HTC's Hero handset

The HTC Hero is a good option for those looking for an alternative to Apple’s iPhone.

The Android operating system is very sturdy, the phone’s touchscreen is very responsive and the device itself looks and feels very nice.

It does have its problems – some headphones don’t work in it properly and the navigation can take a little bit of getting used to.

That said its flaws are minor and it is well recommended for those looking for a touch-based phone.

Specs:
3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 320×480 HVGA resolution
Internal GPS antenna
Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
3.5 mm audio jack
5.0 megapixel camera
microSD expansion slot (hot swappable)

Click here to see Teic.ie’s First Impressions video for the HTC Hero.

Teic.ie reviews the Samsung Ping

Teic.ie takes a look at the Samsung Ping communicator phone.

This bite-sized device is aimed at heavy texters and social media users and has an unusual form factor to boot.

Besides having a numerical pad along the left-hand side of the screen (as opposed to under it) the phone also houses a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

On top of this there is Facebook, Bebo and Myspace integration as well as the ability to take and upload photos directly to services like Flickr and Photobucket.

The Ping is not for everyone, though. It certainly won’t appeal to people who want a powerful entertainment device or anything approaching a slick smartphone.

Truth be told this is purely for young – probably female – texters and as it’s cheap (around the €99 mark in Ireland) it will likely do very well with them.

The Seecode VOSSOR Phonebook is a novel attempt at the hands free car kit. This device is a rear-view mirror which connects to your phone via Bluetooth and allows you to make and receive calls through it.

Teic.ie takes a quick look at the Seecode VOSSOR Phonebook to show you how it works. Stay tuned to the site for a full review in the next few days.

Teic.ie takes a look at the HTC Hero, an Android-based phone available on the Meteor network in Ireland.

The phone is one of two models being pushed in Ireland by HTC at the moment as it tries to take market share from the big players like Nokia.

Stay tuned to the site for a full text and video review in the coming week.

Teic.ie looks at Nokia’s N97 mini, a bite-sized version of the company’s popular touch-screen N97 device.

The phone’s proportions are a few centimetres smaller than then N97 but most of what’s under the hood is much the same – it even still houses a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Keep an eye on the site for a full video and text review of the phone within the next week.

The new INQ Mini 3G

Following on the success of the award-winning INQ1, the Three-owned mobile company INQ has unveiled its new Mini 3G handset.

Like the INQ1 it has Facebook and Skype integration, however the big new feature of this device is its Twitter client, which promises users always-on access to their favourite tweet streams.

We take a quick look at the device and what it has to offer in the video below – stay tuned for a full review in the days to come.

We take a look at the Sony Walkman X media player

Apple’s iPod Touch has been a roaring success for the company, proving that touch-screen technology has an appeal beyond the world of mobile phones.

Rival companies have been quick to respond to this trend and Sony is no different, unveiling its Walkman X product just in time for Christmas.

Teic.ie gives you a quick run-down of the device’s features and design in the video below. Stay tuned for a full review soon.

We preview Samsung's newest netbook, the N130

Samsung made a big splash in the netbook world with its NC10 device last year – now it’s following this success up with a two-tier offering.

We take a quick look at their lower-end device, the N130, to see what it’s all about and how it differs from what’s gone before.

Stay tuned for a full device review in the coming days.

The Palm Pre

Teic.ie puts the Palm Pre through its paces in this video review, focusing on the device’s speed, keyboard and screen.

You can read a text review of the phone here.

Windows XP vs 7 - which is faster?

Microsoft has made a lot of claims about the speed of its new operating system, Windows 7.

It wouldn’t take a lot for it to be faster than Windows Vista but what about the OS before that – the ubiquitous and still popular Windows XP?

We decided to investigate by pitting two netbooks with identical spec (1.6GHz Atom Processor, 1GB RAM etc.) but different operating systems against each other.

On the left we have the Samsung N130, running Windows XP Home Edition.

On the right we have the Toshiba NB200, running Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.

So which can boot up first?

Preview of the Samsung Ping

See below for the video preview (and please excuse the sub-par quality – better video equipment is on the way).