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Toshiba Thrive 7″ Review: Cute, But Clunky

Posted: 17 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST

Toshiba Thrive 7"

Short Version

While the 7-inch Toshiba Thrive is much more comfortable in the hand than its 10-inch counterpart, many of the best features in big brother never migrated over to the 7-incher. That said, this still may be the slate for you if gaming and web-surfing take precedence over e-reading. Otherwise, I’d point you to the Amazon Kindle Fire.

Features:

  • 7-inch 1280×800 resolution display
  • 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor
  • Android 3.2 Honeycomb
  • 5MP rear camera (720p video capture, LED flash)
  • 2MP front-facing shooter
  • MSRP: $379.99 (16GB), $429.99 (32GB)

Pros:

  • Great size/comfortable in the hand
  • Brilliant screen with high pixel density
  • Very responsive

Cons:

  • Lost all of its full-sized ports
  • No more removable back cover and interchangeable batteries
  • Tough price point, especially for 32GB of internal memory

Long Version

Hardware:

Despite less connectivity than big brother, I actually enjoy the 7-inch Thrive much more in the hand. It’s rather thin compared to the 10-inch model, with rounded corners and slightly angled edges. The charging port is placed squarely on the bottom of the slate, which makes it annoying to play around with in landscape while charging.

A 3.5mm headphone jack sits up top, with a power button, volume rocker and auto-rotate lock all along the top left side. Below that you’ll find a plastic cover protecting a microUSB, miniHDMI, and microSD card slot. If you can dig back into the corners of your memory, you’ll recognize that the 10-inch Thrive came will full-sized USB and HDMI and SD card ports.

The 10-incher also had a removable back cover and interchangeable battery, which isn’t the case on the Thrive 7″. The same rubberized, textured finish along the back panel is still present, though, and makes the tablet even more manageable. I actually let this thing sit on one leg for most of the time I used it, and it automatically gripped my pants so that it never slipped once. (Look, Mom! No hands!)

When stressed, the Thrive 7″ crackles and pops quite a bit. But I didn’t find anything so suspect that would lead me to believe this isn’t a solid build.

Display:

I’d say the Thrive’s best feature would be its display. A 1280×800 pixel resolution on a 7-inch display is pretty beautiful, and Toshiba has of course layered its Adaptive Display and Resolution+ technologies on there, as well. The display doesn’t take prints as much as some other slates I’ve dabbled with (talking to you, Sony Tablet S), but of course, there’s no such thing as an entirely print-free display.

As far as input goes, the display is super responsive. It was able to follow my finger in scrolling, even while I flicked it back and forth as fast as possible. Most Android tabs have a bit of a lag on that front, but the Thrive 7″ kept up with my pace.

Software:

The Toshiba Thrive family is special in that it runs pure Android 3.2 Honeycomb. No annoying overlays. No unfamiliar UIs. Just Honeycomb, the way you know how to use it. Toshiba did include its media player, along with a handful of other pre-loaded apps like Netflix, NFS Shift, File Manager, and Quickoffice HD, but on the whole this is a very vanilla experience.

Of course, access to Google’s apps such as Google Maps, Google Talk, and the Android Market is included.

I did have a little trouble with the Thrive’s 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. The shutter is frustratingly slow, though I was surprised to find that in camcorder mode the camera actually adjusts well between low-light and well-lit settings.

Performance:

I tried to do all my work on the Thrive one day (which in retrospect was a bad choice on a 7-inch tablet), from 8am to 6pm. It made it to around 3pm before giving out, which includes the usual breaks for bathroom, food, and an occasional mission on Grand Theft Auto III for iPhone.

The good news is that it charges quickly. I was able to go from dead to 85 percent power in less than half an hour.

Conclusion

When it comes down to it, the 7-inch Thrive is a solid, albeit hefty, little Android tablet. Even without the full-sized ports, there’s still quite a bit of connectivity there and we saw perfectly acceptable performance the whole time. However, the price tag puts this little guy in a tough spot.

For just a couple hundred more, you can nab yourself an iPad, and anyone shopping for something a little lower on the pricing totem pole has plenty of options. Most notably, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is just $249 from T-Mobile, though that requires a two-year agreement.

Of course, we do have the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, which certainly can’t compete with the Thrive in terms of performance or capabilities. Then again, that won’t matter to the novice user.



Daily Crunch: Low Tech

Posted: 17 Dec 2011 01:00 AM PST

Review: Grand Theft Auto III 10th Anniversary for iOS

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 04:37 PM PST

GTA Logo

In October of 2001, Rockstar Games dropped a bomb on the gaming world. That bomb was called Grand Theft Auto III. In just one release, Rockstar shifted their flagship 2D series into a 3D world, introduced an enormous chunk of the population to the concept of massive sandbox games, and stirred up the first of many controversies that the company has since become known for.

Just over 10 years later, GTA3 is back — but now it’s mobile. As of yesterday, it’s available for iOS and Android. Same game, same grit, same campy over-the-top action… but in your pocket.

So, how has the game held up? How well did it make the jump from controller to touchscreen? Is it worth your $5?

Lets go ahead and answer those immediately: Surprisingly well, moderately okay, and probably.

For a game that’s probably older than the TV sitting in your living room, Grand Theft Auto 3 is still remarkably entertaining. I won’t wax on too much about the gameplay itself; many hundreds of reviews did that a decade ago, and it’s still the same game (save for a few little perks ported in from modern GTA games, like instant retries on failed missions) it was then. What worked well then still works well today: you run around, explore, go on a few hundred missions, then blow up everything in sight whenever all that gets boring.

It’s not what most would call “gorgeous” by today’s gaming standards (read: it’s no Infinity Blade II), but it really does still look good. The audio is also wonderful, with an absurd amount of dialog, sound, radio chatter, and music crammed into the 500 MB package. At the very least, it’s a wonderful testament of how far technology has come; what required a big ol’ dedicated gaming console just a decade ago now runs effortlessly on an itty-bitty battery-powered slab of glass.

To say it “runs effortlessly” requires a bit of a caveat, though. Rockstar claims support for all of the more recent iOS devices, including the iPhone 4, iPad 1, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2. On the latter two, it’s butter. On the iPad 1, graphic quality takes a massive hit (see the comparison shot above) — and still, framerate issues tend to rear their head. (Alas, I don’t have an iPhone 4 handy to test it on, so I can’t comment on the compatibility there.)

Look up at the screen shot above. The buttons! They’re everywhere! You can feel your hands cramping already.

It’s actually quite playable — in most cases, at least. The D-pad drops wherever you put your thumb when you’re hoofin’ it, and the other buttons are big enough that they’re not too much trouble to find (Oh: and if you think you could layout a better control scheme, you can re-arrange/re-size them in the settings screen.) Driving isn’t too bad either (though, man is it easy to flip your car now. I don’t know if they tweaked the physics engine or something, but it’s far easier to find yourself upside down and covered in flames than I remember.)

Shooting, however, is a rather terrible experience… which is unfortunate, considering how crucial it is to the game as a whole. The game has an autolock system which, even after fair amount of playtime, never seems to work the way I expect. It’s not so bad as to make the game impossible (just quite frustrating at times) but is detrimental enough that it influences my recommendation.

As for said recommendation: if you’ve never played through GTA3, I wouldn’t suggest having the mobile experience be your first. The controls, while acceptable, just take away too much of the magic. GTA3 is a great game and was far ahead of its time; if it’s going to be played by a newcomer, it deserves to be played as originally intended. If you played through the original (or started it, and never got a chance to finish before Mom slung the PS2 at a garage sale) and are just looking to swim in nostalgia, however, it’s easily worth the 5 bucks.

You can find GTA3: 10th Anniversary in the App Store here

Little iPads, Little Pixels, And Resolution Independence (An Apple Rumor Medley)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 02:40 PM PST

pads

Another crop of Apple rumors has grown up under our feet, and it seems a little reaping is in order. Two rumors are making the rounds, both of which warrant a little consideration but should, as usual, be taken lightly until more substantial evidence appears. Both have their origins in Digitimes, which prides itself on catching scraps of news from upstream suppliers but isn’t always correct in its conclusions.

Earlier this week a little bird told Digitimes that the upcoming redesign of the MacBook Pro won’t simply be thinning down the body, but will upgrade the displays to a mind-blowing 2880×1800 resolution. And then just today there has been a recurrence of the 7.85″ iPads we first heard about in October. The implications of the first rumor especially are quite serious, and while the second one seems unlikely, its resilience must be acknowledged.

Let’s talk about the little iPad first. I wrote in October that essentially these reports could easily be exaggerations of the usual testing companies like Apple do. They said smaller tablets were DOA, but that was more than a year ago, and things change. The Fire has proven that many people do indeed want a smaller tablet, and everyone would think it a fine joke if Apple went back on that and said “we waited until we could do it right.”

Supposedly this smaller iPad would retain the 1024×768 resolution, which is really the only option they had. The size is significantly smaller, but the fact that it’s 4:3 means that it’s also quite a bit larger than the Fire and other 7″ tablets. Here, I made you this chart, which may even be accurate:

Looks like a fairly comfortable size, this supposed 7.85″, like a slightly stubbier Galaxy Tab 8.9, which I think is a great size. It would naturally be extremely thin and light, much more so than the iPad 2. But it’s hard for me to believe they would simply put this thing out there without any kind of real differentiating feature. The iPod Classic, Nano, Touch, and Shuffle are all very different products, not just different sizes. It doesn’t seem likely that this rumored smaller iPad would be just that — smaller. To simply reduce the size would be to admit a design failure, and Apple would hate to do that. But from the very little info that’s out there (two reports giving the screen size and a late-2012 date) we can’t draw any conclusions.

The resolution upgrade for the MacBook Pro series is what’s really blowing my mind. Apple isn’t the only one looking into high-PPI screens (it’s something of an arms race, really), but they leapfrogged everyone with the iPhone 4 screen and hope to do the same elsewhere.

It would be an extremely powerful sales tool to have all primary Apple products be high-resolution. People see the screen of the iPhone 4 and they instantly understand how it’s better (though competition is getting tougher). They’ll see the screen of the new iPad and these high-res laptops and they’ll understand it there as well. Text will be clearer, images will be sharper, and no doubt Apple will have a few flashy features that demonstrate other benefits.

But it’s not quite that simple. With the iPhone, moving to high-res meant a bunch of upgraded art, sure, though the 2x mode saved a lot of trouble and looked just fine for the most part. But compared to the iPad and especially to OS X, the iPhone is really quite a limited ecosystem in many ways as far as the display and interface goes.

The question of resolution independence, then, again rears its head. Resolution independence, for those who have forgotten, is where an interface does not use bit-mapped graphics like, say, buttons 50 pixels wide and 15 tall, with rounded edges formed by falling off in graduated steps, producing the illusion of a curve. Instead, it uses either very high resolution versions of those graphics or scalable vector-type graphics to ensure that visual elements can be displayed at any resolution with the maximum fidelity possible. The curve on the corner of the button would not be measured in pixels but calculated geometrically and rendered in pixels as best it can be.

It’s not demonstrated perfectly (the proportions ought to be the same) but you can see how a seamlessly scaled UI might look here:

Apple has an on-again, off-again relationship with resolution independence. They’ve made some strides, such as in how icons are scaled, but creating a scalable but consistent interface is extremely tricky; PPI, DPI, scaling, filtering, and all their effects on design are a jungle few care to walk into. And at any rate screens haven’t had a high enough resolution to make the work of creating a resolution-independent interface worthwhile. Until now, that is.

For the present, 2880×1800 is big enough that current high resolution of the 15-inch MacBook Pro (1440×900) would neatly fit inside via pixel expansion, meaning that UI elements would appear the same size on this new device, but would be “rendered” at a higher resolution. For the present, I say, because it is only natural that OS X should, like iOS, be remade with the benefits of high resolution in mind. Given that there has been talk of this change for years, and that we’ve seen concrete examples here and there where it’s useful on current screens, I would say that Apple has been working on this design overhaul for quite a long time. It’s going to be their main volley against Windows 8, which, though it has a lot going for it, is very unlikely to beat Apple to the punch on this.

But they can’t introduce it with the new MacBook Pros, which will likely ship in the second quarter of 2012. Lion has, relatively speaking, just arrived, and the changes are too major to be included in anything less than a full decimal release. I don’t have a solution to this problem, and it may be that the rhythms at Apple will have to be disrupted in order to fully take advantage of this new technology.

The last thing that must be said about all this high resolution talk is that it may mark a return to the high end for Apple. For a couple years now, Apple has been focusing on cost and volume, driving down on-contract prices for the iPhone, aggressively pricing the iPad, and bringing the MacBook Air (once a luxury item and likely could have stayed there) below $1000 — to say nothing of how they’ve cooled towards professional applications like Final Cut Pro.

But this new screen not only commands a premium on its own, it will also actually be expensive. Possibly, in the first round, a major upgrade for several hundred dollars. The MacBook Pros will live up to the moniker; the Air will be the low-cost laptop and the Pro will be the high-cost one. What will accompany this turn? I don’t think desktops are ever going to be an Apple focus again; too much of their IP is in portability. I’m thinking that these MBPs will be able to be specced out to desktop levels, though, as if Apple still wants people to use their computers for serious media purposes, octa-core processors and 16 gigs of RAM will be in demand. That all is just my personal speculation, though.

One more word and then I’m done. I’ve seen a few articles crying about Digitimes as if it were deliberately trying to damage Apple by leaking these items. Let’s be realistic. Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world, and arguably the most important company in consumer electronics. It is perfectly right that Digitimes and other outlets like it should want to focus on this massive, interesting company and the devices which for a few years now have been leading the rest of the industry. They report these things because these things are what they report. And don’t forget that their Apple coverage, while it gets the most attention, is only a fraction of what they cover.

Whether these things are true will only be seen in time, but the topic of resolution independence and high-res displays is one which gives way to many other discussions and has many tangential implications, some of which I felt needed to be explored. It all starts with pixels.

TC Gadgets Weekly Webcast: The iPad Mini, CES, And A Coffeemaker

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 02:22 PM PST

This week the lads and I talk about the iPad Mini, our huge booth at CES, and my new favorite coffeemaker. We also discuss how much it’s going to cost us to interview 50 Cent at CES this year, which is pretty darn wild.

Want to hear this in audio form? I’ve extracted the audio from the video webcast and saved it to a downloadable MP3 podcast that you can subscribe to via RSS or iTunes. Hopefully you enjoy this version as well.

Review: Krups EA82 Automatic Espresso Maker Makes You Love To Love It

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 10:11 AM PST

KR-ESPRESSOS-FULL_AUTOMATIC-PIANO_BLACK-EA8250-FACING1

I was about to add this coffee maker (excuse me: espresso maker) to the Luddite gift guide but instead I felt it deserved special mention. As a fan of pod-based coffee-makers, I love almost everything about the EA82 – except its price.

This thing is a dense block of coffee-creation goodness. Operation is simple – add some water, whole beans, and a cup. You select the type of coffee – espresso or regular – and press a button. The machine does everything from grinding the beans, heating the the milk and water, and blowing out delicious coffee with just the right top of frothy crema.

The kit also includes a milk steamer and separate milk container for making endless cappuccinos and lattes.

The entire thing is self-cleaning and all you have to do is dump the grounds and some excess water. It comes in red and black, so you can buy one of each to match each of your kitchens.

Now for the bad news: this thing costs $795 on a good day and has an MSRP of $1,200, which is just about as nutso as it gets. However, I assure you that the coffee this thing pumps out is just about the best stuff that I’ve tasted in a long while and it will definitely steer you away from those $6-a-cup joints down in the building lobby.

There is, obviously, no way the average person would invest this much in a coffee maker, but if you’re running a small office this may save you quite a bit of cash in the long run. The system is solid, handsome, and easy-to-use and it definitely saves on the $1.25-per-cup price of many pod makers. For personal use a French press would probably produce equally good coffee, but the clean-up time and simplicity of this system is too nice to ignore.

Hopefully this coffee monster falls in price over the next few months and allows everyone to enjoy her freshly brewed goodness. Until then, I’ll drink cup after cup of coffee out of this loaner unit they sent me and cry, my lamentations rattling the heavens, when it’s time for it to go back.

Product Page



2011 Gift Guide: Best Stuff For Luddites

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 09:43 AM PST

2011-gift-guide-6-hot-pc-accessories-to-keep-you-and-yours-warm-this-holiday

Not everyone needs a Google Nexus. Some of you – and your friends – are happy to exist in a plane without technology, a world dedicated to quiet reflection and acoustic jamming. Here are some of our picks for the Luddites on your list this year.

There are no hand-hewn axes in this list – this is gear that will keep you living in the Hipster Age while still maintaining a connection to the past.


Field Notes Notepads – Price Varies – Sure, your Luddite friend already has an smartphone (they’re not a Neanderthal, just grumpy) but why not make his or her day with some notebooks from Field Notes. These handsome, rugged notebooks could like Moleskine in a fight and make you feel like a park ranger on the prowl. They come in multiple colors and styles and exude a sense of nostalgic utility that’s missing in the world these days.

Brooklyn Brew Shop Beermaking Kit – $40 – For years I’ve been recommending Mr. Beer as the homebrew kit of choice but experience has taught me that the best beer comes from real ingredients. These beer-making kits include a simple carboy, some grain and some hops. The instructions are easy to follow, fun, and delicious when complete.

The Faber-Castell Ambition Coconut Fountain Pen – $165 – A nice pen seems about as exciting as a pair of socks, but this is no ordinary pen. Made of repurposed coconut shells, this solid, handsome pen is just what your Luddite friend needs to pen his or her wild-eyed screed.

Forbidden Island – $14 – Who needs an Xbox when you have a few friends, a bottle of homebrew, and a a night of board gaming? Your Luddite friend will enjoy playing cooperatively with up to four other friends as you search a mysterious island for treasure. As my friend Lou once told me, “Wine and board games” is code for swinging!

Loog Guitar – $215 – Sure you can play “I Gave My Love A Cherry” on your dulcimer, but why not try playing Radiohead on a three-string Loog? The Loog is a mini-guitar designed for kids that is great for adults, as well. A simple, barre tuning makes it a breeze to play and it’s surprisingly loud for its size.

For some extra inspiration on all things gifty, check out the rest of our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide here.



Snag This Glowing Apple iPhone 4 Mod Before Apple’s Lawyers Do!

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 06:51 AM PST

glowing-apple

Set the rear-facing Apple logo aglow with this simple mod. Per the video demo below, it only takes 5 minutes to install and seems relatively simple. Just pop off the back cover of the iPhone, remove 5 internal screws, disconnect the screen’s cable and install the mod. From there, you’re a hop, skip and jump from having a glowing Apple logo every time the iPhone’s screen kicks on or displays a notification.

But there’s a catch. The retailer knows it won’t be able to sell this thing forever. Apple will no doubt release its legal hounds as soon as it catches wind of the unofficial mod. K.O Store is currently selling the kit for $42, but only for a limited time. Per a countdown timer on the website, the kit will go into hiding in just over two days from now unless of course Apple gets to it first. So? Do you want it or not?

The retailer states that it will take 14 days to ship the kit and the new back panel doesn’t change the iPhone’s dimensions. It will still work with standard cases and bumpers. Buyers also have the option of opting for the traditional Apple logo or the Steve Jobs Tribute logo designed by Jonathan Mak. But with either logo and a little work, you’ll end up with a very unique iPhone. Just don’t wait. Order it while it’s still available. [K.O Store via M.I.C Gadgets]

Update @ 10:30 am: Looks like we crashed the store or Apple retaliated with an orbital bombardment.

Samsung Releases Extended Battery Bundle (With Cover) For Your New Galaxy Nexus

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 05:42 AM PST

Screen shot 2011-12-16 at 8.40.34 AM

The Galaxy Nexus is a beautiful phone, no doubt about it. That gorgeous 4.65-inch Super AMOLED Plus display paired with LTE support and a fresh build of ICS thrown in there for good measure is about as good as it gets. But the same things that make this phone great — its massive screen and LTE radio — are also the things that will leave you screaming at it at 4p.m. on a Thursday, when it’s completely dead.

But Samsung has prepared for this, launching an extended battery pack/cover bundle specifically for the Galaxy Nexus. It includes a Lithium Ion Extended Battery Cover, which is meant to offer extra coverage for your battery. A 2100 mAh extended battery is also included in the bundle.

Getting a battery life solution out to the masses early is a smart move by Samsung. Some of the biggest complaints about phones these days tend to revolve around battery life, especially when LTE is in the mix. The bundle costs $49.99 and is available now.



EA Releases The Sims FreePlay For The iPhones And iPad

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 05:24 AM PST

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Get ready to set your house on fire! The Sims are back and are awaiting their invisible leader — you. Players have full control over a number of Sim characters just like The Sims of old. As the omnipotent creator, gamers have the ability to cause Sims to fall in love, live their life and watch them go to the bathroom. For free! No word on a naked cheat code, though.

The FreePlay app allows for 16 different Sims with 1,200 customization options for their domicile including a select number of pets. With The Sims FreePlay, EA is slowly expanding its mobile portfolio by dipping into its library of blockbuster hits.

"The Sims FreePlay app is a huge step forward in our mobile strategy," said Bernard Kim, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for EA Interactive stated in a released statement. "We've taken a franchise that is a best-selling brand in nearly every major video game market worldwide, optimized it for iPad and made it free for all iOS users. That opens the door for our mobile business to continue to grow while immersing new fans in a brand as wildly popular as The Sims."

The Sims FreePlay is currently in the App Store and available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.