Review: LG's Voyager for Verizon

The Voyager has been out for a week now and already I have seen more than a few in the wild. After a few hours of playing with one there is no doubt this is going to be the hottest phone during the holiday season.

The first impression of the Voyager was great. The size of it is perfect. Whether you hold it in a closed position and type on the touchscreen for a message or open it and type one out two handed, it feels very sturdy but not bulky. The major problem I had with the LG EnV was how it didn't seem to feel good when using. The outer screen which is entirely touch has a pretty good reaction, especially after you get used to it. What I liked most about it was whatever it lacks in sensitivity to the iPhone it makes up by having a sort of tactile feedback. The little vibrations that let you know the tap was registered is very helpful. The touchscreen, like the iPhone's also has a very nice scrolling feature where simply waving your finger down or up will navigate.

The only real drawbacks (on the design side) is with the full QWERTY keyboard on the inside. The keyboard is not very one hand friendly, but with a T9 outer screen this is barely a problem. The other gripe was with the location of the Space bar. There is no central space bar instead there are two located on both bottom sides of the QWERTY.

The 2 megapixel camera is pretty decent and even takes ok pics in low lighting. It offers multiple fonts and it seems that having a data plan is a must as the VZ Navigator uses data. If you can ignore the Verizon user interface which has been crippling their phones then this should be a strong consideration for you. The photos basically speak for themselves.

4/5 Stars.

Information on the Blackberry 9000 series

The Boy Genius Report which has been chirping a lot about a rumored 9000 series from RIM has finally gotten some substantiated information. And it is juicy. Sporting an iPhone like 480 x 320 screen it seems that there won't be the keypad that has made Blackberries a staple of the business community. It seems a bit odd that Research In Motion would take such a drastic route, but who cares this thing looks amazing.

Aside from the massive screen the 9000 series is expected to have it also is going to have an Intel processor that clocks in a bit faster than the iPhone. Two of the most important feautures also include WiFi and GPS. One feauture BGR didn't seem to know about was if the Blackberry OS would be drastically revamped, which it seems it would have to be given the size of the screen. With the possibility of a 3.2 megapixel camera we want one, yesterday.

Check out the full report BGR has been waiting all year to break. http://www.boygeniusreport.com

Update to Mobile Google Maps

Yesterday Google modified the hybrid feature on the full version of Google Maps, today Google updated their Mobile Maps app to include a somewhat new layout and a few features. The feature of most note would be the "My Location" option which works on phones that are unfortunate enough to not have built in GPS. The My Location feature uses cell towers to approximate your location, not quite GPS but it works pretty well. With a range of 500 meters to 5000 meters, depending on how dense the area is. So if you are lost in Wichita trying to find your brother-in-laws this may not help, but it is fun at the least. Oh and it won't eat your battery nearly as much as GPS will. If you have a Blackberry, a Nokia S60, or a WinMo device check out http://www.google.com/gmm.

Google's GDrive is almost ALive

The Wall Street Journal has recently reported that Google's mildly talked about online storeage system, GDrive, may be poised to become public in the next few months. This will excite some, if the storeage capacity comes up big. Google is likely to offer both free and paid services when GDrive is announced, which will match up well with its three main competitors. The names of these competitors shouldn't surprise you with Microsoft's SkyDrive, AOL's Xdrive and Apple's iDisk.

Google has been slamming all competition when introducing new products, and GDrive will likely it the mark again. Likely having a search function for uploaded files the largest factor will be how much space Google will make available. Skydrive, Microsoft's offering was just upped to 1GB of storeage for free, and offers no paid service while Apple's iDisk allows for 10GB of space if you fork over $99/year. This is a rare situation in which Microsoft is actually ahead of Google, however when it comes to size it seems Microsoft, unless they up their storeage capacity, may once again be made to look like kids at a cocktail party.

[via WSJ.com]

PayPal workaround for Apple Store

If you have ever tried to use your PayPal account to purchase the newest iPod then you know the Apple Store doesn't accept PayPal. Well now PayPal has made it possible. They have set up a method that creates a virtual Mastercard number that is linked to your PayPal account.

Simply go to PayPal, select 'Mac User?' and pick the Secure Card option. This will generate the CVMC, card number, and everything else you will need to get your tax-free Apple Store holiday frenzy on. Ohhh Yeeeeaaaah.

[via TUAW.com]

Verizon opens Network to "Any app, Any device"

This may or may not be a monumental announcement. In early 2008 Verizon says it plans on allowing devices that fit he minimum standards will be allowed to operate over its cherished network. Of course they haven't said what these minimum standards will be. Their President Lowell McAdam has created a $20 million lab that will validate the devices/apps. Mr. McAdam sees this as a watershed event in the 20 some years wireless systems have been operating. Verizon is not a partner of the Open Handset Alliance, Google's Android operation that bears a resemblance to this announcement.

This is certainly something to keep your eyes on, but until it is deployed and can be tested it will be hard to say if Mr. McAdam is accurate.

[via Verizon]

ZML.com: Movie downloads on the cheap

This may not be the most legal site out there. They are currently able to continue their business thanks to a very vague Russian copyright law. If Piratebay.org is too illegal for you and iTunes too expensive, then ZML.com might be for you. Curently you can download movies from a range of $1.99 - $4.99 which is fantastic.

If semi-legal is your thing and you don't mind throwing your Visa around somewhat nefarious sites, check out ZML.com and begin downloading DiVX encoded movies from The Godfather to The Simpsons Movie. ZML may not last long though, so get it while you can.