Archive for the 'Gadgets' Category

Late last year, T-Mobile launched the first ever mobile phone powered by search-giant Google’s own software, Android. The T-Mobile G1 as it was known here in the US (or the Dream to the rest of the world) was produced by one of the world’s leading manufacturers of smart phones, HTC from Taiwan. Now, a new Android-powered phone has come out of HTC’s gates. Say hello to the HTC Magic.

The Magic features a 3.2 inch touchscreen LCD with 320×40 (HVGA) resolution, a 528 Mhz processor based on the Qualcomm MSM7201A, 192 mb of RAM, 512 mb of built-in storage expandable up to 16 GB via a microSD slot, bluetooth with A2DP, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, and a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus all in a package that’s slimmer and sexier than the G1.

Like the G1, the Magic has a track ball, but unlike the G1, the Magic has no physical keyboard. Almost all interaction with the phone is done through the touchscreen. What’s not clear at the moment is whether the screen is capable of multi-touch or not.

The HTC Magic comes out on Vodafone’s networks in Spain, the UK and other markets this April. No word yet on when it will make the trip across the Atlantic, but T-Mobile should pick this up soon.

Apple’s iPhone is a wonderful device, able to do a lot of things well with a slick and revolutionary touchscreen interface that has changed the way people interact with their phones. For all its good qualities though, the iPhone still has a major flaw, and that is its camera.

The iPhone has a 2.0 megapixel fixed-focus camera with no zoom, no white balance adjustment, and no video capability, something that could have been great a couple of years ago but something that just won’t cut it anymore. In these days of 5.0 and 8.0 megapixel autofocus camera phones with manual adustments and with high-definition video capabilities, the iPhone’s tiny sensor just can’t compete.

Luckily, there are some things that can be done to alleviate the situation. The first thing of course involves taking better pictures. The basic rules of photography still apply here, so use the rule of thirds, wherein instead of placing your subject dead center, place it on one of the intersections of an imaginary 3×3 grid. Don’t take pictures in direct sunlight as this will result to pictures with hard shadows. Keep the lens clean to get clear pictures. Lastly, hold the phone with both hands and in a landscape orientation to lessen blur.

There are also a lot of applications available on the app store which adds to the capabilities of the iPhone’s camera. There are some that add digital zoom, white balance adjustment, and anti-shake acpabilities. It’s just a matter of finding what you need.

Gadgets, especially computers are expensive and are usually big purchases. As such, people try to save as much money as they can when buying a new computer. To do this, some people turn to refurbished computers which have been bought, used, and then returned to the original vendor. The original vendor cleans the returned or resold computer, replaces worn out parts, and then re-sells it at a lower price.

That’s the main attraction of refurbs, but is it really smart to buy a refurb? Well, at the moment, the answer seems to be no. With the release of cheaper budget PCs, and with the advent of netbooks (which are even cheaper), the main “advantage” of refurbished PCs is basically gone.

Add to that the fact that you can’t change the configuration of a refurb, and the fact that savings aren’t really all that much now, and the case for refurbs goes down the drain.

For a refurb to be considered a bargain, its price should be about 25% less than the cost of a brand new computer. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case most of the time, so instead of going the refurbished route, it would be wiser to go brand new.

Almost all cellphones these days come standard with Bluetooth. Well, what exactly is Bluetooth? Bluetooth is a wireless protocol maintained by a group of companies known as the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. It was designed to bring together various devices using radio waves on the 2.4 to 2.4585GHz bands. Not all Bluetooth devices are created equal so some support more features like file sharing and wireless stereo audio.

However, most devices these days do support almost all profiles so they almost all have all of the capabilities of the technology. What’s exciting for Bluetooth is the increase in data transfer speeds and decrease in power consumption that will come in the future.

The upcoming Bluetooth 3.0 High Speed (+ HS) standard is capable of delivering speeds of up to 24 Mbps which is lightning fast for Bluetooth connections. There is also the upcoming Bluetooth low energy technology that uses very little power that it can allow some devices to last for more than a year on a single battery. Expect to see Bluetooth 3.0 + HS in phones and computers in the next 9 to 12 months, and Bluetooth low energy in monitors and sensors sometime in the near future.

Flame SD Technology is a place where you can information about technology, gadgets and computers. If you want to be updated with the latest news and happenings in the world of technology, Flame SD is your place to be.