HTC Touch2 review

Phones Review : Affordable isn't the most common word in the HTC vocabulary but a company whose sole line of business is smartphones is not quite expected to speak the language of the masses. That said, we really need to define affordable first. It's what HTC Touch2 tries hard to be but… let's face it… doesn't get too close to. After all, there's little a PocketPC full of high-tech goodies can do about it.

But there's much a company needs to do to keep pace with an evolving market. HTC are busy updating their portfolio and the Touch2 is yet another in a growing line of sequels. Alright, it may be a small step for PocketPCs but a solid move for HTC in the midrange.

The launch of TouchFLO is a landmark but the original Touch will also be remembered perhaps as the first HTC device to actually have some exterior design and compactness. No offence, but prior to that PocketPC's were just big enough to get away with the lack of style.

Anyway, the Touch Viva and the Touch 3G followed soon after - near clones that tried to give PocketPC's mass appeal.

So, that means the HTC Touch2 will be trying to walk in three pairs of shoes and give the company some flexibility in the midrange. The newbie is smart, fast (in fact, surprisingly fast), compact, and friendly. The sharp contemporary looks are a definite asset but there's more than enough stuff under the hood to motivate upgraders too.

Samsung Blue Earth S7550 review

Phones Review : Brace yourselves! This is not just an ordinary review! You are in for an extensive essay on the power of Mother Nature, the poisonous influence of the human race, the ozone depletion and its impact on the shrinking population of white hamsters! Hey, where do you think you´re going? Come back! We promise we won´t go off the deep end and talk too much about the Earth´s ailing ecology… much. It´s just that the Samsung Blue Earth S7550 has made us think about issues that tend to escape our notice. We all go about our business and preoccupied with our busy daily routine we hardly ever consider things like “can we do more to save energy?”, “Are we doing enough about recycling?”, “What can we do to help nature?” and stuff like that. The Samsung Blue Earth S7550 is an environmentally-friendly handset in every single respect – its body and retail box are made from recycled materials entirely and there are solar panels on its back that help to extend the phone battery life in an ecologically consistent way.

It goes to show that using recycled materials (plastic water bottles in this case) doesn’t equate to worse overall appeal or build quality. The device feels a bit heftier (4.20 oz.) than normal for its size and the increase is mainly due to the extra weight of the integrated solar panels. It feels nice and pleasing in your hand, creating pretty much the same overall feeling that high-end devices like the Samsung Jet S8000 and Pixon12 do, while the mystical blue color of its face makes it stand out from the crowd.