Sony Xperia X8 specifications and video
Sony Ericsson released this video yesterday about their latest phone, the Xperia X8. The Xperia X8′s features are shown off in this video as some cool music is played and the phone moves does a little dancing, but you can watch the video here for yourself. Read more 
T-Mobile G2 review
It’s been a long road to the T-Mobile G2 (and this review). Just two years ago, Android made its entrance into the smartphone market with the G1, a partnership with the fourth-place carrier, and a lot of promises about keeping things open. Since then we’ve seen the likes of the Droid family, Google’s Nexus One, and the powerhouses that are the Samsung Galaxy S line — to name a few. Yes, the Android landscape has become more than just a little crowded. But of those many, there are few who leap beyond what we’ve come to expect from the Google-backed enterprise into the realm of the top tier. For all the Android devices you can purchase, only a few rise above the noise. At a glance, the G2 looks like one of those handsets — designed and manufactured by HTC (and known as the Desire Z in Europe), outfitted with a (nearly) stock build of Android 2.2, and equipped with T-Mobile’s new HSPA+, which the carrier claims can offer network speeds nearly equivalent to 4G. So is the G2 the sum of its parts — the pure Android experience you’ve been waiting for — or does it fall short of the hype? Find out below in the full Engadget review! Read more
Apple iMac i3 2010 review
Every year we run into the same problem: what do you call the update to Apple’s latest device? This is always going to be the case when you keep the name, but change the design and specs of a device. So here we have the Apple iMac 21.5-inch, announced in July 2010, and equipped with the Intel Core i3 3.06GHz processor.
This is currently the cheapest iMac that Apple makes: it’s the entry point for its all-in-one computer at £999. The all-in-one market is rather fragmented, with many manufacturers on the Windows side of things producing low-spec cheap AIOs, as well as a variety of touch and non-touch. The iMac is not touch, but it is powerful: with the Intel Core i3 3.06GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and an ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card offering 256MB of dedicated graphics memory; it cuts through most daily tasks with ease. As it is, this iMac handles gaming as it is on the Mac, although it isn’t a powerhouse.
There are step-up options too, with a 3.2GHz Core i3 and 3.6GHz Core i5 processors offered for extra cash. The RAM can be boosted to 8GB at the point of ordering and although this model comes with 500GB hard drive, if you opt for the faster processor models, you’ll get the 1TB drive and 2TB drive options, but at the entry-point your options are limited. Read more
Apple iPod shuffle 4G review
Apple’s iPod Shuffle received another makeover when Apple launched its new iPod line up in September, but were they right to go back to one of the previous designs or has the re-inclusion of buttons spoilt it? While the iPod touch is the flagship and the iPod nano the bit of fun, the iPod shuffle, to many, is a strange device that doesn’t really serve much purpose. With no screen and a small storage (2GB) chances are your phone will offer you a more complete experience.
However with such a low price point (£39) and such a small design, the shuffle is perfect for runners who want music, but also want to keep things light. Measuring 29 x 31.6 x 8.7mm there is no denying that the iPod shuffle is small – heck we’ve seen postage stamps bigger. Read more
Amazon Kindle 3 Review
We’ve been a huge fan of the Amazon Kindle since it first launched, although the Kindle DX with its 9.7-inch screen proved too bulky. With iBooks on the Apple iPad, Amazon’s own cross-platform Kindle app and the Sony Reader Touch Edition, is the third version of Amazon’s Kindle still the e-reader king?
Amazon’s introduced two versions. The 3G version we tested enables wireless transfers anywhere, but for £109, you can get a WiFi only version, which is perfect if you can time your downloads to being in the vicinity of a WiFi hot spot.
21% smaller than its predecessor, the Kindle is slimmer than a paperback book and at 247g, light enough to carry in a bag and hold in one hand. We’re a big far of the new charcoal (or graphite) exterior which seems more sophisticated.
The QWERTY keyboard is now over four lines, the keys are tiny, so typing isn’t comfortable for prolonged periods, but it’s fine for the off web address and book title.
The joystick (which we never really had an issue with) has been replaced with a more comfortable square four-way controller. Menu and Back buttons are integrated into the keyboard, instead of on the rim. Page forward and back buttons are slightly smaller, but still on either side to suit right and left-handed readers. Read more
Nokia N8 Review
Nokia’s time in the doldrums has been well-documented, but with a revised UI and a boatload of top-end tech, it’s hoping the new N8 will catapult it back to the sharp end of the smartphone game.
With the N8, Nokia has seemingly thrown all the tech it can think of at the new handset in a bid to rival the likes of Android and the iPhone – a 12MP camera with ‘proper’ Xenon flash, XVID and DIVX support, HD video capture, Dolby Mobile sound and an HDMI-out port are just the tip of the iceberg. Read more
Nokia C6 smartphone review
Nokia’s midrange C6 is effectively a budget version of last year’s N97 but still manages to pack in a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, a 5Mp camera and A-GPS with turn-by-turn satnav as standard. Being the C6-00, it runs on the Symbian S60 5th Edition, unlike the C6-01 unveiled at Nokiaworld this month, which runs Symbian^3 and won’t hit the shelves before the end of the year.
The C6-00 is a bit of a brick, at 113 x 53 x 17mm and 150g, largely due to the slide-out keyboard. At first glance it looks very similar to the N97, but with a cheaper, more plasticky feel. It doesn’t do that angled screen thing either, as the keyboard merely slides straight out, which isn’t as fancy, but that’s no great loss. More worrying is that the top half of the phone sits a bit high on the bottom half, with the result that it feels a little wobbly when closed.
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Apple iMac SSD 2010 review
Solid state drives are catching on. They’re faster than disk-based storage drives, and more durable too. Unfortunately, they’re also a lot more expensive.
The mid-2010 iMac refresh gives you a solid state drive as a custom option for the 27-inch model, but replacing its 1TB hard drive with a 256MB SSD costs £480, and if you want both, it’s an extra £600.
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Apple TV review (2010)
You’ve been waiting, and it’s finally here: the Apple TV review. Months before Steve Jobs announced the new set top box at Apple’s annual fall event, we had been reporting on news that the company would strike out again into the TV market, offering a small, low-cost box that had more in common with the iPhone than the iMac. When those rumors came to fruition, we were presented with the completely revamped Apple TV — a tiny black puck of a device priced at a staggering $99, and centered around a handful of completely new ideas (for the folks in Cupertino at least) about getting content onto your TV screen. The first is a new rental system which allows you to nab brand new TV shows at $0.99 a rental, and HD movies for $4.99 a go (or $3.99 for older titles). And that includes new releases the same day DVDs hit shelves (or Netflix distribution centers). Speaking of Netflix, the new Apple TV also features the rental service’s “Watch Instantly” as a wholly integrated component of its offerings, alongside a new function the company calls AirPlay which will allow you to “push” video and audio content from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch with the tap of a button. On top of that, the new ATV streamlines sharing from your home computers or laptops, making getting content you own onto your TV dead simple. So, has Apple finally solved the “second box” problem, or are they still struggling to turn this hobby into a real business? Follow along after the break for those answers (and more) in our full review of the Apple TV!
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