The HTC Desire

If you had known about the Nexus One, then you know that it runs on Google’s Android operating system and was one of the early mobile phones that pioneered the use of it. The HTC Desire is a slick mobile phone with cooler features than its cousin. It still uses Android and includes a speedy 1GHz Snapdragon, large AMOLED screen, the company’s latest revision of its enhanced Sense UI and goody!, no more trackball!

One nice thing to comment about its Sense UI is that it has this so called feature called Leap View. Basically, pinch the screen in using multi-touch (what do you know, it is supported too) and you will be able to see all seven screens at once. Quite handy if you are over on the far right screen and you want to check the weather on the far left (pinch and prod and you are there, pretty convenient if I say so myself).

The phone is very slim, with dimensions of 119 x 60 x 11.9 mm, and weighs in at just 133g. The power button also functions as the lock key and is very nicely placed to press whenever necessary. The USB slot is hidden at the bottom – no cover to keep the dust out and on the plus side it is of microUSB type, banishing the memory of the horrid miniUSB port from HTC designs of old.

The Desire is yet another fine piece of work from HTC. The product quality is top notch and the new and existing features are nothing to complain about except maybe a little bit in the Flash performance but is that really important? While people may see that these features already exist in older kinds of models, it is always the efficiency and functionalities that makes it better than its predecessors.

Samsung’s iPad Version, Galaxy Tab

Samsung is making a tablet device based on the self-same processor as used within the iPhone, and as with majority of other devices wanting to complete with Apple, is going to run Google’s Android operating system.

Based on a reference design from ARM, Apple’s chips are tweaked for performance and more. But Samsung is joining the fray. Its device will include a front side camera in its 7-inch tablet.

So iPad is an oversized iTouch. Samsung’s product also patterns it the same way. The product, called the Samsung Galaxy Tab is a giant version of Samsung’s Galaxy S phone (see photo).

The Galaxy S has a 5 mega pixel camera and Samsung Galaxy S measures at 64.2X122.4X9.9mm and weighed at only 118 grams. The best part? Videos! It has great codec support and is capable of playing MP3, WAV, eAAC+, AC3 and FLAC audio files and MP4, DivX, WMV, H.264 and H.263 video files.

Notable features include it running Android with TouchWiz UI, has 3G, front facing camera, 3.5mm headphone jack and a 7 inch high resolution TFT screen.

The Samsung Galaxy S is already a great phone with a lot of good features. Now, here is hoping that the same cool features will be integrated into its iPad version.

Is Nintendo DS Lite Worth It?

I have always wanted to buy a Nintendo DS Lite because of Mario. But until now I have never bought one because I still feel that the price is very expensive. When I went home for Easter, my aunt accidentally left her Nintendo DS Lite in our house so it was the perfect chance for me to play some games.

There was no Mario so I tried all the other games instead like Metal Slug and Ice Age 3. Sadly, I was disappointed with the graphics. The game play was not so challenging too and the top screen was just plain useless. I know some games do make use of the other screen but I somehow find it annoying instead.

I already saw a Super Mario game before when a friend of mine played it and even that game I was not so impressed with the graphics. I just liked it because it is Mario. All games are good when it’s Mario. But that is just me. What also annoyed me was that there is no joystick head like in the PSP. I had an uncomfortable time moving characters around. The PSP experience is much better.

We all have different preferences. After that short stint of playing a DS Lite with my bare hands, I feel like my PSP is a much better investment that a Nintendo DS Lite.