High Technology Product Reviews | Trends and News

The first Windows Phone for T-Mobile, the HTC HD7 ($199 with contract) is a big, beautiful device well-suited for media and gaming. Like AT&T's Samsung Focus ($199, 4 stars), it steps out of the way to let Windows Phone 7's beautiful graphic design take center stage. But the HD7 still needs a few improvements, and we still recommend T-Mobile's more mature Android devices over this first-generation Windows phone. Physical Features and Call Quality The HD7's defining feature is its huge, 800-by-480, 4.3-inch LCD screen. It's big, all right, but it's no higher-resolution than any other Windows Phone 7 screen (even those that are physically smaller), and it's dimmer than the Samsung Focus's AMOLED screen. The phone itself is big at 4.8 by 2.7 by 0.4 inches (HWD), but not quite as big as Verizon's huge Motorola Droid X ($199, 4.5 stars). At 5.7 ounces, it's plenty hefty as well. Specifications Service Provider T-Mobile Operating System Wi...

Think all those new touch screen smartphones look too much alike? Motorola has finally hit on a fun new formula with the Flipout, a nifty pivoting square with a highly usable keyboard and (given the phone's small size) a large LCD. You'll pay for the Flipout's originality, as it has one near-fatal flaw and several smaller ones. But it's much more compelling than the bizarre Motorola Backflip ($49.99, 2 stars). Specifications Service Provider AT&T Screen Size 2.8 inches Screen Details 320-by-240-pixel, 65K-color TFT LCD capactive touch screen Camera Yes Network GSM, UMTS Bands 850, 900, 1800, 1900 High-Speed Data GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA Processor Speed 720 MHz Design, Call Quality, and Hardware The Motorola Flipout is surprisingly small, if a bit thick. It measures 2.6 by 2.6 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.2 ounces. It's made of silver and black high-impact plastic. A thin metal plate sits behind the slide-up front panel. Holding the Flipout ...

Windows Phone 7 is a brand-new thing. Microsoft's total mobile OS reboot is bold and fresh. It's also definitely a Version 1.0. Zune fans will be immediately impressed, but for everyone else, buying into Windows Phone 7 is taking a gamble that Microsoft will sand away the rough edges quickly. For now, Windows Phone 7 is arriving on six phones in the U.S.: the Samsung Focus ($199.99, 4 stars), HTC Surround ($199.99, 3 stars) and LG Quantum on AT&T; the HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro on T-Mobile; and the HTC 7 Pro on Sprint. Verizon has said it may support the OS in 2011, but hasn't made any clear commitments. All the initial Windows Phone 7 models have a lot in common. They run on the Qualcomm QSD8250, 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 chipset. They all have 800-by-480 screens, 5-megapixel cameras, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM radios. They vary in terms of hardware keyboards, phone performance, camera quality, preloaded software, and available storage. The Basic Interface Windows Phone ...

Sony E Series Walkman (NWZ-E353) MP3 player is very reasonably priced. Not only do you get 4GB of storage, a 2-inch screen, and photo and video support, but for far less than the new Apple iPod nano ($149; 8GB, 2.5 stars), which has a smaller 1.54-inch screen and offers no video support at all. Sony could have stopped there and had a modest-but-cheap product on its hands, and that's what the company did. The Archos 3cam vision ($99; 8GB, 3.5 stars) has a video recorder and Samsung's YP-R0 ($99.99; 8GB, 3.5 stars) has a better user interface and earphones than your average budget player, but the E Series is no-frills device. It's works well, but is a bit boring when compared with other low-price players. Specifications Storage Capacity (as Tested) 4 GB Player Type Flash MP3 Player Radio Yes Music Playback Formats AAC, MP3, WMA, Protected WMA Photo formats JPEG Video Formats WMV Dimensions 3.7 x 1.75 x 0.4 inches Design and Features Sony's E Series NWZ-E...

The Samsung Acclaim ($79.99 direct) is a fine handset with one main problem: it isn't as powerful as the HTC Desire, our current Editors' Choice for US Cellular phones. Instead, it's in that lower tier of Android smartphones which cost less up front, but are slower and not quite as easy to use. If you want a hardware keyboard and a touch screen in one handset, the Acclaim will get the job done, but it doesn't stand out otherwise. Specifications Service Provider US Cellular Screen Size 3.2 inches Screen Details 320-by-480, 65K-color TFT LCD capactive touch screen Camera Yes Network CDMA Bands 850, 1900 High-Speed Data 1xRTT, EVDO Rev 0 Processor Speed 800 MHz Design, Call Quality, and Apps The Acclaim measures 4.5 by 2.3 by 0.6 inches and weighs 4.6 ounces. It's actually a few tenths of an ounce lighter than the HTC Desire, despite the fact that the Acclaim includes a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and the Desire doesn't. The plastic body is a combi...

The HTC Desire ($199 direct) is US Cellular's best cell phone. It's about as powerful as the HTC Droid Incredible ($299.99, 4.5 stars) on Verizon, but it's cheaper to own. The Desire is also similar to the unlocked (and now discontinued) Google Nexus One, but in some ways, the Desire is even better. HTC's slick Sense UI, combined with the Desire's beautiful screen and fast processor, make this handset our new Editors' Choice for US Cellular smartphones. Specifications Service Provider US Cellular Screen Size 3.7 inches Screen Details 480-by-800, 262K-color, TFT LCD capactive touch screen Camera Yes Network CDMA Bands 850, 1900 High-Speed Data 1xRTT, EVDO Rev 0 Processor Speed 1 GHz Design and Call Quality The HTC Desire measures 4.7 by 2.4 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.8 ounces. The soft touch housing is a mixture of black and dark grey, and looks a bit rounder than the Incredible's. The Desire feels expensive, and it's comfortable ...