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Bell Sonim XP5520 Bolt Review (Video)

Daniel Bader — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:26:55 +0000

The Sonim Bolt is no ordinary cell phone. While it can’t be defined as a smartphone it makes up for it by being a strongphone, uncharacteristically robust in a market that often favours form over function. Bell is launching the Bolt as its flagship push-to-talk device alongside the retrofitted Samsung Galaxy S II and BlackBerry Curve 9360. Out of the three devices, it’s the only one that is guaranteed to stand up to the Canadian elements (which is why Sonim is launching the product here first) and has been created from scratch with PTT capabilities in mind.

At $99.95 on a three-year term, the Bolt is not necessarily aimed at you or me. But for the truck driver, construction worker or basically any business that formerly relied on TELUS’ deprecated iDEN network, the Bolt is going to change lives. Let’s take a closer look.

A Rugged Design Philosophy

The Bolt is not a pretty phone, but it has its own sense of style. The fierce angles, yellow accents and messy symmetry scream “rugged,” which is exactly what the Bolt is going for. Its incredibly thick chassis makes it one of the toughest phones in the world.

Like all Sonim products, the Bolt abides by the company’s Rugged Performance Standards qualifications, which means that it is practically indestructible. The video embedded above should provide sufficient proof of that, but there are some other aspects of the Bolt that makes it especially attractive as a workhorse phone.

First, it cannot be punctured; you can take an axe to the phone and it’s unlikely to make a dent. It’s impervious to extreme pressure and temperatures, making it perfect for mining work. For those who work outdoors, it is dust-, shock- and water-proof and scratch resistant. It will not be damaged by liquid or oil; it is incredibly loud, able to be heard above the din of sustained construction work. And, if you do break it for whatever reason, the company will replace it no-questions-asked in the first three years.

The phone’s layout is fairly simple: it has a standard number pad near the bottom of the phone, with a set of Call, End, Menu and directional buttons above. All these buttons are wonderfully responsive, and are guaranteed not to break for the life of the phone. On the left side is the dedicated push-to-talk button, and on the right is a camera button/flashlight; hold down the button to activate the flashlight, and press it once while the screen is on to open the camera app. There is a 2MP camera on the back side of the device.

Ports are interesting on the Bolt, since CEO Bob Plaschke claims that the traditional microUSB port is too difficult to ruggedize, opening the phone up to weakness. Instead, they opted to use a port similar in size to a 3.5mm headphone jack, which converts to a USB cord on the other end. This can be used to charge the phone or plug it into a computer for data transfer. The flashlight is incredibly bright, and can be used in place of a traditional torch in an emergency.

The screen measures 2-inches and has a relatively low 240×320 pixels, but its main advantage is a 2mm thick piece of Gorilla Glass that is all but impervious to breaks.

Push to Talk and Talk and…

One of the most attractive features of the Sonim Bolt is its one-touch deployment and activation of push-to-talk. Bell is rolling out a data-based service that provides sub-one second call initiations, and millisecond response times, all over its well-established HSPA+ network. This provides speeds up to 7.2Mbps (on this particular phone, 21Mbps in general) making the Bolt a far more versatile device than any iDEN product ever was.

The button on the left side of the device activates the push-to-talk function, connecting to Bell’s data network. The PTT list is separate from your main phone book, allowing IT departments to distribute number lists easily. You can easily see who is or is not online based on a green icon next to the person’s number. As opposed to traditional phones, there is no “ring” when calling someone; it beeps just like a walkie-talkie. I found call quality to be remarkably good, better than any VoIP call. It’s clear that Bell has prioritized the traffic here to ensure minimal latency with a very high quality audio codec.

The other aspect of the phone that allows for seamless calling mostly anywhere is that its relatively thick housing incorporates much larger antennas than most smartphones; I had five bars of Bell signal in areas that my various Android phones could only muster one or two.

Software — what software?

The Sonim Bolt is not a smartphone. Nor is it trying to be. Plaschke assured us that a rugged Android Sonim phone is coming soon, but in the meantime the Bolt is powered by a lightweight, responsive Java-based operating system that does the basics and not much more.

It comes with “apps” such as Bell’s Telenav-powered GPS Navigator (separate monthly charge) as well as a rudimentary WAP browser that we’d recommend staying away from unless you have a very high tolerance for frustration. It has a music player, calendar, calculator and a number of other “tools” you’d find on most low-cost phones today.

Battery Lifesaver & Superhero Call Quality

The Bolt comes with a huge 2000mAh battery that promises nearly over a month of standby time. Talk time is a massive 12 hours, and PTT uptime is even longer. It’s unlikely you’ll be charging the Bolt every day, nor every second day. If you end up using it as a “regular” phone, barring hours-long conversations it will probably last a week before having to be recharged.

Call quality on the Bolt, through either the incredibly loud speaker or the headpiece, is about as crisp as I’ve ever heard on a phone. Perhaps it’s because Sonim focused on making the Bolt a phone first but it speaks, ahem, volumes about how far down the list call quality has become to smartphone vendors.

World Record

Last year, the Sonim XP3300 Force was declared the “Toughest Phone in the World” by the Guiness Book of Records, a feat that was accomplished by dropping the phone 25 metres/82 feet onto concrete with no operational damage whatsoever.

It has also been submerged in an antifreeze mixture, embedded in concrete and, most impressively, almost blended.

Conclusions

The Sonim Bolt is not for everyone, nor is it for most people. But there is a huge unspoken subset of Canadians that work in dangerous environments that could benefit from the Sonim Bolt, and from Bell’s new Push-To-Talk network.

For more information, check out the Sonim Bolt at Bell Mobile Business.

Cygnett London Underground iPhone case series review

Daniel Bader — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:33:32 +0000

I’m a bit of a London Underground geek. From my first visit to London as a child to my recent trip for Nokia World last October, the Tube has become a bit of a quiet obsession. There is a reason for this: the sprawling, managed chaos; the quiet dignity; the storied history. They all appeal to my inner engineer, the kid who marvelled at arches and gawked at airplane designs.

So it was quite a shock to discover that one of my favourite accessory makers, Australia’s Cygnett, had developed an authorized London Underground line of iPhone accessories. While we’ll be looking at three particular models, the website boasts seven distinct designs, each more wonderfully British than the last.

All the cases are made specifically for the iPhone 4S, but are compatible with the iPhone 4. The distinction is made by the size of the camera hole, allowing more light to diffuse from the embedded flash; iPhone 4 cases often caused the flash to reflect against the case, washing out photos in the process.

We’re looking at the TubeTrain, NightLines and DayLines cases. Each are made of high-grade polycarbonate that are a bit thicker than the typical plastic Cyngett case. I prefer the size and weight trade-off, as all three cases feel as though they’d sufficiently protect the iPhone from breaking, even when dropped on its front.

That is because the front of the case juts out ever-so-slightly past the iPhone’s front, protecting against scratches and, hopefully, straight-on drops. The iPhone 4S has been criticized for breaking easily as its metal frame is surrounded by two pieces of thin Gorilla Glass.

As you can see, Cyngett has etched the “Official Licensed Product of Transport for London” on the inside of each case, a lovely addition. Seeing this, the cases immediately became collectors’ items and I can’t wait to complete the set.

The TubeTrain model has transparent glass sides, allowing you to see the iPhone’s metal frame, while the other two have continuous patterns from the back.

I found that the iPhone fit quite snugly in the frame, and was glad to see that Cygnett kept the side open to both prevent scratching and allow for easier access to the volume buttons.

They’re not for everyone — though I have met a few Underground nerds from all over the world — the Cyngett “London Calling” line is a great example of licensed smartphone accessories. I’d love to see a company do the same for the Toronto Transit Commission, as you can already buy licensed TTC pins, t-shirts, buttons and posters.

Each case is $29.99 and Cygnett offers free shipping to Canada. We’ve previously looked at their line of iPhone and iPad cases at CES, and they’re expanding their Android offerings, too.

Incipio Lexington case for the new iPad review

Daniel Bader — Sun, 06 May 2012 01:20:29 +0000

Considering the new iPad wasn’t a huge departure from its predecessor in either appearance or form factor, it’s exciting to see manufacturers tackle the tablet with the same verve as with the previous two.

The new iPad is slightly thicker and heavier than the iPad 2, and many cases either didn’t fit properly or didn’t activate the popular magnetized sleep/wake function. Let’s take a look at Incipio’s newest entry into the foray.

The Incipio Lexington is a new take on the old folio case. It combines a stylish “vegan leather” exterior — a creative term for faux — with a versatile buckle that not only ensures the lid does not flap open in the breeze, but that the two standing positions are secure. Instead of relying on a convoluted system of multiple folds or fallible clips, the Lexington allows its owner to tuck the buckle into the small slot on the case’s rear and orient the iPad in either a media-watching position or the familiar typing angle.

The iPad fits securely in the hard plastic shell, hewing in the corners with a reassuring snap. Once in the case, however, the iPad is difficult to remove, necessitating a rather heart-wrenching pull from its confines.

Unlike Apple’s Smart Cover, the Lexington only has one fold about a third of the way from the left, allowing you to wake your device with a small lift, or to prop your iPad as you see above. The lack of multiple curves limits the case’s ability to fold into the popular “one-handed triangle” shape that Apple made famous with the iPad 2, but the buckle comes once again in handy when the cover is folded back by keeping the lid from drooping. When folded back and “tucked in,” the Lexington adds barely a centimetre to the iPad’s thickness, and is very comfortable to hold in one hand; the inside of the lid is soft and plush, to protect the screen from scratches.

The Lexington protects the iPad extremely well, especially from the bottom. One advantage of the tablet being so secure within the reinforced plastic is that even if you were to drop it with the screen exposed, there is little chance of the iPad popping out from the impact.

All the ports, from the headphones to the speaker, are accessible and protected without being too recessed. Both the typing and standing positions are slightly adjustable depending on how deep the buckle has been inserted into the latch. The typing angle could stand to be around five degrees lower, but it’s perfectly comfortable in most situations.

The Lexington also happens to be extremely stylish, and fits the look of the white iPad extremely well. It’s tight — not too compact, but doesn’t add a lot of girth to the tablet — and the dual-grey shading is very attractive.

The only real issue I have with the Lexington is that the vegan leather picks up fingerprints — splotchy, uneven stains — rather easily, which take a fair amount of work to remove. Most of the time they can be wiped clean with a wet cloth, but over time I fear the Lexington may lose some of its lustre to the fingerprint gods.

At $39.99, the Incipio Lexington is on the cheaper side of iPad cases, but it comes off as being a far more expensive product. It’s stylish, compact and protects well, and but for the penchant for stains, is a fantastic purchase.

Highly Recommended.

Samsung Galaxy S III roundup: specs, accessories, features, dates and opinions

Daniel Bader — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:13:13 +0000

The Galaxy S3 is here, and it’s going to be one of the biggest launches of the year. Let’s run down what you can expect.

Specs
- Android 4.0.4 with a new version of TouchWiz
- 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display (1280 x 720)
- 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor (North American version), 1.4Ghz Exynos 4 Quad processor (international version)
- 1GB of RAM
- 16/32GB versions (64GB coming later) with optional microSD slot
- 8MP camera with no shutter lag, 3.3fps burst
- 1.9 front-facing camera with face tracking
- NFC with S Beam
- 2100 mAh removable battery
- HSPA+ (international version) and LTE (North American)
- 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133g

Main features

The Galaxy S3, in addition to being thin, light and big, is a very iterative upgrade in terms of hardware. At launch there will be two models, Marble White and Pebble Blue. It will come to North America with a 1.5Ghz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, while international variants will get a quad-core Exynos 4 Quad chip. Before you get your pants in a bunch, as we showed on on the HTC One X, the S4 chip is plenty fast and plenty battery-efficient despite being dual-core. We’ll have to wait and see how much faster the Exynos 4 Quad is than the Tegra 3, but that shouldn’t discourage you from looking forward to the North American variant.

We’ve also heard that the versions that will come to Canada will retain the popular home button, eschewing the row of four capacitive buttons from devices like the Galaxy SII LTE and Galaxy Note. The phone has many improvements to its build quality, too, which Samsung is summing up as a ‘premium polycarbonate finish.’ There is a removable 2100mAh battery, a microSIM slot and room for a microSD slot up to 64GB in size.

The biggest features are the ones inside the software, and we’ll run them down for you really quickly:

S Voice - A Siri-like feature that responds to your voice. Ask questions like, “What is the weather?” or “Can you play this song?” and it responds quickly and intelligently. You can even launch apps like the camera, separating it from its Apple counterpart in many ways. It will support eight languages out of the box and be configurable with five custom activation methods.

S Beam - An advanced version of the Android Beam feature, S Beam creates a connection with another Galaxy S III using NFC and then uses WiFi Direct to perform a high-speed transfer across devices. Media such as photos, video, MP3s, web pages and contacts are compatible.

SmartStay - A feature that uses the front-facing camera to keep tabs on where your eyes are. If they are reading, the display will not dim. If you lie down and are holding your phone on an angle, SmartStay knows not to switch orientations.

Direct Dial - “It knows when you want to talk: if you’re messaging and want to call instead, simply lift your phone to your ear and it will dial your friend automatically.”

Social Tags - Uses face recognition to detect your friends and incorporate their social networking information directly into the gallery.

Pop-up Play - Uses picture-in-picture abilities to watch video while you’re messaging or browsing. Very cool feature seen in person.

Best Photo - The fast camera can take a burst of eight photos and automatically pick the best one based on facial recognition. It detects who has his or her eyes closed, etc.

AllShare Cast/Play - utilizes DLNA to beam media content and documents to your connected TV. Optional AllShare Cast dongle provides DLNA support to TVs that don’t have it.

Dropbox - Buyers of the Galaxy S III get their Dropbox storage increased to 50GB (much like buyers of the One Series get 25GB). Not bad, Samsung, not bad.

Music Hub - Overhauled interface and an iTunes Match-like feature. Offers 17 million songs for an unknown monthly price.

Accessories

AllShare Cast - As above, the dongle plugs into your non-smart TV and makes it smart, allowing for the wireless streaming of music, movies and photos to your television (Image courtesy of Engadget)

S-pebble MP3 add-on - It’s a 4GB MP3 player that syncs to your phone via a USB cable. No desktop needed.

Flip case - It’s a folio case. That flips.

Spare battery, HDMI dock, car dock, etc. - All these things will come in time.

Canadian Release Dates

At this time, it’s not known when the Galaxy S III will arrive in Canada, other than “this summer.” We also know that the LTE version will come to multiple carriers, likely Rogers, Bell and TELUS; the international version will likely be sold on the new entrants such as WIND, SaskTel and Mobilicity.

Considering the unlocked version is going on sale for £499 on Clove at the end of the month, it will likely sell for between $599 and $699 outright in Canada and the US.

Dual-core vs. Quad-core

With great speeds come compromise, or something along those lines. The international variant of the Galaxy S III will eschew LTE speeds for a quad-core Exynos processor. Initial benchmarks of the 4x Cortex-A9 SoC with an overclocked Mali-400 GPU show results that align with the Tegra 3. In other words, the dual-core Snapdragon S4 SoC is still faster than the the quad-core Exynos 4 chip. Not bad, Qualcomm.

Much of the marketing racket this year is going to be made over dual- vs quad-core, and by virtue of the “moar is better” mentality most consumers have, this will be a difficult battle for manufacturers to win. HTC is facing the same problem, as on paper the Snapdragon S4 chip is much less exciting than a solution with double the cores. But at this stage in the game, double the cores does not equal double the speeds. As we showed you in our One X review, the Snapdragon S4 SoC is currently the world’s fastest smartphone solution, period.

We’ll wait until retail versions of the Galaxy S III with its quad-core Exynos chip hit the market to pass judgement, but until then Snapdragon rules.

Samsung vs. Android

Samsung is playing a very interesting game with the Galaxy S III. By alluding to pebbles, water and many other earthly adjectives to describe its upcoming flagship, it is differentiating its product from the hoards of “droid”-like phones out there running Android.

The word “Android” was barely mentioned during the keynote today. In many ways it doesn’t matter; the Galaxy S III runs TouchWIZ, and it looks remarkably like its predecessor, which ran Gingerbread. Some think TouchWIZ is too cartoony, others too simplistic; others love it, some hate it. But we can all agree that since the original Galaxy S Samsung has kept its software aesthetic remarkably consistent, more so than any other manufacturer. Indeed, the features added to the Galaxy S III — S Voice, S Beam, AllShare Play, SmartStay, Direct Dial — these are all value-added features that can be disabled for whatever reason, but the company is trying very hard to make peoples’ lives easier.

As they said, the phone is made for humans, implying that previous Android devices, including former Galaxy S phones, were more difficult to use than they needed to be. Android has always been labelled as unstable, confusing and user-unfriendly. The SGS III is Samsung’s attempt to change this.

The Verdict

Is the Galaxy S III going to be the phone to buy this summer? Considering how much is riding on its launch, I’d say yes. It’s a capable, fashionable and ultimately worthy successor to the hugely popular Galaxy S II, and with Samsung’s brand power it promises to be equally successful.

What do you think, of the phone and of the surrounding accessory ecosystem sprouting around it? Will you purchase a Galaxy S III in June?

BlackBerry Bridge Updated to V2.0.0.30, fixes predictive text issues

Corey Herscu — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:05:24 +0000

With BlackBerry World 2012 well underway, it seems like logical timing for RIM to release their latest update to the bridge app for the PlayBook. Updated to version 2.0.0.30, the change log isn’t a large one, but addresses issues with predictive text.

The update should be live in the BlackBerry App World, so go in and update accordingly. If the update is not available for you yet, sit tight and wait for it to be pushed to your device.

You can also download the BlackBerry Bridge App here

Via: CrackBerry

RIM debuts BlackBerry Music Gateway for streaming to home and car stereos

Daniel Bader — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:29:02 +0000

With the kick-off of BlackBerry World tomorrow, RIM is expected to introduce a number of new products, initiatives and, ultimately, its future.

But with the BlackBerry Music Gateway they’re sticking with what they know best: simple and powerful hardware that just works. To that end the Gateway is a small box (60mm x 40mm x 12.5mm, 28g) that connects to your home/car system or A/V receiver and communicates via Bluetooth to transmit a music stream from up to 30 feet away.

Compatible with the PlayBook and a number of BlackBerry devices (Bold 9900, Bold 9790, Curve 9380, Curve 9360, Bold 9981), the Gateway is NFC-enabled for easy Bluetooth pairing. The whole idea is to play music from your BlackBerry device and use the phone or tablet as an interactive remote control, sort of like how Sonos operates its mobile apps, or how AirPlay allows you to control your music from your iPhone or iPad. It is compatible with any BlackBerry music app, including 7Digital, Slacker Radio and BBM Music.

The Gateway is powered by microUSB and connects to the stereo through either an included 3.5mm headphone cable or regular RCA connector.

Shipping soon, the Gateway will be available in June for $49.99

More over at RIM.

Google engineer says Sony adds more code to Android than any other manufacturer

Daniel Bader — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:04:26 +0000

Here’s some good news to the Sony loyalists out there: the company adds more lines of code to the Android Open Source Project than any other manufacturer, according to Jean-Baptiste Queru, a Google engineer who oversees the merging of millions of lines of code to AOSP.

This is why, according to Queru, Sony was able to distribute Ice Cream Sandwich to its aging Sony Tablet S less than five months after the code was released: they already had a head start with all their contributions. Sure, other manufacturers like Asus and Acer have already updated their slates to ICS, but Sony’s contributions allowed them to do more with their existing hardware.

The realization is also reassuring to Sony Ericsson phone owners who are eagerly awaiting an update from Sony to Ice Cream Sandwich. They have released beta software for the arc and arc S, the Play, the ray and others, to ensure the highest level of performance and app compatibility. One of our major concerns with the excellent Xperia S was that it shipped with Gingerbread.

But Queru also underscores how damaging carrier intervention in the whole process can be; while the WiFi version of Google’s “developer tablet” Motorola Xoom was updated to Ice Cream Sandwich around the same time as the initial (failed) Nexus S rollout, the 3G-based version is still sitting in limbo waiting for carrier approval.

Says Queru: “The part that blows my mind is that some variants of the Google-engineered flagship devices still haven’t received Ice Cream Sandwich (or are stuck with older versions of Ice Cream Sandwich) because of delays introduced by operator approvals. I’m very glad that Google is back in the business of selling phones directly without any middlemen to interfere, and I’ll be even happier when I see that program expanded to more countries.”

Amen to that.

Source: Google+
Via: Computer World

Samsung Q1 2012 profits top $5 billion, confirms Galaxy S3 name

Daniel Bader — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:08:08 +0000

Samsung has a lot going for it right now, especially since in the run-up to its most anticipated phone launch ever, the company earned over $5 billion in operating profit, though after taxes it totals $4.86 billion US.

Gross margins are up to 12.9% on over $40 billion in revenue; leading the way were an uptick in mobile phone and displays profits, two areas that consumers have benefited from increased competition and lower component prices in the last year. The company’s profits are up 98% year over year, and much of the thanks can be given to “brisk sales of flagship Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II devices.”

More importantly, a company exec outed the official name of the next Galaxy phone: the Galaxy S3 (or Galaxy S III). This was widely expected to be the case, but we can now piece together a few more morsels of information before next Sunday’s announcement.

As we know, it will likely have a 1.4Ghz quad-core Exynos processor (at least internationally), a 4.6-inch 720p Super AMOLED Plus screen, 1GB RAM, an 8MP camera, 16/32GB internal storage and a 2050mAh battery.

Source: Samsung
Via: The Verge

North American Samsung Galaxy S3 could come with Qualcomm S4 chip to ensure LTE support

Daniel Bader — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:33:43 +0000

Well, this is a bit of a twist. The international version of the Galaxy S3 is almost ensured to have a quad-core Exynos 4212 SoC inside it, providing double the processing chops and 20% less power consumption than its predecessor. But we’re getting word that, in order to appease North American carriers pushing LTE, our variety could come with a Snapdragon S4 processor, the same as the one in the HTC One X.

This makes a lot of sense — we haven’t heard anything about the Exynos 4 Quad being compatible with LTE, and Samsung swapped out its Exynos for a Snapdragon S3 chip in the LTE-capable Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II LTE last year. And while the dual-core Snapdragon S4 is a beast of a chip and would have no problem making the Galaxy S3 scream, it’s disappointing that Canadians will potentially miss out on that quad-core goodness.

As we learned with the One X and its Tegra 3-powered international version, there are both pluses and minuses to having a dual-core chip. In the case of the S4, it excels at CPU-intensive tasks but lags behind its quad-core brethren in gaming performance.

Would you be happy with a Galaxy S3 if it came with a dual-core Snapdragon S4 chip, or will you try to import the international quad-core version even if it doesn’t have LTE?

Source: Android Central

Motorola MOTOACTV: A capital (letter) experience for fitness geeks

Daniel Bader — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:12:51 +0000

Motorola’s MOTOACTV is geek fitness chic. It’s a utilitarian square piece of metal and plastic, a low-powered ARM processor and 8GB of storage; some sensors and an accelerometer; a pair of headphones and some cloud sync capabilities. It’s not going to change your life unless you let it, and just like every fitness utility, you get out only as much as you put in.

But at its core, the $249.99 MOTOACTV appears to be one of the best, and most versatile, options for the avid runner, cyclist or golfer (more on that later).

Design

MOTOACTV’s design is nothing more than a reframed iPod nano, a square housing with an optional clip; the front is glass, the back a reflective mirror metal. It feels well-made, and likely is if it stands a chance against the elements; I dropped it several times (on purpose, and a couple times by accident) and it fared extremely well. Its 1.6-inch screen has a tired resolution of 176×220 pixels, and is covered with a smattering of Gorilla Glass.

There are five buttons and a capacitive area: volume up, volume down and power are on the right side; Start and Music are on top; the Android back button is on the face, under the screen. This limits its use to a single orientation, something I wish Motorola had taken into account when designing the device, since it’s not easy to consistently clip it the right way to a jacket or shirt. It involves having to remove it from the included clip and reorient it.

Start and Music operate independently: the former jumps into a workout screen while the latter either jumps into the music screen or pauses the current song. There is a microUSB port for charging and syncing with the computer, covered by a piece of rubber. In this case I’d say the rubber is welcome, since the MOTOACTV claims to be sweat resistant and rain proof.

The back area, as stated, is made of metal and has raised edges that allow the unit to slide easily into a number of proprietary accessories. The included clothes clip is the cleanest and likely most useful; I found it to be extremely tight, and fell only once despite numerous attempts to disengage the clip. I also had a chance to try the $19.99 Sports Arm Band, which uses the same attachment technique. Both accessories are well made and fundamental to the enjoyment of the gadget, and there are optional bike mount, watch strap and both wired and wireless headphones, each sold separately. It’s clear that Motorola is attempting to sell you the razor as well as a number of pricey blades here.

Usability

The Android-based interface is sparse but robust. There are four main areas in which you’ll spend your time: Watch, Workout, Music and Notifications.

The MOTOACTV is a bit too bulky to be used comfortably as a watch, but it can be configured as such. There are a number of timepieces available, ranging from the “train station” digital design to an apocalyptic analog face and many in between. That same screen also displays the calories burned and steps taken, which is reset at midnight each night. The device uses the included accelerometer to gauge the level of activity, but I found it easy to trick, and by the end of the day usually had a few thousand unearned steps in my tally. I can’t vouch for the caloric accuracy, either, but to have both is a reassuring presence.

The Watch screen also allows you to configure a digital timer, stopwatch and enable or disable a wakeup gesture, which will turn on the screen if you not-so-vigorously shake the unit. The problem is that with this gesture turned on the screen tends to wake up and go back to sleep every few seconds while walking, wasting precious battery life. At the same time it’s very useful if you’re using it as a watch; I wish there was a way to adjust the sensitivity of the shaking.

The Workout screen is, if you’re an avid runner, cyclist or even walker, where you’ll be spending the bulk of your time. It allows you to configure time, distance (or both) as well as calorie goals for the specific workout. You can also just press start and work it all out at the end. The MOTOACTV takes care of GPS location (though it was occasionally difficult to find a satellite lock), calories burned, speed and distance travelled. The MotoActv.com service also lets you upload these results to Motorola’s portal, tracking individual workouts and improvement over time.

As of a recent software update, the MOTOACTV also allows you to download golf course information from around the world, tracking distance, ball location and a number of other stat-junkie goodness. You’re not limited to those activities, though: the device is pre-programmed for Elliptical, Step Machine, Walking and Cycling, in addition to running. You can also set a custom activity such as Badminton, Baseball, Hockey and more. Each of these provides enough material to gauge improvement over time, and if you enter personal information such as weight and height when beginning your training, the device will tell you how much you need to work to hit a certain weight target.

Music

The MOTOACTV also comes with 8GB of internal storage, and a number of pre-loaded workout songs that I found completely all over the map. However, in addition to Motorola’s MotoCast app, which allows you to sync iTunes playlists to the device, you can merely drag and drop songs or albums in Windows’ or OS X’s file manager and the unit will parse all the necessary metadata.

Music plays into workouts in inestimably important ways, and Motorola thought ahead on this one, too. By default there is a permanent playlist called Fitness Music. You can choose individual songs to add to this playlist, which play when you start exercising. The harder you work while listening to a particular song, MOTOACTV’s algorithms figure out when and how often to play the song. If you take a particular running route every day, and tend to lag during an uphill, for example, the song that gets you the most pumped will begin playing as soon as the previous one is finished. It’s an excellent feature that I appreciated, especially during early morning runs when I wasn’t very happy to be out in the cold.

As a general music player, however, MOTOACTV does a decent job, though the Android-based interface is rather clunky. While there are slick transition animations, I would have loved to see gesture-based navigation such as on Apple’s fifth-generation iPod nano. Repeated use of the back button gets tiresome after a few clicks, and while you can hold it down to return quickly to the home screen, there is little panache to the procedure, especially when you’re shelling out nearly $300 for the device.

Conclusions

The MOTOACTV is something I’ve taken to wearing every day, even if I’m not exercising heavily. I use it as a pedometer and a calorie counter and, more recently, as a music player. It supports Bluetooth with A2DP profiles, so my stereo headphones play just fine; it can map out my walking routes and determine how far and how quickly I’ve been moving; and it lasts a long time. The battery can be relied on for 20 hours before it gives in, and Motorola has thankfully included a dual-USB wall charger with the kit so you can plug in your phone and the MOTOACTV before you go to sleep. That’s thinking ahead.

I noticed that, just sitting idly, the device depletes around 30% battery every eight hours, so be sure to plug it in. Battery usage will be inevitably higher if you choose to connect it to various ANT+ compatible sensors such as a heart-rate monitor.

Considering you can participate in challenges on MotoActv.com, and have people comment on your workouts, encouraging you to do better, the device succeeds as both a social tool and an individual motivator. For $250, it’s by no means cheap, and by the time you’re done paying into the various accessories you could be closer to $400. But if you’re serious about fitness — and an increasing number of geeks and non-geeks alike are — MOTOACTV is a very compelling product.