Author: RPadTV

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HTC Evo 4G (Not) Review Part 5: Camera Thoughts and Test Shots

My HTC Evo 4G (not a) review continues! This installment covers the phone’s camera. Since HTC has a history of serving up phones with merely average cameras, my expectations were low in this department. I was pleasantly surprised to have them exceeded. While the Evo 4G’s camera isn’t as good as the ones in several Nokia, Samsung, and Sony-Ericcson phones I’ve used, I’d say it’s above average. It will let you snap good photos in pure auto mode. If you take the time to adjust settings, you can snap really good photos with it.

Some reviewers have complained about the Evo 4G’s lack of a dedicated camera button. This wasn’t a problem for me at all. I love the camera’s touch-to-focus feature and almost always use a focus point that isn’t dead center. I understand why some people prefer a dedicated button, but for me it doesn’t get easier than touching your focus point to take a shot (and no, “touching your focus point” is not code for pleasuring yourself).

Since none of you are trying to be Ansel Adam with a camera-phone, all of the test shots I snapped were in full auto mode. This first batch is a bunch pictures that didn’t use the flash. As expected, the camera works best when there’s plenty of natural light. The results were mostly good, but overly sharp.

Here are some shots in low-light conditions using the HTC Evo 4G’s dual-LED flash. The camera’s flash is very powerful and can easily mangle shots. It can blow things out and usually produces images that are too soft. This is not unexpected for a camera phone. I do like that the Evo has a strong flash, unlike some other smartphones. The flash is a good tool, but it’s easy to misuse.

I also snapped a quick video in 720p with the Evo 4G. The video quality is very, very good but it’s difficult to show you the true output. Sure, you can go to this video’s YouTube page and watch the 720p version, but it’s still not the same as plugging the phone directly into an HDTV through HDMI. Hopefully this gives you a decent idea of the phone’s video capabilities.

HTC Evo 4G (Not) Review Part 4: Calls, Apps, Games, and More

I’ve been using the HTC Evo 4G for a week and wanted to update my (not a) review with more thoughts on this excellent phone. (Here are the links to part 1, part 2, and part 3 if you missed it.) This time around I’m going to talk about the phone’s call quality, apps, games and more. While some of these aspects are more about the Android platform than the actual phone, I wanted to give you a sense of what the overall Evo 4G experience is like. Let’s go!

Call Quality: Unlike most of my friends, I actually use my mobile phone to make a lot of phone calls. I know it’s crazy, but it’s true (Christopher Cross). For the last nine months I’ve been using a BlackBerry Curve 8900 on T-Mobile as my personal phone, so I’ll use that as a measuring stick. Compared to the 8900 on UMA (WiFi), the call quality is comparable. Everything sounded clear, though I wish the ear piece had an additional level or two of volume. The people I spoke with on the Evo 4G said I sounded good, but it was obvious that I was calling from a mobile phone. Compared to the 8900 on Edge, it was no contest. The Evo 4G was much, much better.

Since everyone is comparing the Evo 4G to the iPhone — rightly or wrongly — I’ll throw in that comparison as well. The Evo 4G kicks the iPhone 3GS’ ass as a telephone. It’s not even close. Overall I was very satisfied with how the Evo 4G works as a phone. Keep in mind that my calls were made in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Your experience may be different depending on where you work and play.

Apps: A lot of you aren’t familiar with the Android Market, so I wanted to discuss my experience with it on the Evo 4G. Obviously this isn’t a measure of the phone itself, but the Android platform. In terms of reference, media playing, and social apps, the Android Market has almost everything I want. Sure, the iPhone App Store has way more choices, but more isn’t always better. Sometimes it’s just more.

The two apps that I missed from my iPhone 3GS are Tweetdeck and a full Skype client. The former is on its way to Android and should be released in the next few weeks. I didn’t think the latter was coming to the Evo 4G due to Verizon’s limited exclusivity agreement with Skype, but it looks like Skype will be hitting the Android Market before the end of the year. What makes it particularly exciting for this phone is that video calls can be made thanks to the Evo 4G’s dual cameras.

Naturally, Google Apps are better on Android than any other platform. I love the phone’s version of Google Maps, Google Voice, Google Goggles, etc.

Games: Modern games is one area where Android is way, way behind the iPhone platform. The games selection in the Android Market is relatively thin and most of the titles aren’t very good. Having said that, I’m completely confident that gaming will improve on Android. Developers are flocking to the platform due to its rapid growth and comparative openness to iPhone OS. Google also hired Mark DeLoura as an Android developer advocate for gaming. DeLoura worked at Sony Computer Entertainment America’s developer relations division for a long time and was a technical director at Ubi Soft. I’ve known him for years. When I learned about his job at Google, I became way more interested in Android’s future as a gaming platform. The dude is very sharp and I know Android gaming will be much better now that he’s involved.

While current games on Android aren’t the best, the Android Market has several emulators for fans of classic games. Game Boy Color, Genesis, NES, and SNES emulators are available and it’s incredibly easy to find ROMs on the Internet. While the controls aren’t the best for games the require precision (think difficult platformers), they’re totally fine for RPGs. Considering that’s my favorite genre and the NES/SNES has some of the best RPGs of all time, these emulators will keep me busy. Just to CMA I have to note that you’re only supposed to emulate games that you own.

Voice to Text: This is one aspect of Android that I didn’t think I would care for but have come to love. The voice recognition is the best I’ve ever used. I’m astonished by how effective it is. It definitely takes some adjustment to train yourself to even think to use voice to text, but once you do it can be a real time saver. Plus, it just feels cool! It totally makes me feel like Captain Picard.

N8R’s Question: To answer RPadholic N8R’s question from the second part of this review, the Evo 4G supports a ton of file formats. For audio, MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, AMR, and MIDI work. For video, MPEG4, H.263, and H.264 are supported. I’ve viewed several MP4 and MKV files successfully on the Evo.

Next up I’m going to talk about the Evo 4G’s camera. Still images and video will be used. If you have any questions for now, fire away!

Apple TV Rumor: Screenless iPad for $99?

The red-headed stepchild in Apple’s family of products, Apple TV appears to be on the verge of shedding its “hobby” status and readying for prime time. According to Engadget, the new Apple TV will offer an inexpensive device that streams 1080p video. Here’s the scoop:

The new architecture of the device will be based directly on the iPhone 4, meaning it will get the same internals, down to that A4 CPU and a limited amount of flash storage — 16GB to be exact — though it will be capable of full 1080p HD (!). The device is said to be quite small with a scarce amount of ports (only the power socket and video out), and has been described to some as “an iPhone without a screen.” Are you ready for the real shocker? According to our sources, the price-point for the device will be $99.

If this rumor pans out, I’m sure the device will do well. While I’m not big on streaming 1080p, most consumers can’t tell the difference between streaming and Blu-ray video. More importantly, the $99 price point is extremely attractive to mainstream shoppers.

On the business side, it adds another layer to the Apple vs. Google war. Remember, Google recently announced its plans for Google TV, which is coming later this year. It’s getting really fun. I kind of want to watch the whole thing from the sidelines while eating popcorn…or head to Vegas to watch Steve Jobs vs. Eric Schmidt in a UFC octagon.

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Pokemon Black and White Confirmed for Spring 2011 in America

Nintendo has confirmed that Pokemon Black and Pokemon White for Nintendo DS will ship in spring 2011. It also confirmed the Western names for the new legendary Pokemon. Gracing the cover of Black will be Reshiram, while Zekrom will be on the cover of White. Here’s a snippet from the press release:

The launch of Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version follows the incredible consumer response to Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version, which have sold more than 8.4 million units combined worldwide to date. The Pokémon video game series has sold more than 200 million units worldwide since it was first introduced 14 years ago.

I’m always down for more Pokemon RPGs. I’ll just have to sing a few lines from the cartoon: “Pokemon! It’s you and me. I know it’s my destiny!”

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I think I’m finally over my Scrabble phase (well…mostly). This weekend I want to jump back into the world of gamers’ games! I have Alan Wake and Split / Second waiting on my Xbox 360. This seems like a fine weekend to tackle both. On the downloadable front, I’m going to give Rocket Knight a shot. It looks like a cool old-school platformer. Lastly, I ordered Glory of Heracles in a pretty awesome Amazon deal. It’ll be arriving today and I’m totally down for some turn-based RPG excitement on my DS.

As always, I want to know what you’re playing this weekend!

Skype with Video Chat Coming to Android Market (and My Evo 4G)

My biggest problem with the HTC Evo 4G is the lack of a proper Skype client. If you’ve been reading my stuff for awhile then you know that I rely heavily on the UMA features of my BlackBerry Curve 8900 and Skype app on my iPhone 3GS while traveling internationally. The lack of a full Skype client on the Evo 4G is the only deal-breaker issue I have with the phone. With Verizon’s exclusive agreement with Skype, I didn’t think it was coming. Thankfully, I was wrong. Skatter Tech received an email from Skype PR spokesperson Brianna Reynaud that said:

Skype envisions a world where video plays a larger role in the way we communicate. The next generation innovation involving video calling will not be bound to the computer. We’re seeing a proliferation of video calling shared between all kinds of connected devices. It’s on computers (today 1/3 of all calls on Skype happen via video), televisions (Skype bringing video calls to living rooms via Panasonic, Samsung & LG partnership), and it will eventually be coming to mobile devices too. We’re betting big on video, and we intend to set the bar on mobile video calling, and it’s something we’re going to do this year.

We will be bringing a direct to consumer app to the Android marketplace later this year. This application will be available for all consumers globally to download regardless of carriers. (i.e. similar to how we offer the iPhone app today)

Obviously this is exciting news for me as an avid Skype user. It’s also exciting for people that are planning to buy an Evo 4G. The phone has a front-facing camera and allows for video chat. Skype has years of experience with PC-to-PC video-chat and I expect the company’s solution to be one of the best out there. I want this app now! Hopefully “later this year” is closer to now than it is December.

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Mark Hamill to Retire as The Joker in Batman: Arkham Asylum 2

Actor and nerd icon Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker, Cocknocker) has done a tremendous job voicing The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Sadly, his run as The Joker is coming to an end. He recently told IGN:

This will be my last, there’s no question about that. But it’s the last hurrah.

As a huge mark for Hamill (see what I did there?) and Kevin Conroy, I’m sad that the duo won’t be sharing the screen again. They are absolutely brilliant together. Like most people that grew up on Star Wars, Hamill was pretty much the coolest person on Earth to me as a kid. When I grew up and found out he was a comic-book nerd, my respect for him increased tenfold. I’m sad that he won’t be back as The Joker. On the plus side, I’m looking forward to Arkham Asylum 2 more than ever!

I know a few of you are big fans of Batman: The Animated Series. Are you going to miss Hamill? What are some of your favorite moments of him as The Joker? Did you think he meant he was retiring as The Joker for good or just from the videogame series?

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Mafia II Shows Off its Nvidia PhysX

Here’s a video of the PC version of Mafia II that shows off its use of Nvidia PhysX. The game will also be available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but the PC version offers a little something extra with PhysX. Here’s the skinny from 2K Games:

Mafia II will include NVIDIA PhysX technology in all platforms of the game. Particularly, the Windows PC version of Mafia II will feature a thorough integration of NVIDIA PhysX and 3D Vision technology into 2K Czech’s Illusion Engine. The integration of PhysX and NVIDIA APEX technology, including the APEX Clothing and Particle modules, enable the city and personalities of Empire Bay to truly come alive on Windows PC. With the implementation of NVIDIA APEX Particles, players are engulfed in lifelike explosions that are bigger and brighter, including weapon fragments, in-game debris and destructible environments that are amplified in both quantity and realism through the integration of APEX Particles.

Check out the clip and let me know what you think (please)! More specifically, is Nvidia PhysX enough to nudge you to play the PC version of the game?

Analyst Says PlayStation 3 Will Overtake Xbox 360 in Two Years

DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole believes that the PlayStation 3’s global installed base will surpass the Xbox 360’s in two years. Since the PS3 received a price cut in 2009, its momentum has been surging. In North America the price cut was accompanied by a marketing campaign that was far better than anything Sony has done since the PS3 launch. While Cole is confident in the PS3’s future, the one X-factor he cited was how well each console’s motion-console devices will sell. He told Industry Gamers:

Right now our forecasts are that the PlayStation 3 will have the momentum and is poised to overtake the Xbox 360 over the next two years. However, based on what we learn and see more specifically about Natal that could be subject to change. I would just say right now we haven’t seen anything yet that would make us change our mind.

What do you think of Cole’s statement? Do you think the PS3 will eventually overtake the Xbox 360? Will motion controls be a big factor in the race? Analyze that!!!

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