Samsung Galaxy Ace Hugo Boss edition (luxury gadgets)

 Samsung Galaxy Ace Hugo Boss edition

Samsung has renewed its partnership with fashion brand Hugo Boss – first seen in the Samsung F480 – with the launch of a new Hugo Boss Samsung Galaxy Ace.
The phone features an overall matter black finish and the back of the device features a specially treated and textured pattern.
The user interface has been customised and the device features special edition wallpapers and screensavers along with the whole altered look of the user interface.
Galaxy Ace Hugo Boss edition features a 3.5 inch 320 x 480 pixel display. The phone also features a 5 megapixel rear camera.
It has 160 MB of internal memory and comes loaded with a 2 GB storage card (it can support up to 32 GB). It provides up to 5 hours of talktime with the standard battery.
So far the Hugo Boss Samsung Galaxy Ace has only been confirmed as launching in France and will carry an expected price tag of approximately 300 Euros.

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HTC HD2/Review

Official Site: www.HTC.com Company: HTC Corporation
Specs: 4.3” capacitive WVGA (800x480) touchscreen; 1GHZ Snapdragon CPU; 512 ROM; 448 RAM; 5MP camera; Wi-Fi; Bluetooh 2.1; Windows Mobile 6.5

Touted as the best phone on the market currently running Windows Mobile 6.5, the HTC HD2 is a surprisingly attractive handset thanks largely to its unique blend of cutting-edge mobile hardware and customized software. In particular, HTC’s newly created Sense UI, which operates on top of Windows Mobile, should attract men looking for a more individualistic and straightforward approach to phone navigation. All bells and whistles aside, it’s still hard to recommend this device over competing smartphones from heavy hitters such as Apple, Motorola, RIM, and Nokia, or even non-Windows Mobile HTC handsets for that matter.
This is because even with the valiant effort on the part of HTC to push limits with the HD2, no amount of face paint or engine work can fully mask the inherent usability frustrations Microsoft has still yet to address in its Windows mobile platform. However, if you are dead-set on standing out from the pack of BlackBerry, iPhone and DROID owners out there, this may be your best bet.

In terms of specs, it’s hard not to be impressed with what the HTC HD2 packs under the hood. Powered by a lightning-quick 1GHZ Snapdragon CPU and 448MB of RAM, it has more than enough processing power to make HTC’s flowing Sense UI work in buttery smooth fashion. Other additional niceties thrown in the mix include: an auto-focusing 5-megapixel video/still camera with dual LED flash, GPS, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, and a variety of sensors to detect everything from the ambient light around the phone to its proximity to your head.
Despite these conveniences, the HTC HD2’s biggest attraction by far on the hardware side is its beautiful 4.3-inch, 800 x 480, capacitive WVGA touchscreen display. Thanks to its high resolution and deep color contrast, small text and images are clearly visible, making it very easy on the eyes even in relatively bright sunlight.
That’s good news considering HD2’s new Sense UI is quite a visually appealing take on Windows Mobile 6.5. In fact it’s such an overall aesthetic improvement on the operating system that many casually picking up the phone may not realize it is indeed still a Windows Mobile-powered device. Sense is far beyond just an attractive reskinning though. On the contrary, a significant amount of work was put in by the HTC team to integrate, revamp and even rip out applications or functionality deemed unnecessary. For instance, the home screen view has ingeniously been combined to not only feature the normal combination of a clock, calendar and application launcher, but also show off the local weather in a unique animated fashion that provides serious wow factor.

Looking at the device on paper from a pure specs point of view, it’s no question that the HTC HD2 is indeed a significant upgrade from previous Windows Mobile powered phones. Combined with the hard usability work conducted by HTC in its Sense UI, light hands-on use of the phone might even convince casual shoppers that it deserves similar accolades to those given to handsets like the DROID and G2. The reality is, however, that Windows Mobile does not have access to the plethora of unique apps being churned out for other mobile operating systems like Android or the iPhone OS. Nor does it exhibit the same crash reliability. In that light, it’s difficult to give the HTC HD2 the nod over other handsets in the next generation of high-performance smartphones. However, considering pricing and carriers have yet to be officially announced or its arrival in the U.S., there is a chance that competitive pricing could enhance its standing in our eyes.

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Luxury Gadgets/Vertu Constellation Quest Carbon Fibre Luxury Phone

Vertu Constellation Quest Carbon Fibre 18-Karat Gold

Vertu has launched two new luxury mobile phone from Constellation Quest series, inspired from the world of racing cars and aircraft design. It runs on Symbian and will come in two versions: one in polished stainless steel and one in 18 carat gold.
Interior is the use of valuable materials and a physical QWERTY keyboard for those who do not like the touchscreen. It comes with amazing slim look and design. The navigation key is finished in polished black PVD, as well as the arrow key, the flash and lens, which characterize the essential design of the model is perfectly placed in the family tradition. It also come with a hotline to its Lifestyle Services concierge.

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BlackBerry Torch 9850 /Review

Starting at: $199.99

The good: The RIM BlackBerry Torch 9850's svelte design and sharp screen give it consumer-level appeal. Features like 720p HD video capture, world phone capabilities, and an enhanced operating system are welcome. Call quality is good as well.

The bad: The Torch 9850 suffers from the occasional sluggishness, and there are times when the touch screen isn't as responsive as we would like.

The bottom line: The RIM BlackBerry Torch 9850 for Verizon Wireless is a laudable midrange smartphone, but it faces stiff competition

RIM is once again making the rounds with its latest line of BlackBerry smartphones, with the Torch 9850 heading to Verizon Wireless after its initial launch with Sprint. The BlackBerry Torch 9850 marked a milestone for BlackBerry as the first-ever full touch-screen handset after the rather embarrassing mistakes of the Storm and the Storm 2. And we have to say, RIM made a decent effort here. The 3.7-inch display is sharp, and the 1.2GHz processor does a good job at improving overall performance. The Torch 9850 also ships with OS 7, which brings a number of under-the-hood enhancements like 720p HD video capture, voice-activated search, HTML 5 support, and more. The Torch 9850 is also a dual-mode CDMA/GSM phone, which makes it fit for globe-trotters.

As the Torch 9850 for Verizon Wireless has the same design and features as the one for Sprint, we'll focus more on slight software and performance differences that the Verizon version offers.

Software

One of the main differences between the Sprint and Verizon Wireless versions of the Torch 9850 is the bundled software. As you might expect, the Verizon version of the phone comes preinstalled with Verizon apps and services. They include VZ Navigator, Backup Assistant, V Cast Music, V Cast Videos, V Cast Song ID, VZWTones, and Bing search. Many of these can't be uninstalled. Aside from these apps, the rest of the phone's software is the same as the Torch 9850 for Sprint and other OS 7 handsets.

Performance

Clear call quality  although  a tiny bit of static is encountered occasionally. Otherwise, callers had plenty of volume and sounded quite natural.  Callers reported similar call quality, though  voice quality was not quite as natural and rich as that of a regular landline call. They could still tell we were on a cell phone due to slight distortions. On the whole, call quality was quite impressive. Speakerphone calls sounded good too, though it did have heavy echo effect at times.

The Torch 9850's battery has a rated talk time of up to 6.8 hours and a rated standby time of up to 13.4 days. According to FCC radiation tests, the Torch 9850 has a digital SAR of 0.9 watt per kilogram.

Conclusion

RIM finally made a full touch-screen phone that works. It makes for a great midrange handset with good multimedia features and performance. We welcome the speedy boost that the new processor provides as well as the new camera and browser technologies. Yet, it doesn't quite compete with the big leagues with its lack of a front-facing camera, no 4G support, and no dual-core processor. That's forgivable since this is a midrange device, but Verizon has priced this phone as if it were a premium product at $199.99 with a two-year contract. We do think the BlackBerry Torch 9850 represents one of RIM's better efforts to capture the non-RIM crowd, but we feel it needs to be more aggressive with pricing to really do so.

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Luxury Gadgets/Limited Edition Porsche Design P’9522 Gold Phone

Porsche Design has never failed to turn heads with its range of luxury accessories. This time, the German luxury brand has rolled out a Gold edition of its famous P’9522 mobile phone. The handset casing bears the sleek laser engraving Porsche Design P’9522 Limited Edition on the back as a proof of this limited edition.

Marked as a tribute to the eternal and authentic design philosophy of Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, designer of Porsche 911, Limited Edition Porsche Design P’9522 Phone is platted with 18 carats gold and features a sensor that has the capability to read fingerprints and the edition number marked on the side of each unit. The owner can vault the phone with the swipe of his thumb thanks to the Biometric Fingerprint Censor that replaces the dated security pin.

The P’9522 in gold phone has advanced technology and one example is the 5.0 megapixel camera with video function, high resolution OLED display and sensitive fingerprint sensor. Wherever you may find yourself, you can easily access the Internet from your P’9522 thanks to the wireless LAN option available. Furthermore, the phone comes with an intelligent GPS navigation system that provides a reliable orientation. The audio player supports file extensions such as MP3, AAC, AAC+, EAAC+, midi, WAV, AMR NB and WB. The battery is a lithium-ion 880 mAh and the total weight of the phone is 115 g. Autonomy reaches 240 minutes while talking and 300 hours in standby mode. The P’9522 has various applications from organizer to voice recorder, web browser and currency converter. 5,000 positions are available for the internal phone book while messaging memory reaches 700. The memory is provided by a 2 GB microSD memory.

Though there isn’t any details on the availability and the release of the Porsche Design P’9522 Gold Limited Edition, yet it is quite certain that when this remarkable handset enters the market, it’s going to carry quite a hefty price tag.

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HTC EVO 3D Review

Beautiful Design

First and foremost, the EVO 3D is a gorgeous phone. Like the EVO 4G, the EVO 3D is black with blood-red detailing. The EVO 3D smartphone feels solid, but not bulky in the least. It has a nice, textured rubber backing and a slimmer shape that feels good in hand.

With the battery in place, the HTC EVO 3D weighs 6 ounces, measures about 5 inches tall, nearly 3 inches wide, and 0.47 inches thick. Its display is a 4.3-inch 3D touchscreen with a sheet of Gorilla Glass for added toughness. Unlike the EVO 4G, the EVO 3D doesn't sport a kickstand--mainly because the twin 3D cameras occupy most of the space on the rear.

3D Display

 The phone uses parallax barriers to display 3D images and video, without the need for clunky 3D glasses The EVO 3D's 4.3-inch qHD 960-by-540-pixel screen looks terrific in 2D--and pretty good in 3D, as well. . An absolute dead-on viewing angle must be maintained to properly appreciate the third dimension, as . at a slight angle, the image's a  blurry mess.  If you don't want to view 3D images and prefer to stick to the standard 2D display, a toggle switch on the side of the device allows you to turn the effect off.

New HTC Sense User Interface

The EVO 3D comes with the latest version of the Sense user interface. Sense 3.0 has a brand-new customizable lock screen. You can pick a theme for your lock screen and then select four apps that you visit the most.  To unlock your phone, you drag the circle and move it over an app; you then jump straight to that app.

The new version of Sense also has a spruced-up Walls system. Rather than having to flick back and forth between your walls, as you do in the stock Android operating system, you can flick the EVO 3D's screen to make the walls spin. The effect is slightly reminiscent of a carousel and makes navigation a little easier.  HTC has a nice tradition of creating visual weather apps, and it is cool to see the company continue to improve them. They might not always be pretty, but they sure are dramatic.

Performance

The EVO 3D is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The Snapdragon processor supports advanced 3D technology, including full 1080p 30-frames-per-second HD video and stereoscopic 3D video capture and playback.

 The EVO 3D had a quick startup time of 13.7 seconds with File transfer speed  of 7.2 megabits per second.  The games  graphics in frames per second (fps)of  the dual-core EVO 3D is huge: With antialiasing off, is averaged 36.5 fps.

3D Camera and Video Capture

 3D images or videos  can be viewed  on any 3D TV with the help of the phone's HDMI-out jack. The HDMI jack uses a technology called MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) that allows both charging and HDMI-out via the same port.

The EVO 3D comes loaded with Watch, HTC's new movie and TV-show streaming service. With Watch, you can download videos and start viewing them immediately.

Data Speeds and Call Quality

The EVO is also juiced with Sprint's 4G data speeds, and it comes with a 4G mobile hotspot feature that lets you share your connection with up to eight devices. The EVO 3D achieved average download speeds of 3.59 megabits per second and average upload speeds of 1.42 mbps.

Bottom Line

 It is fun to watch short videos in 3D or take 3D photos, but it is definitely still a novelty feature. That said, the EVO 3D's design is gorgeous, and the combination of dual-core Snapdragon processors with 4G can't be beat. It is definitely the best phone on Sprint, and a worthy successor to the original EVO

HTC EVO View 4G Specs

Release Date:	June, 2011
Dimensions:	112.3 x 195.3 x 13.2 millimetres
Embedded;Operating:System:	Google Android 2.3 Browse devices running this OS
CPU Clock:	1500 MHz
CPU:	Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8655 Browse devices based on this microprocessor
RAM capacity:	1 GiB
ROM capacity:	29.8 GiB
Display Type:	Super LCD , 16777216 scales
Display Diagonal:	7 "

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Luxury Gadgets/BlackBerry Bold 9780

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 has got gold treatment by Amosu Couture, who specializes in adding luxury and fashionable coating to handsets. The company has previously coated the 9780′s predecessor, the BlackBerry 9700, in gold, and where the 9780 saw improvements of a 5-megapixel camera and 512MB of RAM over the old model, Amosu Couture has decided to up the gold factor for the later device.

This BlackBerry 9780 has more gold over than what the BlackBerry 9700 has, including a complete unit plated in 24ct. of gold, and the keypad is also covered with gold. By this brings you with more connection with gold with every press of your finger on the BlackBerry keyboard.

If you’re a fan gold-plated gadget, the Amosu Couture’s Gold BlackBerry 9780 should be what you want. But it does not come cheap, costing you a whopping of £1250 ($1,990), you can get your existing BlackBerry Bold 9780 with the gold mirror sheen for an £550 ($875).

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SG/Vertu Ascent Ferrari GT Phone – Designed by Vertu, Inspired by Ferrari

The British luxury cell phone maker Vertu, has introduced another member to its portfolio of ultra expensive limited edition devices. The company has once again partnered with Ferrari to release the Ascent Ferrari GT handset. Inspired by the famous Italian cars, the Vertu Ascent Ferrari GT is built from forged titanium with a matte black PVD finish.

The red and black hand sewn leather that forms the cover is the same source as Ferrari’s interiors. The side of the phone features an enameled representation of Ferrari’s iconic engine block whilst the battery cover is ceramic. The handset comes with a rather small 2-inch QVGA display with 16 million colors, which is protected by sapphire crystal glass. It boasts a 5-megapixel camera with integrated LED flash and video recording capabilities, as well as high-performance dual hands-free loudspeaker.

Other key features of the feature-phone include: auto dual-time zone clock, Audio/Video player, Torch function, 32GB of internal memory, built-in A-GPS navigation with preloaded maps, as well as quadband WCDMA and GSM for worldwide coverage. Further, the device incorporates Vertu Feeds application delivering, City Brief Guides, Vertu Select exclusive content, Vertu Fortress secure back up service and the Worldmate Travel application.

Apparently, only 2011 units of the Vertu Ascent Ferrari GT will be manufactured. The pricing details of this beauty are unclear, but considering it’s a Vertu branded with Ferrari, it will be expensive.

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Luxury Gadgets/Nokia Oro – 18 Carat Gold Plated Smartphone

The most striking thing about the Nokia Oro is that it is plated in 18-carat gold, studded with a sapphire crystal home key, and lined with leather. Of course it’s a phone, smartphone. In fact it’s your good old C7 in the inside, but it has been beautified to make it the classy Oro.

The phone works on Symbian-based software and also has the most recent Symbian Anna update. The Oro enables users to enjoy HSDPA 3G and Wi-Fi support. The device comes with a 3.5-inch AMOLED display, pentaband radio connectivity and an 8-megapixel camera with 720p video recording to provide an excellent viewing experience.

This luxury smartphone is expected in the beginning of next quarter, but that is only in selected countries across Middle East, Europe and Russia. The Nokia Oro must be particularly eying Russia as the place is known as a successful market for such premium collections. The price is said to be upwards of €800 ($1,126), excluding taxes.

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The Worlds Smallest Mobile Phone

sWap Nova Mobile Phone 1

Looking for some Cool New Gadgets? Check this newly confirmed by the Guinness Record as the World’s Smallest Phone, this sWap Nova Mobile Phone only weighs 40grams and has the size of a matchbox but is really marvelous when it comes to features and functions which make it the best gadget you can ever put on your pocket without even noticing it.

sWap Nova Mobile Phone 2

sWap Nova Mobile Phone also offers full touch screen functionality plus with its hidden built-in USB slide out function, recharging and transferring data into the computer is easy. This world’s smallest mobile phone also supports 3GP, MPEG-4, and MP3 feature and has an internal storage capacity of 256mb and external memory of 2GB which is also expandable up to 8GB using MicroSD card.

Also included in this sWap Nova Phone is a unique software for playing music, photo sliding and movie watching, there’s even a mini stylus for texting.

Other feature includes talk time of up to 150 minutes, a loud speaker and mic for hands-free function and a no contract or limit to any specific networks so you can choose what specific SIM to use that is appropriate for your needs. Just insert any SIM and enjoy, no questions asked.

Not satisfied? You can also check the sWap Mobile Phone Watch – Your watch, your phone and your entertainment gadget in one.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo/Review

Sony Ericsson  Xperia Neo Gingerbread Smartphone

Sony Ericsson made its way to Mobile World Congress and the guys got everyone exciting by announcing the heavily anticipated Xperia Play, the surprising Xperia Pro and also the Xperia Neo. Honestly, the Xperia Neo feels like the Xperia Arc in which the guys have slightly reduced the features, making it more affordable for the general public.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the device has 3.7-inch (854 x 480 resolution) display and it is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon MSM8255 Qualcomm processor. It also includes an Exmor R mobile sensor, microSD card slot, built-in HDMI connector and other basic connectivity features found in every smartphone.

Moreover, the Xperia Neo also features Sony Ericsson’s Reality Display with the Mobile BRAVIA Engine which we first saw on the Xperia Arc. It is expected to hit the shelves by the end of Q1 and will be available in Silver, Blue and Red. Pricing is still a mystery.

Sony Ericsson Xperia™ neo – Key features

• Exmor R™. Great stills and videos even in low light

• Reality display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine

• Built-in HDMI. Your stills and videos on HD TV

• More than 100,000 apps on Android Market

• Google™ services. At your service

The Sony Ericsson Xperia™ neo will be available in the following colours: Blue Gradient, Red and Silver.

Specs

Dimensions:	57 x 116 x 13 millimetres
Mass:	126 grams (battery included)
Embedded:Operating;System:	Google Android 2.3.1
CPU:Clock:	1000 MHz
CPU:	Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255
RAM-capacity:	512 MiB
ROM+capacity:	512 MiB (accessible: 320 MiB)
Display_Type:	color transflective TFT , 16777216 scales
Display+Resolution:	480 x 854
Video:out:	1280x720 (720p) resolution
Microphone(s):	stereo
Loudspeaker(s):	stereo
Audio+Output:	3.5mm
Expansion-Slots:	microSD, microSDHC, TransFlash
USB:	USB 2.0 client, 480Mbit/s, micro-USB
Bluetooth:	Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Wireless_LAN:	802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n
Analog:Radio+Receiver:	FM radio (87.5-108MHz) with RDS
Built-in-GPS_module:	Supported
Main;Camera:	8 MP
Battery;Capacity:	1500 mAh

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Motorola Atrix 4G/Review

Motorola Atrix 4G

Smartphone has become an extremely popular category in mobile phone world. In the past 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, smartphone has been a hot topic, and people pay more attention to smartphones. But, as cell phone fans, what we care most may be the trends of smartphone.

First trend is 4G phones or called LTE phones. What is a 4G phone? The normal phones we use is called 2G phones, they use GSM and CDMA networks, and some smartphones like iPhone 4 uses the advanced 3G, which has superior simultaneous use of speech and data services, it provides peak date rates of at least 200 kbit/s, but that is also out of fashion now, because 4G phones will replace its position. 4G means the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards, it develops a lot on the peak rate which can be 100Mbit/s for high mobility communication and 1 Gbit/s for public areas, from the statistics we can see how much it improves. 4G are so expected because people want a lot of data and they are annoyed by the slow network. There aren't many 4G phones available up till now, and it only can be available in United States because only Sprint Company claimed to have 4G network, but there are only two mobile phone which support the network: HTC EVO 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G, maybe in the future, 4G will be as popular as 3G now.

The second trend of smartphone is how prevalent the Android operating system in the mobile ecosystem. There are a lot of OEMs and device manufacturers agree that Google and the Android platform is the future. Android might be the possible opponent that can confront iPhone.

The amount of applications has rapidly increased. The Microsoft Web OS, BlackBerry are all racing each other, they all have good devices and good products, who will be the king operating system, nobody can predict, but the truth is that Android looks really strong and has the potential to fight Apple.

Finally, we can't image how incredible and powerful a cell phone can be, maybe one day in the future, smartphone is a small computer that can make phone calls. For example, Motorola released its new cell phone model Motorola Atrix 4G which has a dual core processor that can dock to desktop monitor and laptop station, and it is really a full-featured netbook. It is just a smartphone but it has big processor and much memory, it can run a large display. It seems that mobile phone can be a really small computer.

Specifications of Motorola Atrix ME860 / MB861

Release;Date:	July, 2011
Dimensions (width x height x depth):	63.5 x 117.75 x 10.95 millimetres 2.5 x 4.6 x 0.4 inches
Bounding:Volume:	81.9 cubecentimetres
Mass:	135 grams (battery included)
Embedded:Operating_System:	Google Android 2.2.1 Chinese
Operating-System:Kernel:	Linux 2.6.32
CPU_Clock:	1000 MHz
CPU:	NVIDIA Tegra 2 250
Width-of_Machine+Word:	32 bit
CPU+Core:	2x ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore
Instruction;Set:	ARMv7-A
RAM:type:	LPDDR2 SDRAM
RAM_capacity:	1024 MiB
ROM_type:	Flash EEPROM
ROM+capacity:	15258 MiB, including 13000MiB user-accessible non-volatile storage
ROM+capacity:in+bytes:	16 GB (billion bytes)
Display:Type:	color transflective TFT display
Display;Color-Depth:	24 bit/pixel (16777216 scales)
Display-Diagonal:	4 " (101.75 millimetres)
Display:Resolution:	540 x 960 (518400 pixels)
Viewable;Display_Size:	1.96 " x 3.49 " (49.88 x 88.68 millimetres)
Pixel-density;(dot:pitch):	275 pixel/inch (0.09238 millimetre/pixel)
Graphical-Controller:	NVIDIA GeForce
Video:out:	1280x720 (720p) resolution HDMI Type C (HDMI 1.3) connector
Sensor+Type:	CMOS sensor
Resolution:	2592 x1936 pixels (5.02MP)
Autofocus-(AF):	Supported
Optical-Zoom:	1 x
Macro+Mode:	Supported
Built-in;Flash:	mobile light (LED)
Camcorder:	1280x720 pixels , 30frame/sec
Recordable+Image-Formats:	JPG
Recordable-Video;Formats:	3GP, 3G2, MPEG4
Additional+Features:	capacitive touchscreen , Corning Gorilla Glass screen , built-in digital compass , GPRS Class 12 , EDGE Class 12 , HSDPA 14.4 HSUPA 5.76, Motorola MOTOBLUR , dock connector , Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP AVRCP) , DLNA , speech recognition , image stabilization face detection , Google Maps Navigation , Wi-Fi hotspot , HAC (M3/T3) Adobe Flash Player 10.1 , Biometric fingerprint reader

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Samsung Galaxy S II /Samsung Galaxy S IIReview

Samsung Galaxy S II

The Galaxy S II builds on Samsung's successful line of Galaxy Android phones with new display technology, a dual-core processor, and 4G speeds. The Galaxy S II is available in Europe and Asia, but Samsung has not yet announced a U.S. carrier nor details about pricing and availability. How does the Galaxy S II stack up against the other 4G dual-core beasts we've seen this year?

Design

The Galaxy S II is thin and light, less plasticky than some of the previous-generation Galaxy S phones. Overall, the phone has an attractive, minimalist look, but it doesn't feel as well-constructed as the HTC Thunderbolt 4G or the upcoming HTC Sensation on T-Mobile. One nice feature is that the face is made of Gorilla Glass, which is the same scratch-resistant glass that the Apple iPhone 4. Glossy black plastic covers the edges of the phone, while the battery cover is a somewhat flimsy textured plastic.

Measuring 4.9 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide by 0.3 inch thick, the Galaxy S II is remarkably svelte. But given that it has a 4.3-inch display, it still takes up a lot of space in your pocket or handbag. Nevertheless, at 4 ounces, it's comfortable to hold for long periods of time.

The button layout is a bit strange on the Galaxy S II with the Google Search button missing and Touch-sensitive Menu and Back buttons flanking a physical Home button. The volume rocker is on the left spine of the phone and the Power button on the right. The micro-USB port sits at the bottom of the phone while a 3.5mm headphone jack is at the top. Noticeably absent are an HDMI port (for connecting your phone to your HDTV) and a physical camera shutter button

Display

The Galaxy S II's display is gorgeous--one of the best we've ever seen. It uses Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus display technology, which we first saw at CES. According to Samsung, Super AMOLED Plus displays have 50 percent more subpixels than the first-generation Super AMOLED displays and perform even better that their predecessors in bright light. With a 4.3-inch display, the newest Galaxy's screen is 0.3 inch longer diagonally than the screens on the older-gen phones.

Colors looked bright, details were crisp, and the viewing angles were very good. Blacks were deep and colors were richly saturated without being overdone. Even when held in direct sunlight, the Galaxy S II's display remained incredibly visible.

Revamped TouchWiz 4.0 With Gingerbread

 With the latest version of Android--version 2.3 (aka Gingerbread), the Galaxy S II though runs a Samsung-built overlay, TouchWiz 4.0, most of the new features in Gingerbread are untouched.

The Galaxy S II's keyboard isn't the native Android one, but it retains the multitouch key-chording feature (you can simultaneously press Shift and a letter to get a symbol or number--no need to switch between modes) and the ability to use your voice to correct words as you type. The copy-and-paste feature behaves more-or-less the same as in the standard Android setup, but it looks slightly different. You can quickly select text just by pressing and holding a word. Then you can adjust the chunk of text that you want to select by dragging the arrows that appear around the text. The Samsung's keyboard keys are slightly longer and more widely spaced than the stock Gingerbread keyboard keys, and the font is a bit larger on the keys. The Samsung keyboard replaces the emoticon key on the Android keyboard with a return key, which is a more useful function. And Swype fanatics can rejoice: The Galaxy S II comes with everybody's favorite keyboard app preinstalled.

The user interface for the cameras differs from the stock Gingerbread version, but you can still switch between the front-facing camera and the back-facing one via a consistent icon at the top of the camera viewer. Google introduced this small but useful feature in Gingerbread in anticipation of an onslaught of smartphones with front-facing cameras due out this year.

Multimedia

The new version of TouchWiz comes with new Music, Game, and Readers Hubs that join the Social and Media Hubs. Powered by 7Digital, the Music Hub is essentially an Amazon MP3 alternative. You can also use the Music Hub to organize your own library of music. I preferred using the built-in TouchWiz music player, which gets a nice facelift in this version of the software.

The Game Hub, powered by Gameloft, organizes games for purchase by social games and HD games. The Readers Hub is broken into three services: Kobo (for Books), Zinio (for Magazines), and Press Display (for News).

Like all Galaxy phones, the S II provides the Media Hub for your movie and TV-watching pleasure. Video looked fantastic on the handset's display and played back smoothly. Even if you don't like Samsung's Media Hub, you're going to want to watch a lot of movies and TV shows on this phone.

Camera

The Galaxy S II has an 8-megapixel camera plus a front-facing camera for video calls. Impressive with the image quality of photos, both indoor shots and outdoor ones. The shutter speed on the camera is fast enough to capture photos of sports, kids, and other quick-moving subjects.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S II is branded as a 4G phone and Samsung sent it to us with a T-Mobile SIM card. According to Samsung, the Galaxy S II can achieve HSPA+ download speeds of 21 megabits per second and HSUPA upload speeds of 5.76 mbps.

The Galaxy S 4G speed is averaged at 3.38 mbps for downloads and 1.13 mbps for uploads and it did outperform both AT&T's HSPA+ network and Sprint's WiMax network.

The Galaxy S II is powered by a dual-core processor, and the dual-core power was apparent in just about every aspect of the phone's performance. Scrolling was fluid in apps and Web pages, video played back smoothly, and I zipped speedily through the phone's menus.

Bottom Line

If you're in the market for a new phone this spring, you're going to have some tough decisions to make. A lot of hot phones have arrived or will debit soon, including the HTC Thunderbolt, the T-Mobile G2X, the Motorola Atrix 4G, and the upcoming HTC Sensation and HTC EVO 3D. But when it comes to performance and display quality, the Galaxy S II is pretty much unbeatable.

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HTC ThunderBolt Review

The HTC ThunderBolt, which went on sale March 17, is the first phone available in the United States that can connect to Verizon’s lightning-fast 4G LTE network. That fact alone makes the ThunderBolt ($250 with a new two-year contract) a considerable piece of hardware, especially for users who routinely run high-bandwidth apps such as video chat, online gaming, and high-definition video streaming.

HTC ThunderBolt

Handsome Design

The ThunderBolt definitely feels well built and sturdy in the hand. However, for someone coming from a smaller phone, the 5.78-ounce ThunderBolt, with its 4.8-by-2.6-by-0.52-inch frame, can feel like a monster in comparison.

But the phone makes good use of its size. The ThunderBolt’s 4.3-inch WVGA screen gives you ample room to maneuver your fingers while touch-typing and navigating Websites when you’re on the go. one complaint about the screen is that it is difficult to see outside under direct sunlight.

The phone's design is quite simple, offering a power button and a headphone jack up top, a volume rocker on the right spine, and the standard Home, Menu, Back, and Search buttons on the face of the device. On the back are an 8-megapixel camera (with a dual-LED flash) and a kickstand, much as we saw on the HTC EVO 4G. You'll also find a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front of the device for video chatting 

Lightning-Fast Broadband Speeds

The ThunderBolt’s main draw is its broadband speeds, which in my tests were simply stunning. Using the Ookla FCC Mobile Broadband Test, I saw consistent download speeds of between 8 megabits per second and 12 mbps. With full bars and in an area that supports Verizon’s 4G LTE network, I managed to load the PCWorld mobile site in about 4 seconds. Image-heavy sites such as Escapistmagazine.com loaded in under 10 seconds.

The ThunderBolt can share its 4G connection with eight devices via its mobile hotspot function (though the service can cost extra depending on your plan).  It can stream live TV to the iPod Touch, as well as to download apps and watch high-quality YouTube videos on the phone, while at the same time browsing the Web and downloading apps on the ThunderBolt. All of these tasks ran quickly and smoothly over Verizon’s LTE service

HTC Sense Gets a Face-Lift

The ThunderBolt comes preloaded with a new and improved version of Sense UI, HTC’s custom software that overlays the Android OS. Although most of the Sense UI improvements seem merely cosmetic, HTC has thrown in a few nifty new features as well.

For instance, dragging down the notification bar at the top of the screen now reveals a list of previously opened apps. This extremely useful function may have been inspired by a similar feature in Apple’s iOS.

Turning on the fast-boot option will allow you to start the phone almost immediately, though you will have to turn the function off to use certain Android Market apps.

The '+' icon on the right side of the dock (at the bottom of the home screen) has been replaced with a brush and palette. Tapping it brings you to the personalization menu, where you can set the wallpaper, add items to the home screen, and change the sound settings. You can also change the skin of the Sense UI to one of the five available options.

Android Add-Ons

Unfortunately the ThunderBolt also comes loaded with too much unwanted software. Along with the Blockbuster app we saw on the Motorola Droid X, Verizon has loaded the ThunderBolt with a demo of Let’s Golf 2 and videos advertising Bitbop, Rhapsody, and Rock Band for Android. The usual Verizon suite of apps (Navigator, Slacker, V Cast Media, and the V Cast App Store) also makes an appearance. And guess what? You can’t remove these apps. This is not a major negative, but the extra apps do clutter up your app drawer, making it hard to quickly locate the app you want.

Cameras Are a Mixed Bag

The ThunderBolt features two cameras: a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front and an 8-megapixel one on the rear. Pictures  with the 8-megapixel camera comes out well . The photos were surprisingly sharp. Even when zoomed in, the resolution was reasonably good. Colors looked robust and true to the subject the photos taken. Pictures taken in extremely low light were clear and easy to see, thanks in part to the dual-LED flash. The HTC EVO 4G also has an 8-megapixel camera on the back, but the ThunderBolt’s camera is clearly superior.

Plays Nice With Other Devices

A DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)-certified device, the ThunderBolt can stream photos, music, and video to and from DLNA-supporting devices on your home wireless network. For instance, you can stream video to your DLNA-certified TV for playback. The music player can also stream from any media servers you have on your network.

If you like to listen to your music on the go (as most people do), you’ll be quite happy to learn that the ThunderBolt ships with a 32GB MicroSD card on board so you can carry several thousand songs or movies with you.

Bottom Line

The HTC ThunderBolt looks, feels, and handles like a solid piece of hardware. Although its specs aren’t anything we haven’t already seen in the Droid X or the Droid 2, the ThunderBolt’s ability to utilize the unprecedented speed of Verizon’s LTE network makes it a special phone indeed. Users who like to run high-bandwidth apps on the road--as in streaming high-def video or playing online games--will find no faster phone on the market right now.

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