I is back (from the Gadget Show Live 2010)

by Steve O'Hear

April 11th, 2010 | Posted in Audio, Mobile, Net TV, Other | CommentsNo Comments

As is becoming a tradition at last100, I was away for the best part of last week at The Gadget Show Live (2010) in Birmingham, UK and generally taking a bit of time out to recharge my batteries, or at least that was the idea.

Aside from clocking up multiple Foursquare check-ins and quite a bit of mileage, I got to check out some of the latest consumer tech, which compared to last year’s show, was a little underwhelming. It just seemed that there wasn’t much new – and a lot of products were noticeably missing in action (Apple iPad anyone?) Continue reading »

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Nokia said to be readying iPad competitor – Windows or MeeGo anyone?

by Steve O'Hear

April 6th, 2010 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

From the words of an “analyst”, so I won’t hold my breath. Nokia is said to be readying its own take on the now-credible Internet tablet, post Apple’s iPad.

TheStreet.com reports: “Nokia is working with suppliers and design manufacturers on a touch-screen tablet to have available as early as this fall, according to Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar, who is close to Nokia’s technology partners. Nokia declined to comment.”

My take

With Internet tablets likely to soon become part of the carrier subsidy merry-go-round, Nokia will be forced to jump on the latest bandwagon – although it already has form in this space – so it would make sense if the handset maker is already putting into action plans to challenge Apple’s iPad. It’s not like we didn’t already know that 2010 is going to be the year of the tablet, just like 08/09 was for the Netbook – and Nokia was far too late to that particular party. Continue reading »

Review: SeeSaw bouncing between back-catalogue and catch-up TV

by David Gilson

April 5th, 2010 | Posted in Net TV, Review | Comments3 Comments

SeeSaw front pageSeesaw is a UK-only video on demand service, which has its origins in the ill-fated Project Kangaroo, whose technology was bought up by transmission company Arqiva. The service was launched with new branding as “SeeSaw”.

SeeSaw’s revenue currently comes from unskippable advertising that appears before and in the middle of programmes. However, premium content is said to be coming to SeeSaw later in the year. SeeSaw is limited to residents of the UK only, but on their FAQ pages, they state that viewers do not need a TV license. Continue reading »

MeeGo arrives on the N900, non-developers advised to move along

by David Gilson

April 2nd, 2010 | Posted in Mobile | Comments1 Comment

N900 booting into Meego terminal

The MeeGo community blog has announced that N900 users can download a working image of the new MeeGo operating system. In addition to supporting the N900 ARM architecture, they have also released an image for Intel’s Atom processors, thus covering the shared heritage of the the Moblin and Maemo parent platforms.

In their own words: Continue reading »

HTC Legend is my new Hero

by Steve O'Hear

April 1st, 2010 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

The new HTC Legend

I’m a massive fan of HTC’s Hero smartphone, my favorite Android device to date. That is until this afternoon when I took loan of the HTC Legend, which is essentially a revamped Hero, uni-body-style aluminum casing included.

Doesn’t it look fitting next to a Macbook?

I’ve only played with device for about an hour and so far it’s definitely a little more responsive than the Hero and HTC’s updated Sense UI hasn’t lost any of its appeal. Just going through the setup process shows an eye to detail and focus on user experience that I’ve come to expect from HTC. As a result, it took only a few minutes to have Gmail, Google Calendar, Contacts, Twitter and Facebook synced and pulling in updates, all over-the-air — and I’m good to go.

Fantastic.

Expect a full review in the next two weeks or jump in the comments if you have any questions in the mean time.

iPad reviews are in – PC Mag sums up Apple's device in 4,000 words [video]

by Steve O'Hear

April 1st, 2010 | Posted in Audio, Comms, Mobile, Net TV | Comments1 Comment

It was just the other day that I was mocking a recent claim by PC Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff that what made the publication different from competing tech sites and blogs was its testing ‘labs’ used to conduct product reviews.

“Who needs a lab?”, I scoffed.

I get to review plenty of gear where my lounge, bedroom or local coffee shop is my ‘lab’. A mobile phone or netbook, for example, can be reviewed almost anywhere. It’s not the environment that counts but how knowledgeable and thorough the reviewer is and what products he/she has used for comparison. Or at least, that’s what I’d hope.

Putting all of that aside, however, PC Mag has put out today the best iPad review so far. It’s easily the most thorough – at 4,000 words – and, as Dave Zatz points out, hasn’t suffered from the print-length restrictions that plague the coverage of the Pogues, Walt Mossbergs of this world, never mind their perceived closeness to Cupertino. PC Mag gives the iPad a lab score of 4.5/5 😉

PC Mag have also produced a nice video review, which I’ve embedded right after the jump. Continue reading »

Zatz Not Funny: Netflix on Wii, video on the iPad, SlingPlayer mobile, TiVo Premiere

by Steve O'Hear

March 31st, 2010 | Posted in ZNF | CommentsNo Comments

A periodic roundup of relevant news from our friends at Zatz Not Funny…



First impressions of Netflix Wii video streaming

Dave Zatz: Marcus Penn took his brand spanking new Netflix Instant Streaming disc for a spin on the Wii… All in all, this seems like a decent upgrade for dual Wii/Netflix customers the low, low price of zero dollars. Continue reading »

Nokia N97 – worth a second look?

by Steve O'Hear

March 31st, 2010 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

We already took a pretty in-depth look at the Nokia N97, the handset maker’s then flagship and much anticipated touch screen phone.

We loved the form-factor, were less impressed with the UI of Symbian S60 5th edition and thought the keyboard could be better. But it never does any harm to get a second opinion, especially after a major software update or two.

That’s exactly what David Gilson gives us over at All About Symbian, a site that we’re big fans of (see side bar for others). And if you hadn’t noticed, David’s now a regular contributor to last100, so it goes without saying, he’s a source I trust. Continue reading »

ThickButtons brings better typing to Android touch screens

by David Gilson

March 31st, 2010 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Even though touch screen phones are more popular than ever, many people who enter a lot of text on their phone still prefer a physical keyboard (Ed. That’s me alright.) The need for tactile feedback is often cited as the reason. However, it’s likely that tactile feedback is preferred so that users know that they’re going to hit the correct letter, before they actually press it.

Which is why haptic feedback on touch screens doesn’t actually help typing speed as it comes far too late – it vibrates after you’ve hit the wrong key.

US start-up, ThickButtons, think they have the answer. Continue reading »

3view set-top box – Freeview HD, PVR and Internet TV

by Steve O'Hear

March 29th, 2010 | Posted in Net TV | Comments2 Comments

Over at TechCrunch Europe I’ve written about 3view, a UK startup which is about to launch a new Internet-connected set-top box. The two headline features of the device are support for Freeview HD, the free-to-air terrestrial high definition service rolling out to British households this summer, and Sky Player, the satellite broadcaster’s IPTV service.

The 3view set-top features twin DVB-T2 HD tuners and a 500GB hard drive for PVR capability. Ethernet is used to connect the box to a broadband connection. Continue reading »

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