Think Forward

HTC Touch Video Review

I decided to dip my feet into doing video reviews. Since I have been using the HTC touch for a few days now and it is difficult to explain their innovative TouchFlo interface without seeing it, I decided to use the Touch for my first video review. Below are the highlights of the product. Click the video to see the demo and my thoughts.

Available in UK for 449 Euro's now and US TBA

Pro's:

Look's cool

Size - fits in pocket nicely

Touch interface is very innovative

Ring tone snipping: Setting any song on device as ringtone and snipping it to start where you want

Quick close all button



Con's

text inputting not as fast as built in keyboard

Motorolla Q AKA Razorberry Review - Size Matters

There has been a fair amount of Q bashing going on by people in the press who keep comparing it to the TREO 700w. I’d like to start this review off by saying that comparing the two is really not fair to either device. One needs to understand that Windows Mobile Pocket PC is different from Windows Mobile Smartphone. Both have useful roles on devices and play a role in the Windows Mobile family. It is true that if you plan on heavily using your device for work productivity and want to use it as a laptop replacement then the Treo 700w is a better bet. But if you want a great phone that is more phone friendly and want the side benefit of still getting productivity but it’s not going to replace the laptop then the Q is a better choice. For me one of the deciding factors is the size of the Q. Since I am not a part of the ultra cool crowd that carries their phone on their side I am conscious of the size of my phone because it goes in my pocket. One of the main reasons I used the Razor as my phone and the Treo as my e-mail device. Once I switched to the Treo 700w for everything I was always reminded of its size when it was in my pocket. The Q is spectacular in size and can’t be felt in the pocket, which is close to priceless for me. I definitely noticed functionality differences between the Treo 700w and the Q but again one needs to remember they are different operating systems. I personally like the Smartphone OS because I am quite used to it and never intended on using my phone as my core e-mail device but just a device I can quickly keep up to speed on e-mail or calendar with. It is work noting that both devices really do a great job syncing with Exchange and if I wanted to I could use the Q instead of my computer for a lot of work productivity like I did with the Treo. The Treo just had a few more convenient features like the photo contacts on the home page, quick touch to e-mail and a few others. There are benefits to both devices and in choosing with to go with I would say decide whether you want a great e-mail and productivity device that happens to be a phone as well (Treo) or a great phone that happens to be a e-mail device (Q).

Belkin Pure AV Remote TV: Product Review

I am doing a bunch of product testing right now in our Digital Home lab with products that allow me to stream rich media around the house. The basic premise of these products is that people have entertainment appliances in one room (i.e. DVD player, Set top box, Jukebox) and they want to access that content in another room in their house. I certainly have this problem in my house where I record a bunch of TV shows on my living room DVR and it would sure be nice to watch those same shows in another room like my bedroom.

My first review is of the Belikn PureAV Remote TV. This is a product I am quite impressed with for several reasons. The first is that the whole thing is happening wirelessly. It is using a proprietary chipset on the 5ghz band so there is no intereference with other appliances in the home. The second reason I am impressed is that the video quality is actually quite good. Even though it does not at this time stream HiDef content wirelessly the content that is recorded in HiDef on my DVR looks better then if the same content was recorded in standard defintion. So the video quality is quite good and I am yet to experience a hickup while watching a program.

The experience with this product overall has been very impressive. The set up was quite easy I simply plugged the audio and video cables from my set-top box outputs to the Pure AV transmitter. Then on my second TV I plugged the receiver audio and video cables to my TV inputs. Literally within 10 seconds the boxes "paired" and in less then a minute overall I was watching my living room DVR shows on my bedroom TV. Another great feature is that it uses the same remote so there is no need for a new remote. Just use the same remote you use to control your set-top box or DVD player. So the scenario I am the most excited about is this: It's late and I am watching Lost (my favorite show) and I am getting tired. So I decide it's time to go to bed but I want to finish watching Lost in my bedroom. Without the Belkin Remote TV this is a problem. With the Belkin Remote TV I simply pause the show from my living room, take the remote, walk into my bedroom and turn on the TV and simply hit play.

This product has literally changed the way I watch TV as much as TiVo first did. Now I am not just stuck in a single room with my content but free to move that content wirelessly anywhere in my home. Simply add the SlingBox to this set up, which I have done and my TV shows follow me everywhere I go both in my house and out in the world.