The First CDMA Windows Phone 7 Arrives

The HTC Arrive is one of Sprint's newest phones and their first and only Windows 7 Phone.  It is a smartphone that is chock full of features.

The HTC Arrive has great specifications. The phone has a backlit slide-out keyboard with a really responsive 3.6 inch touch screen and a 5 megapixel camera that takes amazing pictures. The phone also has great features such as the Zune player, Marketplace, Sprint Zone, and the HTC Hub. The HTC Arrive is a great smartphone with a number of unique features.

Specifications:

The HTC Arrive looks and feels like a high quality product and, it's surely a phone with great specifications. The phone is pretty thick, thicker than my HTC EVO 4G, which is a real down side since the screen is smaller.  However, that's partially made up for by the addition of its wonderful keyboard. The Arrive has a backlit keyboard with a whole row at the top for numbers--something really nice to have. In addition, the keyboard is very spacious and is very easy to type with.

The front of the phone has three buttons, a Back button, a Windows button, and a Search button. The Back button will bring you back to where you were last, the Windows button will bring you back home, and the Search button will bring you to Bing Search.  The top of the phone has a power button and 3.5mm headphone jack, the right side has a dedicated camera button, the bottom has a microphone, and the left side has a volume rocker and a micro USB port.

The HTC Arrive is a quality product overall, and it is a great smart phone. It includes all the specifications anyone could expect out of a smart phone. Its specifications are listed below:

Processor	Qualcomm QSD8650 1 GHz
Platform	Windows Phone OS 7
Memory	16 GB eMMC, 512 MB ROM, 576 MB RAM
Display	3.6-inch WVGA capacitive touch screen
Network	CDMA 800/1900
Camera	5 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash
Battery	Rechargeable lithium-ion, 1500 mAh
Dimensions	117.15" (L) x 59" (W) x 15.5" (T)

Features:

The HTC Arrive is packed with great features. The Arrive comes with Windows Phone 7 installed.  This operating system comes with features you would expect such as live tiles which update when you get a missed call, text message, email, etc., Zune video and music player, Xbox Live, and the Marketplace where there are tons of additional apps and games that can be downloaded. 

The Arrive comes with some special features that are unique to the phone such as Sprint apps, HTC apps, HTC Hub, and Sprint Zone. Sprint allows you to download apps such as GPS navigation, TV & Movies, and Music as well as HTC's own applications like their specialized YouTube, Calculator, and Compass. 

HTC Hub and Sprint Zone also come preinstalled on the device. Sprint Zone gives you updates on what is happening with Sprint as well as access to your account. The HTC Hub gives you the HTC Sense user interface and allows you to view recommended apps as well as see the weather in your current location (or other places). 

Overall, the Arrive includes great features that you would expect from high end smartphones. 

Wrap Up:

The HTC Arrive is currently priced at $199.99 with a new two-year agreement or $449.99 no commitment pricing.  It is a really great phone that includes great specifications and features. The Arrives has a very large, backlit QWERTY keyboard, great touchscreen, and a camera that takes wonderful pictures. It also includes some amazing features such as the Zune player or the HTC Hub. The HTC Arrive is one of the best Windows Phone 7 phones out there. 

A Phone That Lets You Express Your Style

The HTC Freestyle, one of the best phones out there. The Freestyle is one of the newest phones on AT&T and is ne of the greatest phones that I have played with yet. 


The Freestyle is a phone that is right in between a smart phone and a feature phone. The HTC Freestyle has all the features a feature phone would (e.g. phone, texting, mobile web) and some of the more high end features that you would expect of any smart phone (e.g. multiple home screens, widgets, HTC's Friends Stream). Overall the HTC Freestyle is a unique phone with the less well-known BREW MP platform and customs HTC apps, but disappoints when it comes to some other necessities, such as Wi-Fi and an accelerometer.





Specifications:
The HTC Freestyle is a great phone overall and feels very sturdy in the hand. It is quite thick for the size (almost equal to to the HTC EVO 4G) but is very small and feels good in the hand. Included in this phone are four main buttons on the front, a universal menu button (e.g. such as android), a answer call button that can also act s a phone button, a back button, and a end call button that can also serve the purpose of bringing you back to the home screen. On the top of the phone is a 3.5mm headphone jack and a lock button, on the left side is a volume rocker, on the right side is a dedicated camera button, and on the bottom is a micro-usb port for syncing with a computer and charging. The phone has good build quality, something you would expect out of HTC, and has add features such as the aluminum backing, making this one of the best mid-range phones on the market. Along with the quality, below are some more of the physical specifications:

Processor	Qualcomm MSM 7225, 528 MHz
Operating System	Brew MP (v. 1.0.2)
Internal Memory	256MB/RAM      256/ROM
Display	3.2-inch 320x480 HVGA resolution  Capacitive touch screen
Network	Dual mode HSPDA/UMTS (Dual-band 850/1900MHz and GSM/GPRS/EDGE (Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900Mhz) HSPDA/UMTS 3GPP release 5 compliant UE category 8, up to 7.2Mbps peak rate downlink, 384 Kbps uplink
GPS	Internal GPS antenna
Camera	3.2 MP Color CMOS with fixed focus
Connectivity	USB 2.0 with high speed client 3.5 mm audio jack MicroSD Card Slot
Battery	Lithium-polymer battery, 1300 mAh
Talk Time	Up to 384 minutes Standby Time  Up to 16.2 days
Dimensions	L 106.7 X W 56.6 X 2.5(mm)
Weight	128 g

Features:
The HTC Freestyle, for being a mid-range phone, is packed full of amazing features. This phone features the BREW MP platform, with HTC's sense, its own added style. HTC Sense gives the operating system its own style and allows for further customization with widgets and "scenes" to change the entire styling. With HTC's customizations come custom applications for things such as the messaging, phone, and contacts, as well as adding things such as Friend Stream, which streams your Facebook news feed and Twitter feed directly to your phone, something you usually only expect out of a higher end phone, FM radio, and the mobile browser, which isn't so special but does load pages up to look pretty close to the full one, something you would not expect out of a phone like this.

Overall the HTC Freestyle is a feature packed phone for what it is. With HTC Sense and some added apps such as Friends Stream, the Freestyle packs in a ton of great features that make this one of the best mid-range phones out there.

Wrap Up:
The HTC Freestyle is $99.99 on AT&T with a new two year agreement or $319.99 no  commitment pricing. Overall the phone packs a ton of features with some pretty good specks. HTC adds some of its own features which add some of the more smart phone high end features, making this one of the best mid-range phones out there.

MeeGo, A Simple to Use OS

MeeGo is a Linux-based operating system that was introduced by Nokia and Intel at Mobile World Congress in 2010. In the past year, MeeGo has been growing as an operating system and is a great one for any netbook. MeeGo offers a simple social interface that is fast, customizable, and very user friendly.

Interface:

MeeGo has a simple, easy-to-use interface. It offers a tabbed interface that consists of tabs named MyZone, Zones, Applications, Status, People, Internet, Media, Devices, Bluetooth, and Networks. These tabs make it easy to get around the operating system while keeping everything organized and uncluttered. Everything in MeeGo is laid out so that you can do and find everything easily.

Features:

MeeGo offers a bunch of features that make it one of the best new operating systems out there. MeeGo is very social in that it can connect you to a lot of social networking sises such as Twitter where you can see your feed, or IMing sites where you can chat with your friends. Along with its social aspects are also more business and personal tasks such as a calendar that gives you updates of when things are coming up, tasks to keep track of what you need to do, and mail so you can contact peoples. In addition to these features, MeeGo offers other unique features such as Zones and MyZOne. 

One of its best features is Zones. Zones are a cool feature that allow you to see everything that is open and is a simple way to access everything on your computer that is running. It holds everything in one neatly organized tab, and it lets you view what is going on in the app as well. In addition to Zones, there are other features such as the MyZone tab which displays your overall status when you turn on your computer. For example, MyZone gives you an update of all your calendar items and tasks for the days. As well as these daily notifications, there are status updates for social networking sites (e.g. Twitter) and your top-used apps, allowing you to access everything you use. 

Comparison:

MeeGo is very similar to another OS I reviewed a while back, Jolicloud (click here to read). Jolicloud is also a Linux-based operating system built for the web, but it is made to go on anything, even very old computers.  I think Jolicloud offers more features than MeeGo.  For example, it has an App Center to download games and apps in addition to many of the features MeeGo has built in.  For me, I would choose Jolicloud over MeeGo because it is just the best for my needs, but MeeGo is also a great operating system that works well. 

Wrap Up:

MeeGo packs a ton of features into a nice package that would suit any netbook nicely. MeeGo is a snappy, fast OS that is made for the web, integrating your favorite social networking apps, as well as many applications for surfing the web, emailing, your calendar, etc already built in. This is one of the best net operating systems out there and includes a large number of useful features that make it great. 

Grappler, Pull the Stuff You Want Off the Web

Grappler is a small, simple, and useful piece of software that allows you to download videos and music from the web. It is one of the half dozen apps developed by a small software company called The Little App Factory. Grappler is used to download videos from sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, or to simply copy the audio from a video by throwing a toggle. If you want an east simple way to download media, Grappler may be the perfect app for you. With a spartan user interface and useful features, it does not overload you with unnecessary clutter, and it gets its job done.

Interface:

Grappler has a simple and intuitive user interface that allows for easy downloading of media. The interface consists of a main search area, a bar in the middle that contains most of the controls, and a bottom area that displays the currently downloading videos and music. Everything is displayed in a way that is very clean and simple and, most importantly, easy to navigate through.

The middle bar of Grappler is the main control area of the program.  This bar consists of a back and forward button, a home button, a search bar, a toggle, and a clear button.  All of the components of the bar are minimal and allow you to easily find what you need while maintaining essential functionality.  Everything provided on the bar makes your media download experience painless, from a search bar that allows for direct name searches or by web address searches to the toggle that allows you to choose "audio only" as a second option. Although it is a very functional bar, it does not allow for any customization and personalization, although I'm not sure if this is a negative... .

The main search area is what you mainly focus on while using it. This large area can either display search results for a video or a full-fledged website, like a YouTube Channel. When searching for videos its lays out a list of the videos that came up with the option that previews the video along with the title, link, description, and a download button nearby. It is simple to browse through a list of videos, making it easy to find what you want.

The bottom bar, or tray, is displays your downloads.  Everything that you are currently downloading and have downloaded is displayed by icons placed in the tray with small x’s in their upper left corners that allow you to cancel the download or to remove the downloaded video from the bar. The downloads tend to go very fast but, of course, download speed depends on the video size, its site, and your internet connection. Once downloaded, the videos are automatically and very conveniently added to iTunes as well as to a green search icon by each video which allows for access to the location.  Grappler provides a simple yet useful interface.

Features:

Grappler has a few features but contribute to its usefulness. One of the features is the search bar which helps find media.   In addition, the ability to search by web address or by name is convenient.  Grappler also offers a toggle between the original media or audio only. This means that if you find a video you want to listen to in the car you can just get the audio real fast and only listen to that, like a podcast. This is not the most features-packed app, but does what it is supposed to efficiently and simply.

Wrap Up:

Grappler is one of the best pieces of software out there to download media. Although there is free software out there that functions similarly, Grappler is unique in that you can search for videos as well as input web addresses. This app is a hassle free-version of a download apps. This small and easy to use app can be tried out for free or purchased for $19.95 from here.

An App Store for your Mac

On January 6th the Mac App Store was released in Apple's 10.6.6 Software Update. The Mac App Store adds a single location for everyone on a Mac to access a growing library of application that range from free to over a hundred. The store brings games to the mac such as the popular iPhone game, Angry Birds, as well as apps for social networking, like Socialite. All though we still desire a larger library of applications, the Mac App Store makes it easier for Mac users to get a wide range of software and easily sync them among computers and update them.



Interface:
The interface of the Mac App Store is a simple Apple-style layout. The store resembles the App Store in iTunes and only consists of a few parts. The top of the screen consist of a forward and back button as well as Featured, Top Charts, Categories, Purchased, Updates, and across from that is the search bar. The Featured tab gives you access to some of the most popular apps, new apps, and staff favorites. You are brought here when you open up the store and it allows you to see most of the apps you want to look at. The Top Charts tab allows you to view the most popular free and paid apps and Categories allows you to browse through the applications by different selections, such as Games or Productivity. Updates and Purchased allow you to make sure all your apps are up-to-date and what you have bought. Along with the five buttons at the top of the screen is a simple, Apple styled search bar that allows for easy browsing throughout every app, allowing you to find what you want, faster. Although very simple, they layout of the Mac App Store is easy to navigate while doing what it was made to do.

Features:
The Mac App Store is not full of an abundant amount of features, but does ge the job done. Apple built this program for what they intended it to do, download a large amount of apps. A user can sign into the Mac App Store with the same account as their iTunes account and use their itunes gift cards with it as well. There is a simple Buy or Free button to download the applications, almost identical to the iTunes Store. The Mac App Store allows for syncing of apps between computers which is a nice feature to have when you have multiple macs. Having to repurchase apps constantly can be tedious and expensive so the syncing of apps is a very useful feature. The Mac App Store is a pretty basic place at the moment but we look forward to more in the future, hopefully with automatic syncing and updating or even a genius, suggestion, feature like in iTunes. Although we do wish to see more out of the store, the first version is a good start for something that could grow to be great.

Wrap Up:
Overall the Mac App Store is a great place for Mac users to download their applications, if they can find them. There is still room for more applications and development of the actual store, but it is a good first start. The UI is simple, yet neat and allows for easy access to what you need to find. The app store is a great start to this new part of Apple's operating system, destin to grow into something great.

Ubuntu, a Fast OS Packed Full of Features

Ubuntu, introduced in 2004 to be a easy-to-use linux desktop, has grown into a feature-rich operating system that could easily replace its Mac or Windows competitors. Ubuntu has  a number of unique features such as the Ubuntu Software Center, Broadcast, Ubuntu One, and Empathy IM. The simple  user interface allows you to easily travel about the os, so you can get where you need to go with hassle. Ubuntu is a great os to check out and offers a ton of features and intuitive user interface.



Interface:
The interface of Ubuntu has a clean and simple layout. The interface consists of two bars on the screen, one on the top and one on the bottom. The top gives you access to features such as your applications, places (to locate files, drives, etc.), system and other information such as your internet connection and time and date.  The application section allows you to access all your applications sorted into different categories that lets you easily find what you are looking for. Next to that are the places button that allow you to get to all your files and folders, like the Windows start menu. Along side it is system which lets you change anything in the system; the UI is very customizable with different themes, backgrounds, and some amazing 3D effects.

The bottom of the screen contains a minimize button and trash button as well as all the open windows currently running. The interface allows a lot of customizable features as well as simple icons and easy navigation buttons.

Features:
Ubuntu's vast collection of features makes this a great operating systems. The Ubuntu Software Center makes this os one of the best available. The Ubuntu Software Center allows you to easily search, browse, and find every type of software to install on your computer, such as Skype or Calibre. One of the most outstanding features that is incorporated into Ubuntu is Ubuntu One. Ubuntu One is an amazing feature that allows you to sync almost everything on you computer, from Firefox bookmarks to files, to the cloud. Everything sync to the cloud allowing for access anywhere from another Ubuntu computer or even right off the internet. Along with the software center and Ubuntu One, Ubuntu has a very fast start up time, faster than I've seen from my Macs, as well as a bunch of social communication aspects that keeps everything built in.

Ubuntu has built-in features that allow you to easily access email, chat, and broadcast. It's included email client, Evolution Mail, allows for easy step-by-step email setup with support for almost any email client you can think of. The chat feature, Empathy IM, comes a long list of different clients that allow you to chat with almost anyone. Empathy includes choices such as Facebook Chat, Google Talk, Jabber, AIM, and more. One of my favorite social features is Broadcast, which allows you to connect to social networking sites such as Facebook and views your status, messages, and more.

Wrap Up:
Ubuntu 10.10 is one of the most feature-rich operating systems currently available, and, since it's a free one, it is certainly worth checking out. Since I have been using this operating system, it has continued to impress me with its features and customization. Ubuntu started out as an easy-to-use linux desktop and has developed into a fast, easy-to-use os that really stands out.

Chrome, a Next Generation Web Browser

Ever since it was created, the Google Chrome Web Browser has proved to be a real competitor to other browsers such as Internet Explorer and Safari because it offered the speed everyone loves out of their web browsers and Google has been adding features ever since. Google has developed a powerful browser that includes features like their new Chrome Web Store and their "cloud" syncing feature. This browser was followed by Google's Chrome OS which includes many of the features of the Google Chrome Web Browser and is becoming a leading OS contender.

Interface:

The interface of the Google Chrome Browser is very simple and clean. The open pages in your web browsers, or tabs, are positioned at the top of the screen and are easy to access while you are browsing the web. Bellow the tabs are a few simple buttons, a forward and back button, a refresh button, a long address bar, and a spot for extensions and tools. Whenever you open a tab in Chrome you are brought to a page showing your bookmarks at the top, a section for your apps, your most visited sites, as well as you recently closed tabs.

The bookmarks are displayed across a gray bar that clearly show the bookmarks and allow for easy access. Right below the bookmark bar is the section where your applications reside. When you visit the Chrome Web Store you can download a large number of web apps that are shown in the app section of any tab you open. The apps are displayed with large, colorful icons and are arranged in a grid that lets you easily find your apps. The most visited and recently visited sections below the apps are shown exactly like the bookmarks. The entire UI of the browser is simple and easy to fallow, with a very easy learning curve for anyone.

Features:

The Google Chrome browser offers a ton of great features. One of the best features of Chrome is its cloud feature. The cloud allows you to sync all your apps, bookmarks, settings, and everything else to the cloud so no matter what computer you are using, you always have everything you need. Another, newer feature of Chrome is their Chrome Web Store I talked about earlier. The Chrome Web Store allows you to download a lot of different types of apps from games to productivity. The web apps allow you to do almost anything you could do on a normal computer on the web. Along with the other features, speed is one of the most useful. Chrome is one of the fastest browsers out there and allows you to get where you are going faster. Along with these features, the Chrome browser offers a ton of other stuff that make this a great web browser.

Wrap Up:

The Chrome web browser is a great choice for your web browsing experience and is simple and easy to use for anyone. The browser offers a huge number of features and is blazing fast, letting you get where ever you want faster. The Chrome web browser is one of the best options out there and is something you should all try out.