Kindle Touch 3G

This year Zemanta gave all its employees Kindles as a Christmas bonus. This blog post is all about the Kindle and my review of it.

Starting with usability as a reader this thing works great there is a bit of jarring when swiping to the following pages as it’s not like a tablet where the transitions are smooth from one page to the next but it serves its purpose quite well. The screen itself it very easy to read except in very low light as the screen is not backlit. Figuring out how to use the Kindle is very easy as well no need to look over the instruction manual almost self-explanatory.

User Experience Design: 9.5 out of 10

Next I want to talk about battery life. Wow this little device lasts and lasts. It’s like the energizer bunny on steroids. Using the kindle every day as reader only, the battery lasts about a week without being plugged in. When you think most cell phones don’t last a whole day this is quite a leap forward. There’s no contest with any other device I have seen on the market today.

Battery Life: 10 out of 10 


Getting FREE 3G for life on the Kindle helps with the selling point. However you cannot surf the web, you must be connected to WiFi to do that. I’m not totally sure what else you would use the free 3G for perhaps to download your books which should be free anyway. Maybe there will something else I can use it for we’ll just have to see. One helpful feature that is most useful is the MP3 player as it’s nice to carry your favorite tunes with you while you read your favorite book.
Features: 8.0 out of 10 

Using the 3G I haven’t run into any problems with it not connecting or searching for a signal. Almost everywhere I go I always have a strong signal.
Connection Stability 9.9 out of 10

The price tag on the Kindle is very reasonable. For the model I have, Kindle Touch, the base price is $149. When you consider the free 3G to the package you can see the value add. If my company didn’t get this for us I would have probably picked one up one way or another.
Price Tag: 9.5 out of 10
Overall Rating: 9.38 out of 10 

Overdrive Pro 3G/4G Wireless Hotspot by Sprint

This is a device review for the Overdrive Pro 3G/4G Wireless Hotspot by Sprint. 

Working on the road can be frivolous unless you have a good connection to the World Wide Web.  There’s only so much you can do from your smart phone.  The Overdrive Pro is very ideal for this type of situation.  I tend to travel quite a bit for conferences and this is little powerful device is perfect for me.  Living in NYC I get a strong 4G signal anywhere I go excluding the subway and my apartment.  The subway is obvious but my apartment’s lack of good signal is due to faulty construction.  Anywhere else, the park, coffee shops, work, and etc.  I have had no problems.  I’ve read a lot of other reviews of this device so I’d like to go through some of pros and cons. 

A lot of people complain about the battery life and I would concur it’s not the best in this department.  From a full charge I get about 4 hours before it needs to be plugged in.  Granted the Overdrive is tiny in size and therefore the battery itself is also tiny in size, making it difficult to have long battery life in such a compact package. 

Battery Life 7.5 out of 10 

I used it non-stop so I always had it plugged in.  Another concern I heard was a problem overheating.  From my experience the device did get a little hot but for all intents and purposes it never affected the connection stability.  In fact I never had any problems finding and keeping a strong signal.  I think connection stability is a more important factor than battery life for this type of device. 

Connection Stability 9.9 out of 10

Usability of the Overdrive Pro couldn’t be easier.  You simply turn it on and wait till it connects.  Then read the password displayed on the front and plug it in to your network settings on your computer, iPad, Smart-phone and etc. Shazzam your surfing the web at high 4G speeds.  Watch videos and whatever else you want; like it’s a wired broadband connection. 

User Experience Design 10 out of 10

Speed is also very important when you are dealing with the wireless hotspots.  Many people use the Internet for many different things.  I for one use the Internet for the full spectrum so I’d like to be through. For web surfing and watching movies on Netflix there were absolutely no problems.  The only problem occurred with online gaming and only occurred in my apartment building with the faulty construction.  To test it elsewhere I ran it through the rigors and had a buddy of mine test it on his PlayStation.   His conclusion was it worked more than a decent amount with online gaming; however his FiOS connection was still faster than the 4G wireless Hotspot.  In conclusion although 4G is wicked fast, online gaming still requires more speed for optimal playtime. 

Speed 8.7 out of 10

The Price tag of Overdrive Pro is extremely reasonable and the value you get from Sprint’s 4G network is awesome.  The base price of the Overdrive Pro is $349, but if you sign a 2 year contract and send in for the mail-in-rebates; your effective cost for the device is only $50.  Service is also only around $50/month depending on which data plan you sign up for.  In my opinion this is an incredible deal. 

Price Tag: 10 out of 10 

Overall Value 9.22 out of 10   

Image by Global X via Flickr

Related articles

• Feature: Wireless hotspot shootout: MiFi v. Overdrive 4G (arstechnica.com)
• Sprint's unlimted 4G data party is over for most devices (venturebeat.com)
• LTE Sprint International Mobile Hotspot Is International Traveler Friendly [GSM/CDMA Compatible] (inquisitr.com)
• The Transformation and Adaptation of Mobile Hotspot Technology (mycricket.com)
• Clear Spot 4G Mobile Hotspot With New LCD Display Hits The FCC (slashgear.com)
• Sprint Nixes Unlimited 4G Data for Tablets, Hotspots (wired.com)

HTC EVO 4Geez

Image via Wikipedia

This is the most powerful gadget I have ever had the pleasure of using.  Just looking the specs will blow your mind:

• a 4.3-inch 800×480 capacitive TFT touchscreen with multitouch capabilities out of the box;
• Android 2.1 OS with HTC Sense UI;
• 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and 720p HD video recording;
• 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video conferences;
• 1GB of flash memory where you can install apps;
• 512MB RAM;
• 1GHz Snapdragon processor;
• 802.11b/g WiFi;
• GPS/aGPS with free turn-by-turn navigation;
• Bluetooth 2.1 A2DP + EDR;
• 4G WiMAX technology / 3G EV-DO REV A;
• FM Radio;
• HDMI out port;
• 3.5mm headset jack;
• microUSB port;
• 8GB microSD card out of the box (expandable up to 32GB);
• Digital compass, G-sensor, Proximity sensor, and a Light Sensor;
• 1500mAh battery;
• Kickstand on its back.

I just have to talk about the Android 2.1 OS with HTC Sense UI, because it offers you so much.  When I opened the address book I suddenly realized I had way more contacts then I had originally.  The EVO actually uploaded all my friends from Facebook and Twitter and loaded them into my contacts with the option of linking my phonebook contacts with their Facebook and Twitter profiles. 

I want to tell you a little about the hardware of this device and what’s so instrumental about it.  First, there are two digital cameras: a primary 8 megapixel on the back with an LED flash that allows for 720p HD video recording and a secondary 1.3 megapixel on the front to accommodate webcasts and self-portraits. Who gives out microSD cards? Sprint does!  An 8GB expandable microSD memory card is included out-of-the-box with a capacity of 32GB.   HDMI mini allows for connection to a HDTV for multiple output options. 

The FriendStream is a great new feature for consolidating social interactions.  It allows you to post a status update to your Facebook and Twitter simultaneously and shows your friends updates from those Social Networks.

Now, let’s talk about speed. The HTC EVO comes with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor which makes this gadget faster than a speeding bullet, able to run multiple apps in a single bound, and power 8 other devices on its WiMax Network.   

Is there anything this little gadget can’t do?  Only one: since 4G has not made its way to the Big Apple the EVO can’t produce a high-speed internet hotspot, so I will have to wait a bit before I cut the cord from Time Warner Cable ISP.  Let’s face it; ease of use is very important these days. Being able to turn your internet ON from your phone is much easier than having some stranger come to your house to install a modem and forget about having something go wrong. Waiting for service calls from 8-11am is not how I want to spend my Saturday.  It’s just old technology that’s easy to let go.   

Lastly let’s talk about Sprint. I have been a long time Sprint customer for about 20 years from when my parents used them for home phone service. They have been a great company with reliable service. A few hiccups along the way but nothing devastating. The other big players like Verizon which I think ties Sprint for 1^st in overall customer satisfaction also doesn’t carry a super phone like the iPhone yet so there was no reason to jump ship for them. AT&T on the other hand has the iPhone which is enticing but the carrier quality is not up to par with that of Sprint or Verizon so they were never an option.  I think this could be the biggest thing for Sprint since they moved to mobile.

My overall rating of this phone is 10 out of 10 for a true technological masterpiece. 

Related articles

• HTC gives Sensation a WiMAX makeover for HTC EVO 4G+ (slashgear.com)
• Sprint Launches The HTC EVO 3D for $199.99 (techie-buzz.com)