LaptopMemo | Tech & Then Some

This Week On LaptopMemo: We Make A Podcast, And I Like A $50 Windows Phone

Stefan Etienne — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:59:08 +0000

So this week wasn’t packed full of news, but it did have its fair share of epicness. For example:

Introducing The TechMemo Podcast (Episode 1)

Stefan Etienne — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:27:43 +0000

It’s finally happened — a podcast on LaptopMemo, recorded in conjunction with Cam the Techtainian. Today we covered some of this week’s more interesting news and posts, as well as our three random things on the internet of interest and/or epicness. Check out the podcast and notes are after the break!

The Show Notes:

Saturday Feature: Amazing Gaming Screenshots

Stefan Etienne — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:05:22 +0000

After discovering this site in the latter part of this week, I am very, very amazed by it. Essentially everything on photoblog Deadendthrills is a screenshot of a video game, but completely unedited and looks absolutely, amazingly, awesome *insert different synonyms for aforementioned vocabulary here*. Check it out, and come back here when you’ve had enough screenshots for one day.

Image credit: Deadendthrills

WHAT: Google Removes Galaxy Nexus From Its Support Pages (updated)

Stefan Etienne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:04:17 +0000

Updated: Apparently according to Google, this has nothing to do with Google Wallet. In fact, it has to do with CDMA tech and other stuff. Also, Google will continue to support the Galaxy Nexus’ firmware updates. Whew.

This is beyond our imagination. Google has removed the Verizon Galaxy Nexus from its support pages perhaps due to the Google Wallet fiasco/delay, where Verizon has seemingly been unable to allow Google to add Wallet support to their version of the Galaxy Nexus. Furthermore, the phone (model codename “toro”) has disappeared from Google’s list of downloadable factory ROM images; all mentions of toro are “archived, for reference only.”

This all essentially meaning that Samsung and Verizon are now responsible for future updates and the Galaxy Nexus is no longer support for Android development.

This is not supposed to happen.

Via: Droid-Life

Samsung Focus Flash Review: A Great Budget Windows Phone

Stefan Etienne — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:56:13 +0000

Of all of the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango smartphones in existence, the Focus Flash is the best if you’re on a budget. That is outright my opinion on it in a sentence, but since reviews cannot be condensed to a single sentence (unless you’re trolling your audience and the companies who make said product), the review after the break will take you on a brief journey on what makes the Focus Flash both amazing, its faults, as well as its uncanny performance. Confound it, I think the review was just completed in a single paragraph. Full review after the break. Price as Reviewed: $49.99 on a new 2-year agreement with AT&T

Design

Perhaps the only element that gives away the Focus Flash’s low-end price point is its build: mostly plastics with a metal back. The design would most certainly please a simpleton, yet has just enough charm in its outline and aesthetic quality that you could easily pass it for an engineer’s prototype. That is not to say the Focus Flash feels like an unfinished design lying underneath the laptop of a Dilbert-esque engineer — it simply feels that the Focus Flash was given as simple a design as possible to keep costs low, yet was polished in a few important areas to make it look more interesting. All of that being said, the Focus Flash is pretty simple looking and it will not win the beauty pageant for smartphones any time soon, or ever. It is comfortable to hold in the hand and weighs a very light 4.1 ounces (lighter than the iPhone 4S) but has a larger 3.7-inch Super AMOLED display at 800×480 resolution, making it crisp and clear with great contrast between colors.

Performance

It is zippy. A 1.4GHz Snapdragon single-core processor is what keeps the Focus Flash thinking and ticking, and it is enough to use fast-switching in WP7 between apps, or to open any app in particular. The last time I ever tested and reviewed a Windows Phone was with a 1GHz single-core processor, and the 400MHz addition of speed coupled with improved and more efficient software (read: WP 7.5 Mango) it is clear that the Focus Flash flies whilst using all of its available resources. No complaints here; the software uses the hardware to the very best of its ability.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango

It is a great improvement. A better Xbox Live app, multitasking (by holding the Back button), improved social network integration, a better People hub, faster Internet Explorer with new UI, more polished settings, improved Bing Sound, Visual, and Textual search makes Windows Phone 7.5 Mango so much better, and especially in terms of speed, there has been much refinement. Let me move quickly to the other section, there isn’t so much to talk about here that I’d need to compose another paragraph.

4G HSPA+ Speeds & Phone

They are of the usual speeds you would see on other AT&T 4G HSPA+ devices. Speeds of 2MBps to even 7 or 9MBps is entirely possible and while that is not impressive at all, it allow you to load most desktop web pages in Internet Explorer in at least 6-10 seconds, tops. Phone call quality is clear, however go into an area with less than 2 bars of coverage and you could find yourself in a yelling match. You’d have to blame it on the network, not the hardware, supposedly.

Cameras

They are crisp and clear for a good Twitter or Facebook post, and if you’re feeling daring then you could replace your point-and-shoot camera with the Focus Flash, however I would not recommend it.

Gallery available below for those looking for examples. Videos at 720p HD aren’t too shabby either.

Focus Flash Test Shots

Battery

The battery life depends on how you use the device, something seen with all other smartphones of the modern age. Hardly make any phone calls, text messages, Tweets, emails, and listening to the new Rdio app, and expect it to last you and entire day’s worth of usage. However, do the exact opposite of what I just mentioned (heavy multitasking, phone calls, Tweets, emails, internet sharing with your computer/tablet, etc.) and see the battery diminish in at least 12 hours. Hey, it still better battery life than most Android phones out there right now.

Final Verdict

Score: 9.0/10 Nowadays as a reviewer, it could possibly be that I am handing this one out to Samsung, but the Focus Flash deserves and has earned a “Stef’s Top Pick” award. With what you’re given, you can do a lot with the Focus Flash, and a great battery, price, decent looks, and reasonable network speeds makes this one of your safest budget smartphone bets. However, that’s why you see I’d plant down $200-$300 on a new phone. Dual-core CPUs and 1080p HD video cameras with 10MBps download speeds all the way. Capiche?