special for inews10.wordpress.com

Technical Specifications:

Review:

Samsung finally decided to tear apart the competition with the release of the World’s first 12 Megapixel camera phone with 3x optical zoom. The Samsung W880 feels more like a camera than a cell phone but lets us delve into its cell phone features before coming to its camera. Designing a camera cell phone is not a piece of cake; however Samsung’s engineers have managed to integrate a high resolution camera on a small handset.

Originally named SAMSUNG W880 AMOLED features a 3.3 inch touch screen of WVGA resolution, on top of the screen a video call camera has been incorporated for video conferencing. A light sensor and the two stereo loudspeakers give the handset a better rating. Measuring at 16.3 mm in breadth it is quite a thick phone and Samsung ensures a robust build quality with that. However this handset is now only bound to Korea and the user interface will not be similar to its global version when released.

The 12 megapixel camera provides a resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels similar to the Pixon12. Xenon and an LED flash ensure higher clarity and visibility while taking photos. Capable of shooting HD videos it grasps its competition by the collar, the gap between the cell phones and cameras will soon close. The incorporation of the variable aperture will allow the camera to choose between light density and sharpness. Both manual and point and shoot features will be available with the global release.

The Samsung W880 ups the ante with a world’s first 12 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom. Featuring a hardware Mode dial and a real zoom lever it does feel like a real camera and you may find yourself struggling to find the mobile phone under the digicam skin. Now while W880 is South Korea bound only, it’s enough to give us a taste of what’s coming in the shape of the rumored Samsung M8920, which should make it our way sometime next year – but with Wi-Fi and GPS on board

Designing a mobile phone (or any other portable gadget for that matter) is a balancing act – the engineers must juggle between cost, size and features, all the while being limited by the current state of technology.

Say cost doesn’t matter – that still leaves only so much that can reasonably be crammed into a mobile device. Progress is made, technology advances, which results in things getting cheaper, smaller and with more features. And quite soon, things that seemed impractical a few years back can now be released as a consumer device.

This is how the Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M came to be – it contains all the mechanical elements of a point-and-shoot camera, but still has enough room left for the phone parts. It’s not the first phone to achieve that but it’s the first 12-megapixel one and the added 3x optical zoom and xenon flash pretty much put it on par with a typical point-and-shoot camera.

The Samsung W880 has some high-end imaging functions too – tracking touch autofocus, 720p@30 fps video recording, 3.3″ big AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with WVGA resolution. That’s not something you see every day on a cameras and it’s top notch in mobile phone terms. Even the degree of control over how a photo is taken beats out consumer cameras, let alone cameraphones.

Now, keep in mind that the we’re previewing a prototype here and it’s a prototype of a phone meant for the South Korean market only and although it has tri-band GSM and support for UMTS, those are meant for roaming only – the AMOLED 12M is for South Korea and South Korea only.

So, why bother with a preview then? Well, there’s a global version coming in the beginning of next year and that might actually land in a store near you. It will look just the same but will drop the T-DMB TV receiver, which has little use outside of South Korea anyway, swapping it for the more practical Wi-Fi and GPS. Supposedly, the global GSM version will be allegedly called Samsung M8920, but that has yet to be confirmed by an official source.

Design and construction

The Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M looks more like a digicam than a mobile phone. We’re not really sure how many times we’ve said that before, but it’s here that the words meet its true meaning. The protruding lens, the rubbery hand grip and the rotating mode dial on the edge will hardly allow you to guess that it’s a mobile phone we’re displaying here.

The front panel is dominated by the 3.3-inch touchscreen of WVGA resolution. It’s a capacitive unit and naturally its sensitivity is among the best in the business. Above the display is the videocall camera, the ambient light sensor and more importantly – one of the two stereo loudspeakers.

Below the display there are two call receiver keys and the Back key plus the second of the set of stereo speakers. The two receiver keys are the only elements that give off the dual purpose of this digicam look-alike.

The back of the Samsung W880 is where it gets interesting – the protruding lens is what distinguishes this cameraphone from the most other that you may have seen. Purely, digicam style, once you turn the camera on, the lens protrudes outwards and retracts back again when you’re done taking your snapshots – and those are some snapshots, but more on that later. The opening and closing of the zoom lens is extremely fast, causing no delays in the camera start time.

Image quality

The image quality is of course the most crucial part about the 3x optical zoom equipped Samsung W880. The problem is that all zoom-equipped handsets so far have been more or less a failure in the sense that image quality degrades noticeably at the furthest (tele) end of the zoom range.

The Nokia N93 was so bad that it was almost pointless and while Samsung G800 and G810 were a nice step in the right direction they were still not quite there yet. That’s why we were extremely happy to see that the Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M has perfect optics with the image quality remaining the same throughout the zoom range.

As you will see from the photos posted below, with the Samsung W880 there isn’t almost any difference in captured resolution between the two ends of the zoom range.

The general image quality is also excellent, although we have to admit that the amount of fine detail captured was slightly lower than that of the Pixon12, or at least in our pre-release unit. All the other components were already nicely tuned with the photos having low noise levels, good contrast and pleasant colors. There are no visible image defects like over-sharpening or compression artifacts either.

But let’s cut to the chase and give you some photos taken with the Samsung W880 12MP camera so you can see for yourselves how good it actually is.

Amazing video recording

The video recording of the Samsung W880 is equally impressive. The handset manages the incredibly sounding 720p videos @ 30 fps – more than any handset available on the market (including the Omnia HD, as well).

The W880 video recording is nothing short of impressive and surpasses the Omnia HD output in a great extent. The zoom-equipped handset produces extremely smooth videos with plenty of resolution and nicely saturated colors. Also as we mentioned earlier the frame to frame jitter is gone and considering how irritating it is on hand-held videos this is certainly one of the biggest improvements.

To put it simply the Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M video recoding is the best the mobile phone industry has ever seen. We bet it would rival the output of most low-to-mid-range dedicated point-and-shoot cameras and camcorders (the ones without optical stabilization at least).Here are the sample videos taken with the Samsung W880 camera for you to enjoy.

Final words

The Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M didn’t need an awful long time to convince us that it’s the most complete photography tool among the mobile phones. Combining optical zoom with splendid image and video quality has certainly resulted in something way beyond the powers of its competitors.

It’s almost unquestionable that the handset will become immensely popular and get iconic status once it gets released outside Korea. The touch experience that Samsung are providing recently is pretty good and we don’t see any reason for the handset not to become a dream device for every self-respecting geek.

Combined with the proper pricing it might also cash in on its popularity as it will convince quite a lot of people to leave their point-and-shoot cameras at home next time they’re out and about. Additional thanks to other sites which helped us elaborating the preview with the information. Pictures made by Cristian_R.

Review written by inews10.wordpress.com

Dell is one of the most popular computer brands worldwide, and a default choice for many shoppers. Located right in the middle of the company’s lineup, the Dell Inspiron 15 is one of the most versatile and affordable midrange laptops, offering configurations for as low as $379. We tried a configuration from Dell with a Core 2 Duo processor and 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon graphics, which cost $794, which is not far off from the cost of more fully featured multimedia machines.

While our configuration was priced relatively high, remember the Inspiron 15 line is essentially a ridiculously customizable laptop line that can cover a lot of bases. It’s no surprise that it’s “Dell’s most popular laptop,” simply because the Inspiron 15 line is literally and figuratively a giant black box–it can be made into a huge number of configs, which adds selective value for the consumer.

But, boy, it can get a bit confusing choosing everything from the CPU to the Wi-Fi card–perhaps preconfigured systems like the very attractively packaged Gateway NV5807u (or Dell’s own i1545-012B) aren’t such a bad idea after all.

Covered in glossy black plastic on the inside and matte black plastic on the outside, the Inspiron 1545 looks as if it’s headed off to an undercover sting. It’s not an unattractive look overall, it’s just not that distinctive, and feels like too much black. A wide variety of other colors and designs (including Cherry Red, Promise Pink, Jade Green, Passion Purple, and…you get the idea) can be added for $40 each, which is not a bad deal if you’re dead set on something with more flair.

The interior couldn’t be any more minimal: above a straightforward keyboard sits a lone silver power button, and below is a black touch pad with black buttons. With a matte texture, the touch pad was average size and worked fine for our fingers. The old-fashioned tapered keys on the 1545′s keyboard had good response and travel, with decent spacing between keys, which made for comfortable typing with a few misses here and there. The base of the laptop, however, does feel a bit wide–they probably could have fit a number pad in there with some effort. That’s it for buttons: all other controls are operated with the keyboard (but without needing to press the function key at the same time, which is nice).

The Dell Inspiron 1545′s 15.6-inch glossy wide-screen LED screen has a native resolution of 1,366×768 pixels, which is standard for laptops in this price range (while budget 15-inch systems typically have 1,280×800-pixel displays). While a higher-resolution option is available (1,600×900), we found the screen to be perfectly adequate for most mainstream applications. Text and icons were easily readable, but the screen isn’t full-HD (1080p) for true hi-def content.

While glare was minimal during casual use, the colors and brightness seemed slightly less vibrant than other screens we’ve seen recently. One note on audio: the Inspiron 1545′s speakers are almost unusually loud and were more than adequate for games, music, or movies. We almost never had the volume above the halfway mark in the office.

Port-wise, the Inspiron 1545 comes with 3 USB 2.0, VGA-out, and Ethernet/modem jacks, all fairly standard stuff, plus an SD card reader and an ExpressCard slot, which are useful for adding a broadband modem or Bluetooth card. 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be added for $35 and $20 respectively, but it feels as if we’re being incrementally nickel-and-dimed.

We recently reviewed a preconfigured retail version of the 1545 line, the Inspiron 1545-012B, for our back-to-school retail roundup. Although that version had a dual-core Pentium processor, a smaller hard drive, and no dedicated graphics to speak of, it also only cost $429, a veritable bargain.

Our 1545 shared the same shell, plus a Webcam, and a more powerful processor inside, and it has 1GB more RAM and a larger hard drive. The Inspiron 15 line starts at $379 at its base model, before a flurry of add-on options. The processors can be upgraded from an Intel Celeron 900 (Netbook-level power) all the way up to a P8600 Core 2 Duo (an extra $200). System RAM, hard drives, a larger 9-cell battery, and even Blu-ray are all available options. In short, the Inspiron 15 line can be as affordable or as ridiculously expensive as you like. But the higher up you trick out your Inspiron 1545, you do invite the question of why you’re not simply buying a fancier multimedia laptop such as the Sony Vaio NW160J.

Build and Design
The design of the of the Inspiron 15 is pretty good for a value notebook, offering a smooth rounded profile and clean lines. While our model doesn’t offer one of the most expensive custom lid designs, it gives you an idea of what you would get if you chose the current “FastTrack” shipping option on this model. The only design element of the notebook that doesn’t blend well with the stock matte lid finish is the fully glossy interior. The screen, screen bezel, keyboard trim, and palmrest are all glossy black inside the notebook, which doesn’t always play well with reflections or smudges. If you keep it clean it looks great, but at times it did get annoying if you were sitting with your back to bright windows where the entire notebook turned into a mirror. Overall, if you don’t mind the glossy surface the design of the Inspiron 15 is pretty nice compared to other budget models on the market.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The Inspiron 15 keyboard is very comfortable to type on, offering excellent support and a very good layout. The keys are of normal size with a light matte finish for excellent traction. Spacing is spot on compared to my ThinkPad keyboard, so no adjusting was necessary. Support underneath the keyboard is excellent, with no flex anywhere, even under very strong pressure. Individual key action is smooth with a very quiet “click” emitted when a key is fully pressed. It might not be the quietest keyboard I have used, but it still ranks up there. The function key layout is interesting compared to other notebook models, with use of the function keys backwards. Normally to adjust the brightness or volume, or toggle the WiFi settings you press the FN-key, then the appropriate function key. Dell went with a setup where the secondary command is now primary. To put it another way, if you want to hit F5 to refresh a webpage, you now need to press FN+ the brightness up key. For normal uses this might be more intuitive, but for advanced users who love using commands like window close, page refresh, full screen, and other function key commands, it is more confusing and complex.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the Dell Inspiron 15 is lacking compared to notebooks of the same size, including only three USB ports, VGA, LAN, and an ExpressCard/34 slot. HDMI would have been greatly appreciated, since it would allow a user to hook the notebook up to a home theater to play movies, whereas now you would need to have a TV that supports VGA in, and still be limited to analog audio out. For quickly copying images off a memory card, there is a spring loaded SDHC-compatible memory slot on the front of the notebook. eSATA would have been another nice touch, but it is hard enough to find it on some high-end notebooks.

One of the main benefits the Android Operating System offers to a handset manufacturer is that there is little need to worry about the cost of testing the OS, it is all pretty much there and ready to be used. So all that is really needed is to design the hardware upon which the software will run. This significantly cuts down the costs incurred by the manufacturer and as such allows smaller manufacturers with a tighter budget to release handsets that compete with the more established handset producers. This also opens the door to mobile networks being able to bring high spec own branded handsets to their product portfolio that they can use to attract cost conscious consumers with deals that can’t be offered on other, similarly spec’d handsets. And to this end we have Vodafone announcing the Vodafone 845, a top end Android powered handset that comes in at a budget price.

Like most modern touchscreen device, the Vodafone 845 has a standard, monoblock form factor, a minimalistic, understated design housing a good sized 2.8 inch TFT QVGA display. The screen supports up to 65,000 colours, and the device includes an accelerometer which allows for display auto rotation, so flipping the handset to its side when web browsing will automatically make the display show in landscape mode. Under the main display sit the hard navigation and menu control keys, as well as the dedicated call send/end keys.

The Android OS delivered on the Vodafone 845 is the latest version, Android OS 2.1, giving you access to all the best in applications for the device, including access to app like Google Earth, Google Goggles and full Google SatNav with voice navigation, which is available for all Android 2.1 devices. What is unique about the 845 though is it also fits in with the whole Vodafone 360 service, which allows you to centralise all your contacts through one dedicated portal. You can use Vodafone 360 as a means of keeping in touch with all your friends and sharing status updates and messages with them, much the same as you do on other social networking sites. This really gives you a full range of choice, as there are plenty of Android apps that will also bring all your Facebook friends and Twitter contacts together, too. As well as the social aspects, Vodafone 360 also offers an app store for Vodafone 360 devices, which will compliment the standard Android Market.

Overall, the Vodafone 845 is a big leap forward in terms of the quality and feature set we are used to seeing with most manufacturer branded handsets. With the latest version Android OS included, as well as full access to Vodafone 360, the 845 should appeal to anyone who values the social aspects of mobile communication, and wants the high end features of a smartphone for a low end price.

Stay tuned with:

Context

We all perceive the usefulness of these devices differently depending on our lifestyle, so let me tell you where I come from. I spend most of my time using a powerful desktop computer (a PC) with a very large display. If I need to get some real work done outside of the office, I use a laptop (Sony Vaio, or Macbook Pro + Win7). On the go, I keep track of emails with a smartphone, but I tend to reply only moderately from a cellphone because typing long emails is painful (even more so on a touchscreen phone). I check news websites a lot, and I often use a laptop in my couch. Now you know…

External design (Beautiful)

I won’t spend a whole lot of time describing what the device looks like (check ouriPad unboxing photo gallery). There are a few highlights:

The build quality is excellent. The aluminium back feels great under the finger and nothing feels cheap. There is an audio jack connector for headphones, and a microphone for apps that need it. The speaker is on the bottom of the device where the “Home” button is. The audio quality is so-so and the maximum speaker volume is too soft for my taste. My advice: use headphones whenever possible. The volume button is accessible and active whenever the iPad is playing something.

Other than the standard 3.5mm audio jack, the only external connector is the proprietary Apple connector, which seems similar to the one found on the iPhone.A number of accessories can be connected to that, and this is the only wired way to connect to the outside world. Update: I’ve spotted an iPad to VGA connector at the Apple Store.

The iPad is heavier than most people expect: at 1.5lbs to 1.6lbs (3G), it is heavy enough so that my wrist would get tired after less than 30mn of firmly holding it. $499 is a good amount of money, but making something with this build quality at that price is not easy. iPad technical specifications on Apple’s website.

User Interface (Easy)

For those who have used an iPhone or an iPod touch, there is no learning curve whatsoever. It’s the same look (with many additions) and feel and you’ll be productive right away. If you are not familiar with it, this is arguably one of the best touch interface out there, and I expect most people to be able to ramp up fairly quickly.

There is a lot of: “grand parents would love it”. May be so, but this is largely unproven. I think that most people who believe this have never actually tested it on their tech-averse relatives. If you have, feel free to drop a comment at the end of the review. Anyway, if you are thinking about getting one for an elderly person, just keep in mind that: 1/ it might not be as easy as you think it is. 2/ A computer is still required to register and setup the device. As a side note,Gartner forcasts that by 2015, the majority of computer purchased for kids under 15 will have a touch screen.

Books

iBooks: I like the user interface of the Apple book reader, it’s simple and readable, it has a search feature and most importantly, most books (if not all) come with a free sample. Overall, I don’t think that there is such a big difference between the Apple book reader and the Kindle reader when it comes to the act of reading but… Amazon seems to be a better book provider.

Kindle for iPad : Amazon has done a good job of making its Kindle app available on many platforms. As a result, it is possible to buy a book from Amazon on the iPad (on amazon.com) and bypass Apple completely. The great thing about the Kindle app is that once you own a book, you can re-download it on as many devices as you want (PC, iPhone, etc…). Kindle also lets you take notes, if you care about that. Finally, Amazon has about 450k book versus Apple’s 60k – oh and Amazon eBooks are getting cheaper too.

Gaming (Getting better, but…)

Hardcore gamers might consider the iPhone platform to be a sub-par gaming system, but commercially, it is quickly becoming huge. I’m probably a hardcore gamer but I try to stay open-minded: recent 3D games do look great on the iPad and this is only the beginning. The thing that I dislike about iPad gaming is the tactile controls. I just prefer a game controller, a keyboard+mouse or a wheel. You might or might not like it better – there’s only one way to find out: try playing on an iPhone or an iPad.

There have been reports of iPad overheating, but at the moment, I have not experienced any issues, despite playing 3D games for more than 30mn – 45mn.

WiFi chip faster than the iPhone 3GS

The 3G model isn’t available yet, but the good news is that the WiFi chip of the iPad is faster than the iPhone’s – if you can find a network fast enough to saturate both chips… It is not surprising thought, because Apple has less power and thermal constraints with the iPad WiFi chip, they can crank it up.

Just as we predicted, the $499 iPad is the one that has been selling out, but some folks that we know have been buying MiFi or Sprint Overdrive (read ourcomplete overdrive review) wireless modems to create a WiFi “bubble” that the iPad can connect with.

Battery Life (Excellent)

Thanks to progress in low-power designs, testing the battery life of computers is becoming seriously long. The custom iPad A4 processor consumes very little power, so in most cases, the display will be the largest drain factor on the battery.

• Local storage video: 10+ hours
• Streaming video (Netflix): 10+ hours
• Book reading:11-12hrs
• Music (display off): (too long, if I want to publish this week)

A typical day: For my personal use, the iPad will stay alive for about 1.5 days, and possibly 2 days if I stop trying all the apps with shiny icons.

Sleep mode: most gadgets continue to drain power when they are in sleep mode. In the case of the iPad, I noticed that it lost about 1% per night (7hr), which is quite low. This might be a positive effect of not having too much stuff running in the background…

USB charging incompatibility: although it is mentioned that the iPad can be charged from a computer USB ports, it turns out that this is true mainly for Mac computer USB ports because they have a little more juice. It doesn’t work on most PC computers, or USB HUBs. More details about the iPad USB topic.

Battery replacement: the battery is not user replaceable, and like most batteries, it might lose its charge capabilities or simply die (after a while). Right now, the cost of replacement is $105.95. For more info head to Apple’s iPad battery replacement page.

What the iPad is not great at

This is my personal preferences, but here’s what I don’t like to use the iPad for:

Writing reviews: it’s just painful to write for an extended period of time on the iPad. Yesterday, I had a 10mn IM session with a friend and I was getting tired by then. There’s no way that this would be my primary text input system.

Gaming: I know, the App Store game content is exploding these days, but I’m a hardcore gamer, I like game consoles, I like to play on PC, and I’m just having a hard time to be entertained with iPad games. The controls aren’t that great – although they are getting better and more creative. In the end, it’s just not my type of games. Maybe this would work better for me: iPad arcade cabinet

Productivity apps: While the iPad is capable of doing things like Word Processing, Presentations or even Spreadsheets, I would rather do that on a classic computer. In a pinch, it’s great that you can get some stuff done, but I don’t buy the argument that productivity apps are a “pleasure” to work with.

Instant Messaging: the iPad isn’t great at instant messaging for two reasons: 1/ I get tired quickly when I type. 2/When i put it to sleep, the IM app is closed and I won’t get any notifications (my Blackberry does notify me of incoming IM). 3/Each time I switch to another app, IM is closed too.

This list of “not so great at” is limited to things that I would do with my laptop while sitting in my couch. The conclusion is: the laptop won’t be too far.

What is the iPad great for?

I’ll speak for myself, and you have to realize that I have not tried every possible applications on the platform, but in my case here’s what the iPad is great for:

Web browsing, Email: I tend to use my laptop in my couch/bed, and for most of the web browsing and email that I do, the iPad is great. The battery lasts much longer, it’s lighter and most importantly, it is “instant-on” – no boot, no shut down. As I said earlier, some sites aren’t accessible because Flash is not supported, but 95% of the time it’s not a problem.

Browse my Netflix account: Add DVDs or instant-on movies to the queue and check new releases. Watching streaming video works great too.

Read news & comics: Reading comic books is truly awesome, it is so much better to me than the paper experience… Some news apps are great too. They are faster than going to the website, although I’m not quite sure if the web won’t win in the long run. It’s too early to tell. Books are good too, but I feel that the display could use a higher resolution and a higher size before I can truly love it. That said, I would chose the iPad over the Kindle any day.

Watching movies on a plane: Because of its size, the iPad is very good at displaying movies in cramped environments like airplanes but you will need some kind of stand, because it is not comfortable to hold it for a while. Movie playback is something that recent netbooks can deal with, but most of them will run out of battery after 3-6 hours while the iPad can go on for 10 hours.

Maps: the Map application looks great on the iPad. At the moment, we have not tested it on the 3G+GPS enabled, but it would be interesting to take it for a ride. Using the iPad as a personal navigation sounds cool, especially if we had a good way to mount it in a car (like this one). Is there an accessory for that?

Watching photo, videos: I like to play with the photo gallery, and I like to watch a trailer quickly to decide if I should record something on my video recorder, or rent a movie on my PS3 or Netflix.

It’s (really) instant-on: unlike my laptop, the iPad turns on and off instantly and in situation where I would turn things on and off a lot (in my couch) it’s pretty handy and convenient. Plus, it prolongs the battery life.

Conclusion (Very good, but not for everyone)

What the iPad is “useful for” will evolve with new apps and ideas, but in the end, it is just a tool that should help you do what you usually do… more easily and in a better way. You have to ask yourself why it would be useful to you. Actually, if you think “what is the purpose of this?”, then there’s probably no reason for you to get one.

For those who know what they will use it for, I hope that this review has clarified some things and provided enough information to make an educated decision.

Let’s be real: most people currently don’t *need* an iPad in the way they do “need” a phone or a computer. Right now, it is an entertainment device that could make one’s computing life a little better if you find the right apps. It has a lot of great qualities: Über-portable, pretty, responsive, tons of apps, great display, excellent battery life… But it also costs $499 in its simplest form, and this is not pocket change (people are buying the 16GB for $700+ on eBay). If you can afford it, and if your usage model is compatible with its design, the iPad is a great device. Love it or hate it, but let’s all live in peace. Subscribe and comment to this review. Tell us your opinion, if you have any questions address them to us.

Links which helped us  to elaborate the review of iPad:

iPad homepage, iPad User Manual, iPad Support Page, More Ubergizmo stories about the iPad

Review written special for http://inews10.wordpress.com