FaceTime on the iPhone 4 Makes Video Calling a Reality

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FaceTime on the iPhone 4

One of the biggest features of the iPhone 4 to date has to be FaceTime, a feature that essentially makes video calling a reality. Being able to call someone close to you and show them your face has a number of different applications and benefits. For starters, this helps with long distance relationships, such as when a couple is far away from each other. It also makes sense for military families when one parent is away — the child can still see their parent even when they’re miles and miles apart.

For business owners and business professionals, FaceTime is a fantastic way to handle video conferencing on the go. In the past, video conference calling had to be done in an office around computers that were definitely a lot more bulky than the slim iPhone 4. As the iPhone 4 gains in popularity, this is a good way to expand business and still get that face to face connection that many people rely on, without having to actually be in the same location. From this perspective, this can be seen as a cost savings tool.

What makes FaceTime so interesting is that it’s not an application in the traditional sense — it comes as part of the iPhone 4, meaning that you don’t have to pay a separate fee just to get the extra FaceTime feature. You just have to tap the special button for FaceTime, and it will immediately get to work.

It’s important to keep in mind that there are some limitations that are inherent to FaceTime. The biggest limitation is that it’s iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 — if you’re dreaming about practicing FaceTime with someone on an Android phone, you’re not going to be able to get that functionality.

However, if you are one iPhone user in a group of iPhone users, this can be a feature that you definitely can make sure of without much effort.

If you’re keeping up with the functionality of the iPhone 4, then you know that there are actually two cameras built into the phone. You can use the other camera on the back to show the other person on the video line what you see around you.

It’s that one feature that is sure to make FaceTime a very big success — being able to share your world with someone on a video call is something that will only make it more tempting to get an iPhone 4 and join the rest of the iPhone nation.

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Is the iPhone 4′s Retina Display Overrated?

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iPhone 4's Retina Display

If you haven’t purchased an iPhone 4 yet, you’ve probably done come checking on all of the features involved with the iPhone so that you know what you’re getting — if you decide to get into the iPhone frenzy at all. The first thing that you will hear discussed on tech forums is the new display on the iPhone 4, dubbed the Retina. There are a few things you should know about the Retina before you actually make a judgment call.

As Apple has announced, the Retina is so impressive because they’ve basically taken more pixels per inch than they had in previous versions of the iPhone. This gives a more complete composition of the image, which in turn gives you a much brighter, clearer picture. The technology is impressive, but is it worth getting into the iPhone when there are other competing products on the market?

For example, the Samsung Galaxy S is an Android phone, which gives you the open format and the ability to use a handset that isn’t completely ruled by Apple and AT&T. Indeed, you can get the Galaxy S on all the major cell phone carriers, which means there’s no longer a real need to debate about which is better — you can simply get the phone on the network that makes sense for your needs.

But that’s neither here nor there — we’re talking about image quality, and only image quality. The biggest question going right now is whether or not the iPhone 4′s Retina display is truly overrated, or is it a real innovation?

Right now, there are still applications that have not been updated to take full advantage of the bright Retina display, which means that users may experience a bit of diminished experience in this regard.

However, the claim that the Retina display is superior due to the 326dpi may not be so overrated. While a few major monitor experts have pointed out that you would need a higher DPI in order to fool the human eye the way Apple is saying, the reality is that the 326dpi spec is still stunningly impressive.

Of course, if you’re only buying the iPhone 4 because of the screen, you might want to find other things to like about the phone, such as the dual cameras and the presence of FaceTime, a feature on the phone that allows for true video calling and sharing. The Retina display is what will attract a lot of people into the iPhone line, but it’ll be the solid features that keep them in the Apple family for the long run.

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Microsoft Takes a Surprise Shot at Apple by Making Gaming the Centerpiece for Windows Phone 7

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Gaming on a cell phone

Gaming on a cell phone is something that everyone pretty much expects to be lackluster. After all, when you get to pick up a cell phone, chances are good that you have other things besides playing games. Yet there are times where playing games is the exact thing that you want to do. For example, when you’re trapped at the airport with no flight in sight, you can rely on your cell phone keeping you occupied for hours — literally.

However, it looks like Microsoft might be doing something that Apple hasn’t deigned to do — make gaming the centerpiece rather than a side dish. Even fans of the iPhone admit that gaming is something that’s not really stressed hard by Apple, which is surprising considering their focus on trying to appeal to a wide variety of casual users. One would think that they would want to capture the gaming market as much as possible.

Microsoft has had some hard phone news this year — like having to shut down the Microsoft KIN line early due to lackluster sales. The target market for the Microsoft KIN just wasn’t interested in picking them up, even though the price was supposed to be pretty enticing.

With the Windows Phone 7, Microsoft looks like they’re learning from the mistakes of the past. The company announced that several game studios are launching games specifically created for the Windows Phone 7. These game titles have found their way on consoles first, which means that gaming fans will recognize their favorite titles.

The gaming features are linked right into Xbox LIVE marketplace, which is already being used for a higher level of functionality for Xbox fans.

Expanding the role of Xbox will also have an added bonus effect of improving consumer opinion about the Xbox, something that Microsoft also desperately needs. Right now, it looks like Microsoft’s trying to really take a chunk out the market share earned by Android and the iPhone. Microsoft isn’t really lacking in terms of content that they can throw at users of the Windows Phone series, and it looks like they’re finally realizing that.

Will this be enough for people to check out the Windows Phone 7 when it comes out in October? Only time will really tell. However, this could lure away gamers from the iPhone and into the Windows Phone 7 if they really try hard enough.

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What the Loss of Unlimited Data Pricing from AT&T Means for the Mobile Market

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AT&T

It’s been just over two months since AT&T killed their unlimited data plan for smartphones, and users are still feeling the pinch. However, now that the initial news has come and gone and people have gotten used to the idea of not having an unlimited free lunch, what does the change really mean for the rest of the cell phone industry?

Well, there are actually a few things to keep in mind in a post unlimited data world. First and foremost, Sprint is still offering the Simply Everything plan, which brings back the unlimited free lunch model on a network that Sprint has been aggressively expanding for the last year and a half. With the rise of the Sprint EVO 4G, it looks like AT&T could face the risk of its subscriber base running towards Sprint — even though they won’t be able to use the same phone. Sprint runs on CDMA, while AT&T runs on GSM. It’s two different frequencies, that if Sprint continues to shower new customers with preferential pricing and free phones, the exodus could be pretty swift.

There’s also the possibility that things will get better on AT&T now that data usage has been scaled back. Nothing is really ever free, and AT&T has been taking a beating on the high data costs incurred by a tiny fraction of users on their network that use a lot of data. All of those data transfers do stress the overall mobile network, dragging down performance for all subscribers. It makes sense that AT&T put a stop to the unlimited party, even though it’s an unpopular idea that’s sure to get even more unpopular as time passes. When looked at from a different perspective, capping usage was one of the best moves that AT&T could make from its current position. With so many competitors, AT&T’s bigger goal needs to be to secure the network and keep the outages and problems from getting worse. Even though the iPhone is still locked to AT&T, there are a lot of rumors circling that the iPhone could become an independent phone very soon. This means that AT&T needs to focus on doing other things than just sitting on the exclusivity of the iPhone.

What does the loss of unlimited data pricing from AT&T really mean? It means that better service for AT&T users could be around the corner, as AT&T works on controlling the data spikes.

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BlackBerry Pearl 9100 3G Review

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BlackBerry Pearl 9100 3G

Release Date: To be declared.

$499.99 – Without Contract
$79.99 – With Contract

Battery:

The Blackberry batteries are usually known for die hard performance and fortunately it seems this time the new phone will deliver as well. The pearl 9100 has an 1150 mAh battery, which can give a steady 5 hours of talk time and a staggering 18 hours of standby. Do keep in mind, that this is a business phone, and not just a simple phone. So, the phone needs to have a solid battery to keep running throughout the day. The heavy duty applications, word processing, spreadsheets and much more can make any phone drop on its knees, but the Blackberry Pearl does a good job of staying alive. The battery door pops open letting you easily remove or insert the SIM card, without having to dig or pry too much. It’s much better and convenient than the hinge type slots the rest of the BlackBerrys are using.

Memory and Processor Speed:

The Blackberry pearl sports a 624 MHz processor, which does a decent job of handling the work load that its user will batter it with. With an inbuilt memory of 256 MBs, the pearl has a decent memory storage space to hold all of your vital data in a secure environment. The phone seems to be considerably faster than its predecessors, so all you Blackberry fans would be happy to use the pearl, without the lag and a faster startup.

Screen:

As always, the Blackberry’s small screen size might be a put off, but this time, they went ahead and implemented a higher resolution, making things easy to navigate on the screen. With an excellent and crisp resolution of 360 x 400 pixels, the display turns out to be an unexpectedly good result. With a 2.6” display, you should be able to browse the web, work on your documents and much more quite easily, especially with a higher resolution.

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Apple iPhone 4

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Apple iPhone 4

Release Date: 24th June 2010

$199 for the 16 GB version

$299 for the 32 GB version

Battery:

The iPhone 4 has had a complete revamp over its battery life and size. The new rechargeable lithium-ion battery covers up over 75% of the entire phone’s back and Apple claims that the battery will have a substantial increase in performance. Since the new phone has a colossal amount of new features and hardware increments, the phone’s battery had to be remodeled. As per the latest keynote, the battery life has up to 300 hours of standby time, 10 hours on Wi-Fi, 10 hours of video playback, and an astounding 40 hours of music playback. The phone can be charged via a power adapter or via USB as well.

Memory and Processor Speed:

The iPhone 4 is packed with a brand new swanky processor, codenamed the A4. Apple has custom built this processor for the iPhone, so that the phone won’t seem to lag behind as you go on with your app frenzy and excessive feature hogging. The phone sports the A4 which runs at a reasonable 1 GHz speed and has and a massive physical memory update, with a gigantic 512 MB RAM. So, it should be quite considerably faster than the older 3GS phone and should be able to keep up with the new features and demanding applications. The iPhone is available in two flavors, in terms of memory storage, the 16GB one and a 32 GB one.

Screen:

By far, the most important aspect of the entire iPhone is the scintillating beautiful screen. Apple has introduced a new concept, the ‘Retina Display’ which means, it’s got as many pixels per inch as the human eye can find capable of distinguishing. This means, it’s a whopping 960 x 640 pixels screen resolution! However, even though the pixel per inch has increased outstandingly, there’s no OLED goodness on the phone, as the iPhone uses an IPS display, with a contrast ratio of 800:1. Even then, the screen looks gorgeous and seems to be one of the best out there.

Form:

After a two long years of using plastic, Apple has finally moved on to a complete fresh new metal design. The outer cover is a complete metal jacket, which is at a 9.3mm thickness. The iPhone 4 is the world’s thinnest smartphone yet. The glass screen is extremely durable and quite much more scratch resistant than the previous ones. The phone features a dedicated volume control, Ring/Silent button, the famous ‘Home’ button and a On/off & Sleep button at the top. The phone is available in two colors, a complete gloss black or pearl white.

Controls:

The proprietary and pioneered touch screen with an Über slick interface, the iPhone beats everything else in competition. The phone has just the ‘home’ button. Everything else is completely based on the touch screen interface. The screen has been made more sensitive and has multiple gestures, such as pinching, pulling, etc. which makes the phone a pleasure to use.

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Sony Ericsson XPeria X10a Review

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Sony Ericsson XPeria X10a

Future Release Date: May of 2010

Retail Price: TBA but Guessed to Be $600 with Regards to Comparable Models

Battery

Because of the Sony Ericsson XPeria X10a’s large display, 3G wireless capability, and extremely fast CPU, this phone will eat through a battery charge within a day. The included lithium ion battery of 1500mAh may last most moderate users the majority of the day with the need for a nightly charge. However, other comparable Smartphones tend to drain their battery’s power at a similar rate. Anyone who uses their cell phone heavily will benefit from an extra battery to swap during the day.

Memory and Processor Speed

This XPeria phone is being highly acclaimed for its lightening fast 1GHz processor speed thanks to its Snapdragon processor made by Qualcomm. To date, this processor is among the fastest made specifically for cell phones and mobile devices. The internal storage of the XPeria X10a is also fantastic due to its 1GB of RAM, 256MB of ROM and an included 8GB micro SD card.

Screen

The display size of the X10a is nothing short of remarkable. Its 4 inch, 854 x 480 pixel resolution screen that is sharp and bright takes its place as one of the most large cell phone display screens available in today’s market.  However, the sweep screen feature will be a source of frustration for many users as they will find it to be too long of a motion to complete quickly enough for the sweep feature to actually work.

Form

This model of XPeria by Sony Ericsson features a plastic shell that comes in either white or black. While the X10a comes off as slightly tall with the screen as its overwhelming feature, its three mechanical buttons of chrome located below the screen do not add to the phone’s size. Even though the phone is plastic encased, this particular model has a matte finish and curved CPU, making it easier to hold. The right side of the XPeria X10a holds the volume and camera button while the USB port, power button, and headphone jack are located on top.

Controls

Even though the 4.0 screen size should give the X10a users a definite typing advantages, testers of the per-released X10a model reported both the portrait and landscape mode to only give them a 50% average accuracy.  And while not perfect, most people believe the Android keyboard options works better.

Camera

The Sony Ericsson XPeria X10 has a virtually unbeatable 8.1 megapixel camera that includes LED flash and auto-focus. However, users have many more options than auto-focus, including a single and multi auto-focus feature as well as face detection, macro, and infinity focus. It also allows users to pick from a wide range of preset scene modes that have an optional exposure tweaking function. Some of these scenes include beach, snow, sports, document, party, night, and portrait.

Other Features

•    Google Map compatible Wisepilot GPS
•    Android 1.6 that will be upgraded at the end of 2010
•    Timescape and Mediascape
•    Sony Ericsson Sync

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Samsung Mythic Review

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Samsung-Mythic

Release Date: November 5, 2009

$300 Retail
$130 with 2-year AT&T Contract + Online Discount

Battery

The Samsung Mythic’s battery is not well-received when it comes to battery power. The manufacturer’s use-time between battery charges is a measly 3 hours while its standby time is only 11 days. And those who tend to use their cell phone more heavily will most likely end up with shorter usage times in between charges. This means that many Mythic users will end up buying spare batteries to use while at work or away from home or charging accessories.

Memory and Processor Speed

This phone features a 180MB internal memory.  However, users can expand the memory to a maximum of 16MB by inserting a mini SD card. Even though users will have this memory expansion option, it still does not quite make up for its puny internal memory space, especially in comparison to other phones in this price point.

Screen

The Mythic’s LCD display screen works well for what it is. The screen measures at a more than adequate 3.3 inch screen that features a 360 x 640 pixel display. While it may not have the vividness of an AMOLED screen display and it is not responsive or sensitive like other models of phones can be, it is still a great-working, resistant screen that even people who are wearing gloves or have long fingernails can use with relative ease.

Form

The Mythic is ideal for those who want the touch screen feature of modern cell phones but without paying extra for iPhone or Smartphone data plans, the Samsung Mythic is their best bet. This phone does not come with a keyboard and is lackluster in the looks department. It is a simple, flat, touchscreen cell phone–nothing more.

Controls

Almost every function is controlled by the easy-to-use touchscreen, which is the main feature of the Samsung Mythic.  Even though it does not include the TouchWiz that Samsung Eternity and Reality fans are so fond of, it is still described as “intuitive.” But it is almost time to give this touchscreen a new look as it is beginning to show its age. On the positive side, users upgrading from older model phones will find the Samsung Mythic easy to adapt to.

Camera

The camera works like any 3.3 megapixel. Clear pictures with great color saturation but of course, not comparable to phone models with a 5.0 megapixel capability. The Mythic’s camera does feature a 3 x zoom function for even greater pinpointed shots.  This camera feature also has a video function. While it does have an auto-focus option and flash LED light, the auto-focus has highly noticeable and annoying lag time, making it almost not worth using unless when taking a still shot. Users can also rotate, adjust, crop, and resize their photos.

Other Features

*  Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
*  Stereo streaming capabilities
*  GPS navigation
*  2,000 phone book capacity
*  It can hold a maximum of 60 minutes for a voice memo

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Samsung Reality Review

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Samsung Reality review

Release Date: April 22, 2010

$250 Retail
$50 with 2-year Verizon Contract + Online Discount

Battery

There is nothing too special about the Samsung Reality’s rechargeable lithium battery. Its 1080mAh battery can hold a 5-hour talk time and 12.5-day standby time, which is what most moderate phone users will experience.  As with the majority of other phones, the Reality will not last long when using its navigation or video streaming capabilities. However, users can separately purchase a 1600mAh battery that will give them longer use life between charges of 6-hour talk times and 21-day standbys. Potential Reality buyers should be aware that the battery back is difficult to open.

Memory

Although light to moderate cell phone users will get all they need from the Samsung Reality’s 100MB of internal memory, this phone does have the capability to support a 16GB micro SD card. For the price range of this phone, its memory is directly on par with comparable phone models from other cell phone brands.

Screen

While the Reality’s 3-inch LCD display screen is nothing to sneer at, the 200 x 400 pixel does not really stand up to other cell phones that have recently hit the market. Although, it still has decent color and saturation.  However, the video quality has surprised many users during HD playback but there is the downside of the HD mode is its intermittent frame drops. During “Normal” resolutions, Reality users will enjoy smooth video playing.

Form

This phone by Samsung comes in red and black, both of which are elegant and sleek. The standard 3-inch screen envelops the front of the phone, making the screen seem to appear larger than it actually is. Also included on the front of this phone is a “End/Power” button as well as “Clear/Back” rectangular button. The overall design is user-friendly, even for the most casual of cell phone users.

Controls

A nice feature to the Samsung Reality is its TouchWiz user interface that has seen some dramatic improvements over the past couple of years. Applications can be launched straight from the Widgets bar, which is totally customizable. Newer cell phone users not quite comfortable with the click-and-drag method can utilize Verizon’s grid interface option. While this phone features a QWERTY keyboard of four rows, it still has an overall spacious key layout.  On the side, users will find the audio jack, camera launcher, volume rocker, voice recognition, screen lock, and zoom key/speaker launcher.

Users can thank the Samsung Reality’s color saturated and sharp pictures to its 3.2 megapixel camera. Some of the camera’s features include story shot, night shot, and panoramic shot.  This in addition to its options for color and white balance affects.  Even though the quality of video is adequate, the lowest video resolution is only 176 x 144 pixels.  The lens of the camera also remains unprotected so it will need to be wiped clean before each use.

Other Features

•    VZ Navigator and GPS
•    Bing web search
•    Optional mobile email application
•    Polaris web browser

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LG Rumor Touch Review

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LG Rumor Touch Review

Release Date: March 28, 2010

$250 Retail
$80 with 2-year Sprint Contract + Mail-in Rebate

Battery

Cell phone shoppers will be happy to know that the LG Rumor Touch has a long-lasting, 1250 mAh, Lilon battery.When talking, users will get seven hours between charge times. During extended use of the phone’s Sprint Navigation and Sprint TV, the battery will drain at even a quicker rate. Users have reported a 2-hour use time while watching videos received from Sprint TV.

Memory

This phone features 53MB of internal storage for memory as well as a 600 phone book capacity. This makes the LG Rumor Touch ideal for heavy cell phone users whose usage sways more towards a device’s phone features rather than its internet and app features.

Screen

This slider cell phone has a 3-inch, 200 x 400 pixel touchscreen. Due to the screen’s pixels, users will not be able to see a lot of a single web page but the font is easily readable. And even in landscape mode, multiple columned websites appear disproportionate. On the other hand, images and formats usually stay intact. When compared to the two previous Rumor models, this Rumor has a bigger display screen; however, when used outdoors for picture taking, the screen as a viewfinder is not easily visible. But when used in the dark, a back light makes the screen easy to see; the audio feedback for the touch buttons is also clear.

Form

This device includes a full five-line QWERTY slider keyboard. Unlike the older Rumor phones from LG, this Rumor Touch has a modern, youthful yet rugged look younger cell phone users seem drawn to. The styling updates have only added to this LG phone’s popularity.

Controls

In addition to the Rumor Touch’s QWERTY slider keyboard and touchscreen, it also features four shortcuts for the touchscreen–recent history, keyboard, groups, and phone book. There is room for 99 speed dial numbers and when user’s access a phone book listing, they will be given the automatic option to either choose “Contact Details,” “History,” “Send Message,” and “Call.”

Camera

This Rumor phone comes with a 2.0 megapixel camera that is great for taking quick photos to share online. The saturation and colors are generally balanced and the picture usually turns out clear. However, many of the phones introduced to the market within the past two months have 3.0 megapixel cameras, meaning the Rumor Touch does not quite measure up. Anyone wishing to record video or take pictures in subdued lighting should be aware that the end result will not be high quality.

Other Features

•    EV-DO technology for high-speed data, allowing users quicker access to Sprint TV, Sprint Music Store, and Sprint Navigation
•    Messaging tools galore–personalized video and picture mail and threaded text messaging
•    Email–Windows Live, AOL, Gmail, Yahoo!, and Hotmail
•    Applications–MySpace, Facebook, Sprint’s Social Zone, Twitter, YouTube uploads, and Photobucket uploads
•    32GB micro SD card
•    10 minute maximum voice memo

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