VegaComb Beta 1.4 is very good

Considering what they have to work with, similar tablets, SDK images and the like, it's incredibly stable on my Advent Vega. I was previously running CyanogenMod 7 nightly builds and while they were good this is possibly better. The speed and smoothness are good as is stability with this Beta 1.4 build.

There are some issues such as Flash not working properly (audio, no video), the camera doesn't work (no great loss there!) and a few other less serious issues I've had but otherwise it's a great achievment for the people working on it. From what this article says it sounds like the Vega is ahead on features working and stability but it probably won't be too long before the Folio catches up.

Finally!!!

Now we can have a keyboard that detects how hard a key is pressed and go from normal, to bold, to caps then increase the font depending on the rage .... I mean pressure applied. Angry caps lock typists rejoice.

Puzzled public on 3D? No..

Perhaps it's that some are finally seeing that Nintendo are trying to release a new handheld which is essentially a DSi, which was essentially a DS Lite which in itself was a better looking DS. There are no major new advantages or reasons to replace a DS Lite or a DSi especially when you consider the serious loss of battery life you get with the 3DS.

Nintendo - stop releasing the same thing with slightly revised spec. and cashing in on the puzzled public.

Makes sense, might get one myself

I've always been a bit conservative with drive space despite being a gamer of many years. The desktop I have only has 750GB internal space and that's on 3x 250GB drives with a 1TB external drive for backups and the laptop I use only has a 160GB drive.

I have plenty of space on all drives but the performance boost I'd get from an SSD boot drive is becoming very hard to resist. They're still just a little too expensive for me but I'm looking to upgrade in the near future so I'll probably cave then and get one.

Great, more Symbian phones! /sarcasm

The last device, the slider with keyboard and touchscreen (E7) looked ok but from reviews and reports I've seen it seems very much like a case of the same problems that have been slowly killing Nokia for years: decent hardware, seriously underperforming software / interface.

I struggled when looking for a replacement for my aging N95 and ended up settling for the T-Mobile G1. It wasn't the greatest phone and the interface was pretty clunky during the early days but each update showed that it was going in the right direction. Nokia, on the other hand, were going in the opposite direction by trying to adapt Symbian. It might have worked had they done it far faster or gone with Maemo. Even Microsoft saw that trying to update WinMo 6.5 was a mistake and started fresh with WinPho 7.

How the market leader can fail so badly can only be down to massive mistakes with little / no direction from the people in charge. The E7 also has what looks to be a major flaw with the poor responsiveness at times making it dangerous if you ever need it in an emergency where every second counts. That's ignoring the fact that Nokia will stop developing Symbian as soon as they reasonably can so you're paying for phones that will lack updates for security flaws that may appear. If the devices allowed alternate OS installs, such as Android, they may have more appeal.

Full of concepts, devoid of a good product

Nokia hardware has generally been pretty good but they tend to throw out ridiculous concepts that are perhaps a decade away from any chance of being a real product. Folding displays are around but not to the level that Nokia would need to make a real product from these concepts. If I was a shareholder I would really love to see how much money is wasted on this pointless crap.

Speaking of pointless crap, why the hell did they bother with the E7? It's an N8 with a keyboard and all the problems Symbian brings to a touchscreen and all the niggles (menus inside menus with more menus) that made me and many others finally give up on Nokia.

The clue is in the screencap

It says "3G" on the end for the £399 version but I doubt I'm the only person to point this out. I'm glad to see a Honeycomb tablet at a price that is reasonable for the WiFi only version and not stretching it too far for a 3G version. Roll on the sensible pricing!

Priced too high, released too late

The 7" Galaxy Tab was an 'OK' product that could have sold really well if it had been priced right and released sooner. Unfortunately for Samsung they went with the polar opposite and released in November 2010 with plenty of chatter surrounding upcoming Honeycomb tablets (with no real products to consider) and at a price that made the iPad a cheaper option. I was very interested in the Galaxy Tab when it was announced but it seemed to take an age to get the product on shelves and the price was ridiculous at launch. It still isn't much better in March, hovering around the £399 price point the last time I looked which is a good £100 - 150 too high for what it offers.

Given the limited available options I opted for the Advent Vega which cost me £250, has a Tegra 2 CPU and larger display. I'm well aware it is very limited in stock configuration but it's relatively easy to get the Android Market on it. I would happily have paid another £50 - 75 for a better quality screen but for what I paid it's more than adequate for my needs until something better comes out for a somewhat sensible price. Judging by the prices I've seen touted for the 8.9" Tab Samsung might be getting the message. I hope Motorola's pricing burns them deeply regardless of hardware quality, they have nothing but contempt for customers.

Unbelievable ...

It starts here then. Be careful on their forums lest they stop you playing a game you physically own. Or in this case ALL games of theirs that you own... A perfect way to discourage piracy, yes?

Old news

The price has been on their website for quite a while now and it's only just being reported here now? The price is stupidly high, even £500 for a WiFi only version is too high. Given Motorola's attitude to older products like the Milestone (STILL no Android 2.2 update...) I am 99% likely to say "fuq ov" to them and their Xoom. When any company releases a product that makes Apple the cheaper option you know they've lost the plot.

"Only" has 512MB RAM...

Are you kidding me? The original iPad only has 256MB, chances are that the iPad 2 has that or at most 512MB RAM yet this counts as a negative point for a budget tablet? Widescreen is a problem too somehow! Laptops, monitors, TVs, non-Apple tablets ... all new ones are widescreen. Only the iPad has a 4:3 aspect ratio in the market that I'm aware of so again you're comparing it to the iPad when it's a budget tablet and marking it down due to personal preference. It was released in November last year when Honeycomb was still quite a way off so of course it has Android 2.2 and not Android 3.0 but what do you expect?

What happened to reviewing the thing on its own merits? I can only see about half of the review doing that with the majority of the rest being nitpicking. Yes there are bad points about the Vega, it has an awful viewing angle in portrait and not much better (but usable) in landscape, the market is M.I.A. out of the box and like all touchscreens it's a fingerprint magnet. However, the screen is very responsive, it has very good battery life for the price point, it's very easy to install custom ROMs to get Market access and it comes with both a full USB port and HDMI port.

I'd consider about 70% fair for what you get out of the box at this price because if you just want to browse the internet, play videos and listen to music then it's very capable. If you want to put another ROM on it at a later time you get a very functional tablet for over £150 cheaper than an iPad. Not everyone will want to or be able to but if you buy this expecting it to have the market then you've not done your homework in reading up on it. That's not the fault of the Vega though.

Casual games seller in casual games promo shocker

I don't know if the NGP will be a massive success but the way this fool is talking you'd think the original was a total failure. To some that might be true but in reality it's done well enough to have three revisions and to get a successor. The addition of dual analog sticks and the rear touch panel look like good additions, especially as the sticks are actual sticks and not nubs like on the original PSP.

Apple make a nice device but there are only so many casual games you can sell and only a limited amount of controls you can use without having your hands all over the screen. The NGP offers more, it isn't aimed at casual gamers and never has been. There are casual games available for it but that isn't the same thing. It's also worth pointing out that it's been compared to PS3 level performance with plenty saying that's rubbish. They said the same thing when the original was touted as being on a level with the PS2 and it turned out to be very much like PS2 in terms of performance.

The biggest advantage Apple and game makers for iOS have is the app store. Quickly get a game and playing it in a few minutes. Perhaps Sony will offer that but even if they don't I think it's very stupid to be calling it DOA.

Wow..

OK with all the talk about cloud-based gaming I thought "no chance" but gave this a look after reading the article. I already own it so I picked and played the Mass Effect 2 demo. If it wasn't for the menu bar at the top (tells you connection quality, options to close game, pop-out of browser, fullscreen) and the not-quite-fullscreen aspect for my HDTV I wouldn't have known the difference. I saw no lag and it was the same experience I've had while playing normally. Great stuff!

Doesn't meet the hardware requirements?

If true, which I doubt given the way Google have denied minimum requirements in the past, the only thing it could possibly be is a minimum display resolution. The thing has a Tegra 2 processor, what else could it be? I still highly doubt it's true and as many people suspect is just a way to try and force early adopters to buy the newer and vastly more expensive model.

Microsoft not to blame? How?

"For once, Microsoft may not be to blame. It's said network operators and device makers are demanding changes to code that was complete before the end of 2010."

How do you come to that conclusion? I was under the impression that because all phones had a minimum specification, which most used as the only specification, Microsoft could happily push out updates without interference from networks. I'm sure that this was one of their points for having a dig at Android about fragmentation. I know this isn't fragmentation but one of the main reasons for it happening with Android is networks wanting to stick their crap on phones, holding back updates to sell newer phones etc. whereas Windows Phone 7 was supposed to have none of that crap to allow smoother updates.

A day of heavy use is GOOD!

I was surprised to see near the end that the reviewer mentions barely getting a day of heavy use from the phone. I'd put that as a good point for the phone as some other brands will not make it a day with moderate use. With that said I wish that battery technology could advance at the same pace as other technologies so a day of heavy use keeps barely gets the phone to 50%.

Overall I like the Desire Z but I opted for the Desire HD for the larger screen. I miss the hardware keyboard sometimes but putting my old Motorola Milestone (also a 3.7" screen) next to the DHD it looks a lot smaller. The Desire Z does have the better graphics chip of the two phones which seems odd to me but there you go.

Made from unicorns!

Yes, a 2048x1536 resolution, Oct-core CPU, 128GB RAM, 10.1" screen and powered by a unicorn tear and blood battery mixture.

With that out of the way I've got to wonder not only who makes this shit up but also why somewhat sensible people report them even as rumour. 2048x1536? Higher resolution than 'Full HD' TVs on a 10 inch screen, right? Even if it was made from the specs I put up above it'll still be an Apple controlled device with the artificial limits imposed by Stewpid Jobs and his ego. I've no doubt it'll be the best <superlative> ever when it's announced too. I mean look at the original, it's magical!

Ugh, damn you Motorola!

I swore I'd never buy from them after their atrocious update policy with the Motorola Milestone but this is currently the front runner in the tablet game for me, where Android is I mean. The others that have been revealed so far don't give me more than a "meh" response but this looks quite nice. I'm loathed to admit that I might end up getting this unless there is something else around with similar appeal.

I'm off to shower because I feel so dirty.

Same as the Milestone?

Is this as locked down as the originaly Motorola Milestone? I'm sitting here 29th December with that phone and after months of waiting for a promised Q4 2010 initial roll-out of FroYo it got to around 22nd December and Motorola announced that it would now be Q1 2011, at least four or five months after the identical (bar the radio) Motorola Droid. That experience alone has put me off Motorola phones for life. It's a shame because the phone itself is very solid and with a processor clocked at 550MHz that can easily manage 1.33GHz yet due to a locked bootloader the only real software upgrades available will have to rely on Motorola.

Kinect has wider appeal

This is just like the Wii all over again. From a technical point Kinect is impressive but the Move is far more accurate and better for a wider range of games. In the short-term though Kinect will appeal to families and people who have friends come around a lot for a drunken time jumping around in front of the TV.

Ignoring the XBox and PS3 for a moment the Kinect has wider appeal than just to console gamers because of the technology it uses as shown by the open source created projects and implementations appearing all over the place. I imagine quite a few sales have gone to people who intend to do that too, I've considered buying one myself for it but the price is too high currently.

Small download, big install

I'm giving it a try since space isn't a real issue for me but it's very deceptive that the download is 6.5MB but after installing it the space used is around 21MB with no cache space used. That *was* the size of the initial Firefox beta 1 apk but with Firefox beta 2 I'm sitting at 18MB with about 4.5MB of data cached. Both are still in beta and both have their plus points but so far I'm sticking with the WebKit browser since it's part of the Sense UI.

Out of the two betas I haven't used Opera enough yet but it looks good although Flash wasn't working when I browsed the BBC website. It might not be an issue to some and realistically isn't for me but it's puzzling when the WebKit browser and Android 2.2 support it. Firefox looks smooth and performs well for me (key words being "for me") but those damn sidebars are too keen to jump out when scrolling. I'd like to see normal scrolling hit a block and then require a conscious extra scroll to pop them open. Still, competition is good and as much as I dislike Opera on my computer I'll give it a fair run on my phone.

Motorola on self-destruct outside the USA

I don't know what the hell is up with Motorola but after coming back from near death with the Droid in America they appear to be purposely shooting themselves in the foot. The Motorola Milestone only recently got confirmation that it would be getting an update to Android 2.2 / FroYo, about six months after the Motorola Droid got the update. The only difference between the models is the GSM radio... Worse still is that there are other regions outside of Europe that won't be getting the update for some bizarre reason. Similarly this phone and numerous others have been updated in the US but outside it's either planned sometime later or not at all.

Motorola, why are you trying to piss off your customers so much? I bought the Motorola Milestone about a month ago but after seeing how poorly you view non-US customers I upgraded to the new HTC Desire HD. The Milestone is a great phone and I absolutely love it but it will be my last Motorola phone since I'm not a US citizen and therefore a second class customer.

Pricing secrecy

What is going on with this product? I've never seen such a confused mess for such an obvious thing with just over a week and a half to release. Normal products you know the price at least a few weeks in advance with some idea months before. Carphone Warehouse's price of £529 is the first concrete price I've seen for the Galaxy Tab but naturally it has no subsidy and at that price is going to put a lot of people off, myself included.

Is there some agreement with Samsung that they can't release price details until the last minute? I can't think of any other reason why the price and deals are still absent.

Free if you pay for it for two years...

It seems that we're finally at the stage where all new phones are being pushed as 'free' as long as you sign up to two year / 24 month contracts at £35 - 40 a month. It's been sneaking in for a while but all the WP7 phones I've seen so far are like this, hardly a good idea when it's such an unknown entity.

Resolution fail

iPad 1024x786 @ 9.7", Galaxy Tab 1024x600 @ 7"

iPhone 4 960x640 @ 3.5", Galaxy S 800x480 @ 4"

Does he say the same about the Galaxy S and the forthcoming HTC Desire HD but instead accuse them of being too big?

It would be so much smarter of Jobs to consider how stupid he makes himself sound when saying such things. Granted I've seen a size comparison of the iPad and the Galaxy Tab and it does look a lot smaller, surprisingly so, but saying you need to sand your fingers down to use it? That's idiocy.