HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 Smartphone Review

With its HD7, HTC is taking a stand with its first-ever entry into the Windows Phone marketplace. The HD7 sports the recently released Windows Phone 7 OS and boasts the largest display available for any such device. This is definitely not your father’s Windows mobile device. HTC combines the HD7′s gigantic display with Windows Phone 7′s media and gaming capabilities, and it aims to deliver a user friendly experience.Visually, Windows Phone 7 is a beautiful OS. Moving away from the traditional PC-like format, Windows Phone uses customizable tiles to help users gain the ultimate in personalization and convenience.
In using the HD7, I’ve found the OS to be smooth and very easy to navigate – especially for a novice smartphone user. There are some areas that need some attention, however, such as multi-tasking and a lacking universal inbox. We will touch on these later.
In the box, the HD7 includes a USB cable, an AC power adapter, and a stereo headset featuring a standard ear bud design. The device comes with a half-
Weighing in at 162 grams, the HD7 is a heavyweight in the smartphone market. The 4.3″ WVGA display has a screen resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and is ready to show off games, movies, and photos in rich detail. Pushing this heavyweight smartphone is a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
Having a large display does have the potential to make the phone awkward for users with smaller hands and may require the use of both hands for much of the phone’s operations.
The plastic device features a chrome ring that goes around the phone and has a durable feel; this ring does love fingerprints though. One weak point in design appears to be the back panel cover for the battery. This is constructed of very thin plastic and users have complained of this panel breaking or cracking.
To add to your media viewing pleasure, the HD7 includes a rear kickstand. This kickstand, combined with the large screen, makes the HD7 a great device for viewing a movie or slideshow. Speaking of which, the HD7 will play most popular file formats; however, it did lack the capability to play MKV files. This will force some users to convert the file format into a compatible one in order to view their media. Also, DLNA is not supported on the HD7 for media viewing on a TV or similar device.
Like most phones today there is no physical keyboard present. Instead, the large display allows for a clear easy-to-use keyboard, and after much testing, we found both the landscape and portrait mode to be a responsive delight to use.
The buttons on the front of the phone have little movement and are smaller than most devices. They do respond well to touch, but if you are not looking at the screen, it is difficult to be sure if you are pressing the correct one. On the side of the phone lies the camera and volume buttons with a power/lock button at the top. These buttons are quite recessed making volume adjustment awkward during a call.
Bordered by the kickstand lies a 5MP camera featuring dual LED flashes for low light situations. Video can be captured in VGA mode (640 x 480) or 720p. Launching the camera is made easy by pressing the camera button for 3 seconds; something you can do even while the phone is locked. This is one area where the recessed camera button is helpful as it prevents those lovely pocket photos that love to kill our battery.
Although a great device for capturing and viewing media, the HD7 lacks storage space. With no expandable memory, the 16GB internal storage fills up fast when snapping photos or storing other media. For charging and connectivity purposes, the HD7 uses a micro USB cable.
In our testing, the HD7 did not require a restart during use for weeks at a time. This shocked me since I’ve used Windows Mobile versions in the past and have had to restart daily. There was little-to-no delay when launching everyday applications and the OS was very stable no matter what application was running. Unfortunately, this could be in part to the Windows Phone 7 not having multi-tasking capabilities.
As for the phone’s reception, the HD7 performed well tested at three different locations. In the local HSPA+ coverage area, the device had all bars on the indicator and data services were working without any issues. Data still worked in the outlying 3G areas although not nearly as fast as a downtown area. In our remote testing area the phone did deliver one bar of reception and allowed some reliable but slow Internet browsing. Bluetooth and WiFi are both on board with no dropped connections through testing.

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HTC Inspire 4G Android Phone (AT&T Network)

If you want super fast internet, HTC Android Phone Inspire 4G is one of your choice. HTC Inspire provides super-fast internet using 4G internet broadband 4x faster than ordinary mobile broadband. You can download up to 6Mbps. Powered with Android 2.2 operating system (Froyo) with a faster overall Android experience as well as greater multitasking capabilities and large 4.3 inch LCD touchscreen. With 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, you can open application, games, and play video quickly. 

HTC Inspire 4G gives the next generation HTC Sense user interface experience, faster startup times from hibernation mode as well as a consolidated view of your favorite social networking sites. 8 MP camera with dual LED flash plus auto focus, face detection, and geo-tagging, capture your great moment with your friends.

These are application built in HTC Inspire

1. Android 2.2 operating system (Froyo) with over-the-air upgrade capability for future OS releases
2. eReader app with access to over 2 million book titles
3. BLOCKBUSTER app enables you to discover and download the latest movie rentals on the go.
4. DLNA capabilities enables you to share your photo albums, videos and movies wirelessly with a compatible HDTV or other DLNA device

Specifications:

1. 4G internet mobile broadband
2. Android 2.2 (froyo)
3. 4.3-inch multitouch Super LCD display
4. Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (with optional Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspot and tethering capabilities)
5. GPS for navigation and location services
6. 8-MP camera
7. HD 720p camcorder
8. Bluetooth stereo music
9. microSD memory expansion
10. HTML web browser, corporate and personal e-mail
11. Up to 6 hours of talk time, up to 372 hours (15.5 days) of standby time

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HTC Salsa Facebook Smartphone with Android Gingerbread

HTC Salsa is also smartphone with one touch facebook button features. This useful if you want share or update your facebook with just one click. HTC Salsa features with big 3.4 touch screen display with resolution 480×320 pixels and 600-megahertz Qualcomm processor. For memory, this smartphone equipped with 512 megabytes onboard memory and MicroSD expansion slot support up to 32 gigabytes. Like HTC ChaCha, this smartphone using OS android 2.3.

All features of the HTC Salsa smartphone is similar to the features found on HTC ChaCha. This phone will available in the market on second quarter of 2011 with price 389 €.

HTC Salsa Facebook Smartphone Specification

Size (HWD)	109.1mm (4.3″)  x 58.9mm (2.32″) x 12.3mm (0.48″)
Weight	120 grams with battery
Display	3.4-inch touch screen with 480 x 320 resolution
CPU	600-megahertz Qualcomm processor
Operating System	Android 2.3 gingerbread with HTC Sense
Memory	Internal phone storage: 512 MB RAM: 512 MB Expansion slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
Connectors	3.5 mm stereo audio jack Standard micro-USB (5-pin micro-USB 2.0)
Battery Life time	Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 474 minutes GSM: Up to 540 minutes Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 530 hours GSM: Up to 445 hours
Battery	Battery type: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery Capacity: 1520 mAh
Network	HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Camera	5 megapixel color rear camera with auto focus and flash VGA front camera
Sensors	G-Sensor Digital compass Proximity sensor Ambient light sensor
Audio supported formats	Playback: aac,  amr,  ogg,  m4a,  mid,  mp3,  wav,  wma (Windows Media Audio 9) Recording: amr
Video supported formats	Playback: 3gp, 3g2, mp4, wmv (Windows Media Video 9), avi (MP4 ASP and MP3), xvid (MP4 ASP and MP3) Recording: 3gp
Internet	3G: Up to 7.2 Mbps download speed Up to 384 kbps upload speed GPRS: Up to 114 kbps downloading EDGE: Up to 560 kbps downloading Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 3.0 with FTP/OPP for file transfer A2DP for wireless stereo headsets PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit

[electronic-gadgets.info]

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HTC released a 3D phone and tablet 4G

HTC launched two new devices that are connected to the 4G network, namely smart phones and tablet HTC HTC 3D EVO Evo View 4G at CTIA Wireless 2011 trade show, Orlando, Florida.

In addition, HTC also released a smart phone based on Windows 7 Phone is partnering with AT & T, HTC HD7S. The processor in the form of 3D EVO HTC dual-core models launched by LG Electronics, Motorola and Samsung Electronics.

LG Electronics also introduced a device that is activated Thrill 4G 4G. This appliance is equipped with dual core processors with 3D capability that supports HSPA + 42Mbps download speed.

Built with Gingerbread operating system 2.3, the HTC 3D EVO equipped 4.3-inch screen and dual-core processor 1.2 GHz Qualcomm's Snapdragon. Double 5MP camera in it is capable of capturing two images of conventional and high-quality 3D video.

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HTC EVO 3D Smartphone & HTC EVO View 4G Tablet PC

To model the HTC EVO 3D smartphone touted as the next generation of HTC Pyramid, while for the tablets EVO View 4G itself is the CDMA version of HTC Flyer who has previously attended first.

With touch screen measuring 4.3 inches, the HTC smartphone bergrafis EVO 3D is 3D which did not require that you use glasses to see 3D graphics. Also equipped with dual 5MP camera can record 3D video for 720p. Unfortunately this ability is very limited because only able to capture with the ability only 2MP.

Equipped with dual-core processor toughness Snapdragon 1.2GHz and 1GB of RAM, the HTC 3D EVO is very inappropriate when juxtaposed with the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) that this latest. Dimension 127 x 66 x 12m with a weight of just 170 grams, the HTC 3D EVO unsparing bring all their connectivity capabilities such as Wi-Fi b / g / n, Bluetooth 3.0, microSD slot and SFM (a combination of USB ports and HDMI).

With features seductive above, unfortunately the HTC not divulge the price range of this 3D bergrafis smartphone, but the information will not only outstanding for CDMA only, but the HTC will be poured similar products with the GSM version.

Along with the birth of 3D bergrafis smartphone, the party Sprint in collaboration with Blockbuster to bundle the HTC EVO 4G with 3D films together also with the launch of its Blu-ray.

For tablet HTC EVO View 4G itself a CDMA version of HTC Flyer featuring WiMAX. With black aluminum body, revealing little difference with body-colored HTC Flyer silver.

Both tablets are still the same specification in terms of both use single-core 1.5GHz processor, based Android Gingerbread, measuring 7 inches with 1024 × 600 px, dual cameras (5 megapixel main camera, additional camera 1.3MP), Scribe technology, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi b / g / n. HTC Reportedly EVO View this new 4G will be present in the summer with a version of CDMA and WiMAX connectivity. Unfortunately again there are no leaks on the price of one tablet of this product.

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HTC Merge Android Phone with Dual-Mode Capability

HTC Merge - As once stated by the Taiwanese manufacturer, HTC Merge is the world's first CDMA mobile phone that is expected to be marketed through various operators in the United States. And even reportedly the smartphone will soon be released by Verizon Wireless, but unfortunately there has been no official announcement regarding it until today.

According to information cited IntoMobile, the device reportedly will carry a 800 MHz Qualcomm processor MSM7X30. This device will run on mobile platforms with Android 2.2 Froyo Sense HTC UI and features capacitive touch screen measuring 3.7 inches with the support 16 million colors and a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels.

Very similar to HTC Desire Z, HTC Merge these together to package a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus. According to IntoMobile, the existence of mobile phone features a QWERTY keyboard that is somewhat less attractive and even considered not comfortable there. In addition, as with the HTC Droid Incredible, HTC Merge are both also equipped with a feature red accents on the QWERTY keyboard, earpiece and the Search button.

Other standard features include HTC Merge include: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, the function of DLNA, GPS with A-GPS support, microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB), stereo FM radio with RDS. Although no further details about the phone release date or price, but reportedly Merge HTC is expected to be priced between the range of 100 USD up to 150 USD price range.

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HTC Pyramid with Dual Core processors & SC-LCD Screen

HTC Pyramid - Rumors about the upcoming smartphone from HTC with dual-core processors, the mobile phone photo finally appeared. Some look and specifications of the HTC Pyramid has appeared online, increasing the likelihood that the rumors were true. Judging from the specifications of this device would be one impressive phone. It is said to be the world's first Android phone that uses a dual-core processor Qualcomm's Snapdragon (1.2GHz). This mobile phone will also have SuperLCD screen with a resolution 4.3-inch 960 x 540 px, camera at the rear with 8-megapixel sensor, and front facing 1.3 megapixel camera and 768MB of RAM.

HTC Pyramid will run on top of Gingerbread (Android 2.3) when marketed. The phone is rumored to be headed to T-Mobile in May 2011, and is expected to be announced at CTIA in the next few weeks. A sexy design and solid hardware spec HTC Pyramid makes this a must-have for fans of T-Mobile Android.

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Top 10 list best selling mobil phones in 2010

After releasing a list of 10 best-selling mobile phones every month, Krusell has released a list of 10 best-selling mobile phones throughout 2010. Does your phone go on the list?

If you iPhone users, you may elated. His greatness no one rival over the past year. This can be seen from the two products that enter the list of "hot", ie 4 and iPhone 3G iPhone.

In fact, in the last three months, including October, November, and December, four consecutive iPhone became the best-selling mobile phones.

When viewed under the brand, Nokia still control the list of 10 best-selling mobile phones. As many as four of the 10 best-selling mobile phone products selected were Nokia, the Nokia 3720 Classic, Nokia E52, Nokia 6700 Classic, and Nokia 6303 Classic.

While HTC and Samsung each contribute two products in this list, including HD2 HTC, HTC Desire, Samsung i9000 Galaxy S, and the Samsung B2100.

Here's complete list of 10 best-selling mobile phones throughout the 2010 version of Krusell:
Apple iPhone 4
1. Apple iPhone 4
2. Nokia 3720 Classic
3. HTC HD2
4. Apple iPhone 3G
5. Nokia E52
6. Samsung i9000 Galaxy S
7. Nokia 6700 Classic
8. HTC Desire
9. Nokia 6303 Classic
10. Samsung B2100

"Looking at the list above, the most interesting perspective observed may mix of enticing mobile phone model mobile phone buyers and the casing over the past year," said Ulf Sandberg, chief executive officer (CEO) Krusell, in a press release, Friday, January 7, 2011.

"This list is not only inhabited by upper-class phones, but it turns out like a conventional mobile phone Nokia 3720 and 6700 Classic much demand. Indeed, this list proves that the era of the smartphone more so, but do not forget if there is a group of large segments that still want a simple device and easy to use, "said Sandberg.

As is known, the selection of the top 10 phones based on consumer absorption of casing products (packaging) cell phone throughout 2010, including devices and portable knick-knacks, a Krusell manufactured by more than three million units per year on average.

List output trinkets manufacturer of electronic devices and mobile phones from Sweden is unique due to the data collected represent the sales of phones on six continents and more than 70 countries around the world.

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Review : HTC HD7

The HD7 is HTC’s top-of-the-line Windows Phone 7 smarpthone. It’s the WP7 equivalent of the Android-packing Desire HD with a slight retouches on the exterior design.

The HTC HD7 copies some of the genetics of its year old predecessor, the HD2, although that one was just on WinMo 6.5. The large 4.3″ display wrapped around a combination of metal and polymer body gives it an elegant look.

The edges are lined with a strip of black, polished metal with only the power button, volume controls and dedicated camera in place. The micro-USB port is at the bottom together with the 3.5mm audio port and microphone.

 
The display is pretty large and the screen is crisp and bright. At the bottom end of the glass panel are 3 touch controls — search, home (represented by Windows icon) and back. The single sheet of glass that covers the display is significantly thick and doesn’t touch the top and bottom edge of the front panel. The small gap serves as an opening for the speakers.
I was meaning to write a separate and full review of Windows Phone 7 OS but this is the only time I’ve had a really significant experience with the OS so I might just have to wait a little bit and test how it goes with other models or brands. Nevertheless, my initial impressions of Microsoft’s mobile OS has been pretty good.

It’s pretty obvious that Windows Phone 7 has been developed from the ground up and even if you’re a long-time WinMO user, you’ll definitely not notice any similarities. The OS did not undergo an evolution, it’s been radically mutated. And Microsoft did not just made a 180-degree turn but totally went crazy with the UI. For those who have owned or tried the Zune player, the UI is very familiar.
I’d say the user interface is essentially a breathe of fresh air, especially if you’re coming from iOS or Android. Objects such as shortcuts, widgets, contacts and apps are represented by tiles stacked from top to bottom. You add items by pinning it to the home screen (Start) or remove it by un-pinning them. The tiles are big and bold with options to change color schemes that screams of eye-candy.

Slide the screen to the right and you get the entire list of links to settings, apps and the whole enchilada. The scrolling list might be bearable if you just have a couple of dozens to a hundred items in there but it could get dizzy once the figure reaches several hundreds (by that time, we’ll be needing folders or groups).
The UI makes a lot of fancy transitions in between screens — it flips, swipes, peels, tumbles and slides every chance it gets. It’s like a magician that takes his time flapping his cape around before executing a trick. It’s amusing most of the time especially if you’re just leisurely navigating thru the phone’s menu. However, if you’re in a hurry, it could get tiresome.

WP7 is integrated with Facebook and Twitter very neatly. After plugging in a new SIM and linking my Facebook and Twitter account to the device, I was surprised that contacts from new SMS came in fully propagated — name, avatar, other contacts and status all pulled off from Facebook.
The built-in Mail client is spiffy, clean and runs quite fast. It lacks a search feature though which I hope they’d add in the next update. The IE browser is light, supports multiple windows or tabs and, frankly, is quite fast too.

The HD7 can be managed by hooking it up to Microsoft Zune and synching multimedia files like music, photos and movies can also be done wirelessly as long as the Zune software and the handset is connected to the same WiFi network. You can also login to Windows Live to manage contacts and calendars on the cloud.
The Windows Live account also has some features to ring, lock or erase the phone remotely. The phone also updates itself by sending GPS location on a regular basis. You can login to Live and locate your phone on the map with matching date and time it last recorded its location.

Apps are very essential to the usefulness of any smartphone and thankfully, the Zune Marketplace on the HD7 has plenty of them. It’s not as extensive as the ones found on the iTunes App Store or the Android Market but it’s got some decent numbers.
The more common social apps were actually developed by Microsoft itself (Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare) so you will notice the tight design integration of these apps into WP7.
The games for the XBox Live though are somewhat on the expensive side where games like Bejeweled and Need for Speed costs $7.99 and Assassin’s Creed and Guitar Hero 5 costs $10.99. There’s an option to try before you buy though (much like the Lite version if you will).
HTC also added several of their own apps (all for free) and featured them in the HTC Hub which also doubles as a weather app.

  The HD7 packs a 5MP autofocus camera and takes some pretty decent to good quality photos. It doesn’t handle night shots or low-light shots very well though. Photos are a bit washed out and blueish at times. See sample photos here. Video recording is much better and can do up to 720p.

The virtual keyboard is well thought of, nicely spaced with unique audio and visual cues for each tapped key. You’ll most probably need both hands to comfortably use the handset due to its sheer size.
The kick-stand at the back doubles as a protection for the camera barrel and flips to the side so you can position the handset in landscape when watching movies. The speakers are just beside it and can do a good amount of volume. You’ll need to set the Audio Enhancer app to use Dolby Mobile so you get better sound quality when watching movies.

 HTC HD7 specs:
4.3″ display @ 480×800 pixels
Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor
576MB RAM
16GB internal storage
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP
802.11 b/g/n
HSDPA, HSUPA
5MP camera w/ 720p video recording
GPS w/ aGPS support
Motion G-sensor
Proximity Sensor
Ambient Light Sensor
Li-Ion 1230 mAh
Windows Phone OS 7

Microsoft has made good improvements with Windows Phone 7 OS and pairing it with a powerful hardware like the HTC HD7. We’ve haven’t had much hands-on time with the HTC Trophy and HTC Mozart, both of which are running on WP7 as well, but I can definitely say that the HD7 is looking to be the much better model.
The OS comes with a lot of flair but it still feels a bit half-baked with all the missing little features and basic controls needed. It’s a really good start though and the addition of more apps and future updates should address all that. The only multi-tasking I was able to do is play music while browsing the web or using the camera. Cut & paste is also missing too but Microsoft is said to be working on that in the next update.
A few more software/firmware updates and addition of more useful and affordable apps in the Marketplace could make the HTC HD7 a good alternative to those who are eyeing the Desire HD.

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Review : HTC Desire HD

The HTC Desire HD was announced back in September, and when it was announced it had a range of impressive specifications and features. It comes with Android 2.2 Froyo, and the model we tested is the UK version.

Hardware

HTC has always made quality devices, even back when no one knew who it was. The Desire HD is a shining example of that. The exterior is a unibody, matte aluminum that feels solid and comfortable. The back is elegantly curved while the edges have a slight frontward bevel that adds significantly to the ergonomics of the device.

 One of the first things I noticed while using this device was how cool it was – temperature wise. The aluminum unibody must act like a heat sink, drawing device-killing heat from the innards of the phone to the outside.

 The covers to the battery compartment and the microsd and SIM slots are unusual in that they are two separate pieces -- unlike the single cover we've seen before -- and they are relatively small: not an entire back, or back-plate like other devices have. Unfortunately, the battery compartment cover proved tricky to remove, and frustrating to try and put back iton place. Also, the lower cover never seemed to fit right, leaving a bit of a gap and uneven edges.

The screen on the Desire HD is the biggest feature – and the biggest drawback to the device. It’s big, but not too big. Where it falls short is with the super-high reflective surface of the display. Inside the display isn’t bad, but when you step outside in any kind of moderately bright light, you’ll be hunting for shade to be able to see the image.

Screen resolution is quite good, images are clear, and text is crisp.

Weight: 5.78 ounces

Width: 2.68-inches

Height: 4.84-inches

Thickness: 0.46-inches

Screen: 4.3-inches, 480x800 WVGA

CPU/GPU: 1GHz (QSD8255 45nm Snapdragon)/Adreno 205 graphics

Memory: 768MB RAM, 1.5MB internal storage, 8GB Class 2 microsdhc (included)

OS: Android 2.2 (Froyo) with HTC Sense UI and HTC apps

Connectors: 3.5mm stereo audio/headset jack; microUSB 2.0 port

Radios: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth; 3G, GPRS, EDGE; USB & WiFi tethering built-in

European Bands: HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Asia Pacific Bands: HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Battery: 1230mAh

Camera

The camera app on the Desire HD is by far the best I’ve ever used. It’s fast, it’s intuitive, and the video preview fills the entire screen rather than being boxed into a much smaller frame. It comes with everything you’d expect, from geo-tagging, automatic white-balancing, automatic dual-LED flash, and more. Still pictures are an impressive 8-megapixel (3264 x 1952), and video comes set at 800 x 480 with the capability of shooting up to 720p HD (1280 x 720).

Both pictures and videos were reasonable, but won’t replace your SLR or dedicated point-and-shoot camera. Video and stills don’t turn out well in low light, which is to be expected. Image quality in moderate-light isn’t as good as I had expected, resulting in dark images, or other sorts of “noise” in the images.

Sample images have been reduced to 550px wide. No other image manipulations have been applied.

Performance

With a second-generation, 1Ghz CPU I expected a little more speed than what I experienced. The overall performance of the device and Sense UI launcher was generally fast and snappy, but I encountered intermittent periods of very noticeable lag in seemingly random places. Restarting the phone resolved the issue.

Music and videos played flawlessly without hesitation, skips, pops, or other anomalies.

Call Quality/Network Speed

Call quality using both T-Mobile's network and Google Voice were clean and clear. The device fits easily in the hand for traditional phone-to-face holding and both sides of the conversation were superb. Calls made using various Bluetooth devices and the included wired headset were equally clear.

Network speed over 802.11g and 802.11n was fast and reliable with network acquisition quick and easy. Since the phone doesn't include T-Mobile's 3G bands I was unable to test 3G performance, but EDGE was reliable and as fast as you'd expect. I tried using a friend's AT&T SIM which should theoretically have provided 3G connectivity, but for some reason that we could not discover, did not; EGDE worked equally as well on AT&T as it did on T-Mobile

Battery Life

When I cracked open the battery compartment for the first time I was honestly surprised to see a 1230mAh hiding inside – it seemed somewhat small. The G2, with a slower processor, small screen, and HSPA+ radio, has a 1300mAh battery.

During the initial several days of using the Desire HD as my daily-use device, the battery was in the red by noon. I don’t put much stock in the battery indicator or battery life for the first week of use. During this period you’ll typically be using significantly more battery life while downloading, installing, and configuring apps, contacts, Tweets, and emails; and the device is still calibrating its measurements of battery itself.

Unfortunately, battery life didn’t improve all that much after the initial break-in period. The phone will last all day, as long as you’re not watching much video, streaming much audio, or doing a lot of eBook or webpage reading. Add in any of those items and you’ll want to have a charger in your car and on your desk. Even more discouraging is that the ability to obtain an extended battery is all but eliminated by the design of the Desire HD’s battery compartment.

Pros

+ Large screen
+ Solid construction
+ Wonderful ergonomics

Cons

- Poorly fitting compartment covers
- Small battery capacity
- Screen is very reflective

Conclusion

The Desire HD is a beautiful phone with respectable performance and speed. As long as you can charge up the battery in the middle of the day, you won’t be disappointed with this large-screen handset.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Review : HTC 7 Mozart

HTC announced three Windows Phone 7 devices for Australia during Microsoft's launch of its new mobile operating system last month. Of the three, only the HTC 7 Mozart sports a unibody aluminium chassis similar to what's found on the HTC Legend and the latest Desire HD smartphones. It is also the only model among all the launch devices from HTC, LG and Samsung to come with an 8-megapixel camera and Xenon flash (which did not perform to our higher expectations).

• Good: Xenon flash with 8-megapixel camera • Unibody aluminium design • Some useful HTC apps including one for handling incoming calls
• Bad: Camera implementation needs improvement • No panoramic feature for camera • Touch-sensitive keys under screen can disrupt gaming

Design

With a 3.7-inch WVGA screen, aluminium chassis and curved edges, the Mozart looks a lot like the HTC Desire from the front. Those who love metallic materials will be pleased to see that the aluminium extends all around the back, save for two plastic portions on the top and bottom. We feel the non-symmetrical ridges and cut-outs of the unibody design are quite cool-looking, but admit that not everyone will take a liking to it.
Unlike the Desire, the Mozart has touch-sensitive buttons on the front. These are the Back, Start and Search keys as required by Microsoft. While they work well, and we like the haptic feedback we get when we used them, we would have preferred physical shortcut keys as found on the Desire. This would reduce the occurrence of accidental presses when playing games holding the phone in landscape orientation — when we were playing Rocket Riot, the Search key was unintentionally activated, kicking us out of the game. Since Xbox Live is a big part of what makes WP7 attractive, we feel physical keys will reduce the chance of such occurrences.
The Mozart does have some physical buttons around the edges. These include the power toggle on the top, camera shutter on the bottom right edge, and volume controls on the left.

The 800x480-pixel LCD display was bright and showed text and images well. We had no issues with it whether indoors or out in bright daylight.
Like the HTC Legend, the plastic cut-out on the base has to be removed to access the removable battery. The Mozart doesn't come with a memory expansion slot, but you do get 8GB of built-in storage.

Features

Connectivity-wise, you get the usual crop of options available to a high-end smartphone. These include HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and A-GPS for satellite navigation.
At the software end of things, we know Microsoft has dictated how the interface should look, so there's no chance of HTC adding its Sense UI to the Mozart. To differentiate itself from other vendors, the Taiwan manufacturer has included a few proprietary apps.
The starting point of getting a unique HTC experience on the Mozart is through the HTC Hub program. The first thing you'll see upon firing it up is the time and weather — this looks just like the most prominent widget found in every HTC Android phone with Sense. Apart from that, it gives thumbnails of other exclusive HTC apps, which will take you to the Windows Marketplace to download.
Of the available apps, the one we found most useful is called Attentive Phone. This gives the handset extra features for handling phone calls. For example, the "quiet ring on pick-up" option detects when you pick up the Mozart from a table when it's ringing and lowers the ringing volume. The other options include "flip for speaker", which activates the speakerphone during active calls when you turn the phone over; "flip to mute ringer"; and "pocket mode", which detects when your device is in a pocket or bag and increases the ring volume accordingly. These features have all been implemented in the Android-based HTC Sense and we are glad to see them in HTC's Windows Phone handsets.
Other apps include Photo Enhancer for adding effects to images, Sound Enhancer for an audio equaliser, Stocks for checking your quotes, and other extras like a unit converter, notepad and to-do list program. There is also a Flashlight app, but take note that this won't work with the Mozart's Xenon flash as it cannot be turned on persistently like LED lights.
With an 8-megapixel sensor and Xenon flash, the Mozart's camera has the best specifications of all the WP7 launch models. The camera app is pretty responsive and focuses quickly. It also gives options such as portraits, sports and candlelight for different shooting scenarios. Fun filter effects including sepia and negative can also be added.
Taking a photo in auto mode was a bit of a challenge. The Mozart tended to lower shutter speed to compensate for dim lighting. This gave properly exposed shots but also increased the incidences of blurred photos. Typically, it's hard to hold a lightweight camera phone very still, especially when you have to apply pressure to press the shutter button, adding to the difficulty of getting a sharp image without hand-shake blur. We would have preferred it if the camera allowed for a slightly underexposed shot as a compromise for dim lighting.
Of course, using the Xenon flash does go some way to alleviating hand-shake problems. One issue in its implementation is that the shutter sound goes off before the shot is actually taken. A user may instinctively move his hand down before the image is captured, resulting in a missed or blurred shot.
When you do get your shot, images looked decent with accurate colours. Using the sports mode helps to solve the slow shutter speed without flash issue, but image noise becomes more apparent. The HTC 7 Mozart can take 720p HD-quality videos. Click here to see some images and clip.
Overall, we were not impressed with the indoor performance of the Mozart's 8-megapixel shooter. It seems some of these issues could be solved by a software update and we hope HTC releases one soon. It would be good, too, if HTC could add a sweep panorama mode for taking landscape shots, like on the LG Optimus 7.

Performance

With one Live and two Gmail email accounts set to sync every half hour, the occasional phone calls and text messages and social networking, the Mozart battery life lasted slightly over a day of use on a full charge. This is comparable to other smartphones, but given the fact that you can't sync social-networking apps automatically on the Mozart, we expected it to perform a little better.
Call quality was good and we didn't experience any dropped calls during our period of testing. The speakerphone on this handset was good, loud and sufficiently clear. Audio for videos was also decent, though we would suggest using headphones instead of firing up the speakers when in public — it's more civic-minded to do so.
However, on a few occasions, we were not able to connect to the cellular data network in spite of good reception at the location. We tested the network using the same data plan on an iPhone 4 and it worked fine.
Speed-wise, the Mozart performed fine with its 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 576MB RAM. Transitions were smooth and all common tasks such as test messaging and bringing up the address book were done snappily. Loading times were a little long for Xbox Live games, but that slowness has been felt on all the WP7 devices we tried so far.

Conclusion

As mentioned in our Optimus 7 review, the LG has the best set of proprietary apps so far. This opinion has not changed after our evaluation of the Mozart. With better camera specs, this HTC should have rightly aced the imaging aspect but didn't because of some usage abnormalities.

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HTC Desire review: A desire come true

Key features:

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA
• 3.7" 16M-color capacitive AMOLED touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480x 800 pixel)
• Android OS v2.1 with kinetic scrolling and pinch zooming
• Slim profile and great build quality.

 

• Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor
• 576 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM
• 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
• WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) video recording @ 15fps
• Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS
• microSD slot, bundled with a 4GB card
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Optical trackpad which doubles as a button
• Smart dialing

Main disadvantages:

• Disappointing video quality
• Limited storage available to the user on the system partition (you are left with only 120 MB for installing apps)
• No DivX and XviD video playback
• No voice dialing
• Non hot-swappable memory card

HTC Sense likes it on big screen

HTC Hero pioneered the Sense UI on Android handsets to tap the company’s existing user base. The Tattoo was the next HTC-customized device, but Sense just didn’t feel natural on the QVGA screen.
HTC Desire is Legend’s bigger brother upping the CPU and RAM, along with screen size and resolution. It runs the latest Android v2.1 and takes full advantage of its performance boost and full color support. As a result, the pre-loaded Sense UI is faster, more attractive and fluid.
The main differences between this Sense UI version and the one back on the Hero are the new context icons, a bunch of new wallpapers and the unified Widget section. Whether you are using the People, Mail, Music or Gallery Tabs, the scrollable icons at the bottom will please you with new color skins. We like it this way – the old ones looked a bit dull against the otherwise graphically rich and colorful UI.
We should also acknowledge the role of the AMOLED display in making the new Sense UI look even more attractive compared to HTC Hero’s. Let’s take a closer look for those who haven’t met the latest Sense UI yet.

Good 5 megapixel snapper

HTC Desire has a 5 megapixel sensor for a maximum image resolution of 2592 x 1936 pixels, and a LED flash. This is becoming pretty much the norm for recent upper mid-range and high-end Android handsets so the HTC seems to be on level ground with its competitors.
However thanks to Android 2.1, the Desire boasts a camera interface that is quite competitive outside the Google OS world too. There are a number of customizable settings ranging from ISO speed to aspect ratio and auto focus. Now, that makes perhaps the Omnia HD owners sneer but it’s a nice improvement for Android.
We are yet to see modern-day features such as face and smile detection, for example, but the gap is closing.

Here are some screen shots using the 5 megapixel HTC Desire:

Final words

The Google Nexus One was given the grace of a market head start but it’s no longer standing lonely at the top. And even if it looks like a brotherly reunion, the HTC Desire is in fact a formidable rival. That’s between HTC and Google though. Users have hardly reasons to complain.
The limited availability of the Nexus One only works in the HTC Desire’s favor. The HTC Desire ships worldwide and its current street price is around 440 euro. That’s just a bit more than the Google Nexus One and it won’t be long perhaps before they’re level.
As to the differences, the HTC Desire seems to get the upper hand but it’s not just quite as capable as promised. DivX support and 720p video recording didn’t make it on time, although there’s word of including them in a future update. The HTC Desire comes with the company’s proprietary Sense UI on top of the E'clair and Flash support in the web browser. We do prefer the hardware buttons to the Nexus One’s capacitive controls but the trackpad doesn’t quite cut it. We’d take the trackball any day.

Google Nexus One

 Now, the complicated family issues aside, let’s look at a real competitor. The recently unveiled I9000 Galaxy S is Samsung’s most powerful Android smartphone – and quite keen to challenge for the top spot. Featuring a breathtaking four inches of Super AMOLED display and a fast 1GHz processor, the Galaxy S also runs E'clair and offers a 5-megapixel snapper. What’s more, codec support and high-res video are all there so HTC better hurry with that upgrade.

Samsung I9000 Galaxy S

 The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 has the older Donut (Android OS v1.6) and its price is steep. The X10 is still quite a catch though. It has a Snapdragon inside and a bigger screen too. The real edge over the Android rivals however is the 8-megapixel autofocus camera.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10

 So, this is the latest in Android and we have no reason to be disappointed. The Desire is confidently taking charge of the HTC Android lineup. With gadgets like the Hero and the Legend behind it, this is one of the most impressive droid fleets these days. The HTC Desire has the background and the inspiration, and it has some bonus hype, courtesy of the Nexus One. Out of two identical phones, most users will of course get the one that’s more readily available.

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