Rough Cuts Ltd Blog

If we're being totally honest, if you're lucky enough to have the choice of Android, Apple, Windows, Bada, or even Symbian, its very easy to overlook a new blackberry handset release as 'insignificant'. For many years now, Rim devices have had 'issues'. Issues that have annoyed, angered, infuriated many an ordinary customer and likewise sales rep. Bluetooth file transfer anyone? Menu's within menu's upon menu's, with sub menu's and sub sections have made the most simple of tasks daunting or impossible. A blackberry without a user manual, is like abseiling equipment in the hands of say, Susan Boyle. But here it is, the latest release of Blackberrys operating system, I forget which number they're up to and for the sake of this review, it's irrelevant anyhow. Lets get started. Boot up is difficult as the battery has zero charge in it. Nevertheless I hunt down a compatible Micro USB charger and plug it in. If the EU have done anything right

The first time the Powermat came into our stores, it was an expensive option. You had to purchase a case for your device, then you also had to purchase the powermat to charge it. The powermat was priced at around £80. Now they sell an all in one box solution, but for one device only, (the powermat would charge up to three devices, so long as they had the case attached. This all in one box solution is only £40, so clearly its much better value for money. That said, the old powermat was pretty much future proof. So long as the device was powermat compatible, you'd be able to place it on the mat and it would charge. If in the future manufacturers decide that this tech could be in built, you'd still be able to use your old mat. With this, nice though it is, the charging mat is moulded to the exact shape of the case, so even if your shiny new iphone comes with Powermat compatibility in built (which admittedly is unlikely) it won't fit snugly in the charging stand. You'd just

These are the Beats Solo HD big brother. Firstly the thing that hasn't changed is the sound quality. If there is a difference it's not that noticeable, these sound a little more 'airy' as if there's more space between you and the music. Although that sounds like a bad thing, its not. It feels like a slightly larger sound stage. Although that could just be the psychological effect of the larger earpieces? Both the cheaper units and these sound stunning. There isn't a great argument for paying an extra £100 for the sound quality. The Studio units are noticeably more comfortable. More in line with the V-Moda units tested earlier. They sit nicely on your head and completely cover your ear. This does away with a slightly odd sensation that happens from time to time of moving your jaw sideways and creating space with the Solo HD's which distorts the music a little. These units also have noise reduction, although rather disappointingly the cover doesn't appea

We don't actually sell these little (and I mean tiny) speakers, but I really wish we did. I feel that I have to give them the praise that they deserve as they really are miniature marvels. I'll keep it sweet and short as there are plenty of other reviews on the internet for these, mostly favourable. The soundstage that these small cheap units produce is truly marvellous. They only achieved 4 stars on what hifi. But to my ears and taking into account their relative miniscularity (this is a word I just made up) they are small miracles. The key to the sound is two fold.  1 The superwoofer. The kitchen roll shaped bass producing mid section which the satellite speakers attach to.  2 The balance between the 3 speakers. It's just perfect.  If you need speakers for your holidays, or even a (really) small room. You can't go far wrong with these. They come with a portable case as well for the mains adaptor and leads. Not as convenient as a dock, but the pay off in terms of sound

So a colleague walked into the office and said, "what sort of idiot is going to pay £150 for a set of headphones". Excitedly I explored the two options we had. £140-£150 is pretty much the upper limits most reasonable audiophiles would budget. Yes there are plenty of headphones more expensive, but for £150 you should expect pretty decent sound. More than this is starting to become the realms of lottery winners or people who care more about the sound than the music and have more money than sense? The two sets of headphones here are, 1) Dr Dre Beats Solo HD by Monster and 2) V-Moda Crossfades. Both headphones are closed back headphones, meaning you should be able to listen to some quality music, without disturbing your wife whilst she's watching X-Factor. From the outset, it's clear that the V-Moda headphones are the more comfortable. They don't so much sit on your head like the Beats headphones, they rest atop your head and feel seriously comfortable. The beats

Another android handset from LG hits the shelves and it becomes more difficult to differentiate one from another and again, LG give it a code number & a name, to confuse consumers and retailers alike. This one comes equipped with a 3mp camera and no flash (from first inspection). I get distracted and try a couple of failed attempts at switching it on. Then I realise the tiny power on button on the top of the phone. I peel off all of the protective stickers, (of which there are many) and I give it my full attention. I don't however peel off the screen protector, this looks as good as a case mate screen protector. I'm not sure how hard wearing its likely to be, but for the first month at least, I think I'd be tempted to leave it on and see how well it works. The screen seems responsive enough leaving it in place. Upon boot up I'm given the option to enter my username and passwords. I am then presented with a vile alpha numeric keypad. So I click the cog, select input

For a long time now I've been extolling the virtues of the military inspired Zagg mobile screen protectors, aka Invisishields. For those of you who may not know, the Army use the same material to protect the blade edges of helicopters in the desert so that the sand doesn't damage the rotors. They are very good. But, they are an absolute pain for the majority of mammals with opposing thumbs and forefingers to fit. Only a few unique individuals can easily fit them. This summer I took my iPhone to Cyprus, and found that in the heat, the adhesive failed more than once and whilst shoving it into a camera bag pocket, it rolled up and ended up a right mess. Having said this, fitted correctly, in the right temperature conditions, they feel quality and offer a rubberised finish to your screen, which doesn't affect the responsiveness of the device at all. They are however, prior to installation, floppy, and this makes the world of difference. The case mate screen protectors on

This is the first Windows 7 phone I've managed to get my hands on, and having completed the training several weeks back, I must confess, I'm a little excited. Microsoft have certainly managed to capture some of the anticipation and hype that is usually reserved for technology that bears fruit for it's logo. Although I appreciate that I'm most likely a minority. The build up for windows 7 has had far less of an impact on joe public. We're a few weeks late with these products rolling in and we don't have people forming disorderly and frantic queues. It's a sombre launch at best. No matter, the proof is in the pudding as they say. Upon booting up the device, I'm greeted with an attractively scrolling windows 7 logo and I click the 'get started' button. I choose to set the phone up the 'recommended' way and have to set time date etc. First impressions are superb, even setting the time and date are an elegant process. I see my first glimpse

If you can get past the looks of this speaker dock, (I don't think my wife would approve of the design, anywhere in our house) then what you have here is a speaker dock for an ipod or iphone. Something that you may never have seen before. Ok, so the world is currently awash with iPod speaker docks. But as a species, we're sadly denied vast quantities of high quality sound at reasonable price speaker docks. This I guess fulfils the latter in terms of price as the RRP is below £50. Where it lets itself down is in the quality of the sound. It has two bass ports, two tweeters and two midrange. The potential to amaze is pretty high. But sadly, it just doesn't. The sound is messy and lacking punch. There is little detail and at times it comes across as shrill. It lacks involvement and coherence. As a machine for the kitchen, if you really don't have much time to look around, and you'll be listening from another room, then this may satisfy your needs. If you care more abou

The K100 is a bit of an oddity. on the one hand its a simple sunvisor handsfree car kit. The likes of which we've seen time and time again. It has an inbuilt speaker, a rechargeable battery, a clip and a uniquely a ruddy great big volume dial in the middle. A great idea, especially when driving; the last thing you need to be doing is fumbling around trying to find the right button to increase or decrease the volume.  Unlike other car kits though, the Visor K100 has an inbuilt FM transmitter. The sticker on the outside states that it "Streams Audio to car speakers". Naively I assumed this was audio as in music, but after testing, I can confirm that the audio from telephone conversations is also transmitted through the car hifi. Initially I had some problems locking onto the radio station. The frequency auto selects and the unit transmits on that same frequency. With the absence of any display panel, the unit relies on voice. So you click the FM button and the device tells

The superb remote access application Teamviewer is now available for the iPhone. For free. I've tested it over 3G and it works like a charm. Over wifi, performance can only be even better. Well worth downloading for anyone who owns an iPhone and a PC or Mac. More information here

I do wish manufacturers would either pick a name or a model number for their handsets, not both it does confuse things unnecessarily. Anyhow, this is the budget LG Optimus. And on first impressions, it feels anything but budget. This feels like a high quality product. The buttons at the bottom are made up of two touch sensitive keys, menu and back, and three normal click buttons, end call answer key and home. They can be pushed with the finger flat, but they require some pressure, so it feels more natural to use a finger nail, which is slightly irritating as the buttons are quite thin. Slide a Green padlock to the right and you're in. LG's take on android is most similar in appearance to HTC's, rather than Samsung's wave like adaptation. Five customisable home screen's are pre filled with some of the more useful widgets, clock, memos, weather, calendar etc. But there is still enough room to add other stuff. The screens are laid out 2 to the left and two to the right

This could be the shortest review ever. Basically, the Wildfire is a poor mans Desire. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the retina display on my iPhone 4, but this display just looks cheap, which is a shame as the rest of the phone feels really good quality. The fact that it is cheap is good (its free from £20 per month). Weigh it up against it's main rival though (the entry level Sony X10 mini) and it becomes an even stronger proposition. The Desire is one of the best android handsets out there. Partly because of its optical sensor, used to manipulate the cursor. Very useful for correcting errors while texting, or scrolling pages up and down, without obliterating part of the display with your finger, as you have to on many other models. The Wildfire, like the desire, has the same excellent optical joystick (as they like to call it). Which is a major benefit over the X10 mini. Where Android handsets  currently are  differentiated is with the implementation of Swype. Text input tradi

This has a certain mystique about it. We had one of these in store at launch, but it was snapped up on day one and it left before any of us had seen it. Now we've been sent a demo copy, we can have a quick gander. Clearly, upon boot up it is, yet another lovely looking Android handset. Mostly metal in construction is feels heavy and well made, although the back slide on cover, doesn't seem to sit as flush as I'd like, by the camera is a clear unsightly raised line, as if its been involved in a car accident. The slide out keyboard too, requires a bit of effort and although it feels solid and chunky, kinaesthetically, it grinds a little and is not "a pleasure to use". Operation of the device is now becoming a 'run of the mill' android affair. I guess to differentiate these reviews, I'll have to focus on the USP's or differences. Because software wise, its just another great Android phone. Interestingly I saw that preinstalled is Motonav, Motorola&#

Despite the 100 improvements apple have made to iOS4, unfortunately navigating the app store isn't one of them. Why oh why when I view a category such as genius results, when I click back, I'm returned to the top of the list? It's so annoying. The android Market doesn't do that! C'mon apple, pull your finger out! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Although this sounds like the bog standard Ford MPV, it is in fact a new Android phone from Samsung.  Having been exposed to the Wave, only a few days ago, initial impressions were that it was another phone working on the 'Bada' platform. The background images and the icons look very 'Wave like'. The screen is stunning, its another corking samsung display and its very, very high clarity, high contrast, clear and sharp. Swipe the imaginary dark screen away to unlock the handset. Google maps shows the screen off to its full extent, multitouch is present, pinch to zoom works very well and the handset is very responsive. Apps flick from one to another very quickly, in a very simple to understand interface. It's almost like Samsung have made this handset to look like Bada, as if to prove a point. As if their phone OS were always as good as google's anyway? But I'm probably wrong. One annoyance is that there is no dedicated menu key, so to get to the installed ap

Just announced and it looks set to re-write all of the standards; again. After a bit of head scratching I think I've correctly worked out the screen resolution will be a HD busting and truly staggering  2560x1920 pixels. (my tv is a 'mere' 1920x1080).   iMovie is a tremendous Mac App for Video editing which will be incredible on a phone. HD video. 720HD video capture. . Intuitive folders for Apps. A new custom designed 'A4' Processor. Better battery life. More slender design, finger print resistant bendy glass front an back. Steel outer frame that doubles as the antenna. It's the attention to detail that sets Apple products apart and this is no exception. Apple have done it again. I do wish other manufacturers would pour so much into one amazing product, instead of so little into so many mediocre ones. 

After a week and a smidge off work, I've returned to find the biggest and smallest Android devices waiting for me. First up the dell streak is demanding my attention. My first introduction to this is from one of Apple's latest (iPad) customers who has been using it over the weekend. He makes his thoughts very clear indeed. He tells me, "Multitouch doesn't work in all the applications, The Apps from the Android store don't work it doesn't auto rotate" and his conclusion is "it's rubbish". I decide to continue unabated and insert my own sim. Upon boot up I'm given a very brief overview of the devices key features. Three large home screen (for which normal widget's look far too small) are available to start, with a panorama of London as the background; spanning all three. It looks like Android, It feels like android, but somehow, it feels like it's missing the sparkle of the Sony and HTC models. It seems Dell have decided less is

The Samsung wave is the first phone we've seen from them with their new "Bada" operating system. First impressions are that whilst the handset is responsive and tactile, quick and efficient (Boot up time is very quick) on the surface, it seems to be another Jet/Tocco incarnation. Not that thats a bad thing as both the tocco and jet are both fine phones, in their sector. The screen looks fantastic, clear colours and crisp sharpness, but the fisher price clicking and plopping noises when skipping from screen to screen and menu to menu are the first things any 'savvy' user will disable. Which is easy enough. Like the Tocco and Jet, the UI only appears to have THREE initial customisable home screens (more about this in a mo'). Widgets can be added to these, but (conveniently) the handset warns you that installation of these widgets may incur data charges from your network. With Data not being an automatically enabled feature on all tariff's this is a thoughtf

For many months I've been using (or rather not using) Co-Pilot's relatively cheap Sat Nav software. It's slow and unresponsive, hard work and not particularly user friendly. Last night I downloaded NDrive, which is on special offer at the mo for only £4.99 from iTunes. Dead simple, really easy to use and for a fiver, you'd be mad not to try it. Download it from here (link to itunes store). http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ndrive-uk-ireland/id331883926?mt=8

Steam are offering their great mind bending First person non shooter game Portal for free. All you need to do to qualify is to install their Steam software, which is a little clunky, but you need it anyway in order to play the game. Only until the 24th of May. http://store.steampowered.com/freeportal/ Pc AND Mac!

I have high hopes. After the let down of the Vivaz, I'm still optimistic. The X10 proudly boasts the Android logo on the back of its box. Android is only as good as the developers that tweak it. HTC have made it their own and done a fantastic job with the slick OS. Time to see what Sony have done with it. First thing I notice, it weighs a ton. I reckon this thing will be sliding out of your hand before you know it! Upon boot up, I need to slide the arrow on a lovely arc to unlock the unit (nice). Then I see a semi familiar looking Android welcome screen, with icon shortcusts for Timescape (WTF?) Mediascape (Uh?) messaging and Dialler. swiping up from the bottom rids me of these wonders and shows me the standard Android main apps menu. I try and grab the scroll bar, but it is just for show. Its an iphone like swipe thats needed to browse the icons. To settings I go,  up the brightness, launch wifi and hook up to the store wifi, no problems. Looks rosy so far. Boot up the browser an

You can't say Sony don't try. For the past few years, prior to the iPhone launch, Sony pretty much dominated, in terms of handset functionality, attractiveness and reliability. There then came a flurry of software issues which they never really recovered from. Sony clearly hope the Experia and Vivaz will change all of that. The vivaz is from any angle an attractively built handset. The unit feels good in your hand and the buttons are well placed. Its only when you turn the thing on that things start to go wrong. Intuitive, it most certainly ain't. If you've owned a Sony in the past, it won't matter, all and sundry are going to have to consult the user manual. On initial boot up I am poking around and seeing what things do, without any success at all. I have this odd feeling that I may be missing something, so I consult the user manual. The main menu is accessed by pressing the single middle button in the bottom. This displays a drab grey looking 12 icon driven menu

Upon opening the box, I find that the first part of the experience is open up the flimsy battery cover. No sign of your solid metal sliding back cover here, its a bendy 'snap on' affair. The like I have seen easily damaged by the ham fisted. Sliding (and indeed scraping) the sim in to the sim card holder. I have to confess, my initial feelings are not optimistic. After a hunt in the box for the battery, moving the standard bluetooth headphones out of the way (I would have no use for them) I locate it and power the unit up. The obligatory pixel count of the camera shows it sports a 5mp unit, whilst it also comes with the upper class Carl Zeiss lens. The boot up screen shows me its the same old Nokia Font, which now evokes many instances of disappointment. I find our location, although the UK seems like an unnecessary trawl through a million other countries. The screen seems nice and responsive, but I tap the text entry and don't get a keyboard? Then its the AM PM debacle, se

Firstly I should say, "Sorry"; to Palm. Palm sent us a complimentary handset some 2 or 3 months ago. A fellow colleague quickly made it his own and gave us all the following review, "It's ok". Which technically is true. It is ok, but it's also something a bit special that I fear we may have overlooked. For a start, it has a glowing, almost mythical, white nipple (its not a 'ball' as it doesn't appear to roll!) at the base of the screen, with two lights either side of it, that pulsate from time to time. The phone has some odd, but intuitive features. Much like the Sony Ericsson's old dedicated  'Bent Arrow','back' button, the Palm Pre asks you swipe right to left just below the screen to perform the same function. This tactile motion brings you closer to the phone and after a while, becomes familiar and natural. The phone will also 'multi task' relatively easily and simply places each open program window next to each

There would be little point in HTC loaning us one of these little beauties if we weren't going to spend some time giving it the once over and letting the world know our thoughts. There's a mountain of things to say about this phone. So I'm going to whizz through them point by point so its not too boring. I've limited myself to 30. 1 Outside in sunlight, the handset looks pink, and for a smartphone, for a bloke at least, thats not cool.  2 The optical track pad thing is cool however. it works brilliantly. Although there is no cursor on screen. Its used for zapping between options, home screens, scrolling webpages and text. 3. The phone is quick. Really quick. It has a 1Ghz processor in it, so that was a given really.  4. It doesn't ever seem to crash. It does (very) occasionally slow down a tad, but never enough to worry the majority of users.  5. Android Market place is every bit as good as Apple's App store, perhaps better. When you choose to install an App,