First, we’ll get the obligatory iPhone boilerplate out of the way. Yes, contrary some fist shaking, iPhone (3GS) was the phone to beat, until today. Be it in the performance arena, the App Store arena, be it the basket of features or the pure style… adding it all up, iPhone stayed ahead.

So, how does Droid force Apple back to the drawing board? The sum of its (new) parts.

Motorola and Google have unloaded a ton of new technology into Verizon’s first Android phone. Google has brought Android 2.0, along with the world’s first free turn-by-turn live GPS solution. Motorola matched that with hardware that reminds us why Motorola has stayed relevant in the industry.

I have to admit, we were skeptical about Droid’s design. It looked like Motorola’s Sidekick… a match made in hell, with design language to match. Holding Droid however is a completely different story. It looks amazingly well-built. The in-hand build quality even manages to surpass that. This phone is a winner in the design category. In short, it’s thin. The keyboard and display sections are evenly distributed, the lower half of the phone is only slightly thicker than the display portion.

So, we’ll cut to the chase. We like small reviews now, we think you will too. Here’s why we it’s the best smartphone out there, the new phone to beat. Android 2.0, combined with the 550 MHz processor that Droid carries, sets a new standard. Literally, from start to finish, it beats the iPhone. Verizon Wireless’s EV-DO Rev A network also makes the ping rates and throughput of AT&T’s HSPA network frown. Make that seriously frown. Verizon and Droid beat AT&T and iPhone in nearly every web page we loaded, and both sported excellent reception (our offices happen to be under a jointly-shared cell site for both companies).

It’s important to note that the 550 MHz CPU that the Motorola Droid carries is using a different core from comparative Samsung or XScale-derrived processors. The megahertz myth is a live and well in the mobile sector, as the performance yield per clock cycle means that Droid rivals 1 GHz Snapdragon phones. It is also why phone makers always hesitate in touting the processor of a phone…

But it’s the small things that this fusion create that make the difference. There is no lag in this phone. None. No “screen blur for 4 seconds while rotating”. No “wait for the on-screen keyboard to appear”. No “wait for apps to toggle”. And, no “wait for the interface to draw from one screen to the next.” If you’ve used Android, this is music to your ears. If you haven’t used Android, we strongly suggest starting with the Droid, you won’t look back.

Oh, and be sure to try out the accelerometer. It’s faster than iPhone… something we weren’t sure Android’s Dalvik platform could ever pull off.

Likewise, the keyboard is a sigh of relief. We’ve been waiting for a good Android phone to replace the T-Mobile G1 for having a keyboard and touch screen. The Samsung Moment on Sprint has been long-awaited for this reason. Thankfully, the keyboard on Droid is excellent. It’s flat, but a easy to use. The layout is well-articulated, with dual alt keys on both ends of the keyboard, and excellent backlighting. It’s the best keyboard on any Android phone released to-date.

This isn’t to say that Android was dysfunctional before Droid, far from it. Droid and Android 2.0 simply put it on a new playing field. A playing field where you can multitask like a Palm Pre, but with the native code that Android 2.0 allows. Oh, and that brings us to the other side: Android 2.0’s future in the App Store arena.

First, we’ll talk about what Android 2.0 and Droid deliver today. The long-rumored and sometimes-shown new Android Market is in-place and fully working. It’s faster than iPhone by a mile. Apps install instantly. We could not find an app that took more than 10 seconds to install. Try that with an iPhone. Try that with Windows Mobile, or even the Palm Pre. We’ve suffered through the freezes, stalls, and lag on their app stores. Not so on Droid. In short, it just works.

Car mode is a nice touch. We’ll be reviewing Android’s Maps with Navigation beta in a separate article (since it is in beta, and we don’t cast judgement on betas). But, for those of you not glued on every move that Droid has made, Car Mode is a special GUI written by Google for devices that function well in cars. We expect that to mean all future phones, but for now, it’s only on Droid. At first, you might get the notion that it isn’t necessary. But, then you touch the voice search button, and fall in love. It has the best voice recognition we’ve ever seen on a phone. There are some faults, for example, Voice Search doesn’t connect with Bluetooth voice commands. So, you can’t tap the screen and say “call 800-466-4411″, but you can say “directions to Best Buy” and Maps will load ready to start a new turn-by-turn GPS session.

Basically car mode takes the taps out of driving. Voice commands route to their natural functions. If you’re saying something related to a web search, it loads Google and runs the search. If you’re asking for something related to GPS, it takes care of tapping through all the menus for you… since, you’re, well, driving.

Not a 360-point landing

There are some faults though. The “with Google” branding stifles innovation. No HTC Sense UI here. While Sense UI blew away CLIQ in our offices, the lack of both is a bit painful. It means juggling IM apps, weather widgets, and other stuff that should just be there. This isn’t as much of a concern to the tech-savvy, as it is to those that are new to smartphones. With Sense UI, they get an instant level of data integration that would be cumbersome for the average person to get acquainted to all at once.

There is a real fear to “with Google” that is still present. And, that is that many will only use it as a glorified web browser and email client. They will miss out on the key features that can be tapped into with this powerful, multitasking phone.

Oh, and please, give us pinch and zoom. If HTC can implement it by dropping the With Google, why can’t Google embrace gestures? They seem to have no problem with flicking, but pinching still escapes them. Because Android 2.0 is so responsive, it’s not as much of a concern… but it’s still a concern near the top of the list.

The road ahead… now with Navigation and Street View…

For Droid to thrive, developers will have to up the ante as well. Android is still, unfortunately, cumbersome to take full advantage of. The abstraction of native code gives iPhone a waning edge. Google continues to cut off their nose, in order to spite their own never-native face in this regard. Android is an Operating System, and Google needs to accept that its head is, still, stuck in the clouds. To take advantage of the arsenal of OpenGL power that exists in Droid, Android must give a better C implementation, and fast.

Thankfully, Motorola has done the hard work, of building a device that shows how imperative the notion of simple native code is. With Palm stuttering on the subject, Symbian in shambles, Maemo not out of the gate, and Windows Mobile admitting their weakened state… Android has the sole power to make their native code suite robust, and challenge iPhone at what they do best (and still be open, too).

For Motorola, there are some other complaints. For example, the camera is not at the top of the universe. HTC’s Hero camera is superior, with touch-on-autofocus and a more robust camera app. Again, “with Google” branding probably forced Motorola to use the Android 2.0 camera app. We were looking for more here, and we’ll post photos in a follow-up. Still, kudos for the dedicated pressure-sensitive camera button.

The screen size also leaves us a bit perplexed. It’s an odd one. It isn’t as wide as a standard 3.5 inch, but is longer, giving it about double the resolution of iPhone, while only weighing in at 3.7 inches total. It seems nice and long for vertical reading, but in landscape mode has us asking for more. Lots of pixels, but slightly sub-par longitude on the display front. At least it’s bright and responsive.

Finally, Verizon seems to have spent a lot of effort making the battery door easy to open. While battery life will take some time to fully condition, owners can rest assured: Moto Droid is no Palm Pre. Unfortunately, the battery has to be removed to change the microSD card slot. We prefer thin devices, and we certainly prefer microSD over narrow-minded phones that lack any form of capacity upgrade. However, having to powercycle a phone this modern just to copy a few files over to the microSD card seems short-sighted.

Verizon has some work, too. The only app they offer right now is a $2.99/month visual voicemail application. While VZ Navigator has been made obsolete by Google Maps with Navigation, their other services; V CAST Video and V CAST Song ID, as well as an on-device account management app, all could bolster the Droid movement for the company.

Another note to Verizon. Developing your own Android UI would be a fatal error. We still have to ding each and every non-smartphone on Verizon for their battery draining, useless, damaging smartphone UI. Worse, Verizon knows it drives customers into buying smartphones, and we really hate that kind of crippleware. Leave your in-house developers to in-house apps, and not into cushy for-life jobs controlling Android UI on Verizon (yeah, we know that’s how Verizon BREW UI got the green light).

One Final Thing™ that we would like to see on the device, is a 2GB microSD version. Many people already have large microSDHC cards, and don’t need to pay for the bundled 16GB card that comes with the phone. At least as an online-only option, offering a $179 version with a small memory card would be better for everyone.

Conclusions, Final Thoughts

The CLIQ and Droid clearly come from different camps. The Motorola CLIQ was meant to be a Sidekick killer. Not bad timing for that, either. Droid was built for a different purpose, to give Motorola new life with the most informed customers in the world. It’s the new superphone.

But, as usual, we love competition. Droid will make the competition finally ask questions that they’ve tried to dismiss. Like, why can’t I have a phone with a great keyboard, and a giant touchscreen? Or, why can’t I have a phone that is at the top of the power heap, and has removable storage? And, why am I paying to use that GPS chip in my phone, when the maps are already free? These are questions that have been out there for a long, long time. Droid combines power that will keep the tech-savvy, with a phone that answers all the checkboxes.

Motorola has just reinvented themselves, and we can finally say that with a smile, not the perpetual chagrin that we’re unfortunately become all too accustomed to about the company.

Pros: Lag-less UI, Android 2.0 power, Great keyboard, Extremely fast processor, Free GPS navigation
Cons: No multitouch UI, Stifled “With Google” options, Moto’s typical weak camera performance
Final Score: 5/5

FTC “Change You Shouldn’t Believe In” Boilerplate

That all said, we do love your comments and questions, so please share them below!

So when Sprint decided to finally ship a somewhat open, Linux-driven, modern Palm phone… it wasn’t a question of who was going to review it first.

And now, for the first (full) review of the (final) Palm Pre.

Palm hasn’t been known for Sprint integration. Most of Sprint’s Palm phones come somewhat desolate of Sprint service integration. This is a major reason why Sprint gets a bad reputation in the wireless industry. Tech-savvy people grab a Treo, turn it on, and don’t find Sprint Navigation. They don’t find Sprint TV. They don’t find a Music Store. And while niche devices like the Treo 800w and Pro finally checked the boxes… the implementation fell silent. Everyone was already waiting for the Pre.

Thankfully, the Pre does Sprint integration right. Sprint TV excels on the Palm Pre. It’s not clear if the Pre is using a newer, higher-resolution H.264 connection… or if Palm’s playback software has hardware acceleration. But, it’s great. And, unlike SlingPlayer… doesn’t “harm the AT&T Sprint network.” Unlike AT&T, Sprint doesn’t violate FCC rulings and limit what you can do with your device.

And that shows with the Pre. Sprint Navigation is just the beginning… the app portfolio service on the Pre appears more extensible than iPhone. However, Palm didn’t let too much slip out about it; all apps have been removed from the store. Palm says they’ll add the service back on launch day, so we can’t put their app store to the test… yet.

Probably the worst feature that we had experience with, was USB mode. Copying to the device was slow… slower than ActiveSync was over USB 2.0. It almost reminded us of iPhone OS 2.0, before Apple updated the sync process to, well, work.

Amazon MP3 does work already… and it’s a welcomed relief from the Sprint Outsourced Music Store. Palm put their foot down, and it paid off here. Having a music store on-par with the iPhone is key for a device like Pre… and while iPhone’s iPod software makes iPhone better for controlling music… we were happy with the shopping experience.

And yes, music does play in the background.

Surprisingly, nobody on the team was happy with YouTube. While Sprint TV was a treat, YouTube was limited to searching. It’s not clear if this is going to be quickly updated, but the player software is minimalistic at best.

Facebook integration also appears to suffer from first-instance issues. The application supports a minimal set of the Facebook API, limiting users to a 2007-style interface, with only profile and contact information. Chat is nowhere to be found.

Other Sprint apps, such as Nascar Mobile, were also surprises… in that they weren’t terrible. Usually these outsourced apps run slowly and don’t update properly. Not so on the Pre.

Messaging is a delicate subject for many. The Pre not only has a capacitive display (which yes, is very much capacitive… unlike the Touch Pro, it loves a human’s touch)… but it also has a keyboard. Typing on the Pre, like any smartphone, is sure to be the subject of many arguments. Some will say that iPhone’s multi-touch approach is better… others will say the Pre is better.

We really love how the debate puts Apple’s Steve Jobs, and (formerly) Apple’s John Rubenstein at odds. When asked if Apple thought about adding a physical keyboard to iPhone, Jobs dismissed the idea flatly, citing the team’s unified decision to move ahead with multi-touch. The first device with Rubenstein (the “father of the iPod and iPhone”) as chairman of Palm… has a physical keyboard. It cauterizes rumors that he stood out as the most major opposition to the lack of a physical keyboard on iPhone.

Still, we aren’t alone in thinking it takes some acquiring to get acquainted to typing and messaging on the Pre. Every early user we’ve talked to agreed that the interface requires jumping through menus in an odd manner… especially when toggling between windows and apps.

Lingering Questions for Palm

We’re still left with some questions. With the webOS SDK still not fully unveiled… we’re left asking Palm what they’ll let people do with the device.

iPhone limits software to what they can do with background apps.
Android limits software to not run Linux software directly.
BlackBerry limits software all over the place.
Palm Pre? Well, we don’t know what limits will be there.

Obviously, for webOS software, a lot of apps are breaking the rules internally. A lot of these apps are Linux-coded from the bottom to the top. Will Palm let other developers have the same level of access? We think it’s going to be a deal-breaker if they don’t. As Apple learned with iPhone, limiting all the toys to their own software, leaves everyone else taking their toys elsewhere.

Lingering Questions for Sprint

Unfortunately, we’re pointing the most anger here at Sprint.

Once again, Sprint proclaims that another device requires Everything Plans. That is misinformation, plain and simple. The Palm Pre, like the Samsung Instinct, could run on any modern Sprint plan. Sprint simply would need to require the presence of a Power Vision Pack, in order to activate the device.

Even the hard of hearing, and data-only customers, are simply told to chose another phone. It makes us sick… and here’s why.

Instead, Sprint is requiring people to buy a top-revenue Everything Plan. Our memo to Sprint: It may just kill Palm, thanks.

Why might it kill Palm? Tech-savvy people like their old plans. They hate when people try to kick them off… and they’ll respond by going elsewhere.

With most of the tech savvy people refusing to get the Pre, on Everything Plan hostage terms, there won’t be many people rallying the success of the Pre.

Now, you might respond that while Sprint is in the wrong for deceiving people, that the Palm Eos will be coming to AT&T. We’re just left wondering if the Pre will fail because of these hostage-terms plan requirements, and if anyone will buy a Pre in the interim? Will Palm live long enough to ship the Eos?

Sprint, wise up and drop this ridiculous plan requirement. The Pre is an excellent device, but isn’t worth higher per-month pricing. Those customers can, and will, get a Wi-Fi enabled Windows phone, and sling Wi-Fi to the iPod touch. Such a shame too, because the Pre is Sprint’s converged solution. Only those on Everything plans will be able to use it.

Closing Thoughts

Barring any last-minute snags, which seem unlikely at this point, we’ve reviewed the final version of the Pre. There is the potential, as previously reported, that Sprint could pull their escrow of the firmware if they find anything show-stopping. We doubt that will happen at this point, and expect the device to be sold in early June.

Minor Update: Hours after posting this review, Sprint confirmed the June 6th launch date for the Pre.

We are holding off on casting judgment on a few areas, which we outlined previously. Palm’s App Catalog is not open yet, and we won’t touch the sync servers for calendars and contacts until they go live. MechaWorks is intimately familiar with cloud computing, and we understand that it is in an active state of development still. We aren’t even using those apps yet, so we don’t get any first impressions from servers that aren’t final.

The Pre is a beautiful device. We love it, we love to hold it, we love to use it. Sprint, please don’t kill the golden goose (for Sprint, or for Palm). Let everyone with an unlimited data plan use the Pre… it’s better, but not enough to fork over an additional $20 to $40 per month. For an extra $960 (over the course of two years), we’d rather have an iPod touch, plus a couple of netbooks (sipping Wi-Fi from any old Windows phone).

But, we do have these forums, and they have all these places to chat about devices, carriers, tips, solutions, questions, and the all-important answers. So, we’re going to take a page from the reviews, and from the forums, and combine the concepts of both in a new format that we call Mini Reviews.

Basically, these reviews higlight the important stuff on each device, leaving out aspects that don’t really change over time. For example, if you’ve used one Sanyo Katana, there hasn’t been a lot of earth-shattering changes to the next model. So, we’ll present to you what changed, what’s new, and what’s still causing us to pull our hair out… about each new phone.

Where can you find these mini reviews? A few places, actually. We’ll post them here in the news feed of course. You can also find them in the relevant forum categories (for example, our Samsung Omnia i910 mini review is located in the Verizon Devices forum). And, we’ll also link to them in the Phone Encyclopedia page for each phone that we give a mini-review.

Best of all, the mini reviews are great starting points for a discussion about the device, and since you’ll be in the forums already, feel free to break out into discussing other topics as well.

Mini Review: Samsung Rant (Sprint)
Mini Review: Samsung Omnia i910 (Verizon Wireless)

Now with the switch to the OneClick standard user interface, does the Highnote improve on the innovative features found on the Upstage, or will it be hampered by the one feature that Sprint touts in OneClick?

Phone Encyclopedia: Samsung Highnote

Buy a Sprint Samsung Highnote from Best Buy

First Impressions, Basic Functionality

The Samsung Highnote is an uncommon form factor for any US carrier, owing to its dual-slide form factor which was pioneered by the Nokia N95.

It does bring up reminders of the aforementioned superphone, however the most remarkable thing about the design of the phone is the speaker.

The speaker portion of the phone is thin and flat and is exposed by pushing down on the body. This makes the phone very suitable for conference calls as the speaker is quite powerful and loud as evidenced by the fact that I loaded a custom ringtone of a synthesized kickdrum loop and heard it from 30 feet away at low volume.

The menu keys are rather awkward and are positioned at 10 and 2. which will be offputting for the first few times you use the phone. Oddly, the talk and end keys are not illuminated in the common red and green lighting and also require getting used to, which can be frustrating at times if one is in a hurry.

For menu navigation, the phone offers an integrated directional pad set inside the menu keys which also doubles as a scrollwheel similar to the Chocolate 3. The scrollwheel works well provided the sensitivity is set as a reasonable level, but it can have the potential to aggravate since the wheel also doubles as the directional pad, making it hard to key in specific selections in a pinch or navigate menus.

Reception was below average for a Sprint Samsung model with an internal antenna, as the phone would struggle to maintain a stable signal even in a saturated coverage area. Phone calls were of good quality with ample volume and callers reported no issues with hearing my voice or dropouts. Calls over Bluetooth using the Sony Ericsson DS970 or DS220 yielded the same result although incoming calls using the DS220 with Shure e5c in ear monitors made incoming call compression more evident than the 970, but outgoing calls were fine and the Bluetooth caller ID function worked as advertised.

The dialpad features dedicated keys for speakerphone, SMS, and text to speech intended for mobile use, but I never used them very often. The phone features a hold button which is rather useless in practice as sliding the phone up or down disables the lock, presumably for emergencies. Had Sprint and Samsung implemented a hardware switch that gets killed when sliding the phone up, the hold functionality would be effective when using the music player functionality.

Advanced Functionality

The Samsung Highnote features the controversial Sprint OneClick user interface which is intended to be the standard user interface across all Sprint non-smartphones. It features, appropriately one-click access to messaging, Google services (GMail, Search, YouTube, Maps, Reader), Sprint Music, and Web access.

While the intention to provide a common interface is sound, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Since the user interface is programmed in BREW, the phone struggles to keep up with user input with a copious amount of lag, which led me to disable the user interface. Once I did that, my blood pressure went down significantly, though I would prefer the Samsung UI.

The browser built into the OneClick UI is crash-prone and routinely times out in an almost reliable fashion. I’ve since pinned it to the switch from AU-MIC to Polaris and the implementation of the Openwave proxy since it has issues with processing SSL connections. Since the proxy and browser do a poor job of formatting HTML pages, I limited web usage considerably, but I found that it can still process WML/WAP/XHTML with no issues.

I expect the phone to receive at least two firmware updates to address the user interface and the browser, especially as developers have been becoming more vocal about the aforementioned issues. One thing that I have not seen mentioned is the inclusion of a microUSB port and cable. Thankfully, the cable charges the phone and the phone also features a mass storage option (that disables the phone radio), which is convenient for quick image and data transfers.

Music Playback

The selling point for this phone is the music playback and the Highnote does that as well as it can within the confines of Sprint’s requirements. OneClick does not feature an independent media player in the vein of the Samsung media player found on the A900/A920/M500/M520.

In its place the Sprint Music Store player now features built-in EQ options and spatializer options for audio running through its speakers, Bluetooth, and 3.5mm headphone jack, which any music oriented phone should have with no exception. The media player plays back MP3, unprotected AAC, and Sprint’s protected AAC format used for purchased Music Store tracks.

The volume output is superior to the iPod/iPhone/Touch over either the 3.5mm jack or Bluetooth and I tested the volume by using a random mix of music ranging from metal (Nile, Morbid Angel, At The Gates, Lamb of God, Slayer), electronic music (Alec Empire, Atari Teenage Riot, Chemical Brothers, Pendulum, Counterstrike) and noise (Merzbow, Masonna). The phone features a one-touch key for the music store and works well.

Camera

The camera is typical midrange Samsung fare, with a tiny CMOS sensor and heaps of noise. Pictures came out below average thanks to the reliance on ambient lighting and no flash. Video recording is passable and features options for video messages and long videos.

Conclusions

The OneClick User Interface alone will polarize customers due to its usability quirks and lag. The lack of the manufacturer user interface isn’t a deal-breaker, but We couldn’t reccomend this phone to everyone without preconditions.

My advice to Sprint and Samsung: Bring back the Samsung UI, and make OneClick into a Sprint theme, which could be disabled by savvy or elderly users who are familiar/enamored with the Samsung UI. Google alone will not mask a litany of usability issues and the idea that forcing a user interface is a good idea.

Final Score: 3/5
Pros: Thin, loud speakers, Bluetooth, microUSB with charging cable, 3.5mm headphone jack
Cons: Buggy, Lack of Samsung UI, lack of standard media player, poor browser.

Phone Encyclopedia: Samsung Highnote

Buy a Sprint Samsung Highnote from Best Buy

Plus, a few things about Android that you won’t find in any other review…

First Impressions, Basic Phone Functionality

Let’s get this out of the way… there isn’t any wow-factor when you take the phone out of the box. Walking around town with the phone, there weren’t the people dropping their jaws when the phone was pulled out. The G1 is a 2006 version of the HTC Wizard, the AT&T 8125, and the PPC-6700 on Sprint and Verizon. The only major difference, is that it has a spring loading keyboard, and a trackball. In short; it’s thick, it’s a brick.

But, the wow factor starts when you hit the power button. Normally, when you think of an HTC device, you think of a tank. It’s big, it’s slow, but eventually it gets the job done. It took the threat of a class action suit for HTC to realize that drivers actually matter in a Windows Mobile phone. The G1 is a new beginning for HTC.

Powering on the phone for the first time, you notice the quick boot time, about half that of a Windows Mobile phone. The G1 boots in about 49 seconds, compared to iPhone 3G at 54 seconds (time from powering on, to main screen). You’re given a quick welcome screen, and asked to enter in your Google Account, so that you can have sync services. More on that later. After that, you’re dropped right to the “desktop”.

The desktop is not like the home screens on any other cell phone. It’s much more akin to the desktop of a modern computer. You have icons, a menu bar, an application dock, folders, and widgets. Like the iPhone, you flick your finger to scroll through these things. And, that’s the next major thing that sets the G1 apart from any other HTC phone yet; it’s designed for your finger. It only responds to a human touch.

Usage-wise, it’s almost natural to immediately open the keyboard when using the device. I only found myself using the G1 with the keyboard closed… was when I made a phone call. Regardless of scrolling with the trackpad, or flipping with the finger… widescreen was the way to go. That’s mostly because of the weight balancing on the G1. But, it works surprisingly well… All three inputs; keyboard, touch screen, and trackball, are all easily accessible. 

Unfortunately, we can’t really weigh in on call quality as of yet. Same with battery life. Why? T-Mobile has said that the Sacramento market will be 3G when the G1 launches… but as of yet, we haven’t seen a any 3G coverage. It is a bit concerning that T-Mobile is committing to launching a 3G network, but hasn’t opened access less than a week before launch.

The mini-USB port at the bottom carries a port cover. It’s a nice addition, and despite some who had concerns about it, the port cover was easy for us to open and plug things into. Unfortunately, as had been rumored, the standard Ext-USB port adapter (which allows the USB port to be used as a 3.5mm headphone jack), is absent from the included accessories. This is simply unacceptable; HTC bundles this with every Windows Mobile phone… Android should be no different. Ideally, T-Mobile should rectify this and offer to mail all G1 owners an adapter.

Advanced Features

There’s a lot of advanced features in the G1. First and foremost, is the ability to switch applications easily. By holding the home button down, a task switcher (very reminiscent of alt-tab or command-tab on Windows and Mac OS X) appears. This allows for several applications to be running at once, applications quit after not being used for a prolonged period. This allows you to maintain an IM session, while looking up a webpage, while on hold in a phone call. And, it just works.

In short, the G1 has shown that a smartphone really can multitask. That’s something that most of the competition has simply failed at… one way or another. 

Wi-Fi. I thought that iPhone really was the best Wi-Fi implementation that could be crafted. Well, Google one-upped Apple. Wi-Fi base stations that come into range, show up in the menu bar. A quick flick of the menu bar lets you connect to new base stations in range. There’s no nagging notification dialogue that interrupts what you’re doing. If you want to wardrive, just flick down the menu bar. If you want to keep using 3G, you don’t need to do a thing.

Camera. This was an interesting one… as there is no video recorder. It’s shocking how Google and HTC could have missed the need for one, after watching iPhone attacked endlessly for this. However, with still photos, it has an excellent interface. The pressure-sensitive camera button handles the auto-focus with ease. In fact, the only interface elements in the camera application, are a green light that appears when there’s an auto-focus lock… and a balloon that appears to tell you where the camera button is initially.

Also, the Camera application supports grabbing GPS location data, and gives fairly good response times. Is the much-more-expensive Touch Diamond better? Maybe… but it’s certainly close. And, again, this really shows what Android can do, considering the age of the G1’s hardware.

The G1 ships with IM, Google’s first instant messenger that reaches beyond the walls of Google Talk. While it includes Google Talk, it also supports other instant messaging services.

Shockingly, we were not informed that IM services other than Google Talk do indeed use text messages, as opposed to data. There was no mention (in the application) that IMs sent via Google Talk would be free (using unlimited data), but that AIM/Windows Live/Yahoo messages would be charged SMS rates.

Mail was one of the key areas where we hit some bugs. First, there are two Mail applications. One for Gmail, one for all other IMAP/POP3 email accounts. Both appear to be using the same source code, with the Gmail app having a different interface (with Gmail specializations). Unfortunately, Mail is a bit buggy. It has some of the same IMAP root path bugs that iPhone had when it first shipped. Worse, we couldn’t work around them with hard-coding… each inbox called itself INBOX.Mail.something.

The media players are a bit interesting… and a bit of a letdown. The Music player is only marginally better than the now-ancient Windows Media Player. There is no video player, aside from an early version in the Android Marketplace. YouTube is the only video player on the phone. YouTube does, however, work quite well. It pulls video from the same H.264 path that iPhone uses.

Speaking of the Android Market, this is where Google starts to turn things around. Android Market is fast, reliable, and we only encountered one time where we had to re-launch the Market, in about a week of usage. While there are only a few apps listed now, it does pale in comparison to Apple’s App Store, this is largely due to the G1 not being out yet. Unlike iPhone, developers haven’t had a chance to test software on the device itself… something key to testing and approving software.

Sync services are a good start, but still quite a ways from MobileMe. Google needs to have Windows and Mac OS X desktop integration, to close the loop. Right now, Android is great with syncing to the online cloud… but the cloud isn’t good at syncing back to your computers.

Maps works great, our only problem was with the GPS taking awhile to acquisition. It has poor in-building penetration. Outdoors and in a car however, GPS locks on quickly. Maps on Android is comparable to Google Maps for Mobile 2.3, and includes Street View. And, a hidden option allows for enabling Compass mode, which lets the accelerometer use Street View in a panoramic mode; browsing the Street View simply by moving the device around in a circular fashion. Compass mode didn’t really work well. This could be due to the fact that most apps don’t really use the accelerometer… as was noted above, landscape is the natural mode for most applications.

And, finally, the web browser. Google has said that Android is not using Chrome, but a different branch of Apple’s WebKit browser. However, we question that a bit… Google may be holding back on calling Android’s browser Chrome, but that may be so that we’re compelled to advertise report on that announcement later. It’s pretty clear that much of the advances in Chrome stem from Android’s web browser. In fact, Android even works flawlessly with Google Gears, on standard desktop web sites. If they are different browsers, the same people helped make them.

Warning: Android is about to be compared to iPhone, a lot. This is because Safari and Android Browser share the same core browser code. It is an extremely valid basis for comparing the two devices.

The web browser works great. It zooms, sizes text well, and scrolls robustly (with both the touch screen and trackball). Tabbed browsing is pretty much identical to iPhone, as is the ability of the browser to load and render web pages. However, they do size text differently… Android does not benefit from the Resolution Independence technology, introduced in Mac OS X. Instead, Android changes the size of the text based on the zoom level. This works about 75% as well as Safari on iPhone. However, because the G1 benefits from being primarily used in landscape mode… it isn’t as much of an issue.

Scrolling on Android Browser is about as elegant as Safari. However, because the display is not multi-touch, zooming is accomplished by buttons that appear whenever the finger is touching the display. Android also provides a magnifying glass feature, common on third-party browsers such as Opera Mini. Touching the magnifying glass (which appears next to the zoom controls), zooms the page out to a maximum level, and then provides a magnified box which the user can scroll. This allows the user to quickly jump to, for example, the bottom of a long web page. While functionally the magnifying glass is a bit of a hassle… it’s less of a hassle than scrolling 25 times to get to the bottom of a web page in iPhone’s Safari.

Both iPhone and Android include Google search. iPhone has search built-in to the scroll bar, and so does Android. Android also comes with a desktop widget to search right on the desktop… and we actually found it quite useful. The search bars also support Google’s suggestion features, so search queries appear as you type. Moreover, we found searching on Android to be faster than iPhone 3G… even on T-Mobile’s EDGE network. This is because iPhone defaults to the desktop version of Google web search. Android however, defaults to the AJAX-powered mobile version. So, while iPhone is desktop-perfect, Android doesn’t need to reload the entire page, and thus, can search faster.

Note: iPhone users can take advantage of AJAX mobile search by pointing their browsers to mobile.google.com. And, iPhone also has a dedicated Google Search Application, which replicates the utility of the search widget on Android’s desktop.

And, like Safari, Android’s Browser is pretty devoid of extensions. There’s no Flash support, and worse… PDF support is missing. In all, iPhone’s Safari wins out clearly… but not by the glaring distance compared with other browsers. And, unlike iPhone, Android allows for unsigned code… so there’s nothing stopping Adobe from adding PDF and Flash support on their own.

In the first section, I noted that the G1 was a 2006 phone hardware-wise. Well, this is what a 2006 phone can do with good drivers. Make no mistake about it, Android is a game changer. When I criticized Microsoft for not updating older Windows Mobile devices (there is no reason a 2003 Windows Mobile phone couldn’t run the latest version), I coined the phrase that iPhone wants to be updated. Android takes that to a whole new level. Android doesn’t wait to be plugged into a computer, it has an auto-updater running in the background.

Conclusions

Some will ask flat-out, is Android better than iPhone? Some will yell at us for brining up that question (yes, we read your comments… all of them). The answer is two-fold. As a not-yet-released phone, the G1 and Android do not have the polish that Apple has been able to build with a two year lead time. But, that said, the G1 has the promise to beat the iPhone down the road.

Like iPhone, Google has promised to continually improve Android, and HTC is in turn obligated to release those updates. A2DP Stereo Bluetooth is on its way for the G1, and Android Market will fill in some of the missing applications. Moreover, Android will let groundbreaking apps be released without hinderance. That will drive developers to the platform, and their innovations will drive users to it as well.

Clearly, Android needs a little polish. There are just some bundled applications that should be there. There isn’t any default program for Weather or Stocks. The clock tool is just a basic Alarm Clock. However, with a Market, we don’t need to knock the phone for missing these… AccuWeather already has a full weather app on Market, and Namco is even offering Pac-Man as a free download.

Probably the worst real problem with the G1, is the lack of pervasive 3G coverage… but, come next year, G1 variants will be headed to each and every carrier. The future is bright, Google has shown they can raise the bar, and the G1 will leave those on T-Mobile without feeling the urge to switch carriers, just to get one of the best phones on the market.

The important thing is that the platform is stable, it’s fast, it’s responsive. It just works.

On one final note, we would like to thank Google, T-Mobile, and HTC for giving us the opportunity to have an unprecedented early access with the Android platform. Android really has grown on us, but in one way Google may not have wanted to tip their hand to. Near the start of the review, I noted Android’s home screen resembled a conventional desktop. It has become clear to me, that Android is Google’s total operating system play. It could replace a desktop operating system tomorrow, and would overnight become the most popular version of Linux. Of course, Google wouldn’t be content with that… but it is nice to know that Google has their desktop platform, and it’s maturing on today’s cell phones.

Pros: Google Android platform, no walled garden, responsive, fast, stable.
Cons: Missing headphone adapter, thick size, limited T-Mobile 3G coverage, video player in development.
Final Score: 5/5

Encyclopedia: T-Mobile G1 / HTC Dream

Phone Encyclopedia: Nokia 6205
Buy a 6205 from Verizon Wireless

First Impressions, Basic Functionality

The Nokia 6205 is one of those all-too-uncommon Nokia flip phones. It does bring up reminders of the RAZR, with its brushed metal casing. However, the most remarkable thing about the design of the phone, is its display. The display portion of the phone is extremely thin, and relatively flat. This makes the phone very comfortable against the ear. It does, however, make the phone feel a bit weird, considering that the base of the phone is more than twice as thick as the display portion.

And now, for a history lesson, as the rest of this phone needs to be kept in context. Back in 2004, Nokia had a falling out with the CDMA world. Qualcomm and Nokia entered into the legal battles that they are still hashing out. Essentially, Nokia felt lied to over Qualcomm’s licensing with Nokia. Nokia obtained a CDMA2000 chipset license, only to have Qualcomm do an about-face and launch EV-DO, instead of EV-DV technology. This make Nokia’s license worth considerably less. Qualcomm felt that Nokia violated many of their patents on GSM technology… and thus, Nokia bailed on CDMA completely.

Fast forward to last year. Realizing that Nokia was losing the American market, the decision was made to allow Nokia CDMA to resume operations. Essentially, Nokia will continue to use its existing licenses to make budget, non-EVDO phones. And, they’ll outsource CDMA phone development on carriers which use EV-DO, to so-called ODM (original design maker/manufacturing) companies.

And, the Nokia 6205 was certainly not made by Nokia. While the keypad, and perhaps many of the blueprints had involvement from Nokia… it appears this phone was made by notorious knock-off company TechFaith.

Note: Nokia has not confirmed that TechFaith is the ODM. We are basing that on design characteristics. Nokia has refused to state to PhoneNews.com which company is manufacturing and designed the 6205.

And, that is the first reason why this phone is terrible. By outsourcing to the worst ODM on the planet, Nokia has ensured this phone is full of bugs. See, the 6205 does not run on the Nokia Series 40 phone platform, which is Nokia’s operating system and design plan for all non-smartphones sold today.

Because of that, it lacks all the functionality which Nokia has championed. Instead of a great web browser, this has a poor Openwave implementation. Instead of amazing Bluetooth profile support, it has terrible Bluetooth. Instead of being able to stream videos with 3GPP ease, it can only play V CAST Video.

About worst of all, is the lack of the Series 40 User Interface. There is no way to get rid of the Verizon Wireless UI, which ruins nearly all of Verizon’s phones. Instead of making a VZW UI theme for Series 40, Nokia instead just hired an independent company to overlay TechFaith’s phone with this ugly interface.

Advanced Functionality

It’s really hard to review advanced phone functionality on a Nokia like this. Typically, we can look at all the breakthrough Series 40 (not to mention S60) innovations that Nokia brings to the table. We would have liked to look at the Flash Lite support, the J2ME support that Nokia even offered on its older Verizon phones, and all the great things that used to be in a Nokia phone on Verizon.

Sadly, none of those are present here. Instead, all we have to look at are V CAST… oh, and the camera.

Did we mention the camera is terrible? The viewfinder software was not Nokia’s (of course), but instead ArcSoft’s dreadful camera application. Laggy, and makes Motorola’s similar implementation look almost beautiful.

V CAST Music and Video both work. That’s not to say the widescreen view, or load times on either app are great… but they do work.

Probably the worst bug on any high-end feature of this phone, is that it has trouble updating itself. The FOTA (Firmware Over The Air) Software Update feature appears to be broken, crashing whenever we check for updates. And, if past history is anything, when something like that breaks… Verizon usually opts to simply not release a firmware update for the phone. That means to get the bug fixes, you’re left stuck buying a new phone down the road, creating needless e-waste, and needless expenses.

Conclusions

The Verizon Wireless User Interface alone was enough to take Nokia far from greatness. The lack of Series 40 underpinnings did the phone in. We couldn’t reccomend this phone to anyone, there are great competitors such as the Motorola W755, and LG Chocolate 3, which vastly outperform this phone.

Our advice to Nokia: Bring Series 40 to EV-DO phones (not to mention S60), and make the VZW UI into a Nokia theme, which could be disabled by savvy or elderly users who are familiar/enamored with the Nokia UI.

Final Score: 1/5
Pros: Thin, good external casing.
Cons: Buggy. Lack of Nokia UI. Lack of Series 40 features.

Phone Encyclopedia: Nokia 6205
Buy a 6205 from Verizon Wireless

The playing field for charging pads and stands is still rather open… but does Bluelounge’s new design justify the high price tag? Read more to find out.

Buy a Bluelounge The Sanctuary (White) from Amazon.com
Buy a Bluelounge The Sanctuary (Black) from Amazon.com

The Sanctuary continues Bluelounge’s trend of making products that mirror Apple’s Industrial Design Team. From aluminum to polycarbonate, you can just put a Bluelounge product next to anything Apple… and you would have to look closely to see the differences in design.

And, that’s not a bad thing. When you first open The Sanctuary, it looks and feels like a gigantic AirPort Base Station.

The product consists of three layers. At the bottom, is the cables allowing you to connect (according to Bluelounge) up to 1300 different devices. It comes pre-wired with all the cables from Apple to Sony Ericsson. It also carries a full array of USB connectors (including an actual USB port, for plugging any any charger that works with a standard USB port).

Atop the wiring is a black, felt lid that covers the wiring harness. There’s a small hole in it, for which you run the cables through. This allows you to only see the charging cables, for the devices that you need to charge. And, optionally, another felt top that hides everything on the charging bay.

Probably the only design flaw in The Sanctuary, is that the cables are just too short. If you have one or two devices, it’s not a problem. But, add a few devices into the mix, and some of the cables don’t reach. Even if you have enough podium space inside of The Sanctuary, and it becomes an unnecessary traffic jam. The cables start becoming unable to reach every end of the charging bay. As such, even if you could align all the devices in the right places… the cables may not be able to reach them. Worse, the cable length is not far enough to take into account an awkward charging port location.

And be careful not to break the cables. They aren’t user-replaceable.

Of course, The Sanctuary and GoMadic take sightly different approaches to the problem of gadget management. GoMadic aimes to have their charging station to be a showcase for your gadgets. The Sanctuary aims to keep things more private. In fact, it sports the top cover (previously noted), that will slip on top, hiding all your technology.

Bluelounge touts that this makes it a more travel-ready charging accessory, something that will hide valuables and gadgets in one non-descript box. I’ll tell you, if I saw a polycarbonate box like this sitting on a hotel room desk, I’d be much more likely to inspect it.

There is one more flaw with The Sanctuary, and that is the dust. It is an absolute dust magnet. Within a month of being in our office, it appeared to be the most dust-coated item in the office. This is because the black felt both clings to dust… and showcases it.

But, above all, The Sanctuary is simply overpriced. For $130, you could buy two GoMadic Charging Stations, and enough tips to cover The Sanctuary’s 1300 devices. And, without an economy of interchangeable tips, you’re limited to a single USB port for charging any unsupported device. We wouldn’t think of taking it with us on travel, so that nixes the one key advantage that Bluelounge had over GoMadic. Even at Amazon.com’s discounted price… we still aren’t interested.

Is The Sanctuary right for any group? Sure, if you’re insanely rich, it’s insanely great.

Pros: Well designed, great appearance.
Cons: Too expensive. Dust magnet. Cables do not reach far enough. Expansion limited to one USB port.
Final Score: 2/5

Buy a Bluelounge The Sanctuary (White) from Amazon.com
Buy a Bluelounge The Sanctuary (Black) from Amazon.com

Is Nokia’s fourth go-around with the N95 one that can stand up to iPhone 3G? Read more to find out.

Buy a Nokia N95-4 from Amazon.com
Buy a Nokia N95-3 from Amazon.com
Phone Encyclopedia: Nokia N95-4

First, the iPhone comparison. There’s no real secret that Nokia retooled the old N95-3 to answer iPhone. About the only major differences between the two devices are an all-black color, and 8 GB of memory. The N95-4 also abandons its microSD card slot, similar to Apple’s iPhone. Nokia says that this was done to make room for (and to use the connectors) for the 8 GB memory.

As such, when it comes to folks that say that the N95-4 is not something Nokia aimed at iPhone… the changes were made specifically to answer Apple’s smartphone.

Out first impression, is that this change is more than well-implemented. Nokia has given the N95-3 the same software improvements that the N95-4 has in it. And, as such, buyers in North America (NAM) have a choice; they can get the N95-3 for less money (which has a microSD card slot), or pay a bit more and get the N95-4 with 8 GB preinstalled.

In terms of usage, the 8 GB memory is considered external storage, it functions just as if you had an 8 GB microSDHC card installed. We saw no real-world difference between it, and a high-quality microSDHC card in terms of speed.

General Usage

The N95-4 prides itself in being a normal phone, with every feature you can think of surrounding it. And, as a “normal” phone, it’s an excellent device. Strong signal, excellent audio quality, and it plays well with both 2G and 3G networks.

About the only basic phone drawback we could find on the N95-4, was that you cannot recharge the device using its mini-USB port. After numerous complaints about this on the first three N95 revisions, one would hope that the fourt N95 would have addressed this. If Motorola and LG can charge over USB, why not Nokia?

One thing that did wow quite a bit was the camera. Hands-down, the N95-4 has the best camera we’ve ever used inside a phone. Even with a CMOS image sensor, it blows away the CCD camera phones (which gained niche popularity) in the first half of the decade.

AppStore vs Download! & N-Gage

Both iPhone and N95-4 are revved up with online stores for buying apps. Both launched without online application stores, but now are offering them. However, this is probably one of the largest areas where Nokia takes a step forward… and then a huge step back.

With the N95-4, you can download software from anywhere. If it’s S60 3rd Edition, it just works. But, the Download! application only lists about 1% of the available S60 software. Why? Because Download! only allows for commercial software to be listed.

That means all the awesome, amazing, well-polished S60 free applications and software… are nowhere to be found. Same applies to Nokia’s N-Gage service.

The AppStore on iPhone, on the other had, allows for unlimited free software (developers simply pay a one-time $99 fee). However, there’s a problem… iPhone doesn’t allow for unsigned code in most cases. Developers need to have the code signed by Apple before it executes.

Apple may have a workaround to allow for unsigned code. However, even if they don’t, the general user won’t care. The general user will find hundreds of times more applications (and we’re not overstating that) on iPhone’s AppStore, from day one.

In case we haven’t hammered it home yet, Nokia Download! doesn’t help with the one main problem with S60: Easy access to all the free software out there still doesn’t exist.

Issues

The N95-4 comes pre-loaded with Nokia Maps 2.0. We downloaded the latest update, and it worked without problem. Well, mostly…

The main issues we encountered were with North American limitations. While Nokia Maps touts live traffic support, such service is not available in the United States. The included 180-day license however, means you don’t have to pay to find out that limitation.

Documentation came up a bit short too. It was tedious to find out how to enable features like Night Mode. And, the default settings are off. For one, Nokia Maps dares to be different from other GPS software, and doesn’t leave the screen on by default. While driving, this is not a pleasant thing to find out.

Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) also, unfortunately had issues with disconnecting and dropout. We tested the N95-4 with the Motorola S9, one of the most popular Stereo Bluetooth headsets. Even inside a pant pocket, we experienced disconnections between the device while playing music. The dropouts were multi-second silences in playback.

But, worst of all was in one area where Nokia touts its openness. The N95-4 simply did not want to work as a wireless modem. Our attempts with Bluetooth DUN modem connections… simply were not what was expected. We expected the N95-4 to champion tethering. What we got were a series of failed connections on both Mac and PC. When it worked… it was remarkably slow, giving us about half the speed we experienced on the device’s internal connection.

Adding JoikuSpot (a Wi-Fi base station app) didn’t help much either. Speeds were extremely sluggish, indicating a bug in the N95-4’s internal IP relaying system. We might have understood that on, say, a CDMA Series 40 phone. We don’t understand that on a flagship S60 phone with the latest firmware update installed.

Speaking of Wi-Fi, the N95-4 didn’t help with that. It simply has the worst Wi-Fi we’ve ever seen short of a Linux system. It works, but it would be faster to use 3G than to wait for the constant setups and nagging connection screens.

Conclusions

Not much was said here that was good about the N95-4. That’s because we’ve come to take a lot of it for granted from Nokia. And, who wouldn’t expect that after years of successful phones. S60 has become the most dominant smartphone platform in the world.

Perhaps we’re nit picking then to point out the flaws on the device. We almost agreed… but then we remembered the retail price of N95-4. Right now, Best Buy (the brick and mortar) wants $759.99 for the phone. That’s three times the contracted price of an iPhone 3G. Even without contract, the multi-touch screen iPhone 3G is $160 cheaper.

What do we get for that $160? We get a better camera, buggy Stereo Bluetooth, buggy modem, and the ability to run unsigned applications. Is that worth $160? Since most people are under contract, a better question would be to ask is that worth an extra $560? We can’t say yes no matter how much money we have.

Now, shortly before going to press… Nokia changed their tune a bit. While Best Buy is still asking $760 for the N95-4, Amazon has cut the price down to just over $600. Still, for a non-touch screen… the unlocked status of this phone is still lost on us. It doesn’t feature UMTS 2100, and as such… we really wouldn’t want to use it abroad anyways. Nokia has yet to craft a truly world phone capable of international and domestic 3G frequencies.

Does all of this make the N95-3 a better phone? Yes, it does. It’s over $150 cheaper, that’s more than three times the price of an 8 GB microSDHC card.

Bottom line; if you want Nokia’s flagship phone, don’t go with the N95-4, go with the N95-3 instead.

Pros: Excellent camera, battery life, signal, balanced S60 phone.
Cons: Buggy Bluetooth, buggy tethering, bad app store, overcomplicated Wi-Fi, grossly, grossly, grossly overpriced.
Final Score: 2/5

Buy a Nokia N95-4 from Amazon.com
Buy a Nokia N95-3 from Amazon.com
Phone Encyclopedia: Nokia N95-4

Read more for a complete unboxing, and initial impressions.

Buy a Dare from Verizon Wireless

The LG Dare arrived in a standard Verizon box. Nothing special there…

However, when you open up the box, one thing stands out (aside from how much the Dare looks like an iPhone). There’s no AC adapter! Instead, the phone comes with a USB charging adapter, and USB cable. On the positive side, you now have a USB cable with you, wherever you tote around your AC adapter for the phone.

Now, about that iPhone similarity… the device really does look like a cheaper version of the iPhone. However, there are quite considerable highlights. Namely, an vastly superior camera, voice recognition, VZ Navigator, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (yes, 2.1).

One final first impression, is the accelerometer. Unlike Instinct, which uses the camera as a faux (and dysfunctional) accelerometer, Dare uses a real one. And, it works well… showing itself off in all the key applications. And yes, the touch screen actually works, unlike the LG Voyager, which in our opinion should be recalled due to how unresponsive the Voyager’s touch screen actually is.

We hope to have a full review of the LG Dare in the near future.

The Samsung Ace is positioned on Sprint as a device for the road warrior with EVDO data and a dual-band GSM radio for international roaming, but after really using it for a few weeks, there are shining advantages and potentially frustrating disadvantages that point out the compromises Samsung and Sprint had to make in light of exclusivity agreements and device design.

The device is laid out to maximize the available space by using the design template from the GSM A727 with a change to a landscape display, replacing the numeric keypad with an illuminated QWERTY keyboard which is the worst implementation of such a keyboard ever devised. The keys are vertically oriented and too tightly spaced on top of being too small to adequately type quickly even with one hand.

Even having small hands that can acclimate to small keyboards and keypads, I found myself cursing the keyboard constantly as it took me minutes to type out a simple three line email. Thanks to the joke of the space bar and the intrusive predictive text which did nothing but frustrate further instead of being useful, I found myself limiting text entry unless it was absolutely necessary.

The device also features volume controls on the left side. jog dial on the right side with a button directly below it being used for selection in the same manner as a BlackBerry or Q.  The dial can be also pressed inward to acheive the same effect. The keyboard also features one touch access to messaging and camera functions, though those keys were rarely used.  The jogdial, confirmation button, camera, messaging, Back, Home, Start and Contacts hard keys can be customized to suit individual preference.

The device also features a speakerphone which is surprisingly loud and free of distortion at high volume (demonstrated by streaming online raido stations such as di.fm), with callers able to clearly hear my voice over the loud places I found myself in. The earpiece was loud and clear with incoming calls sounding very close to a landline and outgoing voice quality was reported to be good if a bit overprocessed.

The device features a 1.3 megapixel camera which is standard fare and above average due to the larger CMOS sensor used, but is otherwise lacking due to the absence of a flash with the best pictures taken around full lighting.

While using the device on a daily basis, even moderate data usage can reduce battery life significantly and I frequently found myself with a dead battery before the end of my day before the battery was properly conditioned.  After conditioning, the battery did last the whole day, and I found myself turning the radio off in order to extend battery life even further if I had no need for the phone or data access.

Windows Mobile 6 Standard works quite well on this device and the software included is a testament to the wise selection, though I found that the software CD included with the device requires Flash 8 to even launch and does not include ActiveSync 4.5, instead relying solely on Windows Mobile Device Center, which was easily addressed but it’s nice to know beforehand if software will work on a particular platform correctly.

First in the Ace’s lineup of sofware is the superb browser that is Samsung’s highly customized deployment of Internet Explorer Mobile which clearly addresses longstanding flaws with the old Pocket Internet Explorer by adding options for single-column, landscape, and full desktop rendering with support for CSS on top of a surprisingly convenient and easy to use RSS reader. I was able to export my feeds and add them with no issues whatsoever.

Another positive is the fact that this version of Windows Mobile 6 features easy access to Sprint TV, which is quite watchable and thankfully plays in full-screen demonstrating the color depth of its QVGA display, despite the fact that the client is not preinstalled and requires a one time installation and update before use.  The device also includes Live Search and functions exactly as it would on a non-smart device despite the lack of full GPS access thanks to the EVDO data connection and came in handy on more than one occasion as well as offering the usual spate of features including traffic information, business information, and driving directions.

The one feature I was absolutely astounded by was the multimedia playback thanks to Samsung’s inclusion of a custom DSP known as R2VS which amplifies volume and offers differing spatialization modes for headphone usage, though in practice the spatialization requires a substantial amount of tweaking before any real benefit is had from it, as well as the inclusion of an equalizer for fine balance of audio which came in handy with my music mixes which range from Scandinavian metal bands At The Gates and In Flames to extreme electronic music from Venetian Snares, LFO Demon, and Rotterdam Terror Corps.

When using my DS970 stereo headset from Sony, I found Bluetooth to be above average as calls came in loud and clear with callers reporting no dropouts on my end or static, though the Ace could have definitely benefitted from 2.0+EDR support if A2DP was considered from the outset for inclusion.

Faults I found with Windows Media Player were the poor display of the built-in skins and themes, though I suspect it was due to the poor placement of album art in the folder as well as limited filetype support.

To wrap up what is my first of (hopefully many) reviews, I will say that this device is a bit of a compromise for Sprint, but despite the keyboard issue and lack of GPS, it does stand on its own thanks to the superb software selection, data, multimedia, and relative stability of Windows Mobile 6.

Hopefully Sprint and Samsung will be developing an updated device that adresses these issues while using another form factor that isn’t a compromise between size and usability that ultimately turned a great phone on paper into an average Windows Mobile device.

Pros: Fast data, Internet Explorer, Sprint TV, call quality and phone usage above average.
Cons: Near useless keyboard, Bluetooth 1.2, camera woefully average with no flash, (Still) no GPS access.
Final Score: 3/5