The Motorola Electrify M recently landed at US Cellular, and with it we’re getting a very strong feeling of deja vu. Despite the new name, we’ve seen this phone before, as its nearly identical twin – the DROID RAZR M – is currently gracing Verizon‘s shelves. The DROID RAZR M was a pretty solid handset, though it was somewhat overshadowed by the release of the DROID RAZR HD and the RAZR MAXX HD. Can Motorola keep the quality train rolling with the Electrify M? Read on to find out.

Design:-
Most of the differences between the Electrify M and the RAZR M are found in the design of each phone. Whereas the RAZR M was decked out in Kevlar, the Electrify M isn’t, opting instead for a silver plastic battery cover. It doesn’t look half bad, but then again, I have to say that I’m more a fan of the Kevlar than I am of the plastic. Still, the silver and black mesh well and come together to form one nice looking handset.
The Electrify M isn’t very big at all, thanks in large part to its 4.3-inch screen. This is the exact same size as the screen found on the the RAZR M, save for one key difference: the RAZR M’s screen was considered “edge-to-edge” by Motorola, but the Electrify M’s screen doesn’t stretch all the way across the face. This probably isn’t going to be a problem for most as it doesn’t do anything to the detract from the look of the device, it’s just that I feel the need to point out differences when I see them considering there are so few
On the left side of the phone is where you’ll find a slot for the micro SD and micro SIM cards and the micro USB port. Over on the right side, you’ve got the volume rocker and the power button, while there’s a standard 3.5mm headphone jack up top. There isn’t anything happening on the bottom of the device, while around the back you’ve got a small opening for the speaker that’s located right next to the camera lens.

The phone comes in a hair under four ounces in weight, which gives it just the right amount of heft. At 0.34-inches thick, it isn’t the thinnest smartphone we’ve seen (it isn’t even the thinnest smartphone Motorola makes), but to be honest, I don’t mind the additional thickness. I don’t want my phone to be a brick, but I also don’t want it to feel like it’ll break if I dare to pull it out of my pocket when there’s a breeze. It feels good in the hand, though those who want a phone on the smaller end of the spectrum will enjoy the Electrify M the most. If you like big smartphones, you might want to look elsewhere.
The Electrify M is rather unextraordinary in design, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad looking handset; there just isn’t much to make it stand out from the sea of other smartphones. Motorola has definitely taken some design cues from the Electrify 2, which launched earlier in the year, so this definitely feels like a member of the Electrify family, despite the fact that it has so much in common with the RAZR M. Just look at it as if you’re getting the best of both worlds with the Electrify M.

Hardware:-
While there are some pretty big differences between the RAZR M and the Electrify M in terms of design, there are almost no differences when it comes to hardware. The Super AMOLED Advanced screen not only has the same dimensions, but also the same resolution – 540×960 to be exact. That’s qHD resolution, which means visuals won’t be as sharp as some would like. Sharpness aside, colors actually look great, so in a way that makes up for the sub-HD resolution

There’s a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz running the show, and while some of the technophiles among us probably stopped reading there, the S4 will be speedy enough for most. We have to remember whose attention Motorola wants with phones like the Electrify M and the RAZR M. It definitely isn’t the hardcore consumers, but rather the mainstream crowd. For folks who just want a solid phone that doesn’t cost a ton of money, the dual core S4 will provide more than enough speed.You could literally rattle off a list of RAZR M specs, and the hardware in the Electrify M would match to the last digit in the last model number. 1GB of RAM? The Electrify M has just as much. 8GB of internal storage? Check. Rear-facing 8MP camera? You know it! Both phones even have the same 2,000mAh battery. If you’ve used the RAZR M before, you’ve already used the Electrify M; it’s as simple as that.

Software:-

The Electrify M comes running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, and since Motorola is now owned by Google, you’re about as close to stock Android as you can get. There won’t be too much that shocks users as far as the operating system is concerned, but we’re sure many Android fans wouldn’t want it any other way.
Of course, there’s a decent helping of apps already installed from the get go, with some inevitably more useful than others. I imagine a lot of folks will skip out on US Cellular’s apps – those being Daily Perks, Your Navigation, and Tone Room Deluxe – and maybe also Gameloft’s HD Games hub (which seems a little out of place on the Electrify M). Others, like Facebook, Slacker Radio, Twitter, and the suites from Google and Amazon will see some more finger traffic, but that isn’t any surprise.

With everything tallied up, that 8GB of internal storage drops down to about 4.15GB. That isn’t bad and will likely last some users for quite some time, but people who can’t get enough apps or want to store a lot of music will want to invest in a micro SD card when they go to pick up their Electrify M.
It’s worth pointing out that Motorola plans to begin upgrading Electrify M handsets to Jelly Bean in Q1 2013, which is right around the corner. If you buy one of these, you probably won’t have to wait very long for Ice Cream Sandwich to be replaced with Jelly Bean, and that’s a big bonus. The prospects of future software support are very important to some consumers, so if that’s you, know that Motorola is at least planning to bring the Electrify M up to Jelly Bean by the time everything is said and done (and may even upgrade it past Android 4.1 if we’re lucky).

Battery

As stated above, the Electrify M comes with a relatively beefy 2,000mAh battery, which means you’ll have a fair amount of juice at your disposal on a full charge. With moderate use, I didn’t have any problem getting the battery to last nearly two days. You’ll still probably want to plug the phone in every night when you hit the sack, as it seems to drain somewhat quickly while asleep if you’ve got it connected to Wi-Fi or US Cellular’s mobile network
Still, even with usage that borders on heavy, you should be able to get a day out of a full charge. The only downside is that the battery isn’t removable, so you won’t be able to swap it out when the battery the Electrify 2 ships with begins to have problems holding a charge. Non-removable batteries are common in Motorola phones, but that doesn’t make it any less of a drag.

BenchmarksUnsurprisingly, the Electrify M isn’t ranking at the top of the benchmark results, but it’s still powerful enough to hold its own. In AnTuTu, the phone scored 10,499, enough to put it a fair distance behind the ASUS Transformer Prime and ever so slightly ahead of the original Galaxy Note. We get similar results in Quadrant, with the Electrify M coming in a fair amount ahead of the Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Nexus. Dual-core definitely can’t hold a flame to quad-core, but in this case, a dual-core processor is still enough to get the job done.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to carry out a speed test that actually means anything, because US Cellular doesn’t have any stores near me. Therefore, it doesn’t have the best coverage in my area, which is understandable considering that it probably doesn’t have too many customers where I live. I was able to get something on the carrier’s 3G network, but if you live in an area that’s actually serviced by US Cellular, there’s a very good chance that you’ll get much better results. That’s especially true if you live in US Cellular’s 4G LTE coverage area, as the Electrify M is primed and ready to take advantage of LTE.
Camera

We’re working an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera on the Electrify M, and like the shooter on the RAZR M, it takes some respectable pictures when you’re in a well lit area. These images aren’t good enough for me to recommend using the Electrify M’s snapper over a dedicated camera, but if you want a phone that can take some decent pictures, you could definitely do worse than the Electrify M. Check out the sample shots below to see what the Electrify M is capable of.
Wrap-Up

I don’t know what else to do other than point once again to the fact that the Electrify M is the RAZR M, aside from some largely inconsequential cosmetic changes (though I do miss the Kevlar). That isn’t a knock against the Electrify M, as the RAZR M was a solid handset. The Electrify M is just as solid, but since we’ve seen all of this before, I’m finding it hard to get excited about this new handset.
Regardless of that little hang up of mine, the Electrify M is a good choice if you’re looking to get a quality phone without breaking the bank. The Snapdragon S4 is still a nice processor, and the Super AMOLED Advanced display is colorful despite the fact that its resolution leaves something to be desired. At $149, the price US Cellular is asking isn’t too bad at all, but that price tag drops down to just $99 if you happen to live within the carrier’s 4G LTE service area.

If you’re not one to care all that much about having top tier hardware, then I think you’ll be pleased with the Electrify M. I’m a fan of Motorola’s handsets in general, and the Electrify M is just another handset to add to the ever growing list. With that said, I have no problem recommending the Electrify M if you count yourself among the mainstream crowd.
VIA:ANDROID COMMUNITY

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Introduction
Those of us who were teenagers in the late 1990s and early 2000s (yours truly included) would have had Nokia phones as our weapon of choice in communications. My very first cellphone was a Nokia 3310 with a yellow backlight, paid for out of my own pocket from a vacation job. That was considered the ‘typical’ standard among students back in 2001, and the BMOC (Big Man on Campus) was the one who carried a Nokia 8250 with a blue backlight. 
Nokia’s star has apparently faded over the years though, especially after smartphones made their debut and captured the hearts of many. Apple had their line of iPhones, while other manufacturers for the most part went with Android, with Samsung leading the way. Nokia chose to walk a completely different path with their own Symbian OS, which was eventually superseded by the Windows-enabled Lumia line starting in 2011. Their exclusivity with Microsoft, starting with the Windows 7-enabled Lumia 710 and 800 has had the effect of pushing the company to the sidelines. A tech friend of mine once summed up the current mobile phone wars as such: ‘Samsung/Android on one side, Apple/iOS on the other, and Nokia/Microsoft getting caught in the crossfire.’

While this might be a gross oversimplification of the true scenario, it does contain a certain grain of truth. While everyone is swooning over the latest Galaxy Note II or the iPhone 5, Nokia gets short shrift. This review aims to shine the spotlight on one of Nokia’s first offerings with the Windows 8 mobile OS, the Lumia 820.

Initial Impressions: Size, Weight, and Build Quality

The phone does seem a little hefty in the hand, even though it only has a 4.3 inch screen. With dimensions of 123.8 x 68.5 x 9.9 mm and a mass of 160g, it does weigh quite heavily on the hand, and the thickness is considerable. By way of contrast, the Samsung Galaxy Note II is slightly thinner at 9.4 mm and is only 23 g heavier in spite of its much-larger 5.5-inch screen.

While the back cover is made of cheap-looking glossy plastic, looks can be deceiving. The plastic appears to be strong and does not flex easily under manual pressure. The glossy texture lends itself to being susceptible to grime and fingerprints, however.

Among the first things I did upon receiving this phone was to open the back cover so as to insert the micro SIM and micro SD cards. At least, I attempted to. A full five minutes of fumbling with the phone did not yield any hidden catches or buttons that could allow the back cover to be removed easily. A quick search of the manual revealed that the removal of the back cover could be done by sliding a thumbnail into the crack between the back cover and the main body. That took another five minutes to accomplish properly, even though my thumbnail was long (I had been planning to trim it later in the day, honest!). And I wasn’t the only person with this quirky problem, as a cursory web search of Lumia 820 reviews reveals.

VIA:VR-ZONE

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Nothing feels better than leaving carrier contracts behind. Going prepaid is the best option for many users, especially if they don’t need those expensive $600 devices. Boost Mobile is one of the most popular prepaid carriers in the US, offering affordable options, as well as low-priced plans that get lower with time.

The LG Venice comes right in the middle, going for only $200 off-contract and sporting performance that won’t make your experience very painful. LG has improved its game over prior years, and this LG Optimus L7 variant is no bad contender at its price point. But is it good enough to entice prepaid customers to shell out those $200 for it instead of getting another Boost Mobile device? Stick around and see!

Build Quality

If you are looking for a phone that is thin and light, this might be a great option for you. Don’t plan to take it out hiking or drop it, though, because it doesn’t exactly have the best build-quality we have seen. The device is made of plastic, with a bit of metal-looking material (that is probably plastic too) outlining the edges. The camera is surrounded by metal, though.

While the front and sides of the device are made of better-quality plastic, the battery cover definitely has a “cheaper” feeling. The battery cover itself is a bit flimsy, allowing you to feel the empty space between the battery and the cover.

Something that does stand out is the build quality of the buttons, which can sometimes be underwhelming in affordable devices. These are rather solid and offer good feedback when pressed. They don’t move around are easy to find by touch.Display

The 4.3-inch screen is one of the main downsides of the device. Colors are relatively vibrant and the display is bright, but that 480×800 resolution definitely shows a good deal of pixelation. Especially if you have used high definition devices in the past. We can’t complain much because of the price, but at 4.3 inches, at least a qHD (540×960) display is needed.

Viewing angles are good and the device is definitely operational in direct sunlight (as long as the brightness is set high). The screen is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, which protects the device against scratches and cracks very well.

Performance & Software

The LG Venice is no powerhouse: it sports a single-core 1 GHz processor and 768 MB of RAM. I can honestly say it knows how to use the little power it has, though. Android 4.0 with LG’s UI overlay runs rather smooth on this device (considering the specs). The only thing slowing it down is Sprint’s lack-lusting network, but a good WiFi connection easily fixes that.

Most Android enthusiasts will be turned away by LG’s UI. Surely, it is very different from the Vanilla Android experience, but like other UIs, it has its benefits. And there are definitely some worst-looking UIs out there.

The Venice has LG’s Optimus UI 3.0, which is the same as the high-end Optimus G’s. Of course, this little guy can’t handle all the power-hungry features the Optimus G takes advantage of, but it does support some of them. QuickMemo is the most popular one (you can check out the demo below).

One can also access notification drawer quick settings and shortcuts. Needless to say all the customization options are there: one can easily change app icons, rearrange the app drawer and more. One thing I did not like about this device’s software is that there is no way to automatically arrange app drawer icons in alphabetical order (or any order, for that matter). You either go with the stock order (which pretty much just pushes downloaded apps to the end of the list) or you manually rearrange them to your will… one by one.


Battery Life

Battery life is actually not bad at all with the LG Venice. We must remember it does not have any 4G capabilities, though, so this is to be expected. I managed to keep it alive for 9.5 hours under heavy use, while conserving battery made it last about 19.5 hours. Under casual use it would hold up for about 13-14 hours.

Camera
For a low-end device the LG Venice’s camera actually stacks up pretty high against the competition. The 5 MP rear-facing camera can take pretty smooth 720p HD videos, and still pictures are great. Though not as good as the LG Optimus G, picture quality gets pretty close to the company’s current flagship smartphone. Of course, less megapixels means the picture will be smaller.

The camera performed very well under low-light conditions (dimly-lit room), as well as in full daylight. Colors were a bit washed out, but nothing to complain about with a $200 phone.

VIA:PHANDROID

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We’ve been seeing a lot of really good high-end handsets lately (like the Galaxy Note III,Android Phones and the HTC DROID DNA).LG has been putting out some solid mid-range phones. 

Design:-

With a 4.7-inch screen, this phone is pretty big, but it still feels good in the hand. It have a 0.36 inches, and its weight of 5.1 ounces. I’m a fan of larger screens, and 4.7-inches is just about perfect for me, but the Spectrum 2 might be a little too large for those with smaller hands.The Spectrum 2 comes equipped with a 4.7-inch LCD screen displaying at a resolution of 1280×720 pixels

which means 720p HD.The Spectrum 2′s screen looks great, especially for a mid-range device.Colors are bright and visuals are sharp, and the fact that it’s HD just makes the deal that much sweeter.It includes a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5GHz running the show. Dual-core may sound a little underwhelming with so many manufacturers chasing quad-core phones these days, but the processor in the Spectrum 2 actually manages to keep things quite speedy. Swiping through home screens and menus is fluid, and apps open quickly.This processor is working with 1GB of RAM, which is enough to keep things quick, but it isn’t as good as 2GB of RAM would have been.The Spectrum 2 comes with 16GB of internal memory. 

Software:-

The Spectrum 2 comes with running Android 4.0.4, but just like the Optimus L9, it’s sort of hidden away behind LG’s Optimus UI.The Spectrum 2 comes equipped with NFC capabilities, and LG has included two NFC cards in the box with the phone. You can use these cards to make something of a custom profile for your phone, touching the card to the back of the device to switch to these pre-set configurations.It can change settings like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and  ringer, and can also choose an app to launch when you touch the NFC card to the back of your device.

Battery:-

The Spectrum 2 uses a respectable 2,150mAh battery.The battery kept the phone going for more than a day before it had to plug in, so it won’t have any problems getting a full day of juice with moderate use.If the phone is constantly running then it needs to plug in at some point throughout the day, but otherwise plugging the phone is need at night.It should be enough for day-to-day usage.It’s also worth pointing out that it can charge the Spectrum 2 wirelessly.That’s because we have to buy a wireless charging pad separately,as LG decided not to package one in with the Spectrum 2.The battery is also removable, which is always a plus.

Benchmarks:-

With the Spectrum 2 being a mid-range phone, we can’t expect it to necessarily burn up benchmarks.In Quadrant, the phone received a score of 5,432, which was enough to put it far ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Nexus, and Nexus S.The results are unsurprisingly similar in AnTuTu, where the Spectrum 2 ranked above the original Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II, but failed to top the ASUS Transformer Prime. Again, that isn’t a bad thing, as the hardware in the Spectrum 2 is powerful enough to run almost anything.There may be a few games that prove to be too graphics intensive for the Spectrum 2 to run silky smooth, but those are most likely few and far between.While we always love seeing quad-core processors, dual-core is alive and well in the Spectrum 2.

Camera:-
Equipped with an 8MP rear-facing camera, the Spectrum 2 is something of an anomaly among mid-range phones. The mid-range phones we’re used to seeing typically come with a 5MP camera, and there are even some higher-end smartphones that don’t bother going any higher than 5 megapixels.The pictures in the Spectrum 2 are perfect.In any case, if anyone wants a phone that takes some good pictures,we might have to consider the Spectrum 2.The Spectrum 2 doesn’t make any kind of shutter sound when one can take a picture.

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The Nexus 4 looks practically identical to the Galaxy Nexus.It even has the notification LED in the same place as the Galaxy Nexus.

This device uses an LCD panel.This device has a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels.This particular device was running Android 4.1.2 but it is expected the final version to run on Android 4.2.This includes 8Mp Camera.It supports a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor and 2GB of RAM.

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The NXT line gave Sony the strong start they needed after returning to the smartphone game on their own. The Japanese then focused on filling the lower ranks and, yet again, we see them look for inspiration in the old Sony Ericsson scrapbook.

The Sony Xperia tipo is right on time for the anniversary of the Xperia mini's launch. The little droid by Sony Ericsson is still a reasonably popular choice for bargain-hunters. But it's time it stepped down and made room for the new generation.

The Xperia tipo is also doing fairly well in terms of software. While some of the first Sony smartphones had to wait a fair while to upgrade from Gingerbread, the tipo launches on ICS. Attractive design and a modern OS are the key features of this entry-level Android smartphone with modest specs and an affordable price tag.

It includes many features such as Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band UMTS support,7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA.It have 3.2" 16M-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of HVGA resolution (320 x 480).It works on Android OS v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and 800 MHz Cortex-A5 CPU, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7225AA chipset.It has 512 MB of RAM,2.5GB of internal storage,also has microSD slot (32GB supported),3.15 MP fixed-focus camera, geotagging.It supports Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot,GPS with A-GPS,Accelerometer and proximity sensor,Standard 3.5 mm audio jack.It supports Stereo FM radio with RDS,microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1 and accessible battery, Li-Ion 1500 mAh.

It also have disadvantages such as Fixed-focus camera, No LED flash,Mediocre screen quality,No front camera,Non-hot-swappable microSD slot,Loudspeaker performance is so-so,No DivX/XviD support.

The Sony Xperia tipo is a bit underpowered compared to its Sony Ericsson predecessor - the CPU and the graphics chip are expected to be slightly less capable than the Scorpion/Adreno 205 combo inside the Xperia mini.

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LG has shown a serious commitment to pushing the limits of Android hardware. The first dual-core droid was manufactured by the Koreans and, while they showed up late to the quad-core party, they're back with a bang with the Optimus G - the first phone to employ the Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset.

LG is the first to bring an S4 Pro-powered smartphone to the market

The LG Optimus G E973 puts another first on its resume - it's LG's first phone with a 13MP camera.

The screen boasts some impressive credentials as well. The 4.7" True HD IPS Plus screen of WXGA resolution (768 x 1280) has Zerogap touch technology.The screen bezel is kept to a minimum too.

It has 2G/3G/LTE,Touchscreen bar phone.It has a dimensions of 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.45mm and weighs 145 g.It displays 4.7" WXGA True HD IPS Plus (768 x 1280 pixels) capacitive touchscreen, Gorilla Glass,Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro,Quad-core Krait 1.5 GHz processor,Adreno 320.It have 2GB RAM and internal storage of 32GB.It works on Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich).It includes 8/13 megapixel auto-focus camera with Time catch shot, smart shutter and cheese shutter; 1.3MP front facing camera,supports video camera with Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps, LED flash,It have a Connectivity of Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL support (TV Out, USB host), A-GPS receiver, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC and a Battery of Li-Po, 2100 mAh.It displays Optimus UI, Dual Screen Dual Play, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, gyroscope sensor, Q Slide Function.

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Ematic a California-based company release a number of decent budget-friendly Android tablets in the past, but the company still seems unable to break the barriers of anonymity and become a mainstream player.

The last Ematic gadget was the eGlide Pro X 9.7-incher, a tab running Android 4.0 and featuring HDMI output,it has a resolution of 800 x 480 pix display.

The EXP8 is marketed as a “value tablet”, but, at $179.99 it’s starting to look not that cheap, considering the direction the market is heading. Still, this is a 9.7-inch tab, and not a 7-incher like the Google Nexus 7.

The IPS capacitive multi-touch screen comes with a 1024 x 768 pixels resolution, which is not exactly the standard for 10-inchers these days, but it is still a significant evolution over the eGlide Pro X.

The EXP8 is powered by a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor. The rest of the features are not that bad and include 1 GB of RAM, a 400 Mhz GPU, 8 GB of internal memory, 5 GB of free cloud storage, microSD support, HDMI, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, dual cameras, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

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The Samsung Galaxy S III typically suffers from shorter battery life compared to the iPhone, but an extended battery like the Seidio Innocell Extended Life Battery can solve the problem for a decent price and without adding too much bulk or weight to the handset.

The Seidio Innocell Extended Life Battery with a 3500mAh capacity in my Samsung Galaxy S III over about a week’s time repeatedly draining it and recharging it to test the life of the battery.It comes with a black replacement door featuring Seidio's signature soft touch coating.It have a Capacity of 3800 mAh.It is Compatible with our SURFACE Extended and SURFACE Extended Combo



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Sony has been investing heavily in its CMOS production facilities, spurred by the huge demand for imaging sensors for mobile devices. Apparently, the billion dollars that the Japanese have been pouring into their Nagasaki factory hasn’t been enough to ramp up production to satisfy the high demand for its new 13MP CMOS image sensors.

Samsung had initially planned to fit the newly launched Galaxy Note 2 with a 13MP image sensor supplied by Sony.The Galaxy Note 2 is fitted with “just” an 8MP camera, identical with the one in Samsung’s other flagship, the Galaxy S3.

Sony has been unable to satisfy the demand for 13MP sensors, which forced Sammy to settle on the safer 8MP solution.

That didn’t stop the other large phone maker in Korea, LG, from securing an order of 13MP sensors for its upcoming Optimus G.

LG estimates that it will sell a relatively small number of its Optimus G flagship – about 1 million according to an analyst quoted by DDaily. Samsung on the other hand, expects to push between 5 million and 10 million Galaxy Note 2, a figure that is perfectly feasible considering the success of the Galaxy S3 and the original Galaxy Note.

Most likely, Sony is simply unable to produce that many 13MP sensors right now. I expect however to see the new sensors integrated in Samsung next-generation devices, the Galaxy S4 and the Note 3.

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INTRODUCTION

The QWERTY is dying. Once considered a must-have feature on any top-tier smartphone, the QWERTY is beginning to fall by the wayside as touchscreen technology and keyboard software quickly advance. With the original DROID line moving towards mid-range, even Motorola opted for all touch devices on last year’s flagship devices in the Photon, the RAZR and the Atrix. They may have stuck with thin for the follow-up Atrix HD and the rumored forthcoming RAZR HD, but the sequel to the Photon has broken that trend and the Photon Q 4G LTE aims to offer one of the best QWERTY experience this side of Waterloo. Featuring laser-cut keys, individual LED backlighting and a full five rows, the Photon Q certainly makes a strong case for this fading piece of technology. Of course, a healthy feature set such as Android 4.0, 1.5GHz dual core processor, 4.3” ColorBoost display and an 8-megapixel camera don’t hurt the Photon Q’s case either. Read on to find out how the Photon Q compares to its all touch competition.




DESIGN

At first glance the Photon Q 4G LTE does not stray far from the original Photon design, retaining the same color scheme, screen size and funky corner design. Unfortunately Motorola did not carry over the kickstand to this new Photon, but that was likely at the expense of the Photon Q’s physical keyboard. Despite that, size is nearly identical too, with the Photon Q coming in just 1.5mm thicker and half an ounce heavier than the Photon.




Sliding open the Photon Q reveals the large, 5-row QWERTY keypad. It is wonderfully constructed with adequate room between the keys, good tactile feedback and a natural layout. The laser-cut keys are each outlined with white LED backlighting that really pops even in bright light. There are plenty of extra keys, including directional arrows and a tab key. It may not be as good as the BlackBerry Bold, but the Photon Q’s keyboard is very good and is quite pleasant to type on.




Around the phone you’ll find the requisite physical buttons, including a camera shutter. They are styled like the original Photon and offer good travel. Next to the microUSB port is a microHDMI port, which seems a bit outdated in this day and age of MHL. The back has a soft-touch trim and a textured coating, making the Photon Q comfortable to hold.




Two big disappointments with the phone is the fixed nonremovable battery and SIM card. We knocked the EVO 4G LTE for its fixed battery, but at least the EVO is super slim and the battery rated at a healthy 2000mAh. The Photon Q is far from thin and only has a 1785mAh battery. The fixed SIM means that while the Photon Q is a global device, it can only be used on Sprint’s terms. This means paying high international roaming rates versus popping in a local pre-paid SIM.




We’ve come to expect a high build quality from Motorola and the Photon Q does not disappoint. The phone feels very solid in the hand, and the spring-assisted slider mechanism glides smoothly while offering good initial resistance. There is a slight amount of wiggle at the top when the slide is closed, but not enough to worry us. All-in-all Motorola has done a good job refreshing the Photon design with the slide form factor, though we would have preferred a higher resolution display.


DISPLAY

When the Photon was launched, its 4.3” qHD display was top of the line. Unfortunately the same cannot be said today, and with the 4.7” HTC EVO 4G LTE and 4.8” Samsung Galaxy S III both sporting 720p HD displays in Sprint’s lineup the Photon Q’s display is a bit behind. The 256ppi though not into the 300+ range like the HTC and Samsung is still pretty good.




Like the Atrix HD, the Photon Q’s display features ColorBoost technology which promises to make colors more bright and vibrant. Motorola claims ColorBoost offers the color saturation of an OLED with the performance and efficiency of LCD. However they go about it, we will say that in spite of the lower resolution the screen is still very good, plenty bright and colors do indeed pop.

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Motorola is rarely a slouch when it comes to mobile devices. Whether it’s phones or Bluetooths, they typically try to innovate and think outside the box a little, even if those gambles don’t always succeed. The big M (now officially part of the big G) was gracious enough to ship us a review unit of the Motorola Atrix HD, a new handset on AT&T’s network with a good price at $99 on contract, some nifty features, and some nice specs:

4.5″ HD (720 x 1080) Gorilla Glass screen with ColorBoost

1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960

1 GB RAM/8 GB ROM/internal memory with a 32 GB supporting microSD slot

1780 mAh battery

8 MP main camera/1.3 MP front

LTE

How does it stand up against other offerings? Read on to find out!




Hardware




The Atrix HD feels excellent in hand. It strikes the perfect balance between solidity and lightness, while the Kevlar backing and sticky stripe around the sides offer a great feeling of grip. The microSD and SIM slots are stored away behind a plastic flap near the bottom of the left side that does a decent job of blending into the body. The particular pearl white color model that Motorola sent us looks awesome, with the dark grey of the Kevlar and side-stripping contrasting beautifully with the white. The speaker is also plenty loud and clear, for ringers, music, and speakerphone. Motorola also put a coating on the exterior and interior of the device that, according to Motorola,




If there was an oddity, it was the positioning of the volume and power keys all on the right hand side.




This is great for a left-handed person, as they’d have easy access to multiple buttons with multiple fingers, making controls and screenshots easier. A right handed person would have to use their singular, lonely thumb. Either doing it Samsung style (with the power on the right and the volume on the left) or like everyone else (with the power on top) seem like better choices. Not a showstopper by any stretch, but a definite odd choice in design.




Screen




Moving onto the screen, I’ll just say it’s gorgeous and the touchscreen is quite responsive. Colors pop very well and there’s plenty of detail. Pictures and video both looked fantastic, with pixelation being absolutely zero. The only downside is that it was almost impossible to see in direct sunlight even at the highest brightness setting, which is a definite bummer if you plan on using your phone outdoors at all.




Camera

I’ll start the camera portion on a positive note: I was impressed with how clear the front camera was. It handles tricky lighting situations well and without the grainy textures you get from many front-facers. It’ll be great for those that video chat on a consistent basis or like to take vanity shots.




The main camera, by comparison was…unimpressive. In pictures, shadows stayed dark, shadowey and ambiguous, while whites were overbearingly bright, washing out all of the nearby colors, particularly in less than ideal lighting situations. And “less than ideal” covers quite a bit on the Atrix HD camera. Really, the only place where the camera fares well is outdoors in the light. Indoors, or even in the shade outdoors, the camera just doesn’t deliver. Video recorded smoothly, but with the same lighting and color issues as still shots. It’s possible that it’s simply software that isn’t optimizing pictures properly, and if they fix it later with an update, fantastic. For now though, that’s not the case. If you’re a big photo bug, I’d recommend a different choice in device with a better shooter.




Software

Motorola has shipped the device with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) on board, the norm these days, with their own UI elements plastered on top.




Before we get into the UI itself, I feel obliged to say that it’s refreshing to see on-screen navigation buttons on a non-stock Android device. I like the look of them, and in my experience, the on-screen buttons tend to be a bit more responsive than capacitive or hard-style variants. Plus, for those that do the rooting thing like myself, on-screen nav buttons are yet one more thing that you can customize and make your own. I’m a fan.




While some of the on-board applications (Calendar, Browser, Gallery, and Google applications) and software elements are basically just stock Android or stock with a slight skin, Motorola and AT&T have added their bits of customization. Some of these are useful and some of these are useless fluff.










This especially applies to the non-removable AT&T crap that the carrier has decided to burden the user’s device with: AT&T Code Scanner, AT&T Family Map, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Ready2Go, AT&T Smart Wi-Fi, and LiveTV. Granted, some of these apps may be useful for certain customers, but the option to uninstall would be a nice friendly gesture by the carrier. Many of Motorola’s extra apps (excluding Smart Actions, more on this later) by comparison are completely uninstallable. Nice.




Motorola left their mark on the general UI of the software in a few distinct areas. First would be the lockscreen. While Google limits the shortcuts of the stock Android lockscreen to general unlocking and camera, Motorola has given the user four options: Camera, Phone, Messaging, and then the general unlock. There’s also a quick toggle for turning silent/vibrate on and off. All in all, Motorola did a good job here of adding some great features but keeping the Android 4.0 feel.




Launcher

The replacement launcher that Motorola used works well for the most part. Down at the bottom you have four replaceable app shortcuts with the button for the app drawer in the middle, like stock Ice Cream Sandwich. The four stock buttons do offer a quick feature that’s actually convenient and useful by showing relevant information if you slide up on the icon; for instance, if you slide up on the phone icon, it shows recent calls.













The launcher starts off with one screen. Swiping over to go to the right automatically opens up a new launcher page creation screen, giving you the option to choose to create a completely blank launcher page or select one of several pre-created pages. This is a good option for those that are less tech savvy or just jumping into Android for the first time, and it was a good thought of Motorola.




Where it gets odd for the launcher is that the default home page is the one on the far left. And that’s all it can be. Period. There’s no way to change which launcher page is your home screen. When it comes down to it, this is just inefficient. If I have five pages, that’s four pages I have to swipe through to get to the last page. Personally, I would prefer the center page as the home, in the middle of the action as it were, though regardless of preference, giving the user the choice (like the TouchWiz and Sense launchers) is the best policy. Now, you can double tap the home button which will bring up all of your screens and from there you can select which one you want to bring up…but for most users this isn’t natural. Again, like the power and volume buttons placement, this is more odd design choice than deal breaker. And heck, if it’s that big a deal for you, download a third party launcher.







Speaking of third party launchers…I’m going to go on a rant here about the stock Motorola keyboard (and manufacturer soft keyboard replacements in general). Guys, Android’s stock keyboard for ice cream sandwich is pretty darn fantastic. It offers excellent error correction, runs fast and smooth, and gives users a wide range of customization options. Why would you replace this keyboard with an inferior one only to theme it to look exactly like the stock Android keyboard? If you’re wanting to use a keyboard that has added features or want to theme it to better match your UI, that’s one thing, but this replacement makes no sense. The main thing that got me, beyond correction accuracy, was that it doesn’t automatically correct contractions, something that should be a given nowadays. For me, this was solved by downloading the stellar SwiftKey 3.




Beyond the couple of problems listed above, the software worked mostly very well, moving quickly under the power of the powerful processor beneath the hood.




Connectivity/Battery life




My signal with AT&T was hit and miss. At home and when I went to visit my folks in Dallas, my signal was excellent as were my data speeds. AT&T’s LTE data speed can definitely cook, with my peak speed being over 45 MB/s down and over 21 MB/s up. Where I work in San Antonio, however was a black hole of death where calls and texts would barely go through, though this is just a trouble spot for AT&T. When I got signal though, callers were clear and said the same of me. The dual-microphone setup also did a good job with basic noise cancellation in light wind and decent background noise.




Battery life was also hit and miss. The idle time was pretty good, hitting almost 3 days if I just left it alone. Heavy to moderate use though was another story. In these situations, I was typically needing a charger just after lunch time. Given the huge battery that was squeezed into the still svelte Droid Razr Maxx, the 1780 mAh power pusher in the Atrix HD seems tiny. Given a bigger battery, I’m sure battery life would be a lot more impressive.




Conclusion

The Atrix HD is definitely a good deal for the money if you’re on AT&T. It does very well as a phone in clarity and reception (at least where AT&T is concerned), and really that’s what a phone is for. Beyond that, it hits the spot in build-quality, with only a few real nitpicks. The same goes for the software, most of which can be corrected with third-party downloads. Battery life is also questionable, but for those that don’t stay on their phones all day like I do, this may not be a concern. The only area that the Atrix HD really fails is the camera, and because of this there’s a decent segment of people (those that use their camera as their primary point-and-shoot) that I just couldn’t recommend this for. If this is something that Motorola can fix with a firmware update and end up doing so, I would definitely recommend this phone.

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The EISA (European Imaging Sound Association) has revealed its mobile device award winners for 2012-13, and two leading Android manufacturers have found themselves among the winners. Samsung’s Galaxy S III (Galaxy S3) won best mobile device, an unsurprising win given the hype surrounding that device, andthe quality Samsung’s been able to bring across the board. Elsewhere, HTC has been honored by the EISA for the second year running, with the HTC One S winning the “Social Media Phone of 2012-13” award, the company has announced. The accolade was awarded to HTC’s keyboard-toting Facebook phone, the ChaCha, in 2011.

The EISA is group made up of representatives of multimedia magazines from 19 European countries. Each year they honor the best products in certain categories with their annual awards. Another of this year’s notable mobile winner was Nokia, with its PureView Pro imaging technology (Best Mobile Photo Achievement).

HTC was the first Android manufacturer to integrate direct social media functionality in its HTC Sense software, something it’s continued in phones like the HTC One S, powered by the latest Sense 4.x. We’re also imagine the One S’s sleek design and exemplary build quality played some part in the phone’s victory in this category. As we noted in our full review back in April, the One S’s thin aluminum chassis means it looks great and fits easily in the hand.

Samsung, on the other hand, has already convinced millions of consumers that its Galaxy S3is the best phone on the market, as it’s sold more than 10 million of the devices worldwide. As we said in our review of the device back in May, the S3 represents a near-ideal balance of hardware, build quality, aesthetics and battery life.

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T-Mobile USA has closed call centers and cut jobs to reduce costs after a $39 billion sale to AT&T Inc. (T) failed last year because regulators opposed the combination.Wireless operators in North America and Europe are struggling to find new sources of growth as the popularity of smartphones reaches a plateau and network costs rise to meet demand for mobile video and music.

With U.S. carriers struggling to accommodate surging data use in big cities, most potential buyers “would find T-Mobile’s spectrum far more compelling than its customer base,” said Atlantic Equities’ Watts.

Trujillo, 60, has run telecommunications businesses on three continents, getting his start at AT&T Corp., then known as Ma Bell, before its 1984 breakup. He eventually became chief executive officer of U.S. West, one of the seven Bell operating companies, and later ran French mobile operator Orange for a year.

After Orange’s takeover by France Telecom SA (FTE), Trujillo in 2005 became the CEO of Melbourne-based carrier Telstra, from which he resigned in 2009 after a tenure marked by clashes with the Australian government over telecommunications regulation

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Motorola has made a number of successful Bluetooth headphones. The S9 model and its successor, the S9-HD both insert into the ears with a band that wraps behind the head.The S7 model has a slightly different design with only a wire going behind the head and the earpieces hooking over the ear. 

Motorola’s S305 are my next target and is something of a cross between the two form factors. Featuring an over-the-ear design combined with the wrap-around style, the S305 combines some of the best features in each of Motorola’s other model.Its dimensions are 8.75inches, 2.5 inches, 5.3 inches.

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With Apple undoubtedly heading the charts in and around the $500 price bracket, there is plenty of room for manufacturers to play below that mark. As the netbook market showed years ago, if you can make something cheap, people will buy it, regardless of whether it’s any good or not.




So, with that business model firmly in mind, Amazon set about undercutting Apple’s iPad, and with the Kindle Fire, the online retailer changed the game. We’d seen plenty of cheap Android tablets before, yes, but this was the first time one was any good.




Now Google is doing what it tends to do with Android, and by releasing a Nexus device manufactured by ASUS into the market, the search giant will be hoping to set a new bar that the competition will need to work towards. The Nexus 7 is a new, 7-inch tablet that hopes to take the Kindle Fire head on whilst showcasing the very latest in Android – Jelly Bean 4.1.




In order to really understand the Nexus 7, we wanted to spend some time with one. We wanted to see whether that 7-inch form factor was large enough to be usable without being stuck in no man’s land between a large smartphone and an iPad. Is the 7-inch tablet filling a gap that doesn’t need to be filled?




Hardware




The first thing you notice when you get your hands on the Nexus 7 is its size. Around the size of a paperback book, the Nexus 7 feels great in the hand. Any concerns about the tablet being too small may be justified for some, but for us, this size tablet may actually be preferable to the larger, 9.7-inch tablet. Yes, you sacrifice some screen space, but you make up for that in portability and ergonomics. The Nexus 7 feels great in the hand.




The hardware itself is pretty standard fare. Up front there is that 7-inch, 1280×800 display. It’s a nice screen, and we had no complaints with black levels or contrast, and certainly never felt the screen suffered because of the low price point. Movies looked great, as did games like Dead Trigger. No complaints here




The face of the Nexus 7 is button-free thanks to Android’s newfound hatred of hardware buttons. On the right side of the device you’ll find the sleep/wake button and the usual volume toggle. That’s your lot as far as buttons go.




Camera-wise, we have a 1.2 megapixel camera on the front, with no camera on the rear. We don’t really mind the lack of a rear camera, though we are sure some will. We’ve never been ones for taking photos or videos with a tablet, but that doesn’t mean people won’t lament the lack of the option, either.




The Nexus 7 also features NFC technology, allowing the use of NFC tags for all sorts of magic as well as Google Wallet. Android Beam also uses the NFC chip, making the sharing of files and photos as easy as possible.




The rear of the device is made of a kind of rubbery plastic. That may sound ‘cheap’ but, oddly enough, adds a feeling of quality to the tablet while also making it less slippery in the hand. We like it, even though we didn’t expect to!




Software




Google’s Nexus 7 is the first device to ship with the new Jelly Bean version of Android. Version 4.1, Jelly Bean brings the base of Ice Cream Sandwich and adds some more polish, while seeking to make the Android experience as buttery smooth as possible.




‘Buttery smooth’ is probably a very apt description, too. Google’s Project Butter is perhaps the most important addition to Android this time around. Apart from the mildly comical name, Project Butter is actually rather important.




Google is apparently well aware that the experience of using Android can sometimes be a little lacking in polish. With quad-core phones and gigabytes of memory the norm, many phone still find they cannot compete with the iPhone when it comes to slick visuals and animations. Google knows that iOS has the edge in the appearance of speed, and Project Butter aims to fix that.




We’ll be covering Jelly Bean in all its glory in another, dedicated post, so watch out for that coming in the next day or so. With the Nexus 7 offering the purest of pure Android experiences, what you see in Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, is what you get on the Nexus 7.




What we will say is this; the Nexus 7 is blessed with the best version of Android yet.




Battery Life and Performance




Inside the Nexus 7, ASUS and Google went for a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU with 1GB of memory. Coupled with that buttery smooth Jelly Bean experience, the powerful hardware inside the Nexus 7 means the tablet is responsive when switching between apps and playing high-end games. Multitasking is handled quickly and smoothly, and animations are flawless. At no point did we wish for more speed when using the Nexus 7, which is an impressive feat for the under $200 tablet. The Nexus 7 packs plenty of punch, and is a pleasure to use.




You’ll be able to use it for a good long time, too, because the battery life we experienced with the Nexus 7 was excellent. Google claims the Nexus 7 will sit in standby for 300 hours, while 10 hours of web browsing can be expected according to the specifications on Google’s website. We’ve no reason to disbelieve these numbers, and the Nexus 7 rarely needed charging in our tests. Playing power hungry games will always drain lots of power, though, so that battery life will obviously very much depend on how you use the Nexus 7.







Issues







With that out of the way, on to the elephant in the room. The build quality.




Google chose to enlist the services of ASUS to bring the Nexus 7 to market. Unfortunately, that decision appears to have left buyers with more issues than it really should.




A cursory glance at any tablet forum will show that there are one or two real issues that seem to be cropping up now that the Nexus 7 production has ramped up, and thousands of people are getting their hands on the device. The Redmond Pie Nexus 7 is not free of issues, either.




The most obvious issue relates to the screen, and how it is fitted to the Nexus 7′s body. Some buyers, and by some we mean lots of them, are reporting that the screen does not sit flushed with the tablet’s bezel, particularly on the left hand side. While that may be some overzealous people finding issues that are not there, it seems that ill-fitting bezels are just the beginning.




Again, on the left side, many screens are simply loose. Pushing down on the edge of our unit, for example, has the entire screen move inwards. The movement is accompanied with a click, which doesn’t sound great the first time you do it, and immediately has you wondering whether you just cracked your new toy’s screen. Luckily that’s not the case.




According to the various forums across the internet, removing the back of the Nexus 7 reveals a piece of foam on that left hand side that appears to push the screen outwards. When you push the screen like we mentioned earlier, that foam gets compressed. We are told that removing that foam can fix the issue, which makes us wonder why it is there in the first place, and what risk is being created by removing it. Still, if it works, it works.




We have also heard reports of screens that appear ‘washed out’ and lack color, as well as devices shipping with speakers that do not work. Admittedly, all tablets, smartphones and indeed any electronic equipment will have faults when manufactured on this kind of scale, but when the same issues crop up repeatedly for different people, then it’s worth mentioning.




Of course, the answer to any of these issues is to send the tablet back for a replacement, but we’ve heard of people going through half a dozen devices, all with the same issue, particularly the loose screen problem. Not great news at all.




Wrap-up




When all is said and done, the Nexus 7 is a $200 tablet. It is undeniably one of the best budget tablets on the market right now, especially when Jelly Bean is taken into account. It’s fast, looks great and comes in at the right price.




We can’t help but be put off by the potential issues, though, and if you can be sure to avoid them then the Nexus 7 is a very capable tablet. If you can forgive some manufacturing foibles on a $200 tablet then you’re going to be very happy with the Nexus 7. Unfortunately, poor quality control lets the device down in our eyes, which is a real shame.




Screen issues aside, though, and the Nexus 7 is a great little tablet.

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The Alcatel OT-995 doesn’t come from the well established names in the industry like say Samsung, but you might be surprised that the French company Alcatel has been around for quite a while and definitely has the experience to make a respectable device. 

The Alcatel One Touch 995 Ultra won’t surprise anyone with its appearance. It looks and feels like just another smartphone from China - your typical plastic slab with rounded corners; it screams “ordinary” with every detail. It’s not too thick at 0.39 inches (9.8mm), nor too heavy at 4.37 ounces, or 124 grams. It lays in the hand with a nice weight, though, and is comfortable to hold with the clean soft touch plastic back. Also, the back cover is practical - the soft touch plastic won’t catch smudges. If we had to sum it up in a few words, those would be solid build and dull looks, utilitarian.

The front side, all encircled with plastic siding doesn’t impress. The device comes with the four standard capacitive buttons for Gingerbread. An issue we had is the buttons are lit unevenly, as if the designers didn't have the time to finalize the device.

The biggest highlight of the One Touch 995 Ultra is the 4.3-inch WVGA LCD capacitive display. That resolution is definitely a great asset for the price and we were pleased with the brightness and quality of the display. As on most LCD displays, whites look impressive, contrast is good and blacks look a bit on the gray side. Viewing angles are also decent with colors getting washed out slightly only at extreme angles.

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The new Acer Iconia Tab A700 is an NVIDIA-powered slate with a super-charged screen.This device is all about the display, and we're talking 1920 x 1200 pixels on a 10.1-inch panel. And until ASUS' Transformer Pad Infinity goes on sale next month, this is the only Android tab with that resolution you can get your hands on.

At the risk of spoiling our whole review, bright colors and a high resolution make navigating Acer's branded build of Ice Cream Sandwich a treat, and its quad-core Tegra 3 insides make the tablet more than just a pretty face. But the WiFi-only Tab A700, retailing for $450, is not the only good ICS option around -- and it's not the most budget-friendly, either. Let's take a closer look to see if its considerable advantages make it worth swiping that plastic.Acer isn't throwing any design curveballs here: the A700 looks very similar to the Iconia Tab A510, with sharp corners and a smooth, textured back. Our review unit was silver, though the tablet is also available in black. 

At 1.47 pounds and 0.43 inches thick, it's not the lightest or thinnest option around, though Acer isn't exactly known for churning out ultra-slim tablets (the 0.43-inch-thick A510 and the 0.49-inch A200 stand as evidence). Still, the A700 feels great in our hands, and that extra bit of thickness lends the device a solid, reassuring grip. Given its girth, though, we would have expected to see a stronger showing of ports on board. While there is a micro-HDMI connector, for example, there's only a microSD card slot to augment the 32GB of internal storage. We guess we've been spoiled by devices like the Toshiba Excite 10, which measures 0.35 inches thick and still packs a full-size SD card reader. Starting on the top edge, there's a volume rocker along with the screen lock.

 The right side hosts a micro-HDMI port and that microSD reader. On the bottom you'll find two stereo speakers along with the microUSB port / power connector. Finally, the left side hosts the power button and a 3.5mm headphone jack.The main attraction, of course, is the 1920 x 1200, LED-backlit display with a pixel density of 224 ppi, which puts most other Android tablets to shame. With the default background showing trees and grass in a rich shade of green, the A700's level of detail is outstanding. We'll steer clear of naming that other tablet with a 2048 x 1536 screen, but that and ASUS' Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 are about the only competitors we can think of when it comes to the Iconia Tab A700's stunning visuals. 

Speaking of which, we have to temper our praise for the A700's display by noting that the similarly priced ($499) Infinity TF700 has an IPS panel, whereas the A700 has a standard LCD. And, unlike Acer's tablet, the TF700 is viewable in direct sunlight, thanks to a staggering brightness rating of 600 nits.Along with that high-res screen, Acer includes Dolby Mobile 3 and 5.1-channel surround sound to enhance the entertainment experience. Audio, be it dialogue in shows streamed from Netflix or instrumentals in songs, is clear and undistorted. At max volume, the A700's sound is loud enough to fill a small room. Without headphones, you'll detect a bit of tinniness, but with headphones, sound is crisp and rich.

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Samsung makes the best Android phones.Samsung launches its new flagship "Galaxy" phone every year.Samsung Galaxy S III is the third-generation of Samsung's popular Android line.This phone is huge. Its 4.8-inch screen is a broad canvas for photos, movies, maps and Web pages.

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Sony has now started rolling out the Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich update. The update brings with it the usual Android 4.0 features such as a new lockscreen, homescreen folders, new Gallery app, improved multitasking, improved web browser, built-in screenshot facility, etc.The update also adds new panoramic photography capability, web browser enhancements, and quick access to the camera from the lock scree

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