Found this video on the web about a review of the new yet to be released iPad 2.

A while back the nice people over at Nokia gave me one of the first Nokia N8′s to give away to my readers, soon after the competition was over I also received one to test out for a while.

It’s been just over a month since I got the Nokia N8 and although I did not use the phone for the whole month there was 2 weeks where I decided to swap my favourite Android phone for the N8.

Opening the box I was presented with a beautiful lime green Nokia N8 carved from a solid block of anodised aluminium, and one can feel this solid construction when holding the phone.

Setting up the Nokia N8 was a breeze except when I had to transfer my contacts over from my Android phone, seems like Nokia has no support to import contacts from your Gmail account, luckily I found a nice workaround from our friends over at WebAddicts where you can set up an exchange email to sync with Gmail and then also sync your contacts.

For me the biggest features that stood out on the Nokia N8 was the 12 Mega pixel camera capable of taking absolutely stunning picture and high definition videos, and to complement that the Nokia N8 has a HDMI output to view your pictures and video in all of HD glory on you HD TV.

The Nokia N8 features the latest Symbian OS, Symbian^3 and although it looks really sleek there was times that it was a bit sluggish as I flicked through pictures or delayed actions when pressing icons, but all in all if you do not have a particular preference when it comes to OS choice then you would not really have a problem with Symbian^3.

The Nokia N8 unfortunately does not stack up to the high end smartphones like the iPhone 4 or Samsung Galaxy S but one can see Nokia is really starting to make moves into that high end smartphone market. The Nokia N8 I would say is a good phone for those looking at making the move from feature phone to smartphone.

Even though the N8 does not stack up to the best in the market does not mean you do not get your money’s worth, Nokia has thrown in 6 months of unlimited OVI music downloads to sweeten the deal and then you also get lifetime free navigation, which works really well on the N8 if I may add.

All in all I see the Nokia N8 as a must have phone for the digital junkie always looking to take snaps on the go, or transfer files around or even watch the odd movie or episode now and then.

The Samsung I8910 Omnia HD may be more than a year old already but it still stacks up against the better smartphones out there. In fact, I wouldn’t even go that far and call this phone a smartphone, cause its clear that when Samsung released this phone it was to satisfy the needs of all the multimedia junkies out there.

The I8910 Omnia HD features a 3.7″ AMOLED display ensuring that all things multimedia looks absolutely brilliant on the device. And when you have a 8 Megapixel camera capable of recording 720p HD Ready video you are sure to need a bright and colour rich screen like this.

The Samsung I8910 was the first phone that was capable of recording 720p HD Ready video, yet it never catched on as a must have device.

The 8 Megapixel camera on the I8910 is capable of taking gorgeous snapshots, even some closeup tests rendered crisp and clear images. The camera comes with all sorts of features, one that stood out to me was the panoramic setting that allows you to take 180 degree panoramic photos by just turning 180 degrees with the phone in your hand automatically taking a few snapshots and then auto stitching them together to render a seamless panoramic scene.

Another sign that the Samsung I8910 is built for multimedia is its support for video formats. Out of the box the I8910 supports DivX format allowing you to watch any DivX or XVid compressed video on the device, I tested it out with an episode of IT Crowd and playback was smooth and in sync. If I was on the go I could easily watch my series on the 3.7″ AMOLED screen.

Although the Samsung Omnia HD has all these great multimedia capabilities, one thing that kind of annoyed me was the interface. Me being used to Android now, I found it hard to get used to the Symbian OS on the I8910. That aside, I still think the interface is simple to operate, maybe too simple and that may be why I am not liking it and other power users will also.

The Samsung I8910 Omnia HD runs an ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz CPU with PowerVR SGX graphics to power that HD video playback and 3D games. It also features 7.2Mbps HSDPA, b/g WiFi and Bluetooth for all your networking needs and a Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery capable of 600 h standby time on 2G and 13 h 30 min talk time on 2G.

My conclusion, the Samsung I8910 Omnia HD is a superb multimedia phone, capable taking clear high resolution photos and HD Ready video with its 8 Megapixel auto focus camera and built in flash. Gaming graphics on the device is also superb and not to mention the DivX / XVid support. My wife loved this phone and if you are just like her and into photos and videos and like to take snaps on the go then this is the phone for you.

One thing where this phone could have been improved was perhaps with the operating system, but then again that is just me. If you are used to Symbian then it gives you just more reason to like it, I on the other hand would have loved to have Android run on this baby, luckily there is the Samsung Galaxy S out now.

All in all the Samsung I8910 gets my thumbs up as a superb multimedia device for people on the move.

So the web is currently flourishing with posts on how awesome the new Apple iPad is, but is it really that awesome?

It’s no secret I am no Apple fanboy, in fact the closest I have gotten to owning a Apple was the Granny Smiths in my kitchen. Its not that I can’t afford it, it just there is always something lacking when it comes to functionality in Apple products and I always find that there is something better for either the same price or cheaper.

Last year when I had to choose a new phone I was torn between the iPhone or the HTC Hero, eventually went with the Hero and the reason was simply that the iPhone and multitasking is just not big friends and I haven’t looked back yet on that decision I made and thought maybe I should have gone with the iPhone.

There I was last night, tuning in on the live streams and blogs awaiting this awesome product, after 45 minutes just closing everything in disappointment without listening further. What I saw was just an oversized iPod Touch renamed as the Apple iPad.

The bezel is just plain huge, sure you are saying its to prevent touching the screen accidentally while holding the device. I you don’t want to touch the screen then don’t buy a touch screen device. Then Steve Jobs went and said the iPad was there to do things better like browsing the web and consuming digital media. How can the iPad do this better when it doesn’t even have flash support? And the fact that the iPad does not support MKV format for high definition video also lost me. Not that I would use it for watching videos or playing music, that’s what I have my LCD and Home Theater system for.

Was the iPad designed for portability? I for one would think so as it is something between a laptop and smartphone, but don’t think it will replace either. The iPad has no built in camera so there goes shooting some movies or pics on the go, and typing a full article on a touch screen device that takes up half of the screen? I would rather stick with my netbook for that.

One good thing that I would say the iPad could be good for is to bring competition to the eBook market, and clearly Apple is targeting that market with their release of their iBook store. I bet new Kindle users are kicking themselves in the head right now.

In all I don’t see the Apple iPad replacing my netbook or smartphone anytime soon, and I certainly won’t be carrying another device around with me. The iPad does have that nice look as do all the other Apple products, but when it comes to functionality I won’t just buy one yet.

Back in November 2009 I was doing my usual evening routine of surfing the Internet and working on some client sites when my wife suddenly called me over with much excitement in her voice. “I want that camera” she told me.

She was obviously talking about the first digital camera in the world with dual LCD screens, a large 3.5″ touch sensitive LCD at the back and a smaller 1.5″ LCD perfect for that self portraits. That next weekend we set out to the stores to try and get hold of one of these good looking cameras, but after driving around for almost the whole day and several phone calls it was obvious that nobody either stocked it or knew about it.

After a few weeks I got hold of Samsung JoinTheClique via twitter and they got hold of one for me at the Samsung Store in Canal Walk. BTW you can stand a chance to win one of these ST550 cameras by joining their Facebook page or following them on twitter.

Right after buying the ST550 camera we headed to the closest store to go buy some AA batteries, but upon opening the box I soon discovered that the ST550 does not make use of disposable batteries but has its own battery. Another thing I instantly noticed is that the ST550 made use of a microSD card so all the normal SD cards I had was pretty useless, lucky for me the ST550 came with a 2GB microSD card included.

Features

As well as the dual LCD screens, the ST550 also boasts a 12 mega pixel sensor with 4.6x optical zoom that is also optical stabilised to avoid camera shake. The large 3.5″ LCD screen on the back of the ST550 is touch sensitive, which enabled Samsung to remove all physical buttons ensuring for a larger than normal LCD screen. The front LCD screen is almost invisible to the eye until you turn it on, it also has a child mode that displays pictures to ensure your child’s attention is where is should be to take that beautiful picture. The ST550 also boasts smile detection and face detection capabilities which enables you to let the camera take photos automatically when it picks up smiles or enabled it to focus on recognised faces.

Design

When it comes to looks the Samsung ST550 is a real stunner. Dressed in glossy black with a vibrant coloured lip in various colours it looks really sexy, the wife decided on the purple one.

With the missing buttons on the back it makes it a little bit more difficult figuring out where all the settings is located on the touch screen. But once you actually sat down and read the instruction manual navigating the touch screen menus is a real breeze. As with any touch screen greasy finger marks are always visible on the screen and you will find yourself time and again wiping it clean, same goes for the glossy black finish on the front. The screen is really huge using 95% of the available space on the back of the ST550 and that makes it worth dealing with the clean wiping now and again.

The front LCD as mentioned is invisible to the eye until turned on, turning the screen on however can be bit of struggle if you have bigger fingers with the small menu buttons on the touch screen. Here Samsung could have opted for a double tap on the front screen functionality rather than going through the menus on the back.

Performance and Image Quality

The ST550 has with its 12 mega pixel lens offers produces good quality images but not the best for a 12 mega pixel camera, and the the lens could have been made a little wider as taking self portraits you often struggle to get all the faces in.

When it comes to battery life I really did expect a bit more, because of the special battery included with the ST550 you must ensure that your camera is on charge every time you are not using it as the battery life can’t keep up with a full days shooting. Charging can also be a bit of a hassle as the charge cable is really short, however you can charge the camera not only via the wall but also via USB.

When it comes to video the ST550 is capable of capturing 720p, HD Ready, videos at 30 frames per second with mono sound. Unfortunately you cant use the front LCD to capture self portrait videos.

Value for money

When it comes to price, the ST550  is certainly not the cheapest camera out there. Going for around R3,500.00 you would think that you are paying for both LCD screens and not two screens for the price of one. Good news is that there is a lower end model available, the ST500, retailing for about a R1000 cheaper and the only difference according to Samsung JoinTheClique on twitter is a smaller LCD screen, 0.5″ to be exact.

Regardless of the high price I would still say that the ST550 has a kind of fair price for the features is boasts.

Conclusion

There is a few things Samsung could have done better on the ST550, however the ST550 is a true showcase of innovation from Samsung thanks to its dual LCD screens.

With smile detection, blink detection, face recognition as well as a image editing mode where you can modify the photos you already took, the ST550 is a real 21st century camera and the first in its class. I would highly recommend the ST550 just because of its front LCD screen and the fact that it has smile recognition. This camera is really a ladies camera and its showing as my wife is really enjoying the ST550 and taking pictures with it.

The ST550 gets two thumbs up from me.

You can get more info on the features and specifications of the ST550 here