Techno Chunky

The T-Mobile G2x's simple Android interface, blazingly fast speeds, and polished look make it the phone to beat in T-Mobile's lineup.

When LG introduced the world to the LG Optimus 2X late last year we were suitably impressed by its dual-core processor and multimedia capabilities, but because LG has a history of not importing its high-end devices into the U.S., we held out little hope that it would hop across the pond.



Fortunately, we were proved wrong. At CTIA 2011 in Orlando, Fla., LG introduced the T-Mobile G2x, which is essentially a T-Mobile USA-branded version of the Optimus 2X. Available now for $199.99 with a two-year contract, it boasts an impressive 1GHz Nvidia dual-core processor, great specs, support for T-Mobile's HSPA+ network, and all-around good looks. Sure, it's running Android 2.2 at launch, but LG promises it will be upgradable to version 2.3 in the future and Android fans will appreciate the stock Android interface.

Also notable is that the T-Mobile G2x is T-Mobile's first "G-series" phone not made by HTC (unlike the T-Mobile G1 and T-Mobile G2). This underscores T-Mobile's confidence in LG; we hope the G2x is the first of many excellent LG smartphones to make their marks on the U.S. market.

When you hold it in your hands, there is no doubt that the T-Mobile G2x is a premium handset. At 4.9 inches long by 2.5 inches wide by 0.4 inch thick, the G2x features smooth, rounded corners and is clad in a matte soft-touch finish on the back, with a seamless piano-black face and attractive gunmetal-gray accents around the sides. At 5 ounces, the G2x also has a certain heft that gives it a solid and luxurious feel in the hand.

The T-Mobile G2x has a beautiful 4-inch WVGA display.

The 4-inch IPS touch-screen display is simply stunning. The WVGA resolution provides crystal-clear sharpness, with vibrant colors and impressive detail. This is especially evident when playing games and HD video. It's not quite as vivid as the Super AMOLED screen on the Samsung Galaxy S 4G or the qHD display on the Motorola Atrix 4G, but it still offers rich colors and great graphics.

The touch screen is really responsive, requiring only a simple tap for a touch to register, and thanks to the dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, we were also amazed by how zippy the navigation felt. Simple tasks like scrolling through a Web page or launching an application felt that much quicker. Even the accelerometer kicked in faster when switching from portrait to landscape mode. The G2x comes with a gyroscopic sensor as well.

Beneath the display are the usual Android shortcut keys in the form of touch-sensitive buttons for menu, home, back, and search. On the top right of the phone is the front-facing camera. There are a couple of external speakers on the bottom along with the Micro-USB charging port. The volume rocker is on the right, and the 3.5mm headset jack, HDMI port, and power/screen lock button are on the top. The microSD card slot is located behind the battery cover, but you don't need to remove the battery to access it. On the back of the phone are the camera lens and LED flash.

T-Mobile packages the G2x with an AC adapter, a USB cable, and reference material.

The T-Mobile G2x's feature set is an embarrassment of riches, with plenty of advanced smartphone technology that promises to provide speed and multimedia prowess. As we mentioned, it has the highly praised 1GHz Nvidia dual-core Tegra 2 processor. It does have only 512MB of RAM, but we didn't notice any performance drawbacks in real-world tests. Transitions between menus felt snappy, and we jumped through different points in an HD video clip with zero jittering.

To prove the strength of the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor even further, LG has included the Nvidia Tegra Zone app with the phone. The app lets you easily find, purchase, and download games that take advantage of the Nvidia processor. The G2x comes with Nova and Need for Speed Shift, and we have to say that both games performed very well in our initial tests. Graphics were very smooth and we experienced zero lag time during gameplay.

Because of all this power, it's no surprise that the G2x comes equipped with multimedia features galore. It has a Micro-HDMI port so you can hook up the phone to a big-screen television, and with mirroring mode, you can see on the TV whatever is on your phone. If you want to go wireless, the G2x also supports DLNA, a technology that lets you share media on your phone with other DLNA devices wirelessly. The G2x also comes with T-Mobile TV, a T-Mobile service that gives you access to live and on-demand TV.

If you would rather watch your own movies, the G2x comes with 8GB of internal storage. This might not seem like a lot, but you can load additional media onto a microSD card--the phone supports up to 32GB of extra storage. To get content onto your device, you can treat the phone like a mass storage device by dragging and dropping media, or you can use the DoubleTwist software to sync content wirelessly.

The T-Mobile G2x has an 8-megapixel camera and LED flash on the back.

One of the other benefits of the dual-core processor is that the phone supports full HD 1080p video playback. In addition, the G2x can record video in 1080p with its 8-megapixel camera. The short video clips we recorded looked pretty impressive, considering they are from a phone. We don't think video quality quite compares to that of a professional quality camera, but for family videos or simple YouTube clips, it works great.

Despite some complaints, Samsung executives Galaxy II S the set of high marks, making it the most advanced smartphones and the successful release of Samsung handset to date.

Since its first iteration Galaxy, Samsung has taken the line of smartphones chic black and run with it straight on the production line to produce a great movie after another. The mobile phone manufacturer was quick spin fluctuations, the premium for pedestrians, and even a little strange. But more than a dozen global models that take the unlocked Samsung S Galaxy II cake, slim "phone jumbo" is just as beautiful and attractive as when we laid eyes on it in February last year at the Mobile World Congress.



Specifications impressive start with a dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch AMOLED Super over 8 megapixel rear-facing camera and front camera of 2 megapixels. It runs on the latest operating system Android, version 2.3 of gingerbread. Samsung TouchWiz Interface 4.0 adds some additional benefits as visual and three new games, e-books, music and resources. Also "4G" support in the HSPA +, which is a plateau and zippier device. We had some minor complaints, but overall, the Galaxy S II is a complete piece of mobile machinery. The Galaxy S II is available in Europe and Asia, but still no word on an agreement for U.S. carrier, but we hope soon. Meanwhile, you can buy unlocked. It is a GSM phone (no current plans for a CDMA version last time we went) so if you get it, you need a T-Mobile or AT & T SIM to work.

The thinner and more square in its history, the Galaxy S II comes in strong with a glossy black surface and a large touch screen. It is a great phone, with 4.9 inches high by 2.6 inches wide but very thin, only 0.3 cm thick. Lightweight for its size, the Galaxy II S weighs just 4 ounces. Usually, a certain degree of strength and weight Premium phone feel. In this case, it soon became happy and did not have to lug around a heavy brick. Samsung phones tend to dress in bright Galaxy plastic enough to make decisions, be combined as toys. Fortunately, the clearer the Galaxy S II design and texture of the cover to help minimize this effect. The design is not as premium in appearance as the rival LG T-Mobile G2X, but Samsung is getting closer.

The Samsung Galaxy S II has a gorgeous 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with rich, vibrant color.

The magnificent spectacle that will captivate you. 27.4-inch Super exclusive Samsung AMOLED touch-screen to see a WVGA resolution of 480x800 and supports 16 million colors. More technology adds a 50 percent sub-pixel (each pixel is divided into sub-pixels), which visibly smoother, clearer, more vibrant, more colorful and the text and images. It's incredibly bright, even in low power mode automatically, and was very receptive to our taps. Websites and crisp images and videos played perfectly seen, especially when it became the high quality (HQ) on sites like YouTube. As with the load Droid, which also includes the Plus version of the screen, the AMOLED display Super Galaxy II S is washed in the sun than the other models. The AMOLED Super Plus is already one of the richest displays on the market, even touching the already impressive Super AMOLED screen that came before.

Gorilla glass screen takes up most of Galaxy II, S face, with a 2 megapixel camera above the screen and the Home button below it. There are also two soft buttons, Menu and Back. Lights up when you turn on the screen, but will fade after a few seconds of inactivity. Like most of the elements of the display you can adjust the length of the touch buttons lights shine over all the time, or not at all. For more information about keyboard input, S Galaxy II, with virtual keyboard Swype.

Galaxy S II spines are sparsely populated. Not the volume rocker on the left and the power button on the right, the Micro-USB charger to the bottom, and a 3.5 mm jack for headphones. Unfortunately, there is no hardware button on the camera. Instead, we moved to the home screen, a camera for easier access. Behind the 8-megapixel camera lens and flash, and under the rear deck where you will find a slot for microSD cards. There are two problems. First of all we're worried about breaking a nail while prying off a hard cover back. Another is that you must remove the battery Insert a microSD card, the best in prejudice, that the first request the closure of the phone.

The honor to charge the Samsung S Galaxy II, the Android 2.3 Conflict of interest (. To be verified CNET review of the Nexus) We are often less enthusiastic about the custom interfaces, such as 4.0 TouchWiz UI here - sometimes adding unwanted complexity applications and non-removable, and are usually slower to update new versions of the operating system. However, the 4.0 TouchWiz is a couple of things going for it, some of the transfers from previous versions of TouchWiz. There are seven home screen, for example, and note the drop-down menu, the icons can easily connect a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a rotation.

TouchWiz also gives the music a little sizzle outstanding graphics. App in the drawer, run horizontally instead of vertically icons receive a bold, colorful treatment. The latest edition adds three new TouchWiz hubs that bring together themes contained. Games, music, and readers get to the center of the front office. We'll have more on them in the Tools group.

Samsung does not hold for the next generation Galaxy sample. The Galaxy S II is a quad-band GSM phone in the world that limits communication and Google services with some extras for entertainment and productivity. Android usual text and multimedia messaging, and an address book that integrates contacts from multiple accounts such as Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, and Facebook.

A dual-core processor makes for a highly responsive handset.

There Android mailbox type, too, that can be set to combine all your bills into one, or a filter to view an account at a time. There is also Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, speakerphone, conference calling and voice dialing. The Galaxy II S may be a warm up to eight portable devices. In some world markets, which will be equipped with NFC. Samsung has also tried to make it more business friendly, with the VPN encryption on the device, and support Cisco VoIP and virtual office.

All Google services including email, maps, voice navigation, search, chat, sites, Latitude and YouTube, as well as basic tools like a calendar, calculator, alarm clock, world clock, stopwatch and timer. There is also a list of things to do and finding voice.

Samsung loaded with a lot of applications on the phone from its own raw social center, which includes all channels of social networks in one place, and you can see the history of communications and instant messaging status, and reach their contacts via SMS, email, and so on.

In addition, TouchWiz 4.0 incorporates three new centers to purchase and download more content for your phone. The music center is powered by 7digital, but you can also access the music stored on your phone. Gameloft makes Axis the game, which is divided into social games like We Rule and Touch Hockey and premium high-definition gaming and GT Racing and Assassins Creed - Altair's Chronicles. Hub readers is divided into three sections: news (powered by the press of the screen), which has a trial of seven books theme (driven by Kobo) and magazines (powered by Zinio.) According to Samsung, the center of the unit allows access to 2.2 million pounds, global and local newspapers in 2000 and 2300 magazines.

Its excellent design and user experience, coupled with its solid performance, make the HTC Sensation 4G one of the best Android phones yet and a top pick for T-Mobile customers.

The HTC Sensation 4G is one of the best-looking and most well-built smartphones we've seen to date, and it's not because of any flashy gimmicks, but simply a solid and sleek design. Like a number of HTC handsets, the Sensation 4G has a unibody aluminum chassis with a streamlined and high-quality construction. What's most notable about the phone, though, is how sleek it is for a 4.3-inch touch-screen device.

The HTC Sensation 4G is one beautifully crafted smartphone.

Unlike some 4.3-inch-screen smartphones, such as the HTC ThunderBolt and Samsung Droid Charge, the Sensation doesn't feel heavy or bulky. It's similar in size and weight (5 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide by 0.4 inch thick, and 5.2 ounces) to the T-Mobile G2x and Samsung Galaxy S II, but even so, the Sensation has a more premium feel and its tapered edges make it more comfortable in the hand.

Part of what allows the smartphone to be so slim is the 16:9 qHD (540x960-pixel resolution) Super LCD touch screen. The display features a contour design that gives it a concave shape, making it comfortable when held against the cheek, and also prevents scratches when the phone is placed screen-side down. More importantly, it looks gorgeous. Text and images look sharp with vivid colors, and we were still able to read the screen outdoors. The iPhone's Retina display and Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus touch screen offer finer detail and better color saturation, but the Sensation's display is still no slouch, and we suspect most people will have no objections to it.



The touch screen was responsive, as we were able to easily navigate the menus and launch applications with a single tap. Scrolling through lists and using the pinch-to-zoom feature was also smooth. For text entry, you only get the choice of HTC's supplied virtual keyboards--full QWERTY, phone, or compact--but no standard Android keyboard or Swype. That said, while it's not immediately obvious, the HTC keyboard has a feature called Trace that acts very much like Swype where you can drag your finger from letter to letter. As with Swype, we found Trace to be faster and easier and even more accurate than pecking away at each key.

Below the display, you'll find touch-sensitive buttons for the home, menu, back, and search functions. The left side holds a volume rocker and a Micro-USB port, while the right side is devoid of controls. The top of the device houses a 3.5mm headphone jack and power button, and just below it, on the upper right side of the screen, is the front-facing camera. The 8-megapixel and dual LED flash are located on back.

Despite having a 4.3-inch screen, the Sensation 4G doesn't feel bulky and has a slim profile.

T-Mobile packages the HTC Sensation 4G with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a preinstalled 8GB microSD card, a wired stereo headset, and reference material.

The HTC Sensation 4G ships with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and the latest version of HTC Sense. Sense has always been our favorite custom skin for Android, both for its aesthetics and useful functions, and now HTC has made it even better.

A lot of the new features of Sense can be found on the lock screen. Aside from a display of the date, time, and other vital statistics, you now get shortcuts to four of your favorite apps. By default, the shortcuts are set to phone, mail, camera, and messages, but you can change them in the phone's Personalize menu. To open a specific app, you can simply drag the icon to the ring at the bottom of the screen, instead of having to unlock the phone first.

In addition to the shortcuts, HTC also wanted the lock screen to showcase more user content, so now you can personalize the screen with your photo gallery, friend stream, favorite stocks, or weather. The content then floats by or flies by (depending on which option you choose) onscreen.

Once you unlock the phone, you'll find even more enhancements. For example, much like the HTC Flyer, the Sensation features a 3D carousel so you can more quickly flip through the seven home screens, rather than swiping through each panel. (Of course, you can also use the Leap screen function.) The pull-down notification tray has a second tab called Quick Settings where you can manage your wireless connections and access other settings. The mail app and widget now give you a preview of each message, and the photo gallery widget features a flip-board effect.

There's much more to HTC Sense, but for the sake of brevity we won't detail every new feature here. That said, we found the new functionality to be both useful and well integrated into the system, making for a great user experience on the Sensation 4G.

The T-Mobile Sensation 4G offers world roaming capabilities, a speakerphone, conference calling, voice dialing, video calling via Qik, and text and multimedia messaging. Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi are all onboard, and there is support for Wi-Fi calling. T-Mobile doesn't charge extra for this feature, but be aware that the minutes are deducted from your regular voice plan.

With the iPhone 4, Apple again shows that it is a powerful player in the smartphone wars. It won't be for everyone, the call quality and reception vary if you don't use a case, and AT&T's network remains a sticking point, but the handset's striking design, loaded feature set, and generally agreeable performance make it the best iPhone yet.

With a revamped design, a sparkling new display, a speedy processor, and additional features, the iPhone 4 is the biggest upgrade to Apple's smartphone since the iPhone 3G. It's also the showcase handset for Apple's newest operating system, iOS 4, which adds a selection of long-overdue features, plus some smaller tweaks that we weren't expecting.




If they existed independently, iPhone 4 and iOS 4 wouldn't be much more than blips on the smartphone radar screen. When combined into one handset, however, the result is a sleek, satisfying, and compelling device that keeps Apple strongly competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Indeed, the iPhone 4 is fast, the new hardware is a looker, and some of the new features blew us away. On other points, however, we have some concerns. Call reception still is problematic, and you'll need to use a case or bumper to avoid any issues with touching the new antenna. On the features side, we welcome multitasking with open arms, but it has its drawbacks. Also, though the FaceTime video calling feature is more than noteworthy, we wonder if our interest will last longer than a week.

So, should you buy it? If you're an iPhone fan, you've probably already ordered your new baby. But if you're on the fence, think carefully. We won't say that the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market today. To do so would ignore so many great competing handsets, not to mention the fierce rate of change in the technology world. If you prefer Apple's vision of a polished, highly organized, and slightly closed user experience, then by all means you'll be pleased. Just remember to get that free case. But if you prefer a smartphone that offers more personalization, that isn't shackled to AT&T, or that is equal parts phone and mobile computer, then there are plenty of smartphones in the sea.

The iPhone 4 is available exclusively with AT&T in the U.S., and with other carriers around the world. With a new two-year contract, AT&T customers will pay $299 for the 32GB model or $199 for the 16GB version. Without a contract, you'll pay $699 or $599, respectively, but the phone will still come locked to AT&T. And hey, Apple, how about a 64GB version?

Though the iPhone 3G and the 3GS models simply tweaked the original handset's design, iPhone 4 marks a sharp departure from those previous models. Admittedly, we never had a problem with the look of the previous handsets, but we approve of the iPhone 4's changes. The front and back sides are glass, both surfaces are flat, and a stainless steel border circles the entire phone. Though it's a tad boxy, it also has a clean, svelte, and unmistakably Apple look. What's more, we love that the flat back means that the phone no longer wobbles when resting on a table. You can get the iPhone 4 in both black and white, but here again we prefer the former.

The iPhone 4's rear face is made of glass.

So much glass is shiny and beautiful, but we have a couple of concerns. Despite the oleophobic coating on both the front and back sides, the glass attracts smudges by the ton. Also, even though Apple CEO Steve Jobs promises that glass better resists scratches and cracks than plastic, we'll be watching long-term durability. The iPhone 4 has a solid, sturdy feel, though we didn't love its sharp corners. It survived a few drops to a carpeted floor, but we wonder how it will withstand traveling in a pocket with keys and coins. Luckily, the Apple-supplied bumper will offer needed protection, even if it takes away from the handset's sleek profile. Time will tell how it holds up to heavy use.

The iPhone 4 (left) compared with the iPhone 3G.

 At 4.5 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.37 inch deep, the iPhone 4 is as tall as the iPhone 3GS, but slightly thinner--25 percent, to be exact--and narrow when measured across its front face. It does feel smaller when compared with its predecessors, but we don't think that's a bad thing. Jobs called it the thinnest smartphone around, but since that race changes daily, it may not hold the title for long. When put on the scales it comes in at 4.8 ounces, which is back to what we had with the first iPhone (both the 3G and 3GS models were slightly lighter). We attribute the extra girth to the bigger battery, so we're not going to complain. And more to the point, the difference is barely noticeable.

Other new design elements include a new front-facing VGA camera, a new LED flash with the main camera lens, and a new noise-cancellation microphone on the phone's top side. Needless to say, we welcome the additions since they represent new functionality (See the Features section for more details). We also don't mind the new split volume buttons, since they're a bit easier to grasp than the previous volume rocker.

The handset has a sturdy feel in the hand.

Above the volume controls is the usual mute switch, which Apple also gave a small makeover. In bigger changes, Apple moved the SIM card slot to the right spine and switched to a Micro-SIM format, just like the iPad. According to Jobs, the Micro-SIM format allows more space for the larger battery. Just keep in mind that you won't be able to use a standard SIM in the phone.

The remaining exterior elements are largely unchanged. The Home button is in its normal place below the display; the 3.5mm headset jack and power key sit up top next to the aforementioned noise-cancellation microphone; and the 30-pin connector, microphone, and speaker are where they belong on the iPhone 4's bottom end. Unfortunately, and to no one's surprise, you still can't remove the battery.

In the box come the usual accessories, like the small wall plug, a USB/30-pin connector cable, and the standard Apple earbuds. Oddly, you do not get the SIM removal tool that came with the previous models. True, you can use a small paper clip, but we're miffed that we didn't get it. Apple didn't have an explanation for the omission.

The iPhone 4's antennas wrap around its thin profile.

The stainless steel border is more than just decorative; it doubles as two new antennas that circle the entire phone, minus three small notches. Seriously, leave it to Apple's industrial design team to make an antenna pretty. The first antenna, which runs from the notch on the top of the phone to the notch on the left side, is for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. That leaves the second antenna, which spans from the top notch down the right side and around to the bottom of the phone, for EDGE and 3G.

Though Apple did not specifically promise that the new antennas would improve call quality or Wi-Fi reception, their very existence is an indirect admission (and the first that we've seen by the company) that data and voice reception have been troublesome and need to be addressed. Though current iPhone users largely blame AT&T for connectivity problems, remember that both a carrier's network and a phone's antenna play a part in reception. Yet, as we mention below in the Performance section, the antenna didn't magically cure all reception issues. In fact, it even caused new problems.

Sometimes the best gift is something that you didn't know you wanted, and that's definitely the case with the iPhone 4's display. It features a 940x640-pixel (326 pixels per square inch) "Retina Display," which is four times the resolution of previous iPhone models. What's more, it uses the same IPS screen that's found on the iPad, with an 800:1 contrast ratio. Though we've always thought highly of the current iPhone displays, the company needs to compete with the gorgeous AMOLED screens and TFT displays we've seen on many Android phones like the HTC Evo 4G. And that's exactly what it's done.

The iPhone's display is beautiful. Just above is the VGA camera lens.

Though "stunning," "gorgeous," and "dazzling" are words we usually use to describe high-quality smartphone displays, we're not sure if they do the iPhone 4 justice. Believe us that everything about this display is fantastic, from the bold colors and graphics to the vividly clear text. You can see it reasonably well in direct light and the details on Web pages, photos, videos, and applications are as sharp as they come. But the best thing is that you can't see any pixels on the display. It's quite remarkable and especially apparent when you hold it up next to the 3GS. No, we're not inclined to completely believe Apple's claim that the display exceeds what's perceivable by the human eye, but there's no denying that it looks good. We haven't seen the yellow areas that users have complained about. For more on the display, see the full testing results from CNET Labs.

Of course, the iPhone 4 has the same ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and accelerometer as the previous iPhones. We saw no change in their functionality. We would have liked to see how Flash videos tested on the display, but you know how that goes.

With a heavy load of new goodies, the iPhone 4 runs circles around its 3GS predecessor in bringing new features. Some are unique to the device, and others come with the iOS 4 update. We'll cover the latter group first.

Multitasking: Though you've always been able to multitask with native iPhone features like the music player, the option is now available for third-party apps. Your primary access point is a multitasking menu that's accessible by double-tapping the Home button. Once there, you'll see a list of currently running applications along the bottom of the display that you can scroll through using a sideways finger swipe. The pop-up menu shows only four apps at a time, but you can keep many more in the tray.

The new multitasking feature is accessible by double-tapping the Home button.

Managing the multitasking menu couldn't be easier. To open a running app, scroll though the menu and tap its icon once. When you're ready to end an app, first use a long press on the related icon and then click the tiny delete icon in the top left corner. Switching among apps is a simple process as well: as you move back and forth, you'll return to the exact point you left. There's also a clear sense of organization, with the most recently used app on the left side. All things considered, it's a very Apple experience.

But is it real?: As you'd expect, Apple's multitasking works a little differently than on other smartphones. Instead of having all device resources available to every running app, iOS 4 lets only seven app services run in the background. According to Apple, this arrangement will have less of a drain on resources like battery life and memory than if it gave developers free rein. Also, since background apps essentially pause, it will free the system from having to juggle resources and kill stalled applications.

So what can you do in the background? Apple's seven approved processes include audio (you'll be able to play Pandora radio, for example), VoIP services like Skype, GPS/location for apps like TomTom, push notifications, and local notifications (those that don't to have to go through a server), task completion, and fast app switching (apps essentially hibernate not to use the CPU). The latter two are most notable. With task completion, an app will finish something it's already started even if you send it to the background; it will send you an alert when it's through. Fast app switching, on the other hand, is the app hibernation process that allows you to toggle back and forth quickly and return to the same place you left.

Though some have complained that the built-in limitations mean that iOS 4 doesn't have "real" multitasking, we think "incomplete" is a better description. Granted, you can't run everything in the background--your Twitter feed, for example, won't update while paused--but iOS 4 does allow you to run certain features from multiple apps simultaneously. If that isn't multitasking, then we don't know what is. What's more, it wouldn't be the first time Apple limited features or took longer with development in order to produce a desired customer experience. You may not agree with such a philosophy, but Apple has always been honest about pursuing it. Like so many things in technology, it just comes down to what works best for you.

You can close apps in the multitasking menu.

Nice, but not miles ahead: Even after the long wait, we're quite pleased with the multitasking experience. As it has a talent for doing, Apple has presented the feature in a slick, easy-to-use manner. It performed beautifully, without ever crashing or freezing the phone; it didn't appear to negatively affect battery life; and it accomplishes what it sets out do. But even with strong points, we wouldn't agree that it's the "the best" way to multitask (a common Apple claim). It may be slick and save you a few clicks, but other approaches--such as the "deck of cards" interface on WebOS--continue to impress. Similarly, though limited multitasking may result in more-efficient power management, we'll have to run comparison testing with other smartphones before we can agree.

We also don't share Jobs' view that Apple's solution isn't a task manager. When he unveiled iOS 4 last April, Jobs took a dig at Android and other operating systems that require you to close background applications that might be slowing down the phone. "In multitasking, if you see a task manager...they blew it," he said. "Users shouldn't ever have to think about it." Fair enough, but we think it's a matter of semantics. As with most task managers, the iOS 4 multitasking menu allows you to scan through running applications and close any that you're no longer using.

Granted, you may not have to kill frozen applications as often as you would on, say, a Windows Mobile phone, but you still have that option. We also found usability quirks that are common with task manager apps. Pressing the Home button once, for example, simply sends an app to the background; it does not end it completely. To do so, you'll need to open the multitasking menu, find the related icon, and end it there. And we couldn't overlook another point: now that a double-tap of the Home button opens the multitasking menu, you can no longer use the control as a shortcut for a designated feature. As such, the option is gone from the Setting menu. A small price to pay for a new feature, we suppose.

Apps will come: We know that some CNET users are concerned that many existing apps are not functioning in the background. Keep in mind that it will take time for developers to update their apps for multitasking capability. Apple plays no rule in making those updates, so contact the individual developers for a time frame.

Home screen folders: Though we love apps as much as the next person, we've become tired of scrolling through several pages of iPhone home screens. Thankfully, that has changed with the addition of home screen folders. This is another common feature that competing devices have long offered, so it's nice to see Apple stepping up.

Folders clear up space on your home screen.

To get started, use a long press on the home screen so the icons "jiggle." When your icons are dancing (they'll also have a tiny delete icon in the corner), you can take an app and drop it on top of another to create a folder. The folder will then appear as a square with tiny icons of the included app inside. Tap the folder to access the included apps and get an expanded view of the folder's contents. Alternatively, if you want to remove an app, just drag it back to the home screen. It would be nice to able to designate one app icon as the "cover" of the folder, but we realize we're nitpicking.

Thankfully, you're awarded a fair amount of flexibility for folder organization. You can add as many folders as you like, change the default folder name, and add both related and unrelated apps. Surprisingly, we could even group legacy features like the Weather and Stock applications into a single folder. The process is easy, but we wouldn't say it offers a huge change from the equivalent experience on Android. And really, Apple, we're limited to just 12 apps in one folder?

E-mail and enterprise: The iPhone always has been a functional e-mail machine, but we've never enjoyed switching back and forth among multiple accounts to read new messages. Fortunately, iOS 4 has a new unified in-box that is accessible under the "Mail" option on your home screen. Listed above your individual in-boxes is a new option for "All inboxes," which contains messages from multiple accounts. You can't access individual folders from the universal in-box, but you can delete and move messages. Here again, it works well, but it's not vastly superior to how competing OSes handle the same process. Also, the universal in-box doesn't always sync immediately with the inboxes for individual accounts.

Other e-mail changes include the capability to add multiple Exchange accounts, organize e-mails by thread, jump directly to individual in-boxes, resize photos before you send, and open attachments with a preferred app. All are nice, but we'll delve into a couple of our favorites for more detail. E-mails in a thread will now be designated by a small number on the left side of the message header. Clicking the number will take you to a separate screen that lists all relevant messages. It's a nice touch, and we like that you can move or delete messages in the thread. We also like the new option to delete e-mails directly from search results.

The iPhone 4's virtual keyboard is unchanged.

Worker bees will get options like enhanced data protection, mobile device management, wireless app distribution, support for Exchange 2010, and SSL VPN from Juniper and Cisco.

Home screen customization: Unlike the previous three features, this addition was low on our wish list, but Apple's done a decent job rolling it out. Sure, you always could change the standard black background using a third-party app, but iOS 4 adds the native capability to the iPhone and iPod Touch. First, find the "wallpaper" option in the Settings menu and choose either a provided wallpaper or a photo in your camera roll. After making your selection, you'll have the option to set it as the wallpaper for your home screen, the lock screen, or both.

The Motorola Brute i686 can take a longer dunk in water, but is otherwise identical to the Brute i680. It's not the prettiest phone on the block, but it's incredibly durable with great call quality to boot.

When we first looked at the Motorola Brute i686, we wondered if there was a mistake. It seemed practically identical to the Motorola Brute i680, its predecessor. Even the overall features are similar--the 2-megapixel camera, GPS, Bluetooth, and of course, support for Nextel's iDEN network.

The main difference seems to be that the Motorola Brute i686 is a touch more durable. It now can be immersed in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. Aside from that, it retains the ruggedized exterior of its predecessor, keeping its "Brute" moniker alive. If you already have the Brute i680, we wouldn't encourage you to run out and buy the i686, but if you've been looking for a tough phone that'll survive a diving trip or two, then this might be for you. The Motorola Brute i686 is available for $119.99 with a two-year contract from Sprint Nextel.



As we mentioned in the introduction, the Motorola Brute i686 hardly differs from its predecessor. At 3.92 inches long by 2.09 inches wide by 1 inch thick, the Brute i686 is just as bulky, and at 5.63 ounces, it's just as heavy. It's clad in hard plastic and a thick rubber exterior that protects it from all manner of scrapes and bruises. Indeed, we dropped it onto concrete and dunked it in a sink of water for a solid 20 minutes without ill effects. The Brute i686 is said to be military-certified under specification 810G for resistance to dust, shock, vibration, extreme temperatures, low pressure, salt fog, humidity, and more.

The Motorola Brute i686 is a tough-looking phone.

On the front is a color external display that supports 65,000 colors and 160x120-pixel resolution. We're glad to see that it supports photo caller ID and recent call history, and it'll also work as a self-portrait viewfinder when the camera is activated. As for the camera, that sits right on top of the display, next to the LED flash.

The left spine is home to the volume rocker and push-to-talk button, both of which are large and easy to find by feel. On the right is the Micro-USB charger jack hidden securely beneath a rubber flap. On the top of the Brute i686 are the speakerphone control and the usual Nextel button for accessing your recent calls list. Also on the top is a 2.5-millimeter headset jack protected by a rubber flap. We would've liked to see a 3.5mm headset jack, however. We also would have preferred a camera shutter control on the sides.

To keep the phone nice and dry on the inside, the battery cover is secured by a round locking mechanism that you can unlock with either a fingernail or a penny. Behind the battery cover is the microSD card slot.

Flip the phone open and you'll find a simple but legible 2.2-inch color display. It only supports 65,000 colors and 220x176-pixel resolution, but as you aren't likely to use this phone for multimedia purposes too often, we didn't mind the average resolution. Colors are bright enough, and we like that we can change the text size and the backlight timer. Along the bottom row of the display is a series of shortcuts to frequently accessed applications or functions that you can toggle through. The main menu itself is displayed in either a grid or list view.

The navigation array consists of the usual two soft keys, a round toggle with a middle select key, a main menu key, a camera key, and the Send and End/Power keys. The overall keypad is spacious, with enough separation between each key. We found it easy to text and dial with the raised keys as well.