REVIEW : LG Intuition !

LG has forever been known as that "other Android manufacturer", relegated to fourth place behind Samsung, HTC, and Motorola in consumers' minds. With its recent lineup arriving on US shores, though, the Korean manufacturer is hoping the tides will turn. Not only is it lying in wait with its beastly Optimus G to steal the spotlight from competing flagships, LG is also venturing into niche territory, including the increasingly popular "phablet" market.

The Intuition has a radical design, and LG makes no apologies for stepping outside of the box with this one. The Intuition's display is impressive, and performance is snappy and powerful. Call quality is as good as we've come to expect on Big Red.

Those who hate the Intuition's design will outnumber those who love it. Unfortunately, this hybrid device fails as a tablet as well as phone-- it's too small and boxy for multimedia viewing, and too big and sharp for messaging and phone calls. Forget using this device with one hand, it's absolutely impossible.

The Intuition is a polarizing device, and you're either going to love it or hate it. If you fall somewhere in the middle, you'll realize it has a great display, fast performance, and a visually-pleasing Ice Cream Sandwich experience. You'll also realize it should be kept in the niche category, as its functionality as a tablet is limited by poor software and stylus, and its phone functionality suffers from impossible one-handed operation.

The LG Intuition is like no other device before it, a product with truly unique and polarizing design. You won't open the papers to any legal woes for LG caused by this one -- the Intuition's boxy shape, sharp corners, and 4:3 aspect ratio are hard to mistake for anything else on the market today. But that's not necessarily a good thing. One of the reasons phone makers have stuck to widescreen designs is that it lends itself to a multitude of uses. The Intutition's design, however, limits itself to only a handful of truly useful functions, the rest being left out to awkward screen layouts and less-than-intuitive end results.

But more on that functionality later. For now, let's look at the actual nuts and bolts behind the Inuitition. On top of the device you've got a power key, a dedicated Quick Memo key, and a microUSB charger hidden behind a slide-away door. The volume rocker is located on the left side of the phone, while the right side houses a SIM card door. The Intution's rear is occupied by an 8MP camera, single LED flash, and speaker slots. It's also coated with an grip-friendly finish that's almost reminiscent of the vinyl seats in your mid-1990's car. The Intuition does not support microSD expansion.

Don't go looking for a slot for your handy-dandy Rubberdium stylus that ships with every Intuition. For one reason or another, LG decided not to include an on-device holster, a fatal error in my ever-so-humble opinion. I rarely used the bundled pen, not because I didn't want to, but because there was nowhere for me to put it. The last thing I want is something else taking up room in my pocket, even if it is as small as the pen. Instead, I was inclined to leave the stylus in the box during day-to-day use.

But a decent display is only beneficial if its form factor allows it to be put to good use. The screen lends itself well to reading text, and as LG has pointed out time and time again, the 4:3 aspect ratio is ideally suited to magazine and book reading. However other things, like email, web browsing, and phone calls, suffer on the device's boxy display. Multimedia viewing is let down by with letterboxed videos and precious real-estate lost to an overbearing bezel. Sure, everything looks sharp and vibrant, but these tasks weren't intended for squarish displays -- 4:3 aspect ratios were abandoned by TV and monitor manufacturers years ago. You'll find yourself jockeying for a comfortable position when trying to send a two-sentence SMS, and you'll find that most apps, including services like Facebook and Twitter that you use regularly, render in odd ways on this screen. Developers can tweak their apps to take full advantage of what the Intuition's display offers, but for most app designers, the number of units LG pushes won't justify the extra work.

Inside the Inutition, LG has managed to cram a 2,080 mAh non-removable battery without adding much bulk to the device, which measures just 0.33 inches thick. This battery lasts longer than expected, and even under heavy usage it got me through a 14-hour day without the panic of reaching an outlet. I did keep the display at half brightness most of the time, as cranking it all the way up dramatically reduced battery life.

Considering the internals that the battery is powering, it's longevity is even more impressive. The Intuition comes packed with a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16 GB of internal storage. Despite the last-generation SoC, the Intuition performs admirably, thanks no doubt to Ice Cream Sandwich's performance improvements and LG's newly revamped, less-bloated UI. Apps loaded with ease and 1080p video chugged along effortlessly. There was, however, the occasional hiccup in the UI, but for the most part the experience is as smooth as can be. I think the potential is really exciting when you factor in Jelly Bean, but I wouldn't get my hopes up just yet, as LG is notorious for taking their sweet time with software updates.

SOFTWARE :

 

LG has stressed that the Intuition is a hybrid device, and as such it includes some subtle touches that blur the line between smartphone and tablet.  First and foremost is the Quick Memo functionality, enabled with the touch of the dedicated button on top of the device. Press it and you'll have instant access to a memo pad, similar to the Galaxy line's S-Note. There, you'll have access to pens, markers, pencils and highlighters of all different shapes and sizes, as well as the ability to bypass the memo pad all together and write directly on the screen. When finished, you can choose to save your notes in either your Gallery or the included "Notebook", which saves all of your doodles according to date and time.

Review : The New iphone 5.

 

The awaiting is over! The new gadget from Apple hit the stores, unveiling the best-kept secret of the summer. Here are the characteristics of the new phone:
 The new iPhone 5 is just 4 inches thin (which is about 7.6 mm). The specialists from Apple created a new nano-SIM card which is almost 50% smaller than a regular micro-SIM. There is another surprise with the creation of the chip, required for the transformation from LTE into a world phone. Usually, it takes two chips for such phones- one for voice and other- for data. The iPhone engineers revolutionized the process, as the new gadget needs only one chip. The new Lightning connector of the iPhone 5 is almost 80% smaller than the regular 30-pin connector. The camera of the phone is much smaller than the previous models- near 20%. It has new functions, like panorama and dynamic low-light mode. The new A6 chip is smaller than the previous A5 version and much faster. The chip is almost 22% smaller than the one used in the previous gadgets and near two times faster than A5. Thus, iPhone 5 is thinner (near 18%) and lighter than iPhone 4S (20%).

The new display of the iPhone 5 is also innovative for the iFans. The screen is larger than the display of iPhone 4S, but in the same time it has the more pixels than the previous iPhones. The display has 365 pixels, which is around 18% more than iPhone 4S.  The fans get all the benefits from the Apple`s achievements- they can enjoy full HD video, without letterboxing.

With the new iPhone you can easily download and upload in Internet, without worrying about the battery life. If you like slim phones, the design of the modern gadgets and the long-lasting batteries, then an iPhone 5 is the right choice for you. The connection of the new phone is much faster than the previous Apple gadgets, the battery has a longer endurance and the design is better than many modern smartphones. The new iPhone 5 supports more networks all over the world. Networks, such as HSPA, HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA make the new phone reliable and a `true world` phone. The battery of the phone can last up to 8 hours of talk time and around 10 hours of video playback time.

There are some interesting facts about the making of the new iPhone 5. During the assembly of the phone, each gadget`s aluminum housing is photographed by high- powered 29MP cameras. Then a machine compares the images to find the precise match between 725 uniquely cut inlays. The display of the iPhone 5 is made from sapphire crystal. The material has the second hardest surface after the diamond. It means that the lenses of the phone are far less likely to scratch. A crystalline diamond is used for the iPhone 5. The precious material was used for cutting the chamfers of the iPhone 5, so the new gadget has such shining look. The Apple engineers made a unique Retina display, which shows better images than the previous iPhones. Instead of separate layer between the touch electrodes between the display pixels, the pixels can do the both jobs- showing the displayed images and reacting as touch-screen electrodes. The Apple says that there will be nothing between the iPhone 5 and its users. So the display gets thinner and the images- bigger, the quality- better.

Chrome : for Android updated with stability and security fixes

Google Chrome for Android has been updated over Google Play, the first such update since Google's mobile browser exited beta at Google I/O back in June. There are no major feature additions in the new version 18.0.1025308, but there is a selection of fixes for "medium"-rated security issues, as well as stability fixes.

The new Chrome also seems a tad speedier on image-heavy sites like Android Central -- let us know in the comments if you're noticing the same effect.

If you're already running Chrome, head to the "My Apps" menu in the Google Play Store to grab the new update. If you're not, you can use the Google Play link above to jump straight to the latest version. Note that you still need to be on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or 4.1 Jelly Bean to install Chrome.

Review : Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc !

 Update: You can now check out thoughts on the upgrade to this phone in our Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S review.
Sony Ericsson's original Xperia X10 was a brave first go at an Android phone, offering a large screen, a collection of social media enhancements and a stylised version of Google's rapidly growing mobile operating system.
However, the X10 was hindered by delays, held back by glitchy software and arrived running the already ageing Android 1.6 – and only received an update to 2.1 recently. It was, to put it mildly, a bit of a mess.
You can check out our Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc video review:
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc obliterates all of those awkward memories in a flash. It's running the very latest Android 2.3.2 version of the OS. It's arrived on time. It's fast, and it's very, very stylish indeed.

And it's not that expensive for a single-core Android phone in 2011 at £430 SIM free or £30 per month on contract – can Sony Ericsson's Reality Display, Bravia Engine and Exmor R buzzwords win pocket space in today's extremely crowded Android marketplace?

First impressions are that the Xperia Arc is unbelievably, impossibly thin. It's also flared slightly around the back, giving the rear of the phone a slightly fatter top and bottom. And it's light, too – a mere 117g. The rival Google Nexus S weighs in at 129g. How it has all been squeezed in is a mystery.

The solid-feeling 4.2-inch screen fills much of the front of the phone, with only a few millimetres of bezel to the left and right. The handset itself is only marginally longer than the old HTC Desire – and is significantly slimmer. In fact, you get an HTC Desire HD-sized screen in the body of a much smaller, slimmer phone.

But you only get Sony Ericsson's standard selection of three physical buttons – Back, Home and Menu – in reverse order to how they featured in the X10. That will mess with the minds of upgraders. The buttons are solid silvery plastic, plus there's a piercing white LED light shining through the gaps between them to help guide your thumbs in the dark.

The top of the phone features an HDMI output hidden behind a little dust stopper, plus a tiny power button. The power button is recessed to stop accidental presses – but so tiny it can be a little hard to find. It's a fingernail job and a bit of a pain. There's also a proximity sensor, which shuts off the screen when it's pressed to your ear.

The left edge features the 3.5mm headphone jack, while the right-hand edge houses the micro-USB, a small volume up/down rocker and a physical camera button near the bottom.

The back of the Xperia Arc is simple, with its curved case lending it quite an air of style. We've been using this one for over a week, and still keep picking it up to marvel at how thin it is.
Turn the screen on and it's bright and sharp. Icons are clear and well defined thanks to Sony Ericsson's Reality Display technology, whatever that may be, with nothing in the way of pixilation on show.

It's not quite as sharp as the superb display of the iPhone 4, but is easily on a par with the sharp output of the Samsung Galaxy S' gorgeous Super AMOLED screen.

The screen is very usable outdoors in direct light – you don't even have to max the brightness to read text while outside. It's a lovely piece of hardware to have.