Verdict of Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint) android smartphone

Samsung Epic 4G android smartphone has a large Super AMOLED touch screen, a 1GHz Hummingbird Cortex A8 processor, and it will have access to Samsung's upcoming Media Hub store. The Epic 4G layers on several enticing extras that its line mates don't have--such as a slide-out keyboard, a front-facing camera, a LED flash, and most intriguing of all, it supports Sprint's nascent 4G WiMax network. The latter feature makes it the second 4G phone in the U.S. after the HTC Evo 4G.

Design
While it is not the sexiest of the Samsung Galaxy S models--that honor goes to the Samsung Vibrant for T-Mobile--the Epic 4G is not a bad-looker either. Its rounded edges, curved corners, and glossy black surface give it a sleek and elegant look that is minimalist and eye-catching. Yet, at 4.9 inches long by 2.54 inches wide by 0.56 inches thick and 5.46 ounces, the Epic 4G is perhaps the SUV of the Galaxy S phones and might be a tight fit in most pockets. Still, we appreciate its heft as it contributes to a decidedly solid and durable feel in the hand.

The Epic 4G's 4.0-inch Super AMOLED display absolutely mesmerized us. It can display 16 million colors and has a WVGA resolution, which enables it to display vibrant graphics and fantastic looking video. The screen also has a wider viewing angle and a higher contrast ratio when compared with a traditional LCD. Thankfully, unlike older OLED displays, the Super AMOLED screen also looks great under bright sunlight.

We found the touch-screen display to be quite responsive. It didn't take long for it to register our taps, and flipping through menus and lists felt intuitive and second nature. If you like, the Epic 4G provides vibration and sound effects as touch feedback, though we didn't think it was necessary. The accelerometer kicked in very quickly, less than a second, to change the screen orientation when we rotated the phone. We're also glad that the Epic 4G has a proximity sensor, which turns off the screen when we hold the phone to our ear during a call. As for input methods, you can use Swype or the standard Android virtual keyboard. Underneath the display are four touch-sensitive keys for the menu, home, back, and search, which are standard for Android phones.

While you can always use the virtual keyboard, the Epic 4G also has a slide-out physical keyboard. Just slide the display to the right and you'll find an incredibly spacious QWERTY keyboard with five whole rows of keys. The physical keyboard gives you a dedicated row of number keys as well as four physical versions of the touch-sensitive controls we mentioned earlier. As we're not big fans of touch-sensitive controls, we're very pleased with the latter. Not only is the keyboard well spaced, but also the keys are highly clickable, with just the right amount of tactile response when pressed. It's certainly one of the better mobile QWERTY keyboards we've tested.

The Epic 4G's other physical controls are the volume rocker on the left spine, and the power/screen lock key and camera button on the right. The phone has 3.5mm headset jack and a Micro-USB port on the top, while its back houses the camera lens and an LED flash. We should note that the Samsung Epic 4G is the only Galaxy S phone with an LED flash for the camera. It is also the only Galaxy S phone to have a front-facing camera, which is located to the upper right of the display. The microSD card slot is located behind the battery cover.

Sprint ships the Samsung Epic 4G with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a wired stereo headset with interchangeable ear bud covers, and reference material. You can also purchase a docking station and a battery charging station, which are available separately. For more add-ons, please check our cell phones accessories, ringtones, and help page.

Out of all the phones in the Samsung Galaxy S series, the Epic 4G strikes us as the most desirable for power users. Like all Galaxy S phones, the Epic 4G has a large Super AMOLED touch screen, a 1GHz Hummingbird Cortex A8 processor, and it will have access to Samsung's upcoming Media Hub store. The Epic 4G layers on several enticing extras that its line mates don't have--such as a slide-out keyboard, a front-facing camera, an LED flash, and most intriguing of all, it supports Sprint's nascent 4G WiMax network. The latter feature makes it the second 4G phone in the U.S. after the HTC Evo 4G.

Perhaps the Epic 4G's biggest downside is its price. At $249.99, it is the most expensive Galaxy S phone that Samsung makes, and that price is with a new two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. As with the Evo 4G, Sprint charges a mandatory $10 per month for its 4G data. According to Sprint, the price is justifiable because of the extra services you get for the price--4G speeds, unlimited data, and the use of it as a mobile Wi-Fi hot spot, which costs an additional $29.99 a month--but we think the add-on should be optional since its 4G service is not available nationwide.

However, we think the Epic 4G truly deserves its name as its design and feature set make it the all-in-one powerhouse in the Galaxy S family.

The Samsung Epic 4G has a very impressive 4.0-inch Super AMOLED display.

The Epic 4G's 4.0-inch Super AMOLED display absolutely mesmerized us. It can display 16 million colors and has a WVGA resolution, which enables it to display vibrant graphics and fantastic looking video. The screen also has a wider viewing angle and a higher contrast ratio when compared with a traditional LCD. Thankfully, unlike older OLED displays, the Super AMOLED screen also looks great under bright sunlight.

We found the touch-screen display to be quite responsive. It didn't take long for it to register our taps, and flipping through menus and lists felt intuitive and second nature. If you like, the Epic 4G provides vibration and sound effects as touch feedback, though we didn't think it was necessary. The accelerometer kicked in very quickly, less than a second, to change the screen orientation when we rotated the phone. We're also glad that the Epic 4G has a proximity sensor, which turns off the screen when we hold the phone to our ear during a call. As for input methods, you can use Swype or the standard Android virtual keyboard. Underneath the display are four touch-sensitive keys for the menu, home, back, and search, which are standard for Android phones.

The Samsung Epic 4G is the only Galaxy S phone with a physical keyboard.

While you can always use the virtual keyboard, the Epic 4G also has a slide-out physical keyboard. Just slide the display to the right and you'll find an incredibly spacious QWERTY keyboard with five whole rows of keys. The physical keyboard gives you a dedicated row of number keys as well as four physical versions of the touch-sensitive controls we mentioned earlier. As we're not big fans of touch-sensitive controls, we're very pleased with the latter. Not only is the keyboard well spaced, but also the keys are highly clickable, with just the right amount of tactile response when pressed. It's certainly one of the better mobile QWERTY keyboards we've tested.

The Epic 4G's other physical controls are the volume rocker on the left spine, and the power/screen lock key and camera button on the right. The phone has 3.5mm headset jack and a Micro-USB port on the top, while its back houses the camera lens and an LED flash. We should note that the Samsung Epic 4G is the only Galaxy S phone with an LED flash for the camera. It is also the only Galaxy S phone to have a front-facing camera, which is located to the upper right of the display. The microSD card slot is located behind the battery cover.

Sprint ships the Samsung Epic 4G with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a wired stereo headset with interchangeable ear bud covers, and reference material. You can also purchase a docking station and a battery charging station, which are available separately. For more add-ons, please check our cell phones accessories, ringtones, and help page.

User interface
Like the rest of the Galaxy S series, the Epic 4G runs on Android 2.1 with Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 interface. The latter is definitely improved from previous versions, with some enhanced functionality and a more polished look.

To start, there are new widgets, including one called Feeds & Updates and another called Buddies Now. Feeds & Updates streams updates from Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, and you can choose to display content from one, two, or all three of the social-networking Web sites, as well as set the refresh rate, ranging from 30 minutes to once a day. Buddies Now is like a favorites list and lets you immediately call or text those contacts, as well as comment on any of their updates. There are a number of other Samsung widgets, Android widgets, and other shortcuts, all of which can be added to one of seven home screens.

The home screens can also be personalized with live wallpaper, but there are two elements that remain on each screen: the pull-down notification tray on top, which now includes wireless manager and profile functions, and the toolbar along the bottom with quick-launch buttons to the phone dialer, contacts, messaging, and applications. Pressing the latter takes you to a nice grid view of all your apps; they're spread out over several pages, which you can swipe from side to side. The menu icons are also neatly arranged inside squares for a more unified look. We much prefer this layout over the standard Android one, where you have to scroll up and down. It feels more natural, easier to navigate, and is easier to use than the standard Android interface.

Also, for those worried about how the TouchWiz interface may interfere with future Android updates, according to Samsung, the entire Galaxy S portfolio will be upgradeable to Android 2.2, and it has made tweaks to the user interface that will make it easier to adapt it to future Android versions. However, the company also noted that without really knowing what Google has planned down the line, there may be a time where updates can't be supported because of hardware limitations or other factors.

Features
The Samsung Epic 4G is a CDMA phone that supports 3G and 4G connectivity--3G is in the form of EV-DO Rev. A, while 4G is in the form of Sprint's WiMax. While we weren't able to test the 4G connectivity at the time of this writing, you can read our review of the HTC Evo 4G to get some idea of our experiences with Sprint's 4G WiMax service. Like the Evo 4G, you can use the Epic 4G as a mobile Wi-Fi hots pot for up to five devices. However, bear in mind that this mobile broadband hot spot service costs an extra $29.99 a month.

Unsurprisingly, the Epic 4G comes with a few basic smartphone features like the speakerphone, conference calling, voice dialing, text and multimedia messaging, visual voice mail, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. The latter is compatible with Sprint's Navigation service, though we're slightly partial to Google's Maps with Navigation app. The phone book is limited to available memory and there's room in each entry for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, IM handles, group IDs, photo caller IDs, and more.

You can merge all your contacts from your various email and social network accounts into your phonebook with Samsung's Social Hub feature. The phone is often smart enough to link the contacts for you, but we found we had to do some manual linking for a few of our contacts. As for e-mail, the Epic 4G works with Gmail in addition to your own POP3, IMAP, and Exchange accounts, and you can view a combined in-box for all your e-mail if you like. As with the other Galaxy S phones, this works best if you have relatively few e-mail folders-- too many of them will result in a rather cluttered interface. The calendar also syncs nicely with your Google or Outlook calendar.

Since the Epic 4G has a front-facing VGA camera, it makes sense that Sprint has included the Qik video chat app with the phone. With Qik and the front camera, you are able to make and answer video calls provided the other person also has a Qik account. You can also video chat with someone who has Qik running on a PC. The Qik video chat service is free, but there's a premium service that provides higher resolution and video archiving for $4.99 a month. You can use Qik with Wi-Fi, 4G, and 3G networks, but its video is noticeably choppier when connected via 3G.

Other apps on the Epic 4G include the alarm clock, the Android Webkit Web browser, the calculator, Facebook, the memo pad, Google Talk, ThinkFree Office, the voice dialer, Google voice search, the Asphalt video game, and YouTube. Since it is a Sprint phone, you also get a few standard Sprint apps like Sprint Zone, Sprint Navigation, Sprint Football, Nascar Sprint Mobile, and Sprint TV. You can get more apps via the Android Market.

The Epic 4G's beautiful Super AMOLED display makes the phone well suited for watching media. You can watch content from YouTube and Sprint TV, though the video quality from both sources doesn't quite do the display justice. Thankfully, eventually you'll be able to rent and purchase content on the Epic 4G from Samsung's Media Hub that will launch later this year. According to Samsung, its service will include both TV shows and movies; however, we don't yet know the names of the content partners. If you like, you can load your own videos--the Epic 4G supports MP4 video formats in addition to DivX- and DivX HD-encoded media files. The phone is also compatible with Samsung's AllShare service that lets you wirelessly share stored media (that includes pictures, HD video, and more) to other DLNA-certified home electronics.

As with all Android phones, you can purchase and download songs from the Amazon MP3 store, and of course, you can load your own music via USB or microSD. The music player has 5.1-channel surround sound and it has a pretty album cover interface similar to Apple's Cover Flow. The phone only has 1GB of internal memory, so we would advise the use of microSD cards for storing media. The Epic 4G can take up to 16GB microSD cards.

Last, but definitely not least, is the 5.0-megapixel camera, which can record video in HD. Its picture quality is pretty impressive. We thought the images looked sharp and colors were nice and natural. Low-light shots weren't so hot, but, thankfully, the Epic 4G has an LED flash that helped considerably. Some of the camera settings include ISO, blink and smile detection, and panorama mode.

Verdict of the most durable Motorola Defy android smartphone

Motorola Defy specifications:

Size: Dimensions 107mm x 59mm x 13.4mm . Weight 118 g.

Display: Type TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Size 480 x 854 pixels, 3.7 inches

-Gorilla Glass display

-Touch sensitive controls

-Motoblur UI with Live Widgets

-Multi-Touch Input Method

-Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate

-Proximity sensor for auto turn-off

2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network: HSDPA 900 / 2100

Memory internal: 2 GB storage, 512 MB RAM,Card slot: microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB included.

Camera 5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash

Features of Motorola Defy android smartphone:

Android OS, v2.1 (Eclair), upgradable to v2.2, CPU TI OMAP3610 800MHz processor.

Battery: Standard battery, Li-Po 1540 mAh.Stand-by up to 238 h, Talk-time up to 6 h 48 min.

Motorola built its ultra-durable Defy smartphone with one purpose–to play the role of ‘toughest Droid on the market'. Just by looking at its heftiness and build-quality, one can (appropriately) guess that the DEFY can withstand more than any other smartphone currently available to the consumer market.

Around the body of the handset lie typical controls, a power/standby button, volume controls, but no dedicated button for the 5-megapixel camera on the back. The exposed screws and black and white design just exude toughness, and it can handle water pressure up to 1 meter. There is an LED flash, if you find such things useful for your mobile snapping, you could always use it as an emergency torch should you take the Defy camping.

Across the bottom of the screen are typical and familiar controls for Motorola fans, offering menu, home, back, and search. These buttons are touch sensitive and provide easy navigation around the device.

The Defy's specs match up well with smartphones like the HTC Aria or even the Samsung Vibrant, which is pretty impressive considering its purpose. It packs a high-res, 3.7-inch edge-to-edge capacitive touchscreen display on the front shows. Although it may be finished in Gorilla Glass, too much rough handling will damage the screen.

It includes an 800MHz processor with 2GB of memory and runs Android 2.1, which is the major disappointment of the device. If it ran Froyo (2.2), it would run complete Flash video integration. However, Defy does run Motoblur; a software coating that runs over Android that specializes in a rich social networking experience.

Unfortunately, it only supports 640 x 480 resolution video capture, although superior video capabilities aren't a priority for most users. You get all the hardware connectivity you'd expect, including HSDPA, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. It also supports DLNA, so you'll be able to easily share your captured content with compatible devices. It can also double as a mobile hotspot, a feature that most carriers have come to love.

The Motorola Defy is a fresh face in what has been a non-existent ultra-durable smartphone market prior to its release. If you're looking for a phone that has a strong extra layer of protection, the Motorola Defy should meet your expectations and give you a solid Android/Motoblur experience.

Talk about HTC Desire Z Android smartphone

The HTC Desire Z smartphone has a respectable side, with its QWERTY keyboard, it also offers some fun with numerous media functions.
The HTC Desire Z smartphone features the latest Android operating system, version 2.2, so there are some major new features to enjoy - as well as the HTC Sense interface, and some new widgets and apps. But HTC has still managed to retain the simple user-friendly interface. You'll find seven home screens, to which you can add shortcuts, apps, wallpapers and widgets. In the centre is the “home” screen. Here there is a default set of widgets and shortcuts (HTC dubs these “scenes” and there are a number of preselected ones to choose from). You can either customise these, or begin with a blank canvas and create your own. At the bottom of the display is a dock, which features a large swatch for Phone along with a pair of smaller tabs for personalisation and programs.
The personalisation menu is now uber-organised, with tabs for customising sound and display, as well as adding shortcuts to home screens. Turn on the handset for the first time and you'll be taken through a simple setup process that asks you to input all your social network and email accounts. The phone could be a bit geeky, but thanks to this straightforward setup, it is actually simple to use.
The Desire Z's HTML browser supports Flash, which enables the user to see web pages as they would appear on your desktop (and that includes embedded video), which puts it ahead of the likes of the iPhone and Windows 7 devices.
Looking good
The Desire Z weighs in at a quite hefty 180g. The battery sits behind a stainless steel cover that pops open when you press a spring-loaded button. The S-LCD display is 3.7inches, and proves brighter than the Super AMOLED displays. A narrow black bezel sits around its edge, and there are a total of four touch-sensitive areas for universal search, home, back and menu. The OK button takes the form of a black optical trackpad. Along the sides of the device, you'll find a micro USB port and a volume rocker - right at the top there's a 3.5mm headphone jack. Memory can be expanded from 1.5GB up to 32GB thanks to a microSD slot. One thing we found annoying is that some of the apps - including the snapper - won't work unless a microSD is inserted, and you won't find one in the box.
Rather than the slider mechanism found on many QWERTY handsets, the Desire Z opens on a three-piece hinge. This offers the user the best possible space to use the four-line QWERTY keyboard, which is backlit for use in low light and has a number of nifty extras - there's a dedicated @ key, and you have the option of assigning two customisable keys to the apps of your choice. While the hinge opens and shuts with a snap, it's neither as smooth nor as controlled as that on the HTC Touch Pro2.
Android and power
With a 1GHz processor and a decent 512MB RAM under the bonnet, you'd expect this device to be pretty speedy, and yet we encountered quite a lag when using the screen. The display is still accurate and responsive, it can be sluggish to scroll and we waited a second for pinch to zoom to work. This may be down to the power-hungry Android 2.2 OS, as we encountered similar problems on the Desire when we updated it to 2.2 from its native Android 2.1
We also found ourselves having to force-close quite often - usually when we were running RAM-intensive features such as maps and the browser. If you want to close open apps without rummaging in the Settings menu, you'll have to download a task manager app from Android Market.
Thanks to its up-to-date OS, the Desire Z can act as a Wi-Fi hotspot - it does a clever trick where it transforms its 3G connection into a Wi-Fi network, to which you can connect other Wi-Fi devices. It's simple to achieve, and can be password-protected so all and sundry won't be using your network! However, be warned that this drains a lot of energy - and the battery has a very average life anyway. We found we had to charge up every night, and with the likes of 3G, Wi-Fi and sat-nav running, it didn't make it through the whole day.
Seeing sense.com
HTC now has a server where you can back up all your data - Sense.com. Using their Sense.com account, the user is able to back up everything from maps, links and contacts, to photos, searches and text messages. The nifty thing about this is that you can also transfer all this information onto another phone - so should you (heaven forbid) lose your phone, or upgrade to another Sense-Android phone, all these details can be downloaded onto the new desire. It is also possible to control your handset remotely using Sense.com. Lost or left your phone somewhere? Choose from call and text forwarding options, a facility to lock your phone or - if you're sure it has gone forever - the remote wipe. It is also possible to make your phone ring on full; fantastic if you're in the habit of leaving it in silent mode and then putting it down “somewhere”. However, we didn't manage to get this to work while we were reviewing the device, and an HTC spokesman did state that this facility is a bit patchy at the moment.
You've got mail
One of the key highlights of the HTC Desire Z is its universal inbox - this can stream your mail from a number of accounts (apart from Gmail). Like other Android handsets, there is a separate app for Gmail.
There is another mail app, entitled Mail, which allows you to add webmail and Microsoft Exchange. You could add Gmail in here if you wanted, but you'd end up getting two lots of notifications. Your mail notifications appear at the top of the display, as do other alerts. To see the full information, simply drag them down.
It is possible to view one mail account at a time, or you can look at them together. You are also able to sort messages by size, sender, date, subject or priority. The phone also allows you to look at other folders - such as trash, drafts or sent - but it only applies to mail that has been downloaded or created on the handset - so you won't be able to view everything you've ever sent, written or dumped. Each account's email is tagged with a different colour for identification, and you can choose to filter by mail with attachments, favourites or unread mail. But don't expect to see your responses, as you can on Gmail. If you're accessing Microsoft Exchange accounts, it's possible to add a facility that lets you flag mails as priority. Oddly, it won't work with invites from Google Calendar or sent from standalone Outlook accounts - we could, naturally, open them and go through to the Calendar app.
Application highlights
With the benefit of Google Maps and A-GPS, it has always been possible to use HTC Android handsets as sat navs, but now the Desire Z has something new in the shape of a Car Panel app, which transforms the home screen into a sat nav dashboard, complete with nearby points of interest, links to your finish point, a history of places visited - and there's also a shortcut to the dialler, so it's simple to use the phone. There's a free 30-day licence for voice navigation (we found the feminine voice quite soothing) but voice command is omitted. We did like the fact that you can put your handset in a car mount, and even if it's connected to neither a headset or car kit, the speakerphone will instantly turn on if you receive or make a call.
The phone's five-megapixel snapper is better than the one that was included on the Desire - daylight images are particularly good, with warm bright colours and decent clarity. Video records at 720p.
The verdict
There are a number of features that make the Desire Z an excellent business handset, but it will also appeal to Android fans thanks to its social networking, media and web facilities. Its top-notch touch-screen, access to Android apps and customisability make it stand out from the other QWERTY smartphones on the market.

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About Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant Android smartphone

Samsung, the top most mobile phone brand in the field of mobile phones, has been very dominating from its very origin into the market. People are getting attracted to get hold of one of the Samsung mobile phones. And to retain the trust and belief of the people, it has released its marvelous mobile phone device, Samsung Galaxy S.

Design
Out of all the Samsung Galaxy S series models, we'd have to say the Samsung Vibrant is the sleekest and sexiest one of the bunch. The look is rather familiar, but the combination of the slim profile, clean design, and rounded edges is really pleasing to the eye. Also, at 4.82 inches tall by 2.54 inches wide by 0.39 inch thick and 4.16 ounces, the Vibrant makes for a nice travel companion, slipping easily into a pants pocket and feeling lightweight in the hand. That said, the handset feels plasticky and slick. We wouldn't say it's fragile, but it definitely left a lot to be desired, especially compared with the solid and durable Nexus One.
Glancing at the Vibrant's 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen, it's easy to see how the smartphone got its name. The display supports 16 million colors and has a WVGA resolution, making it sharp and yes, vibrant. Images look amazing, text is easy to read, and you can actually see what's on the screen in the bright daylight. When compared with the iPhone 4's Retina Display, the Vibrant's screen definitely looks more saturated, showing richer colors and deeper blacks, but on the other hand, the iPhone's display is a tad crisper. We'll be running more-precise tests to measure the screen quality of these phones, so definitely check back for those results.

In the meantime, we can say that the Vibrant's touch screen was quite responsive during our review period. It always registered our taps, and the scrolling experience was smooth and fast. In addition, the built-in accelerometer was quick to change the screen orientation when we rotated the phone. The Vibrant comes with multiple input methods, including Swype, a standard Android keyboard, and Samsung's own keyboard.

There are four touch-sensitive buttons below the display: menu, home, back, and search. You won't find too many physical buttons on the Vibrant, but you do get a volume rocker on the left side, and a lock/power key on the right. The top of the device houses the Micro-USB port and the 3.5mm headphone jack. The camera is located on the back as usual, but alas, no flash.

T-Mobile ships the Samsung Vibrant with an AC adapter, a USB cable, an alternative back cover, a wired stereo headset, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check our cell phones accessories, ringtones, and help page.

User interface
Like the rest of the Galaxy S series, the Vibrant runs on Android 2.1 with Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 interface. The latter is definitely improved from previous versions, with some enhanced functionality and a more polished look.

To start, there are new widgets, including one called Feeds & Updates and another called Buddies Now. Feeds & Updates streams updates from Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, and you can choose to display content from one, two, or all three of the social-networking sites, as well as set the refresh rate, ranging from 30 minutes to once a day. Buddies Now is like a favorites list and allows you to immediately call or text those contacts, as well as comment on any of their updates. There are a number of other Samsung widgets, as well as Android widgets and other shortcuts, all of which can be added to one of seven home screens.

The home screens can also be personalized with live wallpapers, but there are two elements that can't be changed: the pull-down notification tray on top, which now includes wireless manager and profile functions, and the toolbar along the bottom with quick-launch buttons to the phone app, contacts, messages, and applications. Pressing the latter takes you to a nice grid view of all your apps; they're spread out over several pages, which you can swipe from side to side to get to. We much prefer this layout over the standard Android one, where you have to scroll up and down. It feels more natural and easier to navigate.

Admittedly, we missed some elements of the HTC Sense, such as the Leap screen, which provides a thumbnail version of all your home screen panels, but for the general consumer, TouchWiz does a good job of making Android quite user-friendly, almost to the point where it doesn't even look or feel like an Android phone. Also, for those worried about the TouchWiz interface interfering with future Android updates, Samsung has already said that the Vibrant and the entire Galaxy S portfolio will be upgradeable to Android 2.2 and that it has made tweaks to the UI that will make it easier to adapt to future updates. However, the company also noted that without really knowing what Google has planned down the line, there may be a time where updates can't be supported because of hardware limitations or other factors.

Features
The Samsung Vibrant is a quad-band world phone and offers a speakerphone, conference calling, voice dialing, text and multimedia messaging, and the full range of wireless options: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, and GPS. The phone book is limited only by the available memory (the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts), and there's room in each entry for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, IM handles, group IDs, photo caller IDs, and so on. You can merge contact information from various accounts, such as Facebook, Outlook, and Gmail.

We had no problems syncing up our Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and Twitter accounts to the Vibrant, but there were a number of instances where contact info for the same person wasn't merged, but to be fair, we've experienced this on every Android phone. Plus, it's easy to link up contacts. Samsung also added a sweep feature in the Contacts app where if you swipe from left to right, you can automatically dial a person's number or if you swipe right to left, you can send a message.

We've already talked a little bit about supported e-mail clients, but to reiterate, the Vibrant works with Gmail, POP3, IMAP, and Exchange accounts and provides a combined in-box and calendar. You can also view each account separately if you wish. The in-box provides a tabbed view of all your folders, but as we found out, it can get a bit unruly if you have a lot of them. Fortunately, there is a search and sort function. One other messaging tool that Samsung throws in is an app called Write and Go, where you can compose a message on a notepad and then select your delivery method, whether it be an SMS, an e-mail, or a status update, so you don't have to find and launch each individual app.

Some other extras included on the Vibrant are a Mini Diary app, the ThinkFree Office Suite, Layar's reality browser, TeleNav GPS, visual voice mail, a calculator, a voice recorder, and a memo pad. Additional apps, both free and paid, are available through the Android Market.

Obviously, all the aforementioned features are important and make up the core of the device, but with the 4-inch AMOLED touch screen, multimedia plays just as an important role and T-Mobile's fully aware of it. Like the HTC HD2, the carrier is shipping the Vibrant with a number of extra entertainment features, including a full-length copy of "Avatar," Amazon Kindle for Android, the Sims 3, MobiTV, Slacker Radio, and a month of free in-flight Wi-Fi access through Gogo Inflight Internet.

As usual, you can also purchase and download songs from the Amazon MP3 store, and the music player offers 5.1-channel surround sound and an attractive Cover Flow-like interface. One area where Android has trailed iOS in terms of multimedia is video, since there isn't any type of video store for Android. However, users of the Galaxy S devices will eventually be able to purchase movies when Samsung's Media Hub is launched later this year; it will include content from "some of the biggest names in entertainment."

Finally, you get a 5-megapixel camera with HD video recording. There is no flash, but you get a number of editing options, including some advanced ones like ISO settings, blink and smile detection, and panorama mode. Without a flash, the picture quality of indoor shots was a bit dull and also slightly blurry. Video quality was respectable for a camera phone. Aside from the traditional avenues of sharing photos and videos--Facebook, MMS, YouTube, and so forth--the Vibrant also has TV-out and DLNA capabilities and offers 16GB of internal memory, plus an expansion slot (supports up to 32GB cards).

Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) Samsung Vibrant in New York using T-Mobile service, and call quality was excellent. The audio on our side of the conversation was clear and rich with little to no background noise or voice distortion. We also had no problem using an airline's voice-automated response system. Our friends were also complimentary of the call quality and didn't report any major problems or complaints.

Speakerphone quality was pretty much what we expected; there was a slight hollowness to the calls, but it was still clear enough and loud enough to hold conversations. We paired the Vibrant to the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset and the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones with no problem, but for now, there is no support for voice dialing over Bluetooth. This feature will be added with Android 2.2.

T-Mobile's network provided mostly reliable 3G coverage throughout Manhattan, though it did drop to EDGE several times at CNET's offices in Midtown. However, 3G speeds were good. The full CNET News site loaded in 10 seconds, and mobile sites for CNN and ESPN came up in 6 seconds and 5 seconds, respectively. YouTube videos took just a few seconds to load and played back without interruption, and when viewed in high quality, the clips were quite watchable. "Avatar" looked amazing on the Vibrant, as did the MP4 videos we loaded onto the device. The 5.1-channel surround sound enhanced the movie-viewing experience, though we preferred to keep it off when just listening to music.

The Vibrant features Samsung's 1GHz Hummingbird Cortex A8 application processor, and for the most part, it kept the smartphone running smoothly throughout our testing period. Apps were quick to launch, and we didn't encounter any crashes. The only time we experienced a slight delay was when we launched the photo gallery, as it took a few seconds to load up our albums.

The Samsung Vibrant comes with a 1,500mAh lithium ion battery with a rated talk time of 6.5 hours and up to 18 days of standby time. In our battery drain tests we were able to get 6 hours of continuous talk time on a single charge. That said, the day-to-day battery life isn't stellar. After a few hours of browsing, e-mail, and listening to music, battery levels were at a little less than 50 percent, so we'll definitely be keeping tabs on this as we continue testing. According to FCC radiation tests, the Vibrant has a digital SAR rating of 0.89 watt per kilogram and has a Hearing Aid Compatibility Rating of M3/T3.

Talk about LG P990 Star Android smartphone

The Tegra 2-powered LG Star runs Android 2.2 Froyo instead of an approaching 2.3 Gingerbread though still managed to outperform a Nexus One. One of a screenshots shows a indication number, so a phone is rigourously well known as a LG P990 Star. The Star moniker competence shift though a indication series will substantially stay a same.

The LG P990 Star is using a customized UI upon tip of Android Froyo. Word is, however, which Gingerbread will take a place by a time a device launches. There’s not many upon a Tegra 2 specs, similar to CPU time speed, though it did kick a Nexus One with Froyo during a Quadrant benchmark.

The 8MP camera upon a behind has an Led peep-you instruct you got a little acknowledgment of a Full HD (1080p) video recording which it is supposed to be able of. Anyway, there’s an HDMI pier upon a tip of a LG P990 Star, many expected of a mini variety.

One some-more bit of great headlines- a “No SIM” notice equates to which a LG P990 Star is a GSM device (the initial supposed Star which you saw was a CDMA phone).

Here are some of the specifications of this superstar phone:

-4 inch TFT Capacitative touchscreen

-Dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor

-Android 2.3

-8 Mega pixel camera with LED flash capable of 1080p Video recording

-Front Facing camera for Vid Calling

-microUSB 2.0

-3.5mm head jack

-HDMI port

-Wifi b/g/n

-2G and 3G (HDSPA) Network support

-Bluetooth

-MicroSD and MicroSDHC expansion slot

-Standard 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery

About HTC Desire HD Android smartphone

The HTC Desire HD is bringing a similar experience to the others in its top end Android line - namely, using its snazzy Sense UI to make the Google experience much better in addition to the new Android 2.2 OS it's rocking.

The Taiwanese firm has worked its magic again for the new Desire HD and Desire Z, offering up new widgets, layouts and ways to play with your phone on the train.

For the uninitiated, Sense UI is a skin that sits on top of the basic Android experience, offering new widgets and a greater number of home screens to play with.

If you want to access these quickly, simply pinch the screen in, and you'll see all the different pages showcased in an exploded view - really handy if you're at one end of the list and want to look at something you've stored at the other end.

One feature of HTC's Android handsets has always been a fluid experience under the finger, and once again that's on show here with the HTC Desire HD.

It's simply mind blowing, much like the experience on the Samsung Galaxy S (when it's working) and the iPhone 4... there's not a hint of slowdown on show here, no matter how hard you push the phone.

You can drag the notifications bar down from almost any application, and even if the phone is updating in the background you won't notice any juddering - in fact the only time we encountered a sniff of it was when we were downloading 10 applications at once.

The home screens are obviously large and clear with a 4.3-inch display, and the extra estate means HTC can offer up massively functional widgets or half sized versions of many of them so you can fit more onto your home screen set up.

It should be applauded that HTC has managed to overhaul the Sense UI without making any major changes - in fact, they're mostly nothing more than tweaks but still bring that level of user delight that we're so excited about.

The first is the extra option at the bottom of the screen - rather than having to long press the display to edit it (although you still can) there's an icon of a palette to press, which achieves the same thing.

The editing screen has been overhauled too, with a load more options. Here you can do little things like alter your ringtone (or even the whole sound set, so all notifications will sound like harps or the sea or whatever you're into - we were sad “Top sounds of the M4” didn't make the cut) or change all the icons and set up of your home screen using the new scenes offering.

You can scroll through all the new scenes on offer, which are preloaded with different arrangements of widgets and wallpapers, or you can hit a button to quickly download more.

Not only is it testament to the new GPU on the HTC Desire HD that this process of scrolling through thumbnails suffers no slowdown, but the ease of which you can go online to download more shows that this really is a next generation smartphone.

Other things you can edit include skins (to change the way the phone's notification bars and menus are shaped and coloured) and wallpaper too, making it very easy and cool to personalise your Desire HD.

We're a little peeved you can't do timed screen changeovers - how cool would it have been to be able to suddenly see your phone enter party mode (even though that already sounds a bit sad) at 5.30 on a Friday evening?

Another tweak is the Edit button - before when users would hold an icon or widget, the Android interface would pop up with a “remove” option that you could drop your selection into.

Now you also get an edit option (if applicable) which allows you to change certain elements - very cool and one of the things that show off the overall slick nature of the Desire HD.

The menu layout is the same as ever - a scrollable list of icons you can mess around with and re-arrange as you see fit, or pop into folders to make it easier to use.

Another new feature on the Desire HD lives in the notifications bar, which you open by dragging your finger down from the top of the screen.

Here you'll see your most recently-used icons, making it mega easy to swipe along and see what you've been up to - and opening up oft-love options too.

The interface on the HTC Desire HD is simply phenomenal - you can sync up loads of accounts and have a fair few background processes and yet things still tick along wonderfully in the foreground.

And another thing of HTC Desire HD that the fast booting process is sensational. It only works if you've turned the phone off and not pulled out the battery (as you might do on the plane) but turning it back on yielded a start screen that we could play with in less than 8 seconds, which is amazing and we had to check it three times to believe it.

About Toshiba Regza ISO4

Toshiba Regza IS04: The first 12-megapixel Android smartphone is Toshiba Regza IS04. This device is going to hit the Japan market on December 17th, 2010.

Toshiba plans to launch their Android 2.1 smartphone named Toshiba Regza IS04 which will be the world’s first 12 megapixel smartphone on next week. It’s a powerhouse phone that features a Zen-like and simple sharp and squarish design.

The Toshiba Regza IS04 will be operating on Android 2.1 version and is supported by 1 GHz processor. It will be featuring with 4-inch display screen with resolutions of 854 x 480 touchscreen display and 12 megapixel camera. It can capture up to 720pixel video recording. This device is a water-proof device. It is available in two different colors such as white and black.

The most impressive feature of the Regza ISO4 is that it comes with a 12.19 megapixel camera! This is higher resolution than the 12 MP camera found on the Nokia N8! Toshiba used a DSLR-quality CMOS sensor to this phone’s camera, making sure it will produce superb pictures.

Toshiba engineers also made the Regza fully waterproof, making it safe to handle under the rain or under water should you desire to check your Twitter or Facebook under those circumstances!

Underneath it all, Toshiba put a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor to the Regza, making it at par with famous Android phones like the Verizon Motorola Droid X and Sprint HTC Evo 4G. The 4-inch capacitive display also offers a sharp resolution of 854 x 480 resolution.

I’m also happy to learn that the Toshiba Regza ISO4 also comes equipped with a powerful LED flashlight for emergency purposes. The Japanese are always so practical!

Of course, expect this phone to have all the necessary connectivity features. Toshiba revealed that the Regza will have superspeed 3G capabilities that can support up to 9.2 Mbps download speed and up to 5.5 Mbps upload.

Price is not yet final and no word if Toshiba will ever release the Regza at other countries. For now, Japanese consumers will definitely have this phone this coming January.

Toshiba Regza ISO4 features:

* 4-inch touchscreen display

*Resolution of 854 x 480 pixel

*12 megapixel camera

*Bluetooth 2.1

*Water proof

*1seg TV tuner

*802.11 b/g Wi-Fi

*Micro USB port

*Expandable memory up to 32 GB