gadget news and reviews

Palm Pre Plus – Verizon Wireless (Review) 6

Thanks to  the folks over at Verizon Wireless, Skatter Tech received a review unit of the Palm Pre Plus about a week ago and I’ve been putting it to the test since. It’s an upgrade to last year’s Palm Pre, which is still offered on Sprint’s network. It’s Palm’s third webOS device and just it sports just about all exciting features: Synergy, multi-tasking, a full QWERTY keyboard, and a gesture area. As a bonus, it features the ability to create a “WiFi Hotspot” utilizing Verizon’s 3G network, much like the MiFi we reviewed recently. With some new features, a new network, a hardware upgrade, and a slight cosmetic makeover, let’s see how it compares to other smartphones on the market. Read More

CES 2010: Sharp Press Conference +

At CES 2010, Sharp unveiled a line of new products, including their new “Quad-Pixel” technology and new line of Sharp’s AQUOS televisions. Quad-Pixel technology features an additional color, yellow, into the conventional RGB spectrum. This allows for better colors such as greater gold, deeper Caribbean blues, and amazing shades of yellow. With RGBY, a user can see an impressive one trillion colors, rather than the traditional one billion with RGB. As the presenter put it, in terms of time, it would take 32 years to count one billion seconds, but 32,000 years to count to one trillion. Read More

Verbatim Tuff ‘N’ Tiny (Review) +

In technology, slim and small rules. Compact gadgets simply get more attention. For flash drives, it’s always nice to get more gigabytes in a smaller package. Fortunately, ultra-portable flash drives such as this Verbatim Tuff N Tiny and the Super Talent’s Pico are beginning to gain popularity. I truly found myself appreciating the convenience of the Verbatim’s size even though real-life transfer speeds were a bit slower than I had hoped. And for those wondering, this is a standard flash drive. It will fit into any USB 2.0 port on your desktop, laptop, or netbook without any special adapters. Read More

Verbatim Tuff Clip (Review) +

A USB flash drive is an essential gizmo and  just about everyone should own at least one. Flash Drives come in millions of varieties including truly ultra-portable ones such as the Super Talent Pico or with high-grade security such as the IronKey. The Verbatim Tuff Clip on the other hand has a more traditional form factor, but it’s aimed for those with an active lifestyle with an added clip.

Build Quality: 2.5/5 stars
This flash drive looks and feels different from a conventional USB flash drive. Both sides of the Tuff Clip feature ridges along the body for a better grip. The USB connector recedes into the body for protection. While it may seem like a neat idea, it turned out to be quite annoying. If you weren’t holding both the back portion and front portion of the drive when inserting into a computer, the connector kept sliding back into the chassis. this issue could have easily been avoided with a simple click and lock feature when extended. Moving forwards, there’s a clip on top that fastens onto a backpack, belt loop, or ring. The spring-loaded clip automatically snaps closed once fastened onto something. Verbatim describes the Tuff Clip as a “clip n’ carry” with a “rugged design”. While I would agree with the first statement, the Tuff Clip is definitely not rugged. When I read about this model, I expected it to offer the strength of the clip to be comparable to an average carabiner. I was quite wrong. The clip looks like it’s flimsy enough to break off if it becomes snagged on something.

Read More

Palm Touchstone Charging Dock (Review) +

One of Palm’s special accessories for the Pre and the Pixi is the Touchstone Charging Dock. It’s quite unlike most docks. It’s wireless. Just place the Palm Pixi on the Touchstone and it begins charging. No cables or hassle necessary. It’s actually quite similar to the Powermat Wireless Chargers we recently reviewed. It charges phones through electromagnetic induction. It may all sound great, but there are other factors including price I’d recommend considering before picking one of these up.
Read More

Palm Pixi – Sprint (Review) 2

I recently received the the Palm Pixi, the younger sibling of the Palm Pre, courtesy of Sprint. It’s Palm’s second webOS device and just like the Pre, the Pixi supports Synergy, multi-tasking, has a full QWERTY keyboard, and the gesture area. However it is still is a notch down from the Pre. Most notably, it doesn’t have WiFi, rather running solely of Sprint’s 3G network. While it may not be a powerhouse compared to other Smartphones, the Pixi looks good, is affordable, and compact.

Palm Pixi Specifications:

• Provider: Sprint
• Operating System: Palm webOS
• Display: 2.63-inch 320×400 multi-touch
• Camera: 2.0 Megapixel Camera + Flash
• Music: MP3, WAV, AAC/AAC+
• Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264
• Memory: 8GB internal
• Dimensions: 4.37L x 2.17W x .43D inches
• Battery: 5 hours talk time | 350 hours stand-by
• Other: Bluetooth 2.1+ | 3.5 mm Audio Jack

The Body: 4/5 stars
The Pixi weighs only a few ounces, looks thin and sleek. The body has a soft feel and offers a good grip. It’s probably one of the better looking phones I’ve come across. There’s a volume rocker, a switch to silence your phone, and a microUSB port on the right side. Accessing the charging/data USB port was a bit of a nuisance. There’s only a tiny sliver of space between the flap and the body of the phone. Even if I did manage to get it open, it immediately snaps back due to stiffness and the magnetic piece. After about a week of struggling with this, the magnet actually just fell out, now the flap doesn’t even close properly. I think it’s Palm’s plan to get us to buy their Wireless Touchstone charger. The back of the phone is essentially a rear “face-plate.” Palm offers various artistic designs. There’s no microSD expansion and the only thing under the rear cover is the replaceable battery pack. The 2 megapixel camera, flash, and speakers are on the upper rear portion of the back side. The power button and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack are on the top. The front face of the phone sports the QWERTY keyboard, a gesture area, and a 2.6 inch display from bottom to top. Overall, it’s a great design and Palm has truly reinvented themselves with a new generation of hardware. I hope to see more device following this cue. Read More

Holiday Gift Guide: HDTVs 3

Recently, HDTV’s prices went down, and everyone throughout the nation wants to go out and buy one. However, because of the plethora of options, buying the “perfect” HDTV for your home can definitely be a challenge. Therefore, I hope that this quick guide helps you with your decision!

Things To Consider When Buying HDTV:

• Browse for TVs online using Amazon.com and NewEgg.com.
  Use the filters they offer to narrow down by price and size.
• Bigger isn’t necessarily better.
  Consider viewing distances when purchasing a TV.
• Which resolution? 720p vs 1080p?
  If it’s over 50 inches, get 1080p for sure. If under, consider 720p.
• What kind? Plasma, LCD, or LED?
  Skip to the bottom for more details!

Samsung PN42B450 Plasma HDTV 42-inch 720p

I am a student, so when I bought this TV for only $625, I was ecstatic. Now, this Samsung is once again around that price on Amazon, so I advise you to buy it! I love the quality when watching anything on this plasma. It does not have any internet connectivity such as the other two models listed below, but I can connect it to my laptop easily through either a VGA or HDMI cable and stream HD fine. If on a budget, pick up this TV!

Buy: Samsung PN42B450
Read More

Ubuntu 9.10: Karmic Koala 32

After becoming increasingly frustrated with Windows Vista, I began searching for an alternative operating system. An “upgrade” to Windows XP seemed like the only other option, but Skatter Tech’s senior editor, Sahas Katta, suggested I try Ubuntu 9.10: Karmic Koala. Naturally, after years and years of using Windows based systems, I hesitated to install Ubuntu. First off, I did not like using Linux. I never got into the habit of learning all the different commands and functions of a Linux OS and did not want to start now. I believed in this stereotype that only very tech-savvy computer engineers used anything Linux related. Therefore, I winced after Sahas suggestion as I knew that Ubuntu was built on the open source Linux kernel. But alas, Vista drove me nuts and I became fed up. Finally, I weighed my options: I could either go back to Windows XP (older, but I know it worked) or try out the free, open source Ubuntu OS (new, but mysterious). So I figured, what’s the worst that can happen if I try Ubuntu? Read More

November 2009 Game Releases 1

This November will be an exciting month for gamers, especially those who have a PS3 or Xbox 360. Highly anticipated games on all three consoles release this month, including Assassin’s Creed II, CoD4: Modern Warfare 2, and New Super Mario Bros. So get out your cash, and get ready to buy these games!

BlackBerry Storm2 (Review) 4

Today is the day, the BlackBerry Storm2 is finally here. We received this device a few days ago and I have put it to the test since. As the name implies, the Storm2 is the upgrade to the Storm, which was RIM’s first touch-screen device. Although the model shares a similar design and form factor, it resolves many of the issues the previous version faced. The BlackBerry Storm2 now features a new clickable capacitive touch screen, runs on the new 5.0 OS, is more responsive, and even has WiFi.

BlackBerry Storm2 Specifications:

• Provider: Verizon Wireless UMTS/HSPA & EDGE/GPRS/GSM
• Displays: SurePress 3.25-inch 360×480 pixels touch screen
• Camera: 3.2 Megapixel Camera w/ Auto-focus & Flash
• Music: MP3, M4A, WMA, & AAC/eAAC/eAAC+
• Video: MPEG4, WMV, H.264
• Memory: 2GB (internal) | 16GB microSD included
• Dimensions: 4.43″ L x 2.45″ W x .55″ D
• Battery: GSM: 5-6 hours talk time | 270-305 hours standby
• Other: Bluetooth 2.1 | 3.5 mm Audio Jack | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g

The Body: 5/5
The Storm2 is a bit of a heavy phone just like the original Storm, but there are plenty of changes that make it fantastic. For one it simply just looks sharp and feels like an expensive device. The front is completely glossy, the sides are covered with a chrome trim, and the back has a brushed metal look. Instead of having separated physical buttons for the send, menu, back, and end keys, they are all integrated onto the bottom of the SurePress touch screen. The speaker is now located on the bottom portion facing the user for undistorted quality instead of on the back. The voice command key and the micro USB port are on the left side of the phone. From the top to the bottom on the right side, there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack, volume rocker, and the camera shutter. The top of the back side has the 3.2 mega pixel camera and a LED flash right above the plate covering the battery pack, SIM card, and microSD card. The play/pause control and power button that also locks the phone is on the top. Everything is within fingers reach and the grip feels great.

Read More