Much like ergonomic keyboards, trackballs tend to fall into a love or hate divide in the PC peripheral market.

Similarly, trackballs take some getting used to, especially when it comes to the finer levels on control, but most avid fans will tell you that once you're used to them they are a lot more accurate than a mouse, especially for drawing programs and the like.

At first glance the unit looks like quite a chunky device with a fairly large base and a big ball dropped into the centre, hardly living up to its name, but because it doesn't move around it still takes up less of your overall desk space than a mouse and mat.

Once you have the hang of it, the large ball makes the SlimBlade easy to use without having to spin the ball repeatedly when moving the cursor across the screen and, although users with very small hands may have some issues, someone with an average or large hand should find it very comfortable to use. Also left-handed users won't have any problems with it as it's completely symmetrical.

The SlimBlade packs in four buttons around the large central ball, in the default navigation mode the bottom two buttons serve as the traditional left and right click while the top two enter the media and view modes.

You can use this device as a standard trackball straight away, but in this case only two of the four buttons - namely the left and right click - will work. To use the top two buttons you'll need to install the drivers.

Unlike most mice these days, trackballs don't have scroll wheels, so instead scrolling on the SlimBlade is done by turning the ball clockwise or anti-clockwise, which works remarkably well.

Once the drivers are installed you can enter and exit the aforementioned view or media mode by hitting the appropriate button.

When in view mode the ball rotating the ball zooms in and out, while rolling it pans around and the left and right click reset the page to its standard size and fit-to-width respectively. The view mode is not supported by all applications, but a helpful icon will pop up on the screen to tell you when this feature is not available.

Similarly, multimedia mode only works in Windows Media Player and iTunes and in this mode rotating the ball adjusts the volume, rolling the ball left and right goes back or skips to the next track, the left button pauses or resumes playback and the right button acts as a stop. If neither of these media players is running, one of them will be fired up automatically when you click the multimedia mode button.

Like so many peripherals, how good the SlimBlade is to use is very much down to personal habits, requirements and hand size. Where it does fall short is the almost complete lack of customisation. You can adjust the sensitivity and the 'handedness' but you can't configure the buttons in any other way - so if you don't want to use the navigation or multimedia modes, you can't assign the other two buttons to any other purpose and if - as we found - your pinky finger rests more comfortably on the top right button instead of the bottom right, you'll probably find yourself constantly entering and exiting view mode instead of right clicking.

Fortunately this is an issue that could easily be fixed in a new version of the driver software.

At a retail price of around £100, the SlimBlade isn't cheap, but it's very solidly built and should last years without giving any hassles.

Posted by Ian Williams on October 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft doesn't do a lot of hardware, but the stuff it does offer is usually pretty good, and the new range it had on display at a showcase in London today was no exception.

Because of the limited number of new devices, the event itself was a little pitiful, but what they did have was certainly worth noting.

The company seems have to have developed an affinity for curved keyboards, with the latest two being somewhere between an ergonomic 'split' keyboard and the more traditional rectangular layout.

Both the new Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 and the Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 use the 'Ergonomist Approved Comfort Curve' design, which seems to divide opinion as well as the keyboard.

The Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 is particularly impressive, being very thin and light and includes a separate number pad as well.

For those who like the curved design, the Desktop 5000 was released earlier this month and goes for around £70 while the Mobile Keyboard 6000 is due out early next month and should sell for about £80.

Also on display were two new mice - The Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 and 6000 - both of which feature Microsoft's BlueTrack technology so that they can work on just about any surface.

Both use a really small USB receiver so you don't have to worry about a bulky dongle sticking precariously out the side of your laptop while using the mouse.

Both the multi-coloured 4000 series and the bigger, glossier 6000 are available now for £35 and £45 respectively.

Last but not least is the Lifecam Cinema webcam, a nifty looking auto-focus webcam that can capture in 720p HD and will look good atop just about any PC or laptop screen. The attractive design and high picture quality do come at a price though with the Lifecam Cinema selling for about £70.

We had a chance for a few minutes with each of the devices and all of them seemed to be very good, the picture quality of the webcam was great, the mice were solid and the keyboards had very nice tactile keys - if only Microsoft could design and make its operating systems as well.

Posted by Ian Williams on September 18, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Viewsonic is extending its product line-up beyond monitors to include PCs, netbooks, and more consumer-oriented devices such as portable media players (PMPs), pocket TVs, and more, and I managed to snap a few of the devices when the company came in to the V3.co.uk offices to show them off. Apologies for the slightly dodgy quality of some images.

First up is the VOT120, a tiny net-top PC that can stand on its own or be bolted to the back of an LCD monitor. It has similar specifications to a netbook - Atom N270 processor, 1GB Ram and 160GB hard drive - but in a neat compact package that costs £200 with Windows XP Home included. Viewsonic said you can also buy it without an OS for just £155 - handy for Linux fans.

It's bigger brother is the VOT132, which boasts an interesting slim-line design that can be stacked with an optional multi-DVD drive, shown alongside it in the picture.

The VOT132 is better specfied, with a dual-core Atom 330 processor and Nvidia ION graphics supporting HDMI and DVI outputs, 2GB of memory and 320GB hard drive, and set to ship with Windows 7 Home Premium in October for £283. The snap-on DVD drive is £56 extra.

Another step up are the VOT530 and VOT550, still compact PCs, but based on Intel's Core 2 Duo T6600 processors. The VOT550 has 4GB memory, 320GB hard drive and a Blu-ray player for £585, while the VOT530 has 2GB memory, 250GB hard drive and a multi-DVD drive for £449.

Another new product is Viewsonic's VT35 pocket TV, which has a 3.5in screen and supports DVB-T video, allowing buyers to see all the Freeview channels. It costs £63 and has a battery life of up to five hours from its built-in rechargeable battery pack.

Viewsonic is also about to start shipping two portable media players, the £97 VDP500 and £91 VDP400, with a 5in and 4.3in screen, respectively. Both have 8GB built-in storage with a Micro SD card slot for extra storage and a resolution of 800x480, supporting 720p high-definition video.

Other media players coming soon are the VMP30 and VMP52, both of which support 1080p HD video and support HDMI inputs and outputs.

Perhaps the most outlandish products Viewsonic said are on the way are a collection of 3D projectors. These work in conjunction with a 3D vision kit including shutter spectacles, but will allow a group of people to view images in 3D up to 100in across projected on a wall, according to the firm.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on September 8, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

T-Mobile's newly unveiled Pulse handset is the carrier's third Android device, but the first on a pay-as-you-go tariff and designed to appeal to a broader market.

I had a very brief hands-on with the Pulse at T-Mobile's London launch event, and was impressed with the smoothness of the gesture-based user interface.

However, another journalist at the same event criticised the Pulse's resistive touch screen for not being quite as responsive as the capacitive design used on Apple's iPhone.

The 3.5in screen is certainly a decent size, and T-Mobile even suggested that this would allow the Pulse to replace an in-car satellite navigation device when used with the built-in TeleNav software.

T-Mobile's Canvas home screen provides a desktop area larger than can fit onto the physical display, and you can move around with the flick of a finger to pan or scroll the display.

Canvas also lets you customise this home screen by dragging in the icons you most often access from the application menu to create a shortcut, similar to the way you would on a Windows PC.

The handset itself is about the same size and weight as the iPhone, but unlike Apple's device has the standard green and red call / hangup buttons as well as a miniature trackball bracketed by menu / back keys for those who don't like using the touch screen for everything.

An on-screen keyboard pops up whenever you need to key in text, such as when composing an email, and T-Mobile offers a choice of full Qwerty or a layout similar to RIM's SureType. Its predictive text input algorithm also offers a choice of words you can tap to select.

The device we saw was a pre-production unit, and so there were one or two quirks. The screen did not automatically change orientation when we twisted it round as it is supposed to, for example.

However, in the brief time available we found the device seemed to deliver a reasonable experience when accessing the web. We especially liked how easy it was to browse Android Market for available applications, one feature that has driven uptake of Apple's rival iPhone.

The Pulse certainly ticks all the right boxes at first glance; HSPA support, Wi-Fi, GPS (with a trial version of the TeleNav navigation software), touch-screen and a decent-looking user interface.

A full review of the T-Mobile Pulse will appear on V3.co.uk, just as soon as we can get hold of one for long enough.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on September 3, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)

With almost every gadget under the sun packing a Wi-Fi connection it can sometimes feel like a bit of a waste if there isn't a handy hotspot to connect to while you're out and about.

This problem has been partially solved thanks to the USB dongles and mobile data packages for smartphones, but neither of these is particularly useful if the device in question is not a laptop or a phone. Even when it comes to a laptop, the USB dongles require extra software to be installed to set up the connection, so letting a friend or colleague quickly borrow it becomes a laborious process.

Enter Novatel's MiFi, essentially a very small mobile data router that allows several devices to network over Wi-Fi and share a single mobile data connection.

The MiFi unit is about the same size and weight as a deck of playing cards so carrying it around isn't going to add any serious weight to your bag and even popping it into a handbag or laptop case is not a problem.

The device is very minimal, with a single button with a multicolour LED, microUSB port, microSD card slot and a Wi-Fi status indicator.

The LED lets you see the status of the unit, but with five different colours meaning different things depending on whether it's solid or flashing, this can be a bit confusing at first. Pretty much the only colour of any importance is the red as this indicates a low battery or a device error.

One very minor gripe is that the status LED is embedded within the power button which is fine most of the time, but if you're turning the device on or off your finger completely covers the light so it's difficult to tell what's going on.

If you get a MiFi as part of a mobile data deal it will already be set up and so using it is very simple. When switching it on it automatically initiates a mobile data connection and switches on the Wi-Fi. Up to five devices can be wirelessly connected to the MiFi at any time.

At first the Wi-Fi is completely open so any device can connect without a password. There are several profiles available in the settings to allow you to create an encrypted, password protected connection to help ensure security and prevent anyone nearby from piggybacking on your connection.

If you want to save power you can also connect the MiFi via USB and use it just like a traditional mobile data dongle.

The whole device is controlled through a web interface and provides most of the settings you'd expect from a wireless router such as MAC filtering, port filtering and forwarding, connectivity and power management as well as providing details about the battery and the mobile data signal and connection.

The contents of the microSD card can also be accessed through the web interface or as a removable storage device when the MiFi is tethered to a computer.

It would drain the battery faster but we would love to have seen the MiFi offer some kind of sleep mode whereby it powers up and connects to the internet when it detects a Wi-Fi connection. This would allow users to carry the unit around in a bag and not have to worry about digging it out and switching it on every time they want to use it.

Even if you don't have a 3G data connection, the MiFi can be used as a basic network hub allowing you to connect several devices to share information, and the onboard SD card can also be a great way of sharing content.

As with most wireless devices battery life is going to depend a lot on how much data it's handling, so a lot of downloading or connecting several devices will take its toll pretty quickly. That said we managed to easily get several hours of constant use out of a single charge, and average use saw the device lasting around two days between charges. The added bonus is that if the battery dies you can simply tether it to your laptop and use it that way.

The MiFi is a great piece of kit and if you're in the market for a mobile data package we would definitely recommend that you try and get one of these rather than the standard USB dongles included in most packages.

Posted by Ian Williams on August 20, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the announcement today that Palm's Pre smartphone will be available exclusively on O2's network in the UK (at least for a while), yet another worst-kept secret of the mobile industry was confirmed.

Reports pointing to O2 as the chosen European carrier started to circulate earlier this year, almost as soon as the Pre was unveiled at the CES show in Las Vegas, yet as recently as last week, both O2 and Palm continued to label this as mere speculation.

More worrying for Palm is the long delay before UK buyers will be able to get their hands on the Pre. At the moment, the Pre looks like one of the hottest handsets around, offering a modern, gesture-based user interface like that of Apple's iPhone, yet the Pre is smaller and offers a slide-out Qwerty keyboard for easier messaging.

However, the iPhone 3GS is available to buy now, while the Pre is currently only available in the US. Several other interesting new smartphones, such as the Samsung i7500 and Toshiba's TG01, will also hit the streets here long before the Pre is available. Who knows what else might emerge before Christmas?

This problem isn't restricted to Palm, of course. One V3.co.uk staffer commented recently that Nokia's N97 handset would have been a "killer device" if it had shipped soon after its unveiling in December 2008. Instead, it didn't show up until June this year, by which time it had already been eclipsed by the excitement over the new iPhone.

O2 said that it wanted to ensure everything necessary gets put in place before the Pre goes on sale in the UK, which is a laudable goal. But in the fast-moving world of today's smartphone market, the danger is that the Pre could be overshadowed by newer devices by the time customers get the chance to purchase one.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on July 7, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plantronics has a long history of making good quality headsets primarily for office users, so it was with some pleasure that I was looking forward to the latest addition to the stable, the .Audio 995 wireless headset.

The package includes a plug-and-play wireless USB connector that operates at 2.4GHz - in other words it's not Bluetooth - so while this provides better range and reception, those hoping to avoid using another USB port will need to look elsewhere.

The headset is quite bulky, compared to some other wired headsets out there, but the 995 is quite light and does have a comfortable padded headband and swivel-mounted ear cushions covering 40mm speakers, so I had no discomfort wearing them for several hours at a time.

The microphone boom is adjustable, both telescoping a little as well as bendable, and it folds up nicely out of the way when not in use. As an added bonus the mike automatically mutes when stowed, so you don't have to worry about manually muting and un-muting during a call or if you use speech recognition software. I tried it out with Skype and Dragon Naturally Speaking and found the microphone works very well in both video calls and for dictation.

The speakers are good, but not an audiophile's dream, in particular heavy bass feels a little washed out, but the range is quite impressive and should be fine for the majority of users. Most importantly, voices are crisp and clear so using the 995 for VoIP calls works very nicely.

I was also impressed with the reception on the 995 headset. Plantronics reckons the headphones have a range of 40 feet from the transceiver, but this seems to require that the intervening space is unobstructed as I found the signal started getting a bit erratic after about 30 feet, although that was with walls in the way. Judging by my experience, unless you're hoping to be able to wander around your entire house or office with these on, you should be fine.

Streaming music constantly I got a little over six hours of life from a single charge, slightly less than the seven hours touted by Plantronics, but still more than enough to ensure that you don't have to lose the wireless benefits by constantly having to charge them. Another nice feature is that the headset charges over mini-USB rather than some proprietary connector.

The 995 also includes some handy media controls on the side of the headset making it easy to control the volume as well as pause, play and skip music tracks, but it takes a little bit of practice to remember which button does what by feel alone. I found this feature works in Windows Media Player, iTunes and WinAmp. According to Plantronics it should work for most media players, although some will require the application to be selected rather than just running in the background.

Possibly my biggest gripe with the headset is that unplugging the USB connector doesn't automatically restore sound to the speakers, meaning you have to manually enter the speaker settings and reset them every time you want to switch back and forth between speakers and headphones.

At a retail price of around £80, the Plantronics .audio 995 wireless headset is not exactly cheap, but if you find yourself constantly tangling yourself up in your headset or like to pace about while dictating to your PC or listening to music (and don't want to disturb those around you) I reckon the 995 is a worthwhile investment.

Posted by Ian Williams on June 12, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've often fancied one of those natty little Bluetooth headsets that let you take a call while your phone is tucked out of harm's way in your bag or pocket, but there are such a confusing array of these that I've never got around to actually settling on one and buying it.

This week, one of my colleagues solved the problem by offering me one he had been given free by a vendor. I won't name the model in question, but I can't say I'm impressed with the device at all, and I'm now glad I didn't waste any of my own money.

It isn't that the device doesn't work. I had no trouble pairing it up with my mobile phone, after which the handset always diverted audio to the headset whenever the latter was switched on.

No, the problem is that nobody can hear a blasted word I'm saying if I use it to make a call.

The headset is one of those fashionably tiny devices that clips comfortably over your ear, but is so small that the microphone part is actually resting against your cheek. An awful lot of these devices share a similar design, but placing the pickup so far away from your mouth is an obvious flaw, surely?

Whenever I tested the headset to make or receive calls, the person at the far end either couldn't hear me at all, or said it sounded like I was speaking to them from the middle of a boiler room.

Has anyone out there had better luck with these devices, or can recommend one that actually works?

Posted by Daniel Robinson on March 12, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mini laptops, or netbooks as they have become known, are a phenomenon of the last eighteen months or so, ever since Asus unveiled its first Eee PC aimed at the education market.

VNUnet, along with other technology sites, has covered many of these models, which are characterised by a relatively small size and low purchase price when compared to traditional ultraportable laptop machines.

Since Intel introduced its Atom processor last year, netbooks have standardised on this platform to such an extent that there is very little difference in specifications between any of the models. Almost all have a 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of memory, and are based on the same Intel motherboard components.

Apart from the screen and keyboard, which are often subject to the personal taste of the buyer, it seems that just about the only differentiator is the choice of storage device, with some models using Flash memory solid state disks (SSDs) while others stick with laptop-style hard drives.

With this in mind, is there any point at all in benchmarking the performance of these models?

We have found that there are can be some differences in overall system performance, depending on the technology used. Many Flash SSDs deliver performance equivalent to that of a hard drive, although they are more costly, so buyers tend to get less storage for the same price. Netbooks with SSDs tend to have about 20GB, while similar models with a hard drive offer up to 160GB, for example.

However, some types of Flash memory deliver less impressive performance. To quote Wikipedia; "Lower priced drives usually use Multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory, which is slower and less reliable than Single-level cell (SLC) flash memory."

While this difference shows up in benchmark tests, the average user probably would not notice, especially if they are just using the device for browsing the web, accessing email, or typing up the occasional document.

It seems that potential buyers would be best advised not to worry too much about performance, but about other aspects of the system, such as the keyboard, screen and other facilities provided.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on January 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sony launched its ultra-lightweight P-Series netbook at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas last week and we were able to get our hands on one for a bit at a recent London launch event. With the top of the range model costing £1,368.99 when bought directly from Sony it certainly isn't cheap, but it is undoubtedly an impressive bit of kit and takes the concept of portability to a whole new level.

The standard model weighs a paltry 638g making it feel almost like an empty shell when you pick it up. This figure is with a three-cell battery and while it won't be a massive burden, the six-cell version will add on a few extra grams, some of which can be shaved off by going for the version with the SSD drive.

Similarly, we weren't able to weigh the power adaptor, but it is small and light, so it won't tack on too much extra weight to the total.

Unlike Sony's recently released TT-series laptops which are encased in carbon fibre, the P-Series is made from plastic and because it's so thin we would be worried that it might be dangerously flimsy. None of the demo units we saw had any signs of damage, but we wouldn't suggest flinging this about too much.

Until someone perfects a flexible display that can be rolled up the device is about as small as it can be while still being functional.

The eight inch 16:9 widescreen is amazingly clear and runs at a resolution of 1600x768, which although an impressive technical feat does mean many users will end up squinting at the screen. There is a zoom function to help combat this or users can just turn down the resolution a notch or two, and given that most sites and applications are happy at lower resolutions so this shouldn't have a negative impact on usability.

In keeping the P-Series as small as possible Sony has had to ditch the trackpad, leaving just a nub nestled in the middle of the keyboard for cursor control. Personally I had no problems getting used to using the little joystick type control, but many customers may want to invest in a small external mouse to keep with them.

The brushed aluminium keyboard is a good size and the isolated keys are a nice touch. I found it easy to type on, even at speed except occasionally we kept brushing the mouse nub which it would treat as a mouse click (an option that can be disabled) and move the cursor to wherever the mouse pointer was located at the time.

The P-series sports two USB ports, one on each side and a combination HDMI/port extender. A small extender is provided adding video and wired Ethernet ports is included in the box.

Connectivity can be done via Bluetooth, draft-n Wi-Fi and there is a SIM-free 3G HSDPA modem and GPS built-in as well. Because there is not enough space above the screen, the webcam is situated off to the right, but it isn't angled at all meaning you're left tilting your head at odd angles if you want your face in the centre of the display when on a video conference.

It also features a hardware Wi-Fi on/off switch, something I always like to see in a netbook as it makes it very easy to turn the Wi-Fi on and off as needed which can noticeably extend battery life.

Below the keyboard are the left, right and middle mouse buttons, a shortcut button and the CrossMediaBar (XMB) launch button. The XMB allows users to boot straight into a menu system that PS3 and PSP owners will be familiar with and gives easy access to media such as photos, video and music as well as a web browser, Skype, Pidgin for instant messaging.

Sony mentioned that booting into the XMB took around 25 seconds and booting into Vista from the XMB took a further 1:45. However it should be noted that the model we were using was a prototype and Sony assured us it would be a bit quicker on the production model.

It runs Windows Vista Premium or Business edition, which runs happily, but given our first impressions of the upcoming Windows 7, we would probably recommend upgrading to that as soon as possible.

Ultimately, the price tag is going make the P-Series an exclusive device and for a lot less money you can get something not much heavier or slower, but for those with the money to spare who need a fully functional notebook that can slip into a handbag or a large coat pocket this could be a winner, and we can guarantee if you pull this out at a meeting it will turn some heads.

Posted by Ian Williams on January 15, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (10)