High Technology Product Reviews | Trends and News

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 $499.95 Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W3 is a true 3D camera—it packs two lenses and two image sensors into a pocket-friendly build. The W3 snaps large 10-megapixel 3D images, and shoots 3D video in 720p24 high-definition that you can view in 3D on the camera's LCD, or on a 3D HDTV or a 3D-enabled PC. With the touch of a button, the W3 also becomes a capable (though expensive and somewhat bulky) 2D camera. The W3 is not a difficult camera to operate, but shooting photos that look good in 3D can be challenging. Not every image you shoot is going to look good in 3D—in fact, most images I shot during testing were very difficult to view, and some actually hurt my eyes to look at. Specifications Type Compact Megapixels 10 MP Media Format Secure Digital High Capacity 35-mm Equivalent (Wide) 35 35-mm Equivalent (Telephoto) 105 Optical Zoom 3 x LCD size 3.5 inches Wireless Connectivity No HD Video Capture Yes Design and Features Other than the two lenses, the camera loo...

Some multi-function printers (MFPs, aka all-in-ones or AIOs) deliver lots of features. Others emphasize high-quality print output. The Brother MFC-9320CW ($500 street) focuses squarely on speed, with the fastest overall time on our tests for its price class. If print speed is one of your key concerns, this may be just the color MFP you're looking for. The MFC-9320CW is an LED printer, a category that's usually grouped with lasers, because it's basically a variation on the same technology. The difference is that instead of using lasers, LED printers use LEDs to draw the image of each page as the first step in printing. Specifications Printer Category Laser Type All-In-One Color or Monochrome 1-pass color Technology (for laser category only) LED Connection Type USB, Ethernet, Wireless Maximum Standard Paper Size Legal Direct Printing from Cameras Yes Rated speed at Default Resolution (Mono) 17 ppm Rated Speed at Default Resolution (Color) 17 ppm Standal...

The Canon Pixma iX7000 Inkjet Business Printer is the third inkjet printer I've seen in the past several months that can print on tabloid (11- by 17-inch) or larger-size paper and is aimed tightly at small offices—particularly micro and home offices. Together with the Epson Work, it represents a newfound interest on the part of these three manufacturers in offering budget tabloid printers suitable for a small office on a tight budget. The Canon printer is the most expensive of the three, but also the one with the fewest compromises. It's second to the HP printer for speed, and second to the Epson printer for output quality, but not by much in either case. On the plus side, it offers an Ethernet connector, which the Epson printer lacks, and it outshines both the HP and Epson printers when it comes to paper handling. Specifications Printer Category Ink Jet Type Printer Only Color or Monochrome 1-pass color Ink Jet Type Standard All-Purpose Connection Type USB, Ether...

Asus has the chops to make an outstanding laptop, as it proven with the U30Jc-A1 ($899 street, 4.5 stars)—a 13-inch lightweight that is powerful, sexy, and battery efficient. Its latest offering, the Asus U45Jc-A1 ($867 street), bumps the screen size to a 14-inch widescreen, while retaining all the goodies that made its smaller sibling so successful. A sleek metallic frame, Nvidia switchable graphics, and over 9 hours of battery life are just the tip of the iceberg. Thus, the U30Jc-A1 passes the torch to the U45Jc-A1, making the latter the new Editors' Choice in the mainstream category, and one of the best laptops I've tested. Specifications ------------------ Type General Purpose, Media Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Processor Speed 2.4 GHz Processor Name Intel Core i3-370M RAM 4 GB Weight 4.7 lb Screen Size 14 inches Screen Size Type widescreen Graphics Card Intel GMA HD 2nd Graphics Card nVidia GeForce 310M Storage Capacity (as Tes...

The Polywell MiniBox X5800x-3D ($2,099 street, $2,499 with 23-inch monitor) is a jack-of-all-trades desktop PC: It can be used for gaming, multimedia tasks, movie watching, and it's tagged with the latest of buzzwords, 3D. It has Intel's quad-core i7-930 CPU, Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 graphics, Blu-ray, and a very spacious hard drive. While it's a little pricey for a game box, nomadic gamers should look at this system for use at home and at LAN parties. specialized Otherwise you should look at alternative systems to save money or consider something with more expandability. Specifications ----------------------- Type Gaming, Mainstream, Digital Entertainment System Processor Family Intel Core i7 RAM 6 GB Storage Capacity (as Tested) 2000 GB RAID No Graphics Card nVidia GeForce GTX 480 Primary Optical Drive Blu-Ray Disc Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Design and Features At 9.12 by 7.12 by 9.25-inch (HWD), the X5800x-3D is compact compared w...