Gadgetory

this week on the cnet tech review t-mobile goes 4g with the new mytouch our editors connect over their love of dance we hit the highway in the 2011 chevy corvette and don't let your iphone out of your sight it's all coming up right now I ever when I'm Mollywood and welcome to the cnet tech review where we collect our hottest videos of the week and tell you what's good and what's bad in the world of tech and offer some unique tech wisdom in the form of the bottom line let's get started with the good t-mobile has been enjoying great success with their line of Android phones but these days it's all about 4G even though the wireless companies are fighting about what exactly 4G means for you just think faster here's Bonnie cha to explain how that all works on the mytouch 4G hey everyone I'm Bonnie toss senior editor at cnet com and I'm here with your first look of the t-mobile mytouch 4G this is the latest model and the carrier's mytouch series of Android phones and it's definitely the most advanced one yet it's also probably the sturdiest one the overall shape of the phone is very similar to the other models but the difference is it's got a much more premium feel to it instead of an all plastic back like the rest the mytouch 4G has a stainless steel battery door and frame around the screen it makes a phone a little heavier but I'd rather have it be heavier and more solid feeling than life and real plasticky plus it's still very thin so you're not dealing with an overly bulky phone here on front you've got a 3.8 inch WVGA touchscreen that's clear bright and responsive but not as rich as a samsung vibrant screen the my touch 4g uses a combination of t-mobile's own interface and HTC sense widgets I prefer the stock Android UI of the t-mobile g2 but I also think this is very user-friendly for consumers and first-time Android users below the display here you've got standard Android shortcuts to home menu and back but instead of a search button you get t-mobile's genius button which brings up the voice command function where you can conduct searches make calls launch applications and morale with the sound of your voice so let's talk about some of the features first of all the mytouch 4G supports t-mobile's hspa+ network which promises 4g like speeds and I've definitely got some great download and upload speeds here New York the phone also supports the ability and make calls over a Wi-Fi network and yo calls over Wi-Fi or the cellular network for video calls there's a front-facing vga camera here and you can use either quick or yahoo messenger to connect with friends i gave it a quick test with Jessica dual-core in San Francisco before coming in here and I got the video feed just fine but couldn't hear her although she clear-- me also I tried it with another blogger and got audio this time but no video so it seems like there are some kinks to be worked out there are a bunch of other apps that come bundled with a mytouch 4G including t mobile TV rock band and asphalt five and it is running android 2.2 so you're getting the most current version of the OS out there right now also has a second generation 1 gigahertz Snapdragon processor and the phone has been very responsive so far state ranks up there with t-mobile's other top android phones like the g2 and the samsung vibrant it might not have as rich of a screen as the vibrant but you do to get hspa+ support and Wi-Fi calling the t-mobile mytouch 4G will be available starting November third for 1 99 99 with a two-year contract I'm Bonnie town this has been your first look at the t-mobile mytouch 4G well it sounds like that phone has plenty going on for you to enjoy while they work out those video calling kinks like downloading apps and what better place to find out about the best apps available then our own show tap that up this week Jessica dole Court is here with a multi-purpose search program that's giving Yelp a run for its money hey everybody welcome to tap that app I'm Jessica doll cord and this is the show where we covered the hottest apps in the mobile space let me ask you a question where do you go when you want to find information about restaurants nearby gas stations and movie theaters Google Places pages Yelp and Bing are all popular but have you heard of point this ruby has been kicking around for a while but it's good enough and it overlooks enough that we thought it deserved a little love right away you can see that points a looker with an intuitive carousel you can navigate Prue to search for people businesses restaurants gas stations and movies oh yeah and you may have noticed the weather widget on the Start screen too when you dig into the app you'll see all of the search categories laid out for you in tabs with a sub list of options below if you're into the silver screen for example you can search theaters and movies nearby watch a preview or pick your flick by looking through other criteria click the Buy button to virtually pocket a few tickets ahead of the show similar search techniques go for dining establishments and gas stations as well there are even yellow pages and white page modules for finding people and other businesses we were impressed by the reverse lookup functionality though keep in mind that the service will only work for registered people and phone numbers point uses superpages citysearch opentable and other content aggregators to accomplish this and other tasks for each category you'll see multiple selections for what to do next call a person or place search for other places nearby and get directions in your favorite app lucky Android users can take advantage of turn-by-turn voice navigation if they select google maps to provide guidance overall point makes a great alternative to your other apps for reviews and it does a bang-up job taking existing information from multiple online services and wrapping it up and in clean colorful and easy-to-use package the great news for you is that point is available free for android iphone and blackberry smartphones so there's our suggestion for the week we hope that you like it and if you have any more suggestions email us it's half that up at cnet com I'm jessica's all court and keep happen it's so nice when we find an app that runs on Android iOS and blackberry sorry webOS our next first look video features a product called the jawbone jambox so there's really nothing else to say jawbone jambox just say it as many times as you can and take a look at those product hey I'm Donnell bell today we're taking a first look at the jam box from jawbone this is a portable rechargeable Bluetooth speaker with a cool look and suggested price of one hundred ninety nine dollars the speaker comes in four colors black red blue and grey the top and bottom have a non-slip rubber coating and the middle features this wraparound metal grille there's a diamond pattern in Boston to the metal on this black version but different colors use slightly different shapes at the very top you've got three oversized buttons to work for volume control and one's a multi-purpose button that gives you the battery status can answer calls it can also be programmed there's an auto dial button when you pair this with your phone on the side there's a three-position power button that triggers the pairing mode when you hold it up jambox it in pairing mode waiting for device to connect beneath that you've got a mini jack aux input and a micro USB port for recharging or connecting to a computer jawbone doesn't cheap out either you've got a nice flat wire aux cable in the box along with USB cables a power adapter and a case to keep this thing pretty now at one hundred ninety nine dollars this thing isn't cheap for portable speaker for half the price you can get a logitech z 5 15 that pulls the same trick and also gives you a USB dongle for connecting to your computer the Z 15 also has a 10 hour battery life which is a little better than the eight hours you're going to get out of the jam box on the other hand it's not nearly as cool looking or a small also as you'd expect from jawbone the jam box includes a quality integrated microphone so you can use this as a speaker phone to another detail that really adds to the long-term value is the micro USB port which allows you to update the firmware on this to help maintain compatibility you can also sideload Jawbone's own apps change the language of the system voice and do other custom tweaks sonically the jam box is a mixed bag uses two small drivers and a passive radiator on the back to deliver a relatively beefy sound that's impressive for the size when you turn it on even gives a little sub frequency kick just to show off that said compared to sub $200 speaker docks like the Logitech s 715 I the sound from this thing is still a little weak if you're really just looking for something to play music on around the house we're really shy and surprisingly is with the iPad giving it a way to improve the sound quality of games and videos without having to plug in your headphones or put this thing in some kind of doc so that's the jam box from jawbone extremely stylish and extremely tiny portable bluetooth speaker for cnet.com i'm donald l I so want one of those for my iPad and not just because of Angry Birds I promise it's just so cute all right it seems like the car tech garage has been all about muscle cars lately so why stop now Brian Cooley took the 2011 chevy corvette out on the road and here are some of the highlights I'll be the first to admit it I've got a little bit of a prejudice against Corvettes I'm not the only one oh nice you the door of one open I expect to first see some white patent leather loafers come out followed by a big ol beer belly some out-of-date foster grants and a bad comb-over shoot me when that's me in the meantime I will give a very fair shake to this bad boy the 2011 Corvette zo6 while we check the tech corvette cabins are tightened it to me that way holds in place while you're hit the corners hard directly in front of you one of the best instrument panels in production today great crisp clear gauges no obnoxious stylizing to make them look dated a few years from now that is a great-looking drivers instrument panel right above that is a head-up display that is exactly the opposite that's like something I'd get at the maker faire or I'd go down to radio shack and buy a bunch of diodes and just make it myself yeah the informations cool but wow that display is clunky but i must say that head-up display is standard gear on a 06 even while things like the navigation head unit remain optional speaking of the navigation head unit i'm so glad to see General Motors has worked out a partnership with fisher-price they clearly have engineered this nav system and it looks like living hell that is about the worst resolution I've seen in six years of doing cars at seen it and we've only been doing them for five years it sucks when you're zoomed way out like this it looks either like a map of roads or one of those stylized neural synapses you got in sixth grade science class take it in a little bit and you can make out that yes indeed that is an image of roads in the world but I have no idea what world because I can't read the streets because the resolution is awful we've also got the three LZ package on this car which is basically a seating package you get what apparently is better leather perforated stuff going on here this whole carbon fiber center stack cover is the real deal and that's in the option package Owen that's attractive nice big stitched Corvette on the front I can live without that to our sound settings reflect the fact that we have optional Bose audio on this car which is a good thing because anything less than that would not overcome the booming Thunder out of the rear end of this vehicle speaking of which let's go listen to that herein lies the throbbing heart of the beast this is a seven liter all-aluminum dry sump v8 dry sump means the oil doesn't live in a crankcase pan down sloshing around during hard cornering and extended performance driving it's pumping under pressure pretty high-end stuff it also allows the engine to sit lower in the bay cuz there's not a big old belly pan hanging there you gotta make clearance for well by the way seven liters is more than just big as all hell it's all so that's an historical reference in the Chevrolet world that's a 427 all I gotta say right this one by the way handmade they all are you can help do it that dude right there on that label could have had the owner alongside him for fifty eight hundred bucks helping to build this engine they call that the Corvette experience and then you take delivery of your actual car at the Corvette Museum now whether you help build it or just write the check and let them do all the dirty work that results the same zero to 60 in 38 while delivering pretty good 15 24 mpg our bet has the pricey performance package on top of its zo6 pneus that means a bigger cooling system 19's on the front 20s in the back ceramic brake rotors to haul it down from its hundred and ninety eight mile per hour top speed and magnetic ride control which offers touring or sport modes now unless you're pressing this car pretty hard there's no real difference between the two and the touring mode is firmer than just about anything else you'll drive in your life don't even try sport a Corvettes kind of a one car category two I don't consider this a sports car it's honestly overly muscled for that sports cars a car you drive at its limits on reasonable roads this is more of a race car brought to the street okay let's put a price on Miss America 2011 06 is gonna base around 75 grand now we've got a 3 l'z here which is the top trim level that added about 7,200 much better seat Bose audio Bluetooth hands-free some other niceties zo6 performance package tacked on almost 10,000 more that's ceramic rotors all around the 19 and the 20s in the rear and that magnetic selective ride control the option i'm gonna walk away from is the least expensive that eighteen hundred dollar disaster in the dash navarrete just bring a paper map how cool would that be to build your own engine and get your name on it too you know if any of you want me to build your corvette engine you just let me know and while i go grab my coveralls let's take a quick break we'll be back with more cnet tech review right after this and welcome back to the cnet tech review our weekly video digest of all things good and bad we've seen here at cnet TV continuing on in the good lately there's been a lot of talk about tablet computers and netbooks but the fact is that most of us still do the bulk of our mobile computing on a good old laptop so here's Brian Cooley again to count down our top five faves hello gang bc here with another t5 this time top five laptops as of this mid october twenty ten you know laptops aren't the other computer anymore for most folks they are the computer so don't buy a crappy one here are five that are the opposite of that number five is the delightfully named sony vaio VPC z 128 GX yeah it gets an eight point 0 seen that rating though and big buzz from cnet users now sit down this one starts at two grand and our test unit 3,400 bucks but the design is slick and the hard drive is an exotic 512 gigabytes solid-state drive and it's just about the most desirable thing this side of something with an apple on it we did find the battery life to be just fine but it does have switching graphics that's the hot new technology that moves between a high power dedicated graphics card or a less power-hungry integrated graphics chip depending on your task it's one machine that actually lets you sit down next to somebody with a MacBook Pro and not feel like a tool number four is the new macbook air with an 8.2 cnet rating so slim you'll worry it'll cut you the new air uses solid state disks only no mechanical ones so it boots like an iPad and has major battery life we tested the 11 inch and got like four and a half hours on a charge if you get the larger 13-inch model battery life gets up near seven hours now it starts at a grand so kind of pricey especially considering it uses an older intel core 2 duo cpu and only the 13-inch model even offers an SD card reader but you don't buy the new macbook air to win a brag war over specs with your geek buddies besides they'll be too busy booting their laptops and dabbing the sweat from carrying them number 3 another slick looker it's the HP Envy 17 c narrating 8.2 gorgeous design blu-ray playback 17 inch 1080p display hdmi and display out ports as well is USB 3.0 but the battery life is a little short and that ati mobility radeon HD 5850 is your only graphics choice but at ass Nick under 1,300 bucks we're still on board with this guy for affordable luxury number two the toshiba portege r700 5p 25 it also gets an 8.2 cnet rating but it's got an editor's choice attached to it and got big c net traffic lately another sophisticated laptop but not as pretty as the HP or the Sony we just saw so why the buzz value is the story here at around nine hundred bucks and down as low as 800 Street it juggles beautifully the balance of performance design and cost now no one thing stands out but it does have a great keyboard and touchpad you'll use those quite a bit and Intel's wireless display technology for that second monitor and our favorite laptop number one on the list is the macbook pro with an 8.3 cnet rating let's face it these guys invented loess table design and the latest macbook pro looks no different but inside is now available a core i7 cpu and nvidia geforce GT 330m graphics that switch flawlessly with the integrated intel graphics chip for the common tasks the multi-touch trackpad is the best in the business it has really powerful one two three or four finger gestures including the one you might just give every other laptop in this list after you play with this little ingot of aluminum for a few minutes now it really should offer HDMI out blu-ray 3g but Apple is instead double down on what their machine already did well expect to pay 2200 bucks or so for the best 15-inch factory config that's what we tested so there you go your ipad is now officially a toy again and you can give your netbook to the kids 5 really great laptops and the latest list you can check out from dan ackerman and scott stein it's over on cnet com or just bounce over to top five cnet com i'm brian cooley thanks for watching with two entries on the list Apple might seem like the big winner this week but not so fast let's take a look at the bad to find out what else is going on in Apple's world on last week's apple byte brian Tong brought a pretty serious iphone security flaw to our attention of course being brian he couldn't just tell us about it you had to act it out may I present the Apple bites players what's up I'm Bryant on your tech nology get it you know technology all right well welcome to apple pie for all the good and bad inside the world of Apple let's get to the stories now we all love our phone and so much of our personal information and contacts are stored on them for some people it's the best friend but we here at the apple byte think of you as our friends so we want to educate you about a security issue with iOS 4.1 on your iphone 3g 3gs and for have you ever wanted to know everything about that special someone well you can with the iphone running iOS 4.1 on someone's lockscreen just go to the emergency call mode then dial a number and immediately press the hold switch and look you'll have access to their entire call history their voicemails and their address book want to hear the latest music on their phone you can do that share a contact with your friends hey you don't even need facebook debt access to someone's photo library you can do that too and to that stalkers creepy guys and jealous boyfriends say thanks Apple Wow and to that we're thrown out a really really bad apple now we hope by the time you watch this it'll be fixed they fixed the facetime bug but this issue is bigger than that it's a huge deal and it requires a software update for everyone so Apple you guys need to get on this so anybody still running iOS 4.1 on your phone you should be careful until you can upgrade to 4.2 that should fix the problem but more importantly who let gene simmons into her office and Brian why do you have so many wigs actually nevermind i think i know the answer to that let's just move along to the bottom line Microsoft's much-anticipated connect system went on sale on Thursday now with only six Kinect games available at launch there may not be a lot to choose from but odds are there's something that might pique your interest check out our survey of the Kinect launch titles i'm dan ackerman microsoft kinect peripheral for the xbox 360 is an impressive piece of hardware but it's not a compelling user experience unless you've got the right software to go with it so Scott sign and I have decided to play test the entire launch day connect line up the front which games are worth getting well that was exhausting there you have it the entire launch day lineup of Kinect games Scott was your favorite I taste a toss-up between Dance Central and joy ride i gotta agree with it this is probably the best ones of course all these really feel a little more like tech demos then full-fledged games hopefully the next generation of Kinect games will be even better i'm dan ackerman and i'm scott stein and don't forget to invite us to your next dance party the bottom line this week let's see that again ah yes there is now video footage of Dan and Scott dancing to Funkytown on the internet better them than me all right folks it's time for me to go join us next week for a brand-new cnet tech review just for you until then there are tons of great videos available every day at cnet TV com see you next time and thank you for watching