Rough Cuts Ltd Blog

Hot on the heels of the LG 3D is this offering from HTC. On the face of it, from the front at least, it looks just like any other HTC android phone. It's smart and the screen is very high resolution and clear. The menu's are the usual neat HTC affair, but unlike the LG there is no 'magical 3D portal'. In fact the only function on the handset that we can find is the camera. Now there are a handful of 3D pictures in the gallery to set you off, but we found these a bit hit n miss. There is no 'tuning' of the 3D like there is on the LG and several of us to start off with were a bit perplexed with the 3D effect. Initially its a little nauseating. Then, on one or two of the pictures, you'll get it. The sensation is very much like the moment you get a magic eye picture. One of those old garbled pictures, that eventually 'pop out' as a 3D cut out. Many people could never get the hang of those, so I guess, this could end up being the same? Some people may not...

I really want this device to win, so after the reboot, I try again. I click on photos again, and we appear to have loads more thumbnails. The whole thing now looks much nicer. But there are still loads missing. I click email, it's sync'd with most of my webmail, which is a massive account. (perhaps that was causing the issues?). Either way, I read an important email and respond. It's becoming usable and it's correcting and highlighting my mistypes for me. I 'star/favourite inbox and sent items and they're the only mailboxes that appear. Neat touch. I go back to the apps and all of the yellow exclamation marks have gone. I click the HP app store and it loads. Categories. Featured. Bookmarks. Search. It looks gloriously like the Apple app store. I search for twitter again and am disappointed to find, no app. I install weTwit lite. It's another Palm pre app, only half the screen size of the touchpad. I delete. I return to just type and type "this isn'...

After an initially disappointing start to the day. I arrive in work to find the New HP Tablets have landed, or should I say; 'touched down'. Having been to the training for these several weeks back, it's great to see them finally land in store. Due for release to the general public on Friday the 15th, I think this could be the machine, to take the fight with Apple, one step further. The HP touchpa we tested was a prototype, with an OS that despite still in beta, was extremely slick with a number of neat touches, that make it stand out from the rest of the pack. The initial challenge comes in opening the box. The training materials etc all had magnetic flaps to secure them, this too appears to have a magnetic flap, but it's a decoy, it is in fact a slide out drawer. I succeed without causing the box any damage. On top of the box, the unit greets me. It's identical to the prototype and very iphone 3gs in appearance. Albeit far larger. But the back is sculpted in the s...

I'm excited. Excited like it's Christmas, or like its an Apple product launch. Neighbouring stores have had this handset in, but we haven't. I'm distraught. Even though I've seen one before and been initally unimpressed*, with a brief encounter, everyone is now raving about it, so I figure, perhaps I've been too hasty. So I plea with a neighbouring store to let me borrow one. He transfers it across and excitedly, I go and pick it up. I ask the team. "What's it like?" "Amazing, unbelievable, really has got the wow factor". I rush back to my store and show the team..... I've got one! One of the team members follows me into the back and we open it up. Upon boot, it would appear to be yet another humdrum Android handset, albeit fast. We skip through the usual setup process and finally we're in. There it is, straight in front of us. The button that reads "3D Space", no glasses required, this part of the menu leaps out at y...

I've just had Sony's latest smartphone offering thrust my way, so it's only right that I should have a quick fiddle. Opening the now traditional Sony Folding box, I find wrapped in a 'greeheart' paper bag, a new phone. Looks like they're conveying some environmental message, although I'm not quite sure what? The unit itself seems smaller than the Experia Arc, the design is minimalist, but slightly cheap feeling, (at this point I have no idea of price). The back has a fab graduated blue black metallic appearance, and a simple HD in the middle.. (I guess it does 720 or 1080 video?). I hunt for the battery and prise the flimsy plastic back cover off, with difficulty. Fortunately nothing snaps. so I put the sim and battery in and fire the unit up. The  cover clips on well and I also notice a LED for the camera. On the top is a HDMi cover and usb conector cover, on the side  find the power button. The screen bursts to life and displays retina rivalling fonts and...

Just had a bit of a revelation. Using doublesync the other week, I inadvertently dumped 10% of my record collection onto my HTC desire. It's late. I'm not tired, kids and wife are in bed, so I decided to listen to some tunes on my Dr Dre Beats headphones. The HTC was the closest phone to hand, and seeing as it had alot of music on it, I thought, why not? Them something odd happened. It didn't sound right. Was it me? it just sounded, 'central' and well, lacking in depth. It wasn't making the involving sounds happen that I've come to expect from these headphones, so I flicked through a few more songs, it was the same, Beatles, Foo fighters, Gerry Rafferty, all sounded, muted. Tom Petty American girl came on, the live version,  a truly legendary track. No.... I wasn't feeling it. I pulled up the same track on the iPhone 4 and tried again...... This is more like it! I wouldn't have believed there would have been such a difference. The stereo separa...

Is this becoming a bit of a bore now.... Yup, it's yet ANOTHER android handset. It's like spot the difference. This one is magnificently thin. To accomplish this look, the back cover is made of sugar paper. Yet another back cover that should be removed only once. Seriously, there are about ten clips around the outer edge and they all need some force to clip in one by one. But once the back cover is comfortably in place, it feels, er, thin. Really thin. Next to the iphone 4, the camera and thicker base push its height so its fractionally larger, (or higher off the ground) than the iphone. But in reality the middle section, is actually narrower that the iphone. But.... to be frank, I couldn't care less. The iphone is thin enough, so its a hollow victory. Especially when you consider the fact that you can't take the back off the iphone4 and snap it by breathing too hard on it. Front on and the Galaxy S mk 2 is something of a monster. It is noticeably larger than an iphone ...