The show features over 200 hours of seminars from companies ranging from Microsoft to the BBC to Royal Mail, and exhibitions from over 300 companies. All discussing the latest Internet technologies.

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on everything interesting that pops up, so watch this space.

The Nokia E90 communicator is the eleventh-generation Communicator phone, which are all essentially large high-spec mobile phones with wide screens and qwerty keyboards inside. Unlike the previous generations however, the E90 is on a par with competitors in the field, rather than lagging a few years behind.

Launched just over a year ago, the E90 features quad-band GSM, 2100 WCDMA, UMTS, WiFi b/g, 3.6Mbps HSDPA radios, Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP for bluetooth stereo audio, a 3.2 megapixel camera (with flash), a second VGA camera inside for video calling, GPS and Nokia Maps. Inside it has an ARM11-based TI OMAP2420 processor running at 330 MHz, 128 MB of RAM (80MB available), a 800×352 screen inside and 240×320 outside. It has a full-speed USB 2.0 connector for data transfer and an SD card slot, although it also came with a MicroSD adapter…

Hardware

The bulkiness is of course the major downside of the E90. However, the solid sturdy build quality means it can survive many trips to the boardroom. Also, it doesn’t look that big - the silver bezel on the front looks like the edge of a normal-sized phone, until you look closer and realise theres an extra 10mm on the outside of that.

It’s quite a tidy phone, and a pretty standard layout on the front. It has a power button in the top right corner, next to the speaker, then the portrait screen below, then two option buttons, a D-pad with centre button, a menu key and “C” (clear) either side of that, and a green & red telephone button below, then the 1-9 */0/# keypad. This is all the standard configuration, and everything does what you would expect it to do.

The rear of the phone has the 3.2mp AF camera, an LED flash, small speaker, battery cover, covered Micro SD slot and unusually 4 rubber pads to rest the phone on. Behind the removable battery cover is the 3.7V 1500mAh BP-4L battery (compared to my N95’s 950mAh) and that needs to be removed to access the SIM card slot and serial numbers etc.

The left side of the phone is just the double hinge, and there’s nothing on the top. The right side has the voice command button, the camera button (which is a bit mushy and annoying) and a blank cover for what may be an infrared option. The bottom has the USB connector, thin Nokia power socket, 3.5mm jack connector and two gold connectors.

Opening up the phone, looking at the top half: on the left is the almost-invisible lower-quality camera for web calling, and the green/red telephone buttons; then the 800px wide screen (similar to the N800), and then two option buttons.

The lower half has the full qwerty keyboard, 8 function buttons along the top (Desk, Contacts, Messaging, Web, Notes, Calendar, My Own (customisable) and a menu key). On the left of the qwerty is the bulb button and a GPS key. Other functions mapped onto the keyboard include volume and Bluetooth controls.

Software

The E90 is running S60 3.1 on top of Symbian OS 9.2, which is a deliberate backtrack from the S80 software in order to retain backward compatibility, considering the new OS kernel. This means that existing Series 60 software is fully compatible with the E90.

The main screen is the Active Standby screen, with quick links to selected applications, extracts from call logs and the calendar, and WLAN control. This all looks pretty much the same on both screens, although the inside one displays a few more icons. The main menu is separated into folders, which are all customisable. The menu theme is entirely skinnable, along with the Active Standby screen. A lot of the software alters to make good use of the wide inside screen, but some just resize.

The contacts screen predictably allows you to create multiple details within each contact (phone, business phone, mobile, fax, email etc), all renamable. The search only searches from the start of first and last names, which could be improved but works fine for most uses. There is a separate search application (in the Office folder) which can perform more thorough searches.

The calendar is a bit weak, simply storing events/anniversaries/meetings that occur on days at times at locations, and a very simple to-do list. However, thanks to the S60 backward compatibility, there is a range of other calendar software you can pick through to find something that works well for your needs.

Messaging is adequate, although the lack of Fax support and HTML emails (shows up as text, with source, images and objects available separately). Again, third-party software can come to the rescue if this is something you need. Alongside this, push email solutions supported by the E90 include Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email, Blackberry Connect, Mail for Exchange and Visto Mobile. There is also Text To Speech technology here, where pressing “Listen” will read out a message to you, and the voice is customisable.

The QuickOffice document software performs quite well with Microsoft Office documents, and ease of use is quite good, although formatting can get repetitive. There’s also an Adobe PDF reader, which works very well thanks to the large RAM allowance of the E90.

The Nokia S60 OSS web browser, built on S60WebKit (part of the same open-source framework as Safari) is the star of the show for me. Mouse operation and scrolling is generally great, although the mouse can sometimes be frustrating since it doesn’t allow you to stop at every pixel. If you scroll up or down a page, an overview of the page appears on the right, so you can see where to scroll to. When you press back, you can scroll through shots of your previous pages to go back to the correct one, rather than waiting for each page to load as you step back. The screen quality here is what makes reading web pages actually worthwhile.

The rendering falls just short of the Opera-based browser on the N800, since it can’t deal with complicated JavaScript and flash sites. Also, since it self-identifies as a mobile browser, many sites force you to the mobile version of their site, which is usually simple unformatted text and links, but many give you the option to load up the full version to take advantage of your screen real estate and mouse power. Flash animations are possible, and FLV files open in RealPlayer, but the speed of YouTube here really negates its use. This is mainly a software issue, which can no doubt be cured with third-party downloads and the like.

The GPS and maps is the same as the N95, where patience, open ground and clear skies make for a useful navigation device, but any lack of those makes the experience frustrating and potentially misleading. Maps can be freely downloaded on-the-fly or in advance. Voice-guided navigation and city guides usually require payment, but the short cheap rental terms are a big advantage here. Again, the possibility of 3rd-party software could be a workaround.

As for media, it’s all standard stuff. The audio player plays AC, AAC+, MP3 and WMA, and the built-in RealPlayer can play MPEGs and the like. Additional software caters for DivX and XVid movies. An annoyance is RealPlayers inability to select an access point, and failing to manually select your WLAN could be an expensive mistake. Playback of audio is smooth and pleasant, and the integrated speakers are fine for most on-the-move uses, although a decent pair of headphones never goes amiss.

Also included is voice recording (adequate quality), FM radio, a fun but imperfect camera-based barcode scanner (which can save data to contacts etc), file/settings transfer application, decent search feature, Active notes, Zip compression, Printing (Socket/HP JetDirect, Bluetooth, Infrared or network), Clock & alarms and others.

Comparison to N95

I currently own a Nokia N95, which is quite a bulky phone by today’s fashion standards, but is considered top-spec with its 5mp camera and GPS. However, the E90 is as astonishingly similar, with the same operating system, themes, software and features. The E90 only has a 3.2mp camera, but that is still above par for most current phones. Of course the E90 is significantly larger and heavier than the N95, but this is to give its three big advantages over the N95: the qwerty keyboard, wide screen and better battery life.

However there is one other difference between the two phones. One thing that annoys me no end about my N95 is that it often gets easily confused. The two-way slider rotates the screen to landscape when you’re in viewing/gallery mode, then returns it to portrait for normal keypad operation. If you do this a couple of times in quick succession, or if that happens in your pocket, the N95 becomes the Norman Wisdom of communication - crashing and not really being too sure which mode of operation it wants to be in. It also has a habit of not locking the keypad, or just unlocking it when it slides in your pocket, which just gets annoying and has already caused me to make several accidental phonecalls - I’m not sure how much my friends appreciate talking to my crotch whilst I’m walking…

The E90 surpasses the N95 in the quality of its software. Even though the appearence is pretty much identical, and it does all the same things, it just works in the E90. The hinged opening means no accidental unlocking, and the only way to unlock the phone when its closed is to follow the standard two-button unlock (unlock & *). Even when you open the phone and it has to switch the resolution to the 800px wide internal screen, that happens in a couple of flickers and immediately works, rather than the N95 dying doing its similar operation. The other small difference is that the E95 only has one menu key next to the D-pad, rather than the two different ones on the N95 which further contribute to its confusion.

Conclusion

The E90 is 210 grams of solid professional excellence. It has achieved everything Nokia intended it to do, and it does it with no hiccups or dramas along the way. It does exactly the same tricks as the N95, but without the crashing and ambiguity that has come with every version of the N95’s firmware. As with most smartphones, it falls short of being a PDA, with the calendar and email being that which you would expect on a phone, and not much interaction between applications.

Perhaps it could do with learning a few new tricks, and having a few more surprises for the technologically excitable, however as a professional smartphone, the wide range of useful features, infallible reliability and immense ease of use comes way ahead of 5mp cameras and games. As for the size and weight, you’ll have to try it out and decide for yourself whether it is too much.

If you don’t mind the extra couple of mm on each side, and the weight in your pocket, the E90 is the ideal smartphone for professionals. If you’re looking for a fashion icon, or a clever toy, look elsewhere.

Shock Gadgets has suffered a severe technical problem over the weekend. Our main server went down, along with all our current data and a lot of useful backups. We have rolled back to an old version of the site, and we will be posting as many salvaged articles as we can (thanks to Google’s cache and archive.org) and re-implementing the redesign from a few months ago. We thank you for your patience whilst we get up and running again.

ShockGadgets is undergoing some changes and will be moving to a new platform shortly. The look and feel of the site will be pretty much the same, and all the existing posts will be there, but there will be a totally new comments system for you to enjoy, as well as more advanced browsing, tagging and searching. We're still looking for more staff to join our team, and we have some real treats for you in terms of reviews coming up, including a laptop group test.

We don't plan for there to be any significant length of downtime, and we hope to get the new system up and running in the next week or two.

There is no denying that the iPod is the most successful consumer entertainment gadget of all time. Providing an insurmountable benchmark in terms of design and technological achievement, it is always amazing to see Apple continue to improve and upgrade their range.

Today, Apple have shown off their new full suite of iPods, including the Shuffle, Nano, Classic and new ‘Touch’ which will be available this weekend; and have decreased some prices to coincide with this.

The iPod Shuffle has been refreshed with new colours, including pastel blue, green, lavender and 1GB (PRODUCT) RED edition which raises money for charity, as with the nano last year. Price stays at $79 though.

The all-new iPod nano is the same as the ‘fatty’ spied by Engadget over the past few weeks. With a bigger, brighter 2-inch 320×240 (QVGA) screen at 204ppi, video capability, an 'enhanced' UI, its own take on Cover Flow and three games, its battery has 24 hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video. The silver 4gb model is going for $149, and the more colourful 8gb for $199.

The real/main/original series of iPods has been given a real name as the iPod Classic. This new sixth-generaton version is mostly an upgrade on the previous 5.5th generation units, with a new all-metal shell and (FMJ) and improved interface, coming in two higher-capacity versions. The 80gb iPod Classic has 30 hours of audio, 6 hours of video and will retail at $249. The new 160gb version has 40 hours audio, 7 hours video for $349.

The long-awaited iPod Touch is the phone-less iPhone. Coming in at 8mm deep, this is significantly thinner than the iPhone. The Touch packs a 3.5-inch widescreen display, 22 hours audio, 5 hours video and the same multi-touch inferface with Cover Flow as the iPhone. It also has web capability through WiFi, through which you can even buy music on iTunes. Available in a few weeks, the 8gb will go for $299 and the 16gb for $399.

Apple also announced a partnership and 'feature' to be able to purchase a song playing or recently played in a Starbucks through WiFi on the Touch, and free WiFi access to the iTunes Music Store (to buy the song currently playing). Doesn't hurt I suppose.

The still-new iPhone is having a massive $200 price drop to coincide with these releases, down to $299 for the 4gb and $399 for the 8gb.

Click on for images of the new range…

iPod Shuffle:

iPod Nano:

iPod Classic:

iPod Touch:

Apple has never been big on two-buttoned mice. Ever since the Lisa in the 80s, they have always shipped a one - button mouse with their desktop computers. Apple admirers claimed it was for simplicities sake, and critics said it was because Macs were for idiots, and as such they could only use one-buttoned mice. However, Apple recently announced a new mouse. They jumped the gap and went straight from one button to four, surprising everyone.

The OoBE (or 'Out of Box Experience') is typical Apple - small, stylish and very nice. There's not really a lot to say about the packaging; it has some pictures of the mouse and an Apple logo on it, and thats it. Opening it up reveals the Mighty Mouse tucked away in a cardboard holder.

The Mighty Mouse utilizes USB 1.1 or 2.0, and has an 800dpi optical sensor (with a red LED underneath). However, there is a wireless version available which uses Bluetooth and has an invisible laser sensor instead (this review applies to both models since the wireless version is virtually identical)…

The mouse itself is a bit smaller than an average mouse, and it is classic Apple white - it looks and feels like the outer case of an iBook or MacBook. It's not very small, but it's slightly smaller than the Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 2.0 we also have. It's about the same width and length, but it doesn't have the 'hump' that the Microsoft mouse does. It is comfy to use, although we can understand that people with larger hands might find it uncomfortable to use.

Functionally, the MM has two 'normal' buttons which are used for normal clicking around, a scroll ball and two side buttons, both which can be programmed in Mac OS X. Unfortunately, the buttons cannot be programmed in Windows, but this mouse is made by Apple for its computers. The top buttons are advertised as being 'touch sensitive'. They are not touch - sensitive in the way that we expected - not like a third-generation iPod. Rather, you still need to press down on the shell to click, and we found that you could only press down on one side at a time, otherwise you can't click - otherwise you can't click the other button. At first we found this rather annoying, but when we got used to it, the motion became second nature.

The scroll ball on the top is one of the best things the mouse has to offer. It offers 360 degrees of scroll-ability, beating every other mouse we have tried in this area. The scrolling is smooth and the ball gives the user tactile feedback, in the form of little click it is moved. However, the scroll ball is very sensitive to dust and dirt, and every so often you will need to clean the scroll ball to make it work again. To do this, all you need to do is hold the mouse upside down and rub the ball with a cloth - this should get rid of any dirt inside and get it working again. However, if this fails you can either send it back to Apple and get sent a replacement (assuming it's still under warranty)

The side buttons, although there are two of them, act as only one. These buttons can be programmed in System Preferences in Mac OS X only, and cannot be programmed in Windows, although the mouse is compatible with Windows. However, this is not a problem since it is made by Apple to be used with Macs, so most users will not use it on Windows. We did test it on Windows XP, and it acts just as you think it would - with the notable exception that the side buttons do not work. The scroll wheel only works up and down, not side to side. We programmed the side buttons to activate Exposé (the Mac OS X version of Flip3D, which was actually in the Mac first), and it quickly became part of our workflow. However, although we liked the positioning, not everyone will and we recommend you to try out the mouse before buying.

In the end, how good the Mighty Mouse is depends on the user. If you have large hands, it is definitely not for you. Otherwise, it is a very good mouse. Be warned though, the cable is quite short, so unless you get the wireless version or a keyboard with a USB hub (like the Apple keyboards), you will definatey need an extender cable.

Pros
- Can be used in both right and left hands
- Very smooth movement
- The scroll ball
- A mouse from Apple which has two buttons!

Cons
- Can be fiddly trying to get it to right-click
- Could be uncomfortable if you have large hands
- Keeping the scroll ball working
- Short cable

The Chromatone CT-312 is a Wholetone sythesiser with 312 keys, instead of the standard register of 88. These are not 312 separate pitches however, but uses the Uniform keyboard paradigm to replicate notes across the board. The advantage of this is not having to stretch awkwardly to reach a key, as it will be replicated in a slightly more convenient location. It was a layout developed by Paul von Janko in 1882, called the Janko Keyboard.

This helpful chart assists in the explanation of the layout, and I've included a decipher of it below.

The video after the break shows one gentleman showing his skills with 312 keys, performing the Super Mario Bros theme with bewildering ease. Last time I saw that being played was on an 11-string bass, so it evidently has some reputation amongst extreme musicians…

The N800 is described by Nokia as an ‘Internet tablet’ - its a handheld touchscreen device capable of browsing the Internet through WiFi. Unusually for Nokia, it isn't a mobile phone, althought it is capable of making calls over the Internet.

The specs of the N800 include a TI CPU, two SD slots, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB flash storage, 4.1′ 800×480 touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack and mini-USB port. The device sports an integrated pop-out VGA webcam, a kickstand and a slot for the stylus. It also came with a 128mb miniSD card (and SD adapter), protective pouch, mains charger, USB data cable (not for recharging), spare stylus and earphones…

The single most striking aspect of the device is its 4.1′ screen - the unprecedented 800×480 resolution gives website viewing comparable to that of a normal PC, and it is amazingly clear for such as small device. Brightness is incredible, and I have it turned down to half most of the time. The touch-sensitivity is pretty accurate, and can be quickly calibrated from the control panel - it doesn't take too hard a press to register, and because it is sunk into the casing it is immune from accidental brushings from the hand. The stylus feels good in the hand, but the kickstand can't support presses unless it's extended fully.

The front of the housing has a 4-way D pad with centre button, and 3 additional buttons (close, menu, switch) - these are annoying to fiddle with in the dark, with only one flashing light around the centre button. On top is the volume/zoom, fullscreen and power button - these are a little fiddly too due to their small size and proximity to each other, but the power button is countersunk further along to avoid accidental presses. A single press of the power button pops up a menu with options to lock the screen, lock the device, go into offline mode or switch off; wheras a longer press simply switches on/off. However, turning on/off and locking the screen can be a bit temperamental, especially when connected to USB or charging, so perhaps a sliding lock switch (such as that on an iPod) would be preferable.

WiFi reception is excellent in the N800 - it picks up signals from streets away, which is more than any other device I try. When selecting the network to connect to, it shows you the type of security the network has on it, so you can instantly distinguish the open networks from the protected ones. Another option for Internet Access is connecting via blueooth to a mobile phone, which is acceptable. No support for bluetooth headsets, but bluetooth keyboards work. Battery life is actually pretty good, achieving 10 days on standby (which is half-on) and 5 hours of WiFi usage (without bright backlight).

The user interface is fairly simple to navigate, although I would say there is a lot of space taken up by features, including the application menu on the left, title and status bar on the top and in-application menu on the bottom (eg formatting). Icons are fairly simple to negotiate, and the menus and desktop are entirely customisable. There are a handful of skins provided with the unit, with more available to download.

Software on the N800, and downloadable through the integrated software updater, includes a basic web browser, email application, contact list, instant messenger (google talk), Skype, Rhapsody (online music service), camera app, media player, pdf reader, sketch app, calculator, world clock, games (Mahjong, Blocks/Tetris, Chess, Marbles, Nako), P2P media streamer, notes app and MaemoPad.

The web browser is adequate, rendering most websites properly (bearing in mind the screen size) and loading pages fairly quickly. It has favourites, a save-as function and Flash capability, although YouTube and Google videos are unwatchable because of the low CPU power.

Upgrading software is easily done online from the Application Manager, but upgrading the system software (firmware) is a little trickier, and involves flashing the device whilst connected to a PC. Luckily the N800 includes a backup utility allowing you to save all your files and settings to a memory card.

The camera is only VGA quality, so isn't really anything to shout about, but it is hidden away quite nicely - it pops out when you push it in, and is rotatable. The angle it is placed at is annoying however, as you are either looking at the screen or the camera, with a noticeable offset; and if its far away enough to look at both then you can't actually use the tablet.

All in all, the N800 is a very well-made device for doing what it is supposed to do. The problem is that I can't see how useful it is for most people. If you're in an office or at home, you probably have a computer handy, and this is certainly no replacement for that. If you're travelling short distances, you probably wouldn't have the time to make use of it. If you're travelling long distances, you probably wouldn't get Internet access. If the N800 was actually a mobile phone, then it would definitely be worth considering, but it isn't. So, unfortunately I can't recommend purchasing one unless you have a specific use for it; but if you do have a use, then it is a very well-thought-through device with everything included.

Nokia

Acorn Studios have created the ultimate accessory range from old computer media and peripherals. Floppy disks, keyboard keys, circuit boards and scratched CDs have been transformed into clocks, notepads, jewellery and other gifts. Check out this pair of cufflinks available for $14.95.

Click on for some more pictures…

Floppy Disk Notepad:

CD Clock:

Circuitboard Mouse:

Shop link: Acorn Studios

ShockGadgets has been pretty quiet for the past couple of months, mainly due to some of our staff being in-between real-world jobs. However, all is not lost. We are expecting to be able to reboot ShockGadgets and get back up to pretty much full speed in the next week or two, with quite a bit happening in the world of gadgets and a number of reviews being written. We're looking forward to being up and running again.

We are looking for a couple of Contributing Editors to work as part of our team. The job involves posting news and reviewing gadgets, and is possible to do on evenings/weekends. No specific experience is required, but you need to be able to prove you can write near-perfect English without plagiarising, and that you have a love of gadgets/computers. Please email jobs[at]shockgadgets[dot]com with your information and sample news/reviews, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

We're also exploring the idea of operating a gaming site separate to this one, so if anybody is interested in contributing to that, copy the above instructions. There would also be a couple of Editor positions available for those willing to proofread and perform administrative and managerial tasks. As I say, this is not a confirmed venture but a concept we're toying with.

Lastly, discussions about advertising on ShockGadgets have been floating around, so if any gadget-related companies (including computers and games) would like to purchase some ad space on this site, let us know at advertising[at]shockgadgets[dot]com.