Dork Adore » Motorola

Samsung Galaxy S2 and Motorola Xoom Tablet

Katie — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:09:55 +0000

Mobile World Congress (MWC) allowed Susi and the Frackulous team access to the two latest ‘must-have’ time-sucks — The Samsung Galaxy S2, a phone so skinny you might as well smash the screen as soon as you take it out of the box (it’s going to happen anyway), and the Motorola Xoom Tablet which comes with the sweet joy of Honeycomb (Android 3).

There’s also some chat about the free Windows Phone 7 update coming at some point or other.

Samsung Galaxy S2 available on Pre-Order from Play.com

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Dork Review: Motorola DEXT Android phone

Emma Cossey — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:00:14 +0000

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Google Android: All the newest phones

Emma Cossey — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:00:11 +0000

Since the Apple vs Android war has officially kicked off, I’d like to pledge my allegiance to Android. I’ve yet to get my paws on the newest generation of phones, but I’m an avid Google fan and the idea of buying an iPhone leaves me feeling a little blah.

After checking out what’s currently on offer, and what’s to come, I’m more than a little excited.

The HTC Magic (right) sits at the more aesthetically pleasing end of the Android scale. The HTC was the second offering from the Google Android market after the T-Mobile G1, and the improvements show.

It’s much slimmer than the G1 thanks to the removal of the QWERTY keyboard, and general reports seem to indicate a system with far more usability.

HTC are dominating the Android market at the moment. Their latest offering, the HTC Hero, is professional-looking and stylish enough to face up against Apple’s iPhone.

Following in the footsteps of the Magic and the G1, it features that ‘chin’ at the bottom that seems to be bit of a Marmite feature. The Hero’s camera is the big difference between this handset and the others, boasting a high quality 5-megapixel camera.

The search feature is a nice touch too, allowing you to search through tweets, e-mails and messages.

Samsung have recently entered the Android market with the Galaxy i7500 (right), currently exclusive to O2. Measuring just under 12mm, it’s a skinny handset packed full of features and widgets.

There have been some complaints of slow reactions on the touch screen, and a lack of customisability (a common complain with most of the Android handsets), but overall it seems to have strong reviews.

I’ll be interested to see what the recently announced i6500 Saturn will bring to the table, and whether it will fix the buggy screen.

The Motorola Dext (left) reverts to the old QWERTY keyboard, much to my fat-thumbed glee. An Android aimed at social networking fans, the handset boasts the Motoblur function to make keeping in touch even easier.

Whilst this initially wooed me, the news that it’s currently only available on Orange was a massive turn off. Rubbish signal and sitting on the phone to customer services for hours is not an appealing feature.

Sony Ericsson have finally entered the market too with the Xperia X10, the first of many headsets that will be appearing in early 2010. The handset includes a wireless stereo headset, 8.1 megapixels camera and a features called Timescape which holds all your communication for one person in one place. So in theory you can browse the texts, e-mails, tweets and facebook messages of one person at a single click.

The phone everyone is really waiting for though, is the Motorola Droid. This smartphone features a huge screen, 5-megapixel camera, and a free GPS system powered by Google.

The system is reported to be ultra fast, and many are comparing it to the iPhone for its performance.

With news of several more handsets in the works from Archos and NVIDIA, 2010 should be a very good year for Android.

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Dork Review: Motorola Digital Video Monitor MBP35

Katie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:00:06 +0000

For those occasions when hearing your baby scream just isn’t quite good enough, Motorola brings you a range of Advanced Digital Baby Monitors so you can watch it holler too.

For many parents, a video monitor is overkill, but if you’re especially nervous of something happening to the fruit of your loins, or if you just like the idea of a fancy bit of tech in the nursery, a video monitor is what you need.

The Motorola range has a definite whiff of Moto about it, with a quirky design that won’t suit everyone. I’d rather have something a little less silver and plastic, but I guess a baby product can be forgiven for looking a little bit cutesy.

Aside from the video features, the monitor is actually fairly low on additional functions. There’s a temperature monitor, a selection of polyphonic ringtones (what is it with baby monitors and Danny Boy?) and an intercom function so you can come over all Great Oz on your poor unsuspecting innocent. What you can’t do is mute the volume, which means you’ll have to listen to every squall, yip, snore and squeak. Possibly not ideal if you’re trying to relax of an evening.

The video quality is very good even in low-level conditions, thanks to the night vision and long range digital signal. The model I reviewed was the top-of-the-range MBP35, which will set you back a not-insignificant £149.99, but cheaper models are available.

Gains points for

Decent-quality video even in low light
Very easy to use and set up
Providing peace of mind to parents with poorly children

Loses points for

Feeling a bit plastic considering the cost
Not having a mute button
Not having a charging dock, which means both units are wed to mains power (unless you want to pop in some batteries).

More details

MBP35 (£149.99) – Large screen video baby monitor

MBP30 (£99.99) – Video baby monitor

MBP15 (£59.99) – Two-way digital baby monitor with temperature monitor

MBP10 (£34.99) – Two-Way Digital baby monitor

(Also available on Baby Monitors Direct)

More Baby Monitor Reviews on Dork Adore
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Five things that are better than vampires

Susi — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:00:49 +0000

You can’t open Google, turn on the telly or talk to certain people called Charles at the moment without being assaulted by vampires, actors who have played vampires falling out of sub-standard nightclubs, and interviews with people who have written about vampires.

You can’t blame it on Halloween – the whole of 2009 seems to be the year of the vampire. Also, the ox, but he doesn’t seem to be getting so much publicity.

But vampires aren’t even that good . They’re fussy eaters, pretty antisocial and will never be able to partake in a summer picnic, unless it’s at night, which is rubbish.

I think we need to regain a bit of vampire perspective, and so I’ve collated the top five things that are better than vampires.

Browser shortcuts to specific Google docs

These are way better than vampires: they are productivity gold in a way Bram Stoker could never comprehend. Now, I can get to my ‘huh, what an awful lot of people are yet to pay me’ spreadsheet in seconds. You can even have a ‘new document’ shortcut, which is why I’ve created 67 new documents in the last three days.

The Motorola Droid

Last week I wrote about how much I wanted an Android phone that wasn’t ugly, but had yet to be convinced. This week, I have all my hopes pinned on Motorola (a sentence I never thought I’d be writing), as the Motorola Droid has been officially launched in the US, with rumours of it coming over here.

It runs Android 2.0, has a 5-megapixel camera and a QWERTY keyboard (not entirely sold on that one). It’s official: cute little android characters are cooler than vampires.

Fireworks night

On the surface, you might think fireworks and vampires go together, both requiring night as they do. But I have never seen a vampire display, and the latest vampires do not explode into awesome shapes, like lips and hearts. Fireworks do in both cases.

Philippe Starck

If you did not see him in his ‘Masterchef for people that want to design knives, forks and chairs’ programme on BBC2, get thee to iPlayer.

He was the best French man I have ever seen, and should almost certainly be releasing a Christmas coaching video on how to be so awesome-ly French. You never see a French vampire, now do you? (Oh, and the programme was called Design for Life, in case the previous explanation yielded no results in the BBC’s stupid search facility. Katie wrote about the winner the show and her Kaspa Lamps here. She was also inexplicably rude about Philppe Starck.)

Werewolves

The main reason werewolves are better than vampires comes down to your basic Mean Girls halloween conundrum. If we can make werewolves the new vampires, it can only result in Hilarious Consequences as girls try to work out how to make a Sexy Werewolf costume.

Because face it – there’s nothing sexy about a hairy wolf. There just isn’t.

More Vampires on Dork Adore
More Opinion from Susi on Dork Adore

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Dork Review: Motorola H790 Bluetooth headset

Emma Cossey — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:00:34 +0000

Bluetooth headsets aren’t the most exciting gadgets this planet has seen, what with their ability to turn us all into the sort of loons who shout at themselves on the street. But if you’re in the car, you’re going to have to get yourself hooked up to a flashing blue earpiece.

After seeing my other half’s rather manly Jawbone PRIME Bluetooth Headset, my clumpy old headset just didn’t seem good enough.

Time for an upgrade in the form of the Motorola H790, a stylish and slim device created to appeal to us gadget-loving ladies.

So does the quality match the style?

Well in a word, yes. The earpiece is lightweight and slim, and fits comfortably around my ear without pinching. The slim and petite loop is obviously designed with women in mind. The earpiece itself is compact and easily stored away in my handbag.

So it looks good, and it’s comfortable on the outside of my ear. Like most earpieces, it does start to ache a bit after an hour of wearing it, but I’ve come to accept that this is the reality with any form of earpiece. I’m going to be a nightmare when I hit 80 and need a hearing aid.

The Motorola H790 is easy to use. Simply hold down the top button once to use the voice option and choose who to call, or hold down for a couple of seconds to call back the last person you called. The earpiece has a handy volume control on the side, too. No pre-programming or complicated setup needed, just charge and go!

The best function of the Motorola H790 is the CrystalTalk™ technology, which blocks out external noise fairly effectively. It really does work well, blocking out traffic noises, wind, and general chatter.

Gains points for

Sleek and stylish, a step away from the old clunky designs
Ear loop keeps the earpiece firmly in place without pinching
CrystalTalk™ cuts out external sound and allows you to hold a clear conversation
Ease of use, simply click or double click
Voice function

Loses points for

You need to have your phone fairly close to your earpiece, otherwise the sound quality decreases dramatically

The size of the loop cannot be changed if you have slightly larger ears

It starts to hurt my ears after a while, as it’s in-ear.

The conclusion

I like it! The design is contemporary and girlie without resorting to a bright pink skin. The quality of sound is excellent and I like the voice function, so I can call who I want to without fiddling about with my phone. It even announces who’s calling.

Motorola H790 is £59.99

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Dork Adore » Motorola

Samsung Galaxy S2 and Motorola Xoom Tablet

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