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Samsung Shark 3 S3550Mobile phoneTHE Samsung S3550, also dubbed the Shark 3, is very sleek and pleasing to the eye once it is out of the box. Its glossy black front is accentuated by the stylish metallic rear cover, and certainly looks more expensive than its retail price. Sam-sung has definitely lived up to its reputa-tion for producing aesthetically pleasing products once again, which is one of the most important aspects of a mobile. Perhaps the first characteristic that you will notice about the S3550 is its size and weight which at 95.8mm x 45.8mm x 14.4mm and 79 grams, respectively, makes this mobile as light in your pocket as its selling price. Furthermore, its ergo-nomic curved design makes this mobile fit quite nicely into your palm, allowing for maximum comfort during use. Slider phones are definitely dependent upon the consumer, and this reviewer has a preference for this form factor—if constructed well. Samsung succeeded at this feature once again. The S3550 slides smoothly yet sturdily. The S3550’s TFT 262k color display is bright and vivid, yet warm to the eyes. While some users might find a 2-inch screen at 240x320 pixels quite unappeal-ing, you will be quite surprised at its clar-ity and illumination, making navigating through this mobile quite easy. Speaking of navigation, the Paragon UX operating system the S3550 comes installed with makes using this mobile a breeze. There are no cumbersome or confusing menus—everything is laid out quite simply so that users will have no trouble adapting to this mobile. The main

screen is fully customizable and can con-veniently hold shortcuts to applications for quick access, such as Facebook, Twit-ter and Google Maps. Ironically, while the Shark 3 is aimed toward the social-networking market, users might find the S3550 lacking in the connec-tivity department. Although it is supportive of the 2G network through quad band GSM, there is no 3G or WLAN access, which some might find disappointing considering that adding a little bit more cash can get you a mobile with the said features. It does have EDGE and GPRS, which is adequate—but for a mobile aimed at social networking, it is quite curious why Samsung decided not to strengthen the Internet connectivity on the Shark 3. The S3550 also features a 2-megapixel camera (1600x1200pixels) with autofo-cus, Bluetooth 2.1 support, and 35MB of internal memory which can store up to 1,000 phonebook entries. Memory is expandable up to 8GB via microSD, thereby allowing users to install applica-tions, play java based games, and store an adequate number of media files in diverse formats (MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA/MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV). In this reviewer’s opinion, perhaps Samsung should have excluded the 2-megapixel camera and armed the Shark 3 with better Internet connectivity. How-ever, in the technologically competitive market of mobile phones, it is refreshing to see a company stick to the essentials and offer consumers a cheap, yet feature-rich alternative to a saturated market. For its retail price and functionality, the

Samsung S3550 will have no trouble at-tracting consumers for its straightforward approach to a mobile device. “Samsung has definitely lived up to its reputation for producing aesthetically pleasing products once again...”

specificationsn Form factor: Slidern LCD size and classification: 2-inch TFT LCD n Physical dimensions: 95.8 x 45.8 x 14.4 mmn Weight: 79 gn Band: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900n Internal memory: 35MB, expandable through microSD

what’s hotn Elegant and ergonomic designn Budget-friendlyn Simple, easy-to-use mobile

what’s notn 2-megapixel cameran No WLAN access

bottom lineThe Samsung S3550 (Shark 3) is a sleek, simple and decently priced device that caters to the essential features that con-sumers need in a mobile. For its price and features, the Shark 3 will definitely find a following.

With consumers being constantly hammered with 3D this and 3D that, it was only a matter of time before notebook manufacturers jumped on the 3D bandwagon. While certainly not the first to put 3D in its machines, Toshiba is looking to gain ground in the fast-evolving 3D notebook space with the Toshiba Satellite A665, a 15.6-inch monster that’s more at home at your desk than anywhere else. The look and feel of the Satellite A665 is classic Toshiba, with very little done to update the looks of the Satellite line. There are some funky textures on the lid and chassis, but the quintessential gray/metallic gray color scheme is still there. It sports backlit keyboard keys, and is so big that it even has its own keypad. There are touch-sensitive shortcut keys that are located right on top of the keyboard, and the touchpad sports a biometric scanner for that extra layer of security. There are four USB ports divided evenly between both sides of the A665 with one doubling as an eSATA connector. Addi-tional connectivity features include wireless Wi-Fi and Blue-tooth connections, as well as wired (RJ 45) connections. Hardware-wise, the A665 is equipped with an Intel Core i7 Q740 running at 1.73GHz, an Nvidia GeForce GTS 350M and 6GB of memory. 3D is handled by way of Nvidia’s 3D Vision kit, with a single pair of 3D active shutter glasses. Looking at the specs I knew right away that the Satellite A665 would have a lot of trouble rendering newer, graphically demanding games in 3D. While the GTS 350M discrete graph-ics solution was nothing to scoff at, it felt underpowered in the different benchmarks I put the notebook through. And considering that 3D is the cornerstone of the whole notebook, the less than satisfactory performance of its GPU means that 3D gaming isn’t going to be as smooth as people would ex-

pect since games are essentially rendered twice in 3D. I loaded up my favorite benchmarking engine Unigine Heaven, as well as BitSquid’s Stone Giant tech demo. Of the two only Unigine Heaven is rated as excellent by Nvidia with regard to 3D compatibility, with BitSquid’s own offering being 3D Vision ready. Up first was BitSquid’s Stone Giant tech demo. I ran the demo twice—one in 3D vision, the other without it to get a feel of the A665’s limits. The A665 didn’t fare so well with 3D Vision enabled, and managed with an average 14 FPS in its maximum supported resolution (1366x768). It did reason-ably better with 3D off, and managed a more respectable 25 FPS average. It was pretty much the same story with the Unigine Heaven benchmark, with the A665 posting less than satisfactory scores than we were used to, scoring only 426 points and an average FPS of 16.9 with the resolution set to 1366x768 with AA set to 4X. Of course, benchmarks are nothing compared to game performance, so I fired up one of the first 3D Vision ready titles I had: Resident Evil 5. Playing the game pretty much confirmed my initial worries about the A665’s underpowered GPU. Anything over 1024x768 resolution in 3D feels choppy and slow, and since the GPU is rendering the scene twice, it slows down even more when there are plenty of enemies on the screen. That’s not to say that the Satellite A665 is a bad notebook—far from it, in fact. With 3D switched off, the A665 managed a better score and had an overall better experience playing games, something that the 15.6-inch screen is well equipped for. The keys are also pretty easy to type on and to use, and the backlit keys are a nice touch.

specificationsn Screen Size 15.6-inch TruBrite LED-backlit HD widescreen displayn Memory: 6 GB DDR3n CPU and chipset: Intel Core i7 Q740 running at 1.73GHzn Wireless used: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.1 + EDRn Warranty: 1 year warranty

what’s hotn 3D Vision ready displayn Comes complete with 3D kitn Excellent sound qualityn Blu-ray ready

what’s notn GPU is too underpowered for smooth 3Dn Has a lot of preinstalled bloatware that hampers performance

bottom linen While not quite stepping up to its 3D promise, the Toshiba Satellite A665 is still a pretty nice notebook.

Toshiba Satellite A665 3D Notebook

Samsung Galaxy 5SmartphoneWHO says Android phones are usually priced out of reach? Samsung brings the fun experience of smartphones with its most affordable, yet incredibly sleek and stylish Android-powered Galaxy 5 (Model: i5503). The Galaxy 5 gives you access to a virtually limitless array of downloadable applications from the Android Market. Plus, with Samsung’s Social Hub, users can indulge in a whole new experience of social networking. A variety of games, entertainment, lifestyle, sports, communication, and much more downloadable applications are available through the phone’s built-in Android Market widget. Other features include Social Hub, 2-megapixel camera, Layar Reality Browser to overlay contextual information about points of interest and explore new locations from the comfort of your screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and USB connectivity and Swype text-input service, to name a few.